Shin nosuke and Marks' carefree holiday

Although Shin nosuke and the others had safely returned to the Salius Stellar Province, the union had already learned about the rescue operation in detail before Shin nosuke's report, thanks to Andy's earlier report and a message of gratitude from the company operating the Rimurian Galactic Empire's passenger vessel, Blue Dolphin.

"Shin nosuke, I just received a notification from Imperial Travelers, the company operating the Blue Dolphin. They're proposing a gratitude payment—but the amount is incredible."

Shin nosuke, upon hearing Rina's explanation and checking the proposed amount, was stunned.

The sum was two orders of magnitude higher than typical rescue compensation.

"This is... far too high, even by any standard. It's enough to buy a brand-new vessel. Do you have some hidden agenda or something?"

Shin nosuke couldn't help but feel suspicious about such an unusually high offer.

Yet, Milena, who had been peering over from the side, simply laughed off his doubts.

"There's no hidden agenda from the Empire. Let's just accept it gratefully."

"What do you mean?"

According to Milena, the Imperial Travellers are a semi-governmental enterprise funded by the imperial government, and among the compensation offered, some portion comes directly from the imperial government.

Given how much the Empire values face, they probably don’t want to owe a favor to Akneria’s free merchants. It’s essentially saying, “Take this amount as a token of gratitude—accept it gratefully.” There might also be an element of paying off the coastal patrol’s mishaps. Anyway, I can’t be bothered with the Empire’s pointless pride. Let’s accept it graciously and put an end to it cleanly.

As Milena said, if the Empire values its dignity, refusing their offer outright would only damage the Empire's dignity even further and create unnecessary friction.

Following Milena's advice, Shinosuke decided to accept the compensation offered by the Empire at their stated price.

Though they returned later than scheduled, Cassimura Company had successfully completed the heavy machinery transport mission to the Duchy of Poluks and earned an unexpected windfall that overshadowed their regular earnings.

Andy, who had returned earlier, seemed to have already set his sights on a new job. After obtaining Shinosuke's approval, Andy, Ellen, and Madelia's team set out on a new transport mission carrying medicinal supplies, processed food ingredients, and seeds of various plants.

It seemed the goal was less about receiving the reward for the request and more about accumulating experience as a sailor.

Left behind on the Salius were Shinosuke, Marks, Seyra, Milina, and four members of the Fubuki crew. However, since it was precisely the scheduled maintenance period for Fubuki, the ship was currently docked at the Psykouji Industry shipyard, leaving the four with nothing to do.

Since their work was finished, they decided to take a week-long vacation until Fubuki returned from maintenance.

For the first three days of their vacation, Shinosuke was secretly taken around by the three women—Ciel, Milina, and Lina—with whom he had secretly formed a lady's agreement, going shopping, attending plays, and going on picnics. However, overwhelmed by the nonstop stream of unfamiliar dates, Shinosuke's stamina finally reached its limit, and on the fourth day, he was finally freed.

Like Shinosuke, Seira lives in Fubuki's private room, but since Fubuki has entered the dock, she's staying at Miliena's mansion, leaving only Shinosuke and Marks at the office.

Today, with the dock empty, Marks and I were alone in the office, spending our time in idle, carefree leisure.

"Markus... the guild's business is really starting to come together. Especially this time—profit, not just profit, but a massive profit."

"That's true. But the compensation from the empire is just temporary income—what people call 'bubble money.' Now that things are finally getting on track, we should tighten our focus."

The two are engaged in seemingly reasonable conversation, but they're not really serious.

With nothing to do and no particular topic to discuss, they're just lounging around casually, saying idle things—especially Shinnosuke, who isn't thinking deeply about anything at all.

Normally, Shinnosuke would jump into cleaning the ship, the dock, or the office the moment he had free time, but right now, he lacks the energy to do so.

On the table in front of the sofa where Shinnosuke is sitting, several empty bottles of synthetic fruit tea he drank are left lying around.

"You're right about that. We shouldn't get complacent just because things are going smoothly—gotta stay focused. But Mark, did you check the merchant guild's account balance? It's reached an insane amount. We could buy a brand-new Frost-class escort vessel with that kind of money."

"Even if we could afford it, it wouldn't be practical considering the maintenance costs. Besides, we don't have a crew qualified to handle it."

You're right about that... But our crew's really coming along nicely too. Andy and the others are already seasoned destroyer crewmen, so we can trust them with the Tsukikage without worry. And with Madera on board, we can handle even more advanced tasks.

Yes, that's right.

"Serah still has her shortcomings, but she's grown into one of our company's pride and joy—expert in navigation and communication control. Miriena's ship-handling skills aren't just reliable—they're top-tier. She's only just obtained her pilot's license, but given Miriena, she'll surely earn her captain's certification soon..."

"......"

"Then... if that's the case..."

"Master!"

Markus cut off Shinosuke's rambling words mid-sentence.

"......"

"Master, I can't let you go on further. Now isn't the time to continue this conversation, and I've decided I shouldn't hear any more of it."

Markus, his dual cameras fixed on Shinosuke.

Shinosuke shrugged and let out a wry smile.

"Hah... you're right. I almost let slip something unnecessary. Yeah, that's right—this is still far off, isn't it..."

Shinosuke tossed the empty synthetic fruit tea bottle toward the trash bin.

The thrown bottle struck the edge of the box and fell to the floor.

"Yeah, that's right—when you let yourself go, you don't think of anything good..."

Shinosuke stood up, gathered the bottle from the table and the one rolling on the floor, and tossed them both into the trash bin.

"Markus, shall we start cleaning?"

"Understood! Master."