Immediate request

Shinnosuke's new dock is large enough to accommodate the Fubuki and Tsukikage, both over 100 meters in length, but inside the dock there are only two ship cradles and a small shed serving as an office.

Additionally, airlocks for spacecraft launch and movement of the cradles are centrally managed by the Free Merchant Fleet's dock control room, preventing unauthorized operation.

Shin nosuke and Marks gaze up at Fubuki and Tsukikage, docked side by side in the massive hangar.

It's still early, and Seira is resting in her room aboard Fubuki.

With no plans today, Andy and the others living on Tsukikage are still asleep, and Milliena hasn't shown her face yet.

Since Shinosuke left the space navy and went independent as a mercenary guard for a freighter, partnering with Marks, riding the Cerberus across the stars, joining the Free Traders' Guild of the Sirius Stellar Province, and through various jobs accumulated experience and achievements, Seira joined them along the way, and later Milliena showed up uninvited.

Eventually, during a battle with space pirates, they lost the Cerberus, and during that incident, Shinosuke suffered severe injuries, losing his left eye. Afterwards, they acquired the escort ship Fujin as a replacement for Cerberus.

And now, they reached out to help Andy and Ellen in their crisis, hired the two of them, founded the Kashimura Corporation, and acquired a new escort ship, Tsukikage.

"Stunning."

"Yes, indeed."

"Starting with just the two of us, making it this far—it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye."

"Yes, indeed."

"Going forward... "

"Master, please wait a moment."

"Hm? What is it?"

"The flow of our conversation... It feels like it's approaching the finale, or maybe like it's setting up for something."

"What are you talking about, Markus? You're making no sense."

"I don't even understand what I'm saying myself..."

Sinnosuke and the others exchanging meaningless, pointless chatter.

The two of them always end up talking like this when Seira and Milena aren't around.

Left to their own devices, they'd keep droning on endlessly, but this time, fortunately, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the dock's built-in intercom.

"Hmm? Who is it? Milena?"

"Milena has a passkey, so she wouldn't need to press the intercom. It must be a visitor."

Following Mark's prompt, Shinosuke pressed the intercom reply button.

"Shinosuke! Let's go mining!"

Shinosuke instinctively recoiled at the sight of Glen's face filling the monitor screen.

Several people were visible behind Glen's close-up face, as if Glen's gang had all come out to greet him.

"Mr. Glen, if you need mining escort, please place a formal request."

Shinnosuke reluctantly invited Glen and his group in.

"I'm sorry, Glen, for causing you trouble..."

Though apologizing, Karen still lacked any real emotion.

She definitely wouldn't have scolded Glen.

"Is this Shinnosuke's new ship? Impressive! Looks like there's no problem here."

Ignoring Shinnosuke's confusion, Glen and his group looked up at Tsukikage.

No, if it's a bodyguard request, you should go through the guild...

I already submitted the request to the union yesterday. But I couldn't wait any longer, so I came here to pick you up myself.

Then why don't you just contact me through my device?

That's true, but this job requires not only the escort vessel but also a new ship for Shinosuke. Since I'm here, I figured I'd come see it in person.

"Is it the moonlight?"

"That's right! I heard it was a military cargo vessel, and it looks like it has plenty of room for payload—perfect for our current job. Let's head straight to the guild!"

Shinosuke, surrounded by Glen and the others, let out a sigh.

There was no way he could resist being dragged to the guild now.

"I'll decide whether to take the job after checking the details and the reward."

"Leave it to me!"

Though leaving Marks behind, Shinnosuke was led away by Glen and his group toward the dock, where he happened to run into Milena, who had just arrived for work.

"Ah, Master Shinnosuke. Are you heading out?"

"Yes, I'm going to the guild at the request of Mr. Glen and his crew."

"In that case, I'll come along as well."

Milena hurried to catch up.

Even as Shinnosuke was being led by Glen and his companions, he brought Milena along with them to the guild.

When Shinnosuke and the others arrived at the Free Merchant Fleet Alliance, Rina was waiting for them, looking awkward.

"...Glen, I told you I'd relay the message to Shinnosuke, but in the end, you just barged straight into Shinnosuke's dock, didn't you?"

"Yep. I couldn't wait when I heard we'd be doing a big job after such a long time!"

Shinnosuke watches the exchange between Rina and Glenn, but despite being dragged here somewhat forcefully, he can't decide whether to accept the job without hearing its details first.

"Rina-san. I've come this far, so there's no turning back now. Please tell me the details of the request."

Prompted by Shinnosuke, Rina lets out a sigh, then explains the nature of the request from Glenn.

It's a request from Mr. Glenn: guarding the rare metal excavation and transporting the extracted rare metals. Mr. Glenn would like the escort and transport to be handled by your two ships, Fubuki and Tsukikage, Shinno. The destination is the Seegul Holy Kingdom.