What the Heck is This!?

"U-Um, why do Hiro-sama's eyes look dead...?"

"I'm not too sure myself. After taking a sip of the drink he ordered from

Miro, he cried out something like [A flavor that's like annin dofu… A

faint medicinal smell… The hell!? Ain't this thing D**tor Pepper!?] and

has been in that state ever since."

Hi folks. This is Hiro speaking. The thing I expected to be cola turned

out to be D**tor Pepper.

Well, it's certainly a kind of carbonated beverage, okay. But what is this

sense of utter disappointment?

I'm a firm adherent of the C*ke faction y'know! D*c Pep honestly ain't

that bad but C*ke is way, waay better in my opinion.

"It's a type of drink I haven't seen before..."

Chris softly muttered as she gazed at the box filled with D**tor Pepper

bottles. Is C*ke really that unknown over here...? Uh, well, I guess it is

huh. I understand that, okay. So I can't blame Miro for this.

"Do you want to try some...? It's a bit of an acquired taste though."

"Is it alright?"

"Sure. I'll open a new bottle for you."

"Uh, um, I might not be able to finish a whole bottle, so..."

Chris glanced at the bottle of D**tor Pepper I took a sip from. Uh... I

don't really mind, but is she really fine with this?

"Would something like that be proper for a noble's daughter?"

"Please do not mind the details."

Chris answered while flashing me one of her elegant smiles, so I

relented and handed over the opened bottle of D**tor Pepper to her.

"Don't drink it all at once, okay? You're not used to the sensation of

drinking a carbonated soft drink yet, so it's better to drink it little by

little first. It'll go down smoother that way."

"I understand... Mmm!?"

The brand name of D*c Pep in this dimension is Mister Pepparoni, so it

would be Mr. Pep if shortened huh. After drinking a sip of Mr. Pep,

Chris's eyes widened in surprise. This is her first experience drinking a

carbonated drink, so I guess that reaction's to be expected.

"It's delicious… and it goes all tingly inside my mouth. But it has a faint

taste of medicine though...?"

"According to what I know, this drink has a long and interesting history.

Apparently, it was first advertised as an herbal drink with effects

beneficial to one's health. But since drinking herbal medicine wasn't all

that pleasant an experience, they added some tasty syrup and subjected

the drink to a process called carbonation in order to produce that tingly

mouthfeel."

I don't know how it is in this dimension, but that was how the rumors

went back on Earth anyway.

"Miro."

"Yes. What is it, sir?"

"Can you get me a drink that's similar... No, it doesn't have to be

similar after all. Can you get me every type of carbonated drink you

have available? The non-alcoholic kinds please."

"Understood. We have four more kinds of carbonated beverages

available."

"Give me one can of those each then. I'll decide if I'll order more once

I've tried all of them."

"Understood."

After observing Chris drinking the stuff for a while, Mimi also asked for

the bottle of Mr. Pep in Chris's hands to take a sip. Mimi's eyes also

widened in surprise after taking a swig. These girls sure have cute

reactions. But isn't taking turns drinking from the bottle I'd taken a

drink from kinda improper, you guys?

"It's a curious drink."

"Why does it tingle inside the mouth?"

Mimi gazed at me with eyes full of curiosity. After seeing Mimi like that,

I tried hard to remember all I could about the subject and relayed what

I knew to her.

"That effect is due to infusing carbon dioxide into the drink using a

process called carbonation. But because it isn't suitable out in space, it's

only available on residential planets."

"So these tingly bubbles are a result of adding carbon dioxide?"

"That's right."

"I see… It really won't be suitable in a colony that's located in outer

space then. There's high pressure inside this container, correct?"

"Yup. It's pressurized. If you shake those bottles strongly with the cap

still on, the contents will spurt out once you open them."

Chris seemed convinced by my explanation. So I was right then.

Drinking carbonated stuff inside an outer space colony or starship isn't

advisable… But it should be fine to have them in an environment with

gravity and air pressure applied properly though.

Hmm. But maybe they still haven't invented the artificial gravity

generators during the age of moving into outer space. So the

carbonation process may have become obsolete out in space as a

result… But the tradition continued on residential planets. There's also

the possibility of an event that resulted in the abandonment of

carbonation technology all at once too. There's very little records about

the subject, so I really can't say for sure… How mysterious.

"Ugh. Enough about that weird drink already. What about lunch? I also

want to check out the boutique later."

"Oh? So you're planning to change out of your usual mercenary clothes

and dress yourself up, Elma?"

I'm a little miffed about her calling carbonated drinks weird, but I'm

quite interested in Elma wearing stylish clothes instead of her usual

rugged mercenary get up. Mimi had the gothic lolita clothes with a

mature air about them that I'd purchased for her as well as the casual

wear she bought herself, but Elma only ever wears those mercenarystyle clothes of hers except for very few instances. It's not like she

doesn't have any cash on hand, so I guess it's just that she's very picky

when it comes to clothes.

"Dress myself up…? Oh c'mon. I normally choose my clothes while

considering TPO you know."

"You've got some strange concept of TPO lady. You can change out of

your mercenary get up when we're relaxing back on the ship y'know. I

mean, c'mon Elma."

"Well, um… if you're that insistent, then I'll think about it. Maybe."

She talked like she was annoyed, but her face was bright red, so it looks

like she's not against it all that much anyway. This'll be great. I'm

looking forward to seeing her don different outfits now.

"Well, since we're going to the boutique anyway, why don't we buy

some more clothes for each of us as well as some daily necessities? I'll

pay for them all, so don't worry and just buy whatever strikes your

fancy."

"Y-You don't have to go that far for me."

"Nah, don't mind me. It's something necessary after all."

"I guess."

"That's right."

Since Mimi, Elma, and me were all in agreement, Chris ended up

relenting as well.

"It's fine you know. I'll just charge it to your grandfather like usual."

"B-But isn't that..."

"Like I said, don't mind it too much. You've built up plenty of stress

right? Though it may be a bit difficult for you considering all that's

happened, try to take this opportunity to relax, okay?"

She looks fine now for the most part, but Chris did go through the

traumatic experience of losing both her parents after all. She might

have taken her mind off of those matters temporarily during her two

days of staying with us, but now that we're about to spend two weeks at

this resort, she'll eventually think about them and her bundled up

nerves might snap at any moment.

It'll lighten Chris's load a bit if she's able to deal with some of the pent

up stress somehow... At least, that's what I'm hoping for anyway.

Honestly, this is about all I can do for the poor girl right now. Since our

social positions are too far apart, I can't really get too close to her. And

when it comes to the experience of losing parents, Mimi will be able to

relate to her better since she'd undergone something similar.

"Miro."

"Yes, Captain Hiro."

"Can we swim in the sea later?"

"Yes. The sea water components have been optimized for swimming.

We also have rescue bots on standby in the sea, so if an incident were to

happen, we'll be able to respond immediately. We also have well

equipped medical facilities on the island, so the health and safety of our

guests is guaranteed."

"I see. I didn't bring any swimwear with me, so I guess I'll have to buy

them at the boutique as well. Can we also do some fishing?"

"Yes. We have released and bred many aquatic species suitable for

leisure fishing in the planet's oceans. There are also species unique to

this planet as well. We have several recommended fishing spots all

around the island and the surrounding waters, so if you would like to

proceed with the activity, I can guide you to those spots."

"Sounds good. It looks like we can enjoy a lot of different activities here

huh."

I felt the girl's gazes focused on me, so I turned around, only to find

them staring at me vacantly with open mouths. What's wrong, you

guys?

"You... Are you sure you're not some rich kid who ran away from

home?"

"H-Hiro-sama seems to be really used to all this, isn't he?"

Elma looked at me suspiciously while Mimi seemed like she was

somehow impressed. Just why? Por qué? When I turned to Chris, I

found her making an impressed look as well.

"Well, you see, it really seems like you're pretty used to things like

swimming in the sea and fishing, Hiro-sama."

"Well, of course I..."

I finally noticed it. A person born and raised in a colony would normally

not be used to things like swimming and fishing. This is because water

is a very precious resource in colonies. It's something essential to

survival out in space, so regulations for its distribution and use are

strictly enforced. Thus, there's no way you can get enough water to use

for things like swimming in colonies. In any case, it's a fact that I've

never seen any sort of pool present in all the colonies we've visited so

far.

And a hobby like fishing is even more unthinkable for colony born and

bred people. There may be people who are familiar with the activity on

residential planets, but probably next to none in colonies.

"Well, let's just say there's a lot of circumstances for this. Complicated

circumstances. Yep. Anyway, I've simply had the fortune of experiencing

a lot of activities that we can't do in colonies on my home planet. That's

all."

"A lot, is it?"

I haven't told Chris about my possibly being from another dimension, so

I'll just have to dodge the issue with this. She might still get suspicious

because my way of dodging the issue was sloppy at best, but it still

beats having to explain the fact that I'm from another dimension. That

one sounds more crazy after all.

"I have finished preparing your lunch. Please come to the dining area."

"H-Hey, it's time for lunch. C'mon girls. Let's eat. I'm excited about the

kind of food here."

"You're a bit too obvious you know."

I ignored Elma's remark and headed straight for the dining area and sat

on the table. But I wonder what kind of food will be served? There

wasn't any dish on the table yet. Don't tell me they'd be delivered just

like that box of Mr. Pep?

Oh, by the way, a drone was the one that actually delivered that box of

Mr. Pep earlier.

I tried asking Miro about what kind of system it was, and it told me that

there's a central supply depot that's based on the planet's equator. It

utilizes a mass driver to send out drone containers filled with goods out

into the upper atmosphere. By accurately calculating the container's

trajectory, the driver can send goods directly above the coordinates

specified with pinpoint accuracy, and the drones will then descend to

the surface once more to deliver the goods with peak efficiency.

What can I say? That's quite a crude approach huh…? But due to the

surface of this planet being predominantly covered by oceans, trying to

install a material delivery system directly on its surface would probably

not be worth the cost, so that's why they went with the present system

instead.

At first I thought it was simply just drones flying around the planet in

order to deliver goods, but that would probably cause too much delay,

so they worked on trying to reduce delivery time as much as they can.

What a ridiculous system.

To think they'd come up with a system using a mass driver. To sum it

up, drone containers containing goods get sent up to the upper

atmosphere, and by using accurate trajectory calculations, they can be

placed directly on top of the delivery coordinates in order to

accomplish goods delivery in record time. As for returning, the drones

make use of sunlight to recharge their energy cells and then fly back to

the equator base; ready to perform another round of deliveries.

It seems like a real crazy idea if I used my Earthling common sense to

judge it, but, judging from the things I've witnessed so far, it sure seems

damn effective. This is the power of science.

As I was thinking about such things, the door of the lodge opened, and

something entered.

It was a maid. It had mechanical parts for ears, but it was unmistakably

a maid. A maid robot. It can't be!? Has technology advanced so far...!?

And it looks like there wasn't just one maid robot. There were five maid

robots that entered the lodge while pushing a large wagon. They all had

exactly identical faces.

"We have brought you all your lunch."

The maid robots made elegant bows and briskly began setting up the

table and bringing out the dishes. Their coordination was nothing short

of perfect, and their movements were fluid and filled with grace. These

are some impressive maid robots. I kinda want one too, I think.

"Uwah. That sure looks like an 'I want one too' face."

"Hiro-sama! You don't have to buy a maidroid, okay! I'll be the one to

take care of you!"

Elma perfectly read what was on my mind, while Mimi stood up from

her seat in agitation for some reason. Her breathing even turned rough.

So they weren't called maid robots but maidroids huh.

"But maid robots are a man's romance y'know?"

"I'm sorry, but Unit S-048 is not for sale. And they are not robots but

androids."

So that's why they're called maidroids huh. How amazing.

"However, I can help you get in touch with the manufacturer, Orient

Corporation, if you want one custom made. I shall be needing your

portable terminal for that."

"If you please."

"Hiro-sama!?"

Hahaha. How cute. I probably won't order one anyway. I think. It looks

like Mimi has something against the maidroids. I'll try asking her about

it later.

Now then, let's leave the maidroids for later. For now, let's eat.