Star Citizen Online: Isekai Edition

Chapter 58: Dinner

Sitting in the most luxurious restaurant of the entire Starfort Lycurgos and probably of the entire Alaric Star Domain, Arcturus was enjoying the marvelous view of the entire Starfort because it was a splendid one.

Most of the spacecraft and space vessels of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya were not only marvels of war but also architectural miracles and very pleasing to the eye.

The weird combination of gothic architecture reminiscent of the Eternal Impium, mixed with the rather futuristic view, created a breathtaking landscape of almost anything built in the Eternal Impium.

Asuryani certainly favored grandiosity in everything they did, most probably in an attempt to showcase their superiority to everyone else. Still, it was way better than the ordinary common architecture of the most species capable of spaceflight, which actually lacked any kind of substance and meaning.

Everything was just so modern, without any real history or some heritage.

"It seems that being Star Mercenary and Bounty Hunter is a really profitable job if you can order the most pricy several-step menu in this place."

Bator-Commandant Irene Verinus Tarun commented when they started serving them food because the prices here were vastly above the pay grade of the Military Officers.

Even though the Imperial Military was, technically speaking, paying a lot to the soldiers, more than other similar High-Level Civilizations, the price of a few thousand Universal Credits for a Chef's specialty was something that she couldn't really afford.

Hearing what she said, Arcturus wanted to scoff at what she said because, for every rich Star Mercenary and Bounty Hunter, there were a few thousand poor ones. The disproportion among the people in this occupation was too huge.

"And it must be nice to be an officer of the Imperial Military to get all resources for free..."

It seemed that everything had its pros and cons...

"Nothing in this life is white and black; everything has pros and cons..."

Bator-Commandant Irene Verinus Tarun stated neutrally, seeing the truth in Arcturus's statement. Indeed, the other benefits of being in the Imperial Military were obvious, especially all the resources that they could get for free once they showcased their talent.

"If you want, you can still change the occupations... or perhaps get into the job when you retire from the Imperial Military."

For the Bator-Commandant Irene Verinus Tarun, being in the Imperial Military was for life; Arcturus could see that the Bator-Commandant Irene Verinus Tarun was strongly dedicated to the Imperial Military, and there was no chance that she would willingly retire from the Military.

"If you are attempting to scout me for your budging group, then I must inform you that you are doing certainly a very bad job. The Military gave me everything, so I will remain there until my last breath."

Hearing something that seemed like her reprimand or something, though, Arcturus was rather disappointed a bit. It was hard to find competent and powerful people to join him in resolving the grave problem he had right now.

There was a lack of the intelligent element within his budging group, as Bator-Commandant Tarun called it. He was already working very hard on it, but it was hard to find people who met his criteria.

Arcturus was very careful with his topic, and obviously, because he wanted to recruit mostly people from the Eternal Empire of the Asurya, either the Asuryani or the Votans, this would create a rather strong internal unity between the members.

"I would be lying If I said that I am disappointed, but I understand the sentiment. Though, I want to ask, what's your reason for remaining in the Imperial Military?"

He was rather curious about her reason for having this kind of loyalty to the Imperial Military.

"I have entered the Imperial Military when I was nine, straight to the military academy on my home planet, and from then on, the Military was taking care of me, so I have a great deal of repaying them..."

Arcturus could understand this kind of sentiment; it was apparent that she was from the poorer areas of the Imperium, where it was rather common for the young children to enter the Military Academies on their home planet because it was the simple and most rational thing to do.

Especially in the areas of the Empire that were on the border regions of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya that were under constant attacks of the hostile species and so on, the best occupation for the people living there was to enter the Imperial Military.

"You are from the border region?"

Bator-Commandant Irene Verinus Tarun nodded at the question.

"Yes... my home planet, Solitas, is located within the fringes of the Winterscale Star Segment from the Nihilus Star Region of the Empire. The world is mostly covered in ice and snow, a hostile environment for most, and unfortunately for the people living on the planet, it is close to the territory of the Arachnids, so the Solitas is under constant attacks from the bugs."

I could see now...

Arachnids were considered one of the scourges of the known universe together with the Greenskins and Mind Flayers, but their danger level was far higher than the two of them combined, and they were probably the most dangerous species in the known universe.

"I heard the station in the frontiers of the Nihilus Star Region is getting worse with each year."

The Eternal Empire of the Asurya controlled three Star Regions: the Phoenix Star Region, which was closest to the Deep Core of the Andromeda Galaxy, and two other Star Regions.

The Wildstar Star Region and Nihilus Star Region were both under the control of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya, though the Wildstar Star Region was only recently conquered by the Imperium, probably only a few decades ago.

Meanwhile, the Nihilus Star Region was a very well-known bastion against the Arachinds, bordering the well-known Red Spider Star Region that was full of the Arachinds and their hive worlds.

Every day, countless bugs were killed by the weapons of the Eternal Empire and their warriors as they defended their space from the bugs that wanted nothing more than just spread themselves across the entire Andromeda Galaxy.

"Yes, but the fortifications stand strong, and the people there are one of the toughest in the entire galaxy."

Most of the dinner went rather well for both of them; soon enough, they had rather a nice conversation, which was a pleasant experience for Arcturus. This was the first time he had a long talk with someone who wasn't coded and projecting through the holographic projection on the deck of his spaceship.

One thing he noticed for sure was that most people were certainly wary of him. Those who were not Asuryani were either looking at him with a very strong sense of distrust or outright hatred, as their species wasn't that much like across the entire North-Western Galactic Quadrant.

And those who were Asuryani were rather wary about him because he was a member of the Highborne, and the Highborne within the Imperium had a very strong position and place. So, just his affiliation with the Highborne Asuryani created certain uneasiness among the average citizens of the Empire who were not Highborne or powerful Professionals.

One could say that Bator-Commandant Irene Verinus Tarun was the first person he could have a casual conversation with aside from the Red Queen, which didn't really count, and his master, Grandmaster Arsit Byrmellir, but that also didn't count.

Not to mention the fact that his master was also Highborne Asuryani, but he was also Beyonder Psyker, aside from being an old fossil.

"This desert is good; I must thank you for this invitation."

They had been sitting in their private room in the Celestial Horizon for two hours already, and they had already eaten their dessert. Arcturus was far more amazed because he had never eaten something tastier in his entire life.

"I must thank you for the conversation; since I arrived at the Starfort Lycurgos, the sole thing I was doing was just training, training, and, once again, training."

That was indeed true; Arcturus was something that was called a training maniac who spent all of his time either practicing the martial arts and sword arts or practicing the Psionic Method.

"That is certainly an accomplishment being accepted by Grandmaster Byrmellir as a disciple; if this was announced through the Empire, you would certainly become a national celebrity for such a thing alone."

In fact, it wasn't some publically known information that he was a disciple of the Grandmaster Arsit Byrmellir.

"Why so? For certain, even though the master is powerful, he shouldn't be the sole Beyonder within the Empire..."

Bator-Commandant Irene Verinus Tarun looked at him for several seconds before she proceeded to answer.

"Certainly not, but there are not many Beyonders within the Empire, and even fewer of them are Psykers with such powerful abilities as Grandmaster Byrmellir. Within our galaxy, Grandmaster Byrmellir is one of the strongest Beyonders, and even if we consider the other galaxies in our vicinity, he would still rank in the Top 10..."