Chapter 232 – Refill Prime Colony

Translator: SFBaka

After leaving the Mercenary Guild branch, we decided to cancel our plan to head to the system garrison headquarters and opted to stroll around Refill Prime instead. We decided to go shopping and grab anything that looks good.

“Fumu…… It’s really different from the other colonies huh.”

“Right. The streets look different, but so is the overall atmosphere.”

You could say it was pretty idle, but that’s not exactly it. How should I call it? Slow? ……Uh, it’s not like the people around us were moving slowly or anything. I’m just saying the pace of life here was slower compared to the other colonies we’ve been to.

“Refill system’s elves are basically quite carefree after all. As you know, elves have quite long lifespans. So most aren’t as restless compared to humans.”

“I see?”

“Yeah. You’re pretty laid back during off days as well huh, Elma.”

I and Mimi were comparably a bit more fidgety.

I often looked at digital catalogs of melee combat weapons and other gadgets that might be useful in a fight. I also workout regularly. And if I found my crew members free, I’d invite them to do something together with me. As for Mimi, she often studies ship operator-related subjects and researches various stuff. But in Elma’s case, it’s only one of two things; drinking alcohol or sleeping. She does move her body around sometimes, but she spends much more time being completely idle.

“Hey. Calling me laid back is a bit rude, don’t you think? I just know how to differentiate my on and off days properly. From my point of view, it’s you guys who are running around too much.”

Really? We continued bantering about the topic as we walked around Refill Prime colony and checked out the shops.

“Aren’t the goods strangely expensive?”

“They do seem oddly more expensive compared to other colonies.”

The items we’re checking out were the so-called planetary specialty goods, souvenirs, and imported goods from other star systems. These kinds of things were basically on the expensive side anywhere, but they were even more expensive here. Compared to the stuff from other star systems, they looked to be about 50 percent to double the normal price.

As we discussed the prices, a female elven clerk called out to us.

“Oh, everyone who comes from the other colonies points that out every time. Actually, we don’t produce that many manufactured goods to be sold from Refill IV. We local folks call the place Theta by the way. We elves have a lower population compared to the other races, and Refill IV is blessed with bountiful nature, so the manufacturing industry isn’t that developed.”

“Hm…… But this place has been assimilated by the Graccan empire, right? Weren’t you subjected to an industrialization boom like the rest of the empire?”

“Well, yes. It was around my grandfather’s time that the Refill system was incorporated by the Graccan empire. It seems the emperor himself spearheaded the industrialization initiative back then.”

“Spearheading the initiative himself…… You’re talking about the founding emperor, right?”

“Yep. The elves at the time refused to go into conflict with the ‘people who descended from the sky’ back then and got appointed as vassals instead. In exchange, the right to self-governance was granted to us. And it’s said that the founding emperor visited Theta and became deeply moved after seeing its abundant natural wonders. He then declared that the planet should be left as is. Thereafter, the entirety of Theta was treated as a nature preserve, leading to our current situation. Elven civilization and culture has been mostly preserved on the mother planet as a result, and has remained largely unchanged since the time of the founding emperor.”

Is it really possible for things to go that well? I had some doubts in my head, but perhaps this lady merely skipped the more complicated parts and divulged only the main points in her story. I’m sure the real events had a lot of twists and turns.

“One of the vassals who got appointed to directly serve the founding emperor and went out to the sea of stars with him was my great grandfather. You probably also come from a similar lineage right, milady?”

“Uhuh. My grandfather was also one of the original vassals who went out to space.”

“In other words, your race was divided into the elven bloodline that remained on the planet and continued to live traditionally, and the elven bloodline that went out to live among the stars, right?”

“There really aren’t any major conflicts between the two. But it’s true that our lifestyle and thinking are fundamentally different from each other.”

“Yeah. The ones who went out to space don’t really have any opinions, but there are some from the other side who kinda look down on us a bit. They’re the sort of people who insist we’ve lost Theta’s blessings after abandoning it or something. Well, some from our side also think the people living on the planet are old-fashioned guys clinging to a backward and moldy culture, so I guess it goes both ways. But things aren’t so terrible between the two that we’ll openly fight with each other about our beliefs.”

The elven lady store clerk displayed a bitter smile.

“……And you’re claiming things aren’t that tense between the two parties after saying something like that huh?”

“Right?”

“Ahaha. But it’s an interesting story for people who come from other places, right? Well, I’ve taken the trouble to open up to you all and tell you the state of affairs of elves, so why don’t you guys buy something in exchange? Our goods are just a bit more expensive compared to other star systems though.”

This clerk was quite good. Well, we did get to hear an interesting story, and my wallet is currently fat with money anyway, so why not? Let’s just obediently purchase some stuff then.

We bought several things from the store managed by the shrewd female elven clerk, and I received a call through my portable terminal the moment we stepped out. When I took it out and checked the screen, I found that it was a call from Mei who stayed behind in the Lotus. Did something happen? I tapped the accept icon and took the call. I also didn’t forget to switch it to speaker mode so Mimi and Elma could listen in.

“Hey, what’s up?”

『I contacted you because there was a request for a visit from someone named Tinia of the Grado clan.』

“Grado clan’s Tinia-san huh. I’m not familiar with the name…… She’s probably one of the prisoners we managed to rescue.”

『Yes, that is the case. She insists on meeting you in order to personally give her thanks. She directly visited the Black Lotus, so in order to avoid being seen as impolite, I brought her to the relaxation room for the meantime.』

“It would be rude to turn visitors away at the door after all…… And she’s probably a lady of high standing as well huh.”

『Yes. The Grado clan possesses considerable influence among the governing clans on Refill IV and Tinia-sama seems to be the clan leader’s second daughter.』

“Oh……”

Although I’ve already half-predicted such a situation, I was still surprised after hearing the info and couldn’t help but look up to the heavens- Err, the colony’s ceiling, I mean. I glanced at the two on my left and right and found that Mimi and Elma were displaying resigned, or rather, enlightened expressions akin to Buddha. Uh, don’t go all Buddha on me please, you two. We’re comrades bound by a strong bond, right? It’s no good if you display expressions like that. We’re people who share the same destiny. Let’s get through this ordeal together, yeah?

“Ah, okay. We can’t refuse to meet up with her, right?”

『It’s possible to brush her off, but it would be considered very impolite to decline her visit without good reason. And it would serve us well during our tour of Refill IV if you built a good relationship with the Grado clan right now.』

“Right, right. I guess we’ll have to meet with her then…… It’ll take a while for us to come back. If she doesn’t have any other plans today, it might be better to have her join us for dinner. Well arrange one not with just me and her alone, but everyone from both parties together. Once you get their consent, can I leave arranging the venue to you, Mei? We’re the ones extending an invitation, so we’ll shoulder the expenses.”

『Understood. I will inform them of your suggestion then, Master. I will contact you with the result later.』

“Please.”

I cut the call with Mei. We were planning on taking a relaxing stroll today, but now this happened. It wasn’t good to be always relaxed, but our relaxing and peaceful time was shorter than expected huh……? Anyway, let’s just be careful not to be caught up in any more troublesome stuff.

Ah, and I didn’t get the chance to check out that captured pirate ship as well. I wish I’ll have the time to check it out later on.

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