292: Warehouse Colony

"Alright, we've arrived."

"Yep."

One day after departing from Imperial Star Vanilla Sid.

We've safely reached the vicinity of the guide colony connecting to the Shibras Miss system.

According to what we've heard along the way, a large-scale warehouse colony is currently under construction near the guide colony that links to other star systems from the Vanilla Sid system.

Once completed, it's expected to make logistics even more efficient than before.

And apparently, I'll be able to place a marker for my teleportation destination right inside the still-under-construction warehouse.

"Welcome, Lady Vilijanira. Please, come this way."

Thus, the Carnival Viper docks with the construction-site colony, and I'm casually guided by the male colony's administrator.

Moreover, although still under construction, the essential systems related to survival and daily life—such as airtight sealing and gravity control—had already been largely completed, and they were now in the process of fine interior finishing.

Additionally, as part of Lady Vilijanira’s inspection, she was to verify whether there were any obvious issues with the construction-site warehouse colony, and to gather information on the inconveniences caused by the inability to conduct faster-than-light travel.

I think there must be some inconvenience caused by the inability to conduct faster-than-light travel. What do you think?

"Yes, for one thing, workers who happened to be stationed in the Shiblasmith system couldn't return. Although this place is inactive, so that doesn't matter. There are also issues with logistics delays. Workers are simply worried, and that's another concern..."

Ah, I understood that much, but it seems things have indeed turned out to be quite serious.

Still, I suspect the one who said it would take a month to fix this malfunction was likely Chirarizumu = Konporekusu.

If the Creator has stated it will take a month, unfortunately, humans won’t be able to shorten that time.

As for financial guarantees, I believe His Imperial Majesty will manage to handle that somehow... In the end, we’ll just have to rely on the workers on-site to push through.

"I see. I'll be sure to relay that to His Imperial Majesty later."

"Thank you, Lady Vilijanira."

Incidentally, as a matter of current relevance, Lady Vilijanira has now officially revealed her royal status and is actively participating under that identity following the matchmaking ball.

While this makes it more difficult to carry out her duties as a decoy for the intelligence unit, she has said that moving forward, her primary role will be inspections, so that is not an issue.

After this, I haven't heard anything from Viridiana yet, but I suppose she might say that if a decoy is absolutely necessary, I can just use the greenhouse supervisor instead.

Viridiana would probably think something like that.

"This place... is a warehouse, right?"

"Yes. Eventually, this place will be filled with cargo, and shipments will be rearranged as needed. Depending on the situation, residential colonies might even be established around this warehouse colony—possibly becoming a kind of tourist destination."

"It's almost like the Glogrobeta system. The difference is, there, it's due to Sw's preferences, while here, it's simply a matter of sheer volume."

"Yeah, that agricultural system, right? I'm not too familiar with it, but when it comes to operations, we do refer to it occasionally..."

"Master Sata."

"I understand."

And thus, I arrived at my destination, as far as I was concerned.

So, I created two markers—one I concealed behind the wall, amidst the tangle of wiring and piping, and the other I embedded within the warehouse floor.

Neither will interfere with maintenance or cleaning personnel, and it's unlikely that both the mysterious-looking device hidden behind the wall and the one embedded in the floor would be removed simultaneously—unless the entire colony were destroyed. So this should be fine.

"Done."

"Excellent work, Satā-sama. Now we have a safe retreat in case of emergencies."

This is just a side note—kept secret even from Viridianiela, and likewise from Memoqsi, Joharis, and Dr. Mizeon.

In fact, I secretly obtained permission from the Emperor, the Empress, and Viridianiela’s mother, and I’ve also placed a transfer marker for myself at the Vanagelroot Viscount family estate.

They’re said to be keeping it securely stored as a secret among secrets, a top-tier family treasure... so actually, I already have a backup plan in place, just in case.

It’s a last-resort escape route, to be used only if even Seiryō Corporation, the Hiratrasugumi star system, and this place itself all fail.

"Still, originally, the colony was even considered just for placing Satā’s marker, wasn’t it? The imperial family really does operate on a completely different scale."

"It seemed that way, but Lady Vee stopped us, saying it would be excessive waste and only increase the risk."

Well, it's like building a vacation home you never use. I think it's wise to stop now.

As an aside, there's a possibility the marker was placed at a newly constructed villa.

But it seems the plan was easily scrapped, since Viridianiira was genuinely angry.

"Thank you very much for today. We must now proceed to inspect the other warehouses, so we'll take our leave here."

"Today, we sincerely appreciate your inspection. Rest assured, we will complete and operate this colony smoothly, with pride as imperial subjects, and without fail."

Thus, without any incidents, the inspection of the warehouse colony came to an end.

In addition, similar warehouse colonies are currently under construction near guide colonies connecting to surrounding star systems—making a total of eight locations, including this one.

Therefore, we were tasked with visiting all of the warehouse colonies over the next week.