Chapter 272

Chapter 272. Just because the siege is over doesn’t mean the work is done. (2)

—

Let’s sign an exclusive contract with that Rhodes Mercenary Group.

I immediately opened the newly appeared “Rhodes Mercenary Group Management Menu” in the status window to check what I needed to pay attention to.

—

<Rhodes Mercenary Group Management Menu>

<Mercenary Leader: Lephan>

<Currently Affiliated Ships: 5 Battleships, 8 Cruiser Battleships>

<Mercenary Group Status: Normal>

<Daily Resource Consumption: 2,312 Minerals, 135 Rare Resources>

<Current Loyalty Toward You: +50>

˪<Loyalty Effect: Prevents Desertion, 10% Discount on Contract Fees>

<Warning!>

<If loyalty drops below -50, they may break the contract and flee even after receiving the contract fee!>

<The loyalty discount and base discount do not stack.>

˪<If you receive a 5% base discount and a 10% loyalty discount, only the 10% discount will apply.>

—

“Hmm, seems pretty decent.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t too complicated, and the only things I needed to worry about were the “status” and “loyalty.”

The main thing to watch out for was the “desertion event,” which wouldn’t happen unless loyalty dropped to -50.

It’s a shame the discounts don’t stack, but a 10% discount was still pretty sweet.

I decided to be content with what I had rather than being greedy.

While I was checking the mercenary group’s management menu…

—

“Commander, Lephan, the leader of the Rhodes Mercenary Group, has come to greet you.”

“Oh? Well, let’s see what they look like. Let them in.”

—

Hearing that the mercenary leader, Lephan, had come to see me, I nodded casually, ready to receive their greeting.

But the problem was that Lephan, the mercenary leader, despite having a very masculine-sounding name…

—

“Hello! It’s my first time meeting you in person!”

—

…had a peculiar greenish hair color and, despite being tightly secured by a belt, was sporting a chest plate that looked as menacing—if not more—than Pashtira’s.

Their cyberpunk-style outfit covered everything except the chest and thighs, with an absurdly large chest that seemed to scream, “I’m all-natural!!!!!”

There was even a mysterious hole in the inner thigh area, for reasons unknown.

Witnessing Lephan’s imposing and somewhat violent appearance, which wasn’t as revealing as Pashtira’s but still overwhelmingly large…

—

…I couldn’t help but let out an automatic exclamation from the depths of my heart before even exchanging greetings.

—

“Wow, chest.”

“Huh?”

“Commander.”

“Ah.”

—

As soon as those words slipped out, I snapped back to reality with Jessica’s voice.

‘Oh no, I messed up.’

I started to worry that my favorability might have already dropped to -50, thinking that this possession life just wasn’t going well. But that was only for a moment.

—

“Ahem, sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Fufufu, it’s fine to look as much as you want! That’s why I was elected as the leader of the Rhodes Mercenary Group, after all.”

“Huh?”

“According to our advisors, Commander Icarus, you really like big chests.”

“…”

“So, if our benefactor desires, not only can you look, but…”

—

Lephan then brought their arms together, further emphasizing their already bursting chest, and continued with a blush on their face.

—

“You can even hug me if you want?”

“What.”

“…”

—

Seeing Lephan like this, I was, well, experiencing a bit of a culture shock from this completely different approach.

But just as I was about to feel confused by the situation…

—

<Event>

<Lephan’s All-Out Seduction>

<Details>

<Lephan, the new leader of the Rhodes Mercenary Group, was elected by a majority vote after the mercenaries analyzed your preferences.>

<The reason for this was none other than to express their determination to be utterly loyal to you through the exclusive contract.>

<To be precise, they thought that forming a physical relationship with you would solidify the contract even further—or not, whatever.>

—

Realizing that this wasn’t just a random friendly gesture but more of an event-driven reaction, I quickly regained my composure and prepared to have a more constructive conversation with Lephan.

We were able to have a conversation.

Anyway, after Oxianor’s appearance.

Following Smeragi and Tiamat, I had another shocking encounter with Captain Lephan, and after that.

I figured the issues with the mercenary group were all resolved, so I decided to check on the repair status of the fortress.

“Jessica, how’s the repair situation for this fortress?”

“The defense system is currently about 20% repaired. It’ll take a week to fully restore it to 100%.”

“Hmm…”

Upon hearing Jessica’s report, I felt my eyebrows twitch at the slower-than-expected recovery progress.

Of course, the person responsible for this “slower-than-expected recovery” was me, who had ordered indiscriminate bombing to destroy as many defense facilities as possible.

To avoid getting smacked on Jessica’s rabbit ears, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

No, more than just keeping quiet, there was a chance I’d take damage if I continued this conversation.

So, I decided to steer the conversation in a slightly different direction.

“Alright, let’s stop talking about the defense system.”

“Ah, yes.”

“How about the gate repairs?”

“Well… there’s no major issue. Except for Gate 3, which was blown up by the battleship’s explosion, the others just need the damaged parts fixed.”

“Hmm.”

“But Gate 3 is completely destroyed, and Gate 1… well, the fortress’s battleship got stuck in the entrance while launching, so it’s unusable.”

“…Ah, that thing.”

At Jessica’s words, I recalled the battleship that had accidentally run aground (?) in the entrance during the battle.

It was so perfectly wedged that we couldn’t even force it out.

“So, we’re currently cutting through the entrance of that gate and parts of the battleship’s bow and stern.”

“Hmm.”

“But since we’re cutting through battleship armor, only patrol ships and smaller vessels will be able to pass through that gate.”

“Not easy, huh? So, how long will it take to repair the other gates?”

“Gate 5, which has the least damage, will be done in about 3 hours. Gates 2 and 4 will take a day.”

I nodded in satisfaction at her words.

“Good, very good.”

But in response to my reaction, Jessica opened her mouth to say there was something more important.

“By the way, Commander, what do you plan to do with the existing defense… no, combat fleets still inside the fortress?”

“Huh?”

“Those guys, since they couldn’t fight and just surrendered… some of the personnel are rebelling against you, Commander.”

“Rebelling?”

As soon as Jessica finished speaking, a new event message popped up in front of my eyes.

—————————————-

<Event>

<Resentment>

<Content>

<Through the siege of Avalon Fortress, the fortress and its forces have been reorganized under your command, Commander.>

<However, some fleet commanders and troops are showing resentment towards the fortress command, who surrendered without a fight... and towards you.>

<For now, it's just simple resentment, but if left unchecked, it could turn into a massive fire that burns down the entire fortress.>

<Option 1: Negotiate with them. (Resentment negotiation, 50% chance of additional maintenance costs for fortress defense forces)>

<Option 2: We don't need dogs that bite their master. (Immediate suppression attempt, 20% chance of suppression failure)>

… … … … … …

—————————————-

‘Ugh, what a pain.’

And of all things, it was an event related to rebellion, with a surprisingly high failure (?) probability.

Given my already bad luck, this felt like a big middle finger to the stabilization of the fortress I had just taken over.

But right after that…

—————————————-

… … … … … …

<Option 3: Invite the complainers to the 'Nest of Life.' (???, Rebellion possibility changed to 0%)>

—————————————-

A very suspicious option appeared, with one effect even hidden behind question marks.

I couldn’t help but wonder what this was all about.