"We aren't even done with organizing the loot or performed maintenance on our ships..."
"You sure get hung up on such minor details. Drinking booze and eating good grub is a must after a job. That's just common sense for us mercs, y'know? Let's just do all that other stuff after this."
Granny Serestia, who was sitting beside me, responded as she drank alcohol. The alcohol looked pretty strong. Are you sure you're gonna be fine drinking that, Granny?
"We have our own way of doing things. Also, I'm a lightweight. So gimme a break from drinking booze, okay?"
"Hah! A lightweight, you say!? And you call yourself a proper mercenary? Aren't you ashamed for yourself?"
"I ain't ashamed at all. I don't even think those things are all that tasty."
"That's cause you haven't even drunk delicious booze yet. And even if you're a lightweight, you can get used to drinking with time, right?"
It's true that I wasn't familiar with the taste of booze because I didn't drink much, but it's also because my memory always ended up fuzzy after fainting every time I had alcohol.
"That might be the case, but I still don't feel like drinking all that much..."
I mean, would you normally want to force yourself to drink something that you didn't really find appealing? But due to the advanced tech of this world, stuff like being lightweight could be easily remedied by undergoing some body modifications though.
"You sure are a spoilsport, kid. Seriously, what is it that she actually likes so much about you?"
"I'm not sure myself. But I do take Mimi's feelings very seriously."
"Men are usually weak to women with big boobs after all."
"It's true that Mimi's boobs are wonderfully ample, but that's not the only thing I like about her."
I couldn't exactly tell Granny about my particular preferences, so I refrained from elaborating. Anyway, a girl like Mimi who's both brave and straightforward is quite rare. I wouldn't hesitate risking my life for her sake.
"Hmm? You say that, but you're not exactly the faithful type, aren't you?"
"I'm quite aware of that already."
Believe me, I do try not to let things develop in that direction. But sometimes, things just couldn't be helped. After all, one couldn't really tell what the world had in store for them.
"Well, as long as she's that serious about you, there's nothing I can say. Even if I forcefully take her away, I'm sure she'll do everything in her power to return to your side after all."
"I wouldn't let you take her away in the first place, y'know? Though it would be a different story… if Mimi herself wants to leave."
Personally, the thought of Mimi leaving... Ugh, even thinking about it made my chest all stuffy. But if Mimi did insist on leaving of her own volition, I would respect her will. Of course, I'd still try all in my power to persuade her not to go through with it. But if she still insisted, then... Gah, I feel like my heart's gonna die just thinking about it.
"Judging from that face you're making, it does look like you ain't simply playing around. That's fine then. If you were actually just toying with that girl's feelings, I was thinking of ripping your member off and incinerating it to ashes with my laser gun."
"The heck…!? You're one scary granny alright."
What's really frightening was that this granny would really go through with such a thing without hesitation. But anyway, despite how things eventually turned out, I was actually no Casanova material, so there's no chance of such a situation happening.
"I suppose everything turned out alright in the end. It's a pity about Fort and Maina, but now, Mimi's free to fly across the universe. Mimi lost the peaceful life she was leading with her parents, but in exchange, she encountered you and is now living a more exciting life. You win some, you lose some, as they say."
"I wonder if that's really the case. But I'll do my best to let Mimi think so."
"Good. You do that. If you make her cry, this granny will come gunning straight for you, alright?"
"How scary."
In fact, it would really be a bad idea to engage in an all-out fight to the death with this wild granny. I asked Mei about their performance during the battle with the pirates, and it seemed that Granny's ship was actually pretty powerful. Their ability to freely make use of a deflector shield made them a formidable foe to deal with.
A normal energy shield emitter deployed multiple layers of shields that covered the entirety of a ship. However, a deflector shield wasn't omnidirectional. Instead, its output was concentrated into a single direction, resulting in an energy shield array that was several times stronger than a standard one. It was pretty difficult to handle, but if used well, even a small ship that was equipped with it would be quite formidable due to its ability to quickly concentrate its defense on one specific area according to the situation.
Krishna often engages in close-range dogfights, so a deflector shield wasn't really suitable for it. After all, during chaotic melees, it would often get shot at from all directions. If anything, a deflector shield was suitable for the types of ships that kept a certain distance from enemies and steadily picked them off.
"So, kid, there's actually something I wanna ask you right now."
"Shoot."
"When will I be able to see my great-grandson or granddaughter?"
"We're still considering it. Right now, we're still in the middle of enjoying a free and easy mercenary lifestyle."
"Hmm? Well, it's true that giving birth and raising kids can be pretty hard. But you guys already have a very capable maid, a qualified ship doctor, and a large medical facility inside your mothership, right? So, it shouldn't be long now."
"No comment."
As a matter of fact, the recent renovation of the Lotus was indeed partly in preparation for such situations. Proper medical equipment, and not the basic med pods we were previously using, would make it easier to deal with such things. As for babysitters, we already had Mei, but it would be nice to hire more maidroids to serve as her subordinates. But aside from during work, we usually often had plenty of free time on our hands, so I think we'd be able to manage taking care of our children if we properly took turns though.
Anyway, the renovation this time was carried out due to Dr. Shouko joining the crew, but even if she hadn't, I would still have eventually commissioned something similar. Then, I would have bought maidroids (Or perhaps they should be called doctoroids or nurseroids in this case?) that were specialized in such medical matters.
"Well, be sure to get in touch with me immediately once a baby is born, kid. I'll at least show my face to my great grandchild."
"If I feel like it."
"I'm sure that Mimi will get in touch with me even if you don't."
So, what's the point of reminding me then? I really was bad at dealing with this granny.
"Hiro-sama, Seres-san, the food is ready!"
Mimi called out to the both of us with perfect timing. It felt like it would end up really troublesome if I talked to Granny any longer than I had. It was truly perfect timing.
As for the food... It was probably the ones chosen by Mimi. Great. Here's my chance to see Granny sweating for once.
"That's what she said. It's the dishes your cute granddaughter prepared. Go ahead and enjoy."
"Mm? What's with that face? Are you plotting something?"
"Heavens, no. I am simply looking forward to the meal. Alright, Granny. Let's go ahead and dig in."
I pushed the old lady toward the table where Nicholas and Lattice, whose faces already turned quite pale, were already sitting at. We were already used to Mimi's eccentric taste to some extent, but what about her dear old granny?