novelraw Chapter 165
Chapter 165
Chapter 165
When things get complicated, they head to Asheido's office. That routine is starting to become standard. Kait usually prefers to avoid cases that involve the parliament, but this time, he had thrown himself into it.
With lighter steps than usual, he headed to Asheido and the councilor Terapolapaneshio.
"Hey, you're here."
"It wasn't much trouble, so don't worry about it. That said, I assume you'll tell me why I was called back?"
"Of course."
Asheido said that, but then just stared at Kait without continuing.
When Kait turned his gaze to Terapolapaneshio, who was floating slightly behind, the Space jellyfish placed a tentacle on Asheido's shoulder as if to say, 'I understand.'
'Councilor Asheido, Kait. Third-Rank Citizen (Enec Lagif) is waiting. Please explain it to him yourself.'
"No way. Shouldn't the one with more seniority as a councilor be the one to speak in cases like this?"
'How outrageous! Then what was the point of having you here!'
"I knew it! You're just trying to make me do it because you don't want to! Could you stop that already!"
That was some serious power harassment.
Anyway, the two of them looked extremely reluctant to speak.
Kait had no idea, but since neither Asheido nor Terapolapaneshio wanted to say it, perhaps this was a blunder by the Federation.
While Kait was thinking about that, it seemed a decision was made. Asheido reluctantly opened his mouth.
"As you know, the planets that Divin interfered with were made into direct territories of the Federation. We expelled the Divin, after all."
"Yeah, I know that. So what?"
Asheido handed Kait a terminal. The image displayed gave him a sense of déjà vu. It was Earth before Kait had been sentenced to exile.
"That's a nostalgic sight. Is this from Emotion's records?"
"This is a scene being broadcast almost in real-time. Of course, it's not your Earth."
"Don't be ridiculous. Then whose footage is this?"
"Actually, on other planets too, they call themselves Earthlings."
"......Huh?"
***
"The situation came to light once it became clear that Divin had interfered with all the planets."
'Basically, for the planets of the Children of Sin, once their destruction was confirmed, only the fact of their destruction was reported. Since it's a guilt the Federation can't wipe away, there are parts they just didn't want to face.'
Kait had heard that the Federation didn't observe the Earth he lived on too deeply either. If they say they avoided delving into it out of discomfort, he couldn't argue.
What Kait wondered was—despite Terapolapaneshio being the observer, was the information not shared?
When he asked, the Space jellyfish seemed troubled and floated in the air, circling the room. He always does that when he doesn't know how to answer, Kait thought.
'Well, the only place we were officially assigned to observe was Zodogia. Saying it like this now might cause misunderstanding, but back then, it was decided that individual jellyfish didn't need to be involved in overlapping duties.'
Well, that made sense.
At the time, it was just a task of observing doomed planets. Assigning multiple Space jellyfish to one place would've been extremely inefficient. Kait would've made the same decision in their place.
In that sense, Kait's encounter with Terapolapaneshio turned out to be more dramatic than he had imagined.
"It seems it was quite fortunate for both us and the Terapolapaneshio."
'Exactly. In fact, the other "Earths" had no jellyfish living on them. It's truly regrettable.'
"Terapolapaneshio. You're going off-topic."
'Ah, right. It seems they interfered with all the planets in the same way—both evolutionarily and culturally.'
In other words, Divin had some intent to create planets called "Earth."
So Kait's Earth was one of them. It was a horrifying story. As Kait grimaced, Terapolapaneshio brought up a phrase that seemed like a keyword.
'Re-Eden Plan.'
"What's that?"
'It was a term that appeared commonly when we read the thoughts of some captured Divin people. We couldn't grasp the full details, but we did learn that it was a project led by the Divin royalty. The specifics remain unclear.'
"As part of executing the Re-Eden Plan, the Divin people were designing planets that called themselves 'Earth.' That's what it seems like."
It was understandable why Asheido and Terapolapaneshio had been reluctant to say it. Just speaking it felt like it would taint the soul.
"Before the Divin were expelled, it was already concluded that normal colonization would lead to the collapse of civilizations. So they swapped out life from the start to create planets suited to their needs. That's what the parliament thinks was their goal."
"Hmm."
It was, at least, a coherent theory.
The Divin people apparently wanted to prove their correctness and rejoin the Federation. In the end, the planets where life was swapped were used as experiments.
"Eden... Paradise...?"
No, it couldn't be.
His thoughts drifted in a direction he didn't want to acknowledge, so he shook his head. But he had no grounds to deny it either. It was unpleasant, but he decided to keep the idea in the back of his mind.
But as Divin's actions became clearer, so too did the true nature of Dan and the others.
"So they're the group that came from another Earth to attack Divin in space?"
'No. The other Earths we protected didn't have the scientific capability for space development yet. While it's not impossible someone in the Federation helped them, they did say their Earth was destroyed, right?'
"Ah, right. Divin wouldn't be reckless enough to destroy a planet under the Federation's jurisdiction."
This meant that none of the Earthlings under the Federation were involved.
Earth was destroyed. Revenge. Considering the possibility that their claim was false, Kait dismissed it—there was no way that grief was fake.
"So they're survivors from another 'Earth' created outside the Federation's sphere of influence..."
"That's probably it. The question is, what could have driven Divin to commit such a reckless act as destroying an entire planet...?"
A sudden sense of dread crept in. Kait suppressed his anxiety and asked Asheido a question.
"By the way, Asheido. Those Divin people who were on the other Earth—did you capture all of them?"
"No. We let a fair number slip away. Is something wrong?"
"Hmm... I see."
Asheido's answer only deepened Kait's unease.
Though he hesitated whether to say it, it wasn't something to hide. He spoke to Asheido as if confirming.
"So basically, the Federation's strong opposition to Divin's project was made clear to them at that point, right?"
"!?"
Though Divin had been expelled from the Federation, they might have believed they were tacitly allowed to prove their legitimacy through the evolution of Earth. But through Kait's contact, they learned that Divin's interference with Earth was still ongoing. Since that Earth was outside the Federation's control, it meant the experiments continued even after the expulsion.
If Divin feared that the Federation had discovered this...
Then maybe it was Kait himself who indirectly caused Dan's Earth to be destroyed.
"Kait. I don't think that was your fault."
"Well, ultimately the blame lies with Divin. Still..."
He couldn't help but feel he ought to shoulder at least some of the resentment. That's all it was.
"Well, I guess I'll have to listen to their story a bit."
Before returning to the Central Star Cluster, he had thought it would be a hassle.
But now that he was back, Kait truly felt it had been the right decision.