Thankfully, they knew how to get back to the hangar so we let them guide us out of that entertainment district through the streets and into a rather large elevator at the end.

There were a few guys who catcalled us but a glare from Amber or a look from me was enough to have them looking elsewhere.

One of them was brave enough to ignore our subtle warning and approached us so Amber went ahead to give him a punch in the abdomen and left him groaning on the ground as we walked past him.

We rode the lift that was big enough to fit all of us to the floor where the hangar was.

About half of the group then left us, stating that they would be able to find their way from there.

That left eight girls who remained with us which meant that these were the ones with nowhere left to go.

All eight of them were looking at me, waiting for my decision on what to do with them.

I'm going to be honest here… I currently don't have a plan that could help them.

No, I'm not taking them on my ship nor am I hiring them as part of my crew to work for me. My ship isn't big enough to accommodate all of us and I'm not nice enough to be willing to take care of a bunch of freeloaders for an extended amount of time.

The only reason I even helped them out of their situation in the alley was just so that I could sleep better at night without thinking about them being taken away.

But clearly I didn't think things through because I have no idea what I am supposed to do with them now…

I turned to Amber who seemed to have already expected this and smiled at me the moment I turned to face her.

She took a step towards the girls, "First things first… Do any of you have any notable skills whatsoever?"

The girls looked at one another before one of them raised up their hand.

"I… I know how to dance? That counts right?"

Amber scowled at her, "Useful skills that can help you survive your current situation. Are your dance skills going to help you out here? Unless you intend to be a stripper at the place we just came from, of course."

The girl shrunk back quickly after hearing her words.

I guess she doesn't find the idea of working as a stripper appealing.

Another raised her hand, "I… I know how to cook!"

I immediately swivelled my head towards her when I heard that.

Amber grinned, "No, you can't cook. Putting synthfood inside a machine and pushing some buttons is not cooking."

Ah… I see… I forgot their definition of cooking is different from mine.

The girl who said she could cook scrunched up her face, "But… But that is what cooking is called though?"

"No, no, no. You don't know what real cooking is. But I suppose you could work at a shop somewhere that needs someone to operate that machine. Anyone else?"

The other girls stayed silent.

Amber nodded, "I expected as much. Right then, I suppose the first thing we should do is ask what lengths are you willing to go to live? Because let's face it, you girls have pretty much no skills so the most profitable thing you have is your body."

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One of the girls frowned at her, "Are you asking us to prostitute ourselves?"

"That would be the easiest way for you girls. It might sound harsh but that is just reality."

"Is there… No other way?"

Amber shrugged, "Unless you girls have any ideas? Because we won't be doing any charity work for you girls, just so that we're clear."

Hmm… My gaze drifted to the box filled with all the loot that we've got from the thugs. Maybe I could…

I turned to the girls, "Do any of you have any experience in doing business? Or maybe just sales in general?"

Two of them nodded.

"I've… Worked as a sales assistant before…"

"Me… Me too."

I nodded at them, "Right. Then in that case, I'm not too sure how successful this might be, but I won't lie about the fact that I do have quite some money on me right now. If you are willing to lay the groundwork, I do not mind investing some money on you girls to set up a store or sorts."

All of them, including Lea and Amber, stared at me like I had just suggested something crazy.

I looked at them, "What? Is that not possible or something?"

Amber gestured around vaguely, "What would we even sell?"

I nodded at the loot we got from the pirates, "We'll be staying here a while right? We can hunt and sell whatever loot we've got in the shop. We don't even need to rent out a building. We just need to look for anyone looking to purchase these cheap and make a deal with them. Once we get out of the red, we can start sourcing our own goods then."

Naturally, it wasn't really the best plan but what I could do was limited in a situation like this.

While hunting down thugs and pirates, I could take the chance and do some market research around here and also complete my black market research too. Once I have the latter done, I could then start operating a trade route between Denibi, Cietai and maybe Theeve as well.

With the money I have on hand, I could probably purchase an entry level B or C Class freighter for these girls to use to trade the goods.

Sure, that would mean that I would have to put the plan on upgrading my ship and getting a bigger one for myself on hold, but this would definitely start paying for itself in the long run, giving me a source of income.

It'll definitely be a bit rough at the start but I've worked under worse circumstances before.

One of the girls placed her hands on her hips, "Wait… You want us to work for you, is that what you're saying?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "I suppose you could say that?"

"But… But you rescued us! Shouldn't you be taking responsibility by making sure we're well taken care of?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Why do you think that it is our responsibility to take care of you?"

She hesitated, "Be… Because you rescued us?"

"In case I didn't mention it just now… We were not obligated to rescue you at all. We only did so out of the kindness of our hearts."

"Yes! That's why you need to help us! What kind of person are you if you were to just abandon the people you just rescued?!"

I was just staring at the girl in front of me, wondering if this was all just an elaborate prank or a joke on her part.

Fortunately, I did not need to say anything because Amber took over the conversation again.

"Could I check if anyone else here feels the same as she does?"

Out of the seven girls remaining, two more raised their hands.

Amber nodded, "Alright. Fair enough. Tera, why don't you tell the others about your plan with the store thing while I talk to these three over here? Maybe figure out what we can do with them?"

That's an odd way of saying it but ok…

Amber then gestured for the three of them to follow her and brought them away and out of sight.

Lea was watching them go the entire time with a complicated look on her face and I wondered if she saw something I didn't.

I turned my attention back to the remaining five women in front of me and decided to lay out my plans to them.

I would first pay for their necessities and they would owe me. They will then sell the things we looted and then we'll split the profit with their group and us.

I'll take care of all the costs they need to get it started and I'll even teach them how to do the sales part of this work but I intend for them to be fully self-sufficient once I get the stuff going.

Naturally, I will need them to sign a contract with me where they would be occupying positions under me so that I don't have a situation where they claim I was taking advantage or being unfair to them.

But then Lea had stepped in and said, "Why not just enslave them, Captain?"

I blinked at her, "We… Just saved them from being enslaved and you want me to enslave them?"

She shrugged, "They can just refuse on clauses like needing to offer themselves physically to you and only sign the clauses where they cannot betray you. Then if you want to, you can set that they be freed after they have earned their freedom."

"And why would they want that?"

"Then they can't be enslaved by someone else and they will be under your protection, Captain. Something they obviously need after what happened earlier."

I… Err… Hmm… She actually does have a point…

I was about to ask what the other girls thought when Amber returned with a skip in her step, "Hey! What did I miss?"

I turned to her and… Is that blood on her face?