My cystitis cleared up, and I was finally discharged from the hospital.
The blood in my urine was gone, so I could breathe a sigh of relief.
Right after getting out, I headed straight for the traveling exhibition organized by Karen-san.
Apparently, it was currently being held at a temple of the Chronos Religion, located a short distance away from the royal capital.
Up in the mountains, if I remembered right.
That was where my... or rather, the Kamishiro Group's wasabi fields were located.
The Chronos Royal Capital Planet was, on the whole, quite mountainous.
During the rainy season, nutrients flowed from the mountains down into the paddies.
Because of that system, rice farming was actively thriving there nowadays.
It was amazing being able to harvest rice in the exact same spot year after year.
Back on Planet Kamishiro, you couldn't grow rice without a hydroponic cultivation facility.
And it cost a fortune. The facility was pricey, and the rice it produced was just as expensive.
However... here on the Chronos Capital Planet, you could produce it almost anywhere.
Hehehehehe.
The wasabi fields were situated at a slightly higher elevation.
There, they cultivated wasabi using crystal-clear mountain water.
Real wasabi, not grown in dry soil.
It was wonderful!
Lands full of mountains really were rich in their own way, weren't they?
Nested within those mountains stood the temple of the Chronos Religion.
That said, since the area had been developed, a monorail ran straight up from the foot of the mountain.
So up we went.
We could have taken a car, but after I threw a tantrum going, "I wanna ride the monorail!", we ended up taking it.
I mean, who wouldn't want to ride one of these?
We got off right in front of the temple of the Chronos Religion.
I decided to kill some time at the souvenir shop.
Or rather, I went on a massive buying spree.
Hey, this was to hand out to the palace staff and everyone else involved.
It couldn't be helped.
It was the shop's fault for having so much good stuff!
"Do you have any more in stock?"
The shopkeeper handed me an order slip with a beaming smile.
Ah, yes. Sorry for the trouble...
Once I finished shopping, I was enjoying some soft-serve ice cream with the Imperial Guard when Wifey and the others arrived by bus.
"What is this, Lord Groom? You took the monorail?!"
"It's about the romance!"
I gave her a thumbs-up.
Truth be told, I hadn't wanted to reserve the entire car, but for security reasons, it had to be a private charter.
To all our esteemed citizens, I am deeply, deeply sorry.
The children had been left in the care of my mother and the others back at the palace.
I loaded a whole mountain of snacks onto the bus.
After all, we were totally going to eat them together on the ride home!
Oh, and I bought some local booze, too!
They probably bought beer at the foot of the mountain anyway.
This was the niche, peculiar local stuff.
The kind made with totally baffling ingredients.
Originally, it was only brewed in a few specific regions of Chronos.
Local specialties like this were great, weren't they?
If it tasted terrible, it was just terrible—it would still make for a funny story.
I wasn't mocking it; it served as an important point of cultural comparison with the Galactic Empire.
I'd already sent some to the humanities scholars visiting here, as well as the Kamishiro Group's product development department.
If it suited the palate of the Galactic Imperial People, it would be commercialized as is.
If it didn't suit them, it would be radically modified into a similar taste profile and sold across the Galactic Empire.
That was how you deepened mutual understanding.
You shouldn't just force everything from outside and destroy the existing culture.
We had to incorporate things from Chronos, too.
The same would likely go for Magellan, Ozen, and the Persion Nation in the long run.
Just because we held the power didn't mean I intended to wipe out their culture and make everything Galactic Empire-style.
That said, since Chronos shared sensibilities that were fairly close to the Galactic Empire, importing and understanding things was relatively easy.
After all, Latania cuisine—where sweetness and spice reigned supreme—still wasn't very popular.
Outside the temple, food stalls were selling meat dishes.
Someone tugged on my sleeve.
"...One-O-One. You want some?"
"I would love some, sir!"
"You're eating too, right, Ren?"
"Yes!"
In the end, it turned into snack time for everyone.
I decided on a noodle dish.
A basic one for me.
Fairly light in flavor.
Made of rice flour, maybe?
Topped with fresh vegetables, it was delicious.
Kind of like rustic countryside udon, even if the noodles were made from rice flour.
It had a simple, comforting taste.
Meanwhile, the houtou enthusiasts among my comrades had the miso flavor.
It wasn't the miso we were familiar with, but they seemed generally satisfied with it.
One-O-One ordered some skewers and other snacks as well.
Tatiana had the same noodles as me.
Shi-yun was absent due to the God-Slaying Parade being held in her home country.
...Apparently, she had gotten roped into doing it across multiple cities.
She had asked for the exhibition to be held in the Taikyoku Nation, too.
Yeah, yeah. I'll pass the message along to Karen-san.
After finishing our meal, it was time to head to the exhibition!
We passed through the gates and entered the temple grounds.
Apparently, Saint Tatiana and I, being the King, had to undergo a purification ritual.
Well, whatever.
Might as well brush my teeth after eating while I was at it.
I changed into traditional Chronos attire.
Tatiana donned her high-ranking clerical robes.
Military uniforms would have been fine, but since this was a religious ceremony, we followed the customs of the Chronos Religion.
Not that I had converted or anything.
I was an underling of Zashiki-warashi, after all.
The very manufacturer of my existence was Zashiki-warashi, so it couldn't be helped.
Still, I had no intention of antagonizing them.
Nothing good ever came from religious oppression.
Besides, I had consulted the Chronos Religion multiple times, asking, "Is there any way I could step down from being king?"
Every single time, the Chronos Religion was the one that stopped me with everything they had.
As long as I remained king, I figured we'd maintain a give-and-take relationship.
Once guided inside, we were greeted by a broken baseball bat and a life-sized cutout of Isono.
A plaque next to it detailed its history:
"The bat that drove in the decisive run when a team that had hovered near last place for nearly twenty years finally claimed the championship."
Footage of the walk-off home run from the bottom of the ninth inning was playing on a screen nearby.
It certainly felt like it held some kind of divine power.
You know, regarding this bat...
Apparently, multiple auction houses had contacted Isono, practically begging him to sell it.
As the bat that bludgeoned a god, its value had ironically skyrocketed.
Definitely the kind of item you'd catch hell for selling.
Next up was the infamous cursed object.
Our company's mascot.
Its head was completely shattered.
At this point, it was being treated as a sacred artifact.
"A life-sized character statue thrown into a river by overexcited fans of the Kishin Nation during a championship celebration. Afterward, the team suffered a sudden losing streak, earning it the reputation of a cursed statue, but it delivered a decisive blow in the battle against the Calamity God."
Footage from the moment it was tossed into the river and footage of Nakajima charging with the statue played back-to-back on repeat.
You guys are total idiots, honestly.
After that, we browsed the displays featuring Tank-sensei's ceremonial apron and Saurus-sensei's championship belt.
We planned to craft a new ceremonial apron for Tank-sensei to commemorate our victory over the god.
We also intended to present Saurus-sensei with a championship belt commemorating the same feat.
A tag-team belt shared with Tank-sensei, of course.
We had already secured permission from the Empire's largest pro-wrestling promotion and the official championship sanctioning body!
I was a man who properly compensated people, after all.
However, I was still agonizing over what to do about the Count One-Two-Three mascot.
"I wonder if it's okay to repair this?"
Wifey made a sour face as well.
"I cannot simply say 'leave it be'... but it would be terrifying if a curse befell us."
"Right?"
Nearby lay the rusted, crumbling remains of Katori-sensei's katana.
This was a Divine Katana, after all.
I really wanted to forge a replacement somehow.
Apparently, it was irreplaceable now because the master craftsman who made it had passed away.
What was I supposed to do? There was no way to properly compensate him for that.
Various other items were on display as well.
The attire worn by the MVP of this battle, Suematsu-san, alongside Tatiana's outfit.
The uniforms of the Taikyoku Nation cheer squad and the Kishin Nation cheer squad.
The basketball from when the first Kishinkoku person to join a Galactic Empire team won a championship... though it was squashed completely flat.
The All-Galactic Empire High School Soccer Tournament championship trophy, alongside championship banners for swordsmanship and judo.
Did they borrow all of these from the Galactic Imperial athletes and coaches staying in Chronos...?
Aren't there way too many sports items in here?!
Alright, alright! I'll compensate everyone for everything!
I can't replace the exact original items or the memories attached to them, but I'll make special new ones to commemorate the victory over the god!
My to-do list was snowballing out of control.
Even so, we had triumphed over a god.
Forcing it to retreat was still a win in my book!
I'll gladly take this victory and run with it!