Ch.36″Let’s negotiate!”

Due to the screen size, I could only see her down to her thighs, so that was all I could observe of her appearance.

Based on what was visible on the communication screen, she looked quite far from what you’d expect a pirate to be.

A black ponytail that appeared to be casually cut.

With eyes that mixed black and brown, her face still retained quite a cute, youthful appearance.

As for her height, I could only guess since her legs weren’t fully visible, but she was definitely shorter than me.

I estimated she was around 160cm tall.

However, despite initially referring to the woman on screen as a “girl,” there was a reason I now called her “she.”

Although her chest was not just modest but completely flat—

So flat that I might have mistaken her for a man if I hadn’t heard her voice.

But her overall figure, along with her wide hips and thigh shape, told me that the woman on screen was definitely an adult.

Anyway, after quickly scanning her appearance, rather than immediately responding to what she said after stabbing the vice captain,

I took a moment to gather my thoughts and held back my answer.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I was hesitating.

“Negotiations?”

-“Yes, negotiations!”

Seeing my lukewarm reaction, she seemed to think things weren’t going as she expected.

She slammed the table in front of her and pointed at the self-destruct button the vice captain had dropped.

-“You attacked this ship because you want it, right?”

“Hmm… that’s not wrong.”

-“Then we can just talk quickly and easily! What are you hesitating for, mister on the other side of the screen?”

I looked at her speaking so casually to me, shook my head, and replied.

“First the ship’s vice captain, and now some woman I don’t even know is threatening me with a self-destruct button. That’s all I’m seeing here.”

-“Ah.”

Seeming to finally understand why I was reacting this way, she nodded once and spoke to me again.

-“Then just make me one promise.”

“A promise? What is it?”

-“First, confirm that you’ll keep your promise.”

As she urged me to answer while a drop of nervous sweat rolled down her face,

I frowned slightly, showing my displeasure.

“Do you always make contracts without checking the conditions first?”

-“Ugh… seriously.”

When she showed her annoyance—this woman whose looks rivaled our official beauty Pashtra according to her character setting—

Her already cute face created a synergy effect that made my heart skip a beat.

Of course, there was no way for her to know what I was feeling through the communication screen.

After a moment of contemplation, she seemed to reach a conclusion.

She nodded firmly and addressed me with her characteristically bold manner of speaking.

-“Then I’ll tell you clearly. I’ll give you this ship without blowing it up, so please take me in for a while!”

“…”

Faced with this rather unique pressure interview—or rather, pressure job application—

Instead of answering right away, I wondered how I should respond to this.

But my deliberation didn’t last long.

Jessica, who couldn’t come this time because she needed to handle rear support and base management at the command center,

Was replaced by Pashtra as temporary adjutant, and seeing me contemplating, she carefully offered her advice.

“Umm, Commander? May I say something?”

“…What is it, Pashtra?”

“From what I can see, considering this girl’s attitude and the situation, I don’t think it would be bad to accept her.”

And along with Pashtra’s advice, Jessica, who was monitoring the situation, also contacted me.

-“Commander, I agree with Pashtra.”

“You do?”

-“Yes, there’s no need to provoke her and risk having the cruiser blown up.”

Feeling that they were right, I considered our executives’ opinions.

I answered the girl on the communication screen, who was sweating nervously, in a calm tone.

“Alright, I’ll accept your negotiation.”

-“Really? Then I’m sorry, but I have one immediate favor to ask.”

“…?”

Seeing her make a new request right after I agreed to negotiate, I raised my eyebrows, thinking she was not a woman to be taken lightly.

And right after that.

The communication screen zoomed out to show the entire bridge where she was, revealing what her “favor” was.

-“Could you come quickly and save me? Hehe.”

Around the command seat where she was sitting, about a dozen burly pirates had surrounded her with weapons drawn.

As soon as I saw this, I canceled the retreat orders for Ignis and Berial.

I issued new orders to secure the bridge as quickly as possible, by any means necessary.

After that chaotic battle ended.

Having “parked” the fleet that returned with the newly captured cruiser at the base, I immediately ordered the newly recruited “pirate woman” to be brought to the command center.

“Yes, understood.”

“I’ll bring her right away!”

And less than 5 minutes after Berial and Ignis left upon hearing my orders, when they brought her before me,

I decided to immediately open her status window to see what kind of character she was, as her attire seemed somewhat unusual for a pirate.

As I’ve mentioned before, occasionally we can recruit “pirates” as our members,

And in such cases, their performance is usually guaranteed, so I was secretly feeling expectant.

But the moment I saw her status window, I felt somewhat disappointed.

—————————————-

<Mary Ann>

<Level 1>

<Type: Close Range>

<Trait: Pirate>

<Stats>

Health: C

Attack Power: C+

Physical Defense: B-

Magic Power: A

Magic Defense: S+

Mobility: C

—————————————-

This pirate woman named Mary Ann was just an ordinary B to A-rank minor character.

Moreover, she didn’t have any special characteristics, and instead of buffs,

She had the “Pirate” trait which gave her severe debuffs in the relationship chart.

Her magic power and magic defense were decent enough,

But except for physical defense—in other words, her toughness—all her other abilities were C-rank.

I felt that what we really gained this time was the pirate cruiser,

And Mary Ann standing before me was nothing more than a free gift with purchase.

Of course, to be fair, an A-rank superhuman is still much stronger than a “normal” soldier,

So I thought we could just assign her to base defense. I opened my mouth to address her, who for some reason had been brought in with her hands tied.

“Well… why did you bring her tied up like this?”

“That’s right! You said you’d accept me, but tying me up like this is not polite!”

As soon as I spoke, Mary Ann eagerly jumped in.

But in response to her, Berial, who had gone to fetch her, replied coldly.

“Commander, we cannot leave a former pirate unrestrained in front of you when a clear contract hasn’t been established yet.”

“Hmm.”

“And Commander, she has much better combat sense than expected. I believe it’s not a bad idea to prepare for any contingency.”

With Ignis adding her comments as well, Mary Ann kept turning her head back and forth between the two women.

Finally, she turned to me with moist eyes and said:

“It’s unfair! According to our negotiation, I wouldn’t attack you, big brother!”

“…Hmm.”

And at this point, I began to notice something strange.

Looking at her stats, she was at the lower end of A-rank… no.

She barely qualified as being between B and A-rank, yet Ignis and Berial were showing such tension around this Mary Ann character?

In this incomprehensible situation, I wondered if I had missed something and began to examine Mary Ann’s status window once more.

Before long, I realized what this “Mary Ann” character really was, and I felt my head go completely blank.