Kingdom of Sallet

Sinnosuke and the others journeying toward the Sacred State of Seigul.

The trip takes about a month one way, but between the Akneria Galactic Federation and the Sacred State of Seigul lies the Kingdom of Sallet. To pass through the kingdom's territory, they must stop by Sallet's Navigation Authority.

The Kingdom of Sallet is a small nation composed of five habitable planets.

Though lacking any major industries, the country serves primarily as a transit point to the Seigul Holy Empire, and its main national policy focuses on tourism utilizing the diverse environments of its five planets.

The three ships approached the orbital station of Sallet, the capital planet of the Sallet Kingdom.

Sallet Orbital Station Harbor Management Center. This is the escort vessel Fubuki, affiliated with the Akneria Galactic Federation's Sirius Stellar District Free Merchant Fleet. Requesting port clearance for passage through your sovereign territory, as part of our operational journey to the Seigul Holy Empire.

This is the Sallet Harbor Management Center. We have confirmed the registry of the ships Fubuki, Tsukikage, and Big Bear. Permission to dock is granted. Please enter docking stations 328 to 330. Welcome to Sallet.

"Understood. We'll be making a brief stop—please take care of us....Fubuki, Tsukikage, and Big Bear have received docking permission. Please follow the center's guidance to dock."

"Understood."

Seyla's communications and navigation control had become as reliable as a fixed board, and even on new routes or unfamiliar ports, there were no issues—Shin nosuke had grown so dependable that she could now rest easy relying on him.

It took over two weeks to reach Sallet, but since this route fell within the guarded zones of the Aknelia Galactic Federation Space Force and the Coast Guard, encounters with space pirates were extremely rare, allowing Shin Nosuke and the others to arrive at Sallet without incident.

However, this was where the real challenge began.

The international space zone between the Kingdom of Sallet and the Sacred State of Seegul is known as the "Pirate Route," notorious for its poor security.

This is because the Kingdom of Sallet, being a small nation, maintains only a defense force for national protection, with only a small coastal patrol unit, barely able to manage internal security.

On the other hand, the Seegul Holy Kingdom is a theocratic nation, maintaining only the bare minimum of military organization—its Holy Knight Space Fleet for national defense and its Holy监察 Corps for maintaining public order. As a result, the security situation in the international space regions between the Sallet Kingdom and the Seegul Holy Kingdom has deteriorated.

Both nations, operating with limited forces, are attempting to suppress space pirates in the international space regions between them, but they simply don't have enough manpower. As a result, the space lanes between the two countries have become known as pirate routes.

"Right then, once we pass through the Sallet Kingdom, we'll be entering the pirate route. After completing the required procedures for passing through sovereign territory, I'll spend the day regaining my vigor."

As Shinnosuke docked at the Sallet Orbital Station, he proposed to the group.

"That sounds great. Alright, it's my treat tonight!"

With Shinnosuke's suggestion and Glen's comment, the group set out toward the town of the Sallet Orbital Station.

Still, they first needed to complete the procedures for passing through Sallet Kingdom territory.

Shinnosuke visited the Navigation Authority accompanied by Marks, Celia, and Milina, but along the way, Celia was gazing around with keen interest.

What caught Celia's attention were the people bustling about around them.

The Sallet Kingdom, though a small nation, thrived as a hub connecting various galactic states and was also a multicultural nation where people of all races lived together.

Notable among them are the Zalid people from the Lizarion system, a reptilian species that evolved independently from mammals; the Tasclyans, who have gray coloring and large eyes without pupils; and the Zoyack, a race of machine-based lifeforms (not dolls like the Marks, but fully sentient beings).

If you visit the Navigation Authority, you'll find a young female Lardan woman with cat-like ears serving at the reception counter.

"Welcome to the Sareth Kingdom Navigation Authority. Please proceed here for passage clearance within the territory."

The Lardan receptionist smiled warmly, smoothly guiding Shinosuke through the procedure, but during the wait, Shinosuke's attention was drawn elsewhere entirely.

(If they have ears on their head, what would their original ear position be like?)

Shinosuke, encountering a Lardan for the first time, couldn't help but wonder, but the Lardan woman before him had long hair, making it impossible to discern her ear position—whether it was typical or not.

Without resolving his simple curiosity, Shinosuke and the others left the Navigation Bureau after completing the internal passage procedures.

"There aren't many Ladian people living in Akneria, and since I've never actually met one, I never thought much about it. But if Ladians have ears on top of their heads, what would our kind's ear placement look like?"

As Shinosuke stepped out of the Navigation Bureau, muttering his curiosity aloud, Marks, Seira, and Miliena stared at him, incredulous.

"Master, were you thinking about such things during the procedure?"

"Serah and Miliena, I don't need you two making that face, Marks."

"What face? I'm always like this. Besides, I'm just amazed by my master's pointless questions."

"But I can't help being curious. I couldn't just ask directly on our first meeting."

"……Sigh……"

The three of them sighed in unison.

"Hey! Marks, you don't even need to breathe—your sighs are weird!"

I merely produced the most effective vocal expression of my current state of mind....Honestly, if you're just going to have doubts at that level, why not just look it up yourself instead of asking directly? If you're going to ask, you could've just asked me right away.

According to Marks' explanation, which he described as a complete waste of time, the Ladan people did not evolve from animals like cats, but rather branched off from the same human lineage as Shinosuke and the others. In response to a harsh survival environment, their ears—originally located on the sides of their heads—evolved into larger, more prominent ones, allowing them to gather more information to protect themselves. Observing the position of their ears on the sides of the head, one can see that the tips of the ears extend all the way to the temples, but they are covered in hair, making them indistinguishable from normal human ears at a glance.

Incidentally, because the Ladian people have survived the evolutionary struggle by excelling in night vision, extreme physical prowess, and having sharp claws on their fingertips like feline animals, the Sereet Kingdom has a specialized unit dedicated to close combat operations composed entirely of Ladian soldiers.

"Marriage to a Ladian woman would be a life-or-death matter in a domestic dispute."

Seira and Miliena raise their voices in response to this equally naive question.

"“There's no need to worry about something like that!""

Sinnosuke, spouting nonsense, was dragged by Seira and Miliena toward the shop where Glen and the others were waiting.

Tomorrow, they would set sail for the Sacred Kingdom of Siegul, and beyond that lay the pirate route.

"Alright! Just as promised, it's my treat today! I've ordered mountains of Searette's specialty dishes. Help yourselves, and eat and drink freely!"

Tonight, we'll replenish our spirits with Glen's generous feast, preparing for tomorrow.

"Then, without further ado, I'll dig in."

Shinosuke looked over the array of dishes laid out on the table.

"…Is this crab? No, shrimp? …Some kind of crustacean? …The appearance is…"

"Ah, this thing here is a type of ancient crustacean—dangerous, parasitic, growing inside a host's body. Wild specimens are already extinct, but this is apparently quite a delicacy in Serelet, where they've genetically modified it to remove the risks and farm it instead. It's a hidden specialty, so to speak."

"A hidden specialty...?"

The dish, ordered on a whim by Glen, remained untouched by everyone, its eerie appearance adding to the hesitation.

"Markus, what do you say? Want to try a bite?"

"I'm thankful to the gods that I'm a doll who doesn't need to ingest food."

Though Shinnosuke says this to Markus, he can't help but feel intrigued by the mysterious creature on the plate.

"Just one bite... Oh, this is delicious."

Tomorrow, they set sail at dawn, and ahead lies the pirate route.