Chapter 139

The trial related to Tsubanda had been scheduled for quite some time later, but that didn't mean his escort duty had been lifted. As a result, Kait ended up spending his time off in the Central Star Cluster.

"I just had a vacation not long ago, you know."

"And I still got dragged into the Aguares incident, right?"

"Well, yeah, but still."

Ignoring Emotion's calm retort, Kait kept his eyes on the terminal while lying on the bed.

Officially, he was still on escort duty, so he couldn't stray far from the Earthlings' residential area. More accurately, he stayed there precisely because he knew that if not for that pretense, Terapolapaneshio would ask for his cooperation.

What they were currently focused on was simulating how to apply Ragav's accomplishments to Earth's case. That's why they wanted Kait, an Earthling, as an advisor—but he kept refusing under the pretense of being on escort duty. Even the unruly Space jellyfish tried to follow Federation law as much as possible.

Until Ragav's planetary relocation settled down or the trial concluded, Kait was determined not to leave the Earthlings' residential area.

"Thanks to that, I can finally indulge in reading again after a long time."

"But you still read sometimes using Queen Bee, don't you?"

"Only occasionally, right? Being able to teleport has its pros and cons. I don't get as much reading time as I expected."

Reading as much as he wanted, without worrying about time, as long as his concentration lasted. That kind of luxurious time. Last time, he prioritized Emotion's wishes, but this time, he couldn't even go out (or so he claimed). Maybe work like this wasn't so bad once in a while.

"Are you sure you're safe? There's no guarantee there won't be an attack."

"I'm fine. I've got countermeasures all set up."

While Kait's eyes scanned the text on the terminal, he lightly waved his right hand. A nearby table gently floated into the air. No, on closer inspection, it wasn't a table.

"Is that a Worker Bee!?"

"Yep. I've disguised a few of them as tiles in the residential zone. I've also linked one to each of the people I'm guarding, so unless someone launches an attack with a combat ship right off the bat, we should be fine."

"When did you develop such technology?"

"When using Queen Bee, I feel like my psychic power grows, strangely enough. ...I'm too scared to investigate though."

He'd never heard of anyone's psychic power growing from using Di-Kigaia Zarmos, not even from the Space jellyfish themselves. Whether it was a unique trait of Kait's, a result of his psychic power permeating the Worker Bees, or just his imagination—including the growth itself—it was bound to be a troublesome matter either way, so Kait had decided not to look into it.

Ignoring Emotion's exasperated gaze, Kait returned his attention to the terminal. While there were works from Earth stored within Emotion, lately he had also been purchasing publications by Federation citizens from time to time.

On top of the Worker Bee being used as a table sat some gifted sweets. He occasionally pulled them toward him and popped them into his mouth using psychic power.

"Won't the people from Terapolapaneshio get mad if they find out you're slacking off like this?"

"They probably already know."

The Space jellyfish continued to hide their appearance today while guarding the Earthlings' residential area. There's no way they didn't know what Kait was up to. And since they hadn't said anything, it meant Ragav didn't currently need Kait's ideas or advice.

Since he had chaired the meeting, he was still receiving occasional reports from the staff involved in Ragav's relocation. The construction of the artificial celestial body was going smoothly, but it seemed they were having trouble selecting a suitable star system for relocation.

"If they really need me, they'll call. Besides—"

"Besides?"

"Isn't it about time I stopped being the center of attention all the time?"

Not only had he fulfilled Terapolapaneshio's long-held wish, but also facilitated Earth's entry into the Federation, destroyed the Zanigariu Grand Fleet, established relations with the space eel, and resolved the Aguares incident. While the last one was mostly Emotion's achievement, it wasn't like Kait didn't contribute. He had become too well-known in too short a time.

There were only a few Earthlings left whose intentions were still unknown. Kait needed to start thinking about what he wanted to do once he finished confirming the intentions of the Earthlings who had been sold.

"First, I want to travel around various planets in the Federation. Touring habitable natural planets sounds fun too, don't you think?"

"Indeed. It's hard to say it's too early... things are progressing faster than expected, which is a relief."

"I owe a lot to everyone in the Federation."

Originally, it was supposed to be just Kait, Emotion, and Queen Bee handling things. But thanks to the Federation's cooperation, the timeline had shortened considerably. Personally, Kait didn't think much of his own achievements, considering how much time they'd saved with help.

But the Federation probably thought their cooperation didn't match the scale of Kait's accomplishments. In fact, Terapolapaneshio was actively promoting that narrative.

"I guess you could say it's mutual."

"Yeah. So for now, I'll travel around the Federation and lend a hand if anything comes up. Once that's done, I want to go even further."

"Even further?"

"Right. Maybe go see what's beyond the galaxy. Another galaxy, perhaps. Isn't that romantic?"

"I have a feeling you'll get caught up in more trouble there too."

"Could you not say that? You're probably right, though."

Freed from the constraints of a finite lifespan, Kait now lived by following his curiosity. He could think of countless things that sounded fun.

"I'm also interested in the cuisine of habitable planets. Though I'd rather not eat the food from Ritimiele's homeworld."

"Oh yes, I'm looking forward to that. Ritimiele, Fourth-Rank Citizen Darda Elra's, palate is eternally incompatible with mine."

Remembering the trauma from Abakia, Emotion's expression twisted more visibly than usual. Whether gaining a taste similar to Earthlings was a blessing or a curse for her remained unclear.

"Let's go out to eat sometime. I hear they've been making progress on recreating Earth cuisine in the residential area."

"That sounds wonderful."

Emotion's expression returned to normal. Her tone, too, seemed a bit brighter. Since she obtained a humanoid body only after Earth's civilization had collapsed, she likely had never actually tasted Earth food before.

"Is there anything you want to try?"

"Let's see... I suppose Shkmeruli would be my choice."

"Ah... I wonder if they have it. Not sure."

"I'll look it up."

As always, when it came to food, she took the initiative. She stared into the void, seemingly accessing some sort of network.

"I found it. Earthlings rated it highly too. This should be promising!"

"That's good to hear."

Due to bodily modifications, Kait's body had become extremely energy-efficient. Perhaps because he wasn't picky about food, he often skipped meals especially when engrossed in hobbies. During his time in the space prison, both he and Emotion agreed that without her management, he wouldn't have maintained proper nutrition.

No special preparation was needed. Putting down the terminal, he headed outside. Emotion, as if hurrying him, took the lead.

It almost felt like the roles of human and mechanical intelligence had reversed, but that was just how Kait and Emotion were.

"Hey, the restaurant's not going anywhere."

"The ingredients might! If we don't hurry, they could sell out!"

"If that happens, we can just eat something else, right?"

"No, I've already committed to Shkmeruli! Why is it that the Captain never understands romance in times like this!?"

"Normally, I think I'm the one who says that."

Emotion's grumbling was as usual.

The Earthlings' residential area remained peaceful and uneventful today as well.

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