A New Plan

The next day, Shinosuke visited the Free Merchant Guild once again.

Having discussed with Marks, Seira, and Milena, and having made a decision, Shinosuke was accompanied by Milena, the legal affairs officer.

Shinosuke spotted Andy and the others at the same booth as yesterday, and confirmed Iris sitting at the reception counter. He then stood in front of Lina's counter.

"Good morning, Lina."

"Ah, good morning, Shinosuke-san, Milliena-san. You're here early today?"

After exchanging a casual greeting, Shinosuke straightened his expression.

"Yes, I have something urgent to discuss with Lina-san and Iris-san. Would you both please spare me a moment?"

"Eh?... Oh, yes! Right away!"

Noticing the seriousness in Shinosuke's demeanor, Lina quickly called out to Iris and promptly guided Shinosuke and Milliena to a separate room.

Shinosuke, led to a separate room, began the main topic in front of Rina and Iris.

"Andy and Ellen's situation—Rina, I heard about it yesterday. Iris, are the two of them still in the same state?"

"Yes, they're gradually giving up on hiring both together due to the lack of suitable job opportunities, but they still can't make up their minds."

Hearing Iris's words, Shinosuke nodded.

"In fact, we're currently considering business expansion, and for that reason, we're thinking about hiring new talent."

Shinosuke's words made Rina and Iris, especially Iris, light up with excitement.

"Does that mean..."

"Ahem. When you mention business expansion, what kind of plans do you have in mind?"

Iris blurted out without thinking, but Rina quickly cut her off, her expression clearly signaling, 'Shinosuke is my responsibility.'

"Master Shinosuke plans to acquire a new vessel for business expansion and establish a small trading company. Of course, all the necessary procedures for setting up the company will be handled by me, so there's no issue there. However, since we need a crew to operate the new ship, I'm looking to hire around two crew members who I can trust with it."

Rina and Iris exchanged glances.

"Um...?"

"Ahem! So, what are the conditions for hiring?"

It doesn't matter much, but Rina wasn't about to let Iris take the lead.

"We're considering expanding our operations into cargo transport, and we're looking into introducing cargo ships equipped with a certain level of armament capable of handling escort missions. Therefore, we plan to hire individuals with escort vessel operation qualifications, regardless of experience or rank."

Upon hearing Miliena's plan, Iris couldn't help but lean forward.

"If that's the case, I simply must introduce you to a sailor I know!"

Without even letting Lina get a word in, Iris spoke up.

It was as if they were performing a farce, yet Shinnosuke's intention to expand the business was real, and this exchange—complete with reporting to Lina—was a necessary step in carrying out the plan.

And so, after going through this process, Andy and Elen were summoned by Iris.

Andy and Elen, who had entered the room with worried expressions, relaxed when they saw Shinnosuke.

"Ah, Shinnosuke-san, it's been a while."

Andy and Elen bowed, but as soon as they sat down and heard Shinnosuke speak, their expressions turned stunned.

The two of them changed expressions rapidly, clearly flustered.

"…So, I'd like to entrust you with the new ship we're planning to acquire. Are you up for it?"

The two of them were stunned into silence by Shinnosuke's proposal, but quickly regained their composure.

"Y-yes! We'll do our best, please take us on!"

They were practically jumping with joy.

"Then I'll officially hire you both. That said, we haven't acquired the new ship yet, so your official hiring will be confirmed once we've secured it. Don't worry—whether or not we get the ship right away, your hiring is already final and cannot be revoked."

With that, Shinnosuke immediately signed employment contracts with Andy and the others.

Upon receiving the news that the two had been hired, Rina and Iris stood up and bowed deeply.

"Thank you so much, truly!"

Incidentally, up until now, Rina had been in charge of Shinnosuke, and Iris had been in charge of Andy. However, now that Shinnosuke had established the trading company, Rina and Iris would henceforth be the company's designated representatives.

Shinnosuke and Milliena, having just hired Andy and the others, immediately headed to Psychoji Industry right after leaving the union.

They had informed them in advance that they were looking to purchase a new ship, and were now asking them to find a suitable vessel.

"This time, you're looking for a used small cargo ship, correct? The condition is that it must also be operable as a destroyer. Is that right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

This sales representative, who had grown increasingly familiar with Shinnosuke, was Hankus, Deputy Section Chief of the First Sales Division at Salius Branch of Sai Kou Ji Industry.

A skilled sales representative, Hankus had compiled several suitable options that met Shinnosuke's conditions.

"A cargo ship equipped with armaments, carrying around 500 tons of payload—something like this, perhaps?"

The vessel Hankus presented was a typical armed cargo ship, converted from a civilian freighter—affordable within Shinnosuke's budget, whether new or secondhand.

While none of the ships were particularly unsatisfactory, Shinnosuke showed no change in expression.

Hankus always, without fail, kept his true preference hidden during negotiations.

"Come on, Hankus, no need to keep me in suspense."

Hankus shrugged in response to Shinnosuke's words.

"Given how long I've known Mr. Kasimura, you've probably figured out my true intentions by now. But this isn't really about teasing you—it's just part of my usual negotiation routine, so please don't take it personally."

With that, Hankus displayed the data for his primary vessel on the terminal.

"Gekkou-class transport ship?"

"Yes, this is Tsukikage, the second vessel of the Gekkou-class military transport ship, CA-21, manufactured by Saikouji Industries. It's an already retired transport vessel that our company acquired, but it's still fully capable of active service."

Shin nosuke stared at the terminal screen, deep in thought.

No wonder he was the deputy section chief of Saikouji Industries' Salirus branch—this ship presented exactly what Shin nosuke had been looking for.

Milena, watching Shin nosuke's expression from beside him.

(This is settled then.)

Even without using her third eye, Milena could see the future.