Preparing for the Final Confrontation

After returning to the Salius Star Province, Shinnosuke visits the Free Merchant Guild with Marks, though not for any official business.

He had a matter to discuss with a certain free merchant, and upon arriving at the guild, he found the man effortlessly.

"I have something to discuss. Do you have a moment?"

The two who turned around upon hearing Shinnosuke's voice were Zany and Dag.

"Hey? What's up, Shinnosuke? What's with the serious face?"

"A favor you want to ask?"

"Yes. I've got something I'd like to discuss with both of you, and I'd appreciate your advice."

"No problem. We just finished up our work and settled the accounts. We're hungry too, so let's eat while you talk. You're buying, right? Asking for advice means you're treating us, right?"

Shinnosuke nodded with a shrug in response to Zany's quick agreement.

Leaving the union, Shinnosuke and the others headed to a fast-food sandwich shop near by, renowned for its generous portions.

Shinnosuke, Zany, and Dag each ordered a deluxe sandwich combo.

Since Shinnosuke had something to discuss, all three opted for coffee instead of other drinks.

"Well, even if we're being treated, you still need to be mindful of manners."

"Yeah, that's right. Just a little short of full is perfect."

In front of Zany and Dug, three-person portions are laid out before them, but since it's an inexpensive place, Shinosuke's wallet feels neither pinched nor irritated.

"So? What do you want to ask us about?"

Zany, already finishing his first cup of coffee—three cups available since it's a three-person set.

"Yes, you two are specialists in hunting pirates, right?"

"Well, we're not exactly specialists, but hunting pirates makes up most of our work."

"Hunting pirates is risky, but it pays well—perfect for us."

"I have my own reasons, and I'm also planning to hunt pirates."

Zany and Dag exchanged glances at Shinosuke's words.

"Something happen?"

Actually, I'm currently being targeted for assassination by space pirates, so I figured I might as well take the initiative and confront them head-on. But there's no way I'd get a "Pirate Hunt" mission request, is there? I'm curious how the two of you go about hunting pirates.

Indeed, if we tried to hunt pirates, our escort vessel—which has restrictions on combat actions—wouldn't be able to initiate attacks first.

Shin nosuke doesn't have the know-how for the procedures involved in hunting pirates.

"There are times when the guild does issue requests. Rarely, they'll ask for someone to eliminate pirates spotted in a specific sector of space. But waiting around for those kinds of requests wouldn't earn you any money. So you've got to go out to areas where pirates are likely to appear and actively hunt them down yourself."

Apparently, when Zany and other mercenaries who make a living as pirate hunters go out on pirate hunts, they first file a report with the guild declaring their intent to hunt pirates.

After that, they head toward the suspected regions, looking for suspicious vessels that deviate from normal shipping lanes or fail to transmit identification signals.

If a suspicious vessel is detected, its configuration and other details are verified. If it's confirmed to be a pirate ship that's been flagged or has a bounty, the appropriate warnings are issued before launching an attack and eliminating the threat. However, if the pirate ship initiates an attack first, immediate retaliation is possible, making it a quick and effective response.

The real challenge lies in not misidentifying a civilian vessel as a space pirate, which requires especially careful judgment based on the escort ship crew's experience and information they've gathered themselves.

We must never make the mistake of harming a civilian ship.

And if we eliminate or capture a space pirate, we'll receive a bounty or reward based on the outcome, but apparently, capturing the pirates and handing them over to authorities yields a higher reward than destroying their ship outright.

"But why on Earth are we being targeted by space pirates?"

The mastermind behind the attempt on my life is someone else, but the ones actually hunting me are space pirates hired by that mastermind.

With that, Shinnosuke showed Zany and Dag the footage of the alien pirate ship, A887 Frigate, which they had encountered first.

"A887, huh... That's far too luxurious a ship for a space pirate."

I've never seen a space pirate use this ship before.

Zanny and Dag tilting their heads.

"This pirate must have just switched ships. When Cerberus was destroyed, they caused significant damage in a near-simultaneous clash—probably received a new vessel from their sponsor behind the scenes."

"So it was those pirates from back then?"

"Yes. In fact, I've clashed with these space pirates three times, and each time they inflicted painful losses on me—on the third occasion, as you know..."

"Three times? Shinnosuke getting beaten by ordinary space pirates? Not likely."

At that moment, Dug noticed something while watching the footage.

"Zany, wait! That ship has a cannon forcibly installed—something on the scale of a battleship's main gun! This can't be..."

"Could it be Velvet?"

"A seasoned space pirate who'd go for such equipment—there's only one woman who fits that description."

Even after hearing Zany and Dug's conversation, Shinnosuke still didn't grasp it.

Despite having clashed with the opponent three times, he had absolutely no information about them.

"A space pirate named Velvet? That woman? You're telling me this pirate is actually a woman?"

Zany and Dug both nodded in response to Shinnosuke's question.

"Yeah, Velvet the space pirate—she's a top-tier bounty. There are plenty of escorts who tried to hunt her down and ended up getting slaughtered in return.

Even those who were defeated were solid escorts to begin with. Just surviving a battle with Velvet isn't something ordinary. Finding Velvet herself is incredibly difficult."

"Even surviving three fights against someone like that is impressive, Shinnosuke."

Shinosuke let out a long sigh.

"Being targeted by someone troublesome like that is a pain. Well, it just means they're serious about it... Marks, we really can't afford to waste time anymore. We need to act right away."

"Understood."

Shinosuke made his decision.

"Thank you, Zany, and Dag. That was incredibly helpful. Once this is all over safely, I'll treat you to drinks."

Shinosuke and Marks stand up, saying that.

"Wait a minute, Shinosuke."

Zany stops Shinosuke and the others from leaving the shop.

"Hm?"

Turning around, Shinosuke sees Zany and Dag, who have just finished eating three sandwiches, standing up.

"Let us help too!"