I was waiting in the conference room when the Fairy skipped in.
"Yahoo! I've got the results!"
"Good work. Did you find anything?"
"Yup! Radio waves or whatever—this kind of technology has to use light in the end. Or so Luna-chan thought, following the trail! And guess what? The source was right here on this very planet."
"Where on this planet?"
"It’s a bit of a trek, but the signal seems to be coming from the northern continent."
The Fairy placed a marker on the map as I spread it out.
The steward standing behind me let out a thoughtful "Hmm" and stroked his beard.
"My Lord. There should be a settler city in that region."
"Huh, settlers."
Even for a Duke—a title that’s practically a synonym for 'idiot'—it seemed the previous heads actually hired people...
"The Head of House Sato from Two Generations Ago apparently brought in laborers to develop a ski resort... and then locked them in."
"Locked them in?"
That wasn’t a very comforting thing to hear.
"Yes... It is said the head from two generations ago changed his mind, refused to pay their wages, and since they had nowhere else to go, they built a city there. However, to ensure they couldn't retaliate or invade, he constructed a massive wall... and then promptly forgot they existed."
"Was he just... complete trash?"
That's pure malice right there.
It would have been cheaper to just pay them. Building a wall costs a fortune.
He should have just paid their wages, severance, and travel expenses home.
He certainly had the money for it.
"We monitor them from the sky periodically, but the previous head had no interest and completely forgot them... Since your Lordship has now succeeded the title, I had intended to bring the matter to your attention when the timing was right."
Yeah, I’m really glad House Sato was wiped out.
Seriously, how can they be worse at governing than a pack of 'Hyah-ha!' rioters? Is the Duke Association comprised entirely of morons?!
"Get me an estimate immediately! We're tearing that wall down!"
"At once!"
"I’m heading out there!"
I changed into my combat suit and prepped for the city.
Even though I hadn't issued an official order, the Officer Academy bunch followed me one after another. Even the graduate students, who usually stayed behind the scenes, followed with expressions of cold fury.
"Master! Security humanoid heavy machinery loading is complete!"
Ren and the others had already finished the loading work onto Wifey's warship.
"Understood. I hear the destination is a frozen wasteland. We’ll land directly on snow bikes."
"Captain! Weapons are loaded! Let's go!"
Melissa was raring to go.
"Lord Groom! I shall provide support with the warship!"
Wifey was enthusiastic too.
But... I felt like a space warship might be a bit overkill for a city on the ground.
"Leo! Drone calibration is finished!"
Kevin arrived too, then poked me with his elbow.
"What?"
"Leo, stop Nina-chan."
"What’s wrong with Nina?"
"Oh, Leo-kun! I’ve finished preparing the tanks and self-propelled guns!"
Nina-san looked as plump and maternal as ever.
However, for some reason, I could see the terrifying aura of [Gogogogogogo!!!] vibrating behind her.
"We have to punish the bad children who bullied our precious girl, don't we? ♪"
Zugogogogogogogogo...
O-Oh.
Yeah, I wasn't touching that.
As I went to board Wifey's warship, Tatiana caught up to me.
"Captain! Take me with you!"
"Hey, I told you to stay here and look after One-oh-one!"
"Shut up! She's... she's my friend!"
"Well, I guess I can't say no to that. Fine, get on!"
I let Tatiana on board.
We launched from the spaceport and headed into the void. The plan was to approach the city and drop from outside the atmosphere.
Us snow bike riders would descend directly. Kevin, our drone spotter; Nina-san, the remote operator for the tanks and artillery; and Melissa with her humanoid heavy machinery would descend via transport craft.
"Where do I sit?!"
Tatiana came running over to me.
"Behind me."
I told her as I helped adjust her combat suit.
Seriously, she was still as bad as ever at putting her gear on properly.
"Heh. I’ll be safe behind the strongest of the Imperial Army."
"Switching combat suit to space combat mode... and, there."
There was a sharp hiss of air as the gaps sealed.
"Helmet on."
"Yes, sir!"
I slid the helmet onto her, switched it to space combat mode, and we were done. I donned my own helmet and mounted the snow bike.
Tatiana straddled the seat behind me.
Her feet didn't even reach the ground!
I hooked Tatiana's safety belt to mine, then secured my own.
"Hold on tight."
Tatiana wrapped her arms around my waist and clung to me.
The warship's hydraulic doors slid open.
"Captain! Preparations complete!"
"Launch!"
I gunned it.
The rest was exactly like our training.
Atmospheric entry, then the landing.
We launched from the ship and began our descent, using thrusters to control our posture as we plummeted through the clouds.
"Nuooooooooooo!"
Normally, this was a maneuver practiced at the Officer Academy.
But for Tatiana, this was straight into the real deal.
A scream... or rather, she had probably just lost her mind.
Oh well, the safety belt was secure, so she’d be fine.
A world of pure white spread out beneath us. Unlike the everlasting summer paradise we'd left, this place was a world of eternal winter.
The city came into view.
Heh... it really was a city.
There weren't any modern super-skyscrapers; it was more like a regional settlement on a frontier planet. It wasn't quite medieval, but there were a lot of wooden detached houses.
The city was indeed surrounded on all sides by massive walls.
Still, life seemed to be going on inside. The area within the walls was incredibly vast.
The Dukes really just did whatever they wanted.
We touched down.
Tatiana had gone silent at some point.
"Hey, Tatiana. You still with me?"
I gave her a light pat.
She immediately slumped against my back.
"What, did you get scared? We’re already on the ground."
I turned around to pull her upright, only to see her eyes rolled back. She’d fainted.
Pokupokupokuchin.
Yeah, I suppose failing to look cool is just a Jester's fate.
My comrades landed one after another.
As we were regrouping, a vehicle with gaudy, flashing lights came plowing through the snow toward us.
[Duke Army]
Wait, aren't those my own retainers?
"You scoundrels! Do you not realize this is a planet of the Sato Ducal House?!"
Huh?
Sato Ducal House?
No, it belongs to the Kamishiro Main House now.
Ren stepped forward, a momentary smirk crossing her face. She pulled out a megaphone.
"You fools! House Sato has been dissolved! This planet is already the property of the Kamishiro Main House!"
"Silence! What is this nonsense?!"
Hmm?
We weren't seeing eye to eye at all.
At that moment, the steward's words echoed in my mind.
[Forgotten]
Maybe the local army had been forgotten too...
Forgotten to the point that they weren't even invited to join the recent armed uprising...
My head began to throb at the sheer, absolute sloppiness of the governance.