I was going to get Involved in the Grand Scheme of Things
“First of all, I’m glad you’re okay.”
[Thanks Big Bro.]
Behind the holoscreen, Heinz, with his blond angular cut hair, and Zeke, with his purple pudding head, bowed their heads. I didn’t remember being a big bro to a bunch of swarthy guys like them, but…oh well. If they respect me, I would let them call me that. I heard those things were important in their circle.
“So, what kind of people attacked you? It would be simpler if they were just three thugs who were dazzled by the supplies.”
[There is no doubt that they were certainly thugs dazzled by the supplies…]
Oi, what’s with that subtle pause? Don’t look away, Heinz. And don’t get upset Zeke. He had a look on his face that was like, “Oh, no”.
“I guessed most of it from your reaction. Was there trouble?”
[Well. Yes, kind of. The guys behind this are rumored to be in touch with some of those outsiders…]
“Outsiders? You don’t mean the space pirates?”
[It’s just a rumor. But there’s no doubt that they have contacts with outsiders, who buy dangerous goods that are not normally accessible, or sell people off to other places.]
“It’s not good to have that kind of thing operating in the dark in this situation… Well, I think I heard that even in this situation, there are some poorly refined drugs out there.”
I think Dr. Shoko mentioned something about infection from poorly refined drugs. Well, it didn’t matter either way.
[You have a good ear, brother. They’re the ones spreading it, as well. They sell it around to people who don’t have the money to get proper treatment, saying it will make them forget the pain and suffering.]
“So when they die, they’re going to clean up the bodies?”
[Yeah, yeah, how’d you know that?]
“Don’t you know that the pathogenic mushrooms feed on the corpses of living creatures and reproduce?”
[So you’re saying that they’re spreading the drugs around and collecting the ingredients for more drug production?]
“That’s just an assumption, I guess.”
That was simply a guess based on the situation, but I doubt it was that far off the mark. It would not be surprising if those people were involved with space pirates.
“But I don’t understand why they would go to such lengths to attack us… Is there someone they want to kill that badly in our ranks?”
[The people who attacked us were probably not members of the organization, but thugs who were told to attack us with drugs as bait.]
“Well, that’s troublesome…”
In other words, the crazy people in question were not directly attacking us, but were using those who could no longer afford to buy drugs as their ammo in their assault. They may not be directly telling us to “rob that facility,” but rather saying, “If you don’t have money or anything that can be used for money, go rob it,” or something along those lines. Come to think of it, I heard that the facility was doing very well right now.
“Well, it’s really troublesome. Do you know where they are or where they are based?”
[I know where their hideout is, but I don’t know where they keep their goods or where they make their goods. Big Bro, you can’t be serious if you’re asking me that.]
“It’s best to have them disappear cleanly, so there’s no aftermath. Especially if they’re also connected to the space pirates.”
If there was a supply depot or a manufacturing base connected to those people, we could find out about it if we took down the hideout. Worst case scenario, as long as some of them survived, and they have information about it, we could always pull the information directly out of their brains. It would be Hartmut’s job to do that, though, not mine.
[No, that may be true, but…]
“There’s no room for negotiation when there’s a connection with space pirates.”
[That’s pretty radical, Big Bro.]
“I’m sure you’d come to the same conclusion as me if you saw a victim whose limbs were chopped off by space pirates and made to look like an exquisite work of art that secretes some kind of useful fluid, wouldn’t you?”
Zeke heard my response and made a “What…? That’s scary…” kind of expression on his face.
Well, of course, I would react that way as well. When I first came to this universe and saw it for the first time, my brain refused to comprehend it.
“You should find out as much information about them as you can. I’ll make arrangements for sterilization. I’ll give you 5,000 as a reward if you can locate a manufacturing site or a supply depot. If you find both, I’ll give you 10,000, but don’t risk dying. That’s too cheap a price for your life.”
[Understood, Big Bro. It looks like the defense here is fine with just the battle bots, so we’ll move on to gathering information.]
“Ah. I’ll say it one more time, don’t die on me.”
I wouldn’t be able to sleep well if they died on a job I’ve dumped on them.
☆★☆
“So this is the cure.”
Hartmut looked at the case full of containers looking like dry cell batteries – each cell contained enough special medicine for five people – and was deeply impressed.
It had been almost an hour since I talked with Heinz and the others via the battle bots. I with Elma, Mei, and Dr. Shoko were now in Hartmut’s office.
“It’s not hard to administer because it’s ready to use and can be used with a standard syringe. It’s a nanomachine formulation, so it can be stored at room temperature with no problem.”
“I see, I understand. The data for manufacturing is contained in this recording medium, right?”
“Yes, as you can see. It also contains the specifications of the necessary equipment.”
Perhaps because the other party was a noble, Dr. Shoko’s tone of voice was slightly different from usual and I felt a great sense of discomfort. I guess she was trying to be careful not to be rude.
“It will take a few days to verify the effectiveness of that stuff, and another few days to set up a mass production system, but please do your best with that.”
“Of course. If I can’t get things under control after all this arrangement, I’ll be disinherited and thrown out of the country by my father.”
“He’s a tough old man…so now it’s my turn to ask for your help.”
“Oh, anything I can do in my power, just let me know.”
“Anything. You said it, didn’t you? Did you hear what he said?”
I think the smile I had on my face at that point must have been very wicked. Because Hartmut backed off for a moment. I didn’t need to be so careful. It was all right! Everything’s going to be fine! I am just going to take advantage of all the confusion!
And so. I told Hartmut that the facility I had asked him to protect had been attacked and that the attackers were backed by an organization that was most likely connected to space pirates.
“I see…so what do you want us to do?”
“Let’s destroy them.”
“What?”
“Kill them all.”
“Wait a minute.”
“We have to disinfect the filth, right? Right?”
“Can you please just calm down for a bit, please?”
“What did you say? A proud Imperial aristocrat never goes back on their words, right?”
“…If you put it that way, I’m going to be vulnerable.”
Okay, I pushed through.
“This is a good opportunity, isn’t it? Hartmut has just arrived here and has no ties. If we hit their nest anyway and pull information out of the heads of the survivors, we’ll get some information on the people in the upper ranks who are connected to the bastards who are connected to the space pirates. With all the chaos going on, we can do whatever we want, right?”
“Hiro-dono, as an Imperial noble, I am the self-proclaimed guardian of law and order, you know…?”
“The collaborators of the space bandits will be executed anyway. A little breaking of the law can be forgiven, right?”
“That’s certainly true… I guess?”
“It will be a saga. It’s good for an Imperial noble to have one or two of those, isn’t it?”
“Mm-hmm…”
In the end, I was able to talk Hartmut down, and I now had enough men to take on the bandits, thanks to the fact that Hartmut had pulled more of his private army from his father’s lands.
Now we should get in touch with Heinz and the others and track down their hideout as soon as possible.
As for the information I have asked those two to secure, there was a good chance they would be able to find some, as long as we found the hideout we should be able to get some info, even if it wasn’t essential.
However, I could not just go around stirring up trouble and then just stay in the background, could I? At the very least, I have to show that we were willing to make a stand.
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