Chapter 72: Surface Lodge

“Are there items that we are recommended to bring from our ship during our stay?”

Since Miro offered, I asked a question straight away. 

“Yes. We provide a wide variety of goods and amenities here at the island in order to ensure a pleasant stay to our guests. However, the guests are free to bring their personal effects as well. Furthermore, in order to take advantage of the discount services for the items sold here, it is recommended that you bring your personal portable data terminals in order to facilitate transactions.” 

“I see. Can we bring our own underwear and clothes?”

“Yes. However, we do provide brand new underclothes as part of our services. But if guests prefer to bring their own, then there is no problem. We do have a fully stocked boutique as part of the island’s facilities, so please do come for a visit if you’d like. It not only has a wide variety of underwear and clothes, but also an updated selection of the latest swimwear for your convenience.” 

“I see. Understood. That’s all the questions I have for now.”

I turned toward Mimi and the others to see if they had their own questions. They shook their heads in response. I guess that’s all then. They may have already familiarized themselves with this place after reading the e-pamphlet.  I didn’t bother to read it in detail after all. 

“Very well. I shall now guide everyone to the lodge. Please follow me.”

Miro turned around in mid-air and started floating away while gently bobbing up and down.  We started following after it.

“Wa waa…! Hiro-sama, Hiro-sama! There’s a lot of different plants here!”

Mimi kept pointing at the grasses and trees that lined up the path while excitedly pulling on my arm. Her eyes were sparkling in amazement. Come to think of it, the only flora I saw inside colonies were potted ornamental plants.  It looks like this was Mimi’s first time to see this much plant life.

“Yeah, it sure is amazing. It kinda reminds me of the wonders of mother nature. Did you know, Mimi? The life force of plants is quite tenacious. They even manage to break through surfaces covered in asphalt and concrete in order to bloom.” 

“Those are materials used for roads and building construction, right? That’s amazing……”  

I, Elma, and Chris watched Mimi, who was looking around excitedly, with warm gazes. But Mimi, who was already lost in her own world, failed to notice. Man. An excited Mimi sure is cute. 

“We have arrived. Please enter dear guests.”

A thin mechanical arm protruded from Miro’s spherical body and unlocked the door. So it even had that inside its body… I’m sure there are other functions hidden away as well.

The lodge looked like your standard log house, but the interior was quite welcoming and spacious. The first things you’ll notice upon entering were the spacious living area, dining area, and kitchen. There was a wooden round table surrounded by comfy-looking sofas placed near the window overlooking the porch. Inside the lodge, on the left side, were a large dining table and a well equipped kitchen space. The kitchen not only had an auto-cooker installed, but also had your typical cooking implements like a stove and an oven. We could definitely cook food ourselves if we wanted.

Beyond the porch, there was a well-trimmed grass lawn. And further beyond was a white sand beach. There were some beach chairs in front of the porch window as well. You can probably sunbathe on those. 

There were wooden stairs on the right side of the lodge interior going up to a second floor. There was also a hallway below the stairs. It probably led to some more rooms as well.

The interior had a tropical country style to it. The weird-looking wooden sculpture on the lawn did certainly look like it was from a tropical country. It was oblong shaped, had crescent eyes, and had a funky-looking smile. There was also a wooden bow displayed on top of the wall. This was a terraformed planet, so did it really have a history of using bows? Come on……

“It’s spacious and uses a lot of wood. It’s very luxurious.”

“T-This is wood……? Hieee!”

Mimi looked panicky for some reason.

“We’re not familiar with how it is on residential planets, but in colonies, wood is considered a pretty high-class material.”

“I see……”

Well, it does seem like going to the trouble of bringing wood to space colonies didn’t seem practical, cost-performance wise. It would be much cheaper to mine metals on asteroid fields after all. But I bet they can easily culture trees artificially on colonies if they wanted. Their tech’s pretty advanced anyway. Oh, but maybe they think culturing other stuff would be much more useful than culturing trees solely for wood. If the merit of easy procurement was taken out of the picture, using wood did seem pretty impractical. Manufacturing stuff like plastic would be much simpler and cheaper.  

As I was lost in thought, the girls seemed to have finished exploring the lodge. The three of them all have contented expressions on their faces. Well, the facilities certainly looked fancier and more spacious than Krishna’s after all. And there’s also the bonus of a white sand beach and the feeling of release from looking at the wide open, blue sky. It was a great place.

“The current time on the island is 11:14 A.M. I can prepare everyone’s lunch and serve it at twelve in the afternoon if you would like. Shall I proceed?”

“I’m down. How about you girls?”

“Sure, I’m fine with that.”

“I’m okay with it too.”

“Yes, that would be perfect.” 

“There you have it. We’ll have lunch at twelve noon.”

“Understood. I shall serve lunch at twelve then. Please go ahead and relax in the meantime.”

After saying that, Miro’s spherical terminal floated toward a pedestal located in a corner of the lodge and parked itself there, becoming inert. So I guess we’ll just have to call out to it if we needed to consult with it again huh?

“Okay then. Feel free to do what you girls want while waiting for lunch. I’ll just get a drink or something and lounge around on one of the sofas.”

“I think I’d like that as well.”

“Um, can I explore the rest of the place?”

“Sure. It’s probably safe, but be careful anyway. Don’t do anything like picking unfamiliar fruits off of the trees and trying them out okay. We can’t be sure if they’re edible after all.”

“I won’t! Mou, Hiro-sama! I’m not that much of a glutton!”

Mimi puffed up her cheeks in anger. Hahaha, she’s cute even when she’s angry.

“What about you, Chris?”

“Um… I’ll go with Mimi-san then.”

“You sure? Don’t push yourself, okay.”

“Yes, I won’t. You don’t have to worry.”

Chris made an elegant smile. Un, she sure looks the part of a well-mannered noble’s daughter. You can definitely infer her great upbringing from little gestures like that. And, in comparison, just look at this Elf here. She’s already lazing around  sloppily on one of the sofas. There’s no trace of elegance in her actions at all.

After seeing Mimi and Chris off, I tried calling out to Miro.  

“Miro.”

“Yes, Captain Hiro. Are you in need of something?”

The spherical terminal floated away from the pedestal and arrived in front of me. So that does work, huh?

“I want a drink. What do you have available? I’d like to order some.”

“Of course. The cooler in the kitchen has all the standard drinks available. They’re all provided for free as part of the service, but if you want something else, then we’ll have to charge a separate fee.”

“I see… By the way, do you have some carbonated beverages available?”

“Yes. However, they are not part of the standard drink selection, so none are included in the cooler.”

My inner self was jumping around in joy after hearing the good news. They’re not part of the standard drink selection, but Miro confirmed that carbonated beverages did still exist. That’s great.

“Can I order them then?”

“Of course. I shall prepare some for you. What flavor do you wish to drink?”

“I want dark and sweet cola please. I want to drink those. I want to drink lots of it, in fact. If I can have my way, I’d like to replace all the drinks in the cooler with cola. That’s just how much I want to drink that stuff. Do you get it? I demand cola!”

“Yes. I have certainly received your request. I would like to process your order straight away, so please take your hands off Unit 006.” 

I didn’t notice that I was grabbing Miro’s terminal tightly with both hands. Oh boy. I almost went crazy there. Guess I’m just that starved for cola.

“How many would you like to order? We have 1500 ml and 500 ml bottles available.” 

“For the meantime, give me twenty 500 ml bottles.”

“Understood. Please wait for a moment while I procure your order. As for the payment-“

“Here.”

I placed my portable data terminal in front of Miro. After an exchange of flashing lights, a light ping rang out, signifying the end of the transaction. That sure was convenient. 

“Kuku, fufufu…… I really can’t wait. My very soul is screaming in excitement.”

“That much…? I kinda doubted the existence of those so-called ‘carbonated’ drinks you always harp on about, but Miro did confirm they’re real.” 

“Of course they exist! Cola is immortal! It will remain in existence even after the apocalypse I tell you!” 

Well, the only downside was that your urine would turn pale if you drink too much though.

“That’s some confidence you have there…… Oh well. I’m kinda looking forward to it now too. I guess I’ll try some later.”

“Of course. I guarantee that you’ll also be a prisoner to the allure of cola once you do, Elma.”

“That’s kinda scary though……”

I ignored Elma, who was giving me a weirded out gaze, and cackled internally while waiting for my precious cola to arrive. C’mon, c’mon…… Come quickly and quench my thirst……!