239 – Tropical Planet Refill IV
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Refill IV was generally a hot and humid planet, with most of its landmasses covered by large swathes of woodlands and forests. According to this dimension’s habitable planet classification standards, it was recognized as a tropical planet with a predominantly humid climate.
“It’s quite hot and humid.”
I exclaimed as such while looking up at the sky after we landed on Refill IV, or as the locals called it, Theta. The weather was largely fair. But the humidity sure was terrible. The heat was comparable to summer in Japan.
“Really? This is just normal, I think.”
“It looks like you really don’t mind it one bit, Elma-san.”
She actually looks even more spirited than usual. It kinda seems like the angle of her ears was raised a little higher as well.
“This much is easy peasy.”
“Uhuh. It’s nothing compared to a colony’s boiler block.”
It looks like this hot and humid environment was nothing to Tina and Whisker as well. I guess only Mimi and I were bothered about the heat and humidity huh.
“But looking at it from this angle, the Black Lotus really is huge huh?”
“That’s correct. The Skizbrazunil-class is one of the largest mothership models after all.”
Mei, who was standing right next to me, gave a follow-up remark. As you’d expect, a maidroid like her wouldn’t feel uncomfortable in the middle of the heat and humidity, and she maintained a cool and composed look even while wearing a stuffy-looking Victorian-style maid uniform.
By the way, we anchored Black Lotus at Theta’s exclusive starship port. It was a huge facility that combined an airport and a seaport, and Black Lotus occupied the largest dock within it.
“They’re being awfully generous by letting us dock here completely free of charge.”
“It just means that your previous actions are already showing results, Master.”
“It’s not like I’m the only one who put in most of the work….. Or maybe I did? Hm.”
“The only ones who infiltrated the pirate ship were you and the combat bots, after all, Hiro-sama.”
“Mimi served as your support, but you still did most of the heavy lifting, Hiro. You were the one who decided to capture the ship and destroyed their weapon systems and thrusters with pinpoint accuracy.”
“Even so, I still believe I don’t deserve all of the credit. We’re a team after all.”
Also, I basically just chuck everything that’s not related to combat to everyone too. If I was to do all the work by my lonesome at this point, I think I’d have to sell the Lotus and return to using just Krishna for that to work. Thanks to us getting the Black Lotus, our profits have increased substantially. But the manpower required for loot management, sales, and docking procedures, among other things, has also increased. It’s also very big, so cleaning it was an absolute chore.
“Hey, look over there, Boss. They sent something to pick us up.”
When I turned in the direction Tina was pointing at, I saw a vehicle that was shaped like a bus heading over to us.
“It looks like a pretty old-fashioned vehicle. But it’s running on the road smoothly and doesn’t seem shaky at all. They probably maintain it regularly.”
Whisker shaded her eyes with both hands as she scrutinized the vehicle that was coming toward us. She was currently wearing a white one-piece dress decorated with frills instead of her work overalls and looked quite girly. But regardless of her outfit, it looks like she still couldn’t help but analyze it whenever she encounters a machine that catches her interest.
There wasn’t any evident engine noise. The bus quietly stopped in front of our group, and its door opened. A lone elven woman then came down from inside. She was an elven beauty dressed in an outfit that resembled a qipao made out of glossy green fabric. Her chest assets were fairly modest, but her sexy white thighs, which were peeking out of the high slits of her dress, were quite dazzling to the eyes. Her hair was silver-colored, just like Elma.
“Hou…… Ouch!”
When I expressed my admiration, pain welled up from my hip and flank. It was caused by Elma’s elbow and Tina’s slap. I’m sure they were holding back already, but it was still pretty painful. Or rather, any straight man would react the same way when presented with such a titillating sight, so please let me off already. It was merely a result of an effective line-of-sight guidance technique.
“We’re sorry to have kept you waiting. You are Hiro-sama and company, correct?”
“That’s right. Thank you for going out of your way to fetch us.”
“It’s no trouble. You are our benefactor, after all, Hiro-sama. It looks like an elf is also with you as well.”
After saying so, the elven guide’s gaze turned toward Elma.
“I am part of the Willrose clan; a branch family of the Rose clan. My great-grandfather was part of those who went up to the sky.”
“Ah, as I thought, you’re also part of the Rose clan. I thought that might be the case after seeing the color of your hair. That would make you my clanmate then.”
The female elven guide then gave a carefree smile. I see. So the clans can be differentiated by hair color as well huh? But genetics also factors in, so I don’t think you’d be able to make a general judgment regarding blood ties and clans just based on hair color alone. But, well, elven physiology was largely a mystery after all…… Their reproduction habits were especially rather complicated.
“Leave the talk for later and have the guests get on the bus. This isn’t the place to have a casual chat.”
“You’re right. Everyone, please go ahead and board the bus.”
The female elven guide urged us to get on board after being reminded by a male voice that came from within the bus. We each brought our own luggage, but there was plenty of room inside the bus, so we managed to squeeze in without any problem. The contents of our luggage were generally basic necessities such as clothes and other personal belongings. In my case, there was also my laser gun and my two noble-issue swords. Of course, I didn’t bring any other weapons such as laser rifles, grenades, and full-scale combat equipment such as my power armor and combat suit.
I heard that it would be hot and humid beforehand, so I decided to bring chameleon thermal cloaks for each of us though. That’s because they had the function to adapt to even the harshest environments. They could even function well in the atmosphere of a planet that was still being terraformed. They would probably prove useful while moving around outdoors on a tropical planet like Theta.
“Are you a noble, Hiro-sama?”
The female elven guide saw my swords and tilted her head curiously.
“No, that’s not it. These swords were given to me by a noble, actually. But I’m not a noble myself.”
“He’s a Gold Star recipient though, so technically, he has the same status as an imperial viscount.”
“But you can’t expect any use from it if we’re not dealing with nobles, right…? And even if that’s not the case, I don’t really feel like throwing my weight around using it as an excuse anyway.”
Going around flaunting a status you earned as a reward just feels really cheap man. It’s not like I’m purposely hiding it. I’ll use it when necessary, but I definitely don’t feel like flaunting it all the time.
“By the way, can you tell us our schedule after this?”
“Yes. First, we will bring you to your accommodation, which is located near this Theta Integrated Port Facility. After that, we will tour you around the locations of your choice, and come evening, we will bring you back to your accommodation and conduct a welcome banquet for you all there.”
“I see. I’m looking forward to visiting the local sights and facilities.”
Would there be a place where you can enjoy shopping? Or maybe a museum or museum-like facility. A zoo or a theme park-like facility would be good too. Oh, and an experience-oriented education facility should be nice too. Elves likely have a pretty distinctive culture. If possible, I’d like to get more info about those medicinal infusions along the way as well.
“A party……”
“A party huh.”
“Ehehe. I’m looking forward to it.”
Mimi, Tina, and Whisker were already taken by the mention of an evening party huh. Aren’t you guys a little bit too faithful to your desires? Uh, actually, I’m not to talk since I came to the home system of the elves basically to search for cola.
“Un……”
Elma, however, was making a troubled expression. I wonder what’s wrong? I asked her with my eyes, and Elma opened her mouth to reply while still displaying a troubled expression.
“I was just thinking of paying a visit to my clan since we’re already in Theta and all. My great-grandfather parted from the main house when he decided to go up to space, but they’re still my blood relatives after all. I also visited them when I was little.”
“I see. Well, shouldn’t you just go ahead if we have some time later on? I mean, it might trouble your family if you don’t handle it well, right?”
“Un…… Well, I don’t think there’s a need to worry about it that much. I’m planning to become officially independent after all.”
“Let’s just go. We’ll be able to get there quickly using Krishna, right? I also kind of want to see your roots, Elma.”
“Really? Alright then. Let’s head there when we have the time.”
Elma, who was still making a troubled expression, finally displayed a smile. Yep. We finally came to a place that’s kind of like a holiday resort, so it’s better to smile and laugh instead of being all distressed. I don’t think we’ll suddenly find ourselves in a pinch after receiving such a warm welcome after all. So we better take this opportunity to enjoy ourselves to the fullest. And it’s fine to accomplish these kinds of side errands along the way.
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