Not House Arrest, but Full-Fledged Imprisonment
After safely towing the pirate ship, we docked at the space colony’s port.
As soon as [Shunmin] entered the port, I was taken away by waiting military personnel.
At least they didn’t treat me like a prisoner outright, so I had Executive Officer Meyrica-nee accompany me.
This was my own decision.
Meyrica-nee is also on detached assignment—but not from the military.
Under martial law during wartime, things would be different, but since that’s not the case here, even if I might be at their mercy, they can’t force Meyrica-nee, a non-military personnel, to comply—not even a major.
Since she’s not part of the military, even if someone of higher rank tries to push her around, Meyrica-nee has no obligation to listen.
More importantly, she’s not the type to silently obey unreasonable demands from pompous officers. That’s exactly why I brought her along as my escort.
We were led into a room inside what was probably the most impressive building in the colony, close to the central control room.
Inside, there was a large desk, and behind it sat a colonel who looked every bit as arrogant as expected.
Standing beside him was a lieutenant colonel—likely the same Bardon who’d picked a fight with me earlier.
If that’s the case, then the colonel next to him must be either the Chief of Staff or, more likely, the squadron commander of the Second Fleet.
This complicates things.
The colonel is a squadron commander, and I, despite belonging to a different organization, also hold the same rank. While there’s a hierarchy between our organizations, our positions are technically equal.
As I was pondering what to do, the colonel addressed me.
“You’re that famous Lieutenant Nao-Bruce, correct?”
“No. While I was indeed granted the rank of lieutenant by the military, I’m currently on detached assignment, so that rank no longer applies. At present, I serve as a squadron commander under the Interstellar Criminal Police Organization’s Preparatory Office, appointed by Her Highness. You may treat me however you please as an individual, but in an official capacity, I cannot allow Her Highness’s authority to be disrespected. Please address me accordingly.”
“Y-You… How dare you speak so disrespectfully to a squadron commander?!”
The lieutenant colonel beside him barked out in anger.
Even the colonel who had addressed me stiffened.
Honestly, even I think what I said was a bit much—but this is the mess Her Highness landed me in by forcing this rank on me.
Still, I can’t back down now.
Otherwise, I might be charged with lèse-majesté.
“Hoh… Since when does the military hand squadron commands to mere lieutenants?”
“I wouldn’t know about the military, Squadron Commander. However, the Interstellar Criminal Police Organization assigns positions regardless of military rank. In my case, if memory serves, I was given this role… just last week.”
“Silence, you wretch! How far will you go to insult the squadron commander?! Your disrespect toward superiors is a blatant violation of military discipline. Military police will interrogate you shortly. Until then, you’re under arrest!”
“Wait a moment. Commander Bruce is currently outside military jurisdiction—”
“And who the hell are you?!”
“I’m Meyrica, Executive Officer of the [Shunmin]. Your treatment of us clearly violates the kingdom’s laws. The Interstellar Criminal Police Organization Preparatory Office formally protests.”
“You’re… not military either. This is a military-controlled facility. Get out. Now.”
With that, Lieutenant Colonel Bardon forced Meyrica-nee out of the room before ordering soldiers to drag me away to another one.
……
A room, huh? This is the abandoned hospital where the kids had been locked up before.
I suppose the iron bars made it a convenient choice for them. For me, though, this couldn’t be more humiliating—not that they’d realize.
But this isn’t house arrest. No, I’ve been outright imprisoned.
With nothing else to do, I figured I wouldn’t be stuck here for long.
Besides the military, Chief Investigator Thomson and his team are here—and, more importantly, intelligence officers and inspectors from the royal palace must have arrived by now. They wouldn’t stay silent on a matter involving royal authority.
Still, Lieutenant Colonel Bardon and that colonel (whose name I don’t even know) took a huge risk.
Just because they dislike me doesn’t mean they can imprison me without consequences.
There’s no justifying this.
You’d think even their own subordinates would realize how bad this is, but they’re clearly blind to everything around them.
Who knows how this’ll play out.
Two hours after being locked up in this cursed place, several military police officers—assigned to the Second Fleet’s supply ship escort squadron—came for me and immediately released me. Unlike Bardon, they were apologetic as they explained:
“Squadron Commander Bruce, on behalf of the Space Force, we deeply apologize for this incident. Our superiors from headquarters will arrive shortly. Until then, we regret the inconvenience, but we must ask you to remain within the colony.”
The tide seems to have shifted—but more importantly, the fact that headquarters is getting involved means there’s no covering this up.
“Staying in the colony is fine, but where should I go? Am I allowed to stay quietly aboard the [Shunmin]?”
“You’re free to move anywhere within the colony—except, ah… please avoid that building. The squadron commander and deputy chief of staff are there, and we’d rather avoid further trouble.”
“Understood. I’m not looking to pick a fight. I’ll just grab some coffee in the cafeteria.”
“We appreciate your cooperation.”
With that, I was finally free after two hours.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
I immediately contacted Meyrica-nee and decided to kill time at the same cafeteria where I’d met Mark and the others before.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, I ordered the crew to stay aboard the ship and rest, leaving only the bare minimum on the bridge and engine room.
Then, I headed to the cafeteria.
The atmosphere inside was different from last time.
The place was just as crowded, but the military personnel seemed tense—no, not just tense.
There was an air of… panic? Something indescribable.
Still, this was the only place I knew to pass the time, so I sat alone, sipping coffee.
Then, a man approached.
“Mind if I join you, Captain—no, Squadron Commander now, right?”
“Just ‘Captain’ is fine, Chief Investigator Thomson. I was just bored out of my mind, so you’d be doing me a favor. Please, sit.”
“Ah, right. There’s someone I’d like you to meet—if that’s alright. Actually, I’ve already called them here. They should arrive soon.”
“If it’s your recommendation, I’d be glad to. But who is it?”
“Ah, there they are.”
A gentleman entered the cafeteria.
Around the same age as Thomson,
but unlike him, this man radiated an aura of flawlessness.
My life experience isn’t exactly reliable, but something about him stood out.
If I had to put it into words… he was like the protagonist of a hardboiled novel. Unshakable.
“Here you are. My apologies for the delay—I was held up coordinating with the capital.”
“Inspector Charlie, this is our squadron commander, Bruce.”
“Nao-Bruce, Inspector Charlie.”
“You’ve had quite the ordeal. On behalf of the royal palace, I offer my apologies, Squadron Commander Bruce.”
“Just ‘Nao’ is fine. And no apologies necessary—the palace hasn’t lodged any complaints. Besides, this involves my original assignment. If Her Highness weren’t involved, I’d have settled it internally.”
“That’s a relief to hear. Still, the Space Force is… something else. With all their recent scandals, the higher-ups are already in turmoil. We’d prefer not to escalate this, but sweeping it under the rug isn’t an option. At the very least, if they’d just placed you under house arrest instead of imprisonment…”
“Wait, Captain, you were imprisoned?”
“Yes. For about two hours, in that abandoned hospital where the kids were locked up. The military police eventually released me, but I’ve been asked to stay in the colony until someone from headquarters arrives.”
“That’s for the best. This whole mess was caused by idiots—let’s wrap it up quickly. Once headquarters gets here, it’ll be over.”
“Ah, by the way, Her Highness contacted me earlier. If the military wants the seized ship, they can have it. She seemed utterly uninterested.”
“I see.”
“I assume you’ve already inspected it, Captain?”
“I did, but found nothing.”
“Then I’m not interested either. If you and your crew raided that ship, you’d have found evidence—but as Executive Officer Meyrica mentioned, there was no one aboard. They left nothing behind. I learned that the hard way here.”
“Possibly. We raided this place too, but aside from the organ trafficking, we found nothing. Those rats wouldn’t leave evidence behind. If there is anything, it’s definitely a trap.”
“You may be right. Very well, I’ll hand it over to the military before I leave. Though I’m not sure who to hand it to.”
“Leave that to whoever comes from headquarters.”
“Agreed.”
After that, I passed the time with small talk alongside Inspector Charlie, who Thomson had introduced.
TLNOTE :
Volume 1 is licensed to English, buy the official release when it’s out!
PS.: Please check the Internet Archive if what you’re looking for is no longer on this website. *wink *wink
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
Those idiots will be court-martialed for sure.
Thanks for the treat.