Witnessing the World's Distortion

"So why are you telling me all this?"

Ramba Ral gritted his teeth as he looked at Eli.

The guilt he had felt at the sight of the young man's face had completely vanished.

"I just wanted to give it a try."

"Give what a try?"

Ramba Ral looked confused.

"If you really are a supporter of Deikun's ideals, then with your help, perhaps we could end the war sooner."

Eli's words were simple, but Sayla and Ramba Ral both realized what he was getting at.

"You want me to betray Zeon?!"

"I just want you to uphold Deikun's ideals."

As Ramba Ral grew agitated, Eli seemed to lose interest even more.

How did the protagonists in fanfiction manage to convince Ramba Ral to join them so easily?

Looking at Ramba Ral, who was wavering but still clinging to his convictions, Eli no longer felt like continuing the conversation.

But Ramba Ral clearly didn't feel the same way.

"Is this the Federation's doing?"

He asked cautiously.

If the Federation really was watching what was happening here, then everything Sayla had just done would put her in danger.

"No. These are just my own thoughts. Come on, our chat is over."

Eli raised his gun, signaling for Ramba Ral to turn and leave the room.

"Mr. Eli, why are you interested in Deikun's ideals?"

Just as Eli was about to step outside, Sayla spoke up again.

Eli turned back and looked her up and down.

She radiated youthful beauty, yet her eyes were filled with a sorrow that was hard to notice.

"He reminds me of someone. Someone who, under oppression, led his people to rise up. A truly great leader."

This was the first time Eli had openly mentioned to anyone in this world information from the twenty-first century.

Perhaps he had seen something of that same quality in the two of them, and that was why he had said something so out of the blue.

After hesitating for a moment, Eli decided to say more.

"Besides, I'm a space resident too. I don't want to see the people of space suffer even more because of the Zabi Family's foolishness."

The values Eli had gained from growing up in the nation that leader had built made him want to try, at least.

At least until the One Year War ended, he would try to do something.

Eli made that quiet resolution.

After finishing his conversation with Sayla, Eli escorted Ramba Ral toward the prison Amuro had set up.

Neither of them said a word along the way.

That was, until Ramba Ral spotted Amuro and Frau waiting outside the prison.

Eli was sure he'd only told Amuro to come. It seemed Frau really did like looking after Amuro. It had practically become instinct.

"You haven't been slacking off, have you, Amuro?"

Seeing the boy and girl standing at the door, looking bored out of their minds, Eli couldn't help teasing them.

"I haven't! I did my job properly!"

Eli's words made the handsome boy look ready to leap out of his skin. His cheeks flushed, and he clenched his fists, eager to prove he'd done his work properly.

"Hahaha, good!"

Eli smiled at the boy, ruffled his hair, and prepared to lead Ramba Ral into the prison.

Seeing Amuro lift his head a little, as if he'd just been praised, Frau lowered her gaze to hide the inexplicable displeasure she felt.

"It's not like he's your father..." she muttered.

But Eli ran into a problem. Even with the muzzle pressed against the back of Ramba Ral's head, he wouldn't move.

Instead, he looked at Eli as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"So the Federation uses child soldiers too?"

Ramba Ral hadn't looked this furious when Eli had rejected Zeon in the infirmary, or even questioned Deikun.

But when he said this, all three of them looked at him strangely.

"Zeon's no different in that regard, is it? You even send people who've received only basic training onto the battlefield."

"But—"

"Besides, isn't Zeon the one who created this situation? Nearly half the world's population disappeared overnight. The adults died, and the children who inherited their hatred had no choice but to take up arms. If you're this angry about it, why did you just insist on standing by Zeon when I proposed ending the war sooner?"

Eli looked at the "good old man" in front of him and spoke his mind without holding back.

"Admit it. You only want to preserve the status quo, and you've become a stubborn old fool who's shut his eyes to the world. So get out of my way. I'm going to Jaburo. I'm going to try to end this pointless war."

After realizing a few things, Eli's behavior had naturally changed.

Back then, he had told Shiro Amada, "I'm just a soldier."

But perhaps this time aboard White Base was the best chance he'd ever have as a soldier to change the course of the future.

People often said that the rare glimmers of light in the Universal Century began to shine one after another during this war, only to quickly go out or fade.

He couldn't change the Federation as a whole, but he might still have a chance to influence a few people's fates.

Even a soldier had to think for himself.

Ramba Ral could barely feel the pain in his body anymore.

He felt the pain in his heart instead.

The boy in front of him was even younger than Princess Artesia, yet here he was aboard this ship, struggling to survive as one of Ramba Ral's targets.

Ramba Ral would never shoot a child.

That was a conviction he held as a "soldier."

Head bowed, Ramba Ral made no further move. He sat down on the bed in the tiny cell, barely a few square meters in size.

"I won't use child soldiers."

That was his bottom line.

"Is that so? Then perhaps you're a good man in Zeon. What a pity. Good people don't last long in Zeon."

Eli locked the cell door without hesitation and looked at Ramba Ral.

A man who would pay any price just to hold on to everything he already had.

Perhaps that willingness to sacrifice was a compromise born of Zeon's brutal political climate, the helplessness of an adult.

But that didn't change the fact that he was still a Zeon soldier, an accomplice.

Eli turned to leave.

"Wait! If you say you want to end the war, why don't you start by doing something? Let the boy and girl go. They're only orderlies aboard this ship, after all. They're insignificant to you, aren't they?"

As if he'd suddenly realized something, Ramba Ral grabbed the bars and shouted at Eli.

But before Eli could answer, Amuro stepped forward from beside the door, his anger plain to see.

"Don't look down on me! I'm the pilot of the Gundam!"

Ramba Ral's eyes widened.

His legs seemed unable to support him, and he fell backward.

He sat there on the bed, stunned, and made no further move even after Eli and the others had left.