Mysterious propaganda vans and strange groups were constantly spewing rhetoric in front of the hotel.
The police moved in to stop them whenever they saw them.
Those bastards were using my name, even though I had absolutely nothing to do with it.
To make matters worse, information about the Humanoid Zorks had leaked from the upper echelons of the Imperial High Command.
Since things had gone wild at the memorial service anyway, the Empire had already been considering going public with the news.
I suppose a sense of crisis had finally taken root within the Empire's higher-ups.
Maybe they hoped the leak would force the Empire's hand.
Well, I could understand the impatience; this was a war of extinction between two races, after all.
But as a result, assault cases were breaking out everywhere.
The non-sexual kind, to be clear.
Lynchings were becoming a common occurrence.
I understood the fear, given that they were indistinguishable from humans.
But attacking prisons and committing arson was definitely going too far.
I suspected the real Humanoid Zorks weren't wasting their time with petty crimes; they were likely busy hunting down and assassinating Jesters.
That was why the Empire had belatedly moved to protect the Jesters.
As a byproduct, the Empire had also publicly acknowledged the existence of Artificial Espers.
And they admitted that these Espers had descendants, despite the claim that they were sterile.
They were essentially airing the Empire's dirtiest laundry.
On top of that, the truth about Imperial Princess Luna came to light.
Wifey held a press conference for that one. (I just stood beside her, looking like an idiot.)
Apparently, the Emperor of that era had wanted eternal life so badly that he’d vivisected an Esper he’d adopted as his daughter while she was still alive.
Yikes. That’s terrifying.
Come to think of it, wasn't the Fairy's real name Luna?
And hadn't she mentioned she was the one "inside" the Mother AI?
...Well, whatever. The Fairy was the Fairy.
Wifey and Big Brother Thomas issued a joint apology.
With that apology, Imperial Princess Luna was formally restored to the Imperial Registry.
It was a legal measure that treated her as if she were still alive.
"Hey, Fairy. Are you Imperial Princess Luna?"
"Of course not! My true identity is the Space Kaiju Lunara. Height: 960 meters, weight: 14.8 million tons. My signature move is the Buster Wolf!"
"Ooh!"
She brushed me off with a stupid joke. She probably didn't want to talk about it.
In any case... things had gone quiet.
Alexia hadn't made a move.
I’d submitted the paperwork for the territory, so that was fine.
I was in a state of complete standby.
I was so boooored!
"Lord Groom, we are going to the Imperial Central Computer Room."
That was the sector where the servers were managed.
It had a power plant annexed to it.
The facility had remained half-functional even after the Imperial Capital raid.
"Is there something going on?"
"We are going to pick up Imperial Princess Luna."
I changed into my ceremonial military uniform and followed Wifey.
For some reason, the Imperial Guard was waiting in the entrance hall for the students of the Officer Academy in their own ceremonial uniforms.
We marched out of the building, using the ceremonial stride we’d been forced to practice until we nearly died back at the academy.
The media was already set up outside.
They photographed us with incredible fervor.
We took a bus to the computer room.
Since we were being filmed the whole way, I sat perfectly upright.
We picked up Melissa along the way.
She was also in her ceremonial uniform.
Melissa took a seat near us.
"The news is completely dominated by this topic," she said.
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing," I replied.
I hadn't been told the details.
"They say Imperial Princess Luna’s body is being preserved in the computer room. I heard Prince Thomas and several high-ranking military officials are coming, too."
We got off at the computer room parking lot.
A massive number of monks were standing by.
"The leaders of the major sects are all here..." Melissa noted.
As expected of Melissa; she was well-informed on that sort of thing because she was a Samurai.
Me? I had no clue who was who.
We waited in front of the computer room.
Even then, we remained at "at ease."
"Captain Leo Kamishiro! Step forward!"
Raymond-san called me, and I moved to the front.
"Accompany Lady Veronica!"
"Sir!"
I went to Wifey's side.
She was dressed in mourning clothes.
Thomas and my other elder brother were there, too.
Looking closely, I saw Big Brother Cyrus mixed in among Thomas's escort soldiers.
"The Lord Groom is also a concerned party. Follow us."
"Sir!"
This was "public" business. I couldn't afford to be my usual foolish self.
I walked beside Wifey, keeping my back straight.
The Imperial Guard and Big Brother Cyrus's unit provided security.
The facility manager followed behind them.
"Luna is on the lowest floor," he said.
We took the elevator down.
The manager operated it using a master key.
A hidden floor at the very bottom appeared on the display.
It took quite a while to reach it.
We weren't talking about floors underground so much as kilometers.
When we stepped out, there was a temple.
For some reason, my spine felt cold. I was shivering.
"This is a biometric authentication door. I shall open it."
Wifey pricked her finger with a lancet.
It was the kind where a needle popped out with a button press.
She wounded her finger, squeezed out a drop of blood, and let the sensor read it.
The authentication passed, and the door opened.
Inside stood an altar.
"I will unlock this part," the Fairy said.
She released the altar's locks.
Then, something held between transparent plates rose up.
"Ooh! I haven't seen this in ages. That’s my body!"
Eyeballs, nerves, and a portion of a brain.
They were the disassembled parts of a human body.
They were wired into old circuit boards.
"I knew it. Fairy, you really are Imperial Princess Luna!"
"Heheh."
"Uh... does it hurt?"
"I’ve completely discarded my flesh, so no. It’s just a bit annoying to have people staring at my body like this."
"Sorry. I have no delicacy..."
"Since Leo-kun is asking so nicely, I’ll forgive you!"
It felt like she was doing me a massive favor.
I was afraid of what she might demand in return later.
...Probably just a new video game, though.
"Wifey, what are you going to tell the media?"
"Just the truth. The media will judge the rest for themselves."
A No-Guard Strategy?!
"This is a dark chapter of history that my generation was never told about. Besides, Luna and I are like sisters."
"That's right! Veronica-chan is like a little sister to me!"
"Then let us begin the service. Bring in the monks and the media."
"Wait, Fairy, aren't you technically alive?"
"A restoration experiment is already underway for the body. If it succeeds and I truly return to life, it’ll cause all sorts of political and religious headaches. For now, it’s best to treat me as having died here."
"And if the Mother AI stops, a lot of people will die anyway!"
I see...
"Besides," Wifey added. "If we purposely act like we’ve committed a blunder, Alexia will eventually get impatient and slip up. Fufu... we look weakened now. I wonder if she can resist the hunting instinct to strike while we're down?"
I’d wondered why they were exposing the Empire's failures now, but that was the plan.
In other words, they were leaking scandals to project an image of vulnerability.
They were waiting for the Alexia Faction to show their hand.
They were willing to expose their own weaknesses to reach their goal.
I wondered how long Zork-chan would be able to withstand the pure malice of humanity.