I attended the completion reception for the spaceport and the colony.
The governors of the Persion border regions were also in attendance.
I hadn't granted the Parcionians any peerage titles.
To begin with, Persion had a history of governors serving through succession and connections—it was democracy in name only.
The fact that the situation was already corrupt before things even got started pissed me off, so I wasn't going to hand out any titles.
Peerage in the Galactic Empire and Chronos followed a convenience store owner model, where you shared your fate with your territory.
Even my father, who couldn't be called competent even if I were trying to be nice, had chosen that path.
I didn't trust people who ran away.
Besides, if I were to carelessly grant peerage now, it would be a hassle later when it came time for Persion to become independent.
It wasn't that I was discriminating against Persion.
I was developing it properly and setting up the infrastructure.
I was pouring money into public health and education too.
At a national accounting level, this sort of thing was essentially free anyway since it fell under the banner of reconstruction.
The more you invested, the more you got back.
As long as the railway lines were properly maintained, flat land wasn't an issue.
This wouldn't work in a country without technical skills, but since we had the technology, we could keep the citizens fed for fifty years just by repairing broken buildings and infrastructure.
Even so, I still wouldn't give the governors peerage.
In short, I was simply giving the Persion power players the cold shoulder for rational reasons.
At any rate, once Persion stabilized, I was going to have them become independent.
Though the atmosphere suggested they weren't going to let me grant them independence easily.
The Parcionians were certainly enjoying their freedom.
It was a bit irritating...
I disliked Persion, but it was a strategic military strongpoint.
Our strategy was to use this colony as a starting point to build more spaceports and colonies.
Colonies could be used as military forts, supply points, or forward bases for large-scale development.
If they were used correctly, that is... Hahaha!
But you see, colonies tended to become depopulated or turn into slums once large-scale construction finished.
The jobs would vanish...
And the only people left behind were the elderly, criminals, and others who couldn't afford to move away.
Eventually, they wouldn't even have the money to repair the colony, and it would become space debris.
They would perish much like mining towns or New Towns built in incredibly inconvenient locations.
That was why management was vital.
This time, since it was a spaceport supply hub for Rosaria, I didn't think it would turn into a slum.
It was like the colony where Kevin’s family home was located.
That place didn't perish because it was a supply point.
On the other hand, Nina-san’s family home had been built for a mining project on a nearby planet, but it became a slum as soon as the mining ended.
Afterward, it turned into a Hyahha-land for pirates.
It was a sad story.
At the spaceport completion reception, we broke open a decorative kusudama ball, did a ribbon cutting, and cracked open a sake barrel.
Why were they bringing in Galactic Empire culture for this?
Even the people doing it didn't seem to understand why they were doing it.
But since it was ceremonial sake being handed out, nobody complained.
...Yeah, well, whatever.
Wifey, Claire, and Ren also attended.
The Galactic Empire’s Crown Prince made his public debut as well.
This was unavoidable.
I was being pressured by various factions to show him off.
Now, Wifey’s child was fine.
He was the Emperor of the distant Galactic Empire.
He was someone for the locals to keep an eye on, but his priority was low.
Claire’s child felt more like, "He's the future King of Chronos. We need to watch him closely starting now."
Since we were scheduled for a forced neighborly relationship, after all.
But the real problem was Ren’s Sextuplets.
That was a serious issue.
Because the theory that Ren's children would be the future kings of Persion after its independence was the leading candidate.
Apparently, that was being seriously proposed.
The story was incredibly detailed: first, I would grant Persion independence and turn it into the Persion Principality.
Then, with the Galactic Empire Emperor as the head of state, a trio of nations—the Galactic Empire, the Kingdom of Chronos, and the Persion Principality—all ruled by my descendants, would be established.
Furthermore, it seemed everyone had completely forgotten about Lepsitol-kun's existence.
What were they even talking about?
No way.
I was planning to just democratize it half-heartedly and throw the responsibility away.
I wanted to democratize Chronos too, specifically because I didn't want to force my own children to inherit it.
I wanted to somehow move it toward a cabinet system or a presidential system.
It's fine, just do it. Democracy.
Democracy is great.
Though when a territory became as vast as Chronos, the local regions became too strong and nothing could be decided.
It became an infinite loop of behind-the-scenes maneuvering with no one in charge, and endless conflicts over vested interests.
The center would rot because of that, and the national power would weaken further.
They seemed to realize that, because even though I had engaged in political maneuvering, it hadn't stuck with anyone.
Even the political scientists had seen through me.
Even a peerage system would collapse the very day the lords started abandoning their local areas and running away.
In the end, when you had opposing forces that you could almost communicate with but couldn't quite reach, you needed strong leadership.
Including the resolve to have your head chopped off in place of the people.
To force that on my own children...
It would be fine if they were just the lord of a single planet.
Now, regarding Ren’s children—it seemed that in Persion, discrimination against the Beast Race wasn't all that blatant.
I suppose that made sense, given that Helga was there.
Besides, this region had many more races that were even more non-human.
Or rather, because they had been doing business with Lepsitolians for so long, they seemed to be quite casual about that sort of thing.
Moreover, the result of Persion's collapse was the total downfall of the old upper class.
The discriminatory feelings toward the Beast Race, which had flimsy foundations to begin with, had been blown away.
So, if Ren’s child became the monarch, they would just react with a "Huh, okay."
That was why the way they cheered when Ren appeared was bizarre.
It was a literal "Hyahhoo!"
The faces of the governors there turned into filthy smiles.
They had the eyes of gambling addicts trying to judge which child to keep an eye on as a future racing piece.
You guys... this isn't a paddock.
Ren’s children were gradually starting to look like human babies.
Once their fur shed completely, the only difference would be that they were "perhaps a little small."
Even so, my children... even though they were babies, they were all beauties...
They were at a level where you couldn't tell if they were boys or girls.
As expected of the Beast Race...
The very race that the Imperial nobles, the source of all discrimination, loved to keep as mistresses...
Animal ears are justice.
I'll acknowledge that much of their "high-class" hobby.
But don't discriminate just to try and hide your sexual fetish! What are you, middle schoolers whose parents found their weird fetish porn?!
Ren was completely put off by the blatant attitude and truly filthy smiles of the Persion governors.
Wifey's face was twitching too.
Claire was smiling, but she was clearly pissed off.
Ah... things are going to get stricter for them from here on out.
The Parcionians would probably be happy about it, though.
Let’s get back to the spaceport.
The plan was to build a frontline base from here.
From there, we would conquer the Gatekeeper.
Finish the war before it begins.
The words of Sun Tzu are still correct even now.