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Chapter 388 – Phantom Fleet
“Hey, brother, it’s been a while. Need a frigate?”
As soon as I appeared in the market I had connected to for consultation, Simon raised his hand to me.
It was true that I had been thinking that hovercrafts and airships might be a good idea for destroying coastal fortress cities in the future.
“…Have you been watching my situation from somewhere?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Hmm, is it just a coincidence? Anyway, Simon, there’s something about the atmosphere that is… How shall I put it?
“You look like a politician.”
He’s wearing a tight, classic gray suit with a red tie. With his short hair and fresh smile, he looks like a guy you’d think was running for president of the United States. He’s lost some weight, and his chest has expanded, giving him a more energetic look.
“Well, if I don’t spend money on myself, people will look down on me, but if I look like I’ve spent a lot of money, people will criticize me. I put up with it for now, but to be honest, it’s not really my style.”
“Really? I think it suits you. You also seem to overlap in terms of business skills.”
“There is no overlap! Or is there?”
I thought he should deny it, but I didn’t answer and let it go.
“No, it’s pretty much the same thing. You can get people to give you money and other things just by talking.”
If that’s the case, it could be a perfect job for Simon. If he completely retires from trading, I’ll be in trouble.
“Well, getting back to the subject, there’s a naval reorganization going on in my country right now. There are some old-type naval ships floating around. They’re a bit old, but the frigates are still in active service, so I’ve held them back for you. They’re a bargain at 300,000 dollars, with a whole bunch of extras thrown in. How about it?”
In the course of a casual conversation, the saint suddenly started talking about big business. A frigate for about 40 million yen? I don’t know what the going rate is, but it seems strangely cheap. Even a large yacht would cost a bit more.
No, that’s strange, isn’t it?
“Wait a minute. Simon, you’re the acting mayor, right? In your country, does the mayor have military powers?”
“Of course not. The ship is a separate matter; that’s my main concern.”
So you mean the talk that came up at the merchant’s. Of course, that’s the case.
“Is the reorganization of the navy… okay?”
Maintaining naval ships is like the epitome of a money-sucking bug. A frigate is a naval vessel that operates in the open sea, not a river navy, so it’s incredibly expensive in terms of both money and manpower.
On the other hand, if you think about it…
“I see. So it’s a huge employment and economic stimulus.”
On top of that, if it works, you can instill discipline and conviction in the rowdy people who are just hanging around the city and turn them into good people. It’s like laundering the criminal underclass.
“You’re amazing.”
“No, it’s not like that. It’s not like that at all. The budget surplus that was just starting to look up was blown away in the blink of an eye.”
“…Well, that’s how it started.”
“So, for now, we’re selling what we can, scrapping those that can’t be sold on the market, and transferring those that are still usable, even if they’re old, to countries that might be grateful for them. The last problem we have left is this frigate. It’s a Riga-class frigate from the former Soviet Union, and the last user before it came to us was… some kind of coast guard in Asia.”
In short, it’s not a first-class military vessel. You can probably guess that from the fact that it’s being sold cheaply to another world. I don’t know much about ships, so I have no idea what a Riga-class ship is.
“Hey, how big is a frigate?”
“About the size of a World War II destroyer. It’s about 90 meters long and 10 meters wide.”
That’s huge. I thought they were operated by hundreds of people. Maybe this one also had a strange fate like Casspir.
“Difficult problem… is it something that takes a lot of time to destroy or sink and is not profitable?”
So I’m not sure what he’s trying to sell me. If it’s been maintained, it’s worth at least $300,000. Even if it’s out of date, a working warship for just over 40 million yen is a bargain, almost just the cost of fuel, weapons, and ammunition.
“No, the top priority this time is to get rid of it quickly and cover it up. I’m telling you because there’s no chance of a leak with you, but that warship can’t leave the dock right now. It doesn’t exist on paper.”
“What?”
“As part of the reorganization of our navy, a neighboring country has requested a joint military exercise. The previous government’s violation of the military agreement will be exposed. Or rather, half of it has already been exposed. We don’t have much time.”
What is your country doing?
“It’s a ghost ship, isn’t it?”
“Don’t look at me like that. You know it’s like that, right? It’s said that Japanese actors who play the role of dead people live long lives.”
“No, I don’t know. I’m not talking about luck.”
“The navigation functions are perfect, and it’s been repaired and maintained. It’s a cheap, simple, good ship, you know?”
Hmm, the problem isn’t the price. The performance isn’t really a problem either.
“How many crew members do you need at least?”
“If you just want to move it around… three or four people on the bridge, and four or five in the engine room.”
Really?
I have no knowledge of this, but can a frigate be operated by eight people? I believe destroyers have over a hundred crew.
“Of course, I only mean ‘operate’ in the literal sense. It’s impossible to navigate safely or dock properly, and it’s impossible to engage in naval combat. But you should be able to handle it.”
He’s saying whatever he wants. But it’s true. From now on, the only things we’re likely to encounter at sea are strange creatures or enemy ships that don’t mind if we crash into them. Probably.
“It’s a ship that’s seen a lot. It even comes with an illustrated English manual, so it seems like it was designed to be operated by people with no experience, right?”
If you had just heard that, it would have been reassuring, but I have a bad feeling. Maybe it was hijacked by pirates or terrorists.
“Some of the armament has been removed, and all that’s left are three 100mm naval guns and two 25mm twin machine guns.”
That’s a lot of firepower for just three guns, but if you ask me, the anti-submarine mortars and torpedo launchers have been removed. There’s no use for them in this world anyway. And these 100mm guns, although they’re different in specification, are apparently the same type as the main gun of the T-55 main battle tank. I’ve never even touched a tank gun, so I don’t know the difference in specifications, but if the shells can be shared, that would be great.
“Shells? I’m sure I can handle that. I’ll get you more, so try it.”
I guess I’ll have to leave that to the dwarf engineers. To be honest, there’s not much I can do.
But even if it’s just a hunk of iron floating around firing grenades, it still has its uses. Especially for the kind of negotiation I’m about to do. Yes, it’s literally gunboat diplomacy.
“Then I’ll take this frigate. Payment will be in gold coins.”
“Thank you!”
As I placed the gold coins in the barrel, Simon put on the face of a merchant and flashed a dubious smile.
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