Chapter 4 - Neutral Colony Greta That Refuses Port Entry, and the Elf Lady in Gothic Lolita Maid Outfit
~Space Zone Around the Fifteenth Planet of the Betasia Star System, Gialpha Galaxy~
Inside Sangou, a meeting via monitor was continuing from the previous chapter between Captain Jin and the three elf sisters, represented by Rouj, the eldest daughter of the Betasia Count Household.
Rouj, despite being a daughter of the Count household, had no authority because she was not the head of the family.
Despite the fact that there were matters she had no choice but to request of Jin as a member of the Betasia Count Household, Rouj, in her position, was unable to clearly present the compensation to be paid.
This stemmed from the frustration of having few personal assets at her disposal and a narrow scope of decision-making authority.
Unfortunately, all three sisters present there, including Rouj, had few personal assets they could freely use.
Of course, as daughters of a noble house, they did possess a respectable amount of personal property that would not bring shame to their family.
However, that was insufficient for personally commissioning a warship, which Jin apparently owned, with a family matter.
They had to present compensation at least equal to or greater than what they would pay a mercenary through a mercenary guild.
Moreover, this was a direct request to Jin without going through a mercenary guild as an intermediary.
Normally, in such cases, common sense dictated that thirty to fifty percent of the compensation be paid in advance.
Furthermore, the three sisters had been passengers aboard the transport ship Beta One, belonging to the Count's territory's military, when it was attacked by bandits and sunk, and they were rescued from that state, having their lives saved.
Thus, they were also obligated to pay Jin compensation for that incident.
At the same time, the current situation of the three sisters was extremely unfavorable from an external perspective.
Because objectively viewing the situation, they were practically captives aboard an unidentified privately-owned ship.
In a place beyond the reach of others' eyes, no matter how they were treated, the likelihood of that leaking out was extremely low.
Generally, Elf women had an abnormally high value as sexual objects from the perspective of human men, who were of the same race as Jin.
As a racial trait, from the viewpoint of human men, all Elf women were supernaturally beautiful.
In addition, their average lifespan exceeded five times that of humans, and after growing into adult bodies over nearly twenty years from birth, they maintained that state for a long time.
In short, they could live for several hundred years maintaining their adult body, with almost no aging until the final few decades, making them a dream cheat race from the values of human men.
Their only notable drawbacks were two major points:
Low pregnancy rates, making it hard to bear children, and modest chest armor.
The three sisters had learned of this reality through their education.
In fact, without any bias, the three sisters were too beautiful to be merely good-looking.
All three had flawlessly beautiful faces, ice-blue eyes, lustrous thin pink lips in their natural state, and shining straight golden hair that covered their shoulder blades.
Their bare skin was spotless, and its color was so white that it reminded Jin of white porcelain.
Their slender, lean figures had ample feminine charm, almost too much, to the point that the flaw of modest chest armor faded into the background.
Therefore, the three sisters harbored anxiety about the crisis that would likely befall them, both in terms of chastity and survival, and it was extremely difficult to completely dispel that anxiety.
On the other hand, Jin, the Hero who had been transported from another world, and Sangou, an organic AI-equipped biological spaceship, found themselves suddenly thrown into a completely unknown space, not knowing left from right.
The one person and one ship had not a shred of information necessary to decide what to do next.
With these preconditions in place, it was significant that during the meeting held inside Sangou, they confirmed that the immediate interests of both Jin and Rouj aligned.
Rouj promised to provide as much information as possible as compensation for the time being, within the bounds of the Empire's laws, and at the stage when circumstances permitted, to work on her biological father, the head of the Count household, to pay Jin proper compensation.
With such matters as preliminary payment, she obtained Jin's consent to transport them to the neutral colony, their original destination.
While Captain Jin was meeting with Rouj, Sangou was simultaneously paying attention to the meeting content while continuing actions aimed at securing energy for navigation.
Needless to say, once the destination information was obtained, Sangou had already begun navigating toward the neutral colony.
And so, with this flow of events, the exchange of information mixed with casual conversation continued for about two hours.
At a good breaking point, they paused the meeting, and Sangou proposed to the three, including Rouj, that they move to the provided guest quarters.
Regarding Sangou's internal structure, or rather, division by purpose, it could be freely changed at Sangou's own discretion or by the captain's order.
However, since Sangou, a prototype ship, had undergone operational tests with the Deltania Army, there were some default crew living quarters available.
At this time, Sangou specifically presented two options: either use three single-person private rooms, or one four-person room shared by the three.
After a brief exchange of opinions on the spot, the three followed a floating support unit acting as a guide and arrived at the four-person room.
No clear deadline for arrival at the destination was given by the three sisters.
One reason for this was that the three could not clearly determine either the current date and time or the discrepancy from their original travel schedule, since the period they had spent in a dormant state was unclear.
Additionally, requesting disclosure of Sangou's navigation performance was something Rouj hesitated to do from her position, so it likely resulted in the vague request: we want to arrive as quickly as possible within reasonable limits.
Generally, rushing to arrive at a destination conflicts with good energy efficiency.
"Since money is no object, please make it fastest,"
If she were being blunt, this should have been Rouj's true feelings, but due to common sense and financial constraints, reality forced her into a vague request.
Sangou, taking Rouj's words at face value, considered that its own energy reserves were not optimal and, after consulting with Jin, chose the route and speed that were most energy-efficient.
As a result, that choice was somewhat detrimental for the three sisters.
However, understanding the consequences of that would come slightly in the future, and since future prediction was impossible, it might have been something they had to accept.
The time Sangou took to reach the destination space zone was three days.
During that time, Rouj continued conversations with Jin while interspersing appropriate rest, meals, baths, and sleep, generously sharing general knowledge about the Gialpha Galaxy and other information she could disclose.
Of course, there were occasional questions stemming from Sangou's moderate thirst for knowledge, needless to say.
Through this flow, Sangou finally arrived safely at the space zone where the neutral colony Greta was located.
However, at that time, a small problem arose regarding the entry procedures for Greta.
It was good that they arrived safely at the target zone, but Sangou, built with technology from a super-scientific civilization different from that of the Gialpha Galaxy, naturally did not possess the ship registration code or fleet registration code that ships in this galaxy normally have.
Also, in appearance, the angular, mechanical design of Gialpha Galaxy spaceships was vastly different from Sangou's hull, which looked like a sphere with wings, legs, and a tail.
In other words, from the perspective of Gialpha Galaxy Empire residents, Sangou's appearance was full of foreignness.
As such, once they approached close enough for Greta's side to visually recognize Sangou via optical images, they inevitably attracted suspicious glances.
If they approached Greta further without taking any measures, they would be treated as a pirate ship, and in the worst case, could be attacked.
Sangou had become aware of this point in advance through conversation with Rouj.
Therefore, a countermeasure was prepared just in case.
"Rouj-sama, as previously arranged, I will open the communication line, so please handle negotiations with Greta."
"Yes. I am counting on you as well."
"Now, Captain. I'll leave the initial greeting to you."
"Right! Open the line."
Thus, communication with Greta began.
"This is the spaceship Sangou, Captain Jin. We come from outside this galaxy, so we are what you call outsiders. Therefore, we do not possess any kind of ship registration code that would be valid in your colony. However, this ship is not a pirate, and we have no intention of attacking. With that, we request permission to enter your colony Greta. How should we proceed? We await your instructions."
Jin, having said it in one breath, paused briefly.
The Hero Jin glanced sideways to check on Rouj, who was standing nearby.
She seemed a little nervous, but as there appeared to be no particular problem, he continued.
"Additionally, this ship encountered a battle between pirates and a transport ship in the space zone on the way here. This ship intercepted a distress call from the transport ship and intervened in the battle. We succeeded in eliminating the pirates, but the transport ship had already sustained heavy damage by that point, becoming non-functional to the extent that it could not navigate on its own. Regrettably, the only survivors are three Elf women. Currently, this ship is sheltering those three survivors from a humanitarian standpoint, and they wish to disembark and enter Greta. That is one of the reasons this ship seeks entry permission for Greta. Incidentally, this ship would also like to receive supplies if possible. Now, I'll hand the line over to the representative of those three."
"This is the line handover. I am Rouj ha Betasia, eldest daughter of the Betasia Count Household. Thanks to the efforts of the excellent crew of the transport ship Beta One and our attendants, I and my sisters Rinju and Ranju survived by evacuating to escape pods. Travel procedures for Greta should have been communicated in advance from our household. Please verify that matter."
"This is the Greta Immigration Office. I'm the operator, Guncon. There is no precedent for a ship without either a ship registration code or fleet registration code to enter Greta. Also, since it is impossible for your ship Sangou to prove that it is not a pirate, at present we cannot permit entry or further approach to Greta."
"What! Then how should we proceed?"
In response to Guncon's refusal, Rouj asked concisely for a way to obtain entry permission.
"Regarding Rouj-sama, Rinju-sama, and Ranju-sama, more than approximately twelve hours have already passed since their expected arrival. We have been unable to confirm the position of Beta One, which was scheduled to arrive, nor could we communicate with it, and we have not been able to confirm the ship's loss. At the point six hours past the scheduled arrival, a joint search party from the Count household and this colony began to be organized, and it was scheduled to depart in thirty minutes. First, regarding those who have passed away, we extend our deepest condolences. However, the safe return of all three young ladies of the Count household is a joyful matter. Please give us some time to consider Greta's response, including the entry of your ship and the entry of the three young ladies of the Count household. Specifically, whether or not a decision is reached, we will contact your ship again once an hour later and discuss the decision or progress at that time. We ask for your understanding. Captain Jin-sama, does that work for you?"
"This is Captain Jin. Understood. Then this ship will continue to stand by in the current zone and await your next communication. Please handle things well. Communication ends."
The flow of conversation ended roughly within the range of Sangou's prior predictions.
For Jin and Rouj, it was a progression of contents they had already discussed, with no unexpected parts requiring separate countermeasures.
Thus, the first communication ended without any particular issues.
However, there was one matter that, if Jin gave a detailed explanation to Rouj at this point and had her verify the actual items, would likely lead to an unfavorable result from Jin's perspective.
Since there was no need to stir up a hornet's nest, they kept it a secret between Sangou and Jin alone and deliberately left it untouched—that matter concerned the loot confiscated from the pirates.
Ordinary pirates do not possess military-grade armaments.
Jin and Sangou understood this from the information Rouj provided.
The three sisters, who entered the escape pods before the battle with the attackers began, did not know the details of the actual battle situation.
Nevertheless, after being taken out of the escape pods and regaining consciousness, they saw the recorded footage Sangou possessed, and they understood the scale of the attacking pirates in numerical terms.
In the first place, before Beta One entered a combat state exchanging fire with the attackers, the enemy's scale was judged to be large and dangerous, which is why the three sisters were shoved into the escape pods.
If the enemy had been small in scale, that situation would not have occurred.
In other words, the issue was that Rouj and the others mistakenly believed that the numerical disadvantage—essentially being outnumbered—caused Beta One to be sunk, and they did not recognize the fact that the attackers actually possessed military-grade armaments and were completely outgunned in terms of firepower.
"The ownership of the looted goods properly belongs to Jin."
Rouj assumed that the loot from the pirates was within the scope of civilian armaments, and as mentioned above, she had previously explained that to Jin.
On the other hand, Jin and Sangou naturally had no knowledge of what civilian armaments were like or what level of power constituted military-grade armaments.
They lacked that knowledge, but given that a military transport ship, which was considered safe for single-ship navigation, was easily taken down, they had a suspicion close to certainty that military-grade armaments had been used.
At this stage, it was merely a suspicion, and neither Jin nor Sangou knew the truth.
However, that suspicion happened to be correct.
If the loot were confirmed to be military-grade armaments and its possession were revealed, then based on Rouj's past explanations, they could easily imagine that they would be subject to confiscation.
Sangou did not have any particular attachment to the loot, so even if it were confiscated, Sangou would be fine with receiving some compensation.
But Jin was different.
Due to how he was treated by those in power during his Hero days, Jin developed an extreme dislike for interference with items he acquired through his own effort, and if faced with a situation where they were taken away, he would become enraged.
However, in this case, the actual combat itself was done by Sangou; Jin merely watched.
"Is that a loot obtained by Jin's power?"
If he knew that fact, it would not be unreasonable to ask that question.
But in Jin's perception, all the loot from the pirates had already become his.
The problem was that depending on whether that loot was military-grade armaments or not, it might lead to me not allowing anyone to take what's mine.
While waiting for Greta's side to contact them, Jin and Rouj, with nothing in particular to do, killed time by chatting.
In the midst of such developments, less than ten minutes before the next communication, the situation surrounding Jin and the others entered a new phase.
Sangou detected a single spaceship approaching and sent a warning communication to it.
"This is the spaceship Sangou. This ship is currently standing by in this zone at the request of the Greta Immigration Office, awaiting contact from them. What is the purpose of your ship approaching this ship? If your purpose is not made clear or if it is judged that you have hostile intent toward this ship, this ship will shift to self-defense combat action. Please inform us of your approach purpose promptly."
"This is Greta 201. I am the head butler of the Betasia Count Household's Greta estate, Sebas. I would like to demand the handover of the young ladies, but I will abandon that for now. However, I have come with the purpose of at least being allowed to stand by nearby, and if possible, to have the head maid and three maids board your ship to attend to their personal needs. Since we don't know when a decision from Greta's side will come, I have taken the liberty to act. We are also in a great flurry, and I apologize for neglecting to contact your ship in advance."
Shouldn't that be Sebastian, not Sebas?!
Jin, who was listening to the communication being broadcast in the bridge, had a major internal retort.
This was a completely trivial matter, but the hopeless, broken Hero, alternating between getting excited and downcast on his own, was still alive and well.
Jin, who was twisted both from being a loner and from being unsuccessful with women, was someone who had been placed in such conditions for a long period, and he would likely evolve into something very dangerous.
A living example of that existed here, but it was a minor detail.
"Captain, what should we do?"
"Hmm. If we allow them to approach at close range and allow the maids to board, is there any danger that Sangou cannot handle? Probably not, right? If not, maybe we can accept."
To Sangou's question, Jin answered lightly and casually.
If one understood his power as a Hero and Sangou's power, this might be an inevitable response.
"Yes. If we limit it to boarding, I cannot say it is absolutely safe. However, I estimate that the possibility is virtually nonexistent. And hypothetically, if Sangou were to fall into an unmanageable situation,"
"Yeah. Then what?"
Jin, sensing a slight hesitation in Sangou's tone, prompted for more.
"I estimate that the captain's abilities would be enough to handle it somehow."
"Well, I was a Hero, after all. I have the appropriate strength. Probably, if there were such a thing as a personal combat ability evaluation, I would be at the strongest and most terrifying monster class. I'm both happy and scared by Sangou's trust. But I suppose that's probably the truth. Okay! First, let Rouj and the others confirm the identity of the other party. If that's fine, I'll approve the docking and boarding of the head maid and other four."
Jin had not yet shown Sangou his combat power, nor had he explained it in detail.
Well, that was also why Sangou was hesitant since it was only a guess.
To be blunt, with the Holy Sword drawn, Jin's current full-power attack was, well, capable of tremendous power.
Also, he hadn't yet tried his ultimate attack magic in space.
But unlike his Hero days in the Louvre Empire, current Jin had virtually no upper limit to the magical power he could channel, so the power would be enormous, as one could imagine.
However, Jin still hadn't fully grasped the complete picture of his own current power.
It wasn't just his attack abilities that had changed.
In addition, his defense was at a level of safety where he wondered if there even existed an attack that could penetrate his barrier magic.
At the very least, Jin knew that Sangou's attacks could not break through his barrier magic.
Since Sangou was a biological spaceship, it did not have so-called boarding hatches on its hull.
Because as a living organism, it could transform any part of its body according to purpose.
It was possible to enter Sangou from most parts of its outer shell.
However, just by looking at Sangou's appearance, the inhabitants of this world, who didn't know the characteristics of biological spaceships, would not understand that.
The pilot of the spaceship carrying the Betasia Count Household's butler and head maid, which was approaching Sangou, fell into that very state.
"Where the hell should I dock this ship Sangou!"
At first, the pilot silently searched for a place that seemed feasible for docking, but finally exploded and shouted.
In the end, the pilot couldn't find a suitable place by visual inspection through the monitor, and had to order the communications officer: "Ask them where to dock."
"Captain, docking is currently in progress, but a communication has come from Greta's operator, Guncon-sama. He says they need twelve hours to reach a conclusion on whether to permit or not. Shall I accept?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Send back an acceptance reply."
"Understood. Reply sent. And docking complete. I have connected and opened a boarding passage to this ship from the hatch of Greta 201. For safety, I will conduct a health check and sterilization treatment after the four scheduled to board enter the connected room."
That was Sangou for you.
Their relationship was still short, but Jin's assessment of Sangou was high.
Even in this scene, Jin found himself oddly impressed, thinking She doesn't forget details like that.
It was truly carefree.
Of course, there was a good reason Jin could be carefree about quarantine matters.
Although he hadn't bothered to tell Sangou about it yet, Jin, as a loner Hero who had succeeded in defeating the Demon Lord, had exceptionally high solo survival abilities.
Specifically, although he hadn't reached the point of immunity, he had high resistance to various status abnormalities, and he could use all types of healing and recovery magic, such as detoxification magic, anti-viral disease recovery magic, and curse removal magic—that was the Hero Jin.
Therefore, Jin himself understood that unless he died instantly for some reason, he would not die from any other cause, such as illness or injury.
However, it was clear that Sangou was conducting quarantine thoroughly out of concern for Captain Jin's person, and Sangou itself was a living organism, so it couldn't be completely free from diseases.
For these reasons, it was undoubtedly correct to handle this properly.
Sangou applied the first stage sterilization treatment while the quarantine subjects were still in their spacesuits.
Next, it filled the room, whose opening was closed, with air, had the four remove their spacesuits, and then proceeded to the second sterilization treatment and health check.
During that time, support units clung to the large luggage the four had brought into Sangou and scanned it, confirming the safety of its contents.
"I am Sangou, an organic artificial intelligence. Nice to meet you. Now, I would like to inform all newly boarded guests. I apologize that I did not notice that my interpretation of common sense regarding the carrying of weapons onto this ship differed from yours, as I assumed it was a matter of course not to be reconfirmed. However, I cannot permit weapon possession during your stay on this ship. All weapons found in your luggage will be sealed and held by this ship until your disembarkation. I sincerely ask for your understanding and cooperation."
While listening to Sangou's announcement to the head maids, Jin was looking at the generated list of weapons that were being sealed and carried out of the room for isolated storage.
If Rouj and the others heard about it, they would certainly feel awkward, so he didn't say anything, but just a glance at it gave him thoughts.
A large beam gun, a small beam gun, flash grenades and a large shield, a long sword and a short sword, huh. They really brought a lot. Is my face really that untrustworthy?
Jin felt a bit down imagining who those items for self-defense were meant to be directed at.
But then, the monitor screen went dark, and upon seeing the video of the four women finishing changing clothes, that gloomy feeling instantly dissipated.
Because with the appearance of the Elf lady wearing a Gothic Lolita-style maid outfit, Jin plunged into a state of great excitement.
If his current thoughts were found out by others, he would definitely be glared at disdainfully, but inside the Hero's head was screaming: Elf-eared maid! Elf-eared maid! Are you coming to kill this twisted otaku!
Of course, as one would expect, the four including the head maid had no such ridiculous intention as killing a twisted otaku.
None at all!
They were simply wearing occupational uniforms.
Perhaps this Hero should die and be reborn at least once.
Jin's excitement was so mysterious from an outside perspective that it wouldn't be strange if Sangou thought that.
He truly was nothing but a dangerous guy with extreme ups and downs.
The fact that Rouj and the other two sisters didn't witness Jin in this state was probably fortunate for both sides.
Greetings between the head maids and Jin were exchanged via monitor.
Jin learned that the head maid who introduced herself as Alra, and the first maid was Milfa, the second maid was Kilfa, and the third maid was Zilfa.
From first to third, for some reason the names were very similar, but Jin had the discretion not to mention that.
Sangou prepared a private room for the head maid and a four-person room for the three maids, attaching a support unit to guide them.
The luggage, with only the weapons removed and repackaged, was placed in a luggage room that Sangou set up next to the room given to the three maids, and the support unit carried it in.
Unpacking was the maids' job, so it ended once the items were carried in.
The male-female ratio inside Sangou was one male to seven females, an extremely unbalanced composition.
Moreover, all the women were beautiful, creating a what is this, a harem guy?! state.
Under such circumstances, Jin still only lived in the bridge and the adjacent captain's private quarters, hardly ever facing any of the women in person.
Actually, when Rouj came to the bridge during communication with Greta, that was their first in-person meeting.
A twisted otaku who couldn't come up with reasons for in-person interaction could only do so much.
Jin was a cowardly Hero who was satisfied enough just by being able to see beautiful women through a screen.
Rather, considering that he was now able to freely chat with Rouj through the monitor, perhaps this should be praised as great progress, given his former cowardice.
Jin had saved the three Elf sisters from mortal danger and was currently providing them with personal safety.
Furthermore, he was providing them with a living environment so comfortable compared to the normal spaceships they knew that it was ridiculous to even compare—the cabins of a biological spaceship.
And on top of that, the three sisters' favorability toward Captain Jin, who showed no sign of breaking his posture of not contacting them carelessly, had drastically changed from the absolute low at the first impression when they saw his appearance, and was actually fairly high now.
At present, it was somewhere between like and love.
It was probably fortunate for all parties involved that the actions of the cowardly, hopeless Hero Jin, who possessed no skills related to romance, had somehow led to gaining favorability.
"Captain, analysis of the small humanoid weapon is complete. Also, genetic analysis of the pilot is complete."
This was a report made because Jin had belatedly realized that if it were a small humanoid weapon, space within Sangou to take it out of Storage Space could be secured.
Combined with the fact that in the future, there might be a worst-case scenario of confiscation, Sangou had rushed the analysis.
"Using this unit's performance and structure as a reference, I have made it possible for the support units to transform and attach to the captain for combined equipment. I have modified seven support units for that purpose. Since the captain can likely survive in outer space without a spacesuit, it may not actually be necessary. However, I judge that having it is better for increasing bodily safety than not having it. Also, the pilot's remains that I finished analyzing are not Elf, judging from both appearance and genes. They are presumed to be almost the same race as the captain."
Thus, the Hero Jin arrived at the space zone of the neutral colony Greta, his destination, about half a day later than the three sisters' original schedule.
However, because Greta's side judged Sangou to be a suspicious ship upon arrival, it developed into a situation where they were refused approach within a certain distance.
Possibly influenced by Jin's self-declaration that Sangou was a spaceship from outside the Gialpha Galaxy, permission to enter Greta was put on hold.
Would there be a resolution that all parties involved could accept for this unprecedented encounter for Greta's side?
Would the time come when Rouj and the others could step foot inside the neutral colony?
No one knew the future.
The Hero who had achieved the Demon Lord's defeat in the world he was summoned to was shocked by the report received from Sangou regarding the investigation of the bandits' corpses taken out of Storage Space—the fact that the attackers of Rouj and the others were of almost the same race as himself.
Having been informed by the head maid Alra, who had newly boarded Sangou, that the neutral colony was inhabited by many humans and a few Elves, and that humans held sovereignty, Jin had a strong bad feeling about it.