While I was busy averting my eyes from reality, a status report came in.
"This is the Isono Squad. The jamming worked! Also... which one of you did it?! Who’s the one who drew a doujinshi with characters modeled after me and Leo?! I looked into it, and it’s so popular they even put out an ASMR voice story! I’m going to freaking kill you! Rikochi, you brat!"
"I-It wasn't me! If it were me, I wouldn't use Leo-kun as a subject!" Rikochi started making excuses.
"But it’s someone related to you, isn’t it?!"
"They might be related, but I don't know anymore! How many tens of thousands of people do you think are in Chronos?!"
"Wait... tens... of thousands?" Even I hadn't expected those numbers.
"Yeah, there are ten thousand people drawing BL alone. There aren't many voice actors yet because they can't make a living off it, but there are still plenty of them."
"What?"
"When it comes to novels or regular manga, I have no idea how many there are!"
"Wh... why?"
"What do you mean, why? You can do it from home, and you can make a decent living nowadays. Of course the numbers are growing! Besides, I'm just drawing military stuff for the public relations magazine because Chronos asked me to!"
"You're a professional!"
"That's why I don't know what's happening at the bottom!"
It was true that it was my fault for leaving things alone for a while. My perception of the world was still stuck back in the days when I was just a simple freelancer. No, wait—come to think of it, I had been seeing ads with surprisingly beautiful characters lately.
"O-Oh... Leo, can't you do something about this?"
"No. I have a policy of not complaining about freedom of expression."
"...I figured you’d say that! Dammit!"
If you oppress creators, they’ll treat you as an enemy for generations. You’ll be consumed as a meme forever. If you really hated it, you would need the resolve to carry out thorough suppression, even if it left a scar on the Official History. I lacked that kind of resolve. I’d rather be treated as a universal "total sub" in fiction hundreds of years from now than deal with that.
Isono spat out a line like a pathetic villain: "You damn couple! I'll remember this!"
Serves you right. I was taking damage too, but as long as I didn't look at the content, the wound wouldn't spread. Just as we were having an exchange that seemed devoid of any Depressing Development, a transmission came from the star of the show.
"This is Kevin! The hospital ship is out of beds! Get the other vessels ready!"
The transmission came from a fuming Dr. Kevin. That was the reality of our situation. In truth, she was our camp's strongest Drone Operator. I wanted to send her out as a combatant, but I prioritized her primary profession as a doctor. Because, as a super-talented Drone Operator with more strength than the average man, her skill in performing surgery using machines was of the highest caliber in the galaxy.
She had also experienced war as a Nurse. She had a strong sense of responsibility and was overwhelmingly tough. Who wouldn't want to foster a talent like that? And so, Dr. Kevin had reached a position where she could be entrusted with training newcomers. Among us, she was a person of talent who had risen through the ranks on merit alone. We tried not to cross her if we could help it.
"Understood. What's the situation?!"
"Heavy casualties in the Parcion Army! Why did they do something so reckless?!"
"Those guys were looking for a place to die! I couldn't stop them!"
"What about Shi-yun?!"
"One-O-One stopped her just before she could launch a suicide charge!"
"Leo, please provide psychological support for Shiyun-chan!"
"I thought I was doing that!"
"You knew Shi-yun bottles things up without letting it show on her face, didn't you?!"
"I thought she was venting her stress through baseball!"
"Ah, geez! This is why men are...!"
"You were a man once too... have a little sympathy..."
"Huh?!"
Why was she getting mad at that?! Isono, meanwhile, was smirking.
"What is it, Isono, you bastard!"
"Nah, I was just thinking how fun it is to watch other people's domestic disputes."
"We're not a couple!" Kevin snapped. "Leo, you idiot! Just get the ships and equipment ready!"
Why me...?
For now, I set about arranging the hospital ships and called out to the other nations as well. My voice was growing hoarse as the extent of the damage to the Parcion fleet became clear. That was strange. Inside the Humanoid Fighter, the temperature and humidity were constant, and the helmet had an air purification filter...
I lifted my helmet's shield and popped another nasty medicinal candy into my mouth.
...Hmm. Right now, nobody was watching.
I pulled out a store-bought candy from my personal storage. Because of my family history, I had a tendency toward Diabetes, so I was forbidden from bringing these in... but it was fine as long as I didn't get caught! As long as I didn't get caught!
Which one should I have? Cola flavor, brown sugar, fruit... I’d go with the strawberry caramel one. I skipped the daikon radish cough drops and the propolis candies. You guys taste terrible. And you're not even effective if I catch a real cold. In that regard, the strawberry caramel flavor was the taste of pure happiness.
I crushed the nasty candy I had been sucking on with my teeth and swallowed it. I would not forgive that taste. A gasoline-like scent spread through my mouth. The person who intentionally gave it a gasoline smell just to make it taste bad... I’d remember this. I would never forgive them.
"Strawberry caramel candy is the best!"
I felt energized again. I headed toward Shi-yun. The Taikyoku Nation had thought better of their charge thanks to Parcion's failure and One-O-One's persuasion, so their damage was light. When I connected the line to Shi-yun, One-O-One was clinging to her.
"One-O-One... what are you doing?"
"This one shall protect Shi-yun, sir!"
Yeah, well, whatever. "Keep protecting Shi-yun just like that!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Wait a moment, Lord Leo!"
"Shi-yun, you need to calm down too. There will be plenty more chances for revenge later."
"B-But!"
"What we're doing right now is a Territory Game. We take territory... and once they can't stand it anymore, they're bound to launch a total assault. I’ll count on you then!"
"...Understood."
"And you, Brother, stop her properly!" I made sure to warn the Forbidden Army general—Shi-yun's brother—who was standing behind her. I mean, sure, he was a vassal, but he was the brother she grew up with! If his little sister was about to do something reckless, he should be the one to stop her!
"Blood rushed to my head... I am truly sorry..."
Now then, I’d be on standby around here. The Great King and Katori-sensei were currently harassing the weakened Corpse Eaters. They weren't necessarily reducing their numbers; they were just stirring them up.
It was a principle of strategy that having greater numbers was an advantage. However, just like during the Thomas Expedition in the past, it was also a tactic to force the enemy to carry a massive amount of dead weight. I was the absolute worst at high-level tactics, but the "swamp" was where I truly shone. I would keep draining their combat power without actually defeating them.
Now, I wondered if they could reorganize all that dead weight. We had managed to reorganize our side. Now it was their turn. Go on, let's see them try!
The Territory Game continued, but the roles of offense and defense had been swapped.