Chapter 148 – It Has a Certain Charm…

The transport ship carrying Letaria and the others avoided heading straight for Coroshe to steer clear of attention, taking a roundabout route that passed through Station Cranea and Station Dieriom along the way.

For this infiltration investigation, the participants from the Seldia Vigilante Corps were three: Grain, Merry, and Letaria. Too large a group would stand out, and above all, Merry had a background of drifting from station to station as a freelancer, making her the perfect choice as a seasoned traveler.

And from the Wistrum homeland military, three: Priscilla, Adelina, and Ranses. A small, elite force -- the bare minimum necessary.

The transport ship they were all aboard at the moment looked, at a glance, like an ordinary civilian cargo ship found anywhere. Yet hidden within it were specs close to those of a genuine warship, with sturdy laminate armor and concealed high-output weaponry.

"This... isn't just a civilian ship, is it?"

Grain asked, looking over the ship's elaborate interior and the layout of its piping, and Priscilla smiled mischievously.

"Well spotted -- you really do have a sharp eye. ...This is strictly between us, but this ship belongs to a secret transport company that the homeland military runs through a front company."

Grain was nodding in admiration at the revelation when Merry, sitting beside him, quietly averted her eyes.

Priscilla laughed softly. "Miss Merry heard that too, I see."

"...I feel like I just got caught in the crossfire and heard homeland secrets I wasn't supposed to hear..."

Merry broke into a cold sweat. Now that she had stepped in, there was no going back. In contrast, Grain shrugged, not bothered in the slightest.

"Well, the homeland is on friendly terms with us for now. It's no problem for us to know."

"Yes, that is right."

Priscilla smiled gently.

"Amazing... the stars look just like streaming lines of light..."

Meanwhile, Letaria had plastered herself against the transport ship's observation window and kept gazing at the flowing stars without end. She showed no sign of tiring of it.

"It has a certain charm... I wish I could show Chiara this view as well..."

The murmur slipped out of her.

"Come to think of it, this is your first time spending a long stretch aboard a transport ship like this, isn't it, Letaria?"

Grain called out from behind her.

"Yes. I am quite used to seeing it through a Makina's cockpit, but looking out properly through a window like this feels fresh. ...It is a little regrettable that there is no time to step off and explore the stations we stop at along the way, but our objective is Coroshe, after all."

As she said this, Letaria took a delighted sip of the fruit juice she had been handed.

"We still have a bit of time before we arrive. Let's relax while we can, young lady."

Ranses, tossing out the light remark, was playing a card game with Adelina on a small terminal.

"Hey, wait, Ranses! Just because you're about to lose, you're talking to me to use it as an excuse for when you do, aren't you?!"

"Ha ha, whatever do you mean?"

Ranses slid Adelina's protesting voice off with studied vagueness.

"...Even back when I was a freelancer, I never traveled with this little tension..."

Merry watched the two of them with an exasperated face.

Priscilla laughed softly. "For us, too, this is a precious chance to stretch our wings for a moment." She added the words quietly, gazing out at the darkness beyond the window. "The undercover unit that has been lying low on site is about due to reach the end of its permitted stay in Coroshe. The timing for us to slip in as their replacements was truly exquisite."

◆◆◆

After that peaceful stretch of travel -- a few days later. The transport ship carrying the party finally approached its destination, the enormous station. Its size reached thirty-five kilometers.

An overwhelming scale, far beyond Seldia's fifteen kilometers of length. Its rugged outer shell, expanded in patchwork layers, threw back the light of distant stars, and the sight was nothing short of spectacular.

Following the control tower's guidance, the transport ship slid into a general dock.

It landed in a motley corner brimming with life and chaos, where countless large transport ships, warships, and even work Makina jostled for every inch of space.

"This is the autonomous space district of Coroshe. -- Now then, shall we go?"

At Priscilla's words as their signal, the party took their first steps onto Coroshe's ground, testing each footfall.