Mob No. 61: “Yet, it’s precisely at times like these that foolish people in power panic and do unnecessary things, leading to their downfall.”
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[Side: Third-person perspective]
On the inhabited planet Tannemut, owned by Duke Altischult-Bingil-Ovols.
In a large greenhouse located on the grounds of the duke’s mansion, an elderly man in work clothes is watering potted plants with a watering can. A well-dressed man, seemingly a butler, appears before him.
“Your Excellency. I have a report.”
“What is it?”
The man addressed as “Your Excellency” responds while continuing to water the plants.
“Regarding the two individuals we captured a few hours ago, they are indeed pirates, as stated in the documents submitted by the mercenary earlier. There’s a bounty on them from the police through the Mercenary Guild.”
“Oh. So, the mercenary who was chasing those two really was just after them… If that’s the case, we’ve made a regrettable mistake due to our ‘oversight’.”
“The ‘hound’ that was released due to that ‘oversight’ has been shot down and returned. They apparently abandoned their vehicle.”
“To shoot it down without killing… That mercenary must be quite skilled.”
The duke stops watering and goes to return the watering can to its original place.
“What shall we do?”
“Leave it be. Do nothing. From their perspective, the pirates they were chasing entered noble territory and were stopped by the security force. So, they left the pirates’ handling to the security team and withdrew. That’s a perfectly reasonable explanation. On our side, we can simply say we don’t allow unauthorized entry into the duke’s territory and that we’ll catch the criminals ourselves. Once we hand over the captured pirates to the police, they’ll be impressed by the duke’s security team, and that will be the end of it.”
The duke returns the watering can to the shelf, then sits at a table where a tea set is prepared and pours himself a cup of tea.
“Yet, it’s precisely at times like these that foolish people in power panic and do unnecessary things, leading to their downfall.”
The duke takes a sip of the tea he poured.
“The other side doesn’t even suspect anything unusual, but if we were to become paranoid and order our subordinates to attack them, it would be like advertising that we’re the suspicious ones. I’ll say it one more time. Do nothing.”
Though his tone remained calm throughout, there was force behind his final words.
“Understood. I’ll inform the ‘hound’ as well.”
“That’s a good ‘hound’. And a hound that goes hunting as ordered is not at fault.
“Have the head of the security team who used my ‘hound’ for hunting without permission replaced by tomorrow morning.”
“Understood.”
As the duke calmly drank his tea, the butler bowed deeply.
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[Side: Hound]
“Damn it!”
The sound of a helmet being slammed onto the floor echoed in a room of the servants’ quarters on the grounds of Duke Ovols’ mansion.
“I’m sorry, sis. It’s my fault…”
“It’s not your fault… The opponent was just better than us.”
Two figures, appearing to be in their late teens and wearing pilot spacesuits, sat on the bed with their heads hanging low.
“I didn’t think they’d react like that… Next time I see them, I’ll definitely shoot them down…”
“That might be difficult.”
“Why, sis?!”
“They were probably holding back. They disabled our ship’s thrusters to capture us for questioning.”
“!”
The younger sister, who had called the other “sis,” let out a gasp of frustration while biting her thumbnail, but was quickly admonished by her sister.
Surprised by this realization, the younger sister bit her nail even harder.
“To win next time, we’ll have to seriously improve our skills!”
“You’re right, sis!”
The sisters made this firm resolution.
“Still, I wonder what kind of person could outmaneuver us like that? A charming pretty boy? A dashing older man? Maybe even a cute trap!”
“Sis…”
In the next moment, the conversation shifted to frivolous topics, causing the younger sister to hold her head in exasperation.
“Couldn’t we just look at the footage of the encounter to find out? Besides, they might be a muscular macho type, a chubby otaku, or even a narcissistic jerk, you know?”
“Why do you have to say such unpleasant things!”
The bickering between the sisters—one fantasizing about their defeater and the other facing reality—seems never-ending.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
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To shake off the unpleasant experience at the Mercenary Guild, I headed to [Ani-member]
where I got new issues of [Ultimate Road], [The Cook of the Underground Labyrinth], [The Cross-dressing Butler of the Omori Household], [Musings of a Pharmacist], and [Monster Stories Comic Version].
At [Seizaban], I picked up the novelization of [Seven-headed Fiancée] that I didn’t have yet, and a doujinshi of the popular game series [Creature Hunter].
On my way back home with a satisfied look, that pink-haired woman—I believe her name was Ako Chandela—appeared before me.
“Running into you here, God must be on my side!”
She said with a grin while glaring at me, and despite being in the middle of the street, she pointed a gun at me.
This action caused the people around us to cry out in surprise.
What is she thinking, pulling out a gun in such a crowded place when she hasn’t even been attacked?
Anyway, I raised both hands to show I had no intention of resisting.
“What do you want?”
She replied,
“I told you earlier, didn’t I? Buy back [Bastet], repair it perfectly, and present it to me! Oh, and while you’re at it, a brand new Max Borg Co. G-32 [Dilita] or a Germackin-Romix Co. G-42 [Lasjart] would be fine too!”
She demanded what she had said at the Mercenary Guild and even added more requests.
By the way, both of those additions are main battle cruisers of the Imperial Army!
And they both cost over 10 million credits!
“I refuse. Why should I do such a thing in the first place?”
Of course, I rejected immediately.
“It’s only natural for someone like me, a chosen one, to use money earned by someone like you!”
However, she said this without hesitation.
She’s clearly abnormal.
How can she make such demands to someone she just met?
I could make a guess, but for now, there’s only one thing to do.
“Hello, police? I’m being extorted by a strange woman in front of the Bazun Building in Block 65. Could you come right away?”
I contacted the police using my wrist-type terminal, wrist-Com.
My Wrist-Com is the type that shows the image of the other party, so I could see the female operator.
Probably realizing from the video and conversation content that my call wasn’t to buy a battle cruiser but to contact the police,
“Hey! Why are you calling the police?! Hang up!”
“As you can see, please come as soon as possible–” BASH!
And before I could end the call, she shot at my feet with her gun.
“I’m asking why you’re calling the police! Answer me now!”
The answer to my earlier guess about “How can she make such demands to someone she just met?” is probably because she’s a noble.
Moreover, if she’s a noble from the anti-emperor faction that dislikes the current emperor and advocates for a traditional noble lifestyle, her behavior and words would make sense.
However, if she’s a noble, she should have some money and power, and if she’s doing mercenary work as a hobby, she should be able to get something like [Bastet] just by asking her parents.
Considering this, she might be a fallen noble or a former noble who had her title stripped away.
Anyway, to avoid being shot, I explain the reason.
“Well, no matter how you look at it, what you’re doing is a crime, right? It’s only natural to report it.”
“Huh? How is it a crime for you, a commoner, to present a brand new battle cruiser to me, a noble?!”
“Don’t you know about the law enacted by the previous emperor’s imperial decree, which the current emperor is also enforcing, that prohibits nobles from doing such things?”
“There’s no need to obey that woman’s orders!”
As I thought, she’s a noble and seems to have some acquaintance or relationship with the emperor.
She might have a particular grudge against the current emperor.
Well, they seem to be around the same age, so something might have happened between them.
“Come on, hurry up and agree to buy it!”
Finally reaching her limit, she screamed and shot at my feet again with her gun.
Then in the next moment, someone grabbed her arm holding the gun, and she was thrown to the ground.
“Police! You’re under arrest for attempted extortion!”
It was the police.
Apparently, they had approached without turning on their patrol car sirens to avoid being noticed by the suspect.
There were four of them, two restraining the suspect and the other two gathering information from the people around.
“What are you doing?! I was just trying to teach this commoner his place!”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll hear all about it at the station.”
Despite the suspect’s various outcries, the officers paid no heed and pushed her into the patrol car after handcuffing her.
Then, the operator who had been on the line the whole time spoke up.
[Caller, it seems our officers made it in time.]
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry for not hanging up.”
[No, thanks to that, we could understand the situation clearly. Please leave the rest to the officers on scene.]
“Thank you very much.”
After thanking the operator and ending the call, one of the officers approached me.
“Are you the victim?”
“Yes.”
“We heard the conversation through the phone, so that’s fine. We’ll create a victim report, so please provide your identification.”
“Okay.”
I held out my wrist-type terminal Wrist-Com and sent my ID data to the officer’s thin tablet.
During this time, I pretended not to notice that Ako Chandela, the suspect, was glaring at me from inside the patrol car, already flanked by officers.
“Alright, we’ll submit this as a case of attempted extortion.”
“Thank you very much.”
Once the victim report was completed, the officer got into the patrol car and took the suspect away.
But somehow, I have a feeling that due to the recent scandals lowering the reputation of the Mercenary Guild, the upper echelons of the guild might ask me to withdraw this victim report to avoid further damage to their image.
I should hurry home and read my new books…
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whelp this went like expected and can’t wait for elder hound to realize their dream man is in fact a chubby otaku