24: The Grogrobeta Star System

"Vee-sama, Sata-sama. We've just received a notification saying that the restrictions on Memo and the others have been lifted after completing our interviews with the involved parties."

"Finally. It took quite a while, didn't it?"

"It seems the delay was due to various complications—other charges, negotiations, and so on—because the sky pirate was actually a member of the Giga洛克 Sky Pirate Gang."

A few days after I had made a contract with Virijianira.

Our interrogation regarding the three of us ended without any particular incident, but it seemed there were matters that required us to be detained, such as patrols and other duties, so our stay at the Royal Suite of a luxury hotel in the guide colony of Grogrobeta System continued until today.

But it looks like our stay here is finally coming to an end.

"In any case, the memo team can stay at this hotel only until today. Tomorrow morning, we will be leaving the hotel. And activities can resume starting from today."

"Hmm, I see."

"I understand."

Although we've enjoyed days of exquisite meals, including premium milk tea and other delicacies that left us in awe, if it must come to an end, we should decisively let go and focus wholeheartedly on our dual-purpose tasks.

"So, shall we decide what activities to pursue starting tomorrow by the end of today?"

"That's right. So let's start by sharing some basic information about the Glogrobeta system, then decide where we're going and what we'll be looking at. Note this."

And so, it's study time.

The topic is: What kind of system is the Glogrobeta system?

"Please, take a look."

Mekoshi used the room's built-in projector to display a hologram of the entire Glogrobeta system.

In short, the Glogrobeta system is an agricultural star system.

This is because the Sw (Starware) in the Glogrobeta system—a network spread throughout the star system and constantly active—enhances plant growth rates. To take advantage of this effect, agriculture or crop processing is carried out on nearly all of the four habitable planets, eight primal colonies, and countless asteroids, moons, and colonies of various sizes.

Moreover, the harvested crops are processed and consumed not only within the Glogrobeta system but also in nearby star systems—and even on distant planets such as the Imperial Planet Vanilla Sid.

Indeed, the fact that Glogrobeta's agricultural products reach star systems far beyond multiple faster-than-light journeys is a clear indication of their immense production volume and high quality.

"As for where the memos are headed... first, the memos aren't allowed through regular procedures into Glogrobeta itself or other inhabited planets."

"That's to be expected. Even in standard colonies, outsiders find it difficult to access life-support systems."

"Um, reserving a tour takes about half a year. If it were just me, that'd be fine, but the others—Vee and the rest—don't have that kind of time."

But as they say, where there's light, there's shadow—there are also restrictions that come with such massive, highly efficient agriculture.

One such restriction is the ban on entry to the stars for anyone not involved.

Since the entire star is essentially a vast farm, and to prevent the spread of diseases affecting crops, the stars in the Glogrobeta system are generally off-limits to outsiders.

It's technically possible to enter under the guise of a tour... but even that would come with strict limitations, leaving only a six-month wait for the luxury of briefly setting foot on the planet.

While affordable, waiting half a year is... quite tough for the Vilijanira group.

"Ah, but if you just want to get a glimpse of what's happening on the planet, you can observe the surface from certain colonies using telescopes."

"That seems to be the case. Given our position, it wouldn't be right to ignore what's happening on the planet entirely, so let's take a look."

"Then, is access to the Glogrobeta system definitely confirmed?"

Still, if one only wants to observe the surface, there are places equipped with ultra-precise telescopes, and even live viewing tours using agricultural cameras installed across various locations.

"In that case, I'll need to stay on standby for inspection starting tomorrow."

"Ah, yeah... I see. That makes sense."

"I see. Now that you mention it..."

The shadow of the Groglobeta star system's Sw still remains.

Apparently, when entering Sw's effective range, one must first spend a full day in a sealed room isolated from the outside, to ensure that no plant seeds or other foreign matter were inadvertently brought along—just to confirm that no abnormalities occur.

If we neglect this, in the worst case, plants might suddenly sprout roots all over your body, turning you into a mummy—though that’s said to have happened in ancient times.

This step could be skipped since we were aboard the *Tsumebakei*, allowing us to check everything while moving through the ship… well, it’s unavoidable, I suppose.

Also, though this doesn’t concern us directly, accelerating plant growth essentially means shortening their lifespan.

For safety reasons, humans with strong plant-based traits are prohibited from entering the Grogrobeta system.

Therefore, in reality, the guide colony we're currently in is in a delicate position: while it's managed and operated from within the Grogrobeta system, from a Sw range perspective, it hasn't actually entered the Grogrobeta system yet. Unlike other guide colonies, it's specifically designed to accommodate humans who can't go further, featuring living facilities and infrastructure for detours to other star systems—making it a particularly unique and larger-than-average guide colony.

Anyway, that's just a side note.

"Clear. Please submit a request for the use of the staging facility for three people to enter the star system. We'll be moving to the staging facility first thing tomorrow morning."

"Understood. What would you like to do, Master Vee, for the remainder of today?"

"Memo, I'm planning to go sightseeing at the guide colony with Satu and the others. Is that alright?"

"Of course. I've been wanting to explore a few things myself."

"Understood. Since the application has also been completed online, let us proceed."

After quickly deciding what to do within the Grogrobeta system and making the necessary reservations, the three of us stepped out of the hotel for the first time in a while.