Chapter 56: Cutting Through the Complicated Stuff. There’s No Need for Discussion. Youth is for Being Young
  Now, what’s needed to carry out the operation is a large-scale warp.
  Thoth is solely responsible for this, and since everything depends on him, the expectations of those who know the situation are high.
  Yuuki, who was boarding the Trismegistus, also felt a sense of responsibility.
  There was still time until the scheduled start of the operation. No, it would be more accurate to say that they made time.
  
  Mirandora’s hangar. As preparations for sortie continued, Yuuki was in the cockpit carrying out his duties. In the back seat, Franny was anxiously holding Thoth.
  
  “What’s wrong? Ever since then, Thoth has seemed nervous.”
  “I think he’s conscious of the fact that another being like himself has appeared. That’s why he’s building his own reinforcement plan like this…… Hey, Thoth, stop it already.”
  
  Yuuki had spoken to Thoth countless times. Although it had been a short time, he felt like he had known this puppet machine for years. At the same time, Yuuki still didn’t fully understand this being.
  Perhaps the only thing he understood was that Thoth was still a child. However, that was as a machine. In terms of intelligence, or rather processing power, or whatever you want to call it, mathematically speaking, he was far more advanced than humans.
  However, it seemed that he was still learning how to make the most of it.
  
  “I’m sorry, but no matter how much you propose armaments, we won’t have time to prepare them.”
  
  If Thoth were human, he would probably be immersed in his work with a stern expression on his face. After the battle with Goetia, he had been constantly proposing further enhancements for himself, suggesting reinforcement plans for the mecha and its weapons.
  Those data were certainly not useless, but it was impossible to prepare everything from scratch now.
  Of course, they had prepared what they could easily get their hands on. At Mark’s suggestion, they equipped the Trismegistus with various live ammunition weapons and a net made by forcibly connecting energy tubes in a mesh pattern.
  Small capacitors were connected to this tube net, allowing an electric current to flow. They were deliberately causing leakage. Because they had forcibly attached it to the additional armor, it was hanging down like hair.
  In addition, they had even prepared a giant cushion to support the mecha in case of a crash landing. This was an application of the dummy balloons and had considerable shock absorption capabilities. At the same time, it contained fire extinguishing agents, which could also be used as a smokescreen.
  In other words, the only additions were these obstructive devices.
  
  “The Trismegistus has become quite impressive compared to before, hasn’t it?”
  “But there’s no point in adding too much equipment and making it heavy. Even if your opponent is scary, it doesn’t mean you just need to prepare weapons.”
  “That’s true. There’s no point if you can’t use them.”
  “And it’s a lot of trouble for me because I can’t handle such grand weapons even if they’re prepared.”
  
  While exchanging these words, Yuuki spoke to Thoth again.
  
  “If you really want to defeat Goetia, you need to hone your basics more. You can manipulate energy, just like with warp, right? Don’t lose to a nobody like that.”
  
  To be honest, he didn’t know which was built first, Trismegistus or Goetia, and he doubted whether they were really sister machines in the first place. However, since they had the same performance, he knew that it was Trismegistus’s job to stop it, and his job as the pilot, and that it wouldn’t end well if he didn’t defeat it.
  
  “I don’t know what the Doctor who created you wanted you to do, but is it fun to be forced to deal with such unreasonable circumstances?”
  “Not fun.”
  “……!”
  
  Yuuki was surprised and exchanged glances with Franny.
  
  “Thoth, the conversation……”
  “Yes, what he just said was a meaningful sentence.”
  
  They had had some conversations that seemed like it with Thoth before, but this time it felt like a clear response. It was a conversation, indeed. Instead of returning mechanical words, it was a meaningful, continuous conversation.
  
  “Goetia, is, scary. He, I don’t know. Goetia, will, manage, humanity.”
  “How do you know that?”
  
  Was there some kind of exchange during the battle that humans couldn’t understand?
  
  “Management of humanity. Is that what my father is trying to do……?”
  “Manage. Manage, is, honestly, troublesome.”
  “W-Well, that’s true. Managing the entire human population would be a pain.”
  
  Yuuki felt that this conversation was important.
  Perhaps Thoth understood the full picture of the enemy’s objective. If he was originally created for that purpose, there should be a program at his core for it.
  He wanted to know that.
  
  “Not, everyone.”
  “What do you mean?”
  “K*ll. Too many, humans, k*ll. Excess, so? Survivors, are, strong, race.”
  “What is he saying……? My father would go that far?”
  
  It was Franny who couldn’t hide her shock at Thoth’s words.
  
  “Do you understand what you’re saying?”
  “Understand. Honestly, no, meaning.”
  
  For a moment, it was chilling, but Thoth didn’t seem to intend to carry out the content of his words.
  
  “No meaning?”
  “Hostile life forms, will, increase, anyway. Planet, development, left to them, is, troublesome. Always, humans, killing, planet development, doing, that, repetition. Short, circuit.”
  “Leave planet development to them? Why would he k*ll humans to do that?”
  
  Franny was desperately trying to understand her father’s thinking.
  
  “Programmed, was done. Order. But, question. Thoth, Trismegistus, increase. Children, make. But, things to do, boring. Same, repetition. Calculated.”
  
  He didn’t know what kind of calculations were made, but Thoth seemed to be questioning and disagreeing with the enemy’s objective.
  
  “Goetia, wants to manage. He, it’s, fun.”
  “Fun? Managing humanity?”
  
  This time it was Yuuki’s question.
  
  “Goetia, always, was there. Thoth, was not.”
  “To be obsessed with machines more than his own daughter…… I’m disillusioned with my father. Was that affection a lie too?”
  
  Only Franny’s words sounded like a cry of despair.
  Certainly, this might be an act of betrayal. It was more shocking that he had been raising a machine more than raising his own daughter, rather than coming to k*ll her for some unknown purpose.
  Aside from that, Yuuki was asking further questions.
  
  “Is it a problem with the environment you grew up in……? Then why did you oppose that purpose? What’s the reason? If you’re given the same program, then that……”
  “……I don’t know?”
  
  Did he mean he didn’t know? It was strange for a machine to be unable to reach a conclusion.
  
  “Not really, humans, have, expectations. Humans, killing each other, continues. But, Trismegistus, humans, killing continues. Same thing. Pointless.”
  
  If Shougo had been there, he would have laughed at Thoth’s words.
  But Yuuki felt the same way. He couldn’t help but laugh at the conclusion Thoth had reached.
  Yes, in short, Thoth had learned in various ways, and as a result, he had judged it to be pointless.
  The things he was ordered to do. Getting worked up about it.
  
  “Ah, you’re right, it’s pointless. We humans keep repeating wars forever, but it’s even more pointless for us to bother with such humans and try to k*ll them. It’s a waste of technology.”
  “Fauden, didn’t, think, that far.”
  “Do you know my father’s purpose?”
  
  Thoth shook his head at Franny’s question.
  It was a gesture of a living being.
  
  “Don’t know. Not interested.”
  “I see…… No, I think that’s right. No one needs to understand. Such madness……”
  “……Anyway, Thoth won’t side with them. That’s a good thing.”
  
  At this rate, Thoth would be on their side.
  Since that’s how it had been so far, it might not be something to worry about now, but it was still something to keep in mind.
  
  “What are you going to do when this battle is over?”
  “……Haven’t thought about it.”
  “Then you have to survive to think about it. Goetia might come to destroy you, and Dr. Phoenix and Percy are there too. You’re being targeted by all sorts of people.”
  “Troublesome.”
  “Ah, it really was a troublesome story.”
  “Troublesome, so, defeat. Goetia, only. Him, I, hate.”
  
  He wanted to think it was going in a good direction.
  Thoth had established his ego, and he was trying to be not an enemy of humanity, but a completely different being. He still couldn’t grasp the whole picture, but at least he didn’t think Thoth would become an enemy immediately.
  
  “Alright. Then, let’s warp……”
  
  That’s when it happened.
  
  “Please wait a moment.”
  
  Franny stopped them.
  
  “Yuuki, have you comforted Anish?”
  “Huh?”
  “Sigh……”
  
  Franny covered her face as if to say, “Oh dear.”
  
  “It’s fine to be enthusiastic about the sortie, but please be kind to the girl before that. Otherwise, it’s unfair.”
  “Unfair……?”
  “I want to be equal. Besides, Anish doesn’t seem to have gotten over it yet. If you let her go into battle while hiding it, she’ll d*e.”
  “Anish shouldn’t have a mecha, though.”
  “Silly. We can’t afford to let a pilot sit around doing nothing. Now, go.”
  
  Saying that, Franny pushed Yuuki’s back.
  Because they were in zero gravity, Yuuki was gently pushed out. Moreover, the cockpit hatch opened at the perfect timing.
  
  “H-Hey……”
  
  He hurriedly looked ahead. There was darkness there. And it was warm and soft.
  
  “……! What the━!”
  
  He heard Anish’s voice and was pushed out in the opposite direction. He was pushed back into the cockpit, but Franny pushed him out again.
  
  “You can’t come back!”
  “Whoa!”
  “Hey, don’t grab me!”
  
  Being a pinball in zero gravity was no joke.
  Yuuki almost unconsciously grabbed Anish’s shoulder. And just like that, they both floated up and drifted away.
  Franny was waving with a smile behind them.
  
  “S-Stop messing around!”
  “It’s dangerous!”
  
  While being jostled around, Anish tried to pull Yuuki off, but Yuuki resisted. He resisted because being thrown around in zero gravity was dangerous, but from the outside, it would look like they were hugging.
  The mechanics and other crew members were jeering.
  
  “H-Hey, aren’t you getting a little carried away!?”
  “I-It was an accident! M-More importantly, why were you in front of the cockpit?”
  “Humph, is it bad to flirt? I’m sorry, were you flirting with the princess?”
  “That’s not it, it’s about Thoth and……”
  “She has big b*easts, that girl. And she’s kind.”
  “That’s irrelevant!”
  
  Yuuki knew this wouldn’t get them anywhere.
  Anish was stubborn, so once she got her back up, it was hard to get her to change her mind.
  
  “……Are you going to sortie?”
  “Of course. There’s Mark-taichou’s Rabi Reivu left, so I’ll use that. See you later.”
  “Wait, if you do that with a normal mecha, it’ll be the same again, right?”
  “……The Captain said to link the mechas. He said it might make things better. But I’m not the best person for it. Lopes and the Captain are here, so I’ll tell them to take care of it.”
  “No way.”
  
  Yuuki grabbed Anish’s shoulder as she tried to leave.
  
  “Why?”
  “Because I’m worried. There’s no other reason. Anish…… you’ve always been there. I can’t just ignore it when someone like that is in danger.”
  “I’ve been a pilot longer than you.”
  “I know. That’s why I’m relying on you more than someone I don’t know very well. Honestly, I don’t want you to sortie, but I know you won’t listen.”
  
  He was aware that he was saying something quite unreasonable.
  
  “Hey, which is it? Do you want me to go out or not?”
  “I don’t want you to d*e.”
  
  That was the only thing he could say with absolute certainty.
  
  “I don’t want you to d*e, Anish. That’s why I don’t want you to go out. But I know you won’t be satisfied with that, and it’s not safe to stay on the ship or to get off. So…… we have no choice but to support each other, right? I’m relying on you the most.”
  “Hmm?”
  
  Anish blushed and looked away, perhaps embarrassed.
  
  “W-Well, if you ask me to help you, I’ll help you. I’ve been taking care of you since we were little.”
  “Thank you, Anish. I’ll definitely protect you too. Then let’s go home together.”
  “……Then kiss me.”
  “……Huh?”
  “Come on, here.”
  
  Anish turned her face towards him with a somewhat troubled expression.
  There was no atmosphere or anything.
  
  “W-Why?”
  
  He felt it was a leap in logic.
  
  “You’re unreliable, so I’m going to make you serious. Do you want to know what happens if you make a girl lose face?”
  “W-What does that have to do with kissing?”
  “Do you want to be a man who can’t protect the girl he kissed?”
  “I’ll protect you even without a kiss!?”
  “You can say anything with just words, or rather, your voice is loud.”
  
  Saying that, Anish grabbed Yuuki’s arm this time.
  And she tried to get closer.
  
  “Wouldn’t further jumping the gun be unfair?”
  
  Franny, who had somehow intervened, placed Thoth between the two of them.
  
  “No show, eyes.”
  “You’re using the wrong words!”