Debate

No matter how much time had passed, Ramba Ral did not believe he could be mistaken.

That was the past he had once dreamed of, not merely the glory of the Ral family, but the time when he himself still held noble ideals.

It was when he was still following Deikun's leadership, fighting for the cause of true independence.

Deikun, who had proposed the Newtype theory and advocated for space residents to reclaim the economic and shipping rights that should have belonged to them from the Federation, had raised a son and a daughter.

He could not be mistaken; the young girl before him was none other than Deikun's daughter, Artesia Deikun.

It could not be wrong.

"Pr... Princess?"

Ramba Ral struggled to lower his voice, making no attempt to hide his hesitation.

After the fall of Deikun, there was first the news of Casval's death, and then Artesia had vanished without a trace.

Conspiracy theories suggested they had both been murdered by the Zabi Family.

Ramba Ral had once believed this to be true.

Yet, the girl before him was standing there, dressed in the uniform of the Federation Forces.

Seeing that Ramba Ral had successfully recognized her, Sayla clearly let out a sigh of relief.

"Why are you here... on a Federation Forces ship..."

Ramba Ral looked at Sayla in disbelief, desperately wanting to know the answer.

"We can talk about these things later. Tell me, where is Char now?"

"Cha... Char? If it's him, he should have returned to the home front by now... Why do you ask?"

Ramba Ral furrowed his brows, recalling the pilot who was also an ace of Zeon.

Mentioning him, the most striking features were naturally the mask he never took off and his shimmering blonde hair.

Looking at the blonde hair hanging before Sayla's eyes, and then connecting it to her attitude toward Char.

"Could it be that Char is...?"

"Yes, I suspect he is my brother, Casval."

After saying this, Sayla stood up and went to the side to fetch disinfectant and bandages.

She had noticed that Eli seemed to have snapped out of his daze, realizing that the two of them had been huddled together for quite some time.

Ramba Ral likewise straightened his posture immediately, letting a pained expression crawl across his face to mask the shock of learning that Casval was still alive.

However, perhaps that pain truly contained the remorse of having been so close to Deikun's descendants for all these years without ever realizing it?

In any case, neither of them dared to say anything more.

Once the wound was bandaged, Eli walked to Sayla's side, holding his pistol.

"Let's go, Ramba Ral."

He signaled for Ramba Ral to stand up, intending to take him to the brig.

During the short walk out of the infirmary, Eli's mind was actually racing with a thousand thoughts.

It wasn't that he hadn't heard the conversation between the two; even if he hadn't, he could have guessed most of it.

The problem was, if he really wanted to leverage this, what exactly should he do?

Should he just come out and say, "Hey, I know you're Deikun's descendant, let's take revenge on the Zabi Family, seize power in Zeon, and then unite to work together for the welfare of space residents"?

Not to mention that this wasn't Sayla's intention, the reaction Ramba Ral might have upon hearing it was enough to make Eli think twice.

He might disregard everything and fight Eli to the death right then and there, just to kill him and cover up Sayla's true identity.

Thinking it over, he realized that being direct was simply not feasible.

But giving up such an opportunity was still hard to swallow...

"Ramba Ral, I heard you were once a confidant of Deikun, is that right?"

Just as they were about to leave the infirmary, Eli asked Ramba Ral without warning.

His footsteps came to a sudden halt, and Ramba Ral slowly turned to look at the boy behind him who was pointing a gun at him.

As he turned, he caught Sayla's gaze, receiving a slight shake of her head, signaling him not to do anything rash.

"Yes, so what?"

Ramba Ral's tone was somewhat stiff.

"Don't be so nervous, we in the Federation Forces treat prisoners well... I've recently become curious about his ideology."

Eli stepped back slightly, ensuring Ramba Ral couldn't disarm him, and continued.

"That Amuro, there have always been rumors within the Federation Forces that he is a Newtype... so I couldn't help but become curious about the creator of that theory."

While explaining his question to Ramba Ral, Eli also found a reason for the question he had asked Sayla earlier.

"You want to ask about things related to Newtypes? I'm sorry, I don't know much about that myself."

Hearing Eli's reason, Ramba Ral's expression visibly softened quite a bit.

Regardless, there would be one more person in this world who still remembers Deikun.

"No, that is not what I wanted to ask. What I want to know is, how would Deikun view this war?"

Silence, a long and lingering silence.

Ramba Ral tried several times to open his mouth, wanting to spout some platitudes about how this was the future Deikun had hoped for—a future where Spacenoids fought for their independence.

But every time he prepared to speak, he could not bring himself to meet the eyes of Sayla, who was watching him intently.

"I don't know..."

In the end, Ramba Ral could only mumble these hollow words.

"Judging by your expression, you also believe that Deikun would deny the legitimacy of this war."

Ramba Ral clenched his fists tightly, but his complexion grew visibly darker.

It was clear that he was painfully aware of the truth: that everything the Zabi Family had done would never be endorsed by Deikun.

"Why do you think that?"

While Ramba Ral remained silent, the question came from behind him.

Sayla Mass stared straight into the eyes of Eli, trying to discern the truth or falsehood behind every word he spoke.

"Because I am from Island Iffish, a Spacenoid, and I am currently standing on a Federation ship."

Eli faced Sayla's gaze with absolute composure.

"Or do you believe that the leader of the Spacenoids would use the very soil upon which they depend for survival as a weapon?"

"He wouldn't. Mr. Deikun would never do such a thing."

This time, it was Ramba Ral who responded.

"And neither would I."

Seeing Eli turn his gaze toward him, he added that sentence.

Following that, the infirmary fell into a long, heavy silence.

Even though it was Princess Artesia and himself who had cornered this man, in terms of sheer presence, the man before them had completely overwhelmed them.

"I know, otherwise, when the beam pierced your mobile suit just now, I would have swung my Beam Saber with full force."

Eli's tone grew increasingly calm, as if the colony he had just mentioned was not his own home.