I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary

The Taste of Victory with a Drink

“Hahaha, this is how mercenaries make a killing.”

We got paid for protecting the trade merchants who were being attacked, a sum of money more than a ship’s worth, and we also managed to get the pirate’s loot and some of the better equipment they had on their ships, as well as the bounty on their heads, of course their ships as well. It was quite a lucrative business. For me, that is.

“How much money did we make?”

Linda, dressed in a simple operation outfit, asked me curiously.

“The payment from the merchants is 20,000, the income from pirates is around 3,000 to 5,000 per ship if they don’t have special bounty, and with 14 ships, I estimate a total of 42,000 at the least. Well, overall, it’s a little less than 100,000? Maybe a little more depending on the quality of the loot and equipment.”

“Really… Mercenaries sure make a lot of money, don’t they?”

“To make this much money, you need to invest hundreds or thousands of times this amount.”

“I understand that this is far from what I’m used to… but how do I become a mercenary then?”

“Well, let’s see…”

Mimi often talked with Linda, as if she enjoys telling her stories. It was interesting to see Kugi listening attentively to her. The fox-like ears on her head twitch with interest.

I left Linda, who was listening to Mimi’s story, and went to the cafeteria, where Elma was drinking a beer after a long day’s work. I grabbed a Coke or something similar out of the fridge and took a seat at the same table.

“Good work. So, what are we going to do with the girl?” (Elma)

“Nothing for now. However, if we keep adding to the crew everywhere we go, we’re going to run out of cabins soon.” (Hiro)

“Hmm? I thought she will become one of your girls, since she’s been working with Tina and Wiska.” (Elma)

“I’m not so sure about your assumptions… Even I have a conscience, a normal conscience, and a sense of morality. I mean, you should know that when I hesitated to touch those two and didn’t even touch Chris…” (Hiro)

“I was thinking maybe you’ve changed your mind.” (Elma)

“That’s not true at all. I mean, I’ve only been forced into that situation because of… Ah….”

It was because of that when it all happened. Okay, Okay.

(T/N: Hira didn’t really say anything, maybe because of being drunk.)

“…What is it?”

“Nothing. It’s just that today I thought I’d hang out with you a little bit. Do you have any strong drinks that don’t have a lot of strange characteristics?”

“That’s unusual. But if you’ll accompany me, I’ll serve you.”

It was a pity that most of our drinks didn’t have that refreshing carbonation, but if they made them more like Rum Coke, even I could handle a few drinks. Of course, I was weak on alcohol, and one drink would leave me red-faced and exhausted, but I would let Elma deal with the alcohol. A lot of it.

“I’ll be smashed in no time, so you’ll have to take care of me when I do.”

“You’re not going to throw up, are you?”

“No amount of drinks will get me that far, so I’ll be fine.”

With that said, I stirred the contents of the glass with the colorless liquor that Elma brought out from the special storage cabinet – a little sweet when I smelled it – mixed with the cola-like liquor at appropriate levels. It was probably not rum, so it couldn’t be called Rum Coke, but that’s a minor detail to consider.

Incidentally, the two dwarves who seemed to spring up as soon as someone was drinking were busy with maintenance to sell the stripped equipment at a high price, and Dr. Shoko, who actually had a lot of experience in that field, was also busy analyzing the data acquired from Linda. I doubt that Mei would be so busy moving the Black Lotus to the Reemay Prime Colony that she would be bothered by us, but she wouldn’t show her face at our drinking party. Also, even if she joined us, she wouldn’t get drunk. She said she would simply ‘store’ it in her body.

I have no idea how she did that, but… it would certainly be a waste of time. No one would be happy, so Mei wouldn’t even bother to show up for a drink.

“Well then, cheers.”

“What are we toasting to?”

“Victory as usual?”

“Why are you asking me questions… it doesn’t feel right.”

Elma was in a good mood. I should definitely keep her in a good mood and ask her to provide me with a variety of services. In the meantime, I must be careful not to get myself all wasted.

☆★☆

“That was refreshing.”

“In moderation, okay? Hiro-kun doesn’t have a very strong tolerance for alcohol.”

“I will. Thank you, Doctor.”

The next day – or rather, there was no tomorrow or yesterday in space – my slightly aching head was soothed in the medical pod, and I was given a mild word of advice by Dr. Shoko. Yesterday, Elma and I had a drinking party and went straight to our room together for the night. Elma didn’t even have a hangover, even though she drank more than I did…I wonder if her liver was made of steel or something…?

“Speaking of which, how was Linda’s case going?”

“I have figured out how it works. Now I’m working to see if I can apply it to other people.”

“Calculating?”

“We don’t have time to do every single bioinstrumental trial. Fortunately, thanks to the environment you’ve set up for me, I’m computing the results on a virtual machine. It’s less time-consuming and labor-intensive.”

“You’re going to simulate what happens when you administer a new drug-like substance to a human body on data…is that accurate?”

“Of course. The data covering most of the races in the empire should not be a problem. It will take a lot of time to simulate the specific conditions that are unique to each race, though. Still, it shouldn’t take more than 24 hours from now?”

I was amazed at the power of science developed over the years. The speed at which drugs were developed was remarkable, but the fact that it only took one day to collect data on whether the drug really works or whether it causes serious side effects was also amazing. Moreover, the accuracy of the data was guaranteed.

“Ordinary people don’t know anything about these fields. If you have any questions, you can always ask me, okay?”

“I don’t know if I can think of anything to ask you, but I got the vibe that you’re doing something great.”

“I feel like I don’t know that well enough for you to say that…well, that’s okay. You can leave everything about epidemics to me.”

“I will, just let me know when you get a hand that I can use against Hartmut.”

“You can count on me. I’ll make them think it was worth the high price.”

With that, Shoko turned back with my eyes following her large breasts. Yes, it was a sight for sore eyes.