Chapter 196: To Pluck a Star
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 196: To Pluck a Star
Pitch-black tentacles coiled around his entire body. Wrapped in a creature that evoked both disgust and terror at a mere glance, Yohan looked at the people who must be watching him through the monitor panels and declared.
“Hear me, humans.”
Some would surely look at him and call him a teenager with delusions of grandeur.
Others would think him insane.
Still others would remark that for all his brilliant skills, all he did was hack—that he was nothing more than a criminal.
All of those thoughts were correct. A person is not a simple being and cannot be judged by their surface appearance alone.
But one thing was certain: regardless of what people thought, from this moment on, the most terrifying time of their lives was about to begin.
“You have gone too far.”
There is no hierarchy to life. Is that truly so? Does the son of a president truly hold the same value as the son of a criminal?
Those who cry out for theories and ideals would say yes, but reality is never so simple. It doesn't work that way.
A life can be assigned a value, and to someone, it can be worth less than the tears shed by his woman.
“It wasn't enough to foist the original sin onto one person long ago; you wretches continue to sin still.”
You uncivilized fools, swayed by the incitement of others, with no will of your own.
“You arrogant fools who thought the ivory tower you built could pierce the heavens.”
Your civilization is not profound. It is not great.
“I deliver judgment.”
Simply to vent my anger.
Would people ever realize that their world was being shattered?
They would never know.
Because an ant cannot read the intentions of a human.
Likewise, a human cannot read the intentions of a witch.
“Receive fire and brimstone.”
That day, every artificial satellite orbiting the cosmos fell to the earth.
Death is silent.
Yohan thought as he looked at the protestors outside his house, who had all vanished.
He stood by the window, sipping hot chocolate to soothe the bitter taste in his mouth as he gazed outside.
“Tasty?”
“...Hekaterina.”
“Kuh— I knew you'd do it someday.”
Hekaterina tossed the words at Yohan. He himself knew very well what she meant.
Yohan had been enraged upon seeing Evangeline in tears. Befitting the witch's only disciple, that rage led to a quintessentially magical event.
He had made every satellite in the sky fall, and as a result, hundreds of thousands of people had died.
Considering the global scale, it was a relatively small number, but as for victims of a single incident, it was the largest in history.
“It's sweet.”
“Right? I told you. The tea you drink while looking down on the powerless masses is the sweetest.”
“...This is hot chocolate, so of course it's sweet. If it were coffee, I'd have said it was bitter.”
“Hmph, I came over because I smelled this. Do you think I would've come if it were coffee?”
She placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest, as if she had come knowing everything already. Hmph—seeing her snort triumphantly reminded him of when he had first met her.
Seeing the 'Witch Hekaterina' he thought he would never see again, Yohan let out a small laugh.
“What? Why are you laughing?”
“Oh, it's nothing.”
“Ha— you little punk. You think I'm a pushover, don't you?”
“Well, you are.”
“Hey!!”
Yohan dodged Hekaterina as she yelled and threw a punch at him, slipping into the room. Lying there was Evangeline, who had cried in his arms last night and then gone limp after being comforted.
As the gentle morning sunlight faintly pierced through the curtains, Evangeline, bathed in its glow, let out a soft moan and slowly began to open her eyes.
“Mmm... Yohan-?”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Hehe... Come here.”
At Evangeline's call, Yohan went to her embrace as if he had been waiting. Her soft skin enveloped his face, and he naturally began to caress her chest and belly.
Evangeline, who had burst out laughing as if tickled, began to look at Yohan stroking her abdomen with an expression full of maternal love.
“Our baby—it's moving now. Want to feel?”
“...Can you make it move just by wanting it to?”
“Of course. Daddy is asking, so it has to move.”
Evangeline said, pulling Yohan toward her belly. When he pressed his ear against it, he could really hear the sound of something alive and breathing inside, kicking its feet.
Wondering if it was okay for the baby to be kicking so forcefully, he glanced up and noticed Evangeline's expression wince slightly with each kick.
‘...It must hurt, but she's doing it so I can hear.’
Realizing her feelings, Yohan stroked her belly once more before settling down beside her. Then, he carefully began to confess what he had done last night.
“Teacher.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“I... I killed people.”
“That can happen, can't it?”
“Hundreds of thousands of them.”
“Oh, oh... that's a bit... many, isn't it?”
Hearing Yohan say he had killed hundreds of thousands, Evangeline realized he hadn't stabbed them to death himself, but had done something using the witches' power.
It was true he was a superhuman with power beyond that of a normal person, but even so, he hadn't shed the limits of a living being—killing hundreds of thousands of people wasn't something that could be done overnight.
It was impossible without borrowing the power of a witch. In other words... it meant that with the power of a witch, it was an incredibly easy task.
“It's okay.”
“...Aren't you going to ask why?”
“It's okay! Even if it were billions, not just hundreds of thousands, I'm on your side, Yohan.”
But Evangeline treated him with the same infinite affection and tolerance that he showed her.
Risking Yohan's life to save hundreds of thousands of lives was unacceptable.
But the reverse was fine.
Yohan acting for the enjoyment of hundreds of thousands was unacceptable.
But the reverse was fine.
Yohan was the standard for all things in this world; to her, he weighed more than the world itself.
“It's okay, it's okay. No one will blame you.”
“...Teacher.”
“If you need to, you can tell them to blame us instead.”
“But.”
“Shush, Yohan. Be quiet and open your mouth.”
Seeing Yohan reflect the same behavior she had shown just the other day, Evangeline felt an inexplicable maternal love. She bared her breast and placed it in his mouth.
It was almost a shame that she hadn't given birth yet, so no milk came out. With her breast in his mouth, Evangeline buried him in her bosom, stroking his head as she spoke.
“I'm sorry, Yohan. It's because of me.”
“...It's not your fault, Teacher.”
“Mhm, I know. I know you're suffering because of us. Because we started having other thoughts—that you're torn between us and the humans.”
This was all because the witches had started to feel a closeness to humans. Because they had started to trust them. Because they had started to receive their gratitude.
That had to change. It had to be a one-sided relationship of giving and receiving.
Just then, such a being flashed through Evangeline's mind. Hadn't they themselves been called that these past few days?
‘If we become goddesses...’
If we become beings who receive reverence and faith, not fear and disgust.
Their own worries, and Yohan's worries. They could solve everything at once.
What's more, the deaths of a few hundred thousand people could hardly tarnish the name of a god.
‘The gods here have wiped out humanity a few times... what's a few hundred thousand...’
I must become a god.
Evangeline resolved.
Half a century had passed since humanity first left the planet and launched a satellite. Thanks to that, 21st-century civilization, in every field, was influenced by GPS to some degree, large or small.
Communications, transportation, aviation, navigation, even cooking utensils and hospital equipment. All sorts of things were under the influence of satellites.
In other words, if GPS disappeared, all of those functions would become useless.
“Do something!”
“W-We can't! All the satellites are dead...”
“I told you to do something about it!”
Humanity fell into a state of chaos even greater than in the 20th century when there were no satellites. One might think they could just launch new ones, just as they did 50 years ago when technology was crude, but it wasn't that simple.
Just as mathematical formulas are built upon the axioms and laws established by past scholars, all the technologies of the 21st century were built upon pre-existing ones.
The entire process of launching a satellite, analyzing its orbit, and confirming its proper ascent had relied on satellites already in space. Now that all of them were destroyed, the advanced technology of the 21st century began to trip over its own feet.
“Damn it, how the hell did they launch rockets over 100 years ago!?”
“Th-They calculated everything by hand...”
“Are you crazy? Calculate all this by hand?”
An era where they literally ground humans into the work. An era accustomed to such things.
The brutal working conditions of the 20th century were impossible for modern people, accustomed to the comfortable labor of the 21st, to replicate.
Just as people, thinking a dark age of civilization had arrived, were groaning in despair, a satellite signal was suddenly detected.
“Huh? Wha—?”
“What's wrong?”
“We're getting a signal!”
Was there a surviving satellite? The scientists, whose faces bloomed into startled smiles, quickly began to check the signal. But something was strange.
The signals, all of which had been dead, began to increase one by one, two by two, slowly—until there were tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands. They had returned to the number that existed before the satellites fell.
“...This is.”
“A-Aliens?”
“No, what is this...”
For the scientists, it was nothing short of shock and horror. Tens of thousands of unidentified space satellites had suddenly appeared.
As they swallowed nervously, worrying that these unidentified flying objects might fire upon the Earth, it was another three hours before the scientists realized that nothing was happening.
“What in the world is going on?”
Satellites had appeared.
And without any price, they restored the civilization of modern humanity.
As if that had been the goal all along.
“Will this do?”
“Yes, thank you, Makina.”
“...It's for Yohan.”
The moon.
On the star closest to Earth.
Evangeline was looking down at the Earth with Makina.
Having confirmed that the problem on Earth was settled, Evangeline reached out her hand and grasped the planet. Holding the Earth in one hand, she smiled brightly and thought of Yohan, who would be waiting for her at home.
‘Wait for me, Yohan.’
I'll give this star to you.