『A picture-perfect princess accompanied by a lot of picture-perfect knights... Captain, you already have me, but aren't you playing a bit too hard?』
Unit 104, who trained her sights on me, Princess Luciada, and her party through the sensor attached to the med pod, suddenly came down on me with a flat, mechanical tone. The heck does she mean by me already having her? Well, I did say I was gonna take her in though.
"I don't even know where to start poking holes in that comment..."
『You can poke me in any hole y'know?』
"Ain't your words a bit too vulgar? Did you learn that from Vereverem Federation soldiers...? Anyway, this is the dear granddaughter of Graccan Empire's current emperor and the daughter of the crown prince. In other words, she is Her Royal Highness, Princess Luciada. So, please don't act so crass, or you're gonna get in trouble. You're gonna get pawned by the scary imperial guard oneesans behind us."
While saying that, I performed a slicing gesture by stroking my neck with the tip of my index finger.
『C-Captain, are you... serious?』
"Serious about what, exactly? Anyway, I'm serious about her being Princess Luciada. Not sure if the imperial guard oneesans will really pawn you, but slicing you in two along with that medical pod will be really easy using a noble's sword. Well, it's not like I'd be able to ignore something like that though."
'You guys won't really do something like that, right?' I mused as I glanced at Isolde, who was looking at me with an indignant expression. Well, it's probably impossible for me to subdue five skilled swordswomen including Isolde by myself currently. After all, I didn't have a single weapon on me right now.
No, I might pull it off if I used psionic power... or rather, my telekinesis to snatch their swords.
『It... doesn't look like it's just Mimi doing cosplay. Eh...? Captain, if that's true, then just what kind of connections do you have? And there are also some classy young ladies I don't recognize in the mix.』
The visual sensor moved with a clicking sound and captured Chris and Selena's figures.
"This is Christina Dareinwald, the next Countess Dareinwald. And this is Serena Holz, the daughter of Marquis Holz, and a captain of the Imperial Space Force. She was the one in command in the battle where we defeated you guys."
『Oh my... Don't tell me all of them are your 'you-know-what', Captain?』
"Not sure what you mean by you-know-what. But for the record, I'm not stupid enough to lay my hands on Her Imperial Highness, the princess."
Uh, what's with the surprised look, Your Imperial Highness? There's no use puffing up your cheeks, okay? You're pretty cute, but there's no way it's gonna work out between us. I mean, it's just common sense. Also, please stop looking at me with those critical gazes, imperial guard ladies. Well, she does have the financial power to buy a ship like this one easily... Hmm. Wait, that's not it. Chris is starting to emit a dark aura, so please stop. Even Serena's getting all prickly.
"Anyway, is your curiosity satisfied now, Princess? As you can see, she isn't exactly someone you can describe as refined, so apologies for the rude remarks."
"She's an interesting girl. What is her name?"
"...Unit 104, apparently. Other than that, she was also called 'canned goods' and 'piece of junk' by those Federation guys."
"My. Perhaps the people from our neighboring country don't have that good of a naming sense. If it were me, I'd call her Shiro-chan."
"Err, right."
『As I thought, she's just like Mimi inside, ain't she, Captain?』
Mimi was the one who gave the girl the nickname Shiro-chan, and it spread to the rest of the crew. Apart from Mei and I, that is. By the way, the name Unit 104 was pretty unpopular with most of the crew.
"I was merely jesting. That name is far too simple after all. Let's see... Her complexion is as white as snow, so how about the name Neve?"
"Neve. Hmm... It does have a nice ring to it. I think it's good."
『Neve, huh? Un, not bad. It's certainly better than Shiro-chan. It's my honor to receive a name from you, Your Imperial Highness. When I am able to safely work as part of Captain's crew, I will gladly turn those Vereverem Federation bastards and space pirate scum into space debris for you and the Graccan Empire's sake.』
"How reliable. I sincerely pray for your success. Nevertheless, you sure are adorable, Neve. You're just like a cute doll."
『Is that so? I personally have not seen my outer appearance. There are no visual sensors that can monitor the pod's interior after all, and my own eyes still can't see that well. I also can't move my body yet.』
Unit 104– No, Neve mused out loud using the artificially synthesized voice as her unfocused eyes blankly stared at empty space. Her eyes blinked occasionally, but nothing was reflected within them.
When we first took her out of her pod, Neve's hair was a mess, the ends of her limbs were in tatters, and her skin was of poor quality apart from the moisture, so she wasn't really in a good condition. However, thanks to the care provided by Dr. Shouko and Mei, she had gradually gotten better, and now looked visibly healthier compared to when she first came out of that can-like pod. Just like Princess Luciada said, she was as cute as a bisque doll.
However, whenever she opened her mouth (figuratively speaking for now), her words and conduct were a bit too crass, or rather, vulgar, giving an impression that was completely opposite of her adorable appearance.
"Yes, you are indeed adorable. Isn't that right, Captain Hiro?"
"I'm not sure why you're asking me, but yeah, she's quite pretty, I suppose. Her appearance, at least. Her inner self is totally unlike that of a refined beauty though."
『You should have just offered praise honestly, Captain. You can use my body as roughly as you want if you'd like.』
"No, thank you. You should consider the time and place when making those kinds of remarks. If you say anything vulgar in front of the princess again, I'm gonna disconnect the visual sensor and speakers."
Their gazes hurt y'know? Her Imperial Highness was just looking at me with curiosity, but her imperial guards, Chris, and Serena were looking at me with harsh gazes. Particularly harsh ones, at that.
『Oh dear, that's what you call youth, Captain. Okay, I got it. I'll behave. I'm sorry, Your Imperial Highness. I was just giddy with happiness after being given a name by you. Please do pardon my rudeness.』
"Fufu, pardon granted. In any case, you sure have opened up a lot to Captain Hiro, haven't you?"
『Captain was the one who freed me from the clutches of those Vereverem Federation bastards and the confines of my pod, Princess. He's also willing to fully treat someone like me who is nearing the end of my service life and promised that he'll eventually instate me as part of his crew no matter what. It made me feel like a person and not a machine or parts to be used and abused by those damn bastards. That's why I'm willing to offer everything I have left to the Captain.』
"I see... Captain Hiro, I'll leave Neve to you, okay?"
"By your will. I will take responsibility and care for her to the best of my ability."
I already planned on doing so even without Princess Luciada's reminder. Since I decided to pick her up, I'll take care of her until the end. She didn't have anyone else who she could depend on after all.
"..."
Chris looked at Neve with an indescribably complicated expression. Their social positions and situations were different, but if Chris wasn't the granddaughter of a high-ranking nobleman and had no other relatives apart from her deceased parents, she might have become a part of our crew in the same way as Neve. And that was something Chris wanted from the bottom of her heart but ultimately gave up on. If you think about it like that, it might be natural for Chris to harbor mixed feelings towards Neve.
Hm? It seemed like the med pod's sensors were going back and forth observing me and Chris.
『...I see. Even though I look like this, I am also a grown adult. My body may appear young, but I've lived for 24 years at least. Once my physical treatment is completed successfully and my reproductive ability normalizes, I would like to have at least one child. I want to leave a legacy in this world. Proof that I've lived to the fullest. That's why I'll be counting on you when the time comes, Captain. I'll feel secure as long as you take responsibility properly and care for me.』
"""..."""
The sudden bombshell was super effective.
First, Chris quickly turned towards me. That's scary, Chris. Your head's movements and those eyes are really scaring me.
Mimi and the rest of the girls either fidgeted nervously, gave me discreet glances, or stared at me with heated gazes. Calm down, guys. I don't think it's time for that just yet. Let's leave talks about that after securing a base for ourselves at least. Dr. Shouko was very competent in her job, and Mei was more than capable of taking care of the babies perfectly, but I still don't think a starship was an ideal place to raise kids.
And imperial guards? Please stop checking out the conditions of your swords so ostentatiously like that. I didn't do anything wrong, okay?
"Please make jokes like that... No, I suppose you weren't actually joking, were you? Anyway, please make comments like that after your body has healed properly. Also, we still don't know how exactly the empire will respond to your presence yet, so I can't say anything definite right now. There's still a chance that the imperial authorities will take custody of you after all. Lastly, you're riling things up on purpose, aren't you?"
『Hahaha. But it's so fun, Captain.』
"I'm certainly not laughing... Calm down, Chris. Okay?"
"Yes, Hiro-sama. I will give birth to a lot of kids, okay?"
"It's too early for that. It's way too early for that sort of statement in many ways. So, please let go of my arm already, okay?"
Chris approached me with a mysteriously slippery gait, grabbed the hem of my clothes, and refused to let go. Someone help me.