Chapter 47

The strategy meeting ended with lingering doubts, and finally, the pirates drew near.

The pirate flags of various sizes seemed to glare at them as they approached.

"Alright! Everyone, stay calm! Lure them in well, and start firing on my signal!"

The man of the ecclesiastical rank encouraged the people in the convoy and gave instructions.

After a few minutes of silence, the pirates communicated over the open channel.

"Listen up, you prey! We are the ones who can even make crying children shut up—‘Now! Fire all at once!’"

Just as the pirate boss was speaking, the man of the ecclesiastical rank gave the signal, and the simultaneous firing began.

Even though they were rock-breaking beams, the nearly 150 ships firing at once created a rain of light.

The ones at the front, perhaps caught off guard, were hit and sunk beautifully.

Myself and the mercenary called Bat took advantage of the pirates' surprise and successfully flanked them.

However, we would attack only after they split into two or three groups.

Otherwise, it would be meaningless.

"Damn it! You're playing us! Flank them from the side!"

As expected, the pirates split into two groups.

Still, I wondered if the pirate's strategy was leaking to us, was it really okay?

Since the pirates split into two groups, there was only one thing to do.

"Alright! I'll take the right with the flagship! You take the left!"

"Understood."

Thus, almost simultaneously, we fired positron torpedoes at the last ships, causing spectacular explosions.

"Now! Go!"

With that signal, the eight ships on the convoy side launched a simultaneous attack, starting to fire rock-breaking beams in two directions.

Could we win if we pressed on like this? I thought, but it wasn't that easy.

The pirates split into two groups, and despite the last ship being heavily damaged, they reorganized, put up barriers on the large ships, and began to slowly approach the convoy.

Of course, we had a countermeasure.

Simply retreat while continuing to fire rock-breaking beams.

However, this was only a time-buying strategy.

The man of the ecclesiastical rank was trying to keep the situation under control by giving orders and encouragement to the people in the convoy, but it was only a matter of time.

Moreover, there was a possibility that the pirate spy mixed in with the convoy might take some action.

Just as I thought we were in a tight spot, a heat source approached from above the pirates.

So I hurriedly moved away from the pirates.

The heat source caused the pirates' ships to be destroyed one after another.

It was undoubtedly a simultaneous firing from the fleet.

And without a moment's delay,

"To the pirates! We are the Second Fleet of the Galactic Empire!

If you resist, we will turn you into cosmic dust with another strike!

Choose either resistance or surrender!"

A young man, probably the fleet commander, issued a warning to the pirates.

It seems they had listened to our report and the convoy's alert.

However, the naval bombardment without prior notice to us was harsh.

If our reaction had been slow, we would have been in trouble.

This is where the Second Fleet differs from the Seventh Fleet.

Immediately after, the police arrived, and the pirates were all arrested.

The Second Fleet handed over all the processing to the police and quickly left the scene.

Then the police divided their actions: escorting the arrested pirates, cleaning up the debris, and leading and guarding the convoy.

The reason for the escort was that there might be remnants who could attack.

But I think that's usually the job of the military.

After a half-day's journey, we arrived at the planet Nachirema.

In the lobby of the spaceport, the convoy's leader came to thank the ten people who had fought.

"Thank you all so much! I never thought we could fight the pirates to that extent!"

The leader seemed excited that they had managed to scare the pirates a bit.

"As mercenaries hired to escort, we only expect our reward."

"Of course, you can expect it!"

The leader was smiling and shaking the hand of the man of the ecclesiastical rank.

Then he approached me and the suspected pirate sisters.

"Also, I have this for you. I don't have much on hand, but please accept this small amount."

He handed us an envelope containing 200,000 credits in cash.

"Thank you."

"Well, it's better than nothing."

"Excuse me, Sheila."

The suspected pirate sisters took the envelope boldly and checked the contents.

Just as I was thinking about how to identify them as pirates,

"Alright, I want to dismiss everyone here."

A companion of the man of the ecclesiastical rank restrained the suspected pirate sisters.

"What are you doing!"

"No! Let go!"

"Shut up! You pirates! I let you off during the emergency, but I won't show mercy now that I know you're pirates!"

"Where's your proof!"

"It hurts! It hurts!"

The suspected pirate sisters glared at the man of the ecclesiastical rank, but he and his companions only glared back sternly.

The companions of the man of the ecclesiastical rank also took the envelopes from the suspected pirate sisters.

They were ruthless.

They probably left the sisters alone to get the reward for themselves.

I was curious about how they identified the sisters as pirates, but I had something I had to do.

"Hey, can I ask a question?"

"What is it!?"

The man of the ecclesiastical rank looked at me irritably.

"What is the reason you determined they are pirates?"

"A victim of these two was known to the client, and we identified them."

At the same time, a young man stepped forward and glared at the suspected pirate sisters.

"You made me suffer a lot by stealing my belongings!"

The older sister turned her gaze away, and the younger sister glared at the man unhappily.

From their reactions, it seemed the young man was indeed a victim.

"I see. Then, did the victim file a request with the Mercenary Guild?"

"No, I didn't have the money to file a request."

"Then, the request I received was filed by someone else."

With this information, the rest was simple.

I doubt the man of the ecclesiastical rank and his companions would listen even if I said I had my eye on them first, and it would be less trouble to let them take the credit.

Just as I was thinking this, a complaint came from the other side.

"What's with you? Trying to steal our credit?"

The man of the ecclesiastical rank sneered at me.

Well, I expected as much.

"I'm not trying to steal credit. First, I received a request to capture these two and have been investigating. I identified them during the large-scale pirate attack but didn't capture them because I wasn't sure.

Then, you identified and captured them as pirates.

In such cases, it's considered 'capture due to external factors,' and the request I received is invalid with no penalty. The bounty is paid to the captor.

I'm just confirming this to smooth things over.

As someone of the ecclesiastical rank, you should know this, right?"

If I had taken them away right in front of them, it would be different, but they didn't know I was after the sisters, and I was considering capturing them after the meeting, so there was nothing I could do.

"You said you received a request? Are you a mercenary?"

The man of the ecclesiastical rank asked if I was a mercenary, looking flustered.

"Yes. I belong to a different branch. By the way, do you know about the 'capture due to external factors' procedure?"

"Oh! Right, right! Yes, proceed with that!"

He clearly didn't know about it.

In any case, I would contact the Mercenary Guild and the police.

"...Alright. The procedures are complete. Please report to your guild and claim your reward. The police are coming... Ah, they're here."

Surprisingly, the police arrived quickly.

They were probably on the escorting ship.

The police quickly arrested the pirate sisters.

The sisters were yelling, but there was no way they could escape.

Then, a companion of the man of the ecclesiastical rank glared at me, as if to say, "Why did you do this?"

They probably intended to enjoy the sisters and then hand them over to the police or sell them.

It's a serious crime, and in some cases, it could be considered harboring a criminal, but they probably don't understand that.

I wonder if they are really of the ecclesiastical rank.

Before that, I doubt they are even real mercenaries.

Well, I won't pursue it.

And without knowing this,

"Give up, Cloa. It's much better to be caught by a geek than by someone like that."

"Yes... A somewhat handsome guy is better for you, Sheila."

"Cloa... What do you mean by that?"

"Ah! Sorry, Sheila!"

The beautiful pirate sisters were very happy not to be caught by me.

"Then, I'll be going."

I left the scene.

It's best to escape before getting involved.

UNKNOWN Side: Ecclesiastical Rank Bishops

Inside a large cargo ship, seven people were celebrating with glasses of alcohol in hand.

"Still, it went well!"

"Those pirates were really stupid!"

"If that damn otaku hadn't interfered, we could have had some fun too..."

"But that otaku is really a mercenary..."

As they were talking freely, the image on the monitor in the room suddenly changed.

"Good work."

At that moment, they all stood up and saluted.

"The plan you proposed, using civilians as bait to pass information to the pirates, and then letting the civilians fight and exhaust them before we wiped them out, worked well. Return and wait for further instructions."

The young man on the monitor said this and was about to cut the communication.

"Give us a break. We missed out on the fun."

One of the men made a request, and

"Do not do unnecessary things. You just need to follow orders from above."

The young man looked displeased and immediately cut the communication.

Then the monitor was hit with a glass.

"Damn it! Just because he became a commander due to his father, he acts so high and mighty!"

"Hey, let's go kill that damn otaku for some fun!"

"Calm down."

They showed their anger and suggested ways to relieve stress, but the man of the ecclesiastical rank advised against it.

"Stop drawing attention. Let them have their moment in the spotlight for now. For now."

With these words, everyone calmed down and smiled wickedly.

UNKNOWN Side: End

I'm not good at writing battle scenes.

I would appreciate any comments, feedback, or corrections.

I made some minor adjustments.