Chapter 643: Where Do We Find Our Zwerger?

Our ship approached the station and our docking request was granted almost immediately, though I would attribute that to the fact that we were the only visitors around here.

Renata expertly moved the ship towards the docking arm and we docked with the station without any issues.

The patrol ships that escorted us hung around for a while more before finally flying off after seeing that we were safely docked at the station.

Ries said that they were most likely admiring my ship one last time before they left.

Yes... Very cultured indeed...

"So... Anything we should know before we head into the station?" I asked as we were all making our final preparations in the armoury room. "Like... Things we shouldn’t say or do, perhaps?"

Yumiko thought for a moment, "Well... It’s not like they are different from everyone else I guess? Oh wait! I suppose one of the things you should avoid is insulting their work because a lot of them have quite a lot of pride in what they make. So unless you are prepared to back up your claim on why their work is bad, don’t say anything. Then again, I suppose you would need to know what you are talking about to criticise them to begin with anyway so that shouldn’t be a problem."

Well... Even for that point, I think that applies to everyone anyway? But what do I know?

"What about their height?" I asked, making the gesture of moving my palm from my head to my waist. "Would they take offense at comparisons to that?"

Yumiko tilted her head, "I do not believe that to be an insult to them, Mistress? That’s like saying humans have great adaptability to all kinds of modding. It’s just a fact?"

"Huh... So no one has made fun of their height before?"

"Well... There’s definitely those racist xenophobes in every group right? So even someone saying that we Inucanis have tails but they said it in an insulting way... We would also get offended even if it’s a fact that we have tails, you know?"

That’s true... I suppose at least I know that they aren’t really that sensitive about their height.

We got ourselves prepared and headed for the door, the airlock cycling open to reveal a rather simple but functional corridor.

Moving along, we reached the end of the corridor which had a door opening up to the station’s hangar with our path continuing along a catwalk above the bay itself before finally descending to the ground floor via a set of stairs at the end.

When we reached the end of said stairs, a rather bored looking Zwerger was seated in some kind of security booth with his short legs propped up on the counter. Meanwhile he was just completely engrossed in the personal terminal he was holding.

There was a metal gate that was closed shut which I guess was being controlled in the security booth the Zwerger was occupying.

I led our group to walk up to him and he only noticed us when we stood in front of him.

He quickly took his feet off the counter and straightened himself, clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment at being caught slacking off.

"Ahem... What... Err... What’s your business here?"

"Looking to have a weapon made by someone here."

"Ah, then you have come to the right place. Just need to scan you... Ah, Teran Mercenary Company? Nice name. Go on through."

Oh? That’s it?

I guess there’s not much security in a place like this... Which would explain why someone like Yumiko could get her weapons here despite being a Pirate Lord...

That’s assuming she got them while she was a Pirate Lord of course.

He pressed on something below the counter and the metal gate slid aside to allow us to enter.

We stepped through into the station proper and now I turned to the former Pirate Lord to nod at her, signaling that she should take over the lead now.

She scratched her cheek, "Umm... There’s a problem with that, Mistress... I don’t actually know where he is..."

I blinked at her, "Haven’t you come here before?"

"Yes but... It wasn’t like he had a store here, you see... This entire place is an arms factory and I merely met the guy by chance and got him to make a weapon for me... He’s just one of the workers here and I don’t really know where to find him..."

"Hmm... In that case, can’t we just put in an order with this factory itself? Does it have to be made by that guy?"

She nodded immediately, "When I came here to get a weapon made, it was first done through the factory but what they sold me was something I wasn’t satisfied with. I then ended up meeting that Zwerger who realised I was not satisfied with that weapon and thus offered to make one for me personally. The one he made for me was perfectly suited for me as compared to the one made by ordering through the factory."

"Hmm... So what do we do then? How do we hunt him down? Do you have a name or something that we can ask around to search for him?"

She shook her head, "At that time I was already a pirate so I was avoiding names whenever possible... And also because of that reason, I refrained from saving any contacts as well."

I pursed my lips, "Alright... So how do we find this guy to get your weapon? Are we just going to walk around the entire station until we find him?"

She scratched her cheek, "Perhaps... We might be able to find him in the worker’s dormitory. Pretty much all the workers stay in the same place so if we hang out around there, we might be able to eventually find him."

"Wait, wait, wait... Hold on a moment," I called out, realising a problem. "A dormitory? I’m assuming that there isn’t anything like a hotel or something here?"

Yumiko tilted her head, "Well... Yes? This isn’t a place that people visit to begin with so there’s no such things here."

Great... I guess I should have thought about that... This place was supposed to be a factory, why did I even think that there might be a five star hotel here?

I guess that means we’ll still be staying on the ship then...

Damn... I was kind of looking forward to seeing what Zwerger accommodations might be like since this was quite literally my first time going to alien territory.

"Well then... I guess we could do that... But are we even allowed there? I think usually dormitories are like... Restricted to residents, right?" I pointed out.

Yumiko shook her head, "Nah, they don’t really care about it here. In fact, they would welcome you."

"Is it because they like outsiders?"

"No, it’s because you’re human."

I blinked at her, showing that I clearly did not understand what she meant by that.

She seemed confused about my confusion until she smacked her palm with her fist, "Ah... Sorry... I keep forgetting that you aren’t from here, Mistress... Umm... Let’s just say that the Zwergers really, really like humans."

I was about to ask her why when Ries leaned over, "Because humans were the ones who introduced all the big guns to them, Boss... And they like really, really big guns."

Oh right... They did tell me that they actually worshipped humans for a moment in time when we first made contact with them...

"So basically they like the sight of humans because... They feel gratitude towards us?" I asked.

Ries snorted in amusement, "Hmph. More like the presence of humans mean that there’s the possibility of them being able to see big guns. In fact, that patrol group that we encountered literally got to witness that with you, Bosss."

"Wait, really? Even those ship cannons count?"

"It’s basically a racial fetish if you ask me. Some people say that it’s just a stereotype and untrue, but there have been proven accounts that some Zwergers need some kind of firearm involved before they would even be aroused in the bedroom."

...

You know what? I don’t want to know.

I waved my hand in front of me, "Alright... So the plan is to stake out at the dormitory and see if we can find this guy, right? What happens if we can’t find him or... Well... Considering that this place is in a civil war... What if that guy already died?"

Yumiko stared at me for a moment, clearly showing that she didn’t even think about that possibility at all.

She obviously only wants that guy to make her swords and came here with that in mind.

I felt a little bad so I decided to give her an out, "I guess... We’ll just go with this plan for now and then figure it out if the situation calls for it... Ok?"

The girls agreed and I guess that’s what we’re going with.

Alright Zwerger! For my cute Inucani’s sake, you better be still alive and here!