On the other side, seeing his probing attempt sink like stones just like previous times, Athrun's eyes shifted thoughtfully this time.
"Brother Fred, could I trouble you with something?"
It was rare for Athrun to address him as 'brother'.
"What is it?"
"We have a research project about Mistral for our homework. Could we tag along during the next maintenance session?"
"Eh!?"
Before Fred could even respond, Kira—startled by Athrun's sudden request—jumped up in protest.
"But we agreed we'd just find a discarded one at the scrapyard and look at that..."
Kira whined toward Athrun like a child.
On a nine-year-old, it was unexpectedly somewhat cute.
"You said that yourself—I never agreed," Athrun retorted, shooting an exasperated glance at this lazybones who even copied homework from him.
If only Kira could show even a fraction of Fred's diligence, he'd probably cry from relief.
But expecting that level of motivation from Kira was clearly impossible—after all, he was a slacker.
"Besides, having an intact Mistral is obviously better."
Actually, a discarded one would work too, but he wanted to see what Fred was really doing during maintenance—whether it was just repairs or something else.
"That shouldn't be a problem, but you can't run around recklessly," Fred replied.
Considering the Mistral had multiple cockpit seats, and though he was tempted to complain about their father already planting a spy beside him, Fred didn't refuse.
Letting them learn a bit earlier might be good too.
Who knew when such knowledge might come in handy, with the world in such chaos?
As for the possibility of them surpassing him in skill—well, so be it.
He could always keep improving himself.
No matter how skilled others became, as long as they weren't enemies, it didn't really concern him.
Besides, talent was a good thing. Even after he retired, who knew what new villains might emerge? Maintaining world peace would be the protagonist team's mission.
As for him? He'd retire with a clear conscience.
If he could fool these two now, he could retire earlier in the future while the world remained peaceful.
As for lifetime after-sales services like the Compass Organization? He'd never participate, even if beaten to death.
Work his whole life? No way!
Imagining his ideal future life, Fred's smile grew even brighter.
Watching this, Athrun grew increasingly puzzled.
Why did he seem so happy?
Had he fallen into a trap?
Had he accidentally set himself up?
That probably wasn't the case... right?
Before Athrun could ask more questions or Kira could refuse, a voice interrupted their conversation.
"Kira~"
Flay had come downstairs to the living room, already dressed in her school uniform.
The girl, a year older now, appeared even more charming.
"Athrun."
Compared to her greeting for Kira, Flay's tone toward Athrun was noticeably cooler.
With a girl's intuition, though she hadn't detected Athrun's probing toward her, she still maintained wariness around him.
Of course, this was Fred's own analysis.
Whether it was truly like this or just some destined arrangement, he wasn't certain.
After all, in the original storyline, the two had never met.
Anyway, since Athrun and Flay's relationship wasn't exactly bad now, he let it be.
He still needed to tend to his vegetable garden, and while at it, figure out how two people could protect the world. As for the matters of the youth, let the youth resolve them themselves.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere, as everyone was busy with their own tasks.
Patrick frowned deeply at the intelligence report delivered by the spy before him.
The contents of the message filled him with unease.
Blue Cosmos was plotting a terrorist attack on Copernicus.
Copernicus housed a Coordinator elementary school with many Coordinator children, not to mention an agricultural research center. Although it was under constant surveillance by the Council Nations, and he had no intention of completing space agriculture research there, Blue Cosmos was unreasonable. Moreover, their organizational structure was loose, making it entirely possible for some factions to take unauthorized action.
In short, the intelligence was likely not baseless.
"Council Member Zala, all anti-Coordinator factions within Copernicus are currently under our control and show no signs of unusual activity," reported Zala's assistant, a purple-clad officer, lowering his eyes nervously.
"They probably wouldn't collude with Blue Cosmos."
Aside from that previously overzealous fanatic, the anti-Coordinator factions there were limited to protests and demonstrations at most.
They simply lacked the capability to carry out large-scale terrorist attacks.
In fact, even if Fred hadn't intervened earlier, they would have eliminated that overly vocal individual themselves.
"Hmm."
Patrick's frown did not ease in the slightest upon hearing this.
He was well aware of what his assistant said.
But what if? What if his wife and child were tragically killed?
The mere thought made him feel as if endless darkness were gnawing at him.
He didn't want to take that risk.
"Increase surveillance on those organizations and dispatch more disguised patrol fleets."
As an energy and industrial export base, PLANT's ports were constantly bustling with merchant ships.
Blending a few additional ships into the traffic would be effortless, and the corrupt bureaucrats in the Council Nations would be none the wiser.
In fact, they had long used this method to covertly establish intelligence networks in many nations on Earth.
Including Copernicus.
"Understood, I'll arrange it immediately."
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the adjutant acknowledged and hurried out.
Watching his subordinate depart, Patrick's expression remained tense.
Even with increased fleet numbers and patrol frequency, their covert operations had limits and could not achieve perfection.
"I shouldn't have let them go there in the first place..."
Patrick murmured to himself.
He had sent them away initially because he feared his family would be implicated after the assassination attempt on him.
But now, though Copernicus seemed relatively calm, it was far from truly safe.
"Then again, it's not like there were many other options."
Patrick scoffed self-deprecatingly.
There were only so many neutral nations. He didn't trust Earth, and ORB's leading families maintained ambiguous ties with the Council Nations—hypocrites, in his view, using neutrality as a pretext to play both sides.
That left Copernicus as the only viable choice.
As he pondered, Fred's name inexplicably crossed his mind.
According to the reports from his subordinates, Fred had already reached the proficiency level of an average Coordinator soldier in operating Mobile Armors.
"But it's still not enough."
Patrick quickly found his inexplicable thought ridiculous.
A Mobile Armor and an ordinary soldier with Coordinator combat abilities - he had secretly hidden far more than that in Copernicus.
He had even arranged for six elite Coordinators to infiltrate.
Although Fred was exceptionally talented, he was still young after all.
And not a Coordinator.
In his view, even if there was danger, there was no reason for Fred to step forward for his wife and child, or for Coordinators.
Moreover, when had he fallen to the point of relying on a Natural child?
In the end, he had to rely on himself.
No one could be counted on.
As Patrick thought this, his gaze shifted to a photo of himself with his wife and child.
Then his fingers began rapidly tapping on the keyboard.
In the room, only the monotonous repetition of keyboard clicks remained.
He still needed to notify his wife as soon as possible.