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One second before it happened, text flickered across the bracelet on Natsuki's right wrist.
[As a qualified member of the Space Garrison, we must learn to control our tempers and demonstrate that the Space Garrison is a reasonable organization.]
[Choice Mission Triggered!]
[Option One: Ignore Chuck Hansen's provocation. Reward: 8 hours Mental Space training time. (Note: Second-best choice.)]
[Option Two: Use love to reform this child and make him repent from within. Reward: 12 hours Mental Space training time. (Note: Best choice.)]
[Option Three: Strike back directly. Teach him the consequences of insolence! Penalty: 6 hours Hell-level Mental Space training. (Note: Don't pick this one.)]
[Note: According to system presets, you've already made two choices by now. I know Hell Training isn't pleasant, so you should understand what to do. âHikari, Chief Director, Land of Light Space Science and Technology Bureau]
Unfortunately, Natsuki moved faster than the system could detect. Fresh from Hell Training, he was already nursing a bellyful of rage.
The semi-transparent panels hung there for one second. Perhaps sensing the awkward atmosphere, they silently retracted into the bracelet.
...
"Stop! Please!" Herc Hansen watched his son choke and immediately pleaded with Natsuki. "I'm sorryâI apologize for him!"
"I spoiled him. If anyone deserves punishment, it's me!"
Still his son. In that moment, Herc couldn't stand aside.
He'd failed this boy too many times. Every attempt to make up for it had only fed that defiant streakâa knot in his chest that never loosened.
"Hey, Xia!"
"Easy. Please!" Raleigh added his voice. He didn't want this spiraling further.
Chuck's mouth had earned him trouble, sure. But not this.
While they pleaded, Natsuki finished his last bite. Only then did the golden glow in his eyes fade.
The metal plate released Chuck's face and clattered onto the table. The mashed potato lodged in his throat slid down into his stomach.
Face purple, Chuck collapsed forward, gasping. His mind still hadn't caught up.
Seeing him alive, Raleigh and Herc both exhaled.
The disturbance hadn't been loud. Most of the cafeteria missed it, though a few heads turned with curious glances.
Herc knew the meal was over. He stood, moved to Chuck's side, and patted his back to help him breathe.
Then he looked at Raleigh and Natsuki, eyes heavy with apology. "I'm sorry. I failed to raise him right."
He pulled Chuck to his feet and prepared to leave, their dog trailing behind.
Natsuki spoke. "Sometimes a child starved for love does things to grab attention. Trying to fill that void."
"Always trying to prove something."
"I don't know much about you two, but I can tellâwhatever love you're offering now came too late."
"And at this age, indulgence won't pull him back."
Words too measured for someone who looked so young.
But they landed squarely in Herc's chest.
He didn't know how Natsuki had seen so clearly, so quickly. He could only nod. "Thank you."
Herc led Chuck out.
Watching them go, Raleigh sighed.
"Herc's never been great at the whole dad thing." He knew enough about their situation to understand the helplessness behind it.
"Didn't peg you for an expert on parenting, though." Raleigh tried to lighten the mood, steering the conversation elsewhere. "You don't look old enough to have that kind of experience."
Natsuki stacked his dishes neatly and glanced at Raleigh.
"You think I'm young?"
"Yeah." Raleigh nodded.
Natsuki smiled.
"I'm nineteen thousand years old."
For the Ultra race and their endless lifespans, appearance meant nothing.
"What!?" Raleigh's turn to be shocked.
"Nineteen thousand!?"
"You're messing with me."
Nineteen thousand years. The earliest human civilizations with written records barely scraped five thousand.
"This doesn't add up." Raleigh shook his head, disbelief written across his face. "You act like every other guy your ageâlook like one, talk like one."
From everything he'd seen, Natsuki gave zero indication of being some ancient relic.
"Environment."
"People back home are optimistic. Most keep young attitudes." Natsuki rubbed his chin.
In the Land of Light, mental age crept along at a crawl.
He remembered Mebius's first Earth missionâsix thousand years old, but with the mentality of a kid. Naive. The kind you could lead away with candy.
Less than two years on Earth, and when he came back, he'd aged decades mentally. Matured overnight.
All the old tricks stopped working.
"I don't have kids of my own, but I did help raise one once." Natsuki's tone turned nostalgic, gaze distant.
"A boy. Parents couldn't be around when he was young. Bad circumstances. Made him rebellious."
"I visited when I could, but what I gave wasn't enough. Sometimes it made things worse."
"Later... he made a mistake trying to prove himself. Big one. Nearly got exiled."
"I blamed myself. Thought my interference caused it."
"But he turned it around. Became a hero." Pride crept into Natsuki's voice. "A hero for the whole universe. Not like meâhe had real potential. The light chose him."
Raleigh stirred his pasta absently, listening. He nodded.
Whatever lay behind those words, it had to be one hell of a story.
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