Thirty percent for Wifey and me.
Twenty percent for the Army.
Twenty percent for the Empire.
Thirty percent for the Bank.
Those were the shareholding ratios.
With seventy percent essentially owned by the state, it was practically a state-owned enterprise. The Empire’s underlying intent of "We are never letting this go public" was plainly visible.
And so, Kamishiro Industries was officially established.
We were originally slated to be a fabless company without our own manufacturing facilities, but then the Army just handed us a factory. I don’t think you quite understand what I mean—they literally just gave us a factory.
I was just a figurehead president, so the negotiations had progressed before I even knew what was happening. A factory was built on a vacant lot right near the Imperial Capital, and they even completed a new railway line leading straight to it.
Those bastards in the Empire were dead serious.
Now, for the product itself. Our units had a visual weakness: the combination of shaping printers and machine assemblers didn’t look particularly refined. Personally, I don't mind exposed wiring, though.
So, I sat down with a designer... Nina, you’re good at this, right? Can you handle a design meeting? You can? I see.
So, I left the task to Nina. I expected something feminine, but what she came back with was a design overflowing with a man’s romance. Those sleek, sports car-like lines... Oh, man! I love it!
Meanwhile, the Army wasted no time launching a commercial using the simulator. Next year’s application rate for the Imperial Officer Academy was already estimated to be sixty times higher than usual, based on mock exam data from prep schools. This had the General grinning from ear to ear. His face, which usually looks like a Yakuza boss’s, was practically melting with joy.
I, on the other hand, felt a deep sense of melancholy as I stared at my ballooning debt. I’m not some M-Tetsu. I felt exactly like a Bonkura Alien.
We secured a massive workforce. As part of the reconstruction efforts, the Empire was encouraging part-time work for students. While houses were being rebuilt with subsidies, many people had physically lost their places of employment. It was a temporary measure.
More than half of our employees were middle or high school students. Being from the same generation, I understood how they felt. You want to buy games with the employee discount, right?
Wait, what? You don't want them? Instead, you want me to write letters of recommendation for the Officer Academy? Is that it?
Fine, fine... I’ll write them! I just have to write them, right?!
Scritch-scratch.
I really wasn’t doing anything remotely presidential. Best not to think about it.
So, the debt and presidency problems were solved... or rather, they were moving forward in a place I couldn't touch, so I was effectively powerless!
Eh? What is it, Wifey? Insurance? War isn’t covered?
Wait, what? This is the kind of insurance where they hold an auction between insurance companies every time I head to the battlefield? What even is that? It’s usually the kind of insurance meant for oil tankers? The state is paying the premiums, so I shouldn't worry about it?
Yeah, yeah. Understood. Name and electronic seal here? Sure, whatever.
Eh? Go all-in on the Military Mutual Aid? Fine, fine.
My life was suddenly drowning in insurance. If anyone wanted to commit insurance fraud murder, now would be the time!
And so, my days passed without setting foot on a battlefield. While news of victories won in my absence played on the screens, I spent my days being consulted by tearful military bigwigs who confessed, "To be honest, the casualties were horrific..."
They all told me, "We want Jesters!" but it’s not like they were items I could just restock. For now, I promised to deliver ten simulators to get them to leave me alone. Since I’d added a beginner mode, even the sub-par pilots gave it high ratings.
Within the military, the existence of Jesters was no longer a secret to anyone.
I dumped the rest of the work on Claire, my executive director. She was acting as my adjutant here too! If Claire weren't around, my life would be over.
By the way... why am I the one doing the sales calls?
Despite everything, I remained stuck in the boys' dormitory. I wanted to hurry up and liberate everyone’s home planets or go to Planet Sanctuary, but as a member of the military, I wasn't allowed to leave.
Contrary to the military's public announcements, the war was going poorly. It was better than the initial slaughter where we were being hunted like animals, but the Army was still building mountains of corpses out of their own comrades. Everywhere that didn't have us Jesters was a living hell.
My heart was restless, and it was then that the military asked me for a small favor. A high-ranking officer from the Military Personnel Division, a Lieutenant Colonel, arrived with a young girl in tow.
"This is a Jester who manifested from a clone. I want you to take her into your squad."
"Ah... right."
Clones are different from the original humans. Their parameters and Esper types vary. It was a system built on nothing but malice. However, if you were lucky, it was possible to pull a rare class.
It seemed the military had won the clone gacha.
"This is Private First Class Tatiana."
"S'up."
The girl spoke in a listless voice, wearing a sloppily adjusted uniform that would have earned her a physical beatdown at the Officer Academy. She was short with brown hair and freckles. Flat-chested. Magnificent. Her 'bad personality' face hit my fetishes dead center.
"She was locally enlisted during the operation to reclaim the colony in the Delta Baron Territory and died in the line of duty. Since there was no prior expression of intent, she was regenerated via clone treatment, and that was when she was identified as a Jester."
"I see... my condolences."
When I bowed my head, she simply looked away. ...Wait, did a new door to a fetish just start to crack open?
"It's a world a little master from a Marquis House wouldn't understand, s'up."
Being told that was a bit painful. One way or another, I was a young master from a decent family. But even though we were a Marquis House, we were just local farmers who were treated more like the Chairman of the Agricultural Cooperative than royalty. My Big Brother Sam, who succeeded the title after me, wasn't called "Lord Marquis"—he was called "Chairman" or "President."
Come to think of it, no one calls me a Duke either, even though I'm technically one on paper. I've never even seen my own territory.
Well, if she says I don't understand, she's probably right.
"Well, I guess I don't. Since I don't understand, you’ll have to explain it to me over dinner sometime. For now, let’s get you settled into the dormitory..."
"Hahaha. Leo-kun, you really have a high tolerance for being ignored."
"Well, my squad is full of colony residents and people from frontier planets. Kevin was even stripped of his citizenship until he became a Second Lieutenant."
"..."
That shut Tatiana up. She probably thought that by playing the 'tragic past' card, she could make the other person go quiet. Naive.
My squad consists of a tragic royal, a former-Zork colony resident, a locally enlisted frontier planet resident, and even a lady from a pirate territory. My squad is actually incredible!
"Alright, I'm counting on you."
"You got it."
I finished the paperwork confirming her arrival and was done. I called over Kevin and Nina.
"Guide the newcomer to the girls' dormitory."
"Okay! I'm Kevin! Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Nina."
I figured the gentle Nina was a good choice. Tatiana looked at me, then back at Kevin.
"You’re his woman, s'up?"
"I'll punch you."
"Listen, Tatiana-chan. It seems Leo-kun just won't allow that specific line to be crossed~. We’ve decided to just watch over Kevin-chan and hope for his happiness~."
"Nina-chan... that's the first I've heard of that..."
Apparently, Kevin didn't know either. As for me? I knew nothing of this!
"You! You’re planning to make me into your mistress too, s'up?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
God! The conversation is already turning into a comedy routine! This girl... she’s a Jester, alright! She’s an even purer Jester than Alyssa!!