“Okay, that should do it.”
Ruminating over the problem hadn’t gotten me anywhere, so I decided to go for broke. Ultimately, there are some people in the world you’ll never get along with, no matter how hard you try, and maybe I was that kind of person for Aqual. But she wasn’t that for me. If nothing else, I wanted to do everything in my power to prove that much to her.
And so, after getting the telescope and everything else ready, I settled in and waited for Aqual to arrive. I’d asked Gerda to tell her to dress warmly and come here after her bath. Since neither she nor Riviera had returned to say otherwise, I figured that meant she was coming.
Just for the record, when I said “everything else,” I meant a table, a pair of chairs, a notebook with writing utensils for jotting down our observations, and a single telescope. I’d never done anything like this before, so this was the best setup I could come up with.
All that remained was to light some insect repellent and pull out a few hot drinks and snacks from my inventory.
After a short wait, I heard footsteps approaching.
“Thanks for coming.”
“It’s fine.”
Thanks to my Undergrounder achievement, I could see perfectly well in the dark, which made it easy to make out Aqual’s expression.
Her eyes looked a little red, but I decided not to mention it.
“Um, I asked you to come here because I made this. I thought we could do some stargazing,” I explained.
Aqual glanced at the astronomical telescope.
“Is that so? I must apologize for Gerda’s actions. I told her it would be far too forward of her to make such a request of you.”
“Gerda? Huh? She never said anything to me.”
What was she talking about? From the sound of it, Aqual assumed Gerda had asked me to make the telescope.
“Did she not ask you to make this? Ah, or did you question her and find out that I had an interest in a tool that would allow me to see Omicle more clearly?”
“No. I didn’t hear anything from her, nor did I ask. I swear. While I was working earlier today, I happened to see you ladies using the binoculars to look up at the sky, and that’s when I thought of making an astronomical telescope. That’s all. After hearing Shemel and the others talk about Omicle, I just got curious myself.”
“…Is that so?”
I wasn’t sure if she believed me or not, but she seemed to lose interest in pressing the issue. It really was just a coincidence, and if she still didn’t believe me, she could always ask Gerda herself later.
“Yeah. Anyhow, like I said, this is an astronomical telescope. It has a far higher magnification range than the binoculars you used earlier today. In other words, it’s a telescope that lets you see incredibly far away. I figured we could try looking at Omicle and see what we can find.”
“I understand your intent, but why is it just the two of us?” she asked, her wary gaze locked on me.
It was a fair question. Of course she’d have her guard up being invited out alone at night by the same man who was entangled with the rest of her family.
“I just wanted a chance to talk face-to-face, without prying eyes. I figured it’d be easier for us both to be honest with one another that way.”
“Is that so?”
“It sure is. Of course, whether that actually happens depends on how things go from here. But for now, let’s start with the telescope. To be honest, I’m really excited to see what we can spot up there.”
Maybe there were people living on Omicle too. I didn’t know if we’d actually see signs of human life or anything particularly interesting, but the very thought was thrilling.
Aqual kept her distance—like a guarded kitten—while watching me. I let her be and turned my attention to the telescope, pointing it up toward Omicle’s glow in the night sky.
The telescope I’d crafted had a 50mm aperture and a surprisingly light frame. Since Omicle was a celestial body far bigger than the moon back in my old world, I figured this would be more than enough to get a clear view. Furthermore, it had a solid frame and was easy to control.
Now, then, let’s see…
“You seem quite familiar with this. Have you used such a tool before?”
“Nah, this is my first time. Apparently, my ability lets me instinctively use anything I make correctly, so even if I’ve never handled it before, it’s not an issue.”
“Is that so?”
“It sure is.”
We continued talking as I adjusted the telescope, letting my hands work automatically before pointing the end of it at Omicle.
All that was left was to look through it and fine-tune the angle and focus.
“Now, then, let’s see what I can see…”
I could hardly contain my excitement. Through the eyepiece, Omicle came into sharp view. I didn’t spot anything clearly man-made—not that I’d expected to—but the details were mesmerizing. I could easily make out swirling clouds, vast land masses, and the deep color of the ocean. There were stretches of pale gold that looked like deserts, jagged ridges that had to be a mountain range, and rich green patches that were likely dense forests. Those stood out most of all.
“I see. Fascinating,” I murmured, then stepped aside and gestured toward the telescope. “Here, take a look.”
“…All right. Pardon me.”
I stepped away from the telescope and pointed at it, prompting Aqual to lean in and take a look. She adjusted it without hesitation, having watched how I’d operated it moments before. She made a few minor corrections to its angle and observed Omicle out in the distance.
I gazed at her profile, lost in thought about what I saw.
Even before using the telescope, I knew Omicle had both land and oceans. That alone made me hopeful about the possibility of life. But after observing the planet through the telescope and seeing those green stretches of forests, well, that changed everything. If those really were forests, then there had to be plant life. And if there was plant life, it wasn’t hard to imagine there might be insects, animals, and potentially even intelligent life somewhere up there.