Chapter 5 - Entry to Greta and Communication with Papa Rouju
～Neutral Colony Greta Surrounding Space～
Waiting for the entry permission that Greta was reluctant to grant, Sangou was loitering in the surrounding space of the colony, maintaining a constant distance from Greta.
That neutral colony, Greta, was located at the midpoint between the Betasia Star System and the neighboring star system, serving as a supply hub between the two star regions.
Twelve hours passed while in standby, and a communication from Greta arrived as previously announced.
To put it concisely, the content was: "Entry will be permitted in two days, with conditions."
So, what exactly were those conditions?
Well, to put it simply, it boiled down to "caution against unknown pathogens."
This was because, based on Jin's self-report and the optical footage of Sangou possessed by Greta, even from the external appearance, it was clearly determined to be a visiting ship from outside the Gialpha Galaxy Empire.
Conveniently for Greta, seven elven women of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire were currently aboard Sangou.
In other words, by waiting some time, they could confirm the presence or absence of signs of unknown disease.
Moreover, on top of that.
After docking at a spaceship berth in Greta, only one maid would disembark first, and additional quarantine would be conducted within the port.
This arrangement involved subjecting the quarantined maid to a further twenty-four hours of observation, during which various tests would be completed.
If the result was judged as "no issues," that fact would be used to consider the quarantine complete.
Only after these steps were taken would everyone be allowed to disembark and go ashore.
However, additional tests for everyone upon landing would be mandatory.
This troublesome and strict response was caused by Jin asserting that he was not a resident of the Gialpha Galaxy.
For Greta, self-defense to prevent the import of unknown bacteria, viruses, or diseases was a natural measure.
Also, from Greta's perspective, regarding Sangou, which had an alien appearance and unknown combat capabilities, the first thing mentioned was "sealing its armaments upon entry."
However, was it a trivial matter that this unexpectedly became a difficult problem at the execution stage?
Quite simply, the issue arose: "When it comes to sealing the armaments, where and how do we seal them?"
Sangou, a biological spaceship, had no externally visible mechanical gun barrels, nor did it carry obvious ammunition or missiles.
Naturally, there were no launch ports that could be sealed.
Sangou's main attack methods included, first and foremost, a beam that could be fired in any direction from any location on its body surface by bio-transforming the hull surface—so-called beams.
This fireable beam was called an "Energy Convergence Cannon," and it was created by converging energy within Sangou's hull.
Incidentally, this was treated as Sangou's main armament because it could be used as long as there was an energy source and had the least consumption.
Additionally, for solid projectiles, it could fire metal using a railgun-like principle, or it could accelerate the entire hull and use it like a slingshot.
Note that the ammunition used in such cases was stored in the cargo hold as ingots or stone (rock masses), which appeared as mere cargo and would likely not be treated as ammunition.
Though rarely used, it was also possible to transform the front of the hull into a spear-like shape for ramming, and to use the external pair of legs, wings, and tail as sharp blades for physical slashing.
Of course, a simple body slam was also an option in Sangou's attack choices.
Being a biological spaceship, it had no mechanical engines.
This was because, in a Sangou-type biological spaceship, each individual cell also served as an engine.
Therefore, "shut down the power source" was also impossible.
That would be synonymous with "death" for Sangou.
In biological terms, perhaps its usual external shape was roughly fixed, and it had habitable spaces and a cargo hold inside?
And "even that could be freely transformed like a slime" was closer to the reality.
At any rate, regarding the notification from Greta to "seal the armaments upon entry," neither Sangou nor Jin knew "how to best respond to the other party's request."
"If it's about external sealing, we'll leave it to Greta to handle in whatever way satisfies you."
After consulting with Sangou, Jin ended up completely passing the buck to Greta.
The organic AI and Captain Jin both had no way to deal with it, so they could only resort to a half-hearted attitude.
That aside, though.
"If quarantine is completed without issue and everyone can disembark, accept a boarding inspection."
This request also came from Greta.
"Captain Jin will accompany Greta's inspection personnel, and if any problematic behavior occurs during the inspection, both parties will confer."
The conclusion after discussion was about like this.
"(How effective could a 'boarding inspection' even be on a biological spaceship whose internal structure can be altered at will?)"
From Jin and Sangou's perspective, they couldn't help but think such things, and it even seemed ridiculous.
Incidentally, Jin had an even more amusing thought.
"(If you abuse the Storage Space, you could smuggle anything, and even if there were contraband inside the ship, you could hide it easily, right?)"
Of course, Jin wouldn't self-report that part.
Moreover, Greta naturally had no information about Sangou other than its appearance, except what was reported via communication.
Therefore, perhaps they naively thought, "It looks alien, but inside it's probably an ordinary spaceship," but that was a trivial matter.
Once the conditions were settled, Jin, with Sangou's help, conveyed the communication content to all the women.
Very apologetically, Jin had to have one maid disembark first and act as a guinea pig for "various tests and 24-hour observation."
"I'll provide a special allowance, so the three of you decide who will go."
After hearing this explanation from Jin, the Maid Chief gave orders to the maids under her.
The interior of Sangou was equipped with facilities for the crew to live in, and bathing, cooking, and even laundry could all be done automatically without human hands.
Furthermore, cleaning was also unnecessary.
Because the biological spaceship absorbed and eliminated dust and dirt.
In other words, in reality, aside from serving meals, there was almost no "work worthy of a maid."
In this overly relaxed environment, the seven women constantly held chat sessions called "tea parties" and were basically playing around.
"Captain, according to a communication from Greta, 'the space needed for Sangou to dock requires two berths for 500-meter-class ships in terms of full width. Therefore, the berthing fee will also be double.' The problem is that we don't have any currency usable in Greta. So, I requested a price list for mineral ingots. Would it be acceptable to 'pay the berthing fee based on that purchase price using ingots'?"
"Ah, money issues, huh. In light novel stories, things like 'the bandit we hunted turned out to have a bounty on his head' happen. Wait, hold on? There should be a reward from the head of the Betasia Count household. Could the berthing fee be covered by the Count? But then again, not creating a debt to the Count and 'just paying with that plan' might be fine."
"We can't rely on money we don't know will come. Ah, Captain, you'll need cash within the colony, won't you? I'll make some small, high-value ingots for you."
Sangou began manufacturing ingots in gram units of five types: one, five, ten, fifty, and one hundred.
Ideally, they should hand over kilogram-scale ones to Greta and do something like currency exchange.
However, regarding obtaining a currency whose "how long will it be usable?" or "will it be valid elsewhere?" was uncertain, Sangou at this time dismissed it with a single word: "meaningless."
"Oh! That's helpful. Thanks."
After receiving the communication from Greta, Jin and Sangou, who had concluded the negotiations, waited like this for the situation to move to the next stage.
Now, what was Jin doing during the twelve hours of waiting before receiving this communication?
"He obtained 'Jin-exclusive equipment composed of seven sub-units created by Sangou' and played around in the cargo hold."
To briefly answer, it was as above.
With an image of a small universe burning, the bored Hero endlessly tested operation methods and movements, from full-body armor with all sub-units attached to partial mounting.
Since each surface section functioned like a miniature thruster, three-dimensional maneuvers impossible during Jin's Hero era became possible.
Unfortunately, in the limited space of the cargo hold, it was impossible to test Jin's full mobility, but it was quite a fun game.
Notably, it was discovered that while the sub-units were attached to Jin, mysterious energy was continuously supplied from Jin to the sub-units, allowing them to operate with essentially no upper limit on runtime.
Additionally, even beams, which would normally have limited uses due to high energy consumption, could be fired freely.
The amount of energy a sub-unit could contain naturally had an upper limit.
And that was proportional to the sub-unit's size.
Therefore, for Sangou, who was observing Jin's play to find the operational time limit, this above discovery was an unexpected and welcome piece of information.
If one were to raise a problem, it would be that the fact that the sub-unit armor seemed to operate with infinite energy posed an issue: "What principle makes this possible?" was unanalyzable by Sangou.
When Sangou asked about this, Jin could only convey what he was aware of.
"My magical power is being released to the sub-units, and while it continuously decreases, the decreased amount is automatically replenished immediately. So, probably, the magical power is automatically converted on the sub-unit side, resulting in energy supply."
That much was fine, but when Sangou asked a straightforward question: "What is magical power?" Jin was at a loss for words.
Because it was impossible for Jin to explain something he himself didn't understand to Sangou, no matter how he struggled.
When Jin was banished from Imperial City Ru, he was granted the ability "Instant Recovery of Magical Power."
This was something that "magical power recovers instantly," but Jin could only recognize it as "that's just how it is."
In reality, a god-like entity, as a punishment to the Louvre Empire and compensation to Jin, forcibly took the "Origin of Dragon Vein," which was within the Louvre Empire and infinitely generated magical power, and fused it into Jin's soul-like part.
Naturally, as a human, Jin did not have the capacity to constantly accept the explosive magical power supplied by the fused Origin of Dragon Vein.
However, the fuser solved this by simultaneously constructing a mechanism that constantly sent the surplus to Jin's Storage Space.
In short, Jin, continuously exposed to a torrent of immense magical power, was gradually expanding and growing his Storage Space and accumulating magical power within it.
This was a kind of "rough method" made possible only because the level cap had been lifted, removing the restrictions on Storage Space growth. That was why these various things had been granted as a set.
Additionally, because Jin's magical power was automatically replenished upon decrease, his maximum magical power was also steadily increasing in the present.
As a result, the Louvre Empire, having lost the source that supplied magical power to its land, would forever remain in a state of only thin magical power flowing in from elsewhere.
Casting magic itself became difficult, and even if cast, the effect was weak.
Crop growth conditions deteriorated significantly compared to before the Origin of Dragon Vein was lost, with harvest yields dropping by as much as eighty percent.
Jin naturally had no knowledge of this, and it was now irrelevant to him as he had already severed ties.
However, the god-like entity had indeed imposed divine punishment on the Louvre Empire, resulting in a "served them right" situation.
Unfortunately, in this situation, Jin himself did not feel "Serves you right! That's satisfying!"
He was a pathetic coward of a Hero, so this was perhaps unavoidable.
Contacting Greta 201, which had remained in the same space region as Sangou, Jin adjusted to arrive exactly at the specified time two days later, headed to Greta, and successfully docked.
Ships in the Gialpha Galaxy performed this kind of docking operation by having the port-side guidance signals and the ship's movement and attitude control automatically optimized in response to those signals.
In other words, it was automatic, not manual piloting.
However, Sangou naturally lacked such functionality.
It didn't have it, but the performance of the organic AI was truly "impressive," as Sangou's own fine adjustments resulted in not even a millimeter of error.
Thus, the series of operations from entry to berthing was completed without issue.
However, normally, the ship's attitude control during movement, speed, and other operational information would be continuously sent to the port in real-time, with everything under management.
Therefore, in this case, the port controller's monitoring equipment became a festival of red lights, and the controller held their head in frustration.
Nevertheless, since Sangou completed entry and berthing on its own without any accidents, it bore no responsibility.
"Docking operation complete. From here, we will undergo armament sealing and Zilfa-san will disembark. Then about a day of waiting. By the way, I wonder what they intend to seal as 'armament sealing' for Sangou? Fufufu."
Jin, in a position to receive reports from Sangou, thought, "That 'fufufu' is creepy!" but was even afraid to point it out.
Thus, Jin remained silent on that matter.
Of course, he did respond to Sangou's statement.
"Understood. I'll meet Zilfa-san briefly before she disembarks. There's still time, right?"
"It seems she's already finished preparations to disembark, so until the receiving party's escort arrives, there should be time."
"I see. Then I'll go meet her in person."
So Jin met Zilfa for the first time in the flesh, not via monitor.
Though only Jin was in the flesh; Zilfa was already in her spacesuit.
Through the visor of her sealed suit, completely blocking outside air, Zilfa's expression clearly showed the emotion "I don't want to go."
It was so blatant that even Jin, who was rather dense, could easily read it.
However, someone had to go, and it couldn't be helped, so Zilfa had no choice but to give up and go.
That was Jin's position as captain.
At the scheduled time, the escort from Greta arrived, and Zilfa, with an expression screaming "I don't wanna go," disembarked.
Numerous people, presumably Greta's workers, were swarming over the outer hull of Sangou, docked in the colony's port.
Sight from the side, it must have looked like "ants swarming on sugar."
The purpose of these swarming people was to seal Sangou's armaments.
If Sangou were to use force while berthed, it would be clear evidence of breaking the seal.
They probably wanted to set up such a situation.
But however.
The Greta workers, no matter where on Sangou's outer hull they looked, could not find any gun barrels or missile launch ports resembling armaments.
Since such things did not exist in the first place, it was only natural.
After nearly an hour of the workers struggling to perform the sealing.
Finally giving up and throwing in the towel, they reported that, and a communication came from Greta to Sangou.
"How should we seal it? What should we do? We have no idea!"
Greta's complaint was nothing more than a quibbling grievance.
"Even if you say that to us..."
Captain Jin was merely troubled.
Additionally, he couldn't come up with any solution.
From Jin's perspective, he could only think, "Since surveillance cameras are installed in various places, can't they just use video recordings as evidence in case of emergency?"
However, such recordings could be tampered with or deleted.
Because of that.
The reality was that Greta was merely taking measures to add multiple layers of insurance.
Therefore, with no way to handle it, Jin resorted to a last resort.
He passed all responsibility for this matter to Sangou.
Though Sangou, receiving that, merely clearly stated what needed to be claimed to Greta and essentially just cut them off.
"Since Sangou is a biological spaceship, we don't know 'how to adapt to the general methods of spaceships in a mechanical civilization.' So, feel free to attach seals however you like."
Knowing Sangou's sharp, half-hearted response, Jin thought, "It's actually refreshing," but that was a trivial matter.
After such trivialities, another two hours passed.
Finally, Greta gave up on "sealing Sangou's armaments is impossible" and raised the white flag.
Still, perhaps a bit of pride remained?
"Use of weapons or armaments within the port is strictly forbidden. In the event of use, a massive penalty fee and additional fines will apply."
Greta unilaterally notified the above.
With that, this matter finally came to an end.
"There's a communication coming in from Sebas-san. He says, 'My lord, the Betasia Count, wishes to establish communication.'"
"Sure, sure. Put him through."
With that casual flow, the first communication between Jin and the head of the Betasia Count household, the father of Rouju and the others, began.
Though contrary to his flippant words to Sangou, Jin was inwardly extremely wary and tense.
"Nice to meet you. I am Orega, the Betasia Count. I am deeply grateful for the rescue and protection of my daughters. As the Count household, I thank you greatly. Thank you."
On the monitor appeared a handsome elven man.
This communication was possible only because he had left his home planet and come to a distance where a direct line could be used, specifically for this purpose.
Jin was completely unaware of this fact at the time.
Of course, even with a "direct line," long-distance communication still incurred some delay.
That was due to the technical limitations of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire, so it was a minor concession.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Asada Jin. Please call me 'Jin.' Regarding this matter, I conducted rescue operations to the best of my ability. As a result, I could not save the other crew members and attendants besides your three daughters. I apologize for my lack of strength."
"If it was unavoidable, then we must accept it as fate. It is regrettable, but regarding the deaths that occurred, there is no conclusion other than 'I will properly compensate the bereaved families.' Ah, but that's just my own affair. Now, to the main topic. First, as a token of thanks, I wish to 'do something to repay you.' Is there anything you desire?"
During his Hero days, Jin was accustomed to royalty and nobles who treated him with a more high-handed attitude.
Remembering it was infuriating, and he never wanted to be accustomed to it, but he was.
Having such experience, Jin had braced himself thinking, "The Count will probably give a similar treatment."
But when the lid was lifted, the Count's response was so ordinary and humanely normal that Jin thought, "That preparedness was completely unnecessary."
Having been on guard, Jin was let down.
So, he felt inclined to speak about his own desires regarding what the Count had asked, within a scope that wouldn't seem excessive.
Of course, he did not drop his polite language and courteous demeanor.
"Let's see. This ship has no ship registration code. Is it possible to 'register' Sangou? Other than that, supplies and money or equivalents. Additionally, if 'trade permits' or 'free passage permits' could also be granted, I would very much like to receive them."
"Hmm. First, about the registration code. It would be registered as a warship code, not a ship code. It's possible if the home star system is decided, and information on performance specifications and manufacturer is provided. However, in Sangou's case, it would be a situation where 'only the manufacturer's name is provided as information, and verification with that party is impossible.' There are several precedents of unregistered ships where the manufacturer went out of business or similarly vanished before registration. So, it shouldn't be too problematic. Regarding the home star system, it's possible if you agree to register under my Betasia Star System. However, the performance specifications would be based on your self-report."
Given its combat record during the rescue, Sangou was treated as a combat vessel, not a civilian ship.
Sangou, not being an official warship, would have preferred to claim a ship registration rather than a warship code.
But "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" was probably correct in this case.
Sangou, as an organic AI, made such rational judgment.
"I see. Not confirmed, but I think 'I would like to register in that direction.' What I'm concerned about is 'how will the self-reported performance specifications be handled?' So, it depends on that. I'd like to receive a template for the report form."
"Yes, that would be necessary. Regarding supplies, I don't have the authority to provide them in kind at Greta. So, they will be procured with money. Therefore, would it be fine to 'include that in the monetary reward'? As for the permits, I can issue both within my authority. I'll have Sebas send the template for the report form."
"Yes. That's fine."
"Now, the issue is 'how much the amount should be?' I'm considering five billion en as a possible sum."
The Count finally presented a concrete number for the reward.
Receiving that, Jin considered based on knowledge obtained from Rouju, evaluating "what level that corresponds to."
"(Hohoho, five billion, huh. That's about the price of a standard destroyer in this world. Is that a lot or a little? First of all, you can't put a price on the lives of beautiful elven women. Plus, there's the added value of 'Count's daughters.' This is a matter of whatever price is offered, and I have almost no basis for judgment right now. Well, the amount is large, so accepting it should be fine.)"
Jin quickly organized his thoughts.
The conclusion was only to accept.
Incidentally, the knowledge of "equivalent to a standard destroyer" came from information gathered during casual chats with Rouju.
"That's fine with me. I gratefully accept."
"I see. I appreciate you accepting the proposal. Thank you. Now, on a separate note, regarding the whereabouts of Beta One."
"Yes. What about it?"
"We dispatched territorial forces to investigate the space region where the battle was thought to have occurred. However, they only found debris presumed to be small fragments. According to Sebas's report, based on what Rouju said, 'Jin has secured the hull.' Could you tell me the location of Beta One?"
For Jin, this was a case where he thought, "Here it comes!" and braced himself again.
However, the option of saying with a smug face, "I put it in my Storage Space and carry it around!" was not available.
But if he said, "I have absolutely no urge to be mischievous and say it just to see the Betasia Count's reaction," that would be a lie.
"Well, I'm sorry, but before answering that question, let me confirm something. From Rouju-san's explanation, my understanding is that 'for Beta One, it is legally required to either tell the Betasia Count the ship's location or tow it with Sangou for handover, and in return, receive money.' Is that correct?"
"Mm. Correct. Our household is obligated to confirm the final disposal of Beta One's military armaments."
"I see. As for where the hull is currently located, it's somewhat difficult to explain. So, I am considering towing it and handing it over. How would that be?"
"If I can receive the handover, there's no problem. Under those conditions, the money you receive as compensation would be one hundred million en."
Another specific number came up.
Again, neither Jin nor Sangou could know if that was a fair amount.
However, as compensation for the labor of towing and handing it over, it seemed clearly insufficient.
At least, that's how Jin felt.
Still, considering Sangou's performance and his own Storage Space, costs were negligible, so it would be a huge profit.
But that was only because of special abilities; in general terms, it was undoubtedly an insultingly low offer.
It was a difficult judgment.
"Dissatisfied? It shows on your face. But this is determined by the standards of the Gialpha Galaxy Empire. Could you please accept it?"
"Yes. Honestly, I'm dissatisfied with the amount. But it can't be helped. I'll hand it over as soon as possible. Is that acceptable?"
"Hahaha! You're an honest one. Mm. As long as it's not 'unreasonably delayed,' there's no problem. The specific deadline for this case would be 'at most two months.'"
Running off with Beta One.
Even at this stage, that option had not completely vanished from Jin's mind.
However, considering the warship registration and the permits to be obtained in the future, it seemed better to obediently hand it over.
Thus, Hero Jin and Sangou, despite some issues, somehow successfully completed entry and docking at Neutral Colony Greta.
The subsequent negotiation with Papa Rouju, aside from Jin's inner conflict, also smoothly concluded on the surface.
Even after docking and berthing, with a waiting period still remaining, would Rouju and the others actually be able to land on Greta?
What was the reason that Rouju and the others had to come to a neutral colony, something Jin still didn't know?
No one knew the future.
Explained that the money for handing over Beta One was legally set by the other side, the summoned Hero who had slain the Demon Lord in a different world reluctantly accepted the meager amount not matching the effort.
In his heart, relentlessly repeating, "It's frustrating! So frustrating!" while doing a total profit-loss calculation and somehow managing to calm himself down, Jin then started to worry about "How will I fake a tow without revealing the Storage Space?"