Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

Editor: Thor’s Stone

It seems we are going to have lunch at a different place today. Good grief. There is no winning against Alan’s desire for good food. I am of the opinion that the dishes Alan makes are the most delicious, but it seems Alan believes otherwise.

We went to a restaurant located near the Adventurer’s Guild. It looks like we were going to have our meals on one of the tables placed outside the store. To think we would dine with a full view of the bustling city streets outside. What a novel dining experience.

The food we were served with was certainly delicious. Compared to my time in the royal capital, it’s the first time I’d had local food this delicious. I did order a large serving, but it’s unfortunate that even with that, the amount of food served was lesser than your average restaurant.

“That was great. I was honestly not expecting the food to be this delicious.”

It looks like Alan was also fond of this stew. However, I still think the food Alan makes is the best.

“It certainly was quite delicious. But I still think Alan’s dishes are more…”

I started speaking but noticed a young girl approaching us from behind Alan. She was a very beautiful girl.

Those clothes!? They really resemble the clothes I saw Alan wear one time before! What is going on!?

The lady stood right behind Alan and started speaking. Those words!? They also resemble the words Alan spoke when we first met. It can’t be!?

Alan turned around and the young lady made a gesture resembling a salute while facing him. I am not familiar with this way of saluting.

“Y-Your affiliation?”

Alan seemed flustered as he posed a question to the young lady. Afterward, the young lady spoke in the language I am familiar with. However, I still could not understand the meaning of her words.

Red fleet? Spica Sector? 283rd Division? I do not believe any navy in this world has that many fleet divisions. Even the naval power, Degreet Empire, only has two active naval fleets. Something is definitely amiss. Iris Conrad? I could only understand a little bit of what the lady was talking about, such as her being some kind of soldier.

Just what is this lady saying?

“Is Iris alright?”

“Of course. We have been in search of you all this time.”

Just what is Iris? And ‘Your Excellency’? Is she referring to Alan?

“Um, Alan?”

“Um, sorry about that. She was one of my former subordinates.”

Subordinate? So Alan is actually a soldier!? Oh, I should have asked him about it when I had the chance.

After that, we went back to the inn. Alan and the lady called Selena kept silent along the way. When we arrived back at the inn, Alan said he would like to talk with Selena alone first. I wanted to listen in on their conversation, but it can’t be helped.

I went with Elna back to our room and waited.

“Elna, did you manage to understand what that young lady was talking about earlier?”

“No. Unfortunately not, milady. I did understand about her mentioning some sort of fleet though.”

“Is that so. It’s the same for me.”

Oh, I wonder just what Alan and her are talking about right now. I’m utterly curious.

After a little while more, we heard a knock on the door. Alan entered together with that lady.

He apparently came to introduce her to us. As I thought. Alan and this lady really were from the same country.

We introduced ourselves to each other, but this Selena lady seemed hateful for some reason. Alan said she will be joining us from now on.

I do not understand the need to include a lady from Goddess-knows-where into our party though. I cannot accept having her as a comrade before getting to know her better.

“Alan, just who is Selena?”

It did seem rude to ask another person when the person in question was just in front of me, but I cannot rest easy if I do not confirm it.

“I told you about coming to this continent on a ship before, right? That ship has sunk, but she’s one of the crew members of that ship.”

“Is that all she is, Alan?”

“Hm? Yes. Why?”

“Really?”

“The one called Cleria over there. I’ve been thinking about this since earlier, but your conduct is overly familiar. And, moreover, to think that you have the gall to doubt His Excellency’s words.”

It was the first time I was addressed in such a blatantly rude manner! I was so shocked that I couldn’t react for a few moments.

It seems the one she refers to as ‘His Excellency’ really was Alan. But Alan told us he wasn’t a noble. In other words, she was addressing him as such because he was a high ranking officer in the military? In the Starveek Kingdom, the only officers referred to as such were our generals. Alan was a military general!?

“You! Just who do you think you’re speaking to!?” Elna exclaimed.

“Just who is this Cleria?”

She actually mimicked my tone earlier. And she did sound quite similar too.

“I will have you know that Cleria-sama is the crown princess of the Starveek Kingdom!”

“Hmph. Compared to His Excellency’s esteemed self, a mere princess of a kingdom is far too…”

Alan got in between the two of them in a panic.

Elna ended up revealing my former status, but the lady called Selena didn’t seem to be fazed one bit.

I became curious about Selena’s words. ‘Compared to His Excellency’s esteemed self, a mere princess of a kingdom’ was what she said. Alan cut in halfway, so she couldn’t finish her sentence, but this basically means that Selena thinks Alan’s status was greater than a princess of a kingdom.

What does this mean? In most countries, a princess surely ranks higher than a general. And even if Alan was part of the royal family, we would be of the same rank at most. Was Alan actually a king!? No, that can’t be. The address of ‘His Excellency’ will not be appropriate if he was the ruler of a nation, and a king certainly cannot serve as a military general at the same time. Ah, there is too much I do not understand.

It seems Alan wants us to introduce ourselves to each other again.

After we did so, Alan confessed his standing himself. And it seems Selena also has a sister, and that sister was also coming here.

I looked at Selena once more. She really was an incredibly beautiful lady. Her age seems to be the same as mine. Could her sister also possess such beauty? I felt frustrated for some reason I could not quite place.

And it seems like Alan really was a soldier. And surprisingly, the fine clothes Selena was wearing was actually a standard military uniform. Clothes of such fine make were actually military uniforms? It just seemed so unbelievable.

Alan and Selena went over to the inn Selena booked in order to get her things. Oh! There’s just so much I need to process.

It seems the inn Selena booked was located near the Adventurer’s Guild. We really didn’t need to go get her baggage right now, but the atmosphere back there was bad for some reason, so I took the opportunity to get them off each other’s backs for a bit to allow them some time to cool their heads. I really didn’t need to come as well, but I guess I could help carry the stuff if they turned out to be a lot. It was part of an officer’s duty to ensure their subordinate’s well being after all. Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve had some female subordinates.

“Your attitude back there was quite unbecoming, Selena.”

“I am truly sorry. It was just that I couldn’t stand their attitude toward you Alan, so I flared up.”

“I don’t think the way Cleria and Elna were treating me had issues though. I’ll be happy if you can treat me casually like the two of them do as well, Selena.”

“Is that really alright!? …N-No, um… As I thought, I really cannot bring myself to do such a thing.”

“You really don’t need to speak all formal with me you know. It may not be appropriate in our capacity as commanding officer and subordinate, but at least drop the honorifics while we’re on this planet, alright?”

“…I shall think about it.”

“By the way, how did you manage to procure money?”

“The drones have managed to analyze the specifications of the currency used in this planet. They were manufactured inside the ship’s material workshop based on the collated data.”

“In other words, you used counterfeit currency!? Well, I guess it’ll be alright as long as the material composition is the same.”

That means that if I manage to record the material composition of the white gold coins I heard of a while back, I would be able to produce such currency. It would be great if I can somehow get a hold of some white gold coins then.

“You did bring other clothes aside from your uniform, right? Change into one of them once we get to the inn.”

“………Understood.”

“Hm? Is there a problem with that?”

“Um… The clothes aren’t cute at all.”

The reason for her hesitancy in changing her clothes made me gawk. Oh boy. I guess in these aspects, she really was a young girl just like her appearance suggests.

“The uniform stands out too much. You really do have to change.”

“Understood.”

When we arrived at the inn, Selena headed to her room and came out with a considerable amount of luggage. Most of it seems to be water and emergency rations though.

“Please take this, Alan.”

Selena handed me a portable communicator she brought with her. The portable comm was about twenty centimeters long and five centimeters wide. At first glance, it looked like a simple metal plate.

“This is a spare I brought with me in order to give to you, Alan.”

“Oh, nice! This is great. Thanks. And those clothes actually suit you after all, don’t they?”

“Is that so!? Thank you very much.”

Selena smiled happily.

Selena said she could carry the luggage herself, but I insisted we split the load and went back to the inn I was staying at. The luggage was fairly heavy. Just what are contained inside these anyway?

“Alan, I managed to detect traces of Nanoms from that Cleria person earlier.”

“Oh, right. I made her ingest them. It was an emergency since her arm and leg were bitten off.”

I told Selena about how I met Cleria and our journey up until now.

“Are you not going to retrieve the Nanoms from Cleria?”

“I don’t think it’s a problem, really. She would be no different from a normal human as long as I don’t give them an order to create an interface anyway. Because it’s forbidden for civilians to use Nanoms, it’d probably always stay that way.”

We kept conversing until we got back to the inn.

“Selena, would you be fine to share a room with Sharon?”

“Yes, there’s no problem.”

“Sara-chan, is there still a double room available?”

“There is. Um, is she your friend, Alan-san?”

“Well, she’s more of a comrade than a simple friend.”

“Is that so? Here’s the key then. The room is just beside the one Ria and Elna are staying at. And there’s no need to pay for the accommodations, by the way.”

“No, I’ll pay for the room, alright.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that. Father will grill me.”

“……Can you call Verse out for a sec then?”

“Hey there, Alan. It looks like your comrades increased huh.”

“Yes, that’s how it is. I’ll pay for their room, by the way.”

“No, I can’t accept that.”

“Why!? Just take my money!”

“Nope, Alan. You’re the benefactor of this inn. I will never charge even a single coin from you or your comrades from now on.”

“Benefactor? But I don’t think I did anything that grand though.”

“As you know, this is the first time in years since this inn has been packed with this many guests. And it’s all thanks to you.”

“But that’s because this inn is a great inn. And we really shouldn’t occupy three rooms for free, right?”

“Now look here, Alan. We’ve managed to keep our business even in the times when we only had just one guest staying over. We’ll make a tidy profit in case there’s two.

But look at today’s situation. Honestly, We’ve made so much money that I can’t help myself from laughing out loud you know.

And thanks to the delicious food, we’re also clearing out our stock of alcohol quite fast.

Furthermore, the guests keep on making their next reservations before they check out.

That’s a first for this inn ever since it was opened you know. In other words, the guests are actually thinking that the inn might be full the next time they come over.

All of this is thanks to you. So don’t be a stranger and stay as much as you like.”

“I think it’s thanks to Verse’s cooking skills though. Well, since you’ve said that far, I guess I have no choice but to indulge in your kindness. Thank you.”

“Ou. No problem.”