31: Aircon Tree

"Amazing. Though this place is like a front door for outsiders, I never expected to find real plants here in such abundance within the colony."

"I know. I've heard stories, but seeing them in person exceeds even the rumors."

The area we entered seemed to be a residential zone for people working around the docking bay and its surroundings, as well as a cluster of hotels designed to accommodate visitors arriving via the docking bay.

From what I can see at a glance, the people passing by seem cheerful, and the area doesn’t appear to have any serious security issues.

But the biggest surprise is the trees lining the road we’re currently walking down.

"To be honest, I can’t help but worry about whether this is really acceptable within the colony’s standards."

The trees are about three meters tall, with leaves and trunks that look just like ordinary trees found in the Hira Tora Tsugumi star system.

Notably, there are holes visible at certain points—such as the tips of leaves, and between the trunk and branches—becoming increasingly apparent as you get closer, revealing intense intake and exhaust movements.

Then, perhaps due to the influence of Sw in the Grogrobeta star system, I can see new branches and leaves sprouting and extending even as I watch.

"That's right. But given the nature of these street trees, even if dozens were planted and allowed to grow freely, it wouldn't be a problem. That's correct, right? Note."

"Yes, exactly, Master Vee."

"Ah, I see. Could you be more specific?"

In fact, colonies have a concept called tolerance.

This arises because, compared to planetary surfaces, the density of human-used areas within a colony is high, and both water and air are limited, having originally been brought from outside.

Skipping the detailed formulas and such, this index essentially indicates how much change to the environment a system can tolerate.

However, there's an important point to keep in mind when considering this concept of tolerance.

In the worst case, water can be purified and the necessary components added afterward, so as long as it's clean, there's no problem.

However, with air, it's necessary to maintain the proper mixture ratio—simply increasing the concentration of a single gas isn't always beneficial.

Therefore, if you were to massively cultivate plants capable of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, assuming this ability alone would solve the problem, it could lead to a major disaster.

Apparently, in current colonies, most rely on science or mods to generate gases with the appropriate mix ratio... But things are different here, in the first primal colony of the Glogrobeta star system.

"This tree is called an Air-Conditioning Tree. Through selective breeding, including mod usage, it has evolved to continuously produce a gas mixture suitable for human survival and activity."

"Ah... I see..."

So, that's the Air-Conditioning Tree.

Not chaotic—rather, a plant that aims to generate gas with a specific mixture ratio, not just according to biological functions.

And thanks to Sw in the Glogrobeta system, it rapidly cycles through growth and decay, achieving long-term functional stability.

This technology is possible only because of the Glogrobeta system—truly remarkable environmental maintenance.

And nearby, right as we were having this conversation, an air-conditioning tree was actually withering, crumbling into sand, and from the fallen wood, a new air-conditioning tree was just beginning to sprout.

I quietly picked up one of the fruits the withered tree had presumably produced, and tasted it...

"Your expression is really intense, Satā."

"Of course. I've heard the fruit of the air conditioner tree is made deliberately bitter, as a deterrent for those who might be tempted to reach out like you, Satā-sama."

Bitter.

Utterly bitter.

Just touching it with my finger and tasting it on my fingertips made my face twist—so bitter it felt like it jolted me awake.

And for some reason, there's also a metallic taste mixed in.

This is impossible.

I couldn't possibly eat something like this.

I thought there was no need to make the taste as if I'd licked an air conditioning unit, but after hearing Meikoshi's words, I found myself convinced—there's no denying it anymore.

"Well, apparently some people have even managed to learn how to eat something like that air conditioner tree fruit, and I hear they've quietly opened a shop somewhere in the first primal colony."

Their effort is impressive... Are they from the Hinomoto system?

Well? From what the memo said, they couldn't even confirm whether the shop actually exists.

So it's just a rumor, then. Shall we look into it if we have time?

Incidentally, the Hinomoto system is known throughout the Vanilla Universe Empire as the region with the most deeply rooted culture of food obsession.

The only place in this star system where you can successfully remove the poison from the most toxic parts of poisonous fish—though the exact method remains unclear—and still enjoy them as delicious food is here.

They must have processed various other toxic substances, somehow making them edible.

If they're from a system like that... well, I wouldn't be surprised if they could cook something ordinary people couldn't eat.

Rather, I can understand it.

Ah, Sata. Our hotel is located in the middle layer of the colony. Shall we head over there?

"Huh? Is that so?"

Well, I said I was heading toward the hotel... Still, he's a noble, after all.

It seems we're to stay at a hotel located in the upscale central area of the colony, rather than a budget inn for commoners found around here.

With that, we boarded the elevator to move to a different floor within the colony and descended toward the lower level.

As for the tolerance discussion, let's just say it's something that comes up in the space age—just let it slide for now.

Going into detail would lead to endless talk about gas composition, microbial proliferation, water recycling, and other tangential topics unrelated to the main subject, so we'll leave it at that.

09/21 Correction of typo