Two-Person Galactic Journey: Earth Was Destroyed While Imprisoned in Space Prison Chapter 28

Chapter 28

For a girl nad Alisa Crouch, her brother Kait was a blood relative she had no mory of.

That was because less than a year after she was born, her brother had been sold off to the Organization by their parents. Since then, she had grown up believing she was an only child, and their parents never once ntioned the existence of her brother.

She learned she had a brother when the group known as the Organization was exposed, and the na Kait Crouch was reported as a 'candidate for the next Leader' raised there.

At first, she just thought it was soone with the sa last na, but her parents' panic and the dia people who started visiting their ho repeatedly soon after—those two things made her realize the connection between herself and Kait in no ti.

"Why did you keep it a secret that I had a brother?"

When she confronted her parents, a truly disgraceful truth ca to light. That they sold her brother to the Organization for money, and that she had been raised in comfort thanks to that money.

Her brother's trial proceeded with baffling speed and ended just as quickly. The sentence: exile into space. A harsh punishnt where more than half of the convicts either lost their minds before serving even half their term or ended up committing suicide.

A cri so grave, it was often called the modern-day death penalty. The dia quickly turned their attention to other news, and no one around Alisa ever brought up her connection to her brother again.

The world kept turning smoothly, using her brother as a sacrifice. To the heart of a girl not even ten years old, it all seed horribly twisted.

***

She realized that her brother had been protecting her from afar only after so ti had passed since his trial.

The dia reports began to stir up an eerie sense of unease, and the state of society grew increasingly volatile. Terrorism, war, occult-like prophecies of natural disasters, and a race to develop new technologies.

Around that ti, a woman claiming to know her brother ca to visit their ho.

Rebecca Luthiano.

A beautiful woman said to have contended with her brother for the position of next Leader until the very end. She told them that society had entered an extrely dangerous phase and that she bore the responsibility to protect Alisa and her parents in her brother's stead, who had beco a sacrifice to society.

"Kait hated you all... but if sothing happened, I don't think he would abandon you."

Hearing Rebecca murmur with sadness, Alisa felt a deep sense of empathy.

Not long after they moved residences following Rebecca's advice, society began to collapse. The direct cause was unclear to the young Alisa. But as a result, human society crumbled at an accelerating pace, and Rebecca's fellow Organization mbers who shared her ideals began to disappear one by one.

"Alisa. I will give you all the knowledge I have. If sothing happens to , you must lead the people. Don't worry, as Kait's sister, I'm sure you have the talent."

By the ti she started hearing things like that, the only sights before her were endless ruins.

Ah, so humanity is going to perish. Alisa thought so as if it were soone else's problem.

***

So ti had passed since Rebecca, Alisa, and about fifty others including her parents joined a group led by an old man nad Damos.

Damos successfully negotiated with angel-like beings who appeared from nowhere.

A plan for emigration beyond Earth.

The angelic beings from space—the Divin people—smiled warmly as they distributed food and provided housing to the people.

Rebecca placed deep trust in Damos and began cooperating with the Divin people's emigration plan. Alisa, citing her youth, chose not to participate. Unlike Rebecca, she couldn't bring herself to trust the eyes of the man nad Damos.

He hid it well, but he looked at people like they were rchandise. He had the sa eyes as the reporters who ca seeking interviews during her brother's trial, pretending to be the embodint of goodwill.

Six months after the complete collapse of civilization. Finally, the first emigration fleet was set to arrive on Earth.

"Alisa. You and your parents should go. I'll join you later."

"No, Rebecca. I'm not going until you board first."

Her parents insisted on leaving imdiately, but Alisa firmly refused to listen. Once she began to doubt Damos, she also started to doubt the Divin people.

There isn't that much pure goodwill in the world. Alisa knew that very well.

***

"Eh?"

While she was in the room, she was suddenly dragged away and put on the ship.

She was herded along by a stern-faced Divin person, and ahead of her was Rebecca, collapsed in tears.

"Rebecca!?"

"Alisa, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"What's going on...!?"

"If you want to bla soone, bla your brother."

"Representative Damos!"

Damos, whose face had turned terrifyingly cruel, erged from the shadows and spat out the words.

With a vulgar sneer,

"If your brother hadn't shown his face, you all could've had a decent life in a good position."

"So... my brother is alive?"

"Yes. We're hostages for Kait."

"No way..."

Rebecca clung to her, sobbing. Was she always this fragile?

"After we kill him, it's your turn. Don't expect us to spare troubleso baggage."

Alisa glared at Damos as he spat those words and walked off sowhere.

The Divin people occasionally glanced at them with eyes like they were looking at trash, but otherwise made no attempt to interact. They believed they couldn't do anything. And they were right.

Frustration brought tears to her eyes.

***

The inside of the ship suddenly beca noisy.

They were in a panic. Watching the hateful Divin people shouting at each other with pale faces was strangely satisfying.

Then, the commotion grew louder. The main monitor showed sothing like a fighter jet crashing into them.

Before she could say "Run!", the impact hit. The main monitor was blown away from the other side, and fragnts flew toward them.

"Watch out!"

She tried to shield Rebecca, but the flying debris was blocked by sothing and vanished elsewhere.

Amid the confusion, sothing pushed through the destruction and stopped right in front of her.

Layers of steel plates unfolded as if they had a will of their own.

"Was that up to your expectations? Rebecca, Alisa. And the other two."

"K-Kait...?"

It was Rebecca who spoke in a daze. Her words confird that the person before them was her brother. Co to think of it, this was the first ti she had seen his face directly.

"Sorry for the rough ride. That was a good old-fashioned ram attack."

Her brother got off the ship and reached out his hand. Just as she timidly tried to take it, her vision went black.

"Fueh!?"

'Ms. Rebecca. And family of Captain Kait, correct? Welco aboard the combat vessel Queen Bee. I am the operator, Emotion. Please rest assured, Captain Kait will ensure your safety.'

All around them was transparent, and beyond it, they could see his back.

Wielding transcendent power, he single-handedly crushed the Divin people's ship. That figure could only be described as a hero.

"Brother... that person is..."

If they shared the sa blood, then maybe one day she could beco like that too.

His back made her feel that way.

***

"Stop it, Alisa! You can't undo this!"

"But, Rebecca. Isn't it possible that either I or our parents might have talents similar to my brother's?"

"W-Well, that might be true, but..."

"Even if not to the sa degree, if I can use powers close to my brother's, I could help everyone live better in the Federation. Besides, think about it. If our parents had that kind of power, they'd definitely misuse it, right?"

"Ugh."

Because of her brother, Alisa had an extrely low opinion of her parents.

As Rebecca was running out of counterargunts, Ritimiele, who was close to Kait, shook their head.

"Ms. Alisa. So far, the people who have chosen the sa modification plan as Kait, Third-Class Citizen (Enec Lagif), have only been able to exhibit extrely low levels of power. Honestly, even if you were to choose that plan, the chances of you demonstrating the sa level of talent as Third-Class Citizen Kait are exceedingly slim."

"Ugh."

She was weak when faced with statistics.

While she was hesitating, Ritimiele offered an alternative with a smile.

"Why not start with a popular modification plan and get used to life in the Federation? After increasing your assets, if you still want to try the sa plan as Third-Class Citizen Kait, then go for it. You'll have a hard ti increasing assets if you can only exhibit low-level power, you know?"

"...T-This is frustrating."

But Ritimiele's proposal was reasonable. Choosing that was the rational decision.

Without ever knowing that her brother had chosen his modification plan based on romance, Alisa ended up accepting the standard one.

***

Alisa Crouch is not a brother complex.

She just deeply respects her sowhat heroic brother—but that's all.

Probably.