Sudah tiga hari sejak kita memburu bajak laut. Setelah itu, kita tak pernah lagi memburu bajak laut dan hanya dudah ngobengin di dalam Krishna saja.
Eh? Kita akankah selamat jika tak pernah bekerja, kamu bertanya? Memang kita punya cukup duit sekarang, dan ketika kapal induk sudah sampai, kita akan melakukan beberapa latihan manuver bareng Krishna, lalu kembali memburu bajak laut. Krishna siap, menilik dari kinerjanya di udara sebelumnya.
Namun, tak berarti kita selalu dudah di dalam Krishna saja. Aku pergi belanja dengan Mimi, mengunjungi bar dwarf dengan Elma, dan pergi ke benteng militer kerajaan dengan May untuk mengambil imbalan dari bajak laut yang baru saja kita musnahkan.
Imbalan dari para bandit dan keuntungan dari penjualan rampasan total 135.000 Enels. Imbalan dari buronan sebesar 112.000 Enels, dan keuntungan dari rampasan sebesar 23.000.
Gaji Mimi naik dari 0,5% menjadi 1%, jadi bagikannya 1.350 Enels. Gaji Elma tetap 3%, jadi bagikannya 4.050 Enels. Setelah mengurangi gaji mereka, bagianku sebesar 129.600 Enels.
Mungkin terlihat seperti aku yang mengambil sebagian besar keuntungan, tapi sebenarnya tidak begitu.
Kapal itu 100% milikku, dan aku juga bertanggung jawab sebagai pilot utama. Aku juga diwajibkan menyediakan makan, pakaian, dan tempat tinggal untuk mereka berdua, dan juga harus memberi manfaat tambahan, jadi sebenarnya ada banyak hal di piringku. Dengan mempertimbangkan itu semua, bagianku sebenarnya tidak terlalu mahal sama sekali. Serikat Tentara Bayaran yang menetapkan standar gaji ini, jadi aku rasa mereka tidak akan merugikan pihak manapun.
Jika kapal dimiliki bersama, persentase bagiannya akan cukup berbeda. Seberapa besar sumbangan seseorang untuk pembelian kapal utama tampaknya menjadi faktor utama dalam perhitungan distribusi imbalan.
"Akhirnya kita akan menerima kapal induk!"
Mimi bersorak ketertikan saat kita berjalan ke dermaga privat di mana kapal induk baru ditempatkan.
"Yeah. Terasa seolah-olah berbulan-bulan. Aku bertanya, sudah ada nama untuk kapal baru, Hiro?"
"Nama?…… Iya, kita seharusnya sudah memutuskan nama. Aku agak lupa."
Apa ya, apa ya yang cocok? Dulu waktu aku bermain game, aku tidak terlalu memilih nama dan biasanya pakai defaultnya.
"Skizbrazunil tidak boleh?"
"Tidak terlalu. Tapi, kamu tahu…… aku ingin yang punya karakter lebih kuat."
Karakter? Tapi Skizbrazunil terdengar agak hambek. Dan kebetulan, Skizbrazunil adalah nama yang diambil dari mitologi Nordik, sementara Krishna adalah nama seorang pahlawan dari mitologi India. Aku percaya dia adalah salah satu manifestasi Vishnu. Sulit untuk menciptakan nama yang harmoni dengan keduanya. Mereka benar-benja dari mitologi yang berbeda. Dan aku baru saja mengetahui asal-usul Krishna ketika aku mencari di internet secara kebetulan ketika aku pertama dapat kapal ini. Jika aku tidak melakukannya, aku tidak akan tahu sama sekali.
Hmm. Aku akan mencoba menciptakan sesuatu dari fakta trivia internet yang hampir saja kuhafal. Aku ingat satu.
"Bagaimana dengan Garuda?"
"Garuda?"
"Itu adalah nama seekor burung suci yang pernah melayani sebagai kuda untuk para dewa. Krishna memang dinamai setelah seorang manifestasi dewa, dan Vishnu, sebagai manifestasinya, mengendara di Garuda; seekor burung suci yang bersinar seperti nyala api yang indah."
Aku tidak benar-benar yakin apakah Vishnu benar-benar mengendara di Garuda, karena aku tidak mencarinya waktu itu, tapi siapa peduli.
"Seekor burung?…… Uhh, tapi kapal ini sebenarnya tidak terlalu mirip burung."
"……Memang benar."
Skizbrazunil adalah kapal yang tampak besar dan kuat, jauh dari kemewahan dan keanggunan yang dikaitkan dengan burung. Tentu saja tidak cocok.
"Hm. Bagaimana dengan Lotus?"
"Lotus? Itu nama dari tanaman, kan? Atau bunga?"
"Iya. Itu nama dari tanaman dan bunga yang dihasilnya. Di kampungku, dewa-dewa sering digambarkan duduk di atas bunga lotus."
Aku bicara tentang posisi lotus yang disebut. Dewa-dewa dan Buddha sering digambarkan duduk atau berdiri di atasnya dalam lukisan dan patung Buddha. Karena itu adalah tempat duduk untuk dewa, bukan? Aku rasa itu cocok.
"Tapi bunga lotus berwarna dari putih sampai merah muda, kan? kapal induk kita dominan hitam, jadi tetap tidak cocok."
"Kita cukup sebut saja Black Lotus. Nama itu terdengar megah. Mahal juga."
"Megah dan…… mahal……?"
"Lupakan saja."
Mimi memiringkan kepala dengan bingungan setelah mendengar kata-katuku. Ini adalah nama yang meningkatkan daya tarikan setidaknya tiga poin. Terutama bagi orang yang gemar mobil.
"Setidaknya Black Lotus terdengar lebih cocok dibandingkan Garuda."
"Iya, benar. Menamai setelah bunga juga cukup lucu."
"Baiklah. May, kamu juga setuju dengan namanya?"
"Iya."
May yang mengikuti kami, mengangguk pelan-pelan. Rambut dan mata May hitam. Seragam layanannya juga campuran putih dan hitam. Ternyata sangat tepat dengan namanya Black Lotus.
"Kami sudah menunggu kalian di sini."
Saat kita tiba di dermaga privat, kami menemukan Sara menunggu kami di sana. Ada orang lain bersamanya, tapi aku hanya mengenal Sara. Tentu saja, dwarven laki-laki di samping Sara agak familiar, mungkin dia adalah salah seorang pemilik perusahaan yang mengunjungi kami beberapa hari lalu bersamanya. Sebenarnya, semua dwarven laki-laki tumbuh jengger yang tebal, jadi agak sulit membedakan mereka.
"Hey. Akhirnya waktunya tiba, ya."
Setelah menyapa mereka, kuharumkan ke kapal induk baru: Skizbrazunil – Black Lotus. Ia jauh lebih besar dari Krishna. Krishna sudah cukup besar meskipun dikelompokkan sebagai kapal kecil, tapi bahkan dua dari itu tak bisa menandingi ukuran kapal di hadapanku.
Secara keseluruhan, bentuknya lancar meskipun gempal. Sebenarnya, ia memiliki banyak lengkungan, dan hampir seluruh halaman tidak datar sama sekali. Apakah memang dimaksud? Apakah ini berkaitan dengan stabilitas struktural atau sesuatu?"
Dari sisi, siluetnya agak mirip dengan senapan laser. Bagian depan yang menonjol, tampak seperti tiang persegi dengan sudut yang dilengkungkan. Berbagi senjata terbuka tersembunyi di bawah bagian perlindungan armor yang bisa digerakkan, yang akan meluncur ketika sistem senjata diaktifkan.
EML berkaliber besar dipasang di bagian atas fuselaj, dan juga cerdas tersembunyi dengan bagian armor yang bisa digerakkan. Saat di-deploy, armor akan meluncur ke sisi dan memperlihatkan bentuknya seperti senapan lainnya yang tersembunyi.
"Mm. Hebat. Kupas fisiknya sangat keren."
Wah, kapal baru membuat hatiku berdebar gembira. Black Lotus, yang dilengkapi dengan senjata tajam sesuai permintaan May, secara teknis lebih unggul dari Krishna dari segi kekuatan tempur.
EML itu sulit untuk digunakan, tapi bisa bersaing dengan senjata utama kapal perang militer. Bahkan Krishna tidak akan baik jika terkena langsung oleh sesuatu seperti itu. Untuk kapal bajak laut, mereka pasti akan berubah menjadi pecundang luar angkasa dalam sekejap.
Dari segi spesifikasi, ia menya rivali kapal perang kelas kapal induk kerajaan. Namun demikian, satu kapal masih tidak bisa menghadapi seluruh armada militer kerajaan, tidak peduli spesifikasinya. Militer kerajaan memiliki ribuan kapal yang setara atau bahkan lebih baik dari Black Lotus, jadi pasti kita kalah jika kita bertarung melawan kekuatan semacam itu.
Krishna hanya berhasil melawan armada Federasi Vereverem di sistem Termaine dulu karena menggunakan trik langka. Jika kita menghadapi armada itu secara langsung, kita pasti akan dihancurkan.
Jadi, bagaimana musuh akan menaklukkan Black Lotus? Sepertinya bagian bawah rongkaannya adalah titik buta, jadi jika mereka fokus menyerang di sana, ada kemungkinan untuk menenggelamkannya. Berbahaya memakai ini untuk bertarung secara langsung.
"Hiro-sama punya kilau tertentu di matanya."
"Para lelaki biasanya berkelakuan seperti anak kecil di depan kapal baru, Mimi."
"……Master itu lucu."
Aku terkejut dengan kata-katanya dan kuhalihkan pandangan ke arahnya. Mata Mimi dan Elma juga lebar dan mengikuti tanganku.
"Apa kabar?"
"Tidak ada, tidak ada."
Aku hanya terkejut dengan kata-katanya yang tak terduga. untuk membayangkan ia menyebutkanku lucu. Sekarang aku agak malu.
"Aku senang kalian semua suka."
Sara juga tersenyum lembut sementara mengamati aku yang bersorai berkata kapal baru ini. Aku bosen. Ini adalah kesalahan besar.
"Baiklah. Apa yang ingin kalian lakukan sekarang? Ikkita ke kokpit. Tapi sebelum itu, berhenti dulu di ruang istirahat dan ruang makan di sepanjang jalan."
"Okay."
"Baiklah."
Kami meninggalkan dua saudari di pekerjaannya dan berangkat mengikuti Sara lagi. Wah, kapal ini sangat besar. Seperti yang diharapkan dari sebuah kapal induk.
It’s been three days since we engaged in a pirate hunt. We didn’t engage in any more pirate hunting after that one time and just spent our time lounging around inside Krishna.
Eh? Will we be okay with not working, you ask? It’s not like we can’t afford to not have any income right now, and when the mothership gets delivered, we’ll perform some joint maneuver drills with Krishna, then get right back into pirate hunting. Krishna’s good to go, judging from its performance on the last sortie.
Well, it’s not like we just spent all of our time staying inside Krishna anyway. I went shopping with Mimi, visited dwarven bars with Elma, and went to the imperial military barracks with May in order to pick up the bounty rewards for the pirates we just exterminated.
The reward for the bandits and the profits from the sale of the plundered loot totaled 135,000 Enels. The bounty reward was 112,000 Enels, and the profit from the loot was 23,000.
Mimi’s salary increased from 0.5% to 1%, so her share of the money is 1,350 Enels. Elma’s salary was still 3%, so her share was 4,050 Enels. After subtracting their salaries, my share amounts to 129,600 Enels.
It may seem that I take a lion’s share of the profit, but that’s not really the case.
The ship was 100% mine, and I also served as the main pilot. I’m also obligated to provide food, clothing, and shelter for the two of them, and I needed to provide fringe benefits as well, so there’s actually a lot on my plate. Considering that, my share wouldn’t seem that unreasonable at all. The Mercenary Guild was the one that set the standard salary, so I don’t think they’d shortchange any party.
If the ship was jointly owned, the percentage of the shares would be quite different. How much one contributed to the purchase of the main ship seems to be a major deciding factor in the calculation of the reward distribution.
“We’re finally going to receive the mothership!”
Mimi squealed in excitement while we were on the way to the private dock where the brand new mothership was moored.
“Yeah. It sure felt like forever. By the way, have you decided on a name for the new ship, Hiro?”
“A name huh…… Right, we should have decided on a name. I kinda forgot.”
What would be good, I wonder. I wasn’t really particular with ship names back when I was playing the game and usually used the default ones.
“Is Skizbrazunil no good?”
“Not really. But, y’know…… I want one with more character.”
Character huh. But Skizbrazunil did sound a bit too plain. And come to think of it, Skizbrazunil was a name derived from Norse mythology while Krishna was the name of a hero in Indian myth. I believe he was one of Vishnu’s incarnations. It’s difficult to think up of a name that will harmonize the two. They’re from completely different mythologies after all. And I only managed to learn about Krishna’s origin when I searched the internet on a whim back when I first got the ship. If I didn’t do so, I wouldn’t have any idea about it at all.
Hmm. Let me try cooking something up using the internet trivia I barely remember. Oh, I think I got one.
“How about Garuda?”
“Garuda?”
“It’s the name of a sacred bird that served as a divine steed. Krishna is named after an incarnation of a god in the first place, and Vishnu, his persona as a god, rode the Garuda; a divine bird that shone as bright as brilliant flames.”
I actually don’t know for sure if Vishnu really rode on Garuda in the first place since I didn’t manage to search it up back then, but who cares anyway.
“A bird huh…… Um, but the ship really doesn’t look much like a bird though.”
“……Hm, you’re right.”
The Skizbrazunil was quite a beefy-looking ship and sported an appearance that was far removed from the grace and elegance associated with birds. It certainly didn’t fit huh.
“Hm. How about Lotus then?”
“Lotus? That’s the name of a plant, right? Or was it a flower?”
“Yep. It’s both the name of the plant and the flower it produces. In my hometown, gods were often depicted sitting on top of lotus flowers.”
I’m talking about the so-called lotus position. Gods and Buddha were often depicted sitting or standing on them in Buddhist murals and sculptures. Since it was a seat used by gods, wouldn’t it fit nicely? There’s a close relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism anyway.
“But lotus flowers range from white to pale pink, right? Our mothership is predominantly black, so it still doesn’t fit.”
“So we’ll just call it Black Lotus. It’s a pretty grand-sounding name. Expensive too.”
“Grand and… expensive……?”
“Nevermind that.”
Mimi tilted her head in bewilderment after hearing my remarks. It’s a name that raises the charm of anything by at least three points. That’s especially true for car nuts.
“Well, at least Black Lotus sounds more appropriate than Garuda.”
“Yes, that’s right. Naming it after a flower is kinda cute as well.”
“Okay then. Are you fine with the name too, May?”
“Yes.”
May, who was following after us, nodded quietly. May’s hair and eyes are black. Her maid uniform was also a mix of white and black. Her piloting a ship called Black Lotus was surprisingly on point.
“We’ve been waiting for you all.”
When we arrived at the private dock, we found Sara waiting for us there. There were others with her, but I only recognized Sara. Well, the male dwarf standing near Sara was kinda familiar, I guess. He may be one of the company bosses who paid us a visit along with her a couple of days back. Honestly speaking, male dwarves all sported dense beards, so it was kinda hard to differentiate them.
“Hey. It’s finally time huh.”
After greeting them, I looked up at the newly minted mothership; the Skizbrazunil – Black Lotus. It was several times larger than Krishna. Krishna was already pretty big despite being classified as a small ship, but even two of it wouldn’t compare to the size of the ship before me.
The overall form was streamlined despite its bulk. Actually, it had a lot of curves, and almost no part of the hull was completely flat. Was this intentional? Did it have to do with structural stability or something?
From the side, its silhouette kinda resembled that of a laser rifle. The bow, which protruded imposingly, was shaped like a rectangular pillar with rounded corners. The various gun emplacements were concealed beneath the movable armor sections, which would slide out once the weapon systems were deployed.
The large-caliber EML was mounted on the upper part of the fuselage, and it was also cleverly concealed with a large patch of moveable armor. When deployed, the armor will slide to the sides and reveal its form just like the other concealed turrets.
“Mm. Great. It looks really cool.”
Man, a new ship sure makes my male heart dance with glee. The Black Lotus, which was armed to the teeth at May’s behest, was technically superior to Krishna in terms of overall firepower.
The EML was difficult to wield, but it rivaled the main guns of military battleships in pure destructive power. Even Krishna wouldn’t fare well if it takes a direct hit from something like that. As for pirate ships, they’d definitely be turned into space debris in an instant.
In terms of specs, it rivals the cruiser class of imperial warships. However, one ship still wouldn’t be able to take on an entire imperial fleet, no matter its specs. The imperial military has thousands of ships that are comparable or better than Black Lotus, so we’d definitely lose if we picked a fight with that kind of force.
Krishna only managed to deal with the Vereverem Federation fleet back on the Termaine system due to employing some rare tricks. If we took on that fleet head-on, we would have been obliterated.
So how would enemies take down the Black Lotus? It looks like the lower hull was a blind spot, so if they focused their attacks there, it would be possible to sink it. It would be dangerous to use it in a direct exchange after all.
“Hiro-sama’s eyes have a certain twinkle to them.”
“Men generally act like little kids in front of new ships, Mimi.”
“……Master is so cute.”
I was surprised by May’s words and turned my gaze toward her. Mimi and Elma’s eyes also widened in surprise and followed suit.
“What is it?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
I was just surprised by her unexpected words. To think she’d describe me as cute. Now I’m getting kinda embarrassed here.
“I’m glad you all seem to like it.”
Sara also had a gentle smile on her lips as she observed me gushing over the new mothership. Ugh. What a blunder.
“Alright then. How about a tour inside?”
“Yeah, okay.”
We climbed the ramp that was brought down by Sara and boarded the ship. Part of the interior was renovated to a living space on par with Krishna’s, but the corridors we were currently walking on looked pretty standard. Even so, they displayed their expertise as ship makers by making sure the passages were reasonably wide and had no unnecessary protrusions that may cause accidents if one weren’t careful. It all felt quite refined, and it looks like you won’t get hurt that much even if you accidentally collide with the walls.
“It looks like the ship’s inner walls are covered with shock-absorbing material.”
Elma pointed out in amazement as she touched the white walls. I also tried touching it as well. It was a fascinating material. It lacked luster and felt like plastic. But if you put some pressure onto it, the material sinks. How should I describe it? Uh, fluid plastic? I wasn’t familiar with this type of material at all. Perhaps it’s a high-tech material only available in this dimension.
“Yes. This will make it less likely to get injured when one gets slammed onto the walls due to outside impact or sudden maneuvers. It also offers high thermal insulation which improves the ship’s overall energy efficiency.”
“I see. It would lessen the energy needed to run the air conditioning systems huh.”
“Precisely.”
After inspecting the mysterious texture of the walls, we proceeded to the hangar, which also doubled as a cargo hold.
“Oh, you finally came boss.”
“Good day, everyone.”
Tina and Whisker, who were both in work overalls, were already waiting within. Apparently, they were busy checking the equipment and supplies for maintenance and repairs.
“We will be in your care starting today. Please go easy on us, boss.”
“We’re looking forward to working with you all.”
Tina raised one hand in greeting and Whisker made a slight bow.
“Yeah. Likewise. Well, compared to staying on Krishna, staying on this ship will–”
I’m planning to use this as pirate bait, so it’s relatively risky to stay here. It had tough shields and thick armor, so I think it’ll be alright. It won’t go down that easily.
“–probably be safe. But memorize the evacuation routes and escape pod placements just in case.”
“You just made a strange pause boss!? You sure it’ll be okay?”
“It’s okay. Absolutely no problem!”
I can’t really tell them I’m planning to use the ship as pirate bait huh. Meh. I’ll just tell them later on. Hahaha.
I ignored Tina, who displayed a doubtful expression and checked out the hangar and cargo hold. It was very big and spacious. The Krishna’s cargo hold can’t even begin to compare. We’ll finally be able to take on some transport requests with this baby. We’ll be able to engage in trade as well. With this, our moneymaking options just multiplied severalfold.
“Let’s head to the cockpit next, everyone. But before that, let’s stop by the break hall and the dining hall along the way.”
“Okay. We’ll see you later guys.”
“Okey dokey boss.”
“Yes.”
We left the sisters to their work and started following after Sara once more. Man, this ship really is big. As expected of a mothership.
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