Chapter 39
Chapter 39
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Priests' Remains and the Grand Delegation
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ozz was the corpses of the Talarulan priests.
It was a revelation beyond imagination.
I immediately began investigating comets laced with Ozz components to verify it.
Hmm, at a glance, they do kinda resemble the Talarulans.
Comets or Talarulans, they're both just hunks of rock anyway.
Even as I poked around the comet with those thoughts in mind, it was just your run-of-the-mill hunk of stone, so there wasn't much to discover.
Of course, I'd investigated Ozz countless times before, but it always came down to "mysterious awakening agent," so I'd pretty much given up on pinning down a definition.
According to the Holy Nation's follow-up announcement, these were the Talarulan priests who had completed their "ascension" and been sent off into the galaxy as a cosmic funeral rite.
So what was the Ozz clinging to them?
Fragments of their minds that had reached the very end, unable to fully dissipate and lingering on their flesh—
These shards of minds pushed to the extreme cause other beings who inhale them to awaken psionic powers—
That was the explanation.
It kinda made sense? Or maybe not.
I just went straight to the source and asked the guy who'd popped into existence thanks to it.
"It's true."
Really?
"I don't know the exact theory. Does the mind's fragments materialize as they drift through space? It's a substance undiscovered around the Holy Nation. But it comes from Talarulan priests, that's certain. And if so, who better than their father—their leader, the one who touched the mind's very end? Me, the Prophet. Doesn't that fit?"
How the hell does that make it true, you lunatic?
Either way, it was clear he was sore about outsiders using a substance he figured belonged to his people.
"I've shared information, so pay up, Queen."
"No, we discovered Ozz and started using it first, so you should be paying us."
"What?"
"We found this new substance you didn't even know existed and put it to use—that's how you learned about it, right? Without us, you wouldn't have known it came from Talarulan priests."
True, wasn't it?
We discovered it, researched it, harvested it, used it.
"...That's a fair point."
"Right?"
"But it's also true that your priests are being treated like mere resources."
You're the one treating them like resources, aren't you?
"What happens to priests who've already pledged themselves to Ozthullan is no concern of mine. But as God's proxy, I have a duty to prevent desecration of their remains."
That was another fair point.
This nutjob actually cared about public opinion, huh?
"I've heard your stance, Queen. Even if they're faint shards of mind, they're still a thirst for God among the faithless. We've lacked the mercy befitting our priests as beacons of faith."
Flutter—
"Worry not! I shall personally impart the proper teachings!"
Hahaha—!
With that, the Prophet finished his piece and vanished first.
A few days later, the Holy Nation issued a statement calling for all nations to gather and discuss galactic issues, including the resource 'Ozz.'
It was a remarkably peaceful approach.
On the surface, PATO nations like the Federation were militarily insignificant compared to the Holy Nation—they couldn't have resisted aggression.
In fact, that's how it had gone before.
Even within PATO, the mood was one of relief at the Holy Nation's diplomatic shift.
Especially in the Federation.
Sharing a border meant civilian chatter about Ozz was nonstop.
Naturally, no one cared that the rocks were someone's corpses, and there was outright disgust at the idea that Ozz was causing problems.
Ozz nearly enabled a coup, skewed national budgets toward it, and even after enduring for the Federation's future, using Ozz drew condemnation.
The fact that no civilian class benefited made it worse.
To achieve meaningful results with limited Ozz, the government had to monopolize it—making it feel like a resource that only brought losses.
Sure, at first it was "Whoa, superpowers!" and "Psychokinesis!" But humans being humans...
Humans cool off faster than anything.
After years—no, over a decade—the hype had wilted.
If there were news of psionic special forces wiping out pirates attacking civilians, maybe—but sadly, the Federation had no such stories.
It was ripe for cries of "Quit wasting time on mind powers and psionics!"
Who knows, maybe they were secretly training ghost agents or something.
Amid all that, the Holy Nation—reasons unknown—switched to a diplomatic stance.
The tension visibly eased.
Varisa Space Company felt it too.
The hardliner faction had crumbled over the Nesepalgan incident, letting the moderate faction reclaim real power.
For investment-stability-focused moderates, abandoning fledgling Ozz mining must've stung.
At least dialogue was now possible—thank goodness.
The Amphibian Cooperative and Galactic Peace Committee showed little interest.
Both were too distant from the Holy Nation.
The galaxy was still too vast for them to care about the opposite side.
Come on, it's a fellow alliance issue—show some interest?
This delegation was prepared on a historic scale.
Practically half our border defense force.
The Holy Nation hadn't limited invites to Ozz-using nations.
Just "all nations, gather."
Not even clear if Ozz was the main topic.
Under Holy Nation auspices, most nations in their comms network would likely join.
A chance to meet many PATO-unknown states.
Of course we'd flex, shoulders back.
Taking just one Space Whale to avoid seeming hostile? That's weak-era me.
Our power had grown—time to stop slouching.
Sure, unknown nations on the hidden galaxy map meant caution was smart.
But under a leader's orders, charging boldly into "wrong" answers is dictatorship's charm, right? I'm a dictator too, after all.
I just wanted to send this delegation that way.
Who'd dare complain about what I want?
Plus, the Prophet kept mocking us as weaklings.
The Kingdom's elite delegation departed.
The Federation's group—sent to explain the space station destruction—was heading back as-is.
Company, Cooperative, and Committee hitched rides with the Kingdom's fleet.
Fine for the non-armed Committee.
You're not sending your own fleet?
"No fleet, nyang."
"Guruk, too expensive."
That summed up their replies.
Heh, you cheeky bastards.
When we should be boosting PATO's prestige together, they pinch pennies.
I'd been cutting them slack as PATO's big brother.
Thus, ferrying all PATO envoys, we set course for the Holy Nation's capital system: Ozthullan.
The distance meant hustling to hit the summit deadline.
The Cooperative was probably the farthest known nation from the Holy Nation.
They only mapped Perseus Arm forces like PATO after comms opened with the Federation.
Assuming departure from the Cooperative, the timeline felt tight for official diplomacy.
Reasonable guess.
Was this how French envoys to the Mongol Empire felt?
We sailed vast distances again and arrived at Ozthullan.
Not without incidents en route.
Our near-war-fleet scale drew warning shots from the Federation-Holy Nation border.
We halted the fleet at the warnings, and comms soon connected.
I sensed the Talarulan priests' tension in their mental transmission.
Why so jumpy? We're not here to fight.
Odd—I'd told the Prophet.
[You have approval? We'll verify with home base.]
We waited for the priest's reply.
After ages, they reported no approval from central—so I pinged the Prophet directly to resolve it.
Mentally chatting with the neighbor's head honcho—too convenient?
Cost me a scolding from the Prophet.
"You're the only one in this galaxy sending a delegation that thuggish, Queen. Be proud."
True enough—mine was the only proper military fleet at Ozthullan.
Even the Holy Nation's fleets were off on expeditions, absent from the system.
If I'd been evil, I could've trashed and seized it.
But as the galaxy's top pacifist, I didn't.
They let the whole fleet in?
I'd expected restrictions.
The Prophet had total trust in me, the strongest psionic entity.
"I don't do cowardly acts openly, so kin like you won't either."
Something like that?
Pure, or arrogant.
Or confidence they could handle this fleet.
Thanks to it, envoys from various nations looked intimidated.
Subtly docking at distant stations, say.
PATO fleets parked comfy.
Power's felt in these little things.
The delegation landed on the summit planet, Talarulan, and headed to the venue: the Talarulan Grand Temple.