As it turned out, even an eighteen-year-old "teenager" with sixty bonus months to his name… still ended up fooling the innocent little bird.
Hoshigaki Sora watched as Robin quietly ate the food he'd brought back, her expression a complex mixture of reluctance and resignation.
It was obvious that even if she had accepted what he said at face value, the idea of eating pet food still left a knot in her heart.
He sighed—and opened another can himself, eating silently beside her.
Well… what's done is done. Now they were both guilty. Their shared shame now formed a black mark in their history together.
Or maybe…
When I'm down and out one day, I could go find Robin and say—
"Miss Robin, surely you wouldn't want the whole galaxy to find out you once ate pet food, would you?"
Of course, that was just a fantasy. If he ever tried blackmailing her, he'd be exposing himself in the process.
This wasn't some shady adult-rated world. Robin wouldn't suddenly swoon and submit just because of a little leverage.
She was a member of The Family. If he actually tried threatening her, he'd probably be preemptively eliminated by their agents before he even opened his mouth.
So yeah… hard cut. The moment we find real food, this whole incident never happened. Anyone who brings it up again? We're throwing hands.
The two of them finished eating in silence, honoring the sacred, ancient rule: don't talk while eating.
Only after they'd cleaned off the last bite did Robin finally exhale a deep sigh.
"As you said, Mr. Sora… the taste was a little off, but the nutritional content is certainly superior to standard rations."
"In fact, I could see myself buying some of this as a snack later on."
Sora's eyes widened in horror.
Oh no. I've corrupted her.
Thankfully, Robin's commentary stopped there. The topic soon shifted back to something much more serious—how to leave this planet.
"My ship crash-landed here," she said. "So I wanted to ask… do you know of any way off this world?"
The "ship" part was total fiction, of course, but with the Antimatter Legion swarming the planet, Sora figured Robin wasn't going to press him too hard.
"Actually, I do have a way to get off this planet," she replied.
Her words were like divine music to Sora's ears.
Finally. An escape route!
Ever since he saw that ship crash-land, he'd been living under a constant sense of dread. Getting off this world was his top priority.
"If you could take me to the escape pod you pulled me from, Mr. Sora…"
"Uh…"
"…What's wrong? Didn't you rescue me from the pod?"
"I—yes. I did."
"Wonderful! With access to the pod's systems, I can contact my family. They'll be able to retrieve us both from this planet!"
Robin had assumed the pod successfully ejected and Sora found her post-landing.
Her face visibly relaxed at the thought.
But when Sora told her the pod was still located in the wreckage of the crashed ship, she froze.
"M-Mr. Sora… that's not funny…"
It took her a long moment to say the words, and her voice trembled as she did.
The ship, the Doomsday Beast, the overwhelming despair—memories surged through her like a tidal wave.
"I'm not joking."
Sora had no choice but to clarify: he wasn't reciting a fairytale.
Which meant they'd have to return… to the crash site.
"Let's get some rest first. Then we move."
He made the call without hesitation.
...
The Guard Chaser tore through the dusty wasteland, kicking up a storm behind it like a hungry beast giving chase.
Robin now wore cloth over her mouth and nose just like Sora, seated behind him with a complicated expression as she watched the dead world go by.
"They say Planet Camille was once a 'living world'… but now, it's hard to see even a trace of life."
Camille, once praised as a natural ecological planet—a verdant gem of the stars—was a top-tier travel destination across the galaxy.
No one had ever imagined such a miracle of life would be reduced to this wasteland under the claws of the Antimatter Legion.
But Robin's thoughts on the planet's fate gradually faded—because they'd arrived.
The wreckage loomed on the horizon.
Bits of armor she recognized still clung to the ruined vessel, scorched but somehow retaining their original shape despite Camille's brutal sun.
"We're here," Sora said. "Let's walk the rest of the way."
He cut the engine early to avoid drawing attention from any nearby Voidrangers.
Robin nodded. The two dismounted, and Sora stored the Guard Chaser back in his system space.
Together, they moved toward the remains of the ship.
Sora kept a careful eye on the surroundings, speeding up once he was sure the coast was clear.
Robin followed close behind as they entered the wreck.
It didn't take long for Sora to notice something… off.
The corpses that had once littered the crash site were gone.
He vividly remembered the physical reaction he'd had upon first seeing the bodies. But now—nothing.
Only scraps of limbs remained, half-rotted and eerily still.
Thankfully, he'd steeled himself for this. It didn't shake him too much.
"Ngh—!"
A pained gasp from behind.
Sora turned to see Robin, her pupils dilated with horror, staring at the decaying remains.
The scent of death had clearly triggered every alarm in her body.
Sora mentally kicked himself. He'd forgotten this was her first time seeing anything like this.
He stepped up quickly.
"Don't look. I'll guide you from here."
He gently placed a hand over her eyes and led her toward the pod.
Without the visual shock, Robin calmed down considerably. Soon enough, they arrived at the spot.
And there—on the warped escape pod door—she saw two clear handprints.
Proof that someone had forced the hatch open.
There was no need to ask who it was.
"You check inside for the comm system. I'll stand guard outside. If anything goes wrong—we run."
Robin nodded and stepped into the pod alone. Sora took up watch, scanning for any signs of the Legion.
But it wasn't long before something did happen.
A loud crash from inside the pod made him jump. He rushed to the doorway—
—and stopped cold at what he saw.
Inside, a figure cloaked in fabric had a high-tech weapon pressed against Robin's forehead.
"Who are you?"
A survivor.
Someone else was still alive on this planet.