"Ah, you're here."
As they arrived at Main Control Kevin, a red-haired, striking woman greeted the group.
"You three have been through a lot."
"Himeko~ why did you only just get here? At the end, the Antimatter Legion swarmed in like locusts and gave me so much trouble."
"Oh my, given how you talk, you looked pretty laid-back, didn't you?"
"...You were watching the whole time!"
"Oops~ caught me, huh?"
"Honestly!"
Himeko stifled a laugh, covering her mouth as March 7th pouted dramatically.
March 7th, clearly not truly upset, sighed softly and nestled into Himeko's arms.
"Really, what are you doing out in front of everyone?"
"Hehe~ but this feeling is too nice to care about that!"
"Honestly."
She shook her head as she spoke, yet ruffled March 7th's hair, indulging her playfulness.
Bronie and Dan Heng watched with wry smiles, shaking their heads at the display.
Still smiling, Himeko's eyes shifted to Arlan.
"Are you all right, Arlan? Asta was really worried about you."
"Thank you for your concern. I'm fine thanks to Bronie. I'll go ahead and report the situation to Director Asta."
"Okay."
As Arlan turned and walked away, Himeko's gaze moved to Stelle.
"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm the navigator of the Astral Express—Himeko."
"Navigator?"
"In plain terms, it means I'm the boss, Stelle."
"Bronie, don't you think that makes her sound kind of suspicious?"
"But it's a word that's unmistakable, isn't it?"
"Then just call me 'Captain.'"
"It's just a difference of whether it's English or not."
"The nuance is different. The nuance."
Himeko snapped her fingers at Bronie, who looked utterly exasperated.
Stelle, watching the exchange, immediately bowed to Himeko in greeting.
"Hello, boss."
"Pfft!? See? It gets the point across, doesn't it?"
As Bronie burst into laughter, Himeko pointed at herself with a puzzled look, then said to Stelle:
"Ah, really. Always joking around. You said you're Stelle, right? Call me by my name, not a title."
"So, just Himeko?"
"Yeah, that's better than 'boss.'"
With that, Himeko, still smiling, flicked Bronie's forehead.
The flick seemed to have more force this time—Bronie winced in pain, clutching her forehead with both hands, prompting Himeko to flick her again.
"Don't play the wounded when you're not even hurt."
"Aw~ but if you don't show any pain, I'll fire the railgun on you."
"That's not it. I'll just deploy some drones."
"Drones are weapons too—people can get hurt, you know? Aren't you just holding back to avoid having part of the space station blown off and being told to pay for it?"
"If you know all that, try not to rub it in, okay?"
The group burst into laughter as Himeko hovered a range indicator over Bronie's forehead and flicked her once more, watching Bronie clutch her head again.
"All right, let's go. Asta is waiting for us."
The group followed behind Himeko as she strode ahead.
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 91
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T