It actually didn't take long for us to completely wipe out the Space Locusts.

Seems like there were only a few dozen of them as Amber had said which would be counted as lucky for us.

With the other Freighter joining the fight, the swarm was unable to even get close to either of us before the last locust was shot dead and floating off into space.

I leaned back in my chair and breathed out, feeling quite satisfied with the result of the battle.

More specifically, I was very satisfied with the capabilities of the ship.

I mean, I already knew how good it can be with the pirates from earlier but this was an entirely different case altogether.

Ries turned to me, "Boss, the Madalara is hailing us."

It took me a moment to remember that was the name of the ship before nodding at her, "Patch them through."

She turned back to her console and a screen appeared in front of me, showing a middle aged man with a cybernetic jaw and balding grey hair.

"This is Herbert, the captain of the Madalara speaking, I would like to thank you for your assistance. May I know who I am speaking to?"

How polite.

I nodded in greeting, "I am Tera of the Teran Mercenary Company. We're happy to help. Is everything alright?"

He stared at me for a good few seconds for some reason before he responded, "My ship and the crew are fine but… I won't lie, had you not shown up when you did, we'll most likely be dead. Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

I turned back to Amber, silently asking her what would be appropriate for me to ask for.

She grinned at me and said only one word, "Credits."

Right…

I mean, of course, but I wanted to make sure, you know? Just in case it's considered rude to ask the person you saved for a monetary reward.

I turned back to the screen, "We would be happy with some Credits."

"Of course, of course. I'll transfer some over right now. Thanks for the assist once again."

My Codex let out a notification beep and I looked down to see an incoming transaction of ten thousand Credits.

That should be enough to pay for the ammunition I used in the earlier fight and still have quite a lot left over.

That's one good thing about this universe too, ammunition is really, really cheap here.

Apparently that's also one of the things that humans manage to streamline and enhance to the point that factories were literally churning them out every second in order to be used for war.

It's to the point that buying ammunition for your weapons and cannons is cheaper than getting water and food for your crew.

And no, I wasn't talking about just buying a single bullet either but an entire crate of them.

Yeah… Buying an entire crate of bullets is cheaper than buying three days' worth of supplies… I'm not even kidding on that…

When I pointed this out, all three girls literally looked at me and said, "Why do you think people would buy guns to rob people of food? It's cheaper than buying it."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Damn…

Putting that sad fact aside, I nodded at the Captain of the Freighter, "I've received it. Thanks. Be safe now."

He gave me a salute, "And you too. May the light of Terra guide you."

The screen then shut off and the freighter began charging up their Travel Drives.

I did the same as well where I handed control of the ship back to the autopilot before turning back to Amber, "What did he just say?"

Amber chuckled, "May the light of Terra guide you~ I most certainly need some guidance from Tera though~"

I frowned, "Is that some saying from this universe where you say the other person's name or something?"

Lea turned to me, "Mistress… It's 'Terra' with two 'R's."

Oh… Ohhhh…

"Ok… I get it… May the light of Terra guide you… Terra, not Tera… Got it… So what does that mean?"

"It's a saying that was popularised back when we were fighting against The Confederation," Amber explained, just as our Travel Drives accelerated our ship back into Travel speeds. "It's like a phrase of good luck where we might say to each other before going into battle."

Ah, so it's basically like saying 'may the gods watch over you' except the gods in this case was our home planet.

I turned to Lea, "I guess this saying isn't really that popular with others outside of humans?"

She shook her head, "It is indeed not, Mistress. Alvs have our own saying actually. On our home planet, we have the Tree Of Life and we believe that when Alvs die, we will join the Tree as one of its leaves. A saying similar to your human equivalent would be 'The Tree Of Life will bloom for you'."

That's cool.

I turned to Ries and she shrunk a little, "I… Don't really know about Maochattes… I've been living outside the colonies for longer than I have been inside… And… Umm… I've spent more time studying about machines than my race's culture… Sorry."

"Eh? Why are you apologising? That's what makes you cool, Ries! And precisely why you're here! We wouldn't have been able to get this ship if it wasn't for you!"

She actually blushed before turning away to face her console, "Thank… Thank you, Boss…"

I then turned to Amber, intending to ask her more about that saying when I noticed her looking at the ground in deep thought.

Hmm? Did something happen?

"Amber?" I called out.

My words jolted her out of her thoughts and she quickly turned to me with her usual smile, "What is it, Tera?"

"Something the matter?"

"Oh no, no. I was just thinking about… Nothing really~"

That sounds suspicious…

I gave her a look that told her I didn't buy her excuse and she giggled before sliding up to me.

Just saying, she was still naked and so was Lea. So I had a really hard time keeping my eyes focused above her neck instead of the two things bouncing up and down as she walked closer to me.

"I was just thinking…" She whispered, her hand trailing up my thigh. "When are you going to give the cat some heavy petting?"

My gaze shifted to where Ries was sitting to find her busy with the console, acting like she was occupied with something on it.

I looked back at Amber before whispering in a voice that should not be overheard by Ries, "I already have you and Lea… I think it would be a little hypocritical of me if I were to chase after someone else when the both of you aren't, right?"

She pulled back slightly, "Eh? Why would that matter? Both Lea and I love you for you, Tera. If you want to add another girl to the harem… Hmm… I suppose we would want to have a say in it since some of the girls might just be taking advantage of you. But if you want to go fuck some nice pussy, which Ries is in more ways than one as well, that's fine too? Also, we have no problems with Ries joining the harem either."

I frowned, "Does that mean you would be going to fuck other guys then?"

She waved at me, "Pffft~ Of course not, Tera. We aren't with you just because of your cock or even your cooking, you know? I literally can't get wet without you anymore so I have no interest in anyone else. Besides…"

Amber then leaned in until her face was just an inch away from mine.

Her lips curled up in a smile while a fire seemed to burn in her eyes, "At this point… I'm already obsessed with you~"

She then gave me a kiss on the lips before pulling back, giggling like she had pulled off a prank.

Umm… Ok… I guess she was saying that to get me a little riled up.

Honestly, I kind of guessed that Ries had at least some feelings for me at this point but I just felt if I were to be the one to approach her, I would be taking advantage of her somehow…

That's why I had resolved myself that if she was the one that asked for it, I would accept her.

Even though Amber was practically pushing me to her right now… I still felt a little scummy if I were to approach her…

I guess this was just my old universe values acting up.

"Is this normal in this universe?" I asked.

Amber shrugged, "Not really."

I was just about to roll my eyes at my lover until she continued.

"Under normal circumstances, normal people don't have harems. But if you're someone exceptional like you… Ehehehe~ It would be weird not to have a harem~ So go and get yourself one already~"

Riiiiight…

I'm just going to pretend I didn't ask in the first place…