To the destination that each of you cares about.
“I understand. Since we are in a position to demand a contract, let’s go ahead and sign it right away. Shall we discuss it in the captain’s room?”
“I’m fine with doing it here, but if you say so, anywhere is good.”
I led everyone to the captain’s room.
We immediately signed the contract at the reception desk, and I received the contract document from Maki-neechan.
Even here, it was standard paperwork, so it was a physical document.
In the government contract, the conditions were confirmed electronically, and after the electronic signature, each of us signed the paper confirmation document to complete the contract.
This has not changed since the kingdom was founded.
“The contract is now finalized. As you asked, I’ll train the girls. In return, I’ll have them help with the maintenance of this ship.”
“Yes, that’s exactly as I requested. Please feel free to contact me directly or through Maria if you need anything. I’ll do my best to accommodate you.”
“Well then, let’s start right away. Miss, please guide me on a tour of the ship.”
“Shall I guide you?”
“I don’t want to bother with unnecessary things. The miss is probably more familiar with the ship than you are. You must have your own work to do. Since Maki-san asked me, they’ve set up an office for you here. They’ve also prepared living quarters for your subordinates, so you can ask Maki-san about that. Alright, Maria, please guide me.”
“Understood, Acting Captain. I’ll be going then.”
“Ah, be careful not to…”
“I know. I won’t go overboard, and the partnership with Kate will be dissolved here.”
“Alright. Kate, go to Meyrica-neesama’s place and bring your team. Everyone except Maria’s team should leave the ship. Let’s head to the office they prepared for us. Everything starts from there.”
I was led by Maki-neechan to the outside of the ship.
A prefab building had been erected next to the dock, which they had rented out as our office.
Apparently, the rental cost for the office was included in the contract, so there were no issues with any improper benefits.
She was a truly capable administrative staff member.
However, this office, no matter how you look at it, resembles a part of a passenger ship.
“Yes, the president said they’re using a part of a previously dismantled passenger ship, so we were able to rent it at a low cost. They even offered to give it to us for free at first, but that would have been considered an improper benefit, so we properly signed a contract. They’ve also prepared living quarters for us next door…”
“Ah, so they’re reusing parts of a dismantled ship. As long as we can sleep there, that’s fine. Thank you.”
Seems like the president here is a practical person who doesn’t care too much about appearances.
I think we’ll get along well.
We immediately reported to the Coast Guard headquarters that the contract had been finalized.
Of course, Maki-neechan wrote the report, and I just signed it before sending it to the general affairs department.
Looks like we won’t be bothered with too many things until the deadline.
*** *** *** ***
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
However, the headquarters was in a frenzy after receiving this report.
The adults’ [rank manipulation] scheme was now at risk of being thwarted.
The report that reached the general affairs department was personally delivered to the superintendent by the department head.
“Superintendent, they finally found the dock.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes, the report just came in that they have completed the contract.”
“This is troublesome. The military faction nobles might start causing a ruckus. I wonder who leased the dock to those people.”
“According to the report, it was apparently a so-called ‘dismantling company.'”
“A dismantling company, huh. Phew, that’s a relief. Then it should be manageable.”
“What do you mean…”
“Once the maintenance is done, make them issue a maintenance report certificate. Dismantling companies can only issue up to third-class, not even second-class, let alone first-class, that’s for sure.”
“You’re right. However…”
“No need to worry. When we receive the report, we’ll scold them for not being first-class, and make it look like their fault.”
“But demotion might be too harsh.”
“No, it’ll be fine. Let them have their freedom for the promised three months. Then we can pursue them for inappropriate use of public funds and have the audit department punish them. But don’t tell them about this plan until the maintenance is complete. If our scheme is exposed, they might take some countermeasures. Those people seem more capable than we expected.”
“Understood.”
After the report, the general affairs department head left the superintendent’s presence, and a certain unease began to spread among the relevant personnel at headquarters.
There were some who harbored doubts.
However, there was a temperature difference among the people causing a commotion at headquarters.
It was mainly the seconded or transferred military personnel who were making a fuss, those being pressured by the military faction nobles.
The civil servants were remarkably calm about the situation,
as they had no relation to the military’s intentions in the first place.
To begin with, the root of this whole uproar lies in the clumsy plots of those rabble-rousers, so I sense an unseemliness and precariousness in their clumsy scheming yet again.
More than anything, the bureaucratic civil officials are aligned not with the military or aristocratic warlords, but rather oriented toward the royal palace.
It is the rumors emanating from the palace that have them concerned.
The rumor that during the recent honoring ceremony, Her Royal Highness the Third Princess took an interest in them, and that this Third Princess has apparently begun making undercurrent moves.
If the Princess has taken a liking to them, and were to interact with them with ill intent, it could put them in jeopardy.
They likely also harbor feelings of not wanting to get involved in a disturbance that is not their responsibility to begin with.
As of now, the bureaucratic officials of civil service backgrounds, beginning with the Director of General Affairs and including the Director of Personnel, are taking a wait-and-see stance.
It was at this juncture that the previous report came circulating around.
For a different reason, the civil service crowd is also ill at ease.
The Director of Personnel caught the Director of General Affairs descending from the Inspector General’s Office.
“Director of General Affairs. May I have a moment of your time?”
“Ah, Director of Personnel. Not at all, but this is a matter that requires discretion, is it not?”
Upon the Director of General Affairs saying this, the Director of Personnel silently nodded.
The Director of General Affairs then went down to the first floor of this building and borrowed one of the shared reception rooms of the joint government offices.
Since this also houses the Police Headquarters that guards the security of the capital planet, it is a secure location free of nonsense like wiretapping.
Moreover, being a place also used by the Police Headquarters, it is not somewhere the Coast Guard crew could simply barge into either.
For this reason, both the Coast Guard and Police Headquarters frequently use this place for factional discussions requiring discretion.
“So, what did you wish to discuss?”
“How long does the Director of General Affairs intend to side with the Inspector General?”
“I am not particularly siding with the Inspector General.”
“In that case, it may be advisable for you to distance yourself from the Inspector General sooner rather than later.”
“Is that solely due to the reason that it could become dangerous for you alone?”
“Certainly that is part of it. However, that is not all. At the previous meeting, the Inspector General stated that even if the maintenance of that ship fails, it will not tarnish General Affairs. However, it seems the royal family does not see it that way.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I was asked by your colleague, the Palace Estate Manager, and it seems the Estate Management Department views the management of assets as the responsibility of the managing department.”
“In other words…”
“Yes, all ships under our management are assets of the royal family. If the management is sloppy, it becomes the responsibility of the managing department. Your friend seemed concerned about that.”
“Thank you. Well, that alone doesn’t seem to be the only reason, but it means pressure is starting from the royal family not to fail the maintenance of that ship.”
“If failure is due to their lack of ability, we can still make excuses on our end. But if failure occurs due to scheming on our part, then we here will be scrutinized by the royal family. Not just you, but the future of all of us civil servants could be impacted as well. It seems that rumor was true after all.”
“This rumor you speak of, is it about Her Royal Highness the Third Princess?”
“Yes, it seems the Princess intends to establish a new organization, and they are being considered for it. So from me as well, I ask that the Director of General Affairs be very careful not to interfere with them.”
“Understood. However, if that’s the case, doesn’t the Director of Personnel also need to get to work soon?”
“Work for Personnel, you mean?”
“According to the report, that ship’s maintenance will begin soon, depending on the availability of the receiving dock. With that level of severe understaffing, clearly insufficient for operating the ship, won’t that become a problem no matter how long it lasts? At the very least, for the ships where an acting captain has been appointed, the crew situation is also abnormal. The current situation on that ship has an extremely poor balance. If it were an aerospacecraft frigate bestowed directly from His Majesty to us administrative staff alone, then I can understand us handling the personnel arrangements ourselves while first proceeding with just the maintenance. However, that ship has already transitioned to the same system as an active duty ship, with an acting captain, crew, and administrative staff assigned from our side. In that case, doesn’t the current understaffing immediately become a flaw in personnel administration?”
“Oh, you make a fair point. Up until now, we in personnel have been unable to intervene in staffing for that ship due to the Inspector General’s insistence, but you’re right, this is problematic. We should propose some plans to the Inspector General for consultation.”
“Since I’m now indebted to the Director of Personnel, may I offer some advice?”
“So soon? Sure, and we’ll consider the debt repaid. So what is this advice?”
“Yes, if you simply bring up increasing staff to the Inspector General, he’ll just brush it aside. It seems failure is the premise he’s operating under. So unless you frame the staff increase as outwardly obstructing their efforts, the Inspector General likely won’t accept it at all.”
“However…”
“Yes, if we actually try to interfere with them, as you just informed me, it could make us responsible. That’s why I said outwardly.”
“Specifically…”
“Yes, we have many Coast Guard members who are under 18 years old.”
“Yes, that’s the program where they gather those who don’t go to high school and make them do remote learning to turn them into proper members in the future.”
“Yes, the personnel in our Coast Guard are quite skewed due to the military’s cast-offs. We do have some staff members who are treated as semi-career after finishing university, but fortunately this system was created thanks to Admiral Bruce. Most of the regular members are much more capable than the military ones, all thanks to this program. Applicants can even get a university-level degree through this remote learning, so quite a few end up becoming semi-career. But the top brass who came from the military looks down on this system. So, how about we pick around 30 of the top first-year students?”
“First-year students?”
“Yes, that way the top brass can’t really refuse, as they’d get to supervise the education of the first-years, which would be a win-win for them.”
“I see…”
“It’ll be fine. As long as we pick the talented ones without getting caught, it’ll work out. And those top brass who look down on the program won’t even care about first-years. Plus, there’s a benefit for them too.”
“A benefit?”
“Yes, they are short on the absolute number of soldiers on that ship, but even more so, they lack regular soldiers. It’s top-heavy with too many officers. They have four lieutenants at most, but far more non-commissioned officers after the recent mass promotions. Yet, they don’t have a single second lieutenant. This is clearly an abnormal situation, so this plan could help fill that gap. And think about it – these young recruits can manage subordinates older than themselves, while the experienced ones will likely look down on them and it won’t work out. But if we send in completely inexperienced first-years, they’ll definitely be able to handle them. So it’s not without merit for them either. And even if problems arise from the lack of experience when the ship starts operating, we can just blame it on the negative effects of those medals, so we’ll have no fault.”
“That makes sense. Okay, let’s start preparing right away.”
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