Time is more precious than gold 2

"Insufficient ships? What do you mean, Millena?"

Originally, there were not enough ships, but even so, with reinforcements arriving later and fast-moving vessels making round trips, it was expected that all refugees could barely be evacuated.

'However, due to requests from countries whose ship deployments arrived too late, the number of people needing to be accommodated has exceeded our initial expectations.'

Recognizing Milena's deliberate emphasis on her peculiar words, Shinnosuke refrained from asking too many questions.

"How short are we on ships? There are already eight vessels from Akneria, large and small, here at Librina, and more are on the way?"

『It's still far from enough. Others are trying to accommodate additional people, but they're already pushing their limits—there's simply nothing we can do at this point.』

"So, how many people are you telling Fubuki to take on?"

『About a hundred people, I'd say.』

An unreasonable request.

While the ship could certainly accommodate over a hundred people if we were just loading them on, it's impractical to force a long-term voyage without proper living facilities.

Even other ships with passenger accommodations wouldn't fare much better under these conditions.

Increasing the capacity by a little would be like pouring water on a burning rock—useless.

Shinnosuke pondered.

"Millina, can you communicate with headquarters from that terminal?"

"Yes, as long as they're foreign affairs staff stationed here, they're permitted to use the communication equipment for the procedures related to overseas departure. Of course, it's under surveillance."

"That's fine. Please adjust things according to what I'm about to say. Also, inform the other ships and gather those willing to cooperate."

Shinnosuke relayed his newly conceived plan to Millina, then continued preparations for housing the refugees.

Time moved slightly backward.

The Shield-class escort vessel, part of the Salius Stellar Province Free Merchant Fleet, was en route to the designated colony after taking on the task of evacuating refugees overseas.

"Hey, the ship on course 11-3— isn't that one of Shinno's transport vessels?"

Zany, monitoring navigation from the Shield's bridge, noticed the radar contact.

"...Indeed, that's one of Shinno's transport vessels, the escort ship Tsukikage. Judging by its course, it seems to be heading toward the same colony as us."

"Right, wasn't that the ship assigned to that young guy Shinno hired? Should we get closer for a look?"

"Understood."

Dag turned the Shield's helm and approached the Tsukikage.

At that moment, on the Tsukikage's bridge, Ellen was also confirming the approaching vessel's signal.

"Andy, there's a ship approaching. One vessel, medium-sized."

Andy switched the radar to confirm after receiving Ellen's report.

Indeed, there was a ship slowly approaching.

"Understood, confirmed. Can you identify its affiliation?"

"Checking now... It's a vessel from the Solius Free Merchant Alliance... Wait, that's actually Dag's Shield ship. There's a signal coming through—let me connect."

"Understood."

Sure enough, the approaching ship was Dag's Shield vessel.

Zanny from the Pirate Killer and Dag from the Shield Ship had trained alongside Shinosuke, and had given him plenty of tough lessons during training.

"Hey, this is Zanny from the Shield Ship, affiliated with the Acnelia Galactic Federation's Salius Stellar District Free Merchant Fleet. You must be the escort vessel, Tsukikage?"

"Yes, this is Captain Andy of the Tsukikage. We were on the receiving end of your training during a past exercise."

"I heard the young one ended up at Shinnosuke's place, so it's really you after all."

"Yes, I'm currently in charge of the Tsukikage under Shinnosuke's company."

"I see. It looks like we're heading to the same colony. Since our destinations match, it's perfect—we'll stick together for now."

"Understood. Please take care of me."

The Tsukikage and the shield ship formed a formation and headed toward their destination colony.

The two ships headed toward a small colony. Although only two additional ships had been dispatched from the Akneria Galactic Federation besides the Tsukikage and the shield ship, unexpected circumstances awaited them as well, just as they did for Shinnosuke and the others.

At Librina's port, Shinnosuke and the others continued evacuating refugees and accommodating them aboard the ships.

Requested to accommodate about 100 people due to insufficient ship capacity, but after coordination with local foreign affairs staff for safety reasons, they accepted slightly more than planned—70 people, primarily Acnerian nationals.

"Time is precious. Once the evacuees are aboard, we set sail immediately."

Shinnosuke advancing the departure sequence from the pilot's seat.

The only other person on the bridge is Zion, stationed at the navigation and communications operator's station. Marks, Milina, and Seira are guiding passengers aboard.

"Shinnosuke, boarding will be completed shortly. There are three passengers with pre-existing medical conditions, but they're not serious. The doctor among the passengers is offering support, so it's said there's no issue."

"Understood. Once we set sail, Marks and Milena will handle security in the cargo hold, so Serah, return to the bridge. Make sure to instruct Marks and the others to keep everyone seated on the floor until we've cleared the atmosphere after departure."

"Understood."

After completing the evacuation of the refugees abroad, Fubuki departed from the port of Librina.

Fubuki slowly climbs in altitude, as it cannot perform a high-thrust atmospheric exit with high G-forces due to passengers seated on the cargo floor who cannot be secured to their seats.

Eventually, after leaving the atmosphere, it headed toward the rendezvous point with Tsukikage.