Mob №126 “You guys are… scary…”
The training exercise with the 1st Fleet of the Imperial Army Central Fleet Subjugation Force in the Halitok star sector had ended, and I returned to Planet Ytts aboard the prepared aircraft carrier.
After docking my own ship, the Patchwork, at the parking bay, I went to Old man Roans’s place and received my payment.
“Looks like it was rough.”
“Well, I was basically used as bait to flush out problematic recruits. Still, the military sure has it tough. They have to make even people like that usable.”
As I received my payment in information data money, I recalled what had happened during the exercise and felt disgusted all over again.
“Not really. Surprisingly, there are quite a lot of [mysterious accidental deaths] within the military.”
I don’t know why Old man Roans knows so much about the military’s internal affairs, but if it’s true, that’s terrifying.
After that exchange ended and I left the mercenary guild building, I got a call from father.
It was probably about Leendert’s rear-end collision false accusation.
“Hello. What’s up, father?”
I answered the phone as calmly as possible.
father appeared on the screen looking somewhat tired.
[Listen carefully, John. About that air-car accident from before. The other party withdrew their complaint. Thanks to that, we don’t have to pay that unreasonable compensation anymore.]
Just as I thought, it was about Leendert’s rear-end collision false accusation.
[What’s more, it’s been 7… no, 8 years now, hasn’t it? About 70% of the debt we were unreasonably saddled with back then has been refunded. Apparently, the claim that he was the Duke’s grandson was a lie, and the Duke himself dealt with it.]
“Oh! That’s great!”
I’d heard from the General that it might be resolved, but I didn’t know how it would turn out, so I was genuinely surprised.
However, father didn’t seem to see it that way.
[You… do you know something about this?]
He asked.
“No, no. I’m surprised too.”
[Well… anyway. Come back home for once. Taking a bit of a long break won’t hurt.]
“…All right.”
Apparently deciding I wasn’t going to explain the details, father changed the subject to my homecoming.
For some reason, I didn’t want to say no to father’s words, so I agreed to go back.
[But come back by public transportation. I’ll reimburse you for the travel expenses later.]
That’s going to take more time though…
Two days after receiving the call, in the morning.
I was riding the orbital elevator, heading to Planet Ytts’ spaceport.
I’d left my own ship, the Patchwork, at [Dorg Maintenance Factory – Oyatsu-san’s place] for maintenance and storage.
father said to come home, but Planet Tavul is father’s birthplace, and I was born on this Planet Ytts.
The apartment we lived in back then still remains.
To me, it feels like going to visit the countryside.
When I was a kid, I used to go there once every summer.
mother’s hometown was at the end of the year, wasn’t it?
mother’s family home is on Planet Koniyahena, and I remember it always being a snowy landscape.
Planet Koniyahena is a cold planet where the maximum temperature never exceeds twenty degrees Celsius, which is why it was always snowy.
The fact that I’m a mercenary spread after one of father’s acquaintances saw me going in and out of the mercenary guild, and the neighborhood oba-sans apparently started making a fuss about it.
If I went there in that situation, it would only make things more complicated, so I stopped going.
This time would be my first homecoming since my third year of middle school.
It’s been a while since I’ve been in a state where my own ship isn’t nearby.
Thinking such things, I passed through the boarding gate at the spaceport.
Planet Tavul was the fifth most developed planet during the Galactic Democratic Nation era, and even now it’s a moderately urban yet moderately rural planet.
The star capital has modern buildings and facilities, while the suburbs are spread with farmland, orchards, ranches, and untouched mountain forests.
Even using the regular service and gates, it takes two days to reach the spaceport on Planet Tavul.
Furthermore, from the star capital, it’s one hour on a high-speed superconducting maglev linear train traveling at 13,000 km/h.
That’s the closest to father’s family home in the Malock Area – Balbis City – Arbastal Town – Ledzgel Block, at the Balbis Central Station in the Malock Area.
father and mother grow cabbages and grapes in the suburbs, and apparently they’re getting decent recognition for it.
From this Balbis Central Station, it’s another hour by bus.
That’s when you finally reach father’s family home, but for some reason, father was waiting with a small air-truck.
By the way, an air-truck is the truck version of an air-car.
I hadn’t even told him what time I’d arrive.
“Why are you here?”
“I figured you’d come at this time today.”
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As always, he’s sharp about these things when it comes to family.
So I got into the air-truck, and since he insisted on hearing about it as the person involved in the incident, I told him about the deal with the General.
Of course, I told him not to tell anyone else. Not even mother.
“That’s… I’ve caused you trouble…”
“The General was the one who proposed it, and the Duke was the one who dealt with it, but the [dealing] was probably for the Duke’s own convenience. The fact that they could respond this quickly means they’d already identified his existence but were leaving him alone for some reason, and it became more profitable to crush him.”
I speculated on the Duke’s circumstances as much as I could think of, but I’d never know the truth.
Besides, if Leendert had been more profitable to the Duke, it might have been us who got [dealt with].
“Nobles are… scary…”
“Yeah…”
An hour in the air-truck with father.
We didn’t talk much besides the initial discussion about the deal, and arrived at father’s family home.
It was a large single-story house with a spacious yard, a small vegetable garden on the property, and a cabbage field across the road.
The grape vineyard is a bit further away.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome back.”
mother didn’t seem particularly happy, reacting just like when I came home during my school days.
“Aren’t you tired from the long trip?”
“Not really.”
“I see. Then go pick some cucumbers from the garden.”
“Yes, yes.”
Grandpa and Grandma used to live in this house, and when I visited, Grandma often asked me to pick vegetables.
Grandpa passed away when I was in my second year of high school, and Grandma hurt her body about two years after father started farming, and since then she’s been living in a care facility.
The cucumbers I picked were lightly cut for salad, along with simmered potatoes, stir-fried pork and bean sprouts, miso soup, and rice – truly my first meal of mother’s home cooking in seven years.
During the meal,
“About the money that came back. You keep it.”
mother suddenly said such a thing.
“No, there’s also Grandma’s situation, so you should keep it…”
I’m happy that the money we were forced to pay pointlessly came back, even if it’s 70%.
But to me, I think of it as money I gave to my parents.
There’s also Grandma’s situation, so it would be better if father and the others kept it, but—
“Just keep it. That’s originally your money.”
“But there’s money you two earned too.”
“Don’t make your parents any more ashamed.”
Seeing father and mother’s pained expressions, I had no choice but to give in.
“All right. I’ll keep it. But I’m going to keep sending money. It’s my motivation for work.”
But I’ll make sure they agree to this much.
If they refuse this, I’ll make them accept the returned money no matter what.
“Understood. We’ll gratefully accept that.”
“You’re just like him in this way.”
father and mother sighed in resignation.
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