NOVPUBI let out a groan as I dropped the box of loot I was carrying on the ground of my ship's cargo bay, all the fatigue I had accumulated throughout the day catching up to me all at once.
Ragbar whistled as he walked up to my side, carrying a box of the loot in his hands, "This is a nice ship. Which company is it from?"
"Dragoon Ship Industries. It's the Broadsword model but we made some customisations to it," I told him.
He whistled again as he looked around the cargo bay of my ship.
In case you're wondering why they were here… Well…
While we were moving the loot into Ragbar's van, his stomach growled really loudly and he grumbled about missing dinner. As though in response to that, Valiea's stomach also grumbled at the same time though she tried her best to pretend that didn't happen.
That's why I decided to invite them on our ship for dinner as a thanks for helping me move all this stuff.
I didn't even know this but there was a section of the walkway that connected directly to the cargo bay door of the ship instead of the docking hatch, which allowed Ragbar to drive the van directly into the ship itself instead of stopping somewhere.
I guess if you think about it, it wouldn't make sense for cargo ships to dock here and then have to carry the cargo in by hand so there must have been some way that vehicles could board the ship directly to unload or load stuff.
It helps a lot because I had thought Ragbar would only be able to park his van somewhere else and we'll have to carry the stuff all the way here on our own.
Now we just need to unload them from the van and we're done.
As we were going back to the van where Valiea was helping us drag the rest of the boxes out of the van's storage for us to move, a few of the drones in the cargo bay suddenly flew over to us.
I thought they were going to help but gun barrels popped out from their sides and took aim at Valiea and Ragbar.
"Intruders! Do not move or you will be shot!" Ries's voice came from one of the drones.
I raised my hand quickly and stood in front of the couple, "Wait, wait!! They're guests! Remember them, Ries? The couple from the bar?"
There was a pause from the drones before one of them turned to look at Ragbar, "I don't remember this guy though?"
"Ah… Err… You got drunk and passed out but… This guy is Valiea's husband."
"Oh… Ehehe… Sorry about that. Err… Do you need help, Boss? You seem to be moving… Nyaaaa?! Is that a LR Seven Turbo Laser Assault Rifle?! I'll be right there!!"
The drones remained hovering in the air and I guess the whatever laser thingy she was talking about was the gun barrel that was sticking out of the box at an angle.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she could even tell what it was just by the shape of the barrel.
"Err… Can't say I expected a welcome like that. Ahahaha!" Ragbar chuckled.
"Ries… That's the Maochatte that you were carrying the other time, right?" Valiea asked.
Before I could answer, the door slid open and Ries rushed out to sprint towards me.
I spun around just in time for her to leap into my arms, the smaller girl shoving herself into my embrace and taking a deep breath before popping out from between my boobs.
"Mnnn! Welcome back Boss! Did you go on a shopping spree for this? You should have called me!"
Ah, she thought I bought all this stuff…
I chuckled, "No, no. There were some assassins that tried to attack them so I got rid of them. This is all the loot I recovered from their corpses."
Ries blinked at me, "You… You were attacked?"
"Well.. Not directly but I guess yes."
"Why… Why didn't you call us?"
"Eh? They weren't really a big deal so I just dealt with them myself. They weren't even that much of a threat."
Ries actually puffed up a cheeks really cutely in a pout when she heard that.
"Mnnngghhh!! You can't do that Boss!! What if something happened to you?! What if they had someone dangerous! You should have told us!!"
I'm surprised she was that passionate about this but… Yeah, I shouldn't give any excuses about this since I would expect the same from them too.
"Sorry, sorry… I'll properly reflect on that. I'll send a message next time if it happens again."
Ries puffed up her cheeks before turning to the couple, "Those assassins… They were sent after the two of you?"
The couple nodded.
"It's just some thugs that a couple of rich people threw money at to harass us," Ragbar explained.
'Harass'? They were trying to kill you, dude. That is way above the realms of simple 'harassment'.
Oh wait… I guess Ragbar was trying to be considerate of me to make the situation less serious than it actually was to assure Ries. Thanks dude.
She narrowed her eyes at the Ragbar and he visibly fidgeted under his gaze.
Err… I guess I should just change the topic right now.
"Didn't you come here for a laser rifle or something?" I reminded her.
She immediately perked up again, "Oh yes!! The LR Seven Turbo Laser Assault Rifle!! It's an overpriced piece of hardware and actually a pretty shit weapon so rarely anyone uses it which is why I'm surprised to see one here!"
"Eh? It's that bad?"
"Yeah! Part of the LR series weapons from Galactic Armaments, it was supposed to be designed to both be good at breaking shields and melting through armour."
Considering that laser weapons are usually more effective at draining shields and ballistic weapons are better at punching through armour, this was surprising to hear. So why was it bad?
I didn't need to ask as Ries answered my unasked question of her own accord, "They tried to do this by pumping up the fire rate to insane levels but in doing so, the raw power of each projectile significantly decreased. So it actually does worse than pretty much every other energy based weapon in breaking shields and it can barely even melt through a standard ballistic armour! The only thing it's good for is to lay down suppressing fire because of its fire rate but it's useless for anything else!"
I blinked at her, "Why are you so excited about it then?"
"Ah! That's because in order to get that fire rate, they have a specialised type of coolant feed which I could definitely use! I want that! Can I take it, Boss?"
"Oh, is that it? Sure. I was going to get you to look through all the stuff I got so you can see if there's anything you can use before we sell off the rest or something."
"Nyaaaa! I love you Boss!!"
She reached up and pulled me in for a kiss on the lips before she hopped over to the box to start rummaging through it, completely ignoring Ragbar and Valiea who were just watching the entire time with a blank expression on their faces.
I cleared my throat, "Ries… At least take it out of the van first and bring them over there to put with the rest…"
"Oh, ehehehe~ Sorry, I got a little too excited~" She giggled before tapping on her personal terminal to command the drones to hover over to help transport them.
As she watched the drones carry the boxes away, my Maochatte seemed to have remembered that Valiea and Ragbar were there and turned to tilt her head at me.
"Umm… Boss? You said they were guests, right?"
"Ah, yeah. As thanks for helping me transport all this stuff back, I asked them to stay for dinner." 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
The Maochatte unexpectedly froze up and her eyes widened at me.
She stayed still for a good few seconds before she shuffled over to me to whisper, "Are you… Are you sure about this, Boss? They're going to get hooked, you know?"
"Hmm… It can't be that bad for them right? After all, they do make their own drinks so they shouldn't be that affected right?"
Ries blinked at me before shrugging her shoulders, "If you say so Boss… But you might want to tell the others that we have guests for dinner tonight or they'll freak out."
Ah, that's right… Guess I'll send them a message later.
"Speaking of which? Where are they anyway?"
"Mmm… I think Amber said she was going to take a walk… Mara was checking out some of the Gene Splice clinics and also restocking some stuff… I think Lea also went with her to find more seeds for her garden. They said they would be back in time for dinner so I'm assuming they are already on their way back."
In that case, there's no time to lose! Time to make dinner!
