Two-Person Galactic Journey: Earth Was Destroyed While Imprisoned in Space Prison Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Kait was consulted by Dilgana so ti after an unpleasant conversation with the Divin people had ended.

"A copy of the Queen Bee?"

"That's right. You know, the battle scene with the Divin guys. It was popular, and now we're getting requests from all over asking if we can build that type of ship."

"Oh?"

It was all new to him, but he had no particular reason to object.

Most of the construction work was handled solely by Emotion and Hamaat in the Central Star Cluster. The only ti Kait had intervened was when he had the Goodbye Earth ship processed into steel plates and attached in Zodogia.

Apparently, not only Dilgana but even Hamaat in the Central Star Cluster was being bombarded with questions, so he had dumped them all on Dilgana. Hamaat, thinking that so kind of weapon was added to the Queen Bee in Zodogia, seed to be subtly demanding that information be disclosed.

Kait tilted his head.

"Dilgana, weren't you present when we attached the steel plates to the Queen Bee? Wouldn't it be fine to just explain that?"

"Listen, Kait—Third-Class Citizen (Enec Lagif). If you call it a ship's special armant, that's its trump card, right? Even if I knew, I can't leak it externally without the owner's permission."

"Hamaat—Fifth-Class Citizen (Alto Romia)—is the one responsible for building the Queen Bee, right? If he demands disclosure under that authority, I don't think you can refuse."

At Emotion's words, Dilgana let out a hiss of steam. It was an expression of displeasure, but it didn't seem to be directed at her.

"Well, yeah, that's true. So, I thought it was a bit much, but I've already told Hamaat. ...I did."

So the part about lacking permission referred to people other than Hamaat.

Still, he hesitated. Kait had thought machine intelligences would be more straightforward.

Noticing Kait's gaze and thoughts, Dilgana shook his head unit side to side.

"He doesn't trust . Even if I say it's just steel plates stuck on."

***

Actions speak louder than words.

They connected with Hamaat in the Central Star Cluster. The Federation's technology, capable of near-instant communication over such vast distances, was astonishing, though they claid it wasn't anything special. They said anyone could reach that answer given enough ti.

They showed Hamaat the ship's body and provided the mory data from Emotion and Dilgana. Only then did Hamaat finally mutter, unable to believe it.

'It's almost the sa as the original Di-Kigaia Zarmos. It doesn't even have ranged weapons. ...Wait, is this ship's only armant really just those steel plates?'

"That's what I've been saying, you Gamahadeg."

'Ah, if the Third-Class Citizen and Ms. Emotion say so, then I believe it. The reason no one trusts your words is because of how you usually act, you Gamahadeg.'

Dilgana and Hamaat didn't seem to get along. Emotion looked flustered, unsure whose side to take. Perhaps such emotional subtleties were hard for her to grasp.

To Kait, watching them argue through the monitor just looked like a typical exchange between close friends.

For now, they decided to move the conversation forward.

"The idea to stick steel plates onto the ship and rearrange them for different uses was mine. If it moves on its own, I thought it'd be easier to understand if it had parts that felt like familiar hands."

'Yeah, that surprised . Why didn't you attach an actual arm as a part?'

"If it breaks, I can't fix it right away. Like skin, I patch it up in parts and fill in the rest with imagery—it's all up to from there."

'I see. So, what's the composition of the steel plates...? What the hell, most of this is cheap Earth-made material. Wait, how did this manage to break through the Divin's barriers and armor?'

There was no way to answer Hamaat's question. Even Kait only had a vague sense of "I did it because I thought I could."

'Oh. So of these steel plates have a composition close to Federation standards. Did you use these to destroy the enemy ship?'

"That part was locally sourced by the Captain."

'Locally sourced?'

He looked even more confused. Not just Hamaat, but Dilgana too.

"Since it's cheap steel, once it breaks, that's it. So we scavenged fragnts from destroyed enemy ships."

'That makes no sense! Then how did you even scavenge them!?'

"Well, I just tried it and it worked."

'There's no way I can accept that!'

Kait figured the Divin people probably felt the sa way Hamaat did now.

He watched the two shouting and steaming and thought to himself.

***

'Enough. All I've learned is that trying to seriously analyze this gives a headache.'

"Yeah."

'Anyway, the idea of lining the ship with steel plates and rearranging them for different uses is interesting. Let's build it that way.'

"Exactly. I actually thought the sa and have already started designing a system to embed into the plates. Take a look."

Kait's steel plates were controlled with psychic power, but it seed he had created a similar effect by pre-programming the plates.

The rest was up to the engineers. Leaving Dilgana and Hamaat to their eting, Kait headed toward the Queen Bee.

"It's strange, Captain."

"What is?"

"Well, those two. At first, they seed to get along poorly, but when it cos to work, they look like the best of friends."

"So friends are just like that, I guess."

Emotion didn't seem convinced by Kait's reply. A whirring sound ca from sowhere. Even so, Kait had nothing more to say.

He gently ran his finger along the Queen Bee's steel plate and murmured.

"I heard the Federation plans to attack Divin."

"Yes. Along with that, they announced they would liberate the stars under Divin's influence and incorporate them into the Federation."

Divin had clearly beco the Federation's enemy. It was rare for the Federation, which respected all forms of freedom, to define an enemy themselves. To return to the Federation, to prove their righteousness to it—despite that, they continued to toy with countless lives without remorse. From the Federation's perspective, it was like being publicly disgraced.

"The Captain won't go to the battlefield, but ships modeled after the Queen Bee will probably be used in the assault on Divin."

"...Yeah, probably."

Divin had wanted to return to the Federation. But they had clearly chosen the wrong path. By the ti they realized it, it was already too late. That's all there was to it.

Kait hadn't asked how far the Federation planned to take things. He didn't intend to ask either.

Still, deep down, he had the vague certainty that he would never encounter the Divin people again.

"I don't know. ...It's not like I want them to apologize now, but it's complicated."

"Don't worry about it. You, Captain, and the Earthlings are all victims. There's no need to concern yourself with what happens to them."

"Thanks, Emotion."

He felt slightly better. Maybe Dilgana and the others had anticipated that and spoken up because of it.

Feeling the care of his friends, Kait let a small smile form on his lips.

***

Still.

Dilgana and Hamaat. Co to think of it, Ritimiele had ntioned it before.

What does "Gamahadeg" even an? The translation doesn't work, so it's probably so kind of slang.

It wasn't worth looking up, but that only made it all the more frustratingly vague.