The two of them walked down the slightly curved passageway as usual. The only difference was that Emotion wasn’t flying this time.
“Master Kaito. What do you think the representative’s matter is about?”
“Who knows? I have no idea. If they need my judgment, it’s probably something related to Earth,”
“Could it be about sneaking off?”
“That’s possible. They might ask us to take them on Queen Bee.”
“Given Queen Bee’s capacity, I don’t think the representative’s body would fit,”
They chatted casually, without any tension.
It wasn’t long ago that they were talking about oxygen and gravity, but it felt like they’d already grown accustomed to the Federation.
The end of the passageway came into view. Their bodies felt lighter, but they used their abilities to prevent themselves from floating.
As they stood in front of the wall, it quietly slid open, revealing the representative and Ritmiele inside—
[Enough! It’s fine to prepare my ship, isn’t it!] the representative shouted.
“Absolutely not! The Central Cluster’s orders are clear: movement is to be done in Zodgia units! What will happen if the representative goes ahead!?”
They were shouting at each other at the top of their voices.
Kaito was about to silently turn on his heel when Ritmiele noticed them. Unfortunately, they made eye contact.
The color of her fur shimmered like a rainbow—what could that mean?
“Kaito, Third-Rank Citizen Enek-Ragif! Good, we’ve been waiting for you!”
“Hi there, Hello”
[Kaito, Third-Rank Citizen Enek-Ragif, I’m sorry for the back and forth. I had originally planned for you to stay in the Central Cluster a bit longer, but there are a few matters we need to discuss,]
The representative seemed to have regained his composure and waved one of his tentacles gently.
Matters to discuss. One of them was likely the fate of the Goodbye Earth. How many others were there?
“Kaito, Third-Rank Citizen Enek-Ragif, please stop the representative. He won’t listen to reason about taking his own ship to Earth ahead of the others. The council has ordered that Earth’s environmental recovery be approached with the Zodgia!”
[Given the surviving Earthlings, someone needs to go and assess the situation before the Zodgia arrives. You understand that, don’t you, Ritmiele?]
“That’s why! But there’s no reason for the representative to go!? Besides, the representative’s appearance is different from the Earthlings!? Internal regulations state that a species with a similar appearance is an absolute requirement!”
[We’re similar enough, jellyfish and all!]
“You don’t look like an Earth’s Intelligent beings, do you? “
From their argument, the representative’s obsession with Earth jellyfish became clear. If the representative was like this, the other Terrapolapanesios were probably the same. Kaito couldn’t help but wonder if they’d all end up gathering on Earth.
And that aside, there was something Kaito couldn’t ignore. He decided to stop the two of them since the conversation wasn’t going anywhere.
“Ritmiele, calm down. I couldn’t help but overhear something. Survivors? Earthlings?” Kaito asked.
“Yes. Currently, there are about 600,000 Earthlings surviving on Earth,”
It seemed he hadn’t misheard. But 600,000? When Kaito was arrested, Earth’s population was around 13 billion. In the time Kaito was cut off from the world, and in the half year since, it had dropped to one twenty-thousandth of that. Hearing it like this, Kaito couldn’t help but wonder why Earth had perished.
According to Ritmiele, there were three groups of about 100,000 people gathered in several locations, one large group of 250,000, and the rest scattered across Earth.
Kaito thought he didn’t feel any nostalgia, but hearing the details made him feel an indescribable loneliness. He’d felt it during meals too, but when he decided to head for Jupiter, did he know it would come to this?
“Is the matter about their treatment?” Kaito asked.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
[That’s part of it. Regardless of your actual standing on Earth, the Federation has recognized you, Kaito, Third-Rank Citizen Enek-Ragif, as Earth’s representative. We—the Federation—see those who unjustly turned their fellow beings into criminals and cast them into space as people we could abandon without issue,]
“That’s… I appreciate the sentiment,”
The representative’s words were met with agreement from Ritmiele. Given her sympathy for Kaito’s situation, she didn’t seem to have a favorable impression of those still living on Earth.
Even the representative, despite being preoccupied with Earth jellyfish, referred to the Federation rather than “us.” Considering their ecology, his words could be taken as the Federation’s collective opinion.
Kaito couldn’t speak based solely on his emotions. Lowering his gaze, he thought about what would be best.
“…Could the Federation grant citizenship to those 600,000 people?”
[It’s not impossible. Their citizenship would be fixed at the thirteenth rank, and we could immediately prepare a residential area capable of housing 600,000. Are you sure?]
“I think the Earth culture Emotion possesses is more of a shared asset of Earthlings than my personal property. If we overlook the cost of Queen Bee and return it to them, it would ease my conscience,”
[I see. You really are suited to be a Federation citizen,]
“Truly. Even though those guys will probably reclaim it, it’s fine to leave it to them,”
“Huh?”
He caught another one of Ritmiele’s words. “Those guys.” From the context, it didn’t seem to refer to Earthlings.
“Ritmiele, who are ‘those guys’?”
“Those who aren’t part of the Federation. Somehow they caught wind of it and have been descending to Earth to make contact with the Earthlings,” Ritmiele explained.
“Another civilization…?”
[Not exactly. They were originally a species belonging to the Federation. They committed unforgivable taboos and were exiled en masse. …You’ve heard in the council, haven’t you? They’re the relatives of those who tampered with your planet,]
The representative’s supplementary explanation made Kaito nod thoughtfully.
It seemed that actual contact began shortly after Kaito headed to the Central Cluster. According to Ritmiele, they likely spent about half a year observing the situation after the collapse of Earth’s civilization. They hadn’t approached earlier because Zodgia was still monitoring the area, but they had continued their observations.
The reason they finally set foot on Earth was apparently because they detected movement within Zodgia. They likely assumed that Zodgia was preparing to withdraw, as it was standard practice for the Federation to retreat from a destroyed [Planet of the Children of Sin].
In reality, Zodgia was preparing for Earth’s environmental restoration, so their assumption was completely off the mark.
“Why are they trying to collect the Earthlings?”
[“They probably want to play god, They’ll extend a helping hand, pretend to save them, and then sell them off to civilizations outside the Federation under the guise of rare species.”]
“That’s…”
“I’ve heard they were exiled from the Federation for doing things like that, Yet they keep applying to rejoin the Federation. They’re shameless.”
It was clear that Ritmiele had no love for either the Earthlings or those aliens.
But if the future of the Earthlings was to end up as commodities in a slave trade, that was even worse. If they chose that path themselves, that would be one thing, but as their guide, it was only right to provide them with other options.
[“Their arrogance has gone too far, Let’s consider this a fortunate turn of events. Thanks to the choice of Kaito, Third Rank Citizen Enek-Ragif, the Earthlings have become Federation citizens. We cannot allow them to be subjected to such unjust treatment as human trafficking.”]
“That’s right, It seems some Earthlings have already been taken. We need to hurry.”
The Federation had already begun taking action. It had been about three Earth days since Kaito made contact with the Federation. To think they had already started moving people within a day or two—these interstellar kidnappers operated on a scale and speed that far exceeded Kaito’s understanding.
As Kaito watched the footage from the surveillance drones (that’s the only way to describe them in Earthling terms), he felt his expression freeze. There, in the middle-right of the screen, was a man with wings, chatting amiably with someone. He seemed to be in a leadership position. He looked familiar, though Kaito couldn’t quite place him. His face wasn’t unpleasant, but something about him gave Kaito a bad feeling.
“Master Kaito?”
“Emotion. That man in the middle-right of the screen, the one with white hair… I feel like I’ve seen him before.”
“…Scan complete. Master Kaito, that man is Gilbert Jane!”
Even Emotion’s voice was unusually sharp.
A white-haired man who seemed friendly. He looked somewhat aged, but there was no mistaking it. He was a man who had been exiled from Earth seven years before Kaito, sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ritmiele’s fur turned white as she observed the two of them.
“Do you know him?” she asked.
“Not personally. But in our generation, he was a notorious criminal, someone who made it into textbooks.”
Gilbert Jane.
Unlike Kaito, who had been exiled on trumped-up charges as a political prisoner, Gilbert had been tried with clear evidence and testimony.
His crimes?
“Human trafficking and war profiteering. This man’s words alone caused the deaths of a million people.”
It was eerily similar to the current situation with the Earthlings.
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