Public Security Division 11.
The Special Crime Investigation Division.
I, Uta Tachibana, belong to what is commonly known as the secret police.
My mission is to guard the clone of Leo Kamishiro.
The project to clone His Majesty the King of Chronos, Leo Kamishiro, was carried out not only by the Duke Association but also within the military.
It goes without saying that... after incurring the wrath of the Galactic Empire Emperor, Lady Veronica, those involved were dealt with.
The worst case among them was that of Army Lieutenant Leo.
The military was responsible for his creation. Specifically, a group of highly patriotic individuals within the Veronica Faction secretly created a clone of His Majesty Leo. They applied memory alteration and deployed him into actual combat.
In practice, he was apparently incredibly capable. However, there was no inheritance of ESP, and most of those clones died.
His Majesty Leo is a Special-type esper. As expected, it must be difficult to achieve victory against the Zork without ESP. That said, it is impossible to artificially transfer ESP to a clone.
Amidst all that, there was only one individual who inherited His Majesty Leo’s Special-type ability: Army Lieutenant Leo.
House Kamishiro, which has now become a ducal house, appears to be a lineage of Special-type espers. Tests confirmed that his older brother, His Excellency Duke Sam Kamishiro, also possesses a Special-type ability.
Duke Sam’s ability is to provide Hope to the citizens of his governed territory. It is an ability that makes them succumb to the illusion that "the future is bright and my life will definitely get better."
He himself was unaware of this power. While it is an ability that acts on the mind—which is normally prohibited as a Mental-type—an investigation deemed it harmless. In fact, brain-related diseases decreased by seventy percent. Even dementia in the elderly almost never manifests when combined with nanomachines; it was a power that provided nothing but benefits.
It is an extremely useful ability for a ruler. The Emperor herself decided that there was no need to seal it. The abnormally high economic growth rate of Planet Kamishiro is likely due to Duke Sam’s power.
Normally, it is an ability that could even make the Unification of the Galaxy possible, but Duke Sam has no ambition. In the first place, his younger brother is the King of Chronos, now hailed as the Galactic Overlord. Furthermore, the King of Chronos is the Imperial Groom of the Galactic Empire Emperor.
If His Excellency Sam Kamishiro were ever to attempt an uprising, it would likely only be if they were on the verge of losing some kind of war. There isn't even a need to monitor him.
Army Lieutenant Leo is the clone who inherited the most anomalous ability from such a lineage of espers. He was born during the final stages of the Zork War and was discovered in a cultivation tank when Public Security raided the facility.
Emperor Veronica ordered that "the created clone bears no guilt" and commanded that he be allowed to live a normal life after memory processing. Army Lieutenant Leo was given a false memory—that he was a survivor of a Zork attack during a field exercise at a local National Officer Academy—and was allowed to choose his own path.
He had several options. He could have taken an honorable discharge and gone to university on a military scholarship, or found employment in the private sector. As a pilot, he would have had no trouble finding work.
Instead, he chose to remain in the military. It seems he chose the path that made monitoring him the easiest. There, he was promoted to Army Lieutenant.
I was assigned to him as a Non-commissioned Officer to serve as both a guard and a monitor. When I am not around, beastmen from the Battle Dome or kunoichi from the Repsitore Nation take turns watching him.
I headed toward the Palace for my weekly report. As I walked down the hallway, a young woman—hardly more than a girl—called out to me energetically.
"Yo, Sis."
It was Melissa Tachibana, my younger sister. Currently, she is one of the wives of the King of Chronos.
"Lady Melissa, Uta Tachibana has arrived," I said, dropping to one knee.
"Sis, seriously—stop that. We’re family."
Melissa was a hero who reclaimed a planet while I was still in university. What’s more, her groom was the legendary Leo Kamishiro. Compared to our father, the Head of House, she was twice as influential—it wasn't even close. She was already a being far above the clouds.
"Sooo. How’s your darling doing?"
Something inside me snapped at this sister from above the clouds.
"Wh-wh-wh-who are you calling 'darling'?!"
True, the Army Lieutenant was a good guy. But she didn't need to turn everything into a romance!
"Whatever, let's just go to the office."
We entered an office equipped with a punching bag. Melissa sat down and grinned foolishly.
"I never thought we sisters would end up liking the same type of guy."
I felt a vein throb in my temple. "I told you, don't say things like that..."
"Even so, that short, faded hair suits you. Maybe I'll have my husband change his hairstyle next time."
Something in me broke. "Melissa, you little brat, are you picking a fight with me? Huh?! Come on!"
I knew I was being immature, but it felt like she had poked right at the complex I'd had since childhood about being mocked for my height and build.
My sister burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha! I'm not picking a fight. Sis, why don't you just go for it? He’s probably a Fetish Fiend just like my husband. You’re exactly his type."
"What do you mean, 'Fetish Fiend'?!"
"Because that's just the kind of person my husband is. He even took a Lepsitolian woman who’s bigger than him as a wife."
I didn't understand it at all. Didn't men in this world prefer women who were a bit more petite and cute? Or rather... my sister had absolutely no sense of jealousy. That was a bit worrying in its own right.
"Melissa... are you okay with not having him all to yourself?"
"It's fine, it's fine. I know I'm not the type who needs to be clingy twenty-four-seven. Though you, Sis, would probably be full-on possessive."
Was she really okay? I was starting to get seriously worried about her.
"Setting that... aside. Here is the Incident Report."
"Yeah, yeah. No particular changes, I see. What about the pirates?"
"We're scouting them, but their intent is unclear. They seem to be transporting something, but..."
"Drugs aren't circulating anymore, and human trafficking has been banned. What are they thinking?"
No matter how you looked at it, following His Majesty the King of Chronos was the smarter move. He provided freedom and education; there shouldn't have been anything to complain about.
"Development of the new machine is hitting a snag on our end too," Melissa added. "I'll leave the annoying stuff to you."
"Y-yeah. It's my job, after all."
"By the way, tell me something cute about Army Lieutenant Leo. Come on, he's like my husband's brother, right?"
"...I'm not telling you."
As if I’d tell her! Especially not to this sister of mine.
"See? Possessive!"
"You just worry about your own husband! I'm going home, you idiot!"
"Yeah, yeah. Let me know when you're getting married. It takes years to plan the wedding ceremony."
"I'll never tell you!"
"Ahahahahahahaha!"
I stepped outside, her laughter echoing all the way down the hall.
That stupid sister of mine! Just she wait!