Chapter 17
The place where that man was born is unknown.
The oldest memory recorded in his statement says he was playing as one of the many children in the slums, not even knowing his parents' faces.
In a slum where the value of life is cheaper than bread, he said he did whatever it took to survive.
There are no records, but it appears he had already killed about three people by his early teens.
With his natural looks and sharp mind, he became a leader among the boys and girls in the slum, and came up with a business idea after observing the adults who visited the orphanage.
Human trafficking—literally selling children into the homes of wealthy families.
He cleverly approached the elderly woman who owned the orphanage and gained enough trust within a year to take over her work. He claimed he learned to read and write during that time.
Once he was entrusted with the work, things moved quickly. He got a clothing shop and the brothel he used as a sleeping place to cooperate, dressing the children up a little.
He didn't screen the clients. Whether it was a sincere couple looking for a child to raise or a pervert with twisted desires for a clean-looking boy, he handed the children over without hesitation if the price was right.
In fact, for the children of the slums, any foster parent would have been acceptable. That country's slums were truly hellish. Less than one in ten children survived to adulthood. To those children, he was a hero for offering them a roof over their heads, and he himself believed what he was doing was good—at least until a certain age.
***
It was about ten years later, in his mid-twenties, that Gilbert of Jane Orphanage became known to the people of that country. The elderly Jane had already passed away, and he had literally become the orphanage's owner. By this time, his descent into crime was already evident.
With his business thriving and the number of orphans in the slum decreasing, he had fewer children to broker. So he partnered with local gangs, leaking information on rival groups to orchestrate attacks, then took in the children left orphaned by the violence.
The children adored Gilbert like an older brother and never forgot their debt to him—even if it was all the result of a manufactured crisis.
It was around this time that he also came into contact with a revolutionary organization aiming to overthrow the government. One of the earliest orphans he had placed with a foster family had become a leader in the rebel army. That man, who still saw Gilbert as an older brother, asked to use his connections for the revolution.
While maintaining his public image as a child broker, Gilbert assisted the rebel army, all the while making connections with the country's elites. He was calculating who would bring him the most benefit in the end.
The rebel army initially performed well, but after one failed operation seven years later, they suffered defeat after defeat and were eventually destroyed.
The fact that the name Gilbert Jane appeared among the high-ranking officers of the national army at the time was no coincidence.
***
Human life is money. That was the conclusion Gilbert had reached.
Gilbert continued his activities in secret. He gathered children who had lost their families in the civil war and brought them to the orphanage, where he began ideological education.
Stay quiet in your foster home. Patience is key. When you grow up, take revenge on the country. I was a supporter of the rebel army too. I share your frustration. Act only when you've gained power.
With words that gave no hint of his betrayal, he instilled hatred in the children and then released them into the world.
Gilbert was clever. He hid the orphans' backgrounds and sold them to the powerful. He spread the word that he was taking in children who had lost their parents and homes in the war. That alone improved his image.
Many of the elites jumped at the proposal and adopted orphans. Unaware of the truth, they told the children how they had fought in the civil war—how they had killed villains who tried to shake the country and protected peace, and now they were the heroes who became foster parents.
The orphans faithfully followed Gilbert's teachings. Even as they trembled with rage and held back tears in their rooms.
***
Fifteen years later, another civil war broke out in that country, led by the rebel army. This time, since many participants came from elite families, the capital fell in less than three days. Most of the elites were executed, and a revolutionary government was established.
The one nominated for president by the revolutionary government was Gilbert Jane.
Without ever stepping into the spotlight, he had turned war and life into business and climbed to the top just before turning fifty.
***
But his downfall came just as quickly.
One of the early rebel leaders had survived—and he was someone who knew Gilbert well.
On the day of the president's inaugural speech, a man missing one arm and one leg shouted before the crowd in the square.
"That man is the cause of it all"
he cried.
That he had engaged in human trafficking, leaked information to the rebel army, and that secrets known only to top leaders had been exposed during the most critical operation—and the only one who survived knowing all this was Gilbert.
Just as he finished shouting, the pitiful man was shot dead.
At first, few believed his words. After all, Gilbert of Jane Orphanage was reputed to be a selfless saint.
But the tyranny that followed gave credibility to the nameless rebel's words, and the repression that began brought many deaths to the country.
After two years of dictatorship, Gilbert Jane fell from his position as head of state. He was arrested as a political criminal and sentenced to exile. It is said he avoided execution by trading away all the wealth he had hoarded.
***
With his sentence of exile complete, Gilbert returned to the surface for the first time in about ten years.
His muscles had weakened, and he struggled even to stand at first. His main goal in returning was revenge—revenge against those who had betrayed him.
But that emotion shattered upon seeing the faded landscape of Earth. How many of those he wanted revenge on were even still alive?
He did not reach his homeland. Disguising himself with a beard and hiding his face with his hair, Gilbert took the name Damos and began gathering survivors. It was more convenient to have manpower when searching for food.
But even that effort reached a limit at some point. Too many people had gathered.
"You're doing quite well. It's like you're really used to this kind of thing"
"Who are you people?"
"We're of the same lineage as your ancestors"
While rationing the little food they had, they walked the barren land in search of more food and water. Around the time he was thinking they might have to kill and eat someone to survive, he was approached by those who called themselves 'Divin'.
The five 'Divin' possessed technology far beyond anything seen in Earth's science.
"We came from the edge of the sky to save you"
At first, Damos thought their words were nonsense, but when they provided emergency food, he decided to accept them for the time being. Even seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't understand how the Divin had produced the food.
Use them while they're useful, and sell them off when they're not. He had done it many times before.
In this land, you won't have to worry about food.
That strange rumor spread, and by the time six months had passed since they descended to the surface, the settlement's population had grown to hundreds of thousands.
Then one day, the Divin told Damos.
"The main fleet is coming. Decide now who will board the ship first"
"Ship?"
"Yes. This planet is dying. You can assume there's no future for you here"
This was it. He could feel it.
Damos gave a big nod and twisted his mouth into a wide grin.
"So? How many do I need to sell to improve my position?"
One of the Divin returned the same wicked smile.
He laughed as if to say, so you noticed.
Of course. It was the same method he had always used.
"How about a hundred thousand?"
"Sold."
"Pick out the sellable ones yourself," said Damos, wearing a remarkably clear and untroubled smile.
***
The ship carrying one hundred thousand people departed from Earth. One of the Divin grinned on the deck.
The buyers were mostly already secured. It had been a long time since they had such a big deal, and he couldn't contain his joy.
The Federation's absolute fortress Zodogia had moved. Based on past experience, Earth—once under surveillance—would now be abandoned. That's why the higher-ups had acted.
He wiped off his grin and sighed once.
"How much more do we need to rejoin the Federation?"
"No idea. Even the higher-ups are troubled."
The one who responded to the complaint was another member of the advance team who had descended to Earth.
"Aren't Their Majesties reaching their limit?"
"So are we. If we can't regain Federation citizenship, we have no future."
"Damn, if only we could buy out that system."
Having been exiled from the Federation, the Divin had their biometric data erased, leaving them without posthumous resurrection. Lacking a backup for their lives, the mental stress was eating away at them.
Thinking about it frayed their nerves. To change the subject, one of them voiced a passing question.
"Speaking of those mortals—"
"Hmm?"
"That guy called Damos was quite competent, but why did we choose him?"
The Divin always selected a representative before taking people away under the guise of protection. Damos was the second one.
"That woman called the Supreme Commander would have worked too. She was far more competent than Damos."
"She was no good. Damos is better."
"Why?"
"That woman acted for the future of mortals. Damos acted for his own desires."
"So what?"
"Damos is easy to understand. As long as we bait him, he'll move to use us."
Acting only for himself—that response brought deep agreement.
Among the candidates they had considered, Damos was the one who best fit the Divin's conditions.
"So that's why you killed the woman?"
"Yeah. If we left her alone, she would've turned against us. Not dangerous, but definitely troublesome."
"True. ...Hey, how about letting Damos get Federation citizenship?"
"Hmm? Use that man's cunning to transfer the system to us?"
"Or maybe we could sneak in among the mortals and gain citizenship ourselves."
That's a good idea.
The Divin's ultimate goal is to return to the Federation. The seeds of life their kin planted on undeveloped planets were based on their race's genetic information.
To them, Earthlings—whose death is the end—are nothing more than inferior beings. That's also why they call them mortals with disdain. That's exactly why they want to return to the Federation and restore the life backup system. Because they cannot tolerate remaining as mortals like them.
Replacing their fear of death with discrimination against mortals.
The first wave of the Divin's ships carried the pitiful Earthlings to their buyers.