Terraforming (2)
Two gacha pulls had ended in failure, yet the mood aboard the ship remained unchanged from before.
Of course, that had nothing to do with the extraordinary patience of the people who had followed me here…
"Minister, why exactly are we the ones measuring the climate?"
"He's right. Honestly, no matter how you look at it, this seems like something the Ministry of Resources and Environment should be handling."
Aside from the handful of researchers who actually knew what was going on, everyone else believed they had simply come to this hostage planet to take climate readings.
But what the hell am I supposed to tell them?
The problem was that I had never said anything of the sort, so I had no excuse ready.
Fortunately—if you could call it that—when I simply stayed silent, unsure what to say, our stalker fanatics, the mad dogs of the Purge Squad, stepped in and covered for me on their own.
"Hey, you got no sense at all?"
"What's wrong, sir?"
"Think about it. There's a reason we're doing a job that obviously isn't ours."
"Uh… I don't get it, sir?"
The clueless new Purge Squad recruit and a researcher with no connection to Gaia watched as the veteran pounded his chest like a gorilla.
"We've been running around so damn busy that the Minister carved out some time and gave us a kind of vacation!"
"…Oh?"
"That… actually makes sense!"
"No matter how fierce the storms are, they're just satellite storms! This ship won't feel a thing, so we can kick back and relax right here!"
"Ooooh…"
"As expected of the Minister! You were thinking of us that much?!"
…What the hell is that? I know nothing about it.
Anyway, they were managing public sentiment all by themselves, so at least I no longer had to worry about the atmosphere aboard the ship.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say I simply had no room left to spare for it.
"…Hey, Arto. What the hell is going on over there?"
"I'm sorry. If you just give me a little more time and budget…"
"Add resource demands to that line and it's the exact same story Minister Vermouth and the Ministry of Technology and Science hear every single day. Stop it."
"Ah."
There was good reason for that. Gaia kept failing the terraforming tests, and when Artraia received the reports, her face twisted into something straight out of a demon's nightmare.
"Arto, this is a far cry from what you told me."
"…"
"Look. The only reason I accepted that girl as compensation for that vast northern territory from Prosnak was because you claimed her ability would work perfectly."
Of course Artraia was furious.
Just as she said, I was the one who had opened my mouth and declared that Gaia was worth as much as—or more than—the northern territories…
And yet no results were materializing.
Even as a friend, as Emperor of the Empire she would have been fully justified in sending the Imperial Guard after me right then and there.
Still, I did everything I could to hold back Artraia's wrath.
"Just give me a little more time. You already got the reports—you know what kind of games Prosnak played with Gaia's body."
"…Haa."
"And you're seriously going to throw away a pitiful little kid like that? Really?"
"…"
"Really? For real?"
On top of that—though I hated doing it—I activated the so-called Crying Cat Project, poking at the maternal instincts tucked away in Artraia's personality pocket.
"Me too?"
The moment I did, Artraia seemed unable to look any longer and turned her head away.
"…Fine. But you have one week."
"Thank you."
Of course, the second the result came out, the crying-cat expression vanished from my face in an instant…
"But if there's still no result after a week… Gaia becomes an ordinary commoner, and you get locked in the Imperial Palace for the rest of your life."
"What."
—Communication terminated.
Before I could even reply to Artraia's final words, the line cut out…
"…!!"
"Wow, that is one truly pathetic look, yeah."
I shoved my fist into my mouth and displayed the genuine crying-cat face for all to see.
The next day.
Having received Artraia's ultimatum, I prepared to resume testing with a thoroughly unsettled heart.
"All right, Gaia. The weather's nice today, so let's start with a relaxed mind."
"Yes…"
"Minister, you can't exactly call a rock storm with multi-meter boulders flying around 'nice weather,' yeah."
Just as Riel said, the exterior of the ship was nothing short of hell itself.
—Thud! Thud! Thud!
Beyond the thick armor plating came the relentless sound of boulders smashing and shattering.
Hearing that horrific noise, I immediately took a step backward.
"Right. Sometimes it's fine to take a day off from testing."
"…"
Even God can't do anything about natural disasters, right?
Our technology still wasn't advanced enough to manipulate the weather, so we decided to wait until conditions improved.
But that damned rock storm, unlike usual, dragged on for more than a full day…
In the end, we only managed to resume testing two whole days later.
"Gaia, let's do our best today."
"Yes—yes, sir!"
Yet even the test we had waited two days for ended in failure once again.
"…"
"Hmm."
At this point, the thought that maybe I had been wrong began to worm its way into my own head.
No. The event window clearly said Gaia was exactly what I thought she was.
So why was this happening?
The status window can't be wrong, which means this is some other problem…
But that look of torment must have meant something different to Gaia herself.
"I-I'm sorry! Please, just one more time—let me try just one more time!"
She rushed up to me, pleading like a pet terrified of being abandoned.
But no amount of begging would make this cursed satellite's environment wait for us.
"That's enough for today. Let's head back."
"Ugh… Yes."
Once more a storm came rolling in from the horizon, and we had no choice but to return to the ship.
Inside the ship, in my private quarters.
What the hell is the problem?
I lay on the soft bed, turning over every possible reason Gaia kept failing at terraforming.
The event window results, and the clear demonstration she gave in front of me and Artraia…
Back then her condition had been even worse, yet she had still shown at least a fragment of her power.
But here, not even that fragment appeared.
As I wrestled with the question, my thoughts began drifting toward darker places…
Is Gaia deliberately holding back her ability? No, there's no way.
It was too unrealistic, so I shook my head hard, trying to drive the nasty idea out.
But people can't simply stop thinking negative thoughts.
The harder I tried to erase it, the stronger the idea grew.
…Could she actually be doing that? But… no, she has no reason to.
I kept rolling around on the bed, sinking deeper into the spiral of doubt, when—
—Beep-beep!
An alert chimed from my terminal. I checked it, wondering what it could be.
"We've got a huge problem, Minister, yeah."
"What is it?"
"Gaia just suddenly went outside the ship!"
"…What."
The moment I heard that Gaia had chosen to run away, I scrambled out of bed and forced my body into motion.
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
—Rumble… BOOM!
"Uuuuh… Kyaa!"
—Thud!
Gaia drove her small, fragile body forward, stumbling through a storm where massive bolts of lightning crashed down without mercy.
"Uuu… waaah…"
But the wind and lightning were far too fierce; she could barely take a few steps before falling again and again.
The experimental suit she had worn for testing was already torn to ragged shreds.
Even so, Gaia somehow forced herself back to her feet and kept walking.
I have to do this. No matter what…!
Tears welled from the scrapes and cuts, yet she pushed on toward the place where the tests had been held.
And the reason was simple—only one thing.
For Arto's sake… I have to try harder…!
He had worked so hard for her powerless self; shouldn't she work just as hard in return?
Besides, she had already been tormenting herself with the thought that terraforming was the only thing she could do. The current situation felt like a life-or-death crisis.
If I can't pull this off, I'll never be able to repay his kindness.
So Gaia kept falling, kept collapsing, kept getting hurt—and still she moved forward.
All to repay the man who had believed in her.
But the satellite's storm had nothing but cruel disaster to offer her.
—Thud!
Her already weakened body finally gave out and she collapsed where she stood.
Then she saw it: a boulder the size of a house, riding the storm straight toward her. Gaia squeezed her eyes shut.
So this is the end…!
She had come to repay a debt, only to die a useless worm who accomplished nothing—yet just as she prepared to meet her end…
—KRA-BOOM!!
"…Eh?"
A beam lanced out from somewhere and pulverized the boulder. At the same time, a massive piece of heavy machinery strode toward her from behind.
What is this…
And in the cockpit of the machine that carefully lifted her up…
…Arto?
There he was—the man who had already become the object of her admiration—looking down at her together with a knight.