Cagalli and Kisaka

The one who finally 'rescued' Luther from Haman's demonstrative intimacy was the report from a female petty officer outside the door.

"Your Excellency, Ledonir Kisaka has been brought here."

"Please, show him in."

Ledonir Kisaka, who entered wearing a suit, gave Luther a subtle sense of incongruity; he couldn't help but feel that either a military uniform or the 'Rambo' attire would have suited him far better.

However, Ledonir Kisaka quickly dispelled this sense of dissonance with his own actions.

"Orb Defense Force, Major Ledonir Kisaka, here by the order of Representative Uzumi."

"I am the leader of Celestial Being, Major General Luther Deikun. Major Kisaka, you have traveled a long way. Miss Cagalli is right there. As long as you can convince her yourself, you may take her back to Orb. By the way, please convey my regards to Representative Uzumi; I will visit him in person when the opportunity arises."

In response to Major Ledonir Kisaka's polite demeanor, Luther stood up to offer a reciprocal greeting, as did Haman.

Yet, before Cagalli could roar 'I'm not going back' again, Major Ledonir Kisaka's words plunged her into an awkward predicament.

"I will ensure the message is delivered. Representative Uzumi has also expressed a strong desire to meet with you. As for Miss Cagalli, Representative Uzumi anticipated that she might be unwilling to return to Orb when he sent me, so he instructed me to handle the expenses and aftermath for her. May I request permission to board this ship to look after and protect Miss Cagalli?"

Facing this unexpected 'rejection by her father,' Cagalli stood dumbfounded, while Haman laughed in a very unladylike manner. Luther chuckled as well, then responded with a smile.

"Of course, that is no problem. Welcome aboard the flagship of Celestial Being as an observer, Major Ledonir Kisaka."

"You may simply call me Kisaka, Your Excellency Luther."

Luther nodded, summoned the female petty officer, and then 'proposed' to Kisaka.

"You have traveled a long way and must be exhausted. I am sure you have much to confirm with Cagalli, so I will not keep you any longer. Ah, Cagalli is currently staying with the daughter of the Atlantic Federation's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and they get along quite well. I will have someone arrange separate accommodations for you."

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, Your Excellency Luther. Lady Cagalli, shall we go?"

Kisaka naturally had no objections to Luther's arrangements. After expressing his gratitude to Luther in a steady, composed manner, he walked over to Cagalli's side.

"Luther, you're plotting against me."

Amidst Cagalli's inexplicably amusing line, Luther wrapped an arm around Haman and waved goodbye to Cagalli and Kisaka with a smile.

--Ten minutes later, in a high-end dessert shop in the residential area of the Gwameir--

Cagalli was turning her grief and indignation into appetite, single-handedly challenging a multi-person parfait intended primarily for social media photos.

In truth, Cagalli had been eyeing this shop—which catered mainly to high-ranking female officers of the Celestial Being fleet—for a long time. However, during her first few days, she had only been assigned to the same double room as Flay, originally intended for mid-level officers, simply because she happened to be a young woman. Unlike Flay, she did not have an abundance of internal Celestial Being currency to spend due to 'special reasons.'

By the time her identity was confirmed, Cagalli had proactively thrown herself into mobile suit pilot training, exhausting herself to the point where she had no energy left to visit the residential area.

Instead, because the Gwameir had been in a state of combat readiness since this morning, Cagalli and Flay had been left with nothing to do in their room. Now that she had Kisaka to foot the bill, Cagalli had brought him straight here.

In fact, because the combat readiness status had not yet been fully lifted, the shop was not technically open for business. However, once Cagalli invoked Luther's name, the sergeant in charge of the shop naturally provided service respectfully after contacting their superiors.

The currently empty shop was indeed a perfect place for Cagalli and Kisaka to communicate in peace.

"So, what was the meaning of Father sending you here?"

Cagalli asked Kisaka, seemingly indifferent, while struggling against the massive parfait.

"I believe Representative Uzumi's thoughts are the same as Miss Cagalli's. Everyone is very concerned about this 'Celestial Being' that has suddenly emerged, and this is especially true for Orb. Although Celestial Being has publicly declared its philosophy and demonstrated its power to a certain extent, whether this philosophy is merely empty talk, and whether their strength can truly support such a grand vision, are both matters worthy of attention. Of course, following Heliopolis and the fall of Artemis Fortress, there should no longer be any doubt regarding the latter."

"Indeed. After all, even if Orb were to exhaust its entire national strength, I fear it would be helpless against Artemis Fortress."

Cagalli stuffed ice cream into her mouth with her spoon, seemingly trying to finish it before her stomach could react, while slightly slurring her agreement with Kisaka's assessment of Celestial Being's combat power.

Just as Kisaka was about to continue, Cagalli suddenly choked and began pounding her chest forcefully. Kisaka hurriedly pushed over the soda he had ordered for himself but had yet to touch. Cagalli downed the soda in one gulp, let out a satisfied burp, and finally came back to life.

"Thanks. I almost thought I was going to die at the hands of a parfait."

Cagalli pushed the parfait glass, still sixty percent full, away without a hint of regret, stretched in a very unladylike fashion, and then dropped a 'bombshell' that cut off Kisaka's polite pleasantries.

"Actually, compared to the fall of Artemis Fortress, Celestial Being holds an even stronger card. Do you know? The mobile suits that Celestial Being deployed earlier were all piloted by Naturals."

"That's impossible!"

Kishaka stood up abruptly, bumping into the dining table and nearly knocking over the parfait.

Although Cagalli had been quite flustered herself when she first learned of this, she smiled with satisfaction to see Kishaka, who had always been so composed, lose his cool like this.

"I have lost my composure, Miss Cagalli. I deeply understand the reason you intend to remain with Celestial Being. Even if I have to risk my life, I will ensure this information reaches Lord Uzumi!"

Cagalli found it strange when Kishaka made this low, solemn declaration after sitting back down.

"Ah, Celestial Being never intended to hide this, you know? At least, not from us in Orb."

Kishaka naturally did not doubt Cagalli's words, so he quickly arrived at a new deduction.

"Does Celestial Being intend to join forces with Orb? Is this the future that the Newtypes foresaw? Regardless, please tell me more, Miss Cagalli, so I may have my subordinates relay it all to Lord Uzumi."

Cagalli would naturally not refuse this, as it was clearly what Luther had expected as well.

And so, Cagalli and Kishaka sat in the shop for several hours, only finishing when the combat readiness alert was fully lifted and the number of customers began to increase.

The massive parfait eventually served as her "lunch," and after Cagalli employed her "start with the egg rolls and defeat them one by one!" tactic, it all ended up in her stomach.

However, the price for this was that after parting ways with Kishaka and returning to her quarters, Cagalli could no longer hold on and lay on her bed groaning until her roommate Flay returned laden with spoils.

The remaining time until dinner was spent with Flay rubbing Cagalli's stomach while Cagalli helped Flay analyze and explain some of the details from the morning meeting that Flay had been concerned about.