chapter 1 "Ringo's Gratitude"
-----------This takes place before episode 8 11:50 minutes in-----
The outer ring of Galaxy Academy, it is a huge structure which surrounds the inner solar system, It is a place where ordinary people can go to get the latest benefits of the state-of-the-art technology being studied by Galaxy Academy. In addition, it's the base of the Galactic Federation the GP, and it's also a center of technology, logistics, economics and politics. For that reason, many companies and people gather from around the galaxy to set up shop in the outer ring, and despite its enormousness, the ring was constantly being expanded due to the supply of available land not meeting the demand. and demand was increasing every year. many speculated that eventually it would become a completely spherical structure.
Recently Seina 's mass capture of Space pirates, had caused a massive improvement in economic security and an economic revitalization swept the galaxy, so a massive expansion of the rings had recently become quite realistic and finally it had become subject to betting by the Academy' s largest book taker The MMD.
(*a book taker means they are accountants who take bets)
Those that gathered at the outer ring were not just those who benefited from the technology or logistical advantages that the academy provided however.
"From the Cradle to the grave" as long as there were people and machines there was a lot of secondary necessities that needed fulfilling.That was why the number of people immigrating there was increasing exponentially.
The Academy was where many opportunities where rolling in by the shipload every day, but not everyone there was necessarily profiting. There were economic failures just like there was successes.
In addition to the GP and the large space used by large companies, there are many small ports used by small companies and private individuals on the outer ring as well as simple accommodations for tourists, and shops and amusement entertainment venues. However, the outer ring had a high land price because of the shortage available sites, so in order to cope with the expenses several of the newer buildings were made of old transportation containers. however many of these area's where they had been used had been made by unsuccessful companies and they became signs of being in one of the outer rings slums.
And today Ringo Tatsuki found herself walking through one such slum.
The smell of the garbage and litter on the street wafted into her nose and she could feel the people on the street staring at her with cold dead fish like stares. It was not a place where one should have been walking alone ...even for Ringo who was no common woman . In fact as ringo was walking she noticed that groups of residents were sneakily gathering behind her as animals do when prey enters their territory.
However, most of the inhabitants who gathered were actually gathering because they were overwhelmed by the elegance of Ringo and were stunned by the presence of royalty crawling through the slums. As Ringo passed by, the reactions of residents could easily be divided into three distinct reactions.
There were those who became aware of her presence and ran, those who watched only to go back to their on-goings satisfied as she passed, and those who noticed her and sneakily pursued her.
Ringo walked in a way that looked very normal but she subtly changed speeds at random as she walked. Those following her who tried to keep up had trouble doing so because of this and when they attacked her she had already detected their presence because of their footsteps and when they tried to attack they missed because they misjudged her speed. she was able to subdue them with ease. she was also able to distinguish snipers and people tracking her this way.
"hmm... There are no snipers ... but the amount of harassment I'm getting on this route is exactly as expected... ...."
Ringo muttered with a sigh.
"If I was Seto I wouldn't have to deal with this... ...."
seto's overwhelming atmosphere could sap the will to attack out of just about anyone.
It was getting late and a ruffian lunged at her once more, she did a sweep with her legs that caused her attacker to trip and roll ahead of her. and landed in front of a nearby crowd of local people who were lurking ahead of her.
They noticed the woman standing in front of them was no ordinary woman and their faces distorted and they soon ran away screaming.
ringo let out a sigh as she watched them run.
She didn't like being this way, she found it unpleasant. The sight of people running away from you in fear was not a very pleasant sight for a young woman to experience. and the screaming part hurt her feelings.
"There's no reason for them to be so afraid ... ...." Ringo wasn't the type to engage in unnecessary bloodshed. it was inconvenient for her and she didn't like the thought of the rumors it would cause to be said whispered about her.
"... ... they haven't done anything yet." she said distracted by the container building in front of her. She had reached her destination.
---------------------------------
"Damn it, We're fucked... badly! God fucking damn it FUCK!!!"
Inside the building in the office room that read "the president's office", a middle-aged man was beating his desk and yelling.
no one would imagine that a room like this could be found in such a slum, it was filled with nice expensive furniture and the interior was clean and neat.
The man's name was Ian · Northern - the head of this company.
"Damn it, FUCKING FUCK!"
For Ian, this was the first time since he was born that he felt this frustrated.
"Mr. president ... ... We have some good news..." said one of the two women standing by his desk. one was clearly a secretary of some sort.
"We managed to buy up the Widow account before anyone else could!"
Ian was happy with this.
"Good."
"That is not all! A copy of the report that woman submitted to the GP was also available, It was a miracle we were able to get it."
Ian stared at the file her secretary handed him.
"Yes, hmm let me look at this... ... holy crap ... ...."
"That's right! I never thought she would have had so much money ... ...!"
Ians company was responsible for properly disbursing things that were left in peoples wills and he had gotten widows case.
They managed to find a huge supply of frozen sperm and egg samples from many races planets and regions among the large amount of containers that she had left.
From the description left by widow, they were gathered for medical research.
"I don't know what she was thinking. That is a weird collection for anyone to have, I don't really think I want to know why she had it either...But that's our key to getting this done."
Widow had several victims as could be seen just by the volume of the frozen specimens.
Judging from the report on widow anyone who's samples had been collected had long been dead.
"If any of the fertilized eggs were fertilized before the arrest of Widow, the fertilized egg will be treated as a victim's inheritor. Although this is going to be a real hassle, From the report Widow gave the academy, the situation were in seems to be that there are almost no people qualified to be heir to the victims assets, there is a high possibility that compensation won't be possible... .... "
but even the minimum amount of compensation that someone would receive from widow's astronomical assets would have been enough to fully fund Ian's entire company for over ten years.
"Hey Mr. president. someone is coming this way. i think they're a client, what should i do?" a muscular body guard came in and said
"Do you know who the person is?"
"What? ... No."
the bodyguard showed him the holo terminal of the feed from the outside. Ian stared at the image of ringo walking through the slum. he stared at the sight with a surprised expression
Those who came to Ian came by two routes.
There was a safe special route for customers and the route through this slum that uninvited guests used. People coming by slum route usually arrived in special armored cars with bodyguard for safety. a person walking to him alone, let alone a young woman who looked like ringo coming on foot was unheard of.
"... ... hey those are Juraian clothes." the bodyguard noticed.
"That's Ringo tatsuki of the Juraian royal family."
"The royal family of Jurai!?"The body guard's expression changed to shock.
"The devil princess of jurai must have sent her hyenas when she heard we got the account."
"She's from the devil princesses hyena unit ...... Ah!" the bodyguard panicked.
"Don' panic, We will be fine, just don't call her a member of the hyena's to her face."
"gotcha."
the bodyguard turned red and corrected his posture.
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Shortly before Ringo arrived at Ian's company, she passed by three people in an alley they were using a small makeshift stove to cook a can of soup. the three dirty looking people sat looking down in anticipation.
"What are we doing here!?" Barry, one of the three operators who had taken seina to the academy whined sadly.
cohen cried as he looked at the awful meal.
"There's no point in dwelling on the past, what's done is done." alan said pouring the soup into three cups.
"Okay! Well then, shall we?" said alan
but barry blocked him from eating.
he had noticed that alan had gotten an extra piece of meat in his cup so instead of eating they got into a fight. the three of them had spent all the money they had made from the ryoko fanclub on frivolous things and now they were broke and fighting.
"well maybe if you hadn't spent all our money on girls we wouldn't be here."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
they accidentally knocked over the cups as they argued. they fell to the ground and all the soup spilled out leaving only piece of meat in alan's cup. it was less than a cubic centimeter big/
as the three scrambled to be the first to get the meat.
a rat like creature ran out and grabbed it and ran off.
"Well... that sucks ... ...."
five minutes later the three who were collapsed on the floor from hunger noticed the strange excitement coming from the people around them and gazed up to see ringo walking by.
".... those are juraian clothes" said alan as he spied on ringo.
Alan got a look in is his eyes and an odd smile on his face.
"Hey Alan ... ... You're not thinking of mugging her are you...?"
"No don't be ridiculous... we don't want to make jurai our enemy."
"Then...what are you thinking?" barry asked.
. "think carefully, we are acquainted with the Jurai royal family right, we know Minaho Masaki Jurai ... ... No even better were acquainted with Seto, we even helped save everyone from the pirate crisis right?" alan had a bad habit of over exaggerating and barry and cohen had even worse habits of getting caught up in his over exaggerations.
"Yeah! that's right!"
"We are benefactors of Jurai! If you tell her she will help us get out of here!"
"we should be welcomed as heroes to Jurai!"
they imagined how ringo would bow to them and welcome them and then they imagined the hospitality they would receive.
"Let's go! To the road of new glory!"
"YEAH!" the three walked out from the shady alley towards ringo.
"GRAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!"
A big carnivorous beast jumped out though before they could talk to her.
it chased them and they ran for their lives.
they ran screaming all the way out of the container slums and they were found 3 hours later by a group of former fan club members.
=========================================================
"Hold on a second and i will get you some tea"
an employee told ringo. as she led her into ian's office.
The moment ringo stepped into ian's office the atmosphere change. her overwhelming sunniness illuminated the darkness of the stagnant and gloomy room. The woman in front of them did not match what they expected of someone from something referred to as the "hyena troops". she had an elegant and aristocratic atmosphere about her that stunned him and the bodyguard. ian was the first to get back his composure.
" Well then, Let's get started. why are you here? "
Ringo sat down on the sofa in his office.
as she walked over to it the bodyguard noticed that her demeanor was hiding her true power.
he had the urge to escape and couldn't keep his eyes off of the door which was his only potential route of escape.
ringo handed the secretary some documents and she handed them to ian.
"…………this is!"
Ian overlooked the documents received from the secretary and was surprised
"Time is money ...... I think that in this case that is especially true don't you?"
Ian turned down his eyes to the document again to confirm its content.
There was an order to transfer over the genetic sample collection with an estimate for compensation that had been carefully calculated by Ringo's department.
It was almost the same as the commission Ian had calculated he would have made when he took the account.
Ian was intimidated by this offer but ringo's disposition calmed him down. He decided that getting down to business was the best approach.
(Well, it's a reasonable price ... but ... ...)
the Gene specimens were as good as garbage. There was no doubt in his mind that there was no person left alive who was qualified to receive them or any of the compensation that went with them. The most that could happen with them was someone trying to make a fake claim for the money. He didn't know why their notoriously stingy accounting department was willing to give him so much to take the case off his hands.
"Time is money. Mr. north" ringo reminded him.
He found no reason why he should object and the idea of forging a positive connection with the imperial family outweighed the idea of haggling to get more out of them. So he quickly agreed to the contract. ?
"I understand. Let's do this."he said
"But, Mr. president!"
his secretary said. he could tell his secretary wanted to ask them for more money but he raised his hand to restrain his secretary from objecting further.
"don't be rude ... ...."
he said to his secretary who promptly dropped the issue.
"I know this is unexpected and sudden, but I would like to ask for delivery of goods" Ringo said.
Ian's desk began to beep.
"Excuse me"
A small ring-shaped voice monitor was launched next to Ian's ear.
"I am ..................... I understood. Don't worry that Juraian ship is fine there. no need to worry about it.."
"I appreciate your quick response." ringo said.
she stood up to shake his hand on the deal. Ian reflexively stood up and shook her hand.
"Oops! "
he was so nervous he had forgot to wipe his sweaty palms. but ringo didn't mind.
"Well then I will excuse myself." said ringo but she quickly turned back around before she began to leave.
"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot."
she took out a letter from her boss and offered it to Ian.
"I hope that we can keep doing business with you in the future"
ringo made a small bow and walked towards the door. but she was blocked by the woman who had greeted her when she had come in. the woman looked a bit startled and disheveled as if she had panicked.
"I uh, um, i ... uhm...Tea, I got that tea ......" she said panicked.
"Well I was going to go home, but i guess I can have some tea."
"Why did it take you so long to get it?" ian asked
"Sorry, sir." she apologized
Ringo hid her mouth with her sleeve and laughed while gazing at the drooling female employee.
There weren't many opportunities for normal people to come in contact with the Juraian royal Family.
in a way it was an even rarer opportunity then meeting a celebrity.
She had probably just been outside the door the whole time panicking.
"Thank you for the tea. I'm in a bit of a hurry today, but the next time i see you I'll bring some tea of my own and pay back the favor."
ringo smiled quickly downed the tea and left.
"uhm ... ... mr. President, are you ok? what is that?"
the secretary asked ian about the letter.
"Oh, it's nothing"
he was surprised that Ringo Hadn't recoiled from his sweaty hands,but her hands that seemed feminine at first felt uncommonly calloused for those of the privileged.
Ian remembered the feel of her hands from somewhere.
"... ... her hand's remind me of my mothers."
Like many others ian had left a life of hardship in his home town as a young man and came to the academy in search of success.
He used to hate the feel of hands like that until eventually he found his own hands in much the same condition.
he found it interesting that woman who shouldn't know such hardship had such hands.
"... ... mr. President, were you really satisfied with that deal?" his secretary asked
Ian ignored her and opened the letter ringo had handed to him.
"Ha.... hahaha.... hahahaha... ... Huhahaha"
"mr. president?"
ian silently passed to letter to the secretary.
"!?…………Th-This is!!"
"It's quite a reward, There's no mistaking it's authenticity.".
"Ah, that ... ... that is it ..." his bodyguard said glancing at it in panic
"That's ... ... that's a recommendation letter to the MMD Foundation"
"The MMD Foundation?"
"Originally it was a foundation established to manage patent fees of philosophers, you have probably heard about the story surrounding it before. The patents held by the Philosophy Department account for something like 10% of the entire patents filed in the Galactic although about half of it goes back into research, the rest is used to operate a medium sized chain of planetary wide banks and of course a legendary philosopher, like Washu Hakubi, earns enough in patent fees to buy every bank in the galaxy."
"... ..., because of that competition in investments between philosophers became a problem, and so a foundation was created to collectively managed it."
"Ha ... ... so what are you going to do with the money? stocks or investments ...?"
"Well there is no point in investing in the foundation, the investment's they make are restricted to within the academy, and the scholarship fund of the Academy and the funding of research for philosophy students."
"Huh ... but how does that relate to this recommendation letter?"
"What... are you saying this is a trick?"
the secretary said suddenly snapping back to sanity
"Even if that's the case. the result of the research invested in had produced enormous profits in the past, even after the scholarship winners graduated, many even demonstrated their excellence and became CEOs and government officials."
"Maybe their general scope of investing has expanded ...?"
"Huh ... ... well you have to understand, The MMD is a super mega-bank that has high possibility of taking over the current banking system ... ... and you have to become a member to receive loans from them or trade stock through them, and you need another member's recommendation to join. "
"But ... ... Do we even need such a thing?"
The bodyguard said half joking. But it was enough to put a brake on Ian's thrilled mood.
"It is important to be a member of MMD because it increases the availability of investment opportunities.Members of the MMD can purchase the stocks of any big company."
However, the secretary was still enamored by the situation
"Wow that's amazing!"
"The reliability of the MMD is tremendous!" ian said.
contrary to his words his enthrallment from receiving the letter had waned and he had gained his composure back.
(Hmm...Reliability ......)
ian thought about the royal family of jurai and wondered what ringo's angle was...
"Let's apply for membership immediately, so our company can join the top-ranked companies ... ..., huh.. what's wrong?"
his secretary said noticing ian was lost deep in thought.
(This is too strange something is wrong) Ian thought
"I hope that we can keep doing business with you in the future".
Ian suddenly remembered ringo's words from earlier
He remembered that because of this he would be able to deal directly with jurai from now on...
Ian looked at the letter of recommendation he had received.
(The letter of recommendation is only good for applying to join but it doesn't guarantee it...)
Ian couldn't even believe he had been given a chance to join the MMD.
(If that's the case, why did she hand out a letter of recommendation to me? Recommending a person and not just giving them membership... ... It's like we're being tested ............ Ah!)Ian noticed something.
"... ... ... Stop."
"What?"
"I will take care of this for now." Ian said and then he threw the letter of recommendation to the shredder.
"what are you doing!" his secretary panicked and ran to the shredder.
"There's more to this letter then just joining the MMD, the estimate she brought was worth a mountain of treasure, we should explore that line of trade first before we go through the MMD"
He had gotten the right answer to Ringo's test - Ian was right in this and was filled with exhilaration.
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"Please do not leave yet, Princess. The Samples are still on their way."
Todo, her elderly butler said greeting Ringo as he came out from the transfer pod of Honoka, Ringo's ship.
"sorry to trouble you, but at least it seems like everything's going according to plan."
"It looks like it is but you never know with such a company..."
"That's just what someone who works as Seto's accountant would say"
"Todo, the expenses used in the previous strategy were enormous, but the rate of wear in using Seina is nearly zero, the capture rate so far is exceeding expectations ...... The cost effectiveness of using him is a miraculous thing, and that's not all. there are Many benefits brought about by his presence that have become a tremendous benefit not only for Jurai but also for the Galactic Federation. 60% of the war expenses that were supposed to be used in the previous strategy and all the money set aside for incentives for space pirate bounties can all be considered surplus money now, and Being able to be confidential about our expenses lets us solve the problem of future capture costs as long as it there aren't any urgent states of emergency that arise. "
"Yes, that sounds very good." todo said
"Since Jurai was the one who captured all the pirates directly we were able to hide the reward amount we were giving Seina, but the circumstances are different this time Widow's assets have been forecast to be quite large for some time and there are also huge publicly announced bounties on her from all over the galaxy. When Widow's arrest is announced and it goes to trial, Widow report will be absolutely proof that "Seina yamada" is her heir and the one who captured her. There will be no way for us to hide those huge assets from him or the public. they will all know where that money is going and how big an amount it is."
"I didn't even think about that."
not only was a large amount of money going to seina but also a large amount of jealousy and resentment from those who would become aware of it. Ringo had to make sure that Ian was not one of those people.
"Yamada Seina is a person with a particularly high negative probability bias, so even if it involves taking a small upfront monetary loss, it is better to do so to make sure to avoid any harm coming to him later. "
"I understand, but are you ok with this business taking care of it?"
To Todo 's question, Ringo smiled.
"well the tracer in the letter of recommendation I gave them has gone dead, they seem to be a more trustworthy business than I thought ... If they were after the money... ... ... they would have haggled with us or tried to find someone willing to pay a slightly higher price for the Widow account."
"so are you planning to potentially use them as scapegoats if something wrong happens due to seina?"
if a small company like them got enormous incentives from helping seina there was a possibility that some of the people who would make trouble for seina would go after Ian's company instead and it would be easier for jurai and the academy to deal with that then it would be for seina's guard team
"you see, if a situation like that arrives then our large payment would actually turn out to be quite the deal for us. but perhaps there may be things that Seina will need help with from time to time so if they can help us for now we both win. anyways, what happened to surveying the delivery route are there any reports that I should know about?"
"Oh yes. actually jurisdiction over that has shifted over to Mikami's intelligence department."
( What why.... Nothing about this was submitted to her department)
Ringo thought to herself
"Well then let's leave it to her I guess... ...."
"If she hadn't been the one who widow had given her testimony it would probably still be in our jurisdiction..."
Although Ringo, who was the chief of the accounting department, always had a high workload even at normal times. Todo was worried about Ringo who had hardly slept for the last few days.
"Well ............"todo knew what Ringo wanted to say even though he didn't say it. Ringo was lost in thought though as he had reminded her of when Mr. Widow and Mikami met with each other.
"... ...." just thinking of it gave Ringo goosebumps. she shook her head to expel that feeling from her memory and tried to analyze Widow as calmly as possible.
Widow couldn't imagine the true meaning of having half of her huge assets going to one person. First of all, that human's life will be greatly change. And the same thing would happen to the people around him.
"... ... But even if she knew it .... I know she'd still have testified ... ...." Widow said she wished to provide for Seina
"That is the most important thing for Widow, even if it could push Seina-sama into ruin, she won't withdraw her testimony."
"She's exactly like her name. A Widower"
"... ... although she did not seem to expect Seina to be her downfall."
"No, of course not, she is a terrible person ... to predict something like him ... seems to be a thing outside the scope of her imagination"
"I hear being in her presence feels a lot like being around lady seto."
"I am not directly acquainted with Yamada Seina, but from what I've seen of him on video recordings, he seems to be just an ordinary boy ..."
"Huh, you may be onto something there,"
"What does someone like Lady Seto or Widow see in such a person?"
Of course, it was certain that Seina's skillfully high "probability bias" had some influence on their reaction, but it was obvious todo had a theory of his own on what affected them.
"With people like seto... ... especially those with outstanding abilities, I think it may be a case of seina not having the qualities they think of an enemy of their having more that any innate ability he has, It seems that there is a tendency to appreciate and respect that aspect of him, from what I hear Widow has described Seina's purity as a weapon. "
"Is it his purity? .... it must be if a woman who is feared like she was a plague or a god of death is calling him a "weapon" ...... "
"For people like them, he is a strong poison" todo said when suddenly
"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Suddenly, from behind Ringo, a terrible scream rang out. she looked around
Nene, A wau woman running came from behind ringo's line of sight. Ringo had planned to take a quick bath and change her clothes before talking to her but she had gotten caught up in talking to todo and had forgotten.
"Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama ~~~~ !! What is this! what's the matter! what's wrong?"
"Wait, wait, calm down!" Ringo begged as nene sniffed the smells clinging to Ringo
" You sure were in an Odorous place with lots of smelly people. eww and and you smell of cheap perfume........."
Nene said moving around Ringo sniffing as she described things about the events that had happened to Ringo as if she were there.
nene had a sharp sense of smell she could even tell what kind of emotions the people who she met had. of course she could also smell all the garbage of the slum and it was beyond her range of acceptable stenches as Ringo had expected.
"Why didn't you take me with you? why are you going to such a bad dirty and smelly dangerous place?! Why and what is thaaaaa~~~~!"
once again she sniffed something beyond her tolerance range and became confused.
Ringo sprayed a mist of perfume at Nene
"Hmmm?"
Nene who was concentrating on the smell got distracted.
"... ... I had enough to deal with without taking you with me."
If she had taken Nene to a container slum, She would surely have gotten confused by the smells of the area and gotten violent and probably would have tried burning the neighborhood down.
----
Ringo hurriedly ran to her room to take a bath where she was greeted by her maids.
"If Nene comes, tell her I'm taking a bath and send her off somewhere."
she said as she hurriedly took off her clothes and rushed into the bathroom.
The maid woman bitterly smiled at Ringo throwing off her clothes which were made of ultra expensive juraian silk and she carefully folded them.
After finishing a quick deodorization, Ringo came out from a shower pod and walked outside over to a large expansive open-air bath built in the hills
(well I haven't heard any thing from todo. Nene must have returned to sanity)
She thought as she gazed at the scenery around her.
She saw forests and grasslands spreading all over and lakes and hills and a few houses and ranches in the distance.
although the area around her was quite small compared to other royal tree ships.
in the center, was a huge tree nearly a kilometer high.
It was a typical subspace layout one would expect from a royal tree ship.
"The subspace space habitat seems to have stabilized considerably."
Ringo's ship "Honoka" was originally a fourth generation ship, but Washu had remodeled it so it had gained power comparable to a third generation ship. And well ... ...,
"Ringo! Ringo! Mama's home! "
A twin crystal shaped like a heart appeared before Ringo 's eyes, from which Honoka' s happy voice emanated.
Her ship had been given a will of it's own by giving it the same kind of crystal core system as Ryo-Ohki.
"It's good to see you too."
Ringo stood in a bath of hot water when
"That was fast. I Just received the specimen container. "
washu said on a monitor that appeared before Ringo
"did you find what you are looking for?"
"Well, I'll let you get settled before we talk business. "
Washu 's monitor moved down close to the surface of the bath.
"Thank you"
Ringo slowly and elegantly entered the hot spring.
"Mama, Ma Ma"
Honoka, who was on Ringo's shoulder, jumped happily around the monitor where Washu was reflected.
Honoka's real mother was a third generation tree, but Imperial Tree's don't really have much of a concept of motherhood. but, honoka had imprinted Tsunami's sister god, washu as her mother since it had gained a will of it's own.
"Honoka-chan sure has developed quite a lot of emotions" washu said
"Well, yes, but I have only recently become able to understand them ............ Hey Honoka-chan, I have some important stories to share with Ms. Washu and I need some privacy. could you leave us alone for a while?
"Just for a little bit? "
"Yes, and if there is something important, please come and let me know."
"... .... Ok, I understand" honoka said and it left.
"…………Hmm...it seems to still be working. and it's pretty emotionally balanced. ... The other 4th generation upgrade experiments didn't turn out so well."
"They didn't...?"
"no, every one else had to stop the experiment ........ and I don't think there will be any more. "
Washu was looking uneasy about what happened with the other trees
"so did something go wrong?"
"In the end, the experiment's success is likely to be all up to Honoka chan. If you raise her right she will be come strong like a 3rd generation ship. "
"so... like Noike's" Kyoko? "
"hopefully... ... By the way found what I was looking for . Thank you for your work, you saved me quite the hassle. "
"No, It was nothing I am honored to serve you, Ms. Washu."
Ringo hadn't been told specifically what Washu was looking for. All she know was that 'it' was related to the gene collection.
"hahaha well your welcome anyways. So, should i put the award into your personal account? "
"No, I'd like it put in the usual account at the MMD Foundation"
when Ringo says " the usual account" she means the account behind Seto's funds for various shadow activities. The confidentiality of the MMD far exceeded that of the banks on the national level, and the assets it held were so numerous that it was hard to keep track of what went where. It was a great place to deal with confidential activity's expenses, as it was possible to destroy it's records immediately if there was a request for them, no matter how urgent it was.
"I'd hate to put it there. This is a thank you for you alone Ringo. "
"Well there will always be a next time, so I don't mind."
"I can't just give you nothing. "
"Okay ... well if that's the case.. ... then Washu... may I ask you a question instead of receiving a reward?"
Washu, was a legend, and was held as a god as far as her knowledge was concerned, not only in the academy but also in the Galactic Federation. To be able to ask questions to Washu was worth more then any amount of money could ever do for Ringo.
"A Question .... I guess, if you don't mind not getting paid, but why? If you don't mind me asking."
"My question to you Mr. Washu needs to be kept strictly confidential, even seto can not know... and because the consultation fee is so expensive... I think that that is reason enough to keep it confidential."
"What are you talking about about Ringo? Were Friends, questions are free."
"……Oh, thank you."
Ringo shuddered from washu telling her she considered her a friend.
"You choreographed this mission for me so well, It's the least I can do." Washu was still officially missing. As a result, Seto's accountant and some aides had to assist her by carrying out this mission. As Accounting manager Ringo had more contact with Washu then anyone else involved in this visit to Ian.
'So what is it that you want to ask? "
"Actually ...... I was talking with the others in the accounting department the other day and I was wondering.......What does the MMD in the MMD Foundation mean?"
"Huh? "
washu was taken aback but she knew someday she would be asked this question.
"Washu, I know you were involved in founding the MMD, do you know what it stands for?"
"oh that that……Hahaha. That's quite a strange question. "
"Yes but it has become a major controversy between the various departments here and there, we even asked seto, she just said
"I don't know, I don't know! I really do not know! I swear I don't know... ASK THE MMD president! and he said only you would know."
"I see."
"If it is something inappropriate, you do not have to answer, but ... ...."
Ringo said, her eyes glistened like puppy that requires an owner to take it on a walk.
"Certainly this is a question worthy of a reward ... ... ... is what i would like to say. However, it's pretty lame! You sure you want to ask me? you might regret it. "
"Yes"
"Good"washu said nodding at ringo's answer.
she exhaled a deep sigh
"Well first off we should talk about something ... ... ... Ringo, who was the first president of the MMD? "
"I have heard that Ikuma-sama was, he was also your teacher, wasn't he?"
"Oh, yes I knew him very well. He was also naja's teacher."
"I have heard about her from Seto, ... but Washu-sama you're a legend... ... second only to.... uhm"
Ringo ended her sentence early because the second most famous was Dr clay.
"haha... ... well she liked to stay under the radar and work from the background. But it's only thanks to Professor Ikuma that Naja and I were able to get where we are today."
she muttered with a nostalgic look.
"I respected him greatly. For me and Naja Professor Ikuma was like a father. That's why Naja got the acronym MMD from something Professor Ikuma said, which triggered the establishment of MMD. "
"Really? It must have been really important..."
Ringo said impressed but she noticed a tone in washu's words that were in-congruent with something impressive.
"But if such an important phrase ...... why wasn't it made public? why not engrave it on a large plate at the MMD headquarters, wouldn't it make a great decoration... ... ?"
"Ah ha ha, on an engraved plate ...... uhuhuhuhuhu" washu laughed maniacally.
"so ... ... What was it?"
she couldn't wait for Washu's next words.
"hahahaha............ Ikuma said " Everyone Remember, Don't Waste Money"
(in Japanese this phrase initials are MMD for Minna Mudazukaishicha Damedazo.)
".............................."
Ringo stared at washu with a stunned face for what seemed like 5 minutes.
She wracked her brain trying to figure out what the phrase meant.
"Did you hear me? Ringo-chan "
"Everyone Remember ... ... Don't waste money ....?"
she murmured to herself trying to make sense of the phase.
"It's no use thinking about it so deeply. As i said, we took the initials of that phrase and got the letters MMD "
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm Serious."
"Really?"
"its absolutely true. Hehe, Naja's had a stupid sense of humor in naming things."
"No, seriously! ....are you sure?"
"Yes, seriously"
"Well judging from the records on Naja's... there are many descriptions of things like that..."
the great thing about time is only your major accomplishments remain on record. Naja kept a lot about her everyday life and "hobbies" off book.
----- for those of you who never read my translations of true tenchi kajishima uses the word Hobbies in place of fetishes------
But somethings got through. however unlike those stories which were mostly rumors, this example of her humor was coming directly from washu.
"The MMD may be a famous foundation now, but at the beginning of the establishment it was just a private institution for money management"
"Although now it has so much money that the other bank's and they worry about it ruining their business situation."
"The amount of money it has is irrelevant. the philosophy of the mmd that it has operated on since it was established is well, according to the words of Professor Ikuma ... ...to operate as if you only had access to an allowance from your mother."
(That astronomical amount of money treated like a child's allowance... ... Haha that's absurd)
Ringo laughed but she understood. The academy was formed to pursue knowledge and invention, profit was just a nice side effect of that.
"But Washu-sama if what you are saying is right, why is it's name such a secret?"
"Well about that engraved plate you mentioned earlier... "
"Oh, yes, If you want I can have one made..."
"yeah, well about that..... actually we did that... or rather Naja did. "
"Did she mess it up or something?"
Actually, Professor Ikuma didn't know that we used his phrase and when we went to unveil it.... he was so mad he jammed a pen up naja's butt.
"... ... HE.... WHAT ...!?"
Ringo realized that this was a public event so this must have caused an uproar kind of like when azusa first came to Jurai and called Seto a shitty old hag on live TV
"Lucky for him naja had left the academy by then to do her own things, so technically she was self employed so ikuma didn't have to deal with any problems over accusations of sexually harassing her, he wasn't even charged with assault. In fact no one really saw it because her butt wasn't facing the audience."
"... ... then why was it such a problem?"
"well since your asking... Naja went afterwards and spoke to each the attendees herself to make sure there was no problem! "
"Hold on ...... There were quite a few people there, how did she manage that..."
"Ringo. don't underestimate a philosopher like Naja. I could talk to the end of the universe on the subject, if you really want to know what she was like... "
Washu said and then she got serious the atmosphere around her changed as if she was about to tell a ghost story. a tremendous pressure emanated from the monitor.
"............"
"... ...."
Eventually that incident was forgotten about but it was not through naja's efforts." she said in a spooky way
"It must have been awfully embarrassing to be pen penetrated in public ... ...."
"Hmm? Oh well you'd never know it was embarrassing by the way Naja talked about it. For the first three months after that it was all she ever talked about"
washu said with her spooky tone completely vanished.
"But still we had to run around extinguishing rumors for quite a while, but eventually it just stopped.."
"Haha ... ... But Naja passed away ... and you've been missing for quite a long time why do you still want to hide the abbreviations meaning?"
"Well just because it's no longer being talked about now doesn't mean it would stay that way if I told someone what the name meant, I'd just be dragged into telling this story over and over again like we are now..."
suddenly the connection with Washu cut out.
"Washu? ... ............ Washu-sama! What's going on? Please answer me!"
"... There might be other reasons" said seto who abruptly appeared on screen.
her screen was lit as if she was telling a ghost story and lightning clapped in the background.
"aaaaaaaaaah!"
Ringo who was surprised unexpectedly jumped back and hit the back of her head against the ceiling. she collapsed to the floor holding her aching head.
"Oh no, That looked painful... are you okay? "
"... ... ..., oh Seto-sama, It's you!"Ringo said with tears in her eyes.
"Your landing was a bit off, but i appreciate your attempts to bribe the judge. Eighty five points"
Seto held up her thumb and stuck it out while nodding satisfactorily
"What, what are you talking about?"
"Airi told me that a large fortune has been put into my account, under my complete control. I'm rather excited about that so i figured Id call I didn't expect you'd be having wardrobe malfunction though."
"AH!"
Ringo hurriedly pulled up her bathing clothes. and used her hands to conceal her breasts.
"Seto-sama you're worse than an old perv."
"I feel like an old perv." seto said right before
Washu came back onto screen pushing seto off screen
"... ... you two weren't making fun of me were you?" Ringo asked
" I can see how you might think that...but ... it's all true. Although Naja tried to hide it was actually professor ikuma that stopped the rumor. unfortunately for him by the time the incident occurred the MMD initials were already registered and we had already begun to operate under them so he had no choice but to learn to tolerate them but the plate makers were another story...."
"Well, I'm sorry to have to say this, Ms. Washu, but I must excuse myself I have to get back to work now, thank you for telling me that story."
"Ok just remember this story is confidential."
"Mama, Mama! "
honoka cried out, she had been been waiting for Ringo to stop talking to washu so she could talk to washu.
"Honoka-chan. How have you been doing, It's almost time to give you a check up isn't it?"
"Yay!"
Ringo got out of the bath and let the two talk.
End of chapter
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commentary:
so if you didn't get all that, washu and naja established SUPER MEGA Swiss style bank that can be used for untraceable transactions and accounts that can have their records destroyed at the blink of an eye. Seto most definitely still enjoys a nice pair of boobs. and washu fixed up some of the 4th generation ships to work like 3rd but all the experiments failed except presumably kyoko and ringo's ship honoka.
4th generation ships can't generate a subspace interior it seems but once they get an ai interface that makes them sentient it seems they can. this happens around the end of ova 3 but before 4 so logically one can assume that washu may have also made kyoko's terminal enhancement and that means after here comes jurai she made enhancements for jurai despite saying she wouldn't so ... that's odd.
also seto is naja (not revealed here but known) and naja and washu established the mmd so logically the mmd could be a part of seto's information gathering network and could be a big part of why she has so much intel.
because people think it's like the swiss bank but the devil princess actually owns it much like how washu and naja had the entire academy bugged so they knew about everyone's secret research. also they were able to cover up how much seina had made from the captures made due to him during his first two days in space but they can't do that with widows inheritance and bounty and so now he might have to face bad luck from resentment towards his newly acquired wealth.
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-----------This takes place before episode 8 11:50 minutes in-----
The outer ring of Galaxy Academy, it is a huge structure which surrounds the inner solar system, It is a place where ordinary people can go to get the latest benefits of the state-of-the-art technology being studied by Galaxy Academy. In addition, it's the base of the Galactic Federation the GP, and it's also a center of technology, logistics, economics and politics. For that reason, many companies and people gather from around the galaxy to set up shop in the outer ring, and despite its enormousness, the ring was constantly being expanded due to the supply of available land not meeting the demand. and demand was increasing every year. many speculated that eventually it would become a completely spherical structure.
Recently Seina 's mass capture of Space pirates, had caused a massive improvement in economic security and an economic revitalization swept the galaxy, so a massive expansion of the rings had recently become quite realistic and finally it had become subject to betting by the Academy' s largest book taker The MMD.
(*a book taker means they are accountants who take bets)
Those that gathered at the outer ring were not just those who benefited from the technology or logistical advantages that the academy provided however.
"From the Cradle to the grave" as long as there were people and machines there was a lot of secondary necessities that needed fulfilling.That was why the number of people immigrating there was increasing exponentially.
The Academy was where many opportunities where rolling in by the shipload every day, but not everyone there was necessarily profiting. There were economic failures just like there was successes.
In addition to the GP and the large space used by large companies, there are many small ports used by small companies and private individuals on the outer ring as well as simple accommodations for tourists, and shops and amusement entertainment venues. However, the outer ring had a high land price because of the shortage available sites, so in order to cope with the expenses several of the newer buildings were made of old transportation containers. however many of these area's where they had been used had been made by unsuccessful companies and they became signs of being in one of the outer rings slums.
And today Ringo Tatsuki found herself walking through one such slum.
The smell of the garbage and litter on the street wafted into her nose and she could feel the people on the street staring at her with cold dead fish like stares. It was not a place where one should have been walking alone ...even for Ringo who was no common woman . In fact as ringo was walking she noticed that groups of residents were sneakily gathering behind her as animals do when prey enters their territory.
However, most of the inhabitants who gathered were actually gathering because they were overwhelmed by the elegance of Ringo and were stunned by the presence of royalty crawling through the slums. As Ringo passed by, the reactions of residents could easily be divided into three distinct reactions.
There were those who became aware of her presence and ran, those who watched only to go back to their on-goings satisfied as she passed, and those who noticed her and sneakily pursued her.
Ringo walked in a way that looked very normal but she subtly changed speeds at random as she walked. Those following her who tried to keep up had trouble doing so because of this and when they attacked her she had already detected their presence because of their footsteps and when they tried to attack they missed because they misjudged her speed. she was able to subdue them with ease. she was also able to distinguish snipers and people tracking her this way.
"hmm... There are no snipers ... but the amount of harassment I'm getting on this route is exactly as expected... ...."
Ringo muttered with a sigh.
"If I was Seto I wouldn't have to deal with this... ...."
seto's overwhelming atmosphere could sap the will to attack out of just about anyone.
It was getting late and a ruffian lunged at her once more, she did a sweep with her legs that caused her attacker to trip and roll ahead of her. and landed in front of a nearby crowd of local people who were lurking ahead of her.
They noticed the woman standing in front of them was no ordinary woman and their faces distorted and they soon ran away screaming.
ringo let out a sigh as she watched them run.
She didn't like being this way, she found it unpleasant. The sight of people running away from you in fear was not a very pleasant sight for a young woman to experience. and the screaming part hurt her feelings.
"There's no reason for them to be so afraid ... ...." Ringo wasn't the type to engage in unnecessary bloodshed. it was inconvenient for her and she didn't like the thought of the rumors it would cause to be said whispered about her.
"... ... they haven't done anything yet." she said distracted by the container building in front of her. She had reached her destination.
---------------------------------
"Damn it, We're fucked... badly! God fucking damn it FUCK!!!"
Inside the building in the office room that read "the president's office", a middle-aged man was beating his desk and yelling.
no one would imagine that a room like this could be found in such a slum, it was filled with nice expensive furniture and the interior was clean and neat.
The man's name was Ian · Northern - the head of this company.
"Damn it, FUCKING FUCK!"
For Ian, this was the first time since he was born that he felt this frustrated.
"Mr. president ... ... We have some good news..." said one of the two women standing by his desk. one was clearly a secretary of some sort.
"We managed to buy up the Widow account before anyone else could!"
Ian was happy with this.
"Good."
"That is not all! A copy of the report that woman submitted to the GP was also available, It was a miracle we were able to get it."
Ian stared at the file her secretary handed him.
"Yes, hmm let me look at this... ... holy crap ... ...."
"That's right! I never thought she would have had so much money ... ...!"
Ians company was responsible for properly disbursing things that were left in peoples wills and he had gotten widows case.
They managed to find a huge supply of frozen sperm and egg samples from many races planets and regions among the large amount of containers that she had left.
From the description left by widow, they were gathered for medical research.
"I don't know what she was thinking. That is a weird collection for anyone to have, I don't really think I want to know why she had it either...But that's our key to getting this done."
Widow had several victims as could be seen just by the volume of the frozen specimens.
Judging from the report on widow anyone who's samples had been collected had long been dead.
"If any of the fertilized eggs were fertilized before the arrest of Widow, the fertilized egg will be treated as a victim's inheritor. Although this is going to be a real hassle, From the report Widow gave the academy, the situation were in seems to be that there are almost no people qualified to be heir to the victims assets, there is a high possibility that compensation won't be possible... .... "
but even the minimum amount of compensation that someone would receive from widow's astronomical assets would have been enough to fully fund Ian's entire company for over ten years.
"Hey Mr. president. someone is coming this way. i think they're a client, what should i do?" a muscular body guard came in and said
"Do you know who the person is?"
"What? ... No."
the bodyguard showed him the holo terminal of the feed from the outside. Ian stared at the image of ringo walking through the slum. he stared at the sight with a surprised expression
Those who came to Ian came by two routes.
There was a safe special route for customers and the route through this slum that uninvited guests used. People coming by slum route usually arrived in special armored cars with bodyguard for safety. a person walking to him alone, let alone a young woman who looked like ringo coming on foot was unheard of.
"... ... hey those are Juraian clothes." the bodyguard noticed.
"That's Ringo tatsuki of the Juraian royal family."
"The royal family of Jurai!?"The body guard's expression changed to shock.
"The devil princess of jurai must have sent her hyenas when she heard we got the account."
"She's from the devil princesses hyena unit ...... Ah!" the bodyguard panicked.
"Don' panic, We will be fine, just don't call her a member of the hyena's to her face."
"gotcha."
the bodyguard turned red and corrected his posture.
------------------------------------------------------
Shortly before Ringo arrived at Ian's company, she passed by three people in an alley they were using a small makeshift stove to cook a can of soup. the three dirty looking people sat looking down in anticipation.
"What are we doing here!?" Barry, one of the three operators who had taken seina to the academy whined sadly.
cohen cried as he looked at the awful meal.
"There's no point in dwelling on the past, what's done is done." alan said pouring the soup into three cups.
"Okay! Well then, shall we?" said alan
but barry blocked him from eating.
he had noticed that alan had gotten an extra piece of meat in his cup so instead of eating they got into a fight. the three of them had spent all the money they had made from the ryoko fanclub on frivolous things and now they were broke and fighting.
"well maybe if you hadn't spent all our money on girls we wouldn't be here."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
they accidentally knocked over the cups as they argued. they fell to the ground and all the soup spilled out leaving only piece of meat in alan's cup. it was less than a cubic centimeter big/
as the three scrambled to be the first to get the meat.
a rat like creature ran out and grabbed it and ran off.
"Well... that sucks ... ...."
five minutes later the three who were collapsed on the floor from hunger noticed the strange excitement coming from the people around them and gazed up to see ringo walking by.
".... those are juraian clothes" said alan as he spied on ringo.
Alan got a look in is his eyes and an odd smile on his face.
"Hey Alan ... ... You're not thinking of mugging her are you...?"
"No don't be ridiculous... we don't want to make jurai our enemy."
"Then...what are you thinking?" barry asked.
. "think carefully, we are acquainted with the Jurai royal family right, we know Minaho Masaki Jurai ... ... No even better were acquainted with Seto, we even helped save everyone from the pirate crisis right?" alan had a bad habit of over exaggerating and barry and cohen had even worse habits of getting caught up in his over exaggerations.
"Yeah! that's right!"
"We are benefactors of Jurai! If you tell her she will help us get out of here!"
"we should be welcomed as heroes to Jurai!"
they imagined how ringo would bow to them and welcome them and then they imagined the hospitality they would receive.
"Let's go! To the road of new glory!"
"YEAH!" the three walked out from the shady alley towards ringo.
"GRAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !!"
A big carnivorous beast jumped out though before they could talk to her.
it chased them and they ran for their lives.
they ran screaming all the way out of the container slums and they were found 3 hours later by a group of former fan club members.
=========================================================
"Hold on a second and i will get you some tea"
an employee told ringo. as she led her into ian's office.
The moment ringo stepped into ian's office the atmosphere change. her overwhelming sunniness illuminated the darkness of the stagnant and gloomy room. The woman in front of them did not match what they expected of someone from something referred to as the "hyena troops". she had an elegant and aristocratic atmosphere about her that stunned him and the bodyguard. ian was the first to get back his composure.
" Well then, Let's get started. why are you here? "
Ringo sat down on the sofa in his office.
as she walked over to it the bodyguard noticed that her demeanor was hiding her true power.
he had the urge to escape and couldn't keep his eyes off of the door which was his only potential route of escape.
ringo handed the secretary some documents and she handed them to ian.
"…………this is!"
Ian overlooked the documents received from the secretary and was surprised
"Time is money ...... I think that in this case that is especially true don't you?"
Ian turned down his eyes to the document again to confirm its content.
There was an order to transfer over the genetic sample collection with an estimate for compensation that had been carefully calculated by Ringo's department.
It was almost the same as the commission Ian had calculated he would have made when he took the account.
Ian was intimidated by this offer but ringo's disposition calmed him down. He decided that getting down to business was the best approach.
(Well, it's a reasonable price ... but ... ...)
the Gene specimens were as good as garbage. There was no doubt in his mind that there was no person left alive who was qualified to receive them or any of the compensation that went with them. The most that could happen with them was someone trying to make a fake claim for the money. He didn't know why their notoriously stingy accounting department was willing to give him so much to take the case off his hands.
"Time is money. Mr. north" ringo reminded him.
He found no reason why he should object and the idea of forging a positive connection with the imperial family outweighed the idea of haggling to get more out of them. So he quickly agreed to the contract. ?
"I understand. Let's do this."he said
"But, Mr. president!"
his secretary said. he could tell his secretary wanted to ask them for more money but he raised his hand to restrain his secretary from objecting further.
"don't be rude ... ...."
he said to his secretary who promptly dropped the issue.
"I know this is unexpected and sudden, but I would like to ask for delivery of goods" Ringo said.
Ian's desk began to beep.
"Excuse me"
A small ring-shaped voice monitor was launched next to Ian's ear.
"I am ..................... I understood. Don't worry that Juraian ship is fine there. no need to worry about it.."
"I appreciate your quick response." ringo said.
she stood up to shake his hand on the deal. Ian reflexively stood up and shook her hand.
"Oops! "
he was so nervous he had forgot to wipe his sweaty palms. but ringo didn't mind.
"Well then I will excuse myself." said ringo but she quickly turned back around before she began to leave.
"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot."
she took out a letter from her boss and offered it to Ian.
"I hope that we can keep doing business with you in the future"
ringo made a small bow and walked towards the door. but she was blocked by the woman who had greeted her when she had come in. the woman looked a bit startled and disheveled as if she had panicked.
"I uh, um, i ... uhm...Tea, I got that tea ......" she said panicked.
"Well I was going to go home, but i guess I can have some tea."
"Why did it take you so long to get it?" ian asked
"Sorry, sir." she apologized
Ringo hid her mouth with her sleeve and laughed while gazing at the drooling female employee.
There weren't many opportunities for normal people to come in contact with the Juraian royal Family.
in a way it was an even rarer opportunity then meeting a celebrity.
She had probably just been outside the door the whole time panicking.
"Thank you for the tea. I'm in a bit of a hurry today, but the next time i see you I'll bring some tea of my own and pay back the favor."
ringo smiled quickly downed the tea and left.
"uhm ... ... mr. President, are you ok? what is that?"
the secretary asked ian about the letter.
"Oh, it's nothing"
he was surprised that Ringo Hadn't recoiled from his sweaty hands,but her hands that seemed feminine at first felt uncommonly calloused for those of the privileged.
Ian remembered the feel of her hands from somewhere.
"... ... her hand's remind me of my mothers."
Like many others ian had left a life of hardship in his home town as a young man and came to the academy in search of success.
He used to hate the feel of hands like that until eventually he found his own hands in much the same condition.
he found it interesting that woman who shouldn't know such hardship had such hands.
"... ... mr. President, were you really satisfied with that deal?" his secretary asked
Ian ignored her and opened the letter ringo had handed to him.
"Ha.... hahaha.... hahahaha... ... Huhahaha"
"mr. president?"
ian silently passed to letter to the secretary.
"!?…………Th-This is!!"
"It's quite a reward, There's no mistaking it's authenticity.".
"Ah, that ... ... that is it ..." his bodyguard said glancing at it in panic
"That's ... ... that's a recommendation letter to the MMD Foundation"
"The MMD Foundation?"
"Originally it was a foundation established to manage patent fees of philosophers, you have probably heard about the story surrounding it before. The patents held by the Philosophy Department account for something like 10% of the entire patents filed in the Galactic although about half of it goes back into research, the rest is used to operate a medium sized chain of planetary wide banks and of course a legendary philosopher, like Washu Hakubi, earns enough in patent fees to buy every bank in the galaxy."
"... ..., because of that competition in investments between philosophers became a problem, and so a foundation was created to collectively managed it."
"Ha ... ... so what are you going to do with the money? stocks or investments ...?"
"Well there is no point in investing in the foundation, the investment's they make are restricted to within the academy, and the scholarship fund of the Academy and the funding of research for philosophy students."
"Huh ... but how does that relate to this recommendation letter?"
"What... are you saying this is a trick?"
the secretary said suddenly snapping back to sanity
"Even if that's the case. the result of the research invested in had produced enormous profits in the past, even after the scholarship winners graduated, many even demonstrated their excellence and became CEOs and government officials."
"Maybe their general scope of investing has expanded ...?"
"Huh ... ... well you have to understand, The MMD is a super mega-bank that has high possibility of taking over the current banking system ... ... and you have to become a member to receive loans from them or trade stock through them, and you need another member's recommendation to join. "
"But ... ... Do we even need such a thing?"
The bodyguard said half joking. But it was enough to put a brake on Ian's thrilled mood.
"It is important to be a member of MMD because it increases the availability of investment opportunities.Members of the MMD can purchase the stocks of any big company."
However, the secretary was still enamored by the situation
"Wow that's amazing!"
"The reliability of the MMD is tremendous!" ian said.
contrary to his words his enthrallment from receiving the letter had waned and he had gained his composure back.
(Hmm...Reliability ......)
ian thought about the royal family of jurai and wondered what ringo's angle was...
"Let's apply for membership immediately, so our company can join the top-ranked companies ... ..., huh.. what's wrong?"
his secretary said noticing ian was lost deep in thought.
(This is too strange something is wrong) Ian thought
"I hope that we can keep doing business with you in the future".
Ian suddenly remembered ringo's words from earlier
He remembered that because of this he would be able to deal directly with jurai from now on...
Ian looked at the letter of recommendation he had received.
(The letter of recommendation is only good for applying to join but it doesn't guarantee it...)
Ian couldn't even believe he had been given a chance to join the MMD.
(If that's the case, why did she hand out a letter of recommendation to me? Recommending a person and not just giving them membership... ... It's like we're being tested ............ Ah!)Ian noticed something.
"... ... ... Stop."
"What?"
"I will take care of this for now." Ian said and then he threw the letter of recommendation to the shredder.
"what are you doing!" his secretary panicked and ran to the shredder.
"There's more to this letter then just joining the MMD, the estimate she brought was worth a mountain of treasure, we should explore that line of trade first before we go through the MMD"
He had gotten the right answer to Ringo's test - Ian was right in this and was filled with exhilaration.
--------
"Please do not leave yet, Princess. The Samples are still on their way."
Todo, her elderly butler said greeting Ringo as he came out from the transfer pod of Honoka, Ringo's ship.
"sorry to trouble you, but at least it seems like everything's going according to plan."
"It looks like it is but you never know with such a company..."
"That's just what someone who works as Seto's accountant would say"
"Todo, the expenses used in the previous strategy were enormous, but the rate of wear in using Seina is nearly zero, the capture rate so far is exceeding expectations ...... The cost effectiveness of using him is a miraculous thing, and that's not all. there are Many benefits brought about by his presence that have become a tremendous benefit not only for Jurai but also for the Galactic Federation. 60% of the war expenses that were supposed to be used in the previous strategy and all the money set aside for incentives for space pirate bounties can all be considered surplus money now, and Being able to be confidential about our expenses lets us solve the problem of future capture costs as long as it there aren't any urgent states of emergency that arise. "
"Yes, that sounds very good." todo said
"Since Jurai was the one who captured all the pirates directly we were able to hide the reward amount we were giving Seina, but the circumstances are different this time Widow's assets have been forecast to be quite large for some time and there are also huge publicly announced bounties on her from all over the galaxy. When Widow's arrest is announced and it goes to trial, Widow report will be absolutely proof that "Seina yamada" is her heir and the one who captured her. There will be no way for us to hide those huge assets from him or the public. they will all know where that money is going and how big an amount it is."
"I didn't even think about that."
not only was a large amount of money going to seina but also a large amount of jealousy and resentment from those who would become aware of it. Ringo had to make sure that Ian was not one of those people.
"Yamada Seina is a person with a particularly high negative probability bias, so even if it involves taking a small upfront monetary loss, it is better to do so to make sure to avoid any harm coming to him later. "
"I understand, but are you ok with this business taking care of it?"
To Todo 's question, Ringo smiled.
"well the tracer in the letter of recommendation I gave them has gone dead, they seem to be a more trustworthy business than I thought ... If they were after the money... ... ... they would have haggled with us or tried to find someone willing to pay a slightly higher price for the Widow account."
"so are you planning to potentially use them as scapegoats if something wrong happens due to seina?"
if a small company like them got enormous incentives from helping seina there was a possibility that some of the people who would make trouble for seina would go after Ian's company instead and it would be easier for jurai and the academy to deal with that then it would be for seina's guard team
"you see, if a situation like that arrives then our large payment would actually turn out to be quite the deal for us. but perhaps there may be things that Seina will need help with from time to time so if they can help us for now we both win. anyways, what happened to surveying the delivery route are there any reports that I should know about?"
"Oh yes. actually jurisdiction over that has shifted over to Mikami's intelligence department."
( What why.... Nothing about this was submitted to her department)
Ringo thought to herself
"Well then let's leave it to her I guess... ...."
"If she hadn't been the one who widow had given her testimony it would probably still be in our jurisdiction..."
Although Ringo, who was the chief of the accounting department, always had a high workload even at normal times. Todo was worried about Ringo who had hardly slept for the last few days.
"Well ............"todo knew what Ringo wanted to say even though he didn't say it. Ringo was lost in thought though as he had reminded her of when Mr. Widow and Mikami met with each other.
"... ...." just thinking of it gave Ringo goosebumps. she shook her head to expel that feeling from her memory and tried to analyze Widow as calmly as possible.
Widow couldn't imagine the true meaning of having half of her huge assets going to one person. First of all, that human's life will be greatly change. And the same thing would happen to the people around him.
"... ... But even if she knew it .... I know she'd still have testified ... ...." Widow said she wished to provide for Seina
"That is the most important thing for Widow, even if it could push Seina-sama into ruin, she won't withdraw her testimony."
"She's exactly like her name. A Widower"
"... ... although she did not seem to expect Seina to be her downfall."
"No, of course not, she is a terrible person ... to predict something like him ... seems to be a thing outside the scope of her imagination"
"I hear being in her presence feels a lot like being around lady seto."
"I am not directly acquainted with Yamada Seina, but from what I've seen of him on video recordings, he seems to be just an ordinary boy ..."
"Huh, you may be onto something there,"
"What does someone like Lady Seto or Widow see in such a person?"
Of course, it was certain that Seina's skillfully high "probability bias" had some influence on their reaction, but it was obvious todo had a theory of his own on what affected them.
"With people like seto... ... especially those with outstanding abilities, I think it may be a case of seina not having the qualities they think of an enemy of their having more that any innate ability he has, It seems that there is a tendency to appreciate and respect that aspect of him, from what I hear Widow has described Seina's purity as a weapon. "
"Is it his purity? .... it must be if a woman who is feared like she was a plague or a god of death is calling him a "weapon" ...... "
"For people like them, he is a strong poison" todo said when suddenly
"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Suddenly, from behind Ringo, a terrible scream rang out. she looked around
Nene, A wau woman running came from behind ringo's line of sight. Ringo had planned to take a quick bath and change her clothes before talking to her but she had gotten caught up in talking to todo and had forgotten.
"Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama, Ringo-sama ~~~~ !! What is this! what's the matter! what's wrong?"
"Wait, wait, calm down!" Ringo begged as nene sniffed the smells clinging to Ringo
" You sure were in an Odorous place with lots of smelly people. eww and and you smell of cheap perfume........."
Nene said moving around Ringo sniffing as she described things about the events that had happened to Ringo as if she were there.
nene had a sharp sense of smell she could even tell what kind of emotions the people who she met had. of course she could also smell all the garbage of the slum and it was beyond her range of acceptable stenches as Ringo had expected.
"Why didn't you take me with you? why are you going to such a bad dirty and smelly dangerous place?! Why and what is thaaaaa~~~~!"
once again she sniffed something beyond her tolerance range and became confused.
Ringo sprayed a mist of perfume at Nene
"Hmmm?"
Nene who was concentrating on the smell got distracted.
"... ... I had enough to deal with without taking you with me."
If she had taken Nene to a container slum, She would surely have gotten confused by the smells of the area and gotten violent and probably would have tried burning the neighborhood down.
----
Ringo hurriedly ran to her room to take a bath where she was greeted by her maids.
"If Nene comes, tell her I'm taking a bath and send her off somewhere."
she said as she hurriedly took off her clothes and rushed into the bathroom.
The maid woman bitterly smiled at Ringo throwing off her clothes which were made of ultra expensive juraian silk and she carefully folded them.
After finishing a quick deodorization, Ringo came out from a shower pod and walked outside over to a large expansive open-air bath built in the hills
(well I haven't heard any thing from todo. Nene must have returned to sanity)
She thought as she gazed at the scenery around her.
She saw forests and grasslands spreading all over and lakes and hills and a few houses and ranches in the distance.
although the area around her was quite small compared to other royal tree ships.
in the center, was a huge tree nearly a kilometer high.
It was a typical subspace layout one would expect from a royal tree ship.
"The subspace space habitat seems to have stabilized considerably."
Ringo's ship "Honoka" was originally a fourth generation ship, but Washu had remodeled it so it had gained power comparable to a third generation ship. And well ... ...,
"Ringo! Ringo! Mama's home! "
A twin crystal shaped like a heart appeared before Ringo 's eyes, from which Honoka' s happy voice emanated.
Her ship had been given a will of it's own by giving it the same kind of crystal core system as Ryo-Ohki.
"It's good to see you too."
Ringo stood in a bath of hot water when
"That was fast. I Just received the specimen container. "
washu said on a monitor that appeared before Ringo
"did you find what you are looking for?"
"Well, I'll let you get settled before we talk business. "
Washu 's monitor moved down close to the surface of the bath.
"Thank you"
Ringo slowly and elegantly entered the hot spring.
"Mama, Ma Ma"
Honoka, who was on Ringo's shoulder, jumped happily around the monitor where Washu was reflected.
Honoka's real mother was a third generation tree, but Imperial Tree's don't really have much of a concept of motherhood. but, honoka had imprinted Tsunami's sister god, washu as her mother since it had gained a will of it's own.
"Honoka-chan sure has developed quite a lot of emotions" washu said
"Well, yes, but I have only recently become able to understand them ............ Hey Honoka-chan, I have some important stories to share with Ms. Washu and I need some privacy. could you leave us alone for a while?
"Just for a little bit? "
"Yes, and if there is something important, please come and let me know."
"... .... Ok, I understand" honoka said and it left.
"…………Hmm...it seems to still be working. and it's pretty emotionally balanced. ... The other 4th generation upgrade experiments didn't turn out so well."
"They didn't...?"
"no, every one else had to stop the experiment ........ and I don't think there will be any more. "
Washu was looking uneasy about what happened with the other trees
"so did something go wrong?"
"In the end, the experiment's success is likely to be all up to Honoka chan. If you raise her right she will be come strong like a 3rd generation ship. "
"so... like Noike's" Kyoko? "
"hopefully... ... By the way found what I was looking for . Thank you for your work, you saved me quite the hassle. "
"No, It was nothing I am honored to serve you, Ms. Washu."
Ringo hadn't been told specifically what Washu was looking for. All she know was that 'it' was related to the gene collection.
"hahaha well your welcome anyways. So, should i put the award into your personal account? "
"No, I'd like it put in the usual account at the MMD Foundation"
when Ringo says " the usual account" she means the account behind Seto's funds for various shadow activities. The confidentiality of the MMD far exceeded that of the banks on the national level, and the assets it held were so numerous that it was hard to keep track of what went where. It was a great place to deal with confidential activity's expenses, as it was possible to destroy it's records immediately if there was a request for them, no matter how urgent it was.
"I'd hate to put it there. This is a thank you for you alone Ringo. "
"Well there will always be a next time, so I don't mind."
"I can't just give you nothing. "
"Okay ... well if that's the case.. ... then Washu... may I ask you a question instead of receiving a reward?"
Washu, was a legend, and was held as a god as far as her knowledge was concerned, not only in the academy but also in the Galactic Federation. To be able to ask questions to Washu was worth more then any amount of money could ever do for Ringo.
"A Question .... I guess, if you don't mind not getting paid, but why? If you don't mind me asking."
"My question to you Mr. Washu needs to be kept strictly confidential, even seto can not know... and because the consultation fee is so expensive... I think that that is reason enough to keep it confidential."
"What are you talking about about Ringo? Were Friends, questions are free."
"……Oh, thank you."
Ringo shuddered from washu telling her she considered her a friend.
"You choreographed this mission for me so well, It's the least I can do." Washu was still officially missing. As a result, Seto's accountant and some aides had to assist her by carrying out this mission. As Accounting manager Ringo had more contact with Washu then anyone else involved in this visit to Ian.
'So what is it that you want to ask? "
"Actually ...... I was talking with the others in the accounting department the other day and I was wondering.......What does the MMD in the MMD Foundation mean?"
"Huh? "
washu was taken aback but she knew someday she would be asked this question.
"Washu, I know you were involved in founding the MMD, do you know what it stands for?"
"oh that that……Hahaha. That's quite a strange question. "
"Yes but it has become a major controversy between the various departments here and there, we even asked seto, she just said
"I don't know, I don't know! I really do not know! I swear I don't know... ASK THE MMD president! and he said only you would know."
"I see."
"If it is something inappropriate, you do not have to answer, but ... ...."
Ringo said, her eyes glistened like puppy that requires an owner to take it on a walk.
"Certainly this is a question worthy of a reward ... ... ... is what i would like to say. However, it's pretty lame! You sure you want to ask me? you might regret it. "
"Yes"
"Good"washu said nodding at ringo's answer.
she exhaled a deep sigh
"Well first off we should talk about something ... ... ... Ringo, who was the first president of the MMD? "
"I have heard that Ikuma-sama was, he was also your teacher, wasn't he?"
"Oh, yes I knew him very well. He was also naja's teacher."
"I have heard about her from Seto, ... but Washu-sama you're a legend... ... second only to.... uhm"
Ringo ended her sentence early because the second most famous was Dr clay.
"haha... ... well she liked to stay under the radar and work from the background. But it's only thanks to Professor Ikuma that Naja and I were able to get where we are today."
she muttered with a nostalgic look.
"I respected him greatly. For me and Naja Professor Ikuma was like a father. That's why Naja got the acronym MMD from something Professor Ikuma said, which triggered the establishment of MMD. "
"Really? It must have been really important..."
Ringo said impressed but she noticed a tone in washu's words that were in-congruent with something impressive.
"But if such an important phrase ...... why wasn't it made public? why not engrave it on a large plate at the MMD headquarters, wouldn't it make a great decoration... ... ?"
"Ah ha ha, on an engraved plate ...... uhuhuhuhuhu" washu laughed maniacally.
"so ... ... What was it?"
she couldn't wait for Washu's next words.
"hahahaha............ Ikuma said " Everyone Remember, Don't Waste Money"
(in Japanese this phrase initials are MMD for Minna Mudazukaishicha Damedazo.)
".............................."
Ringo stared at washu with a stunned face for what seemed like 5 minutes.
She wracked her brain trying to figure out what the phrase meant.
"Did you hear me? Ringo-chan "
"Everyone Remember ... ... Don't waste money ....?"
she murmured to herself trying to make sense of the phase.
"It's no use thinking about it so deeply. As i said, we took the initials of that phrase and got the letters MMD "
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm Serious."
"Really?"
"its absolutely true. Hehe, Naja's had a stupid sense of humor in naming things."
"No, seriously! ....are you sure?"
"Yes, seriously"
"Well judging from the records on Naja's... there are many descriptions of things like that..."
the great thing about time is only your major accomplishments remain on record. Naja kept a lot about her everyday life and "hobbies" off book.
----- for those of you who never read my translations of true tenchi kajishima uses the word Hobbies in place of fetishes------
But somethings got through. however unlike those stories which were mostly rumors, this example of her humor was coming directly from washu.
"The MMD may be a famous foundation now, but at the beginning of the establishment it was just a private institution for money management"
"Although now it has so much money that the other bank's and they worry about it ruining their business situation."
"The amount of money it has is irrelevant. the philosophy of the mmd that it has operated on since it was established is well, according to the words of Professor Ikuma ... ...to operate as if you only had access to an allowance from your mother."
(That astronomical amount of money treated like a child's allowance... ... Haha that's absurd)
Ringo laughed but she understood. The academy was formed to pursue knowledge and invention, profit was just a nice side effect of that.
"But Washu-sama if what you are saying is right, why is it's name such a secret?"
"Well about that engraved plate you mentioned earlier... "
"Oh, yes, If you want I can have one made..."
"yeah, well about that..... actually we did that... or rather Naja did. "
"Did she mess it up or something?"
Actually, Professor Ikuma didn't know that we used his phrase and when we went to unveil it.... he was so mad he jammed a pen up naja's butt.
"... ... HE.... WHAT ...!?"
Ringo realized that this was a public event so this must have caused an uproar kind of like when azusa first came to Jurai and called Seto a shitty old hag on live TV
"Lucky for him naja had left the academy by then to do her own things, so technically she was self employed so ikuma didn't have to deal with any problems over accusations of sexually harassing her, he wasn't even charged with assault. In fact no one really saw it because her butt wasn't facing the audience."
"... ... then why was it such a problem?"
"well since your asking... Naja went afterwards and spoke to each the attendees herself to make sure there was no problem! "
"Hold on ...... There were quite a few people there, how did she manage that..."
"Ringo. don't underestimate a philosopher like Naja. I could talk to the end of the universe on the subject, if you really want to know what she was like... "
Washu said and then she got serious the atmosphere around her changed as if she was about to tell a ghost story. a tremendous pressure emanated from the monitor.
"............"
"... ...."
Eventually that incident was forgotten about but it was not through naja's efforts." she said in a spooky way
"It must have been awfully embarrassing to be pen penetrated in public ... ...."
"Hmm? Oh well you'd never know it was embarrassing by the way Naja talked about it. For the first three months after that it was all she ever talked about"
washu said with her spooky tone completely vanished.
"But still we had to run around extinguishing rumors for quite a while, but eventually it just stopped.."
"Haha ... ... But Naja passed away ... and you've been missing for quite a long time why do you still want to hide the abbreviations meaning?"
"Well just because it's no longer being talked about now doesn't mean it would stay that way if I told someone what the name meant, I'd just be dragged into telling this story over and over again like we are now..."
suddenly the connection with Washu cut out.
"Washu? ... ............ Washu-sama! What's going on? Please answer me!"
"... There might be other reasons" said seto who abruptly appeared on screen.
her screen was lit as if she was telling a ghost story and lightning clapped in the background.
"aaaaaaaaaah!"
Ringo who was surprised unexpectedly jumped back and hit the back of her head against the ceiling. she collapsed to the floor holding her aching head.
"Oh no, That looked painful... are you okay? "
"... ... ..., oh Seto-sama, It's you!"Ringo said with tears in her eyes.
"Your landing was a bit off, but i appreciate your attempts to bribe the judge. Eighty five points"
Seto held up her thumb and stuck it out while nodding satisfactorily
"What, what are you talking about?"
"Airi told me that a large fortune has been put into my account, under my complete control. I'm rather excited about that so i figured Id call I didn't expect you'd be having wardrobe malfunction though."
"AH!"
Ringo hurriedly pulled up her bathing clothes. and used her hands to conceal her breasts.
"Seto-sama you're worse than an old perv."
"I feel like an old perv." seto said right before
Washu came back onto screen pushing seto off screen
"... ... you two weren't making fun of me were you?" Ringo asked
" I can see how you might think that...but ... it's all true. Although Naja tried to hide it was actually professor ikuma that stopped the rumor. unfortunately for him by the time the incident occurred the MMD initials were already registered and we had already begun to operate under them so he had no choice but to learn to tolerate them but the plate makers were another story...."
"Well, I'm sorry to have to say this, Ms. Washu, but I must excuse myself I have to get back to work now, thank you for telling me that story."
"Ok just remember this story is confidential."
"Mama, Mama! "
honoka cried out, she had been been waiting for Ringo to stop talking to washu so she could talk to washu.
"Honoka-chan. How have you been doing, It's almost time to give you a check up isn't it?"
"Yay!"
Ringo got out of the bath and let the two talk.
End of chapter
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commentary:
so if you didn't get all that, washu and naja established SUPER MEGA Swiss style bank that can be used for untraceable transactions and accounts that can have their records destroyed at the blink of an eye. Seto most definitely still enjoys a nice pair of boobs. and washu fixed up some of the 4th generation ships to work like 3rd but all the experiments failed except presumably kyoko and ringo's ship honoka.
4th generation ships can't generate a subspace interior it seems but once they get an ai interface that makes them sentient it seems they can. this happens around the end of ova 3 but before 4 so logically one can assume that washu may have also made kyoko's terminal enhancement and that means after here comes jurai she made enhancements for jurai despite saying she wouldn't so ... that's odd.
also seto is naja (not revealed here but known) and naja and washu established the mmd so logically the mmd could be a part of seto's information gathering network and could be a big part of why she has so much intel.
because people think it's like the swiss bank but the devil princess actually owns it much like how washu and naja had the entire academy bugged so they knew about everyone's secret research. also they were able to cover up how much seina had made from the captures made due to him during his first two days in space but they can't do that with widows inheritance and bounty and so now he might have to face bad luck from resentment towards his newly acquired wealth.
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