Chapter 8
They handed Yegor Vladislav's corpse over to Madam's hotel.
Madam, who'd been fleecing guests at her desk-less front desk, was horrified by the corpse and called the sheriff.
Madam and Kang Chanwoo each accused the other of being the culprit.
"……."
It was obvious whether the sheriff would side with a lowly pimp or a soldier.
Of course, the sheriff wasn't blind.
The sheriff was Fettuccine's mediator and enforcer of the law.
He had to deliver a fair verdict at all times.
A burly adult male—and the caretaker of Fantasy Tower, personally appointed by the Marshal—had broken limbs and a gunshot wound to the head.
Even a child could see that wasn't something an ordinary pimp could do.
Especially when the pimp herself didn't have a scratch on her.
But the sheriff wasn't some clueless fool, either.
On the contrary, he knew how to walk the line, assess a situation, and look after his own interests.
He didn't know who the other three were, but he knew the veteran with a prosthetic in place of his left arm.
The sheriff immediately called his superior.
-I told you not to call while I was having fun.
"Brigadier General Ramirez killed the caretaker, Yegor."
-Who did what to whom?
"Brigadier General Ramirez. Killed Yegor Vladislav."
-……Huh? You're with that old geezer, aren't you? Put him on.
Ramirez took the communicator from the sheriff.
-Is that… Brigadier General Ramirez?
"That's right."
-What brings you to Fettuccine? If you'd contacted us in advance, we would've sent someone to welcome you.
"Do I look like someone who has to report my every move to a colony world's government?"
-No! Of course not. I was just wondering what someone as distinguished as you is doing in a place this filthy…… Haha. You know what I mean, don't you?
The man on the other end swallowed his surprise and got to the point.
-I heard you killed our Fantasy Tower caretaker.
"I didn't."
-Brigadier General, even for you, this could be seen as an excessive infringement on a colony world's rights by a Federation soldier, and a disregard for its autonomy.
Ramirez silently mouthed a message to Rubedo.
I'm going to have to sell you out a little.
"Listen carefully. At 7:28 p.m. Human Federation Standard Time, Fantasy Tower caretaker Yegor Vladislav attempted to rape a member of our Task Force 42."
-Excuse me? How is that even possible……?
"Although it only amounted to attempted rape, that member was just nine years old."
……Me? Nine years old?
Wouldn't that get us in trouble for conscripting a child soldier……?
That thought crossed Rubedo's mind, but she decided not to butt in.
She knew the beauty of keeping quiet.
-……He deserved to die, then.
It's a universal truth that pedophiles deserve to be stoned, regardless of era, place, or species.
It was true in the twenty-first century, when Earth was made up of over a hundred countries,
in the twenty-second century, when the Emperor united Earth and established the Earth Empire,
and even in the twenty-fourth century, the present day, after humanity was driven from Earth.
-I understand. I hadn't heard that Task Force 42 had such a young member…… Well, it's not my place to pry. Still, there are people who won't take this lightly. The Marshal personally appointed that caretaker, and a Federation soldier killed him.
"Didn't I tell you? I didn't kill him."
Ramirez turned his gaze toward Madam.
"A pimp killed him."
"Wait, what are you talking about? Why would I kill anyone? Y-you can't expect to pin a crime on an innocent person just because you're Federation soldiers! Sheriff! What are you doing? As the mediator, arrest the criminal right now! We pay you exorbitant taxes to do your job in situations like this!"
"……."
The sheriff remained silent.
He was simply following his superior's decision, not his own judgment.
"And she isn't just a pimp. She's a filthy murderer and insurrectionist who killed an innocent person and sold that person's belongings to space pirates."
-…….
The man on the other end of the communicator fell silent for a moment.
He wondered if Ramirez was testing him.
Yegor's insurrection.
The corruption of the Fettuccine planetary government above him.
Ramirez was asking whether he knew about it.
"What's wrong? You're acting as if you were an insurrectionist yourself. I was talking about the pimp who killed Yegor."
Damn it, he figured it out.
So that's why he killed Yegor.
But there was nothing the man could do about it.
-……I understand. Yegor was killed by some pirate collaborator, and he was a pedophile. Task Force 42 had nothing to do with the murder. They were merely witnesses.
"Very good."
-There's no need for you to come in and give a statement. But since Task Force 42 is…… well…… we need to record the reason for your visit to Fettuccine. Would it be all right if we put down tourism?
"Sounds good. Since you mention it, I plan to stay on Fettuccine for about two weeks, then head to the Furnace. I'd appreciate it if you could arrange accommodations and a ship for the trip."
-Understood. Please put your subordinate back on.
Ramirez handed the communicator back to the sheriff.
The sheriff spoke with his superior for a few more minutes, nodded, then cracked Madam over the head.
He bowed respectfully to Ramirez and led Madam away.
Not long afterward, he returned empty-handed and escorted the group to their accommodations.
"So this half-baked threat, with all the context stripped away, just works? What about Madam's motive? The security cameras inside Fantasy Tower? What about the people who saw Yegor's corpse?"
"They'll torture a false confession out of her. You don't need to pity her. She deserved to die."
Murder, and collusion with the chaos faction.
To think betrayal weighed more than a life.
It was ironic that the latter crime was considered graver than the former.
Sergeant Kang Chanwoo continued explaining, holding Rubedo in his arms.
"As for the security cameras, they'll all have conveniently broken down and recorded nothing."
"How convenient."
"You don't need to worry about the people who saw us. Every Federation citizen, except for illegal residents of dwarf planets, has a standard brain chip implanted in their head. It does more than simply identify them and make everyday life more convenient."
He tapped his eye.
"It also helps erase the traces of people like our Task Force 42 members."
Perception interference.
Special elite-unit members, senators, corporate executives, and so on.
A hidden function of brain chips that activates when ordinary people encounter people whose identities must remain hidden or who don't want their faces seen.
"The faces of everyone covered by the perception-interference function are recorded in Mars's central database. The brain chips use those records to distort ordinary people's perception."
"But Madam recognized you……"
"Actually, she's the child of a prostitute. Her father and mother both abandoned her. Do you think anyone bothered to register her birth?"
…….
That was a little……
sad.
"Don't make that face. There are countless people like that in this galaxy. People born into injustice. But Madam chose to walk the path of crime. She paid for her sins."
I guess…… so.
He was right.
Just as no one chooses to be born, no one can appeal to anyone over the unfairness they're born with.
All a person can do is decide their own future with their own hands.
And she had chosen to sink into the mire of her own free will.
That was that.
Rubedo erased Madam's face from her memory.
…….
…….
…….
The sheriff led Rubedo and the others to a splendid hotel.
……Although the hotel only gave them one room.
They were getting to stay there for two weeks free of charge, so they didn't have the nerve to demand multiple rooms.
Huddled together on the queen-size bed in their double room, they planned what to do next.
"They'll definitely make a move. Now that they've been caught colluding with the chaos faction, they'll want to eliminate us."
"They might blow up the spaceship bound for the Furnace. That's what I'd do."
"Could they move the planetary garrison against us? No, maybe they don't have a pretext for that?"
"They can make up a pretext. The problem is, the soldiers won't go along with it."
Before Rubedo could ask why,
"The soldiers respect us. They might talk to our faces about how our asses are filthy, but behind our backs they secretly envy the title of special forces operative."
Yangyang beat her to it.
Rubedo let that go in one ear and out the other.
That Task Force 42 was respected?
You might as well tell me unicorns are real.
"So that's why we didn't head straight to the Furnace and decided to sit tight here. So if Mijeong's power returns and something unexpected happens, we can alter reality."
"The more I watch you, the more impressed I am by how quick your mind is. How about it? After you carry out the Emperor's orders, would you consider continuing to serve as a member of Task Force 42?"
"Tell me the Emperor's next order first. You rescued me, took me to the Seventh Sindalot Multistar System, and then what? Why am I, the person at the center of these orders, the only one who knows nothing?"
Ramirez placed a hand on her head and vigorously ruffled her hair.
"Didn't we already settle that? The Emperor repeatedly insisted that we not tell you the contents of the orders in advance."
Rubedo slapped his hand away.
"At this rate, I don't think I can willingly cooperate with either recovering my memories in accordance with the Emperor's wishes or bringing Mijeong back to life."
"……That would be a problem, wouldn't it?"
Silence.
The mood turned icy, and Ramirez's gaze grew cold.
Rubedo knew she couldn't beat him by force, but she didn't back down.
Ramirez couldn't hurt her because of the Emperor's orders.
Although he didn't know why she had revived Mijeong or anything about her past, he decided he had to at least figure out why the Emperor wanted to keep her under his thumb.
"……Then I'll go take a bath with Rubedo, okay? You men, don't even think about peeking."
"Huh?"
It wasn't Rubedo or Ramirez who broke the silence.
Yangyang took Rubedo by the hand and dragged her into the bathroom.
"Come on, big sis will wash you!"
"No, I don't want to!"
"Come on, don't be shy."
"No, no-no-no, somebody save me! Brigadier General! Sergeant! Mijeong!"
Kang Chanwoo grabbed Ramirez as he started to step in and stop them.
He shook his head.
Despite the tense exchange just moments ago, Ramirez silently offered Rubedo his condolences.