Settsu and the others were in a military police detention center.
As a spaceport for pirates, any pirate or civilian who commits a crime is dealt with by the military police. The pirates ostensibly belong to the Space Force and are professionals in combat, even if they rarely engage in hand-to-hand combat.
The inside of the building can be described as a prison.
Steel bars lined a single corridor, and the cells for criminals were divided into ten.
Setsuko and Vetsya were placed in one of the cells, and Mitski was placed in the opposite cell. It seemed that they wanted to keep the men and women in separate cells.
“The ship will be here soon. You’ll have to wait quietly.”
The commander said and left.
“I’m sorry, I guess they were moving a lot faster than I thought.”
Vetsya looks apologetic.
“No, it was my fault for not being vigilant.”
With that, Setsuko put an end to the conversation and sat down on the bunk. The bunk was very narrow and looked like it would be difficult to sleep on. There were two bunks in the cell, taking up half of the space.
As I sat down, regret and anxiety overcame me.
There were so many opportunities for a different outcome: leaving the fortress in a different system, relaxing in the terminal unguarded, not running away immediately.
As a result, the option for Setsu to take action disappeared and the future was left to someone else’s decision.
I felt uneasy when I drifted alone in space in the Nube system, but it was a different kind of uneasiness.
At that time, I could see the outcome of death if chance did not work. Now, I don’t even know what will happen. I felt as if I was wobbling on my feet.
When I looked at the cell across from me, I saw that Mitsuki was sitting in a strange way, with her knees folded together and her eyes closed. Her eyes were closed, and she hadn’t moved a muscle.
Setsuko’s head regained a little of its composure at the sight of the unsentimental figure.
“That girl is as good as it gets.”
Vetsia complimented Mitsuki.
“At her age, she’s so calm. She’s a good guard.”
“Uh, Admiral. She’s not an escort, sir.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. It’s kind of like a second-in-command, you know?”
“Okay.”
Vetsia nodded, but did not look convinced. Setsueto didn’t feel like explaining in detail.
“Admiral, do you have any idea how to help?”
“I can’t give orders to anyone when I’m like this. By the time I can do that, they’ll have suspended my authority.”
“I see.”
I wondered if there was anything I could do.
As Settsu was thinking, he heard footsteps. It was one person. They are coming towards us.
I wondered who it was, but it was one of the soldiers who arrested Settsu and the others. I haven’t forgotten, he was the man who slapped Mitsuki.
With the eyes of his superiors gone, the man smiled a sly smile without reservation.
“Hey, squid.”
The fact that he went out of his way to talk to Settsu shows how bad his character is.
“What do you want?”
“What a pity, I brought you the key.”
The man said, showing off the key in his hand.
“Whoa, don’t get too excited, this isn’t your key.”
(I thought so.)
There should be no reason for this man to do such a thing. You shouldn’t judge people by their faces, but as long as you judge them by their faces and their criminal records, they’re not good people.
“Now, you’re the one I want to talk to.”
The man turned behind him and called out to Mitsuki.
Mitsuki didn’t react in any way.
“Are you listening to me?”
“I can hear you.”
Mitsuki finally opened her eyes.
“Then do something about it. So, here we are. I’m here to make a deal with you. If you’re a little more obedient, I’ll unlock the men’s door for you.”
With that, the man unlocked Mitsuki’s cell and opened the door.
“Come here.”
The man didn’t seem to expect Mitsuki to refuse. The man thought Mitsuki was Setsuko’s valet or something. He thought there was no way she would refuse.
“I have no reason to go.”
Mitsuki’s reply was curt.
The man looked unamused for a moment, but quickly withdrew.
“Well, if you’d rather do it in front of the master, I don’t mind.”
The man said and walked into Mitsuki’s cell. He closed the door and locked it with his hand through the bars.
Mitsuki did not move. She seemed to think it was a waste of energy to move.
“Say something.”
The man grabbed the base of Mitsuki’s ponytail and pulled, making her look up at him.
“I don’t plan to get violent.”
Mitsuki’s condition was not broken.
“There’s a certain amount of attitude involved, huh?
The man lifted her by her hair as he grabbed her. The slight gravity lifted Mitsuki’s body and she was thrown directly onto the bunk of the cell as the man waved his arms.
Mitsuki finally looked at Setsuko when Setsuko called out to her.
It’s an eye that asks you to decide what to do.
It’s easy to say that. But what would be the result? We didn’t know what was going on outside, how many guards would be on duty, what would happen next, there were too many unknowns.
What we don’t know is scary.
It was so tempting to take the option of doing nothing.
However.
(I thought I played it safe, and this is the result.)
Everything that had happened since he had been thrown out of the Count’s house instantly flashed through Setsuko’s mind.
<The men of the Silver Glory, Kitty, had never failed to do something because of the risk. She would do what she wanted to do. If the worst that could happen is that you die, you do it.
I was both horrified and envious.
But.
Now, I’m sure.
That’s when you have to bear the risk.
“Shake it off, Mitski.”
Settsu ordered.
“Understood”
The response is brief.
“”What the fuck are you talking about?” !!!!!!!!”
The man’s words were cut off. Mitsuki’s knee had kicked up the man’s kryptonite as hard as it could.
The man flew through the air from the impact of the kick, plunged into the wall, and screamed in agony.
“No!”
Next to Settsu, Admiral Vetsia shrank back. It was such a powerful blow.
Mitsuki slowly got up from her bunk. She walked over to the man lying on the floor.
“I’m also equipped with the minimum level of competence necessary for self-defense.”
However, that standard is based on a comparison with the Earth Federation’s white warfare androids, not the current level.
Mitsuki grabbed the man’s head with one hand from behind his back, lifted him up, and pushed him against the wall.
“I don’t think I would have been disappointed in the end, though, since I don’t have any feminine functions installed in the first place.
As she said that, her eyes were looking at the garbage.
“Sir, what do we do with this man?”
Mitsuki asked.
“He’ll be out soon anyway, just let him pass out.”
“Understood”
Mitsuki slipped her arms around the man’s neck and tightened them. In a few seconds, the man’s body lost its strength and fell.
Mitsuki let go of his hand, and the man slowly fell to the floor, following the slightest gravity. Mitsuki pulled the key from the man’s pocket and opened the door to her cell.
“Next is your cell, but it looks like you don’t have the key, so please stay away for a while. I’ll burn off the key.”
As Setsuto and Vetsia moved away from the door, Mitsuki held her index and middle fingers together over the lock of the door. A light shone from the tips of her fingers, and there was the sound of the lock breaking.
The door opened.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, sir.
“What would you like to do, Admiral?”
Setsueto asked Vetsya about it. Vetsya was puzzled.
“What the hell are you doing at ……?”
Vetsia couldn’t hide his shock as he watched her grip a person’s spine with her bare hands and cut off a prison key with her fingertips.
“In a word, it’s a machine’s body.”
Setsueto explained, but the look of incomprehension on Vetsia’s face did not change.
There is no time to wait for an explanation.
“Admiral, you may remain here, or if you wish to flee, you may do so with us.”
“Ah, yes. Then I’ll stay with you until we get out of here. Then I think I’ll return to the fleet.”
“All right. Okay, let’s go then.”
There were no guards inside the jail. The entrance to the jail had a door that could not be opened from the inside, and the guards were only on the outside.
“Yes, sir. Your Excellency, I would like to make sure before we go any further that we can expect interference from the soldiers. What should we do?”
Mitsuki asked Settsu.
We don’t have time to check it out ahead of time, nor do we have time to tighten it down like we did earlier. The idea was to clarify the policy ahead of time.
“I am a mere weapon. No hesitation, no desire to kill, no sentimentality, just a sword. It is you who wields it. The determination, the will to kill, the future, it is all yours.”
Her tone was theatrical, which was unusual for Mitsuki.
“Sir, your orders.”
To kill or not to kill?
Settsu clenched his fists.
It was different from when I ordered them to fire the fortress main gun. That time, it was somewhat indirect. The order he was about to give should be the same in theory, but his emotions were rejecting it. I clenched my fists as hard as I could and suppressed my body from trembling.
“Obstacles will be smashed. There are no limits. Kill.”