Gundam, the Gundam journey of a certain glue guy and his mecha girl.

"I came to prepare for the Junius 7 memorial ceremony. Later, my ship encountered an Earth Force warship. When Earth Force personnel boarded the ship for inspection, a conflict broke out, and then..."

Lux paused for a moment. Although her expression didn't change, Raven could sense that she wasn't as calm as she seemed.

"I was pushed into the escape pod by the others."

"How could this happen..."

Although Lacus spoke briefly, Maru was able to easily piece together the truth of the incident from her words.

In the Earth Alliance, where blue cosmos ideology prevails, commemorating the Junius 7 incident is undoubtedly a taboo subject and the greatest political incorrectness.

From the perspective of Blue Cosmosists, the Junius VII incident was a holy war to eliminate the Adjusters, a great victory for righteous Blue Cosmosism against the "cosmic monsters." Lacus and his party, who came to commemorate the Junius VII incident, were undoubtedly a thorn in the side of these Blue Cosmosists.

After learning that this was a civilian ship belonging to PLANT, the actions of the Blue Cosmosists are self-evident. The so-called conflict was undoubtedly provoked by the Earth Forces, ultimately escalating into yet another act of atrocity by the Earth Forces against an unarmed civilian ship.

"Excuse me, what is the current status of the Silver Wind I'm on?"

"I'm sorry, I only found the escape pod that Miss Klein was in."

"Yes, that's how it is..."

Raven's answer made Lux unable to maintain her smile. Although she knew that the crew of the Silverwind were probably doomed, being told the result still made her feel very heavy-hearted.

Maru suddenly felt that her military uniform no longer fit her. She stood up and awkwardly tugged at the tight collar.

"That concludes our inquiry into Miss Lux Klein. This ship will accommodate Miss Klein according to humanitarian principles. However, this is, after all, a warship, so please refrain from wandering around on board. We'll take our leave now… Mr. Raven, aren't you leaving?"

Seeing that Raven showed no sign of leaving, Maru asked.

"I have some personal matters I'd like to ask Miss Klein."

Raven's words made Maru look at him with suspicion, but the camaraderie they had built up over the years made her decide not to delve into it further.

"Alright, Mr. Raven, please remember to lock the cabin door when you leave. It's for her own good."

Maru left the private room with Mu and Bakirulu, but the atmosphere did not become more relaxed after they left.

Clearly, even though Lux comes from a political family, she is still a 16-year-old girl, and the news of the Silverwind's crew's deaths is still too heavy for her.

The atmosphere made it difficult for Raven to speak, but in order to break the deadlock, he still pretended to be relaxed and said something.

"Although the atmosphere isn't quite right for this, Miss Klein, could I have your autograph?"

Raven pulled the record out of his pocket.

Chapter 14 Raven and the Diva

When Raven said that, even Lux, who has extremely high emotional intelligence, was stunned for half a second.

【Uh……】

A unique electronic voice emanated from Raven's chest pocket.

[Raven, is this the 'personal matter' you wanted to ask about? Even if you don't understand the atmosphere, why would you ask for an autograph in this situation?]

"I can't exactly ask people 'Have you eaten?' or something like that, can I?"

Why can't there be an option in your choices to comfort the other person?

"Hoo hoo hoo... Sorry. An autograph, is that right? Of course, no problem, Mr. Raven."

Seeing Raven inexplicably start arguing with someone, Lux couldn't help but chuckle, the gloom on her face finally dissipating a little.

"Operation successful. Excellent support, El."

[Was this really a battle that made Miss Klein happy?]

"Of course it's true."

Raven answered somewhat guiltily.

"Then I'll take it as true."

Al didn't pursue and fell silent. Lux, watching the interaction between Raven and Al, returned the signed record to Raven and asked with some curiosity.

"Mr. Raven, who was that... young lady you were just talking to?"

When Lux mentioned Al, Raven said with some pride.

"It's a fully autonomous, thinking artificial intelligence that I developed, named El."

Although Raven couldn't create a body for El to use in a short time, he could still share the access rights of the personal terminal's camera and microphone with El through a subroutine.

"That's right. Hello, Miss Lacus Clyne, I'm Al."

"Hello, Miss El."

Even though Al wasn't human, the well-mannered Lux ​​still nodded slightly at the camera.

"Completely autonomous, self-thinking artificial intelligence—this is a technology that even PLANT hasn't achieved. It seems that the title of 'the youngest genius of this century' isn't just political propaganda from Earth."

Lux's words made Raven blush. A large part of the reason why Raven was able to achieve such great success in this world was the solid foundation he laid in his previous life. This made Raven feel uncomfortable whenever he heard others call him a genius.

However, Raven also caught something interesting in Lux's words.

"Political propaganda? What kind of image do I actually have in PLANT?"

“This…” Lux hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth, “Actually, in PLANT, many people don’t believe that you, a natural person, could have achieved this at such a young age. They are more inclined to believe that all your achievements were plagiarized by Blue Cosmosists.”

For researchers, there is no more vicious accusation than this. Although Lux is not an academic, she understands this principle. Therefore, when she told the truth, there was a hint of shame in her voice.

Despite always touting himself as the adjuster of a superior species, driven by arrogance and jealousy, he actually did such a despicable thing.

So, it turns out those who made the adjustments weren't as rational as they claimed.

Lacus was embarrassed by Al's sarcastic remark, but Raven didn't seem to care too much about it. It would be strange if this hadn't happened before, given the long-standing divide between Coordinators and Naturals.

"There's such a thing? That's interesting."

"Aren't you angry?"

Raven's carefree demeanor piqued Lux's interest in the young man.

"It doesn't matter what, and from the beginning I never thought I was a genius. All I wanted was to fulfill the dream I've had since I was a child."

Raven took a deep breath, opened his arms, and looked out at the starry sky through the Archangel's heavy armor.

"Don't you think it's romantic to pilot a robot you created and travel among the stars?"

The young man's figure, loudly proclaiming his dreams, seemed to be shining brightly in Lux's eyes at that moment.

"This is such a beautiful dream."

Lux said this with a smile, her eyes so clear that there was not a trace of mockery in them.

-----------------

'At my age, I'm still acting like a complete novice, talking about dreams in front of girls I've just met. What have I been doing...?'

Thinking about what he had done before, Raven wished he could dig a sea-view house out of the floor with his toes.

For Raven, who prides himself on being a member of the independent community, this act of revealing his true feelings to a young girl was, in retrospect, undoubtedly a form of torture against his sense of shame. However, Raven cannot deny that he did feel a sense of ease when he was with Lux, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.

Whether it was the unique temperament of a young girl or some other reason, Raven always felt a warm feeling soothing his spirit when talking to Lacus. The pressure that had been weighing on Raven ever since the Archangel entered the Junius 7 wreck zone had dissipated without him even realizing it.

Perhaps this is why Raven lowered his guard in front of the girl.

After Raven revealed his dream, the invisible wall between the two of them dissipated. After that, Raven heard a lot about PLANT from Lux, which really satisfied Raven's curiosity.

However, Raven also sensed a hint of danger in Lux's words.

Similar to the situation on Earth, public support for the war in PLANT is steadily increasing, and radicals advocating the extermination of all naturals are gradually gaining influence.

Under the influence of Blue Cosmosists and PLANT radicals, the war would inevitably escalate into a horrific standoff between the two sides using devastating strategic weapons.

Having personally participated in the war and witnessed the horrific scenes of Heliopolis and Junius 7, Raven has lost all sensitivity to the war.

However, Raven could no longer extricate himself from the war; he was already mired in its quagmire.

To end the war and usher in a true era of peace, we must defeat the radicals and ambitious individuals who are fueling the conflict.

But where do we even begin?

His thoughts gradually became muddled, so Raven had no choice but to put this complicated problem aside for the time being. After glancing at the time, he took Lux to the Archangel's mess hall.

As the saying goes, "Man is made of iron, food is made of steel," you can't do anything if you're hungry.

Since things have come to this, let's eat first.

"Mr. Raven, is it alright to bring me out like this? Captain, you wouldn't allow me to wander around the ship as I please, would you?"

"The cafeteria isn't some kind of top-secret facility like the engine room or weapons control room, so there's no need to worry. Besides, even without me, Miss Klein probably isn't the type to obediently follow orders, is she?"

"Oh dear, you've found out."

Although she said that, Lux showed no sign of panic and maintained her unchanging smile.

However, just as the two saw the cafeteria door, Raven noticed Kira standing awkwardly outside. Curious, Raven quickly took a few steps forward, about to ask Kira what had happened, when he heard a sound coming from inside the cafeteria.

"I don't want to date that girl who does the adjustment; she's terrifying."

Chapter 15 Revision

"I don't want to date that girl who does the adjustment; she's terrifying."

Raven recognized the girl who said those words; she had a slender figure and gorgeous red hair, and her name was Frey Alster.

In addition to this, the girl has another identity—the daughter of George Alstar, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Atlantic Federation.

George himself is a supporter of blue cosmosism, and it goes without saying what kind of attitude Frey, who grew up in such a family, would have towards the adjusters.

However, in Raven's view, Frey's aversion to the adjusters is more like a child unconsciously imitating the behavior of adults, rather than worshipping blue cosmosism as a belief.

It can be said that Frey is a typical example of people influenced by blue cosmosism. Although she is not a devout follower of the ideology, she has to conform in order to avoid being isolated.

And Frey is not the only one in this world who is swayed by overly radical ideas.

"To truly resolve the conflict, it's necessary to break down radical thinking. If I can't even change her, how can I talk about changing the world?"

Raven had a sudden thought and grabbed Kira's arm as he tried to leave.

"teacher?"

"Don't rush off, Kira, haven't you eaten yet?"

Raven gave Kira a smile, then turned to look at Lacus.

"Miss Klein, please wait here for a moment."

Raven then pulled Kira into the cafeteria, while Lacus looked on with curiosity, wanting to know what Raven was up to.

-----------------

"What exactly happened? I could hear you talking in the hallway."

Raven appeared in the cafeteria.

“Professor Raven, actually it is…”

Miria, like a student caught daydreaming, carefully explained the whole story.

Because Miria had other work to do, she could only ask Frey, who was free, to help deliver food to Lacus, but Frey refused.

"It's just delivering food, is there really any need for such a big reaction, Frey-kun?"

Facing his students, Raven unconsciously adopted the posture of a teacher.

"But isn't she the Adjuster, our enemy?"

"The Adjusters are the enemy, Frey, do you really think so?"

Raven's words clearly displeased Frey.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Kira, who has always fought for us, is also a Coordinator. Could he be an enemy as well?"

Raven's tone became more forceful, and Frey finally realized Kira's presence. Her expression changed, realizing she had misspoke, but her long-held beliefs and the pride brought by her privileged family background made her retort.

“I, I didn’t mean that! Kira is our ally, I know that. But she’s different, she’s ZAFT’s person, and ZAFT is our enemy, that’s for sure, right?”

“Just as you are not a soldier, Miss Klein is not ZAFT. Frey, she is just like you, a civilian caught up in the war.”

Raven tried his best to soften his tone and present the facts to Frey. But Raven's lecturing only provoked Frey's rebellious nature. Caught up in her emotions, she couldn't bring herself to agree with Raven's words.

"I... well, I'm just not going to see her! The Coordinator isn't just smart, she's also incredibly resourceful. What if she goes berserk and attacks me?"

"Frei!"