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

Chapter 245: 245

I woke up to find the mechanic sisters firmly glued onto each of my arms. My arms ain’t hugging pillows you know? But well, they were warm, soft, and smelled kinda nice, so it wasn’t actually a bad thing, I guess. I wonder why the girls almost always smelled nice. Was it due to the shampoos and conditioners they were using? We used the same stuff in this inn so that probably wasn’t it. How mysterious.“Ara, you guys sure are getting along pretty well over there.”

“How nice.”

After noticing I was awake already, Elma and Mimi, who both woke up ahead of us, turned back to get a peek. Both of them were still wearing their nightclothes.

“We were thinking of taking a bath before getting dressed for the day. Did we startle you awake?”

“No, I woke up by myself. I guess I’ll take a morning bath too.”

After saying so, I moved my arms in order to wake up the sleeping sisters, and they started to stir while mumbling softly.

“Mornin’.”

“Good morni–!?”

“Waa–♪”

After realizing her current state, Whisker let out a weird-sounding yelp and frantically rolled away from me. C’mon. There’s no need to be that surprised y’know.

Whisker ended up rolling in Mimi’s direction, so she cheerfully secured Whisker with a sunny smile on her face. Whisker was technically the older of the two but just based on physical appearance alone, Mimi was the one who looked older. And due to that, Mimi wasn’t all that reserved when interacting with the sisters. In other words, she doted on them pretty naturally.

“Whisker-chan’s cheeks sure are springy.”

“Nyaa–!”

Whisker, who got caught by Mimi’s evil claws, had her cheeks repeatedly poked. She turned sideways and started squirming uncomfortably like a small animal. I guess I better wake up her older sister as well. She was still clinging onto my arm even now. Man, she’s even latched her legs onto me.

“Lemme laze around a bit more–”

“I’m gonna take a morning bath, okay. You can go and take a bath together with Elma and the others, Tina.”

“Eeh, I wanna take a bath with you–”

“Wake up already, will you. Just the image of me washing every inch of your body in the bath already reeks of crime. Yep. That’s absolutely out of the question.”

“But why? I already told ya I’m a genuine adult lady, Boss.”

“In the eyes of the general public, you guys still look like kids and– What the heck are you doing?”

Tina pressed herself on my arm even tighter and started squirming around. A soft and fluffy feeling got transmitted to my arm through her thin sleepwear. T-This fellow……! She was wearing a nightie but wasn’t wearing any underwear!? Ugh, she’s unexpectedly stacked dammit.

“Take this! How’s that? Can ya still say I’m a kid after this, Boss?”

“Ok, ok, I give already, dammit. You’re a perfectly mature lady, Tina. But this just makes bathing together with me even more of a no-go, doesn’t it?”

“Really?”

“Really.”

I heavily nodded in reply to the perplexed Tina.

“Alright, that’s enough comedy skits for now. Hurry up and get your morning preparations done, guys.”

“Okay, mama.”

“Who’s your mama!?”

“Hiro-sama! P-Please call me ‘mama’ as well!”

“Whoah!?”

I was only joking around, but Mimi latched on to the idea instantly. Uh, why are you getting so excited, young lady? Or rather, you’re getting a little too excited and Whisker’s face is getting buried deep between your breasts. She looks like she’s about to suffocate, so calm down already, okay?

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Good morning.”

After getting ready and coming down to the lobby, we found the silver-haired elven lady, Lilium, who served as our guide yesterday, sitting on a sofa and fiddling with a tablet terminal. She called out to us the moment she noticed us.

She wasn’t wearing her sexy native dress resembling a Chinese qipao today, but a normal-looking outfit instead.

“You’re not wearing that native dress today huh.”

“Yes. Would you prefer me wearing that instead?”

“Nah, the one you’re wearing is better for my heart, actually.”

A man is a simple creature. Their eyes are just naturally drawn to bare legs that peak out from high-slit dresses that showcase the body’s curves. I already had Mimi, Elma, and Mei of course, but even so, my eyes are still drawn to such sights. It’s simply inevitable.

“I think it’s better that we drop the clothes topic now. If we go any further, it might seem like I’m sexually harassing you after all.”

“Fufu, understood. If it’s alright with you, I’ll be serving as your guide today as well.”

“We’d appreciate that, of course, but is that really alright?”

“Yes. It was an order from the higher-ups after all.”

“The higher-ups huh. Come to think of it, what’s your actual job anyway, Lilium?”

Lilium gently smiled after hearing my question.

“I’m a member of the Rose clan’s main branch, the Rose house. To put it simply, I’m an employee working for the department in charge of foreign affairs in the Elven Autonomous Region. So I’m actually a civil servant you know.”

“I see?”

So the staff members of the Department of Foreign Affairs here also handle welcoming state guests and guiding them around huh? Well, Refill IV seems to be treated as an autonomous region governed by the elves, so it wasn’t that strange that a specialized foreign affairs department that handles all that stuff exists.

“Basically, the Rose clan handles all things pertaining to outside relations here on Theta, or rather, Refill IV. Be it foreign affairs, the star system’s defense measures, trade with the outside, or attracting tourists. We’re in charge of all of them. Basically, we have a wide range of responsibilities.”

“Hee. But that sure sounds pretty tough though.”

“It is. But our gains are also equally substantial.”

“The risks too, I bet.”

“Ahaha……”

After all, if they mess up during negotiations with outside powers or fail to defend the system from interlopers, they’d have to take full responsibility. In fact, according to what Mei told me, they were already being heavily criticized for the recent incident.

“Well, it’s not like that has anything to do with us right now anyway. We’ll be more than glad to have you guide us again.”

“Yes, please leave it to me. Do you have some places in mind? My personal recommendation would be the zoo and botanical garden where you can witness Theta’s various flora and fauna. You still haven’t managed to see all of the art gallery’s exhibits as well, so you can also choose to continue your tour of it as well.”

After making suggestions, Lilium turned the screen of her tablet terminal toward us. The screen displayed images of cute furball-like creatures and ferocious-looking half-reptilian beasts.

“That sounds pretty good. I do have somewhere I want to visit though.”

“Of course. We’ll bring you wherever you wish to visit. What kind of place would you like to visit?”

“I want to visit a soft drink factory if possible. It would be nice if it’s the factory of a well-known brand. It would also be nice if they’re offering samples to guests.”

“A soft drink maker’s factory?”

Lilium tilted her head in puzzlement. It kinda seemed like she was inwardly asking what my business was in a place like that. But for me, it was pretty important. Yep, very very important.

“If that’s the case, then we’ll need to visit an alcohol brewery too.”

“Ooh, a brewery huh.”

“That sounds pretty nice.”

The heavy drinkers have made their move as well.

Ugh, three to one is unfair guys! Since there are more of you, your request might be prioritized over mine!

“Um, then, I want to go to a place where we can eat local delicacies for lunch. Preferably, somewhere that serves delicious food please.”

Mimi raised her request in a reserved manner. Yeah, it was important to emphasize the ‘delicious’ part. After all, we tried a local specialty in the past only to find out that we got served the unprocessed contents of food cartridges. Needless to say, it was absolutely terrible.

“Um…… Let’s see. There’s a food processing factory near the boundary between the Rose and Minfa clans, so we can go and pay that a visit. They offer a factory tour for visitors after all.”

“Ok, let’s go with that plan.”

I better tell Lilium about my search for carbonated drinks along the way as well. Elma did say she drank a medical infusion that tasted like root beer on this planet before, so I’m sure they have something at least similar to that here.

Please let there be. Pretty please!