Refill Prime Colony

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.