Editing City Series:Volume1 Chapter 5 (section)

===Part 6===

Else was the first to speak.

She took a breath to calm herself first.

“Dad.”

Her voice resounded clearly through the entranceway.

It was Gaston’s voice that drowned it out.

“What have you been doing? Your disobedience is hardly new, but I cannot help you this time.”

That was the usual line, but the exhaustion filling it was new. She must have noticed it because her expression changed slightly.

With an odd stillness on her face, she asked him a question.

“Would you believe me if I told you I was seriously thinking about going to space?”

Her words left her father speechless. He had just realized how she had returned and what she was trying to do.

“This is no time for jokes!” he emotionally shouted back.

He then took a breath and relaxed his tensed shoulders.

“Listen, Else. The man who once tried to go to space failed and became a star decorating the moon! No one has ever succeeded!”

“I know that.”

“Why would you do something that could kill you!?”

“Because I believe I can do it.”

“You just want to stand out! You can’t risk your life for something so ridiculous! And not just that! You’re troubling the military and spreading chaos through your country!”

“What does the country or military have to do with this?”

“Have you never thought about what it means for people to die!? You will be killing people who have nothing to do with this!”

“Then why do you sell weapons!?”

“…!”

It was a sharp, painful statement.

Gaston started to reply but stopped.

He did have a reason to sell weapons: his daughter. But he could not say that here. If he did, it would include a dark meaning.

…''If Else wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have sold those deadly weapons.

That was what it came down to. Anything he said would only sound like an excuse.

He had no choice but to accept her next statement head-on.

“Everyone does the same thing!”

Gaston’s shoulders twitched as if from a spasm.

He did not know what to say.

At the same time, she began to move. She slowly lowered her hips, got down on one knee, and fixed the hem of her skirt. She placed one arm across her stomach, leaned forward, and bowed her head.

Her action contained no hesitation. It was a prepared and perfected act.

In noble etiquette, that was how a knight showed gratitude to his ruler, but the action was not even seen in royal palaces anymore.

After a while, she raised her head. Her expression was calm and still.

“I apologize for interrupting your busy schedule.”

Her tone was relaxed and she did not stop.

Unable to say anything, Gaston bit his lip and listened to his daughter’s voice.

“It would seem I asked too much of you, but this is very important to me. Two people have bet their lives on this issue and it will help me decide what to do with my own life.”

“…”

“As president of the Breuer Company, please lend me some personnel. I beg you.”

After that, she raised her head a little.

“I honestly want to do this myself, but it seems you can’t reach space alone. I’m not just asking you. I want everyone’s help!”

Hearing the uncontainable intensity in her voice, Gaston asked a reflexive question.

“Do you think everyone will work for your sake?”

“It isn’t for my sake! It’s for what I want to do! It’s for going to space!”

“Mh…”

He frowned at that.

He had realized her desire was more than mere selfishness.

His daughter was trying to lead others and accomplish a goal.

He realized that action could also be expressed with the word “business”.

However, realizing that fact meant accepting that Else was on the same level as him. It meant allowing her to leave him.

…''Can I really allow that now!?

In order to hold her here and in order to test her, he asked one final question.

“Are you saying you can sacrifice others just as I do?”

Before answering, she stood and brought their eyes to equal height.

“I simply believe in the possibility of reaching space. This is a challenge that includes the possibility of my own failure.”

As she answered, she gave an unreliable and yet strong-willed smile.

…''Is she afraid?

Someone who would sacrifice others had to keep in mind the possibility of their own demise. Gaston knew the transaction was completed by that principle.

She was sacrificing others and herself in order to set a great number of people in motion and accomplish her own goal.

She had a real goal now. If someone like that began to move, there was no stopping them. Just as Gaston had never stopped selling weapons no matter what Else had said.

…''I see.

He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

And he muttered the words of his resolve.

“If I didn’t help you, you would go running elsewhere, wouldn’t you?”