I had finally defeated Duke Hashimoto, once and for all.
With his fall, the rest of the dukes fell silent.
Actually, before Hashimoto died, I’d somehow siphoned off his life force—some kind of Energy Drain, maybe?
I’d taken a trickle from my allies and a torrent from my enemies.
Only a handful of the dukes who joined the expedition were still alive, and every one of them was someone who hadn’t undergone the transformation.
In my opinion, once they transformed, they were as good as dead anyway.
I figured they were probably just ordinary incompetents who didn't possess the Zork factor.
The dissolution of House Hashimoto was finalized that very day.
The charges were high treason and the attempted murder of members of the Imperial Family.
As for collusion with enemy forces, they weren't indicted on that since communication with the Zork was fundamentally impossible. The Mother AI and the human judges were in complete agreement on that point.
I didn't have the patience to wade through the judge’s verbose, incomprehensible sentencing. I’d just have to wait for the university professors to break it down in the next casebook.
Three thousand three hundred credits for two hundred and eighty pages... Pricey.
The final verdict was house extinction for the entire clan due to high treason.
However, by a joint order from Wifey and Thomas, there would be no executions.
According to Wifey,
"Exterminating an entire clan down to the children is so archaic. If we did that, the public would be absolutely appalled."
...was her stance.
The Empire frequently committed inhumane acts, but apparently, it still cared about appearances.
So, what would happen to them?
They were to have their territory confiscated and be sent to a frontier planet.
Should I consider it an act of mercy that their future was being decided for them, or should I assume they were just being sent there to be killed off quietly?
"Assassination? As if! If they were competent enough for that, I would have put them to work in an understaffed government office!"
Life is cruel. Treatment varies based on competence.
As a result, it seemed seventy percent of the Duke Houses were about to vanish.
"What are you going to do about the vacuum?"
The Empire's local administration was on the verge of total collapse.
"What do you mean? We have a perfect group right here, don't we? A group of young, talented individuals with military merit and no titles to their names."
"Who?"
"The lot from the Officer Academy. Making them dukes might be impossible, but I can force through their appointments as counts."
"Uh... what about the plan to find them marriage partners?"
"We're back to square one. There are plenty of candidates. In fact, inquiries are flooding in from Marquis and Count houses as we speak."
As she spoke, Wifey brought up a massive amount of documentation accompanied by photos.
They were all incredibly handsome men and beautiful women, all of a similar age to us. It really felt like they had been hand-picked.
Furthermore, she seemed to be making arrangements for the girls who weren't in my "mistress slots."
My accidental plan to hoard all my female classmates into a harem had failed. Not that I’d ever actually wanted that, anyway.
I just hoped everyone would find happiness.
But... those guys. They were still shouting about how they "wanted a girlfriend!" or "wanted a boyfriend!"
A girlfriend is different from a wife, and a boyfriend is different from a groom. I didn't think Wifey understood the distinction, and it would probably be asking too much of her to try. Our upbringings were just too different.
I had a feeling this would lead to a headache later.
...Well, whatever. Everyone... I'm glad your future homes are finally being decided. They would likely be welcomed with even better treatment than before. After all, they would be rulers of Duke-class planets. They would never go hungry again.
I forced myself to accept the situation.
Wifey used my lap as a pillow as we relaxed in our private quarters aboard the battleship.
It was my first real break in a long while. By that, I meant it was rare for me to be out of harm's way.
Honestly, I didn't want to do anything.
"Want some?"
Wifey asked, reaching onto the table and picking up some chocolate to hand to me.
"Yeah."
The sweetness of the chocolate flooded my brain. Being a Sage was mentally exhausting. It was only natural after unleashing such extreme firepower with the Jester-exclusive Machine equipped with the Linear Blazer.
I had stolen Edge's chance to shine. My bad.
But Edge had been delighted. He’d even taken to calling me "Master." "As expected of my Master!" he’d say.
I planned to let him take the lead more often from now on.
Currently, we were in transit to escort Thomas's fleet back to the Imperial Capital. Thomas had officially bowed out of the race for the throne, citing his inability to prevent Duke Hashimoto’s rampage.
He seemed intent on supporting Wifey now.
With this, she had effectively brought the lords entirely under her influence. At first glance, it appeared that Walter was at a disadvantage. In reality, however, because the Duke Association had been dissolved, the political power of the lords had plummeted.
On the other hand, the number of civil officials on the Capital Planet supporting Walter had also been decimated during the recent invasion. Rebuilding his faction was proving near-impossible, leaving us in a tense, unpleasant equilibrium.
In fact, things had reached a point where a coup d'etat by the populace was a real possibility. Come to think of it, the original game had a route like that.
However, the story itself was so thin—or rather, practically flavorless—that I didn't know the specifics. It was more like, "And then something happened! ♪"
I think an Imperial Capital underground organization was working behind the scenes? I wasn't sure how that would change now that Wifey was the primary candidate for the throne.
Well, I might as well play a game.
The moment I logged in, the Fairy forced her way into the voice chat.
"Hyah-hoo! Taunting brats is so much fuuuun!!!"
It seemed the Mesugaki had been playing with some children. Calling it "playing with kids" made her sound like a guardian spirit, but in reality, she was just a nuisance user taunting everyone in sight.
"Breaking a cheater’s spirit until they snap... it’s honestly the absolute best! ♪"
"Stop that already!!!"
"Do not dote on other women in my presence."
She gave my side a sharp pinch back in reality. Lately, Wifey had started getting jealous. I thought it was a positive trend.
"Veronica-chan, yoo-hoo!"
"Don't do anything bad enough to make the news."
"It's fine, trust me. Just a moment ago, some brat sent me a lewd image, so I hacked their device and sent them a massive flood of gravure photos of a thirty-year-old idol with a 'selfish' body and plenty of curves."
"Stop manufacturing fetish monsters in children!!!"
"Leo-kun... I came up with that strategy by watching you..."
N-No! You can't do something so heartless! Don't go creating fetish monsters!
"Perhaps that is a condition for awakening as a Jester," Wifey added.
"I'm pretty sure it's not!!!"
I denied it while practically in tears. I mean, think of the poor kid! Just imagine having your private fetishes broadcast across the entire Empire! I mean, seriously!
And so, we continued our journey back to the Imperial Capital, acting so completely sluggish it felt as if we were melting.