Chapter 30
Apparently, it hit the part they least wanted touched. As the Divin people averted their gaze, Ielke's glow shifted into something quite psychedelic. A ripple-like presence flew in from behind—was that a wave of the representative's psychic power?
Winged beings. Legends of gods descending from the sky. If you unravel the old myths from various regions, you'll find more than enough to suggest they refer to the Divin people.
The representative claimed that they had not interfered with planets where life had been replaced. And yet, there were far too many depictions that seemed to say otherwise. Kait's suspicion was now fully confirmed by the existence of the Divin. All that remained was to confront them with it. It was even more as he had expected than he thought.
"Kait, Third-Class Citizen (Enec Lagif). You speak as if you already knew."
Ielke asked in surprise, but Kait was more interested in how they had managed to do all this without the Federation noticing.
"I had a hunch. Old Earth myths talk about winged messengers from the heavens, visitors who bestowed civilization, and so on. Someone tampered with Earthlings and Earth's civilization. The representative said it wasn't the Federation, so that leaves these guys."
"I see, that's a perspective only a directly involved party would have. I couldn't understand why you'd break Federation law despite wanting to return to it..."
Ielke's blinking didn't stop. Maybe she was trying to draw out thoughts related to what Kait had just said.
Kait, for his part, hated that he could already imagine what the Divin people were thinking.
"They probably don't think it was a crime. They're calling it environmental maintenance, so maybe they even thought they were correcting the Federation's mistake."
"Y-Yes, exactly! If our methods are proven correct, then our exile was a mistake too. And besides, they're just short-lived inferior beings. If they're under our control, even their service to the Federation would be greater than ever—"
Snap.
The jaw of the Divin person who had said that snapped upward.
It wasn't Kait. When he looked toward Ielke, she had stopped blinking in surprise. But her shock didn't seem to be about what had just happened.
"Calling them short-lived inferior beings—what a thing to say. The registration and revival of biological data isn't even a Divin-originated technology."
"Ielke?"
"Ah, I apologize, Kait, Third-Class Citizen. That was the doing of the representative outside. They've lost consciousness, but their life isn't in danger."
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Calling Earthlings inferior also means calling you inferior. Anyone foolish enough to speak that way about Terapolapaneshio's eternal friend deserves what they get."
Eternal friend of Terapolapaneshio? What was that about? Well, he did recall receiving a strong telepathic message. Was it really that significant?
Ielke let out what sounded like a sigh from somewhere, as if to say that wasn't all.
"Also, we only made death a selective right—we don't think being immortal is something to be proud of. That difference in thinking is likely why Divin citizenship remained so low, and it seems you still haven't realized that."
"Well, it's because you can say things like superior and inferior that you were able to commit such an outrageous act as life replacement. ...Now then."
Kait lightly pressed his head and hesitated just a bit before speaking the next words. It wasn't out of sympathy for the Divin. He feared that if they affirmed it, he'd truly hate sharing the roots of life with them.
But he had to say it. For the sake of the fellow beings he had never met, who still survived without extinction.
"You replaced life despite it being forbidden by Federation law. To prove your exile was a mistake, you hid on Earth and interfered with its evolution and civilization. Am I wrong?"
"Y-Yeah."
"I see. ...You've done the same thing on planets other than Earth, haven't you?"
"!?"
Ielke let out a sound close to a scream. At the same time, the interrogation room creaked as if it were warping. It must have been the representative—furious beyond measure.
No need to wait for a reply. Even the usually calm representative (as long as Jellyfish wasn't involved) had exploded.
With a sigh, he continued.
"So you've tampered with stars that are still struggling to survive. You ignored the Federation's will to observe and support natural evolution."
"I-I don't know! I don't know anything about that! Observe!? The Federation did...!?"
A Divin person in the back of the room screamed.
It wasn't regret for trampling on life and evolution, nor guilt. It was fear—fear of having unknowingly gone against the Federation's policy.
If this is how they are even now, they'll never feel guilty toward Earthlings in the future either.
"We... we just wanted to return. That's all we wanted. To our homeworld."
"......I truly apologize, Kait, Third-Class Citizen. You may return now..."
Ielke's words. At the same time, she looked at him with a pleading gaze. Was she asking him to calm the representatives?
Kait bit his lip, thinking how dare they say that, when a voice came to his ears—not at all in a tone of begging for life.
"P-Please. Help us. If not for us, you wouldn't even exist!"
"That's right, we are your creators... You're obligated to help us!"
The moment those words reached him, his head boiled over.
"Through life replacement that rewrote history, countless lives that should have been born were lost. Maybe I'm here because of you. But you know what... I don't want to thank you for a single damn thing!"
Spitting the words with boundless contempt, Kait turned his back on the still trembling Divin people.
Not for a single moment did he want to remain in that place.
***
He was glad that he still had a shred of reason left. Once he had calmed down a bit, Kait let out a slow breath. Had he acted purely on emotion, he certainly would've dragged Ielke into it too.
'I'm sorry, Kait, Third-Class Citizen. That must have been unpleasant for you.'
"I apologize as well. I should've waited for backup instead of trying to borrow power so easily."
"It's fine. I got the answers I was looking for. Not that I can tell anyone, unfortunately."
While resting on a bench in the plaza, the representative and Ielke came by after a while to check on him.
Both of them looked a bit downhearted. Truly, Federation citizens are kind people.
The later interrogation also revealed how the Divin had managed to slip past the Federation's surveillance.
The Federation only begins monitoring a planet once intelligent life emerges and starts building civilization. But the Divin had already laid the groundwork in an earlier timeline.
Since they had originally planned to colonize the planet, their fellow beings who had died via life replacement had already made preparations. They had reused those facilities.
"Well, that's..."
'Once again, we've committed sins. What can we say to apologize to those from the lost stars?'
It wasn't something that could be easily blamed on the Federation. But Kait didn't think their judgment was wrong, nor did he feel like blaming them. The ones at fault were those who once tried to colonize the stars and the Divin who carried out the life replacements.
Of course, there were probably people within the Federation who had aided the colonization. But if they're sincerely trying to reflect and make amends, there's no point in blaming them. And even if he did, what would remain aside from a fleeting sense of relief?
"Captain Kait. That turned into quite the time-killer, didn't it?"
"It really did, Emotion. I don't want to think about anything for a while. Could you find me a title I can read with an empty head?"
Perhaps sensing the mood growing heavy, Emotion cracked a joke. Kait responded with a quip, letting out a long, thin breath.
"Representative, I'd appreciate it if you could keep this matter a secret from the people of Earth."
'Of course. We'll respond swiftly to the remaining planets as well. The matter of the Divin has already been brought to the council. I promise everything will be resolved by the time Earthlings are accustomed to life in the Federation.'
"......That's a relief."
After seeing the two of them off, Kait absentmindedly looked up.
Beyond the large window, a part of Abakia could be seen.