CHAPTER 3 – I’M JUST AN EARTHLING, CAN I STOP AN INTERGALACTIC WAR?
PART 02
——
“B-but why!?” I argued.
But the alien girl had turned away from me.
“That Satsuki woman is more important to Rekka than me, right? So, no.”
“No, this isn’t about who is more important. I just need to go rescue her-”
“I need Rekka to rescue me too. Why don’t you want to meet my Papa!?”
Erm, just what was happening here? Did Iris think that I just wanted to rescue Satsuki but not her?
“I’ll act as your lover later, but Satsuki is in immediate danger now, so just let me go rescue her first…”
“See? That Earthling woman is more important than me!”
Why was this even happening!?
Iris slapped my hand away when I tried to reach out to her, and dove headfirst onto the bed.
“I hate Rekka!” she screamed from beneath the blanket, as I paced around the room, unsure of how to proceed.
Why was this happening? Didn’t I tell her that Satsuki was being targeted by Messiah? I could act as her lover anytime, so it was common sense that I would place Satsuki first.
As I clutched at my head, R swam backwards through the air, aiming a cold glance my way.
“Rekka-san, you’re really such a dense guy who knows nothing about a lady’s heart.”
I was speechless…
Iris had curled up under the blanket, and didn’t seem to be ready to come out anytime soon.
[Exiting warp in a short while. Beware of turbulence]
I glanced up as the sound of the announcement drifted down from the ceiling.
Damn. I wanted to return to Earth as soon as this warp ended, but it would be tough when Iris wasn’t ready to cooperate. I needed to cheer her up somehow.
“Erm… Sorry. Please don’t be angry, come on out.”
*Whomp!*
Iris’ tail, which was sticking out from beneath the sheets, gave an angry thump against the mattress.
Damn. Did I say that wrong?
[Exiting warp]
The announcement signaled the end of the warp.
Since Iris’ private bedroom had no windows, I didn’t see the spaceship leave the warp zone. Instead, I felt a sudden drop of my stomach, and I guess that was the sign that we had exited the warp.
“H-hey, I’m begging you. I want to return to Earth soon,” I cajoled as I tugged at the blanket over Iris.
“No! Never!” Iris shouted as she tugged the blanket back over herself.
For a moment, I felt like a mother trying to get her sleepy child out of bed.
Since Iris was obviously stronger, I soon tired of trying to tug the blanket off.
Now was not the time to act like children. I needed to go rescue Satsuki as soon as possible.
I stood up once again, placing my hands on Iris’ body and shaking her.
“Oi! Seriously! I’m really begging you! I’ll get down on my knees and prostrate before you if that’s what you want.”
“What’s prostrate?”
“A man’s last weapon!”
Or that was what my mum told me. In fact, she, rather than my old man, was the one who taught me how to be a gentleman.
“……”
Iris poked her face out from beneath the sheets and looked up at me, expression guarded. Judging by her demeanour, she was still not ready to accede to my request.
“…I promise you!”
Now wasn’t the time to hold on to pride. I utilized my last weapon, heroically sinking to my knees and colliding my head with the floor. I heard Iris flinch, probably shocked by this strange display.
“Once I rescue Satsuki, I promise to rescue Iris! Please just let me go to Satsuki. She might be in Messiah’s clutches right now. So please! I beg you!”
I fell silent. Now, I just needed Iris to understand my feelings.
Iris remained quiet for awhile. I could feel her staring at the back of my head.
I persisted, unmoving.
In the end… I won out.
Iris sat up, still wrapped up in her blanket as she stared at me.
“…Rekka, do you like Satsuki?”
“Huh? No, she’s just a childhood friend.”
Stunned by the sudden question, I answered as honestly as I could.
*Sigh…*
For some reason, R was sighing above my head.
Then…
“…I get it. You can return to Earth.”
“Really!?”
I jumped up and looked at Iris.
She still looked unhappy, but her expression had softened.
“Why would I lie to you… But!”
Iris leaned off the edge of the bed towards me until our noses were almost touching.
“Satsuki is really your childhood friend, right? That’s not a lie, is it?”
“Y-yes!”
I didn’t understand why that was so important to Iris, but since it was the truth, I nodded eagerly to appease her.
With a defeated sigh, Iris finally consented to bring me back to Earth.
Just then, a sudden impact knocked into the side of the spaceship, making the floor shake.
“Kyaa!”
“Uwaah!”
Caught off-guard, Iris lost her balance and tumbled off the edge of the bed, toppling on top of me.
“Ouch…”
In my attempt to keep her from falling, I’d struck my head against the floor, and my vision grew blurry.
“Why is the spaceship rocking like this?”
It felt like the vessel was being buffeted by waves in the sea.
I tried to push Iris off of me…but my palms connected with something soft with a squish.
Oh… A sense of dread swept over me. Iris’ expression was also frozen in shock. I didn’t want to look away from her face, didn’t want to look down. But Iris’ gaze slowly panned down to her chest, and my own gaze naturally followed to look straight upon reality. Oh, please somehow let this wonderful feeling against my palms be an illusion.
“Kyaah! Rekka touched my boobs!”
And my hopes were dashed by Iris’ scream.
“No no no wait! It was an accident! A real accident!”
Iris jumped away from me, face red as she wrapped the blanket protectively around her body.
Hey, wasn’t she the one who was always clinging on to me? I’d never touched her then. What a selfish girl… But there’s no point in thinking that! I needed to assure her that I wasn’t a pervert! No, I needed to find out why the spaceship was rocking like this.
“Iri-oof!”
Just as I opened my mouth, a soft toy that looked like a rabbit-penguin hybrid was thrown into my face.
“No! Don’t come any closer!”
“OK! I won’t, so stop throwing things at me!”
No matter how soft the toy was, it hurt when a strong alien was the one who threw it!
After calming Iris down, we headed to the spaceship’s control room.
And what I saw there was…
“S-so many UFOs!?”
Numerous spaceships hovered outside our window as far as I could see, totally surrounding us. Several of them had linked up to Iris’ spaceship, trapping it from moving.
“Iris. Don’t tell me these are from the planet Satamonia…”
“…No. These belong to the police fleet from Phenerita.”
“Huh?”
Wasn’t Phenerita Iris’ home planet? Why were we being captured?
[I’ve finally got you, Iris.]
A man’s low voice suddenly sounded from the control room speakers. Iris’ eyes widened.
“Papa!”
“Papa!?”
Hey hey, wasn’t it a little exaggerated to capture your own daughter like this?
“Papa, why are you doing this? Why are you capturing me like I’m some convict?”
[…Because you know nothing. Maybe it’s because I kept you sheltered for too long…]
His weirdly emotionless tone felt wrong.
Was this how a father speaks to his daughter?
“Hey, you.”
[Hmm…? Is there someone with you, Iris…? Not that it matters. The questions can come later. First, let the fleet escort you to Phenerita. Then I’ll need you to make an appearance at ‘Owaria’.]
With that, the connection was cut.
We couldn’t understand what was going on, but with our spaceship captured, there was no way to escape. We had no choice but to be led into Phenerita.
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