𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑𝟕: 𝐘𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲, 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 (3)
【Apology. . .? the Crolr is. . .??】
【That’s right.】
【. . .I am at a loss for words and cannot even laugh.】
The elders were somewhat taken aback by Dracatarr’s actions of kneeling down and bowing his head.
【I am sincere.】
The Emperor was so furious that he was rendered speechless.
Then, belatedly, he blurted out the old emotions that had built up and welled up from the depths of his heart:
【How can we believe that the “sincerity” the monarch speaks of is truly sincere?】
【I acknowledge that we have committed unforgivable atrocities in the past. As someone who was part of the Crolr warrior caste at that time, I regret it and repent. Whether the apology I offer now is sincere or not will be demonstrated through the future actions of the Crolr race.】
【Are the things your people have done over the centuries one or two things?】
That gentle Emperor was expressing his rage. Seeing the Emperor take the lead in expressing his rage, the elders watching actually felt their own rage diminish somewhat.
Because no matter how much the elders hated the Crolr, it could not match the Emperor’s hatred.
【You took our planet and made our children starve. You Crolr intentionally deprived us and subjugated us to make us your slaves. Our entire race!】
【I’m sorry.】
【How many resources and how much labor did you steal over the years under the pretense of developing our planet for mining? And how many of our elders did you corrupt so that you could buy our planets with capital?】
【I’m sorry.】
【We wanted to live peacefully in the Small Magellanic Cloud. To live in harmony with the various minor races here and gradually advance the civilization of intelligent beings, and so pursue peace and happiness.】
There were no races as “good” as the Aooa in this galactic cluster. That is a fact acknowledged by all races to this day.
【But you Crolr made us take up arms. You taught us slaughter and war. We who had never had a civil war and were pure wanted no part in fighting anything!】
【I’m sorry.】
The Emperor abruptly rose from his throne and strode towards Dracatarr. And now he raised his voice to almost a shout.
【If it hadn’t been for the Crolr, we could have led the establishment of a coalition to promote harmony in the galactic cluster! We who had dreamed of that are now clumsily competing, forcing us to build an army that is only a facade, making us engage in dark politics based on profit and loss. Who is to blame for that!】
In the very distant past, the Aooa were so devoted to volunteering that they demonstrated an aspect of dedication to all.
Because back then, the Aooa had room to spare. They did not know starvation.
They did not know that the threat from outer space would come from the Large Magellanic Cloud to find them in their innocent childhood.
【Who is this race that made us, who were pure and clear, so unclear!】
【It’s entirely the Crolr’s fault.】
Dracatarr kept apologizing without making excuses.
Only then did the emperor calm down his boiling insides.
He had just spat out everything stuck in his throat.
【. . .Intelligent beings must help each other to survive. Because intelligent beings cannot survive alone.】
【I’m sorry. We are a race that realized this too late.】
【Even the most warlike race wants to make at least one race they can trust. That’s the law of this universe. But why. . . . Why didn’t the Crolr know this until now . . . .】
【. . . .】
【Isn’t it true that if the Crolr’s ambitions are truly realized, and only the Crolr remain in this universe, they will eventually end up fighting among themselves?】
Dracatarr looked up at the emperor.
【I want to change that fate. Even if it was by borrowing the power of a foreign power called the Chimeraz, even if it was in an unfair way.”
【I don’t believe that.】
Having expressed all his feelings, the emperor sat back down with a sense of emptiness.
【. . .I will forgive you.】
At those words, Dracatarr blinked his one eye several times and bowed deeply.
【Thank you! Thank you so much for forgiving!】
【But I will not forget. And I will not trust you Crolr.】
【I will surely prove it. The Crolr will change.】
【I certainly hope so. ‘Great’ monarch Dracatarr.】
🔷🔷🔷
At this moment, strange phenomena are being reported in the Supreme Council of the Lomro-or.
【Many agricultural planets are reporting crop failures and deformed births. On nearby planets, there have been mass deaths of livestock and wildlife in the ecosystem, and here in the capital, the number of Lomro-or suffering from hallucinations and feelings of helplessness is on the rise.】
【Are the soldiers on the front lines showing the same symptoms?】
【Yes. Currently, it is classified as a mental illness of unknown cause, and a cure is being sought.】
This means that the productivity of the Lomro-or who are not fighting is declining, and the morale of the Lomro-or who are fighting is declining on the battlefield.
【There was no harmful radiation, and a detailed analysis of the air in the area where the strange phenomena are occurring revealed no spores or viral organisms.】
Then the Federal Supreme Justice says,
【If it’s not the Parahtoria, it’s the Ririm. What are the Ririm doing to our drinking water, food, and soil?】
Unbeknownst to them, the Ririm were also participating in the Great War. The Ririm are not causing any apparent damage to the Federation, but when the overall damage is added up, they are a force to be reckoned with.
On the battlefield, they must fight, and the safe planets in the rear must supply the battlefield with water and food. However, if the morale of those who continue to fight declines and the productivity of the rear declines, then from the perspective of the war, it is clear that they are suffering a strategic loss.
【Let’s refer to the Crolr for this. How did the Crolr of the past deal with the Ririm?】
【They killed the deformed children, and they burned down entire planets where strange phenomena occurred, including the members of the race. And those suffering from mental illness . . . . There are records that they were burned at the stake.】
In order to deal with the Ririm, it is necessary to eliminate the parts that are being affected by the Ririm so drastically.
It’s a ridiculous way to deal with it. But if the Crolr really defeated the Ririm in that way in the past, we can’t help but consider that method.
However, there was a fundamental problem this time.
【The speed at which the strange phenomena are spreading is much faster than what the Ririm have shown in the past. Judging from the fact that those suffering from mental illness are appearing even in the capital, we have no choice but to assume that the Ririm are attacking all our territories.】
We can’t afford to cut off the parts that are being affected by the Ririm. They have already spread to the Federation’s arms, legs, and even its heart.
【Provide the soldiers and the upper echelons with only the food and water that was produced and preserved before the war.】
【I understand. What should we do about the citizens?】
【That’s a matter that needs to be watched a little longer. For the time being, ask them to refrain from going out, and divide the ecosystem into sections and build large barriers. We need to isolate the material circulation of the ecosystem.】
If the war drags on too long, the damage caused by the Ririm will accumulate and the entire civilization will regress.
When that happens, not only war, but also simple production activities and economic activities will not be able to be carried out properly.
【Keep those who are showing symptoms in mental hospitals and monitor them continuously. Also, forcibly treat deformed children in hospitals and prevent them from going out into society. If there are any who resist, arrest them all as Hive Alliance followers.】
【I will take those measures.】
Next is the matter of the sudden change in attitude of the Triangulum galaxy races.
【The bird races that make up the Conda blood alliance, such as the Caycaconick and Galgaras, are in turn launching attacks on the Federation.】
The Federal Supreme Justice doubted his ears.
【Wait, the Conda bloodline has become the attacking party?】
【The Federation races that attacked the Conda bloodline have suddenly declared their surrender or declared hostility to the Federation.】
【What power does the Conda bloodline have to repel the Federation’s attack? I thought those birds were all extinct by now.】
【The respective executives are re-examining that part.】
【Who surrendered first?】
【The Conda bloodline was originally a hostile race, and the first to stop the war and declare hostility to the Federation were the Vtol race. They have turned into enemies of the Federation. Also, around the same time, the Reptured race stopped the war and declared neutrality. . .】
【The Reptured?】
That machine-transcendent race has been interacting with the Lomro-or for a very long time. Moreover, they were the first to join the Le-orantarum Federation.
Why on earth would the Reptured turn their backs on the Federation and declare neutrality?
【I’ve spent time with them. Is this reliable news?】
【The Reptured declared neutrality. They declared it themselves.】
【Our enemies are the ones who eliminated the Vehlpciaarct. We thought the Reptured, who would unconditionally fight with us, would suddenly drop out of the war for some reason?】
【The Reptured did not explain the details, but it is said that they hinted that they could not suffer the same fate as the Vehlpciaarct.】
Then the Federal Executive asked,
【Federal Supreme Justice . . . . What are you going to do with the Reptured who betrayed us?】
He would like to designate them as a conquest target and punish them immediately, but realistically, that is not possible.
The Reptured are the second most powerful race in the Triangulum galaxy after the Lomro-or. In the first place, it was the Reptured who taught the Lomro-or the method of transcending machines and bodies.
【At this point, we cannot make the Reptured a conquest target. They betrayed us, but fortunately, since they are neutral, we will make an exception.】
Finally, there was talk of the failure of the human galaxy campaign and the dramatic changes in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The Federation sent a crack fleet composed entirely of Lomro-or to the human galaxy, where they intended to defeat the humans and regroup the forces that had scattered from the Federation.
However, it was said that a large-scale Chimeraz army appeared in each of the human star systems.
‘Were they watching our movements . . . . Or could it be that they could have predicted it without even looking at our movements . . . . They might have anticipated our strategy, but it’s too perfect timing to be a coincidence . . . .’
He doesn’t know the truth. In any case, the Chimeraz appeared right when the Lomro-or launched a mass invasion of the human galaxy. As a result, the Lomro-or’s elite fleet was unable to even attempt a proper landing on the human planets.
It is said that only a handful of observation ships that watched the situation from outside the fleet battle returned, and the rest of the Lomro-or fleet was completely defeated by the human and Chimeraz coalition forces.
➖This is something you can’t see into the future . . . . How on earth did the Chimeraz think they could anticipate such a move and meet it at that exact moment?
➖If that many Chimeraz fleets went to the human territory, then they must have given up half of the defense of the Hecartra territory at that time . . . . I don’t know how they were so sure.
➖Even other star systems of the Chimeraz are being attacked by the Federation. How did they anticipate that on what basis . . . .
➖Even so, the timing was too precise. It’s as if they knew in advance and were waiting in the solar system . . . .
That was a trump card. The fleet, which was composed of phase assault technology and state-of-the-art motherships, was a trump card that could deal a fatal blow to humanity.
It was a fleet that had been prepared for a very long time. However, the news that it had been destroyed in just a few days only served to make the air in the Supreme Council heavier.
➖The Crolr of the Large Magellanic Cloud is reported to have formed a united front with the Hyraguroa in the fleet battle.
➖Around the same time, the Aooa declared hostility to the Federation.
The Federation had attacked the weakened Crolr several times with the Federation fleet, and the Crolr had been pushed back helplessly.
In such a situation, the Hyraguroa intervened, and the Aooa, who had been keeping quiet, suddenly declared hostility to the Federation.
The Federal Supreme Justice intuited that the balance of this Great War was gradually tilting.
We definitely started out with an overwhelming number of enemies, so how did things turn out this way?
A few hours later, the Federal Supreme Justice, who had finished his work at the Supreme Council, walked through the empty, gleaming corridor.
‘I thought they were just good at fighting.’
‘But if I had known this would happen, I should have made the Chimeraz integration my top priority and worked on it. . . . From the beginning, our approach to this war was fundamentally wrong.’
If there was a right answer and a wrong answer, this was a war that started with an undeniable wrong answer.
‘It’s okay. This is just a momentary atmosphere. Even though many races have seceded from the Federation, the gap in military power remains. We can try a different strategy.’
Tch . . . . Tap, tap, tap.
The tightly locked office door opened automatically, its thick hydraulics moving.
The Federal Supreme Justice entered his office.
He was about to go to his usual seat, but stopped due to a sense of discomfort in his field of vision.
【. . .When did you get here?】
An egg-shaped sphere. A smooth surface made of what is presumed to be some kind of polymer material.
【Believer.】
【Le-orantarum Owron.】
【I am honored that you would call me by my name. Are you a different person from the one I saw last time?】
The Believer is not a race that comes to visit at any time.
The Federal Supreme Justice thought that they must have come for some purpose, and he racked his brains.
【Owron of the Lomro-or. I highly appreciate your efforts for the peace of the entire Local Group of Galaxies.】
【You always say that, but you’ve never actively helped us.】
【Today, I came to visit you out of pure concern.】
【Concerned about me? Why?】
The Believer slowly walks through the Federal Supreme Justice’s office. It seems to be touching the ceiling and walls with something like light particles.
【Owron. It would be better to stop here. The peace of the Local Group of Galaxies was not something that the Le-orantarum Federation could handle.】
It was a remark that hurt his pride, but the Federal Supreme Justice tried to ask a question.
He asks the core of this huge task.
【The ‘deal’ is still valid, right?】
With that one question, the Believer realized.
That the Lomro-or had no intention of stopping.
【. . .You were going to bring peace to the entire Local Group of Galaxies, and in exchange, I would give you information about dark matter and dark energy.】
【That’s right.】
【That deal is valid. For now.】
It was a tone that suggested that the deal could fall through.
【What do you mean by that?】
【If you are not the ‘main character’ who achieves peace, it will be considered your failure and the deal will be broken.】
【I will not fail. Don’t you know how much preparation and effort the Lomro-or race has put in for this single war at this moment?】
【No matter how much effort and preparation you put in, only the results matter. If it seems like it’s not going to work, give up before it’s too late. Otherwise, the Lomro-or and the Federation will have less and less room to stand in the future.】
【No. No matter how much blood we shed or how great a threat we face, we will seize the Local Group of Galaxies with our own hands.】
【It seems that the peace achieved by those other than you and your race cannot be trusted.】
【You are saying something obvious. I will make this world one and gradually reduce all conflicts and suffering. And in the end, an era like heaven will open up for everyone.】
【If that is your goal, I acknowledge and respect all of your means and methods. However, as I said, I am worried about you and your race.】
【It’s not that. I think you’re saying that because if our race and the Federation become too weak, the axis of power will be simplified in the future . . . . and eternal peace cannot be created.】
He argues with the Believer without bending at all.
【Just you wait. I will achieve eternal peace at the end of this long war. And I will receive the technology of dark matter and dark energy from The Believer, and one day we will become a transcendent race on an equal footing with The Believer.】
【You are mistaken.】
The Believer, who had been walking around the office, stopped dead in his tracks.
【We are transcendentalists. It means that we are not a race without emotions.】
【. . .What?】
【Le-orantarum Owron. We highly appreciate your ability and conviction as an existence, and we sincerely told you to stop out of concern for you. Not to stop because we calculated the eternal peace of the Local Group of Galaxies.】
【. . . .】
【In that sense, your words just now are really outrageous speculation.】
The Believer slowly broke apart from the outer rim with particles of light.
【Only time and space are eternal in this universe.】
➖And yet, ‘eternal’ peace. Such a thing can only be achieved when all mortals are dead. That means it will happen even if we just sit back and watch.
➖We just want to help the mortals who will eventually die to have a little more meaning in their short lives. As fellow mortals.
➖So please consider our advice seriously. Owron, Federal Supreme Justice of the Federation.
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