I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship, so I Became a Space Mercenary Chapter 554 「Hm? Fufufu, It’s A Maiden’s Secret」

「As her attending physician—or rather, as one of the Empire’s body enhancent specialists—it’s not exactly surprising, is it?」

The following day. Shouko-sensei, her hair done up and currently waiting in light clothing for her turn in the dress fitting, comnted on the matter of Neve.

「No matter how much the Federation tries to play dumb and claim it’s all fabricated by the Empire, any specialist can tell at a glance that the body modification tech used on Neve-kun is Federation-made. If it were us, we’d have done it far better. Even if you were developing personnel specialized for fleet combat or control systems, we wouldn’t have made those miserable little cans to shove them into.」

Shouko-sensei shrugged as she spoke. Honestly, keeping my eyes from being drawn to the great mountain ranges swaying with the motion feels like a trial in itself. I expected her outfit to be revealing, but is she not even wearing a bra?

「To begin with, if the Empire wanted to enhance its ships along the sa lines as the concept that gave birth to Neve-san, they could just deploy us.」

Standing quietly beside , i added her own comntary. Right, exactly. If you’re talking about controlling a combat ship, it’s much faster—and stronger—to just install machine intelligence directly into the ship rather than cyberizing and enhancing a human to connect them.

「……」

Elma, Serena, and the other nobles—presumably Serena’s family or relatives—grimaced like they’d bitten into sothing sour after hearing i’s statent. I still don’t quite understand what emotions those expressions represent. The nobility of the Grakkan Empire doesn’t exactly hate machine intelligence, but whenever the topic cos up, they always make those kinds of faces.

「I’ve been wondering for a while… Is there so kind of deep-rooted conflict between machine intelligences and Imperial nobility?」

I whispered the question to i, since I was about to really beco part of the Imperial aristocracy myself. It seed like a good idea to start learning the inner workings of these relationships.

「No, Master. Our relationship with the Imperial nobility is extrely amicable.」

i declared this with her usual expressionless face and without a trace of hesitation. anwhile, the nobles’ expressions had gone beyond grimaces and turned completely vacant—void of any emotion. Yeah, there’s definitely sothing going on here. I’ll have to have a more in-depth conversation with i soti when we’re alone.

「Still, you nobles sure are sothing else. Calling over multiple dressmakers like this. A commoner like wouldn’t know, but I bet they’re all renowned ateliers known only to those in the know.」

「Honestly, I don’t see the point of calling them here in person. Couldn’t they just use holoscreens and get it done quickly?」

「Ya just don’t get it, Boss. There’s a kinda vibe ya can’t catch unless ya see it with your own eyes — or in this case, et up face-to-face.」

As she spoke, Tina approached in one of the dresses. That’s quite the dress. The design is cute, yet also sexy, with an exposed neckline and form-fitting lines emphasizing her hips. It kind of looks like a slightly more grown-up magical girl outfit… sowhere around a borderline R-15 rating?

「That’s an amazing dress. It really suits you.」

「You think so? If ya say so, then I reckon it’s good. Though I can’t help but feel your eyes wanderin’ a bit.」

「Well, you just look… very attractive, is all.」

「I’m wearin’ this for the real event, y’know? So no funny business, okay?」

Tina stepped back and crossed her arms in mock defense. No, I’m not about to pounce on you right here. I’d probably hesitate even after the ceremony. The price tag of that thing is brutal… I doubt it costs as much as a starship, but it’s easily worth several tens of thousands of Enel… Maybe even enough to buy a worn-down ship.

「Even Big Brother wouldn’t go that far, sis.」

Wiska, dressed in a similar pretty-and-sexy dress, chid in while smiling wryly. Again, it really does have that magical girl vibe. This world’s fashion sense is sotis a bit… off by my standards.

「Wiska, you look great too. Though that ‘even Big Brother’ bit was unnecessary.」

「Ahaha… It’s a little embarrassing, but I’m glad you said it suits .」

「All that exercise paid off, huh, Wee?」

「That goes for you too, sis.」

Tina grinned while Wiska gave her a side-eye glare. It’s true that everyone stays in shape thanks to regular exercise. Although, honestly, how Shouko-sensei maintains her stunning figure with so little exercise remains a mystery.

「Hm? Fufufu, it’s a maiden’s secret.」

「I didn’t even say anything…」

A maiden’s secret, huh… Given that Shouko-sensei is a literal expert in human biology, she might be using so trick or borderline cheating thod to maintain her figure.

Well, better not to pry too deeply. Nothing good ever cos from a guy poking into won’s beauty routines.

While I was thinking that, Shouko-sensei was called in for her fitting, and Mimi, Kugi, and Neve ca back fitted in their dresses.

All three of them looked fantastic in their dresses. Kugi, with her natural grace, wore the Empire-style dress perfectly. As for Mimi—her chest looked about ready to burst out, but sohow everything remained perfectly balanced without seeming unnatural.

And then—

「Wow… You’ve really transford… You look like a fairy.」

「Is that supposed to be a complint, Captain?」

「Of course it is. I an it in the sense that you look ethereal, almost unreal.」

While there weren’t actual wings or anything, the pale blue fabric and ribbons suited Neve perfectly. It’s only natural, since the dress has been made specifically for her.

「As long as that’s what you an. I enjoy wearing pretty dresses, but the thought of becoming a spectacle is a bit discouraging.」

「Well, you’re gonna have to endure it. After all, it’s the perfect way to provoke the Bereverem Federation.」

「Sigh… I suppose you’re right. When you put it that way, it does make feel more willing to tolerate it.」

With that, Neve sat down next to . I was worried whether the delicate-looking dress could handle sitting on a sofa, but apparently the fabric was surprisingly durable despite its fragile appearance.

「Where are Elma and Serena?」

「Unlike us side characters, the two of them are the stars of the ceremony. Their fittings are taking more ti.」

「I see. Still, you say ‘side characters,’ but I have no intention of neglecting anyone here.」

「Yes. We know that very well, Hiro-sama.」

With a bright, dazzling smile, Mimi sat down on my other side and snuggled up to .

「That said, it does feel like things are going to change quite a bit going forward, doesn’t it?」

「Hmm, yeah… Ideally, I’d like to keep things mostly the sa as before, but realistically, that might not be possible.」

We still don’t know how Serena’s situation is going to unfold. And then there is Chris, who—whether she likes it or not—is tied to the Dareinwald domain.

Even if we move our base of operations to the Dareinwald territory, we’ll have to figure out how to continue our rcenary work from there.

Not to ntion deciding exactly how we’d set up base there. Should we rent or build a dock in one of the colonies? Or construct a facility with its own dock on the planet’s surface?

And even assuming I would still be allowed to roam around like before after we got married, I doubt we’ll be completely free. Chris understands well enough that I doubt she’d object, but it’s not just about Chris. There’s also Earl Dareinwald, his vassals, and Marquis Holz to consider.

I’d like to properly discuss these things with everyone involved, but that would require having a full conversation with Chris present as well. For now, I guess we’ll just have to see how the situation develops.