Although they had arrived...

Fubuki and Tsukikage emerged into the international space region just before the Duchy of Poluks, having passed beyond the territory of the Damura Star Cluster Republic.

Even though they had left the Republic's domain, the international space region was still not safe, as combat was ongoing there.

Still, the international space between the two nations was narrow, so they could exit it within three days. Once inside Poluks territory, they could reach their destination—the capital planet of Poluks—within about two days.

"There are no ships navigating nearby."

Listening to Milina's report from the operator's seat, replacing Seira during her break, Shinnosuke nodded.

"Understood. Just a little longer—be careful as we proceed."

Still, the journey was peaceful, progressing smoothly without any incidents whatsoever.

"Um, speaking of that, not just the Poluks Principality we're heading to, but galactic nations usually come in various forms—empires, duchies, and so on, right?"

Seyla, unable to find a seat since Milena is using the operator's station, tilts her head while sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

Though she could rest in her own quarters during break time, she says she feels more at ease staying on the bridge.

"That's because one reason galactic nations are so diverse is that their territories are simply too vast to fully control."

"Wait, wouldn't that make life tough for emperors or kings too?"

Cielo tilted her head further, listening to Shinnosuke's explanation.

"Trying to hold an entire country together by a single ruler is no small task. But in monarchies, there are nobles who receive land grants from the monarch, each governing their own territory. A collection of these noble domains forms a single nation. The monarch only needs to control the nobles who hold land, making it possible to efficiently rule over a vast country."

"I see, that's exactly what it is."

"By the way, even the Acneria Galactic Federation isn't a monarchy, but rather a confederation of five stellar provinces. The 6325 Stellar Alliance is similar—a confederation state like that."

"Ah, I see. So it's not necessary to be a monarchy, then."

Shinnosuke nodded in agreement with Seira's words.

"Conversely, there are plenty of single nations throughout the universe, so it's not like confederations or monarchies are the only common forms of government."

As they continued sailing, chatting about such things, Shinnosuke and the others arrived at their destination, the Duchy of Pollux, without any particular incident.

The Duchy of Pollux was a small nation with two habitable planets in addition to its capital planet, Pollux.

The monarch, Lord Kistrin, governs the capital planet, Pollux, while two lords each manage two habitable planets. This job, however, was a request from Lord Kistrin himself—to transport mining heavy machinery all the way to the capital planet, Pollux.

There is only a space station on the planet Pollux, which serves as a base for the defense fleet, manages and controls navigation routes, and functions as a cargo station for exports. However, the delivery of the transported goods requires descent onto the planet itself.

"Permission to descend from the Pollux Space Management Station to the planet Pollux has been granted."

Upon receiving Seira's report, Fubuki and Tsukikage proceed toward the docking port, descending into Pollux's atmosphere.

Before them stretched a vast continent.

"Although I imagined a lush, green landscape since it's a habitable planet, this is nothing like what I expected..."

Just as Seira muttered, there was almost no green visible in the scenery displayed on the monitor.

Both plains and mountains revealed bare earth, with massive craters scattered across the landscape, creating a desolate and harsh appearance.

Judging from the factory-like buildings surrounding the area, this must be a mineral resource extraction site.

However, from what I can see, these facilities don't appear to be operational.

"Something seems to be going on here..."

The two vessels continued their journey and eventually reached the upper atmosphere above Polroks's capital.

Polroks's capital was an unusual city, where modern buildings stood side by side with ancient stone structures.

The spaceport was located on the outskirts of the capital, with mass drivers installed around it to launch mined minerals into orbiting stations.

When Fubuki and Tsukikage docked at the port according to control instructions, they were immediately surrounded by a ground unit of the Polroks military that had been waiting in advance.

Fifteen fully equipped soldiers, a squad-sized unit, and two armored vehicles were deployed.

"A weapon in hand—what a troublesome welcome. Isn't that rather impolite?"

Milina showed clear discomfort, but they weren't hostile toward Shinnosuke and the others.

"According to a notice from the Polroks side, they're deploying for security reasons to guard the ship and cargo. They'll only be patrolling the surrounding area, though, and won't be entering the vessel. Seems the Polroks side understands that much, at least."

Under international law, a ship is generally considered part of the territory of the country it belongs to, even when docking at a foreign port, and the authority of the host country typically does not extend to the vessel unless there are exceptional circumstances.

It seems the Polroks intend to abide by those rules.

That said, they can't simply leave the ship unattended and go ashore.

Since only routine procedures remained before handing over the cargo, there was no need for everyone to go ashore together. Shinnosuke, Marks, Seyla, and Milina would go ashore to handle the various formalities, while Andy, Ellen, and Madelia would stay aboard the ship.

"Alright, let's get these handover procedures over with quickly."

There was no free merchant ship association in the Duchy of Poloukx; instead, the state agency known as the Foreign Affairs and Trade Management Office handled all procedures and formalities with foreign merchant vessels.

The office was said to be about a ten-minute walk from the port, so Shinnosuke and the others decided to head there after landing. However, as soon as they left the port, they immediately sensed an uneasy atmosphere.

The local residents were keeping a cautious distance from Shinnosuke and the others, their gazes far from friendly—whispering among themselves while glaring at Shinnosuke's group.

"Something's off. Marks, keep an eye out."

"Understood."

Fubuki and Tsukikage (primarily the cargo) are being thoroughly guarded, but Shinnosuke's crew aren't receiving the same level of attention—only two guide soldiers accompany Shinnosuke's group.

They don't seem eager to provide active protection.

If things go wrong, we'll have to defend ourselves.

After walking cautiously while scanning our surroundings for just a few minutes, we were suddenly called from behind.

"Did you bring the mining machinery with you?"

Turning around, I saw a boy around ten years old glaring at Shinnosuke.

The boy had dog-like ears on his head—he was a Lada child.