Acceptance

This alien did not put on any airs; his strength simply did not allow it. He continued, "I stayed there for a long time, handling negotiations between my race and the Riken Race over that miraculous drug."

Everyone immediately understood which drug he meant. Though the Riken Race was quite weak, it was fairly well-known precisely because of that miraculous little vial.

Just as the aliens thought he was about to reveal some explosive information about the Life-Extending Serum, he abruptly changed tack. "During that time, I successfully uncovered some of the Riken Race's sealed history—a buried piece of history. Though calling it history is not entirely accurate, since it only spans a little over a hundred years. To us, that amount of time might merely be the duration of a single hibernation during space travel."

"But for a civilization at their level, a hundred years is already a very, very long time. Among the history I uncovered, many events had been altered beyond recognition by the Riken Race. Yet as far as I was concerned, the real history was of no use either. After all, they were merely a newly risen race."

The alien spoke at length, yet after all that, he still had not gotten to the point. Seeing him immersed in his memories—and since everyone was indeed bored and needed a topic to distract themselves from the wait and their fear—they let him continue.

A whole group of representatives from Mid-Ring Civilizations and advanced Outer-Ring Civilizations listened to a representative from a middling Outer-Ring Civilization ramble on. The entire gathering remained silent, with no one interrupting the speaker. Such a scene was exceedingly rare.

"That was indeed what I thought. Those histories were like clichéd television dramas, utterly lacking in substance. But now, I believe that at