What Do You Mean I'm The Captain Of A Yandere Mercenary Company?

Chapter 800: Be Careful Of Workplace Harassment

We returned to the station and I already had mixed feelings about this job.

Apparently I was wrong about them expecting us to do multiple runs... They really just had everyone else do a single run of their own course and the only people who were told to fly multiple times were myself and Yumiko.

Which means... Those pilots were already trying their best from the very start...

At least, that’s what I think.

There’s always the possibility that this was just the first run of the day and we were expected to do another run later in the day after all.

After all... I don’t think they would gather all of us, load us up in those Exo-Knights, then send us out for a single flight test, would they?

If it was just a simple manoeuvrability test, why would they need so many people here to do it?

Was it just because they have too much money anyway so they just ring up everyone to do the testing just because they can?

...

Now that I think about it... That might actually be the case...

I brought the Exo-Knight I was piloting back to the same place that I had boarded and docked with the maintenance bay, powering it down as the engineers started to approach my Exo-Knight to begin their scans of the machine.

I powered it down and stepped out of the cockpit, one of the engineers thanking me for the hard work which I returned with a thanks of my own.

I then reunited with my girls and the first thing I heard was Yumiko grumbling aloud, ”Well that was quite disappointing... I never knew their standards were so low...”

Ries frowned, ”This might also explain why the quality of the last few Exo-Knights in the last generation didn’t feel like they had been improved much...”

I pursed my lips at them, ”Are you saying... That these test pilots are actually pretty bad?”

Yumiko nodded, ”If I had to guess... These pilots probably never saw a day of combat in their lives and never needed to pilot an Exo-Knight for combat purposes... They are treating these things like recreational toys instead...”

Mara chuckled, ”Fufu... To be fair... Within a certain circle, this is basically the case.”

Right... Nobles are piloting Exo-Knights for fun... Not for practical purposes... And I’m assuming that they are one of the big customers for this company as well...

I was just about to question what the hiring process for this company even was for them to get such pilots when Gary’s voice came from the side.

”All pilots! Gather here!!”

I swallowed my questions for now and headed to where Gary was alongside the rest of the other pilots.

I was, of course, careful to keep my own thoughts about their skills to myself and acted like normal.

Still, I could see that there were several of them who were shooting my group looks and some of them did not look like they were intended to be friendly stares either.

My group intentionally stood a little separated from everyone else and it was pretty easy to see that the perception that the pilots had of us was completely different from just a few hours ago.

Gary also looked like he might be trying to figure out how to deal with this before he eventually shook his head and nodded at everyone.

”Good job out there. We’re all done for the day so go ahead and do your own thing. Miss Tera? Could I ask that you stay for a while with your group as well?”

I’m not surprised at his request and just gave him a nod.

The other pilots whispered amongst themselves as they started to disperse.

Gary then approached us and he scratched his head awkwardly as he stopped in front of us.

”Alright... I suppose the first thing I should do is apologise for my earlier assessment of you and your group... But I just want to ask if you really only just started to pilot Exo-Knights recently?”

I nodded, ”We only just received our pilot’s licenses a few days before the exhibition. We even had to rush there to attend it or else we would have been late.”

”I see... So just to be clear... The only experience you have with piloting Exo-Knights is during your school days?”

I nodded again, ”That’s right.”

”I see... May I ask where you are from?”

I wasn’t really sure how to answer that but Amber came to my rescue as she appeared beside me while leaning an arm on my shoulder with a grin on her face.

”We’re from the Outer Colonies. Does that answer your question?”

His eyes widened in surprise and he looked around as though to check if anyone else heard what we just said.

Seeing that no one else was looking in our direction, he leaned forward and whispered, ”You’re telling me... The company went to scout you in the Outer Colonies?”

I scratched my cheek, ”I wouldn’t say scout... Err... Theresa mentioned it earlier, didn’t she? There was a group that was trying to steal the new generation Exo-Knights and I just happened to be there. Seeing that I had just learned how to pilot one, I decided to board one and used it to fight off the Exo-Knights they were controlling to stop that from happening. After that, Theresa came to find me and offered me a position as a test pilot. That’s all.”

He grimaced before shaking his head, ”I understand now... Ugh... This might sound insincere after what I’ve said earlier but... Keep the fact that you’re from the Outer Colonies a secret... I won’t lie but you are definitely not going to have a good time here and I apologise for that.”

I was about to ask why but Mara spoke up before I could, ”Is it because those pilots of yours can’t handle the fact that a newcomer is better skilled than they are?”

Gary sighed, ”You know how it is... When you’re supposed to be a veteran working in a company and you were basically hyped up to be one of the elites... Then someone new comes along and completely blows that illusion away... If they find out it’s an Outer Colonist doing it as well, they are going to be more than just unhappy...”

Amber nodded at him, ”What about you? Surely you’re not going to say something like you are different from them and expect us to believe you, right?”

He shook his head, ”No... Because I’m speaking from experience. I am an Outer Colonist as well.”

Ah... I suppose that cybernetic eye of his should have given that away to be honest.

If I remember correctly, Inner Colonists would usually prefer Gene mods instead of Cybernetic mods, partly because it is more affordable here as compared to the Outer Colonies and also it’s a vanity factor.

For people here, implanting machines into your body is seen as something that is low class.

I thought that Gary might be one of those outliers within the Inner Colonies who thought differently and did it as some kind of fashion statement or something but... Now this makes sense.

After revealing his background, Gary let out another sigh, ”That’s why I’m telling you this because I’ve experienced this before. These people still think they are the best at what they’re doing even if you were to prove them otherwise. They won’t let up even after you’ve thoroughly shown that what they believe in isn’t grounded in reality so... Just be careful, alright?”

”I’m surprised that you were given this position then,” I noted.

He chuckled mirthlessly, ”Let’s just say that I fought so hard to be accepted that they had no choice to accept me. And by then, it was unsurprising for them to put me in this position to manage them. Perhaps... After this, you might just take over me and I can retire.”

I raised my hand slightly, ”Oh, you don’t know? We are only here temporarily. We’re not full time hires, we’re contract hires.”

His eyes widened once again in surprise before he mumbled something under his breath.

I thought he might be pissed as well before he broke out into a smile, ”Heh heh... I suppose you girls are smarter than I am. In that case, it really looks like I’m worrying for nothing. Anyway, I said what needs to be said and I guess you’re also prepared to deal with it so I’ll leave it to you. Just... If you can help it... Don’t kill anyone, ok?”

Huh? Why would he even think that we would--

”No promises,” Amber chuckled, hugging my arm. ”It all depends on how far they go.”

Gary smirked, ”In that case... Just make sure not to leave any evidence ok? I’d hate to be the one that needs to go against you.”

”Because you know you won’t survive?”

”Precisely... I still want to live after all...”

Without waiting for a response, the guy turned and left with a backwards wave.

Err... What was that about?