Elder Sister Emilia

Shinnosuke arrived at Sai Kou Ji Industry accompanied by Marks.

He had been summoned by Hanks, and also needed to provide data regarding the incident in hyperspace.

Hanks greeted him and led him to the waiting room, where Shinnosuke nervously scanned his surroundings, behaving suspiciously and out of character.

He even scrutinized the receptionist and the woman who brought tea, showing extreme caution.

"...Master, your behavior is far too suspicious."

"Of course. This place is already a danger zone. I can't afford to let my guard down for even a second."

"Emilia-sama isn't really an enemy, is she? She's just worrying about you, as an older sister should."

"I understand that, and I don't see Emilia-sama as an enemy at all."

"Then there's no need to be so on edge..."

"Markus, you can say things like that because you don't have any siblings. You don't know the terror of the unshakable power imbalance between a sister and brother—blood or not—nor the inevitability of their fixed positions."

"You couldn't possibly know something so trivial....However, Master, you've made one mistake. You said I have no siblings, but there are a total of 12,865 dolls exactly like me produced. Additionally, there are 6,524 female-type dolls equipped with identical main computers, so I have plenty of siblings. Speaking of brothers, since my serial number is 4,286, that means there are 4,285 brothers. As for sisters, there are 1,325..."

"Markus, something's off about this."

Hanks watched Synnosuke and Markus with a puzzled expression.

"Um... Mr. Kasimura? Is something troubling you?"

"Huh? Oh... no, nothing at all."

"Is that so. Then, regarding today's matter, it's a report on the proficiency of Milina and Seira as electronic warfare operators for the Yatagarasu, along with the procedures for providing data from the recent hyperspace incident..."

The procedure proceeded without any further incidents.

But Shinnosuke couldn't bear this calm.

"Um... Mr. Hankes. Aquarius has docked, but where is Chairman Saikouji?"

Hankes seemed to understand immediately upon hearing Shinnosuke's question.

"Ahh, I see. The chairman is currently inspecting the construction dock and the development division. He'll be staying at a group hotel today and is scheduled to head to the next inspection site tomorrow. There were no specific instructions regarding Mr. Kashimura."

Hearing Hankes' words, Shinnosuke let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed Emilia had come merely as the company's chairman to conduct an inspection.

If that's the case, I'm relieved. I should probably say hello before tomorrow's departure.

At that moment, Shinnosuke was completely off guard.

After finishing the procedures at Syokouji Industries, Shinnosuke and Marks decide to stop by the Merchant Ship Association before returning to the dock.

Although their return and accident report procedures had already been completed, a call from Lina had come in while Shinnosuke and the others were visiting Syokouji Industries.

"Ah, Mr. Shinnosuke, I'm sorry to call you suddenly."

"No, it's fine. Is there something urgent?"

"It's not exactly urgent, but since you previously asked me about this matter, I thought it would be better to inform you sooner rather than later."

The matter Shinnosuke had asked the union about was regarding the merchant guild's job openings.

Shinnosuke's merchant fleet boasts three escort vessels—Fubuki, Tsukikage, and Yatagarasu—but despite the number of ships, there aren't enough crew members.

While there are five individuals—Shinnosuke, Marks, Milena, Andy, and Madeira—who hold ship piloting qualifications, only Shinnosuke and Andy possess the captain's certification required to operate escort vessels. As a result, only two ships can currently be deployed simultaneously.

Yatagarasu frequently requires dry-docking for data collection and inspections, so this isn't an issue for now, but that will change in the future.

The need to increase personnel is unavoidable, so it's better to address it sooner rather than later.

That's why I had Rinna contact the union to recruit someone with a captain's qualification or crew members.

"Did anyone volunteer?"

Yes. Three applicants have volunteered. One holds a captain's qualification, one is a pilot兼general operator, and one is a navigation and communications operator. They are from the same team, and they recently lost their escort vessel while working on a job. Upon seeing Mr. Shinosuke's recruitment request, they expressed a strong desire to be assigned, especially since they're currently seeking a new escort vessel. They have outstanding records, excellent reputations, and high evaluations from the union.

I checked the data sent over, and it seems there are no issues, just as Rin said.

Though I haven't met Shinosuke in person, I've heard about his reputation as a high-ranking member of the union, and there are no negative rumors about him.

"There don't seem to be any particular problems. I'd actually like to meet him in person, if possible?"

"In that case, I'll arrange an interview. How about tomorrow afternoon?"

The Aqua's departure is scheduled for tomorrow morning, so it should be fine even if we go to the Space Environment Bureau afterward.

"I understand. Please tell him to come to my dock tomorrow at 3 p.m."

"I'll relay that message. Oh, by the way, Shinnosuke!"

Suddenly, Lina frowned with a displeased expression.

"Eh? W-What is it?"

Your tone's back to how it was before! I thought we'd grown closer during our vacation...

She seems dissatisfied that Shinnosuke has returned to his usual way of speaking to Rina.

"Wait... Oh, I'm sorry. No, but... however..."

Markus, growing exasperated at Shinosuke's flustered state, steps in to help.

"Miss Rina, it's pointless to expect much from Master. Even though your relationship has improved, Master isn't skilled enough to change his behavior so abruptly, even by the time of official work procedures."

"Hey! Don't call him clumsy!"

"It's the truth. If you'd like to dispute my judgment, please go ahead—try handling things with some skill and flexibility yourself."

Shinosuke challenged by Markus.

Rina gazed at Shinosuke with eyes full of anticipation.

"…g-guh… impossible…"

"…ahh…"

Markus and Rina both sighed deeply.

"With this, it's proven that the master is a failure."

"There's nothing we can do. Just like Shinosuke always is."

Shinosuke gritted his teeth in frustration as the two mocked him freely.

"Guh… I can't accept this… but I can't even argue back…"

Shinosuke, though utterly defeated, decided it was pointless to stay in the union any longer, so he quickly withdrew.

Determined to head back to the dock and behave quietly since he just couldn’t get his rhythm right today, Shinosuke made up his mind.

But it wasn’t over yet.

“Shinosuke, welcome back.”

When Shinosuke returned to the dock, he was met by Milena, Celia, and Emilia, waiting for him.

“Nee, elder sister… Why are you here?”

"Oh? Do I need a reason to come see my younger brother?"

"No... I just thought that someone of the company's chairman's stature would require a particular reason to meet with an ordinary independent merchant?"

Shinosuke made his best effort to resist, despite Emilia's unmistakably firm demeanor.

"Then there's no problem at all. It's been a while, so I wanted to invite you to have dinner together tonight. Come to my hotel tonight. Of course, the others are welcome too."

Emilia's resolve left no room for resistance.