Each Holiday

For these reasons, I have renounced my status as a noble of the Limmrian Galactic Empire's Ringlund family. Having left the Ringlund family, I could not remain within the Limmrian Galactic Empire, so I abandoned my claim to the imperial succession and fled here, alone, to the Acneria Galactic Federation. I offer my deepest gratitude to the government and people of Acneria for accepting me without prior notice and for welcoming me aboard a civilian vessel. Going forward, as a citizen of the Acneria Galactic Federation, I shall uphold my rights and responsibilities...

Milina publicly declares her defection to the entire universe via the Acneria Galactic Federation's public broadcast.

Naturally, this broadcast is also directed toward the Rimulia Galactic Empire, and shortly after Milina's declaration, the fact of her escape is publicly confirmed by her father, the head of the Ringlund family.

While the official reason presented to the general public is that Milina fled due to family conflicts within the Ringlund family, this is merely a cover story for those unaware of the true circumstances.

Although the Rimulia Galactic Empire would never believe such a claim, the Akeria Galactic Federation publicly accepting Milina's asylum serves as a deterrent, ensuring the Rimulia Galactic Empire refrains from taking any action against her.

International law stipulates that, in exchange for asylum seekers refraining from actions or statements harmful to their host country's interests, their personal safety must be guaranteed.

Although in practice this law has become meaningless, it remains a formally established legal principle.

At the very least, on the surface, the Rimulia Galactic Empire cannot condemn either the Akeria Galactic Federation or Milina personally in this matter.

While Milina was making her declaration, Shinnosuke, Marks, and Seira—still undergoing repairs on Cerberus—decided to take some time off.

Although Seira had been granted leave by Shinnosuke, she was unsure how to spend her free time, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Though she was still an apprentice, Seira received a salary directly from Shinnosuke.

Seira's salary is paid from Shinnosuke and the merchant fleet association's training subsidy, amounting to about 60 percent of the average wage for a fourth-class sailor, the lowest rank among seafarers.

Though this is quite low for someone risking their life at sea, Shinnosuke covers all her needs for food, clothing, and shelter, and whatever salary she receives is entirely her own to spend. In that sense, she might be better off than a typical sailor.

Moreover, Sera was accustomed to a simple lifestyle, had little desire for material things, and thus found herself saving money without any real way to spend it.

Still, having been on edge ever since riding Kerberos, she decided to treat herself and stepped out into town for a break.

Yet she lacked the courage to enter a stylish café alone, and had no particular items she wanted to buy, so her shopping was minimal.

She ended up buying underwear, everyday clothes, and household essentials at a regular store.

In the end, before heading back to Cerberus, she stopped by a cheap fast food restaurant for a meal, but there were already sandwiches amounting to at least five people's worth lined up in front of Seira.

Most of them weren't ordered by Seira herself for her own consumption.

Originally a light eater, Seira had only ordered a mixed sandwich and a fruit juice, but just then, she ran into an unfortunate coincidence—Zarny and Dag, the two older men, who spotted her.

"Hey? Ain't this the girl from Shinnosuke's place!"

Zarny and Dag had also come to eat, both enjoying deluxe sandwiches and beer.

"Um, thank you so much for coming to help me the other day."

Seyla thanking Milina for rushing to her aid during her escape from Kerberos.

"No need to thank us. We were getting paid handsomely ourselves, after all."

Zany, blushing as she spoke, suddenly noticed the sandwich in front of Seira.

"What's the matter, girl? You only eating that? You do get paid by Shinnosuke, don't you? Oh right—since you're still an apprentice, your salary's low, so you can't afford to eat what you want! Don't worry, leave it to us!"

Before Seira could stop her, Zany ordered a huge pile of sandwiches.

"A-ah, b-but... this..."

"What's wrong with it? It's on us!"

"Ah, sailors live by their strength. Eat your fill."

Two older men, smirking contentedly as they walk away, ignoring Seira's confusion.

They hadn't spared a thought for how much a 18-year-old girl could actually eat—judging by their own standards, the amount of food was absurd.

"What am I supposed to do with all this...?"

Of course, Seira couldn't possibly finish it all by herself, and in the end, she ended up having to take home a massive pile of sandwiches.

Marks didn't really need rest, even during vacation.

There was barely anything else to do besides maintain himself.

In the end, he spent his time overseeing repairs to Cerberus, checking Cerberus's systems, and the like.

Yet even Marks had important private matters to attend to.

Alone on Cerberus's bridge, at the central operations station, Marks was composing a report.

"Routine report complete. Transmission sent."

Marks sent the report from Emilia in the Garra Stellar Region.

He regularly updates Emilia on Shinnosuke's whereabouts—something Shinnosuke himself does not know—since he never visits his family home.

"Transmission confirmed. Delete data from the created report."

This is a secret agreement between Emilia and Marks, ensuring flawless information management and confidentiality.

While Seyla and Marks' way of spending their vacation is more or less predictable, Shinnosuke takes it to another level entirely.

After finishing the cleaning of the Cerberus with Seyla and Marks, Shinnosuke had nothing else to do, so he came to the merchant fleet to gather information.

This isn't a vacation—it's work.

"Wait? Shinnosuke-san, shouldn't you be on break until the ship repairs are finished?"

Lina noticed Shinnosuke wandering around the union lobby and called out to him.

"Yes. I'm off work, so I came here to gather information."

"Isn't that stretching the definition of 'off work'?"

"I suppose so? Well, I'm off work, but I'm just bored out of my mind—wondering what to do about it..."

Hearing Shinnosuke's words, Lina suddenly lit up with a bright expression, as if struck by an idea.

"Shinnosuke-san. If you're free, how about taking on a part-time job?"