I don't even care anymore.
Every single project has spiraled completely out of my control.
In publishing, physical copies are selling out one after another.
Specialized academic texts and Monthly Maa alike are flying off the shelves as fast as they can be printed.
Even with upgraded servers, the digital side crashes at least once a day.
I mean, was there really this much demand?!
Circulation numbers for Monthly Maa have become impossible to track.
It looks like we won't even have accurate figures until next month.
And to think I assumed specialized books on parallel universes and warp theory would only be bought in tiny quantities by university folks!
We only printed seven thousand copies to begin with!
That estimate was based on roughly one copy per university in the Galactic Empire with an astrophysics department.
Even then, half would have been left over, so my plan was to just foist the rest onto government ministries.
A flood of pre-orders utterly shattered that plan.
Out of nowhere, warship-manufacturing corporations started placing orders for a hundred thousand copies just for their development department executives.
Neither Wifey nor the military has granted permission to develop warp devices, though!
Because it's way too dangerous!
The military itself ordered a million copies for their technical officers... A million?!
Doesn't that mean an internal directive was issued to conduct full-scale research on it...?!
The translated academic journals are selling like hotcakes, too.
Corporations seem to be placing massive bulk orders.
With just this material, they "might be able to create" brand-new products.
For a massive corporation, having even the mere possibility makes the cost practically negligible.
And no matter how you look at it, it's cheaper than entertainment expenses for the boneheaded nobles in the Duke Association.
Even Wifey's military faction only makes modest requests like, "We want to add one more side dish to the soldiers' meals. We'll buy frozen foods in bulk, so give us a discount."
It's not an unreasonable demand by any means.
Since we're still in the middle of a war, they don't have the luxury to indulge in corruption.
Rather than lining their own pockets, their requests are for the comrades fighting beside them.
So from a corporate standpoint, it's easy to work with them.
Their mindset is basically: might as well snap up all the specialized books and academic journals without a second thought.
As a result, the numbers ended up being orders of magnitude higher than expected.
It makes no sense... Even factoring that in, the math still doesn't add up.
Ah, right. High schools are hiring university lecturers to hold special seminars.
On top of that, culture schools and local administrations are setting up special lecture series left and right.
Other publishing houses are churning out commentary and study guides at a terrifying pace.
Of course, unless they're supervised by a university, they're riddled with errors here and there.
Still, the violence of numbers holds true.
I suppose getting hyped up over science topics is a good thing.
Even so, the sheer fever pitch is absurd.
As expected of the descendants of people who swarmed Einstein's public lectures...
They're driven purely by sheer curiosity...
Galactic Imperial Citizens have always loved things like dinosaur exhibits, after all.
In the end, it was deemed too dangerous for me to hold managerial rights, so Claire took over.
Whenever I get involved, things usually spiral out of control anyway.
Applications to study abroad in Repsitore have flooded in.
Permissions are being granted primarily to military veterans.
People in the same boat as Minerva-san.
Those attending university on military scholarships.
Unless they're on that level, it's too dangerous to grant them permission.
Wifey is furious over student protests demanding a full lifting of study-abroad restrictions, but since she can't exactly punish them, she's constantly irritated.
"I've told you time and time again that it's too dangerous! You utter fools!"
Honestly, she's completely right.
To anyone who knows Repsitore, there is no country more dangerous.
Aside from the baseline terrible public safety, with only the life experience of an average student, there are scams... gambling... illegal drugs... beautiful older girls (who aren't necessarily women in more ways than one)... It's nothing but temptations leading straight to ruin.
No matter how many crackdowns Karen-san runs, they just repeat the exact same thing!
Those folks are clever, so even if you smash a gang, individuals just start running their own gambling rackets... making drugs... sigh...
Just stick to publicly managed gambling, for goodness' sake!
Old Man Eyens was one thing, but a Lepsitolian was also responsible for handing me a defeat!
If those people possessed even the bare minimum ethics of a Latarnian, they would have become the hegemonic nation of this galaxy long ago.
"I guess we really can only allow those with military experience."
Even veterans feel like they might meet their ruin there, though.
For civilians, it's impossible. Absolutely out of the question.
Spaceport construction is progressing smoothly as well.
Charlotte's mental state is a concern, but she's holding steady for now.
About the only thing I can do is spar with the young warriors from Kijinkoku at the dojo.
"So look, dual-wielding isn't about trying to move both hands independently; it's about chaining pre-determined combinations of movements together."
Yes, today is dual-wielding.
Not standard katanas, but straight swords.
"It's the same thing with bare hands. First a one-two, then ducking two incoming hooks with weaving, followed by your own hook. It's just like that."
With that said, time for practical application.
A pre-arranged kata sparring drill with a Kishinkoku warrior.
That being said, the only thing we actually agreed on beforehand was that I'd initiate the attack following the kata.
First, right-left.
The counterattack comes, so I shift my angle with a triangular step to dodge.
If you try to cut their hands, they'll grab you, so you parry upward with one arm from below and aim for the legs with the other hand.
The opponent blocks the strike to the legs.
Every bit of it is an application of basic movements.
"Roughly something like this, yeah?"
"How did you know I would aim for the legs?"
"Well, your arms were in the way if you wanted to aim high. I deliberately left my arm there so the only open space was below."
"What if it had been a thrust to the torso?"
"If it's a thrust to the torso, there's a margin of time before you pull your arm back. You just watch the body's movement. If you can deflect it, deflect it. If you can throw them, throw them. If it looks like it'll hit, dodge with everything you've got. And naturally, attack while dodging. As a soldier, you should get it. If you don't return fire while retreating, you just become an easy target. It's the same thing. In short: sheer volume of moves!"
"You take it that far...?"
Murmurs of awe ripple through the crowd.
"Anyway, the first step is practicing your swings until the skin peels off your hands."
Being able to swing fast enough that the skin peels off your hands is proof that tension is leaving your body.
The goal isn't to callous your hands; reaching the swinging speed where the skin peels is just the starting threshold.
Once you can swing even faster, tension leaves your hands completely, and friction won't peel your skin anymore... Wait, no... maybe your skin just got thicker?
Then again, once you reach a certain speed, your hands don't even feel hot. Hmm.
Especially with a straight sword, since you don't have the circular-motion assist from a curved blade like a katana, softening your wrists to create a circular motion lets you cut cleanly. It boosts power, too.
I guess that's slightly different from mere relaxation.
In any case, it's all about movement optimization.
It hurts like hell at first, though.
Other styles do similar things with makiwara striking or knuckle push-ups.
It's just perfectly ordinary training.
Though those guys reinforce their actual bones, so maybe it's subtly different.
After that, the only way forward is training through actual sparring.
And you know, there's something I just don't get.
Why are there swarms of people showing up to this supposed-to-be-casual, twice-a-week hobby club?!
I'm not even giving strict instruction.
Once Katori-sensei recovers, I'm dumping all the teaching back on him anyway.
At first, I thought influential figures from Chronos were just coming because they wanted a connection to me.
Turns out, the place is packed with hardcore active-duty soldiers.
Which means the instruction ends up tailored for the largest faction—the military guys.
That's why I separated the beginners into a different class...
So why the hell are both classes overflowing with people?!
This is completely out of control too, dammiiit!
...While living through days like that, a report arrived stating that Spaceport No. 3, V3, was complete.
My workload just increased even further, I do declare...