"And so? What happened between you and Captain Serena?"
"Nothing in particular. We just sparred a few times to relieve stress and had a little chat."
"Really...?"
After the sparring with Captain Serena, I headed back to the Black Lotus. But unfortunately, I encountered Dr. Shouko and Elma, who were having a drinking party in the mess hall. I was tired in both body and mind from all the ship battles in the simulator and the sparring session with the captain, so I really wanted to take a nice, long break. However, since I ended up getting tangled with the two, it couldn't be helped. There was no point in resisting anyway.
"If you guys are curious about the contents of our talk, then I'll give you a quick summary. There's nothing particularly interesting though."
"I'll decide that for myself after hearing everything."
"Looks like you're already pretty drunk..."
Dr. Shouko placed one arm around my shoulder and grinned. Her breath smelled strongly of alcohol. And then, Elma approached from the opposite side. Ah. The feeling's amazing on the left, but there's practically none on the right... Ow, ow. Please don't pinch my thigh.
"She kept trying to have me tell her about my secret. My identity, or rather, my origins, y'know? She threw a huge fit in order to force me. I've already told you guys about me though. She really wanted to know, and she threatened me that she'd cry like a baby and disgrace me in front of her subordinates if I refused to fess up."
"Isn't she acting a bit too willful?"
"I'm shocked that she'd actually go that far..."
See, Captain. Your behavior was so outrageous that it ended up making two drunk ladies sober.
"I thought that someone like her wasn't the type to gossip around, so I didn't think it was that big of a deal and agreed to tell her. Then she straight up asked me if I'd like to be hers and proposed to me."
Clack! Mimi, who was chatting with Kugi at a table a little distance away from our own, kicked her chair down as she frantically stood up. Kugi also directed her gaze at me. It felt like even the twitching fox ears on her head were also trained toward me.
"Uh, for the record, I turned her down, okay? We can't abandon our respective lifestyles anyway. Also, I already have you all. Well, I personally don't hate the captain though. In fact, I actually respect her."
I think it's cute that she could be a bit of a dunce in private. But, uh, y'know...
"Anyway, there weren't any particularly steamy developments after that. And even if there were, I have zero desire to bite, so you guys don't have to worry so much."
"...Well, I don't think Captain Serena would be able to sway Hiro at this point anyway."
"But as Hiro-kun's woman, this story aroused feelings of jealousy from me, made me feel a sense of crisis, and even quite a bit uncomfortable, you see?"
"You guys told me to talk about it, so I did... I don't feel like telling boring lies either."
I simply let Dr. Shouko do as she pleased as she rubbed her cheek against my shoulder while purring like a cat. Elma wrapped her left arm around my right and started drinking again.
"Please. Tell me the story. In detail."
"Wai- Mimi, that's my booze!?"
"That's a bit too strong, so try this instead."
"Thank you, Wiska-san."
Mimi and Kugi, who were sitting on chairs a little further away from the rest, went over to Tina and Wiska, who were sitting across from each other at another table and moved them aside. They then sat down directly. Mimi, the booze Tina was drinking probably had really high alcohol content, so... I believe drinking it in one go is no good. It's too dangerous. On the other hand, the smart Wiska did a good job in offering Kugi a drink with low alcohol content.
"It can't get any more detailed than this, but... in short, she asked me if I wanted to become hers, and I wasted no time refusing her. That's basically it."
"Oh, about your story, Hiro. How much did you tell her?"
"His Imperial Majesty was already aware of the fact that I suddenly appeared without warning within the Termaine system, so I pretty much told her everything. I also told her about the matter regarding the Mother Crystal. She seemed really interested. Probably due to the idea that I had more critical information that remains undiscovered in this dimension."
"Oh, Hiro-kun's game knowledge, right? They seem to fluctuate between being reliable and unreliable, but sometimes, the info you know is absolutely incredible."
"What a harsh way to put it."
I couldn't help but smile bitterly as I rested on a sofa inside the mess hall. Most of the info I've checked out before was combat-related. I wasn't really interested in technology, economy, or artifacts, so I didn't have a lot of useful info regarding those topics. I've had a fair amount of experience dealing with space monsters, so I had some information regarding them. I also had quite a bit of info regarding the various conflicts that erupted between the major space empires in the game, but those were practically useless in this dimension. That's because those empires were nowhere to be found here.
"Next is... Oh, I also told her that I married Mimi, and she got really shocked. I never mentioned it before huh...? That matter. Or did I? It kinda feels like I mentioned it back when we were dealing with the mess in the capital though... Err, probably not."
Yeah, I probably failed to mention it back then. Even I found out about it much later after all.
"Anyway, she got really shocked about it, but when I told her we weren't really doing anything typical of married couples, and that our circumstances were a bit special, she pressed me about what exactly that meant. Now that I've had the opportunity to process it, I'm actually wondering about it myself."
"We've already talked things through, so it's okay, Hiro-sama."
"Right, right. Don't worry about it, Boss."
My consideration was politely rejected with great momentum. Well, yeah. Instead of me reading too much into stuff, it would be better for the girls to talk it out among themselves and come to an understanding about how exactly they'd share me. I'll just leave that matter to you guys. Yeah.
"Ah– ...What were we talking about again? Anyway, that's how it went with Captain Serena–"
Just as I was about to conclude the conversation, my portable info terminal suddenly rang out. It indicated that I received a message from Captain Serena.
"It looks like the date for that party's been decided. Apparently, it's gonna be held tomorrow."
"I do not think we have to force ourselves to attend though...?"
Kugi tilted her head to the side in a curious manner. The timing certainly felt somewhat unnatural, but if they didn't hold it at this time, they wouldn't be able to catch us and Captain Serena standing by at the Creon supply depot. So, it wasn't as unnatural as Kugi implied.
"I'd like to think that everything's gonna be fine, but we're talking about a noble house that possibly has ties to space pirates after all. It's better to be cautious. The biggest concern is us being separated, so I'll have you on standby in the Lotus, Mei. Please be ready to make a move in case something happens."
『Yes, Master.』
Mei's reply rang out from the speakers inside the mess hall. Now then, would something really happen? Or maybe it's just a whole load of nothing. Let's just make sure not to let our guard down so we can respond to whatever happens later.