"Mm, good, good. Wonderful. Molto bene!"
I couldn't help but applaud and praise the sight of Elma wearing her protective equipment – a sci-fi-style tight-fitting suit that showed off all her amazing curves. Wonderful. It was truly superb.
"Quit it, mister! Just hand me that cloak already!"
"Eeh... But you said you didn't mind cuz it's a protective suit, right?"
"I'm getting embarrassed because of your perverted gaze, not the suit!"
Elma, who was red up to her ears, hastily grabbed the chameleon thermal cloak off me while puffing her cheeks in anger. She already covered her body with the cloak. Dangit.
"Do you like that sort of thing, Hiro-sama?"
"Err, how should I put it? It's kinda a man's romance of sorts."
I answered Mimi's question as sincerely as I could. The clothing styles in this world generally had a sci-fi feel to them for the most part, but I don't remember seeing that many sci-fi style tight-fitting full-body suits so far. That's why I was so affected by the sight of Elma wearing one. I wonder if there's actually bikini armor out there somewhere?
"Umm... Do you want me to try wearing one later as well?"
"Sure."
I immediately nodded in response to Mimi's proposal and gave her a thumbs-up. If Dr. Shouko, who owned assets comparable to Mimi's, were to wear a protective suit as well, I'm sure the destructive power will be off the charts. There was no reason not to agree.
"Master."
"What is it, Mei?"
"I don't think my maid uniform is inferior."
The pressure Mei was emanating was something else.
"Calm down, Mei. Yours has a different kind of charm, okay?"
"Yes. I am calm, Master."
Mei nodded and responded with a straight face, then she pulled away from me in the blink of an eye.
Mei was extremely particular about maid uniforms... She'd agree to wear stuff other than her maid uniform if you asked her, but there was a part of her that deeply believed in the absolute supremacy of maid uniforms.
"Alright, let's go. C'mon already!"
"Ow, oww. Okay, okay, I'm sorry. My bad, alright?"
It seemed that Elma was a bit upset that my attention turned toward Mimi and Mei even though I was previously going gaga over her. I'm sorry, so can you quit kicking me already? Elma's whip-like kicks still hurt even though I was wearing combat armor.
"I'll make sure to keep the command link up at all times."
"Understood! Please be careful."
"Take care of yourself, Master."
After Mimi and Mei's send-off, I quickly put my combat helmet on. Elma, who already finished putting on her protective suit's helmet, looked at me and muttered under her breath.
"...Maybe I should buy combat armor for myself as well. I'll file it under necessary expenses."
"Necessary expenses huh...? Sure. But I still have to give my approval."
"You are gonna approve it, right?"
"Of course, I will."
I'll approve it, so can you put down your firsts already? Since I was equipped with combat armor, I can block Elma's kicks to some extent, but I was still vulnerable against joint locks. Or rather, since I was wearing armor, the principle of leverage was even more effective on me. I was cool with being in close physical contact with Elma as long as she wasn't trying to bend my arms and fingers in directions they shouldn't bend toward.
"I wonder if Tina's okay?"
While we were being sterilized inside the airlock of the Lotus, Elma suddenly muttered in a worried tone.
"She'll be fine."
Tina, who was feeling cornered mentally, was currently receiving mental health care and calming medication treatments from Kugi and Dr. Shouko respectively. Those two were pretty enthusiastic about it, but I was a bit worried that they'd go too far and end up making Tina worse. Well, I suppose that won't happen since Wiska was with them as well.
"We need to worry more about our own safety for now."
"I don't think there are gonna be idiots who'd try picking a fight with you since you're freely displaying your swords on top of wearing combat armor."
"I sure hope so."
If I put my helmet's visor into the non-transparent mode, others wouldn't be able to see my face, and that plays up the intimidation factor. For some reason, it seemed that my face didn't have the intimidating factor suited for a Platinum ranker. Well, the swords were plenty intimidating already, I guess.
"It sure is a dreary colony..."
"It's probably because of the pandemic."
When we left the dock area, we were carefully sterilized before being allowed to step inside the colony, and my first impression of Reemay Prime was what I just said.
First of all, there were very few people walking about. Of course, this was relative to the density of people in other colonies of comparable size. Also, there were more people who were just wearing masks compared to ones decked in full-body protective equipment like me and Elma. The ones wearing masks were probably the residents of this colony. And the ones clad in full-body protective equipment were crew members of the other ships docked at the spaceport just like us.
Why did I think this was the case? Well, it's because full-body protective equipment was relatively expensive. Regardless of them being disposable or reusable, they were equally expensive for the average consumer and require proper sterilization equipment to use effectively. I really don't think the "lower-class" citizens of this colony can afford and maintain such equipment.
"Is it really possible to avoid getting infected with just masks?"
"I suppose they can make do as long as they don't inhale too many spores. In any case, it's better than having no protection at all, right?"
While having such a conversation, Elma and I went past the lower district (in the social sense) and headed to the upper district where the local lord was residing.
"The lord here's a baronet, right?"
"Yeah. Baronet Raydias. Rather than the lord, I suppose it's more appropriate to call him a steward."
"What's the difference between a lord and a steward?"
"A lord is basically a noble who actually owns a territory, or rather, a star system. A steward is a noble who is assigned to look after a star system in the lord's stead. In other words, Baronet Raydias is actually serving under someone else. In particular, it's Viscount Magnelli."
"I see... So, how should I act in front of the guy? I'm not exactly used to conversing in an overly patronizing way."
"You just need to be polite enough. Even if you're just an honorary one, you're still a viscount. Meaning, you're still above him in status."
"I see."
Before long, we finally reached the gate separating the lower district from the upper district. We found soldiers equipped with laser rifles and combat suits that appeared to have hazardous environment protection functions guarding the gate. There were also stationary laser turrets installed. It was a very tight and strict-looking security system.
Well, I suppose this was only natural. The colony was under quite a dire predicament after all.
"Oh boy. That looks pretty bad."
"Well, we already expected something like this..."
Angry colony residents were rushing toward the gate. However, even though there were a lot of them, they didn't actually approach the gate itself, nor obstruct anyone else from entering and exiting. They only gathered a short distance from the gate.
"Eh? Let's see. Give us food, water, and jobs?"
"They're also demanding to be exempted from getting taxed for breathable air and want to be given ample medical support, just like those from the other side."
"The ones from the government are saying they'll take full responsibility for the outbreak and send money to the families of the deceased. Well, uh, that's reasonable, I suppose?"
"I'm not sure if they made missteps during the initial response to the outbreak, but since they were unable to prevent the spread of the pandemic, it can't be helped if the local government is getting criticized."
"That's true. It all comes down to results after all."
I'm not sure if their containment measures were ineffective during the early stages of the outbreak, or if it was already too late when they realized what had happened, but the steward sure had a massive problem on his hands. Well, it didn't have anything to do with us anyway.
"I don't feel like approaching in this sort of situation, but it can't be helped huh?"
"We're gonna stick out like a sore thumb if we just walked over... Should we have just rented a vehicle somewhere earlier?"
"Or rather, since we still have enough space inside the Lotus, we should have just bought a recon vehicle for our use huh?"
"Yeah."
The two of us walked toward the gate while having such a conversation. The guards saw us and became alert, but they relaxed soon afterward. It was probably due to the two swords strapped onto my waist. In the Graccan Empire, only nobles wore swords on their waists while walking about.
"We'd like to pass through the gate. Is that alright? We have an appointment with Baronet Raydias."
"Yes, sir. Can we check your ID first?"
"Of course."
I flipped my cloak open so my combat suit's pocket was in full view of the soldiers, then I took out my portable data terminal and handed it over for checking.
"Oh, right. You guys aren't Marines from the Imperial Space Navy, right? Are you from the local garrison?"
"Yes, sir. We're under Viscount Magnelli's direct command and belong to the system armed forces."
"I see. I hope the situation turns for the better soon."
I engaged the soldier in small talk while he was checking my terminal. I see. They're under Viscount Magnelli huh? Since they referred to themselves as direct subordinates of Viscount Magnelli instead of Baronet Raydias, does that mean the lord of this system has actually dispatched his own troops to help deal with the situation?
"Verification complete. Please go ahead and pass through, Lord Hiro."
"Thank you."
After thanking the soldiers, Elma and I passed through the heavily guarded gate and officially entered the upper district – but only after getting our bodies thoroughly sterilized. The anti-infection measures were airtight.
"The upper district is clean. You can walk around here without your protective helmets on."
"I see. Thank you for the information. Let's go, Elma."
"Alright."
We passed the gate entirely and finally reached the upper district.
"Hee. This place is definitely much better compared to the lower district."
"It's a completely stratified society huh?"
Almost no one was wearing masks or protective equipment like us in the upper district. The only exceptions were the soldiers guarding the gate. This was just my conjecture, but it was probably because no one was actually going back and forth between the lower and upper districts. And since this side was completely clear of pathogens, there was no need to wear masks.
"Anyway, let's go see Baronet Raydias first. It's important to give our greetings after all."
"Right. Let's go then."
I took out my portable terminal and displayed the route to our target destination. Now then, should we walk there or should we look for other means of transport? Well, it didn't seem to be too far from our current position, so I suppose walking was fine.