Chapter 666: Gold Demon

Apparently that spar was enough for Franz to know what he needed to make for us.

I guess that’s because Yumiko must have slowed herself down enough so that all of us could see her move.

"I’ve got an idea of it now and I believe it might even be my best project yet! It’s just that it’ll take a while for me to make them and I’m going to need to get some materials that aren’t available here..." Franz chuckled as he manipulated the screens on his workbench.

I stared at him, "Is this going to be a fetch quest? This is going to be a fetch quest, isn’t it?"

The Zwerger grinned, "I’m afraid so. And I’m also afraid to inform you that the thing I’m looking for is in the hands of a certain convoy belonging to the other side of the war which I just so happen to know where their flight path might be."

I let out a fake gasp, "Are you telling us to go rob a convoy?!"

"Rob? Oh, no, no. I’m asking if you would like to be contracted to intercept an enemy convoy and relieve them of their goods? They are, after all, an enemy."

"Well... I guess as long as we get paid for it. We’re still Mercs after all."

"Hmph... I will admit that the reason why I’m asking you to do this is for your weapon specifically so if you want it, you’ll want to go get it."

I blinked at him, "Eh? Wait a minute... My weapon? I didn’t ask for one though?"

"You might not have, but after watching you fight like that, it feels like a waste if it’s something that only happened once, you know? Right?"

The Zwerger looked behind me at my other girls and all of them collectively nodded their heads in agreement.

I have no idea what they’re agreeing about though...

I raised an eyebrow at him, "What are you even planning to make for me though? And what’s it going to cost?"

"Don’t worry, you can trust me on this. I’ll make sure to make something that you will like and give you a fair price as well, since you’ll be getting the materials for me anyway."

"Fair enough. So what are the details?"

"Heh... I figured you would accept, let me make a call."

He swiped his hand across the space in front of his workbench to move all the other windows aside before he opened up a new one to start a call.

The call only needed two rings before the other side answered, showing another Zwerger with a cybernetic eyepiece installed over their left eye glaring at the screen with their other eye. They were wearing a really elaborate uniform and even had a peak cap which covered most of their head with very impressive decorations on their uniform too.

"What is it, Franz? You know I’m always busy unlike you!" A rather high pitched voice came from the screen.

"Heh, calm down, Carina. I found someone who might be able to help you with one of those problems of yours."

"If it isn’t to find someone to deal with those stupid traitors running that stupid smuggling route, I don’t want to hear it! I’ve already had my ass chewed out by my commanders because they can’t understand that a single patrol fleet isn’t enough to take on an entire smuggler convoy by themselves!"

"In that case, you would really want to listen to what I have to say then."

The other Zwerger whom I just realised was a female paused before narrowing her eyes at him, "You’re not messing with me, are you? I swear if you’re rusting my iron, I’m going to personally go down to that station myself and shove ny fist up your ass!"

’Rusting my iron’? Must be a Zwerger saying I guess?

Franz grinned, "Heh, that would be a sight to see. Anyway, I have a Mercenary group with me right now and they want the materials that the convoy is transporting. So as long as you pay them and let them have the materials, you can ask them to get rid of them for you."

The Zwerger on the screen narrowed her eyes, "What? There’s no way something that convenient will ever happen to an idiot like you. What did you do? Did you let them fuck your ass or something?"

Why does it feel like I’m watching a brother and sister squabble right now?

Franz scowled at her, "Do you want the help or not you stupid hag? I can just commission them myself to deal with it instead of letting you know, how about that?! Why don’t you go and continue getting chewed out by those superiors of yours?!"

The other Zwerger’s attitude did a complete one eighty, "Ahhh!! Don’t be like that Franz! My good pal! My buddy! My dependable friend!! You’re the best friend someone can ask for! I’m unworthy!! Please help me out here, ok? They’re breathing down my neck for this already you know? I’m already about to go insane!"

"Hmph... Good that you know. Anyway, I’ll put them on the call now and you can tell them the details, alright?"

"Wait a minute. Are you sure they can handle this though? Are they trustworthy?"

"I wouldn’t be calling you about this if they aren’t. In fact, they recently just liberated that station that wasn’t delivering the Ketrite crystals all by themselves."

"Oh? You should have just said that from the start then! Let me see them!"

Franz turned to the side and beckoned to me and I guess he wanted me to take his place in front of the workbench to take the call.

I obliged and I had to bend my knees so that I was at the right height to be shown on the screen.

"Er... Hello? I’m the leader of the Mercenary group that he was talking about? I heard you--"

"Woah, woah, woah!!" The other Zwerger interrupted, her finger pointing at me. "No way! No way! Franz!! You bastard! What did you even do to get them?!"

Eh? That was definitely not the reaction I was expecting.

Franz leaned over from the side to peek at the screen, "What’s gotten into you, Carina? Did you forget to take your meds or something?"

She jerked her finger in my direction again, "You don’t know who she is?! Have you been living under a rock or something?! That’s the leader of the Teran Mercenary Company!! They were the ones who took down that Pirate Lord at Cietai System!! The Merc that jumped all the way to Gold rank!! What’s more... That’s the company that the Gold Demon is in!! What kind of luck do you have to run into them?!"

Ok, I kind of get all the things she said up until the gold demon part... Who the heck is... Oh... Amber? I thought her moniker was ’Golden Amber’ or something? Since when did it become ’Gold Demon’?

At least... I’m assuming it’s her since no one else on my crew fits that description and she was the only one with me during that Pirate Lord thing anyway.

Unlike how the female Zwerger was freaking out, Franz looked confused instead and just muttered, "Who?"

The female Zwerger threw up her hands, "Are you serious?! You really should pay attention to what happens outside of your work, you know?! Did you not even read the news?!"

Wait, we were on the news? Ah, I think I remember seeing something like that when that happened...

Franz scoffed, "Why should I care about things that don’t help my craft? They’re nothing but a distraction."

"At least you must have heard of the Gold Demon, right?!"

"Nope? Who the heck is that?"

"The one crazy Merc that singlehandedly fought an entire battle group by herself during the last civil war?! Were you stuck inside the mines when that was happening?!"

As though she was waiting for this exact moment, the door slid open and Amber walked in with a big smile on her face.

"Tera~ I’m baaaack~ I missed you! I managed to get them to pay us a lot of Credits~ Praise meeeee~"

She immediately ran up to me and hugged me to rub her face on mine before I could stop her.

The other girls also just stepped aside to allow her to run past them to get to me as well, almost like they had planned this together.

The female Zwerger on the screen immediately let out a scream, "Ahhhh!! It’s the Gold Demon!!! The Gold Demon!!!"

Amber jerked in surprise and looked over to the screen, "Oh? That’s a name I hadn’t heard in a while. Were you a survivor perhaps?"

"Waaahhh!! No, no! I was not on that side of the civil war! Please don’t kill me!!"

"Ehehehe~ You better not be because I may just find you in your sleep~"

"Iyaaaaaa!!! Noooo!! Please!! I’m telling the truth!! Please don’t kill me!!"

...

Amber... What the hell did you do before I met you? How did you even get that moniker?