Preparation Phase

It was now the second day of our Planet Theta sightseeing tour.

Yesterday, we had Lilium bring us to a soft drink factory and an alcohol

brewing factory within the Rose clan's territory, and now, on the second

day of our sightseeing tour, we're scheduled to visit the Grado clan's

territory next.

The Grado clan's territory was overflowing with nature. Well, it sounds

much better when you describe it like that, but when we actually

checked out the place, all I could see was undeveloped land, or rather,

sprawling primeval forests. The Grado clan apparently lives here by

building small settlements scattered around all over the area.

"That's how it is, so make sure you have your equipment ready

everyone."

Come morning, the first thing I did was gather everyone in Black Lotus

for a meeting. The inn we were staying at wasn't that far from the

integrated port the Black Lotus was anchored at. That's why I asked

Lilium yesterday to bring us back to Black Lotus in the morning.

"We're... going sightseeing, right?"

"That's right. Sightseeing. But the place we're going to is essentially an

undeveloped primeval forest in a planet mostly unknown to us."

"It isn't exactly unknown to me y'know... Well, I admit I haven't been

to the Grado clan's territory yet though."

"Ain't this a bit too over the top, Boss?"

"I think we better just do as Big Brother says though."

Actually, I wanted to pull out the suits that could let us adapt to all sorts

of harsh environments and protect us from poisonous insects,

parasites, sudden temperature, and other such threats. However, they

looked like SF-themed rider suits and felt far too excessive. It would be

pretty unreasonable to wear them while going sightseeing.

"You really shouldn't underestimate mountains and forests guys. We're

not going to a well-managed nature resort but an honest-to-goodness

wild primeval forest y'know."

"Really?"

"Ya think?"

"Yes, really. Or rather, underestimating the place is a recipe for disaster."

Aside from Elma, Mimi, Tina, and Whisker were colony-born and raised

ladies after all. Those who've lived their entire lives in an artificially

controlled environment do not understand the true dangers of mother

nature.

"Try to wear clothes that don't expose your skin as much as possible.

Uh, for you guys, your regular work jumpsuits will probably do."

"I don't really wanna wear that during a day off Boss."

"Fine. Anyway, don't wear thin and fluttery pieces of clothing. They'd

get ruined the moment they get caught on a tree branch. Choose clothes

that are durable and don't flutter around too much. It's fine even if

they're a bit stuffy."

Afterward, I distributed the chameleon thermal cloaks to everyone.

After all, if you equip this, you'd feel comfy even if you wore stuffy

clothes. The chameleon thermal cloak was pretty durable and had

proven itself to cope even with the harsh environment of a planet in the

middle of being terraformed.

"Um, we're going to be accompanied by a guide you know. I think you're

being overly cautious."

"Yeah, you're right. That's if things proceeded normally that is. By the

way, don't you think things have been far too peaceful since we arrived

on this planet?"

"..."

Elma frowned after hearing my words. Yeah, that's right. I'd probably

react the same if I get told such a thing. I really wanted to normally

enjoy sightseeing without worrying about things like that, but I have no

choice but to be cautious since, judging by our track record, it's possible

that something might happen during the trip at some point.

"What did you put inside your backpack, Hiro-sama?"

"A survival kit with portable food packs, a rescue signal beacon, and

spare energy packs."

"Survival kit?"

"It has things like first-aid nanomachine units and a portable molecular

composition device for building temporary shelters."

"Portable molecular composition device?"

"Uh, remember the tournament held in the imperial capital? The

imperial military used a device to disassemble and reconfigure the field

for the melee competition on the spot. It's a much smaller version of

that."

"Oh, that."

Mimi hit one of her palms with her fist in understanding. So, in short,

this high-tech device with a long name was a very advanced portable

3D printer. Trees and raw ores can be broken down into materials

suitable to build structures according to the registered presets. Anyone

can easily make a temporary shelter by using this thing.

How does it work? No idea. It's alright as long as I can use the thing. As

far as my regular Earth-guy common sense knows, it wasn't possible to

break down and reconstruct a substance at the molecular level with a

machine essentially the size of a TV's remote control, but this thing can

actually do just that, so the joke's on me I guess. I did try to look up how

this thing worked in the net, but I couldn't understand anything. All I

encountered was a veritable parade of incomprehensible tech jargon.

Since it could break down matter, it was easy to think of more militarily

inclined uses for the thing. But unfortunately, it seems it was quite easy

to deploy countermeasures for it, so it wasn't that simple. Thus, in the

end, it was limited to usage on naturally occurring objects such as

plants and ores.

"You even have a rescue signal transmission beacon? Do you really have

to go that far...?"

"If, just in case, our local guide gets injured while we're deep within the

forest, or if we got separated with him or her for some reason and we

end up spending the night outside, these things will come in handy.

After all, we would be within a dark primeval forest with potentially

dangerous animals all around us. Even if we found ourselves in such a

situation, we'd be able to build a shelter and call for help with these

things. We'd be able to endure a night in the great outdoors in relative

safety while waiting for rescue."

"But can't we just call for help usin' a portable data terminal or

somethin'?"

"That's certainly more convenient if we have a nice signal. If we have

one, that is."

"...Don't we?"

"Unfortunately, no, we don't."

I asked Mei to check on it yesterday, and the result was communication

signals used by portable data terminals can't reach most of the Grado

clan's territory. In other words, it was out of coverage area. I thought it

was ridiculous, but it is what it is. I'm not familiar with the issue, but it

seemed the presence of modern communication systems had a very

adverse effect on the sensing and training of magic power. I almost

wanted to scream out in frustration when I first heard of it.

"You're very cautious aren't you, Big Brother."

"It would be fine if I was going there alone. And maybe we'd be able to

deal with things somehow if it's just me, Mimi, and Elma. But this time,

Mimi, Tina, and Whisker will all be tagging along, right? In that case, it

pays to be extra careful."

"Mmph. I'm also already a seasoned mercenary… is what I wanted to

say. I guess that won't do this time huh?"

"Even if we're like this, we're still dwarves y'know, Boss?"

"Look, I don't doubt that Mimi's already fairly gotten used to mercenary

work and that Tina and Whisker are both physically strong, but I still

think you have far too little experience when it comes to living on a

planet. That's what's got me worried."

Mimi cocked her head to the side and replied.

"Huh? Is Mei-san not coming with us?"

"I'll have Mei stay on stand-by in Black Lotus. She can quickly pick us up

just in case something happens later on."

"I find it mortifying, but I'll do it if it's related to Master's wellbeing."

Mei, who was standing behind me, declared in a flat tone.

Right now, we're just talking about the possibility of something

happening while we're in a forest within the territory of the Grado clan,

but there's also a possibility of a pirate raid on planetary settlements as

well. Even if we did manage to capture or kill those who perpetrated

the first attack, there's no reason to think it won't happen again.

As a precaution for such things happening, there's a need for either I,

Elma, or Mei to stay onboard the ship. It would not do for me, who's the

leader of our group, to stay behind, and I'd like Elma, who was an elf

herself, to accompany us. In that case, the only one who could remain

on the ship would be Mei.

"I still think you're being too paranoid..."

"It would be nice if that really was the case. In fact, I'd prefer that and

then we can just laugh it out later. Anyway, for now, just bring portable

food packs and water bottles with you, everyone."

As long as we had food and water available as well as a means to

maintain an ideal body temperature, we would be able to survive as

long as we didn't blindly move around.