"Momo-chan, let's go for a walk."
"Woof!"
Construction on the orbital elevator was proceeding with great fervor. On the ground, we had established a traditional radio communication network.
Because of that, I was bored out of my mind. They wouldn't even let me work a part-time job. It was tragic.
So, I spent my time walking Momo-chan. Melissa and Rikochi came along, as did a contingent of the Imperial Guard Knight Order and a chamberlain.
We all trotted along together. Before long, heavy construction machinery came into view, with villagers working alongside the crews. We were paying them a very generous wage. Even though the village was mostly self-sufficient, I still wanted to build something like a Kamishiro Group Mini Supermarket for them.
"Keep up the good work," I called out to the workers.
They were laboring away in the middle of a snowstorm. Their work clothes were equipped with life support systems, but that didn't make the job any less grueling.
"I'm sorry, but could you please arrange for some hot soup? Make sure they get something high in calories too," I asked the young man from the chamberlain staff.
"By your command."
I figured a short break with some hot soup would do them good.
If that bastard Isono were here, I could have just let him handle this... If he were on-site, he'd probably be organizing a drinking party by now. He was a monster when it came to sports-minded communication.
Of course, the bastard was currently on standby with the Papa Club. I'd feel bad for Hanako-san if I sent him out into the field, so instead, I was making him work himself to death as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
"I'm begging you, let me go to the site!" he’d pleaded, but I'd flatly rejected him. I even had that bastard Nakajima keeping him under surveillance.
Once Momo-chan's walk was over, I was once again left with nothing to do.
I. Was. Bored!
"Rikochi, can I go help with the construction? Just the electrical work is fine."
"No."
Rejected again.
Since there was no internet, I couldn't play games. I couldn't read books. No anime, no movies.
I was bored to tears!
As I was throwing a fit of frustration, I was ushered toward the ruins. They told me to go help Kyoko-chan with whatever she was doing. Melissa, Rikochi, and Helga—the rest of the idle group—joined me.
Inside the ruins, Kyoko-chan was glaring at a set of blueprints. She had been groaning for a while now.
"What’s the matter?"
"I used a non-destructive inspection device to look at the internal machinery, but I don't understand any of it. The technology used here easily surpasses our current standards."
"Even though it's ancient?"
The materials themselves were clearly deteriorating. At the very least, the Galactic Empire should have been technologically superior.
"The materials and coatings used by the Galactic Empire are better, yes... but there are plenty of instances where technology is lost because raw materials are no longer available, the environmental burden is too great, or a fatal flaw is discovered. It happened with early electric cars and Damascus steel."
"What do you mean?"
"It’s full of unknown tech. We're talking about things on the level of Zork technology, Lady Luna's ESP, or a Jester's ability."
Well, that was a hell of a thing to turn up.
Then, Berger-san came walking over, groaning just as Kyoko-chan had been. His assistant, Kachiya, followed behind him.
"Lord Leo. I have discovered a glimpse of a terrifying truth."
"Is it about the Zen God Race?"
"Yes, it is exactly as you surmised. This place was indeed a fortress on humanity's final defense line."
That much we already knew.
"And this is the information revealed by the records..."
I looked at the data on his terminal.
Wait... what?
The neighboring planet. It was currently uninhabited, a barren rock, but...
"A planet-class battleship... You have to be joking."
"To be precise, it’s a planet-class battleship camouflaged as a planet. The plan was apparently to shed the disguise and launch a surprise attack during a Zen God Race invasion. And it’s not just this one; this planet and that one too... This was the real reason they were so intent on developing these ice planets."
It was a perfect defensive line. A cluster of planet-class battleships.
"Ah... right. This is going to cause an international incident, isn't it?"
This was the kind of thing that would completely shatter the balance of power.
"At the very least, I believe we should inform Latarnia, the Taikyoku Nation, and the Ogre God Nation as soon as possible," Berger suggested.
"You're not wrong!"
Suddenly, a headache flared up. My blood pressure had probably spiked through the roof. This was terrible for my health!
"Is it okay if I head back for a bit?" I asked Rikochi and Melissa.
"Actually, you should head back immediately. I'll leave Eddy in command here," Full Armor Rikochi said, giving me a thumbs-up.
"Then let's go. Rikochi, you're coming too, right?"
Melissa seemed like she was dying of boredom herself.
Suddenly, Momo-chan clung to my leg.
"Kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu-kyun!"
"You want to come too?"
"Woof!"
In that case, I had to have Helga come along as well. We borrowed a transport aircraft... though I was the one doing the piloting. Naturally.
Me... a pilot... How sad.
Once we were back on the battleship, I immediately contacted Wifey in Chronos.
"I'm sorry! I couldn't get through earlier because of the communication blackout."
"I have heard. I would not be angry over such a trifle. Regardless, it sounds as though thou hast had quite the ordeal!"
"No... it's actually turned into something much bigger. Can you listen? Please try to stay calm while I tell you."
I reported that the neighboring planets were actually camouflaged planet-class battleships.
When she heard that, Wifey looked completely stunned.
"What dost thou intend to do with... those?"
"I honestly haven't even thought that far ahead yet. For now, I'm going to consult with Latarnia."
"Hiding them is also an option."
"I think they’d find out eventually. They’ve surely got spies embedded here by now."
"Likely so. I shall leave the matter to thee, Lord Groom. I shall be the one to inform the Galactic Empire."
"Please do."
"By the way... Lord Groom."
"Yes?"
"My breasts have grown larger."
"Uwoooooooooooooooh!"
It was my loudest roar in months.
"Talk to thee later~"
"Uwoooooooooooooooh!"
With that out of the way, I called Polina.
Polina was acting as my personal secretary. Information would obviously be shared with Latarnia immediately, but since she was someone the Latarnia side trusted anyway, there was no problem.
"I'm sorry to rush you, but this is urgent. I need an audience with the King of Latarnia immediately."
"Did something happen?"
Haha. Having explained it to Wifey, the main points were already organized in my head.
I pulled out a map and started circling the disguised planet-class battleships.
"These turned out to be planet-class battleships."
"..."
Her head lolled.
Whoops, she fainted. I hurriedly caught Polina before she hit the floor.
"Someone! Polina fainted!"
"Oh, you moron! Captain, you just blurted out the core truth! You have to ease into information like that or people can't handle it! You can't just shove the fact in her face that if Parcion had known about this, Latarnia would have been wiped out!"
Since there was no other choice, I had Polina carried off on a stretcher.
Next was Shiyun. I contacted the palace in Chronos.
"Lord Leo, what is the matter?"
Perhaps because her best friend Tatiana was over here, Shiyun sounded a little down. She looked quite dejected. I’d left One-oh-one behind, but I suppose she still felt lonely without a central figure around.
I broke the news to Shiyun as well.
"A-Awa-wa-wa-wa... why...?"
She fell into a massive panic as well. Understandably so.
"It seems Parcion never noticed. Their governance was so sloppy they never bothered with detailed planetary surveys."
It was obvious when you thought about it. This place was a remote wasteland with zero economic value. Even if they'd wanted to survey it, they couldn't have found an excuse for the budget. Especially in a place like Parcion, with its stifling bureaucracy, it would have been impossible.
Saying it was lucky they were stupid is just speaking with hindsight. In reality, I think it was simply beyond them. Their resources were being drained by internal power struggles, after all.
"Anyway, I want to gather all the relevant parties and have a 'strategy meeting'—which is actually just a contest to see who can shift the most blame onto everyone else. Do me a solid!"
"Keep your true motives to yourself! Hide them!"
Honestly, I was in a real bind. What was I supposed to do?