Chapter 82: It’s a UFO! That’s a UFO!!!
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“Mr. President! There’s an urgent message from NASA!”
“What happened?”
“They report sighting an unidentified flying object.”
“Could it be… aliens?”
“We don’t know, but it’s highly probable…”
“Notify all nations immediately! Honestly… just when peace had finally arrived.”
As February ended and March was about to begin, shocking news spread throughout the world.
The arrival of an unidentified flying object.
It was reported that an unidentified flying object, of which there had been alleged sightings in the past, was heading towards Earth.
“A sudden world conference isn’t exactly a calm affair, is it?”
“Indeed. It’s unprecedented. Something might have happened.”
“Gathering the leaders of various nations and Gifted individuals, what do you suppose they’ll discuss?”
“Since it seems to be an emergency, it’s likely about a threat similar to the Ivera Church.”
“Are there still occult groups like that around?”
“Their scale is small, but there are many of them.”
“Ugh, seriously?”
Kazuma and Ema arrived in America, the venue for the world conference.
Momoko and Sakura Hakanai were also on standby, but it was uncertain if they would be called upon.
The contents of this conference were classified as top secret, and even Ema had not been informed of what would be discussed.
“However, I suspect that this time it’s not about extremist terrorist organizations, but a much more grave and serious problem.”
Guided into the venue, Ema and Kazuma took their seats.
The leaders of various nations gathered, and after a collective bow, the conference began.
“Well then, thank you all for gathering today despite your busy schedules. Let’s get straight to the main topic. First, would you please take a look at this?”
Looking in the direction indicated by the US President, there was a pure white screen.
The next moment, the venue plunged into darkness, and an image appeared on the white screen.
It looked like a scene from a movie, with a peanut-shaped object moving through space displayed on the screen.
“What’s that? It looks like a peanut.”
“…Could it be?”
Kazuma didn’t quite understand, but Ema imagined the worst.
He looked towards the US President, wondering if he was mistaken, but the President shook his head, indicating that Ema’s assumption was correct.
“Ah…! It can’t be…!”
“What’s wrong? Did your stomach start hurting?”
“Thank you for your concern. For now, please listen quietly.”
“Eh…? You were the one who started freaking out first, though…”
Despite Kazuma voicing his concern for Ema, who looked pale and unsteady, Ema gestured for him to stop, pushing him away. Kazuma pouted, looking dissatisfied.
“This footage ends here.”
Just as the President said, the video playing on the screen stopped, and light returned to the venue.
“I believe you’ve gathered as much from the footage, but allow me to reiterate. An unidentified flying object is currently heading towards Earth. NASA had detected and was observing it, but it seems they were noticed, as it vanished from camera view and disappeared from radar. We are currently using every means at our disposal to search for it… but so far, with no success.”
A stir ran through the venue, and the murmuring grew louder.
The mere fact that an unidentified flying object was heading towards Earth was shocking enough, but now it was missing.
Why was it heading to Earth? What was its purpose?
Indeed, the crowd buzzed with questions about whether unidentified flying objects even truly existed.
“I know it’s difficult to ask you to calm down, but please, try to listen calmly first. At present, all we can do is strengthen our defenses and remain vigilant. If anything happens, we intend to share information and deal with it.”
In the end, the conference adjourned without any decent proposals being made.
That was probably unavoidable.
Suddenly, you’re told aliens are coming to attack. But when, where, or how is unknown. Faced with such a situation, there’s no other recourse but to be vigilant.
After the conference ended, Ema, leading Kazuma and the others, was about to return to Japan when he was summoned by the US President and headed to a separate room.
“You’ve come.”
“Is there something you need?”
“Yes. I’ll be direct. I want to borrow the power of the Crimson Knight.”
Ema had anticipated this, but he hadn’t expected to be asked so directly, and his eyes widened.
“It seems you’re surprised.”
“Yes, well, I had expected it, but I didn’t think you’d be this straightforward.”
“Hahaha, I see. That’s understandable. I figured a roundabout approach wouldn’t be to Mr. Satsuki’s liking.”
“You seem to know his personality well…”
“He may be quite a handful, but he’s a good person. If the Earth and humanity were in crisis, he would undoubtedly step up.”
“Well now, that’s quite high praise, isn’t it? Well, I’m not reluctant to lend my power, but…”
As Kazuma hesitated, the President and Ema tilted their heads.
Normally, Kazuma would have confidently replied, “Leave it to me!” so they began to feel uneasy about what was different this time.
“Actually, I’ve been searching for that unidentified flying object since a while ago… but I can’t find it.”
“Oh Jesus (No way, what the hell)…!”
The President, in an exaggerated reaction, clutched his head and looked up at the ceiling.
He had believed that Kazuma would surely be able to find the unidentified flying object that NASA had lost, never imagining he wouldn’t be able to.
Understanding that their greatest trump card had become ineffective, the President and Ema found themselves holding their heads in despair.
“Kazuma-kun. Are you serious, you really can’t find it?”
“I wouldn’t joke in a situation like this. It probably has some kind of super high-performance stealth function that can hide biological signs, heat sources, and even air currents, don’t you think? That unidentified flying object.”
“You can tell that much!?”
“I don’t want an Earth invasion either, so of course I’m searching with all my might. But I can’t find it. Maybe it’s still in space. Or perhaps it assessed our strength and fled.”
“I’d be glad if that were the case, but…”
“Still, we can’t let our guard down. As long as we don’t know their military strength or level of civilization, it’s best to be cautious. If we’re careless, we might be defeated without being able to do a thing.”
“I want to tell you not to say such terrifying things, but you’re not entirely wrong…”
Having no information at all is truly terrifying.
There’s no way to formulate countermeasures, and it’s unclear how to proceed.
For now, as the President said, the only option is to solidify defenses and remain vigilant.
“Isn’t there a chance they came to be friends?”
“If that were the case, I don’t think they would need to disappear after being observed by us.”
“Right…?”
The slim possibility that they came to be friends was crushed.
It’s unknown what purpose they have in coming to Earth, but at the very least, it’s unlikely to be a peaceful matter.
“Well, but, there’s one thing I can say: we were lucky.”
“Lucky? Are you serious?! When the Earth and humanity might be facing a terrifying encounter with the unknown, you’re thinking such carefree thoughts!!”
The President was furious at Kazuma’s remark.
An unknown entity, neither friend nor foe, was approaching Earth, possibly possessing technology far surpassing their own civilization.
And yet, he couldn’t remain silent in the face of Kazuma’s overly nonchalant statement.
“…Forgive my rudeness, but are you an idiot? They could have attacked us at any time from a place we couldn’t perceive, you know? It’s not even a matter of ‘being defeated without being able to do a thing.’ We would have been killed before we even noticed.”
“…?!”
Now that he said it, it was true.
NASA had detected the unidentified flying object, but it vanished shortly thereafter and still hadn’t been found.
Despite exhausting all possible means, even using Kazuma’s extraordinary magic, it couldn’t be located.
In other words, if they had wanted to, they could have attacked Earth at any time.
There must have been some reason why they didn’t.
The reason was unknown, but as Kazuma said, they were lucky to still be alive by a thread, for now.
“My apologies. It seems I lost my composure.”
“No, it’s fine as long as you understand. For now, I’ll continue the search. If I find anything, I’ll pass the information to you through the Prime Minister.”
“That would be a great help. We will also continue to do everything we can.”
Coordinating not only with Japan and America but with all nations to strengthen the response to this unidentified flying object was the only thing they could do at present.