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

Chapter 418: Let’s Get Involved in a Big Way

“Anyway, I’m glad you guys are safe.”

『It’s all thanks to you, big bro.』

The blonde-haired, crew cut-sporting Heinz and the purple-haired pudding-head Sieg were displayed bowing toward me on the holoscreen. I don’t remember agreeing to become your big bro, but…… I suppose it’s fine. I’ll just let them pay their respects. Guys like them apparently place importance on stuff like this, so whatever.

“Who attacked you guys in the first place? It would be easier if they were simply small-time punks who were blinded by the temptation of getting supplies.”

『They were definitely punks who were drooling over the supplies, but……』

Oi, what’s with that ominous pause? Heinz was averting his gaze. And Sieg seemed agitated. His face was practically screaming ‘This is bad!’

“Judging from your expressions, I more or less get the gist. It’s something really troublesome, right?”

『Well, yes. That’s right. The ones backing those guys are rumored to be from outside, so……』

“Guys from outside? You mean pirates?”

『It’s just a rumor. They say those guys can get their hands on stuff that aren’t normally available here, and that they can sell people off of the colony.』

“I don’t think it’s good for people like that to be acting in the shadows in this situation…… By the way, I also heard that a high-quality drug was making the rounds in the colony.”

Uh, didn’t Dr. Shouko suspect that people were getting infected by the pandemic through those drugs in question? I remember her mentioning something to that effect. Well, whatever.

『You sure are well-informed, big bro. Yeah, those guys are the ones who are spreading those drugs around. They sell them to people who can’t afford proper treatment, telling them that it’ll help with forgetting the pain and suffering.』

“And when those sick people kick the bucket, they’ll be around to collect the corpses?”

『Eh? Right…… How’d you know?』

“Weren’t you aware? Those pathogenic mushrooms apparently reproduce by feeding on corpses.”

『……In other words, after distributing those drugs, they’ll also end up collecting raw materials for making even more drugs afterward.』

“That’s what we think.”

It’s just an educated guess based on the clues we found, but I don’t think it’s far off the mark. I wouldn’t be surprised if that really was the case since those guys were involved with space pirates.

“But I don’t get why they’d go out of their way to attack you…… Is there a person there who they are willing to go to such lengths to kill?”

『Honestly, I don’t really get what those crazy guys are thinking…… The ones who attacked us were punks who got baited with the promise of drugs as a reward. They aren’t actually official members.』

“Well, that certainly does sound troublesome……”

In other words, those crazy people didn’t get directly involved but were using people desperate for the drugs as cannon fodder. They probably didn’t even directly order those desperate guys to attack the orphanage. Instead, they probably just told them to go and rob anything that can be sold for money or something to that effect. Then they conveniently pointed out that the orphanage seemed to be doing pretty well.

“Damn. This is really troublesome. Do you guys know where their home base is?”

『I do know where their hideout is, but I’m not sure if it’s where they keep their goods or produce the drugs. Big bro, don’t tell me you’re planning to–』

“I just think it would be best if we cleaned them out completely. Especially if they are connected with space pirates.”

We can just find out where they’re storing their goods and manufacturing the drugs by investigating their hideout after crushing them. In the worst case, we can spare one guy and forcefully scour his brain for info. Of course, I’m not the one who’s gonna do the scouring. I’ll leave that stuff to Hartmut.

『W-Well, you do have a point, bro.』

“Since they dared to get involved with pirates, there’s no need for any negotiations or mercy.”

『Ya sure are extreme, bro.』

“I think you’d agree with me once you get a good look at those poor victims whose limbs got cut off by pirates just so they could turn them into avant-garde ‘art displays’ stuffed inside containers in order to extract raw materials from them.”

When Sieg heard my words, he got creeped out and muttered “Eh……? The heck? That’s damn terrifying……” under his breath. Yeah, I get that. My brain also refused to register that scene at first when I witnessed it for real after coming to this world.

“Start getting some more info on those bastards, but make sure not to push yourselves too much. We’ll start making preparations for cleaning them out on our end. If you manage to identify the exact location of either their manufacturing base or storage warehouse, I’ll give you guys 5000 Enels as a reward. If you manage to locate both, I’ll give you 10,000. But remember, no taking unnecessary risks.”

『Understood, Big Bro. The bots can keep this place safe on their own, so the two of us will go ahead and start investigating.』

“Yeah. Don’t you dare die on me though.”

I’d find it a bit hard to take if these guys died because of the job I gave them after all.

“So, this is the specialized vaccine huh?”

Hartmut couldn’t help but sigh in a moved manner as he looked at the items that resembled dry cell batteries all lined up neatly inside a case – each containing a vaccine amount that was enough for five people.

It’s been an hour since the call with Heinz and Seig through the combat bot. I brought Elma, Mei, and Dr. Shouko and paid Hartmut a visit.

“They are designed to be used with a standard syringe, so I don’t think you’ll find it difficult to administer them. Since the vaccine is formulated with nanomachines, there’s no problem with storing them at room temperature.”

“Understood. This storage device contains the manufacturing data, correct?”

“Indeed. I also included the data for the required facilities and equipment.”

Perhaps due to the other party being a genuine noble, Dr. Shouko’s tone seemed to be a bit more formal than usual. It’s kinda strange, to be honest. I suppose she’s just trying not to sound rude.

“It will take a few days to verify its effectiveness, and another few days to complete the set-up for mass production, so please do your best.”

“Of course. If I still can’t manage to bring the situation under control even after all of this, then my father will probably disown me and send me away to some godforsaken corner of the galaxy.”

“Sure sounds like a strict father…… So, now it’s your turn to lend me a hand.”

“Alright. You can do whatever you wish as long as it’s within my authority to permit it.”

“Whatever, eh. No takebacks, okay?”

I was probably displaying a really villainous smirk. After all, Hartmut flinched for a bit after seeing my expression. C’mon man. You don’t have to be that on guard. It’s gonna be fine! Fine, I tell ya! I’m just gonna make a bit of a mess! Just a bit. Really!

Well, that’s how it is. I told Hartmut that the facility we asked him to protect had been attacked and that the organization behind the attack in question likely had deep ties with space pirates.

“I see…… So, what are you planning on doing, exactly?”

“We’re gonna crush them.”

“Eh?”

“In other words, we’re gonna kill every single one of them.”

“N-Now hold on a moment.”

“After all, filth needs to be cleaned out. Isn’t that right?”

“Can we talk this out first?”

“You did say I can do whatever I wished, right? A proud imperial noble like you couldn’t possibly go back on his word, yeah?”

“……If you say it like that, then it seems I have no other choice on the matter.”

Great. I managed to push through.

“I mean, isn’t this a good opportunity? You’ve just been assigned here Hartmut, so you still have nothing tying you down. If we attack their hideout and squeeze info out from some of them, we can definitely confirm their connection to space pirates. We might even find that some of those staying in the upper block have ties with them as well. Now’s the perfect opportunity for doing something like this, while things are still chaotic. Isn’t that right?”

“You know, Lord Hiro. As an imperial noble, I am supposed to be a keeper of law and order……”

“Those who cooperate with space pirates will be subjected to capital punishment anyway. I believe we have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to stuff like this.”

“Well…… I suppose you have a point.”

“You can even package this into an epic tale of heroism. Isn’t it good for imperial nobles to have one or two stories like that to their name?”

“R-Right……”

In the end, I succeeded in convincing Hartmut and secured some troops to attack the criminal hideout. Hartmut managed to bring a large number of private soldier’s from his father’s territory, so I took advantage of that.

Now, all that’s left is to get in touch with Heinz and Sieg before attacking that hideout.

There’s a high chance of getting the info I tasked the two of them to find inside the hideout, so it’s not like contacting them was essential.

However, I couldn’t just keep stirring stuff up while remaining in the background. I also had to show some courage and initiative on my end after all.