Apparently, Charlotte was out directing operations on-site.
A Planet-class Fortress.
Once a vessel reaches that scale, things break down all over the place every single day.
Whenever it moves, it collides with debris and meteorites... or rather, it's so massive that it pulls them right into its gravitational field.
There really is an appropriate size for everything.
It has the kind of sheer audacity that completely disregards economic viability.
Some argue the same applies to space colonies, but I don't pay that any mind.
Colonies have a long operational track record, after all.
And so, we were constantly swamped with repairs.
Of course, using a Zork-processed outer hull makes things somewhat better.
It's unprecedentedly resistant to cosmic ray degradation in particular.
However, neither the construction work nor the production lines could keep up.
Limited resources go to the producing nation first.
What's made in the Galactic Empire stays in the Galactic Empire; what's made in Chronos stays in Chronos.
It's common sense, yet plenty of people can't seem to grasp where that line is drawn.
After covering our own needs, priority exports go to the Kishin Nation, Latania, and the Taikyoku Nation, with whatever is left over going to Rosaria, I suppose.
No, seriously, it's a strategic material, so of course that's how it works!
It's not like I'm saying we won't sell it to them!
It's a material that people already know how to counter anyway.
Even if we didn't sell it, industrial spies and traitors have surely leaked the manufacturing methods to other nations by now.
I know that much.
That's why we patented it—so we could sell it through legitimate channels before everyone starts copying it!
The only issue is how to allocate the supply!
Cold, hard reality stands in the way long before everyone can just hold hands and play nice!
Sure, we're ramping up production capacity... but there's no way in hell I'm building a factory in Repsitore!
Because it's painfully obvious they'd cut corners and ignore every single procedure and specification during manufacturing!
Look, I consider Repsitore a partner worthy of respect, but that's the one thing I will never trust them with!
I'm not letting people who brought about their own ruin through a total lack of morals manufacture critical building materials!
Take that mamachari of yours!
The damn frame snapped right in two!
What was with that ridiculously paper-thin piece of shit frame?!
"It's a dream new material," my ass! You complete morons!
It didn't have anywhere near enough structural strength!
You're not professional racers, so lose some body weight instead of shaving it off the bike, you idiots!
If that hadn't been a new product sample provided directly to me, a civilian would've been severely injured!
That's right.
The frame snapped while I was out running errands!
Hey, listen here, you bastards! You crushed the watermelon I was planning to sneakily eat with just the Imperial Guard before One-O-One found out!
How are you gonna make up for that, huh?!
Injuries?! I heard a weird noise and bailed out instantly, so zero damage!
Just a tiny bruise.
Having the climax of my day be the exact moment I bought that watermelon is just depressing!
It's not like I was speeding, either! The Imperial Guard would've chewed me out!
Why on earth would I speed on my way to the supermarket?! The Imperial Guard would yell at me!
The entire escort unit's bicycles were deemed unsafe and confiscated on the spot.
We ended up just loitering around a convenience store near the palace eating ice cream.
In the end, One-O-One found us anyway and joined in on the ice cream!
Goddammit! My watermelon!
Maybe I'll just grow some next year...
One of those easy-to-grow gardening varieties.
I should click "buy" on some melon seeds online while I'm at it.
And so, I gave them a stern scolding with absolute, deadpan seriousness.
As retribution... no, as a natural consequence, I decided we wouldn't let them produce construction materials.
It's not out of a petty grudge over the watermelon or because I was pissed off.
It's a conclusion I reached after careful, rational consideration.
Why would I let people who can't even assemble a decent bicycle manufacture critical battleship components?!
My watermelon!
...No, I mean, I'm just glad no citizens were hurt!
My watermelon!
And so, the chronic shortages of manpower and production capacity dragged on.
Well, whatever, it couldn't be helped.
This is just how post-war reconstruction goes.
If we get carried away and declare "maximum production at all costs!", even Chronos manufacturers might start turning out shoddy goods.
I don't mind pointlessly excessive quality.
Critics are barking at us to lower standards and boost output, but I ignore them.
Critics and that whole scene—people whose sole purpose in life is dragging others down—can just go perish.
I couldn't care less about you lot.
I haven't forgotten how those scumbags calling themselves military pundits talked shit about Wifey early on in the Zork War.
I try to keep my temper in check as much as possible, but I remember every single insult ever directed at my wives in excruciating detail.
"Perhaps those trash media figures badmouthing my children should be marked for assassination..."
"Stop that. Leo-kun, you're being way too terrifying!"
Fairy-san scolded me.
"Why is it that you don't care when people turn you into a free material meme, but the moment someone insults your family, you pull a full-on tyrant routine?!"
"Listen here, Fairy-san! I don't give a damn about myself. But my family is an entirely different story!"
"Just drop it! Leave them alone."
"Why?"
"Someone's bound to set their houses on fire anyway."
Apparently, the citizenry would purge them on my behalf.
Good on them!
"I just need to vent, but... people are being awfully harsh on Ren's sextuplets."
Public sentiment toward the Beast Race was cold.
Well, sure, they look different, and historically they were treated as slaves.
It wasn't much different from the prejudice directed at the female Zork.
Even in Chronos, I was vaguely treated like some kind of degenerate pervert. Me, personally.
Talking bad about me is fine.
But directing that hatred at children is completely unacceptable!
The elderly seemed to despise them the most.
In Chronos, their numbers had dwindled due to the locusts, but the surviving power brokers were still around.
...Should I go deliver some punishment?
"I mean, it pisses me off too! But I'm enduring it, aren't I?"
In the first place, back in the Galactic Empire, men of ducal rank kept them as mistresses all the time!
There's way too big a gulf between what they preach and what they actually do!
Chronos and Persion aren't practically any different.
Helga-san's tribe is crawling with descendants of powerful elites.
That planet was essentially a penal colony for the Beast Race, from what I heard.
"It'll be fine. By the time Ren-chan's kids grow up, the social atmosphere will have shifted. They're a hero's children, after all."
"I hope so."
I want to weed out the seeds of any future civil war.
If a civil war breaks out down the road, I can only see a future where we lose to the Beast Race.
I'd be fine with that, honestly!
Ah, but if it comes down to a bloody struggle against Ark, Towa, or their descendants, I'd hate that.
I should probably nip it in the bud quietly after all.
Yeah, let's do that.
"Sooo, where's Charlotte-chan?"
"Ah, there she is."
Charlotte was down at the spaceport construction site.
This project was meant to allow transport aircraft to haul supplies from the spaceport before conducting major repairs.
Smaller ships are definitely better. They're so much easier to fix.
Charlotte was clad in an extravehicular full-face helmet and a heavy-duty work suit.
Since she's a politician... the haphazard way she wore it was the kind of thing that would make an oyakata punch you without a word.
If you're on a live site, pull your face shield down.
Even the military would chew you out for that kind of negligence.
Incidentally, I was in full military combat gear.
"Oh, what brings you here, King Leo?"
"Just came for an inspection."
"I see. So did I. And then they forced me into this. Honestly, such an exaggerated getup."
Ignoring her grumbling, I silently reached out and snapped Charlotte's helmet shield down.
"What are you doing?"
"Listen, Charlotte. Around here, if you let your guard down for a second, a stray bolt or nut dropped by someone will come flying at your face at hypersonic speed. Always keep your shield down. Got it?"
"I-I see. You are remarkably knowledgeable."
"I'm a combat engineer too, you know~. By the way, how are things back in your homeland?"
I asked her straight out.
"I know nothing. Not a single thing. It may merely be that communications are difficult due to the ongoing war. Though it would not be surprising if they were entirely wiped out."
"I see... That's worrying."
"My apologies. I am causing you undue trouble."
"Don't worry about it. You're helping us investigate those ruins, after all."
Rosaria has scholars well-versed in the Zen Divine Race.
We plan to rely heavily on their expertise during the investigation.
Charlotte was going to have her hands full from here on out, but...
I don't know Charlotte's true feelings deep down... so these casual words of concern were the best I could offer.
Communication really is difficult, isn't it?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a stray piece of debris scored a direct hit on a nearby work vessel.
The wreckage came careening straight down toward us.
"See? I told you it was dangerous."
"What are you standing there talking for?! This is a major accident!"
Yeah, figures.