Bonus – Visit to the Unknown – 09 Negotiations with Michelle

Now that the fight was over, Veldora returned to cooking pancakes as if nothing had happened.

Michele seemed a little taken aback at suddenly being abandoned, but she now walked towards Veldora.

She saw that the children looked afraid, and then she opened her mouth as if remembering something.

“Sorry about what just happened. We were being spied on, so I had to call it trash. But I was really surprised that you were eating something that looked delicious.”

She apologized.

It was the truth.

According to the regular reports from the informers, the food that the resistance were eating was supposed to be tragic.

She had thought it would be the case here, and yet they were eating pancakes.

So it was no wonder that she was shocked.

“Kahahaha! Is that not right? Do you want some too?”

–Well, eating the same thing would be a good shortcut to clearing things up, wouldn’t it? Michelle felt that Veldora had that in mind when offering some to her.

“Thank you. I shall accept.”

She received the plate with a little hesitation.

And then she began to eat. A fork and knife had been brought out seemingly from nowhere, and she used them to cut out a piece and bring it to her mouth.

The way she ate was like an example of sophistication.

You wouldn’t imagine someone like her eating something as commonplace as pancakes, and yet she somehow looked good doing it.

“—It’s delicious.”

She muttered.

While it was not all that in terms of presentation, the taste felt so nostalgic to her.

It was not like the refined food she ate in the city. It felt very homemade.

And through eating the pancakes, the sense of caution the children felt towards Michelle began to fade away.

She was human just like them.

Michelle noticed this change and smiled.

That sealed the deal for them.

The smile of a beautiful woman is most potent indeed. Even those who had been sure they were going to be killed a moment ago were softened by that smile.

Everyone was now relieved, as they wholly believed that the battle was now over.

But then again, there were now some who began to feel anxious in a different way. What was Michelle’s purpose?

“Uh, um…General…Michelle? From what you just said, you have not really come to purge us afterall…?”

It was Karman who asked the first question.

He had been called a traitor, after all. He anxiously scratched his head.

Then Michelle looked at him with a puzzled expression.

She chewed, her mouth full of pancake; savoring the taste before swallowing it.

It was a childish gesture that did not match such icy beauty.

She smiled with satisfaction and then glanced at Karman.

“Purge…?”

And then she thought about it—

“Oh, that! Hiragi was making such a fuss about it. You know how he can be like. I don’t think you are a traitor just because you let the resistance escape. After all, what would that make me? I’ve been sending them resources all this time.”

—She dropped this bomb as if it were an afterthought.

“What!?”

“Sending resources!?”

“Wait-wait-wait! General Michelle!? What do you mean…?”

Michelle looked at them without concern.

“It’s just as I said. In the first place, if I really meant to have you purged, I wouldn’t have come here myself. Quite the opposite, really. I came here so you wouldn’t be killed.”

She said all of this in a light manner as if it were below her pancake in terms of importance.

Those of the resistance were very shocked by this.

“What!? But she is the leader of the empire…”

“So… Who have we been fighting all this time?”

“I can’t believe it. Is she trying to trick us?”

Etcetera.

No one could believe Michelle. And they did not know how to react.

And so Sharma stepped forward as if to represent all of the adults.

“I am Sharma, leader of this department. General Michelle, I have a question, if you do not mind?”

“I don’t. Ask me anything you want.”

Michelle replied casually.

She had no intention of hiding anything at this point.

Of course, being believed was a different matter…

“Well then. The first question… Is it true that you have been sending us resources up until now?”

“That is true. I have always felt that we should help each other, as we are the same species. However, the reality is that this is quite difficult. A city was destroyed through a revolt. It will be quite a feat to change the minds of those who live in the city now.”

“Please wait. Then why do you send us supplies? As protector of the city, are we not your enemies!?”

“It cannot be helped that you would think like that. However, I think it is horribly twisted that we must see each other as enemies when our number as a species has fallen so low. Still, we cannot take in every refugee either. What I can offer now is a place to live and hide. Also a small supply of food.”

“In other words… You could not take us in, but you wouldn’t abandon us either? Why could you not tell us that…? Then maybe…”

All of this fighting would not have happened—Sharma was about to say this, but she was interrupted.