There was meat everywhere...
I don’t think you’ll understand what I mean, but when I placed an order under Wifey’s name, a trading company actually made the trip all the way out to the front lines.
And they brought several times the amount I’d requested—no, that wasn’t it.
They’d brought a Festivo Class haul of meat.
Wifey and I filmed a video with it. Apparently, they were going to use the footage for a CM. They were even filming Kevin.
Wifey watched the process with a smirk playing on her lips. She was positively diabolical.
I decided to change the subject and called out to a middle-aged male employee from the trading company. Looking at him, I’d say he was at an age where he had one foot in the grave of senior citizenship. His suit was high-end; I wasn't an expert on brands, but even I could tell the fabric was incredible.
He was likely someone quite important, perhaps an executive.
"I’m surprised you could make it to such a dangerous place," I said.
"Ahaha... Our company is certain of the victory of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and His Excellency the Grand Duke. We intend to provide the maximum amount of backup possible."
The middle-aged man said that while wiping sweat from his brow. Technically, this area was supposed to be sealed off because it was dangerous. Of course, they’d let him through if he used Wifey’s name, but the seal existed for a reason... I felt like I was witnessing the sheer grit of a top-tier, hyper-competent businessman.
"Besides, images of His Imperial Majesty are rarely circulated. To be able to capture such a casual side of her on camera... the promotional effect will be immeasurable."
It seemed Wifey was quite the celebrity.
"And that goes for Your Excellency the Grand Duke as well."
Me too, huh?
"As well as the Counts of your clan. Lord Kevin’s popularity in particular is tremendous..."
The incident where Kevin tried to assassinate me had been completely wiped from the record. It had been brainwashing via the Zork Network, so I had no intention of pursuing it anyway.
It might have been soft of me, but he was a friend, and he was an excellent drone operator and scout. Pursuing it would only hurt my reputation, so there was no benefit. I intended to make the Zorks pay the price for how much it had hurt, though.
I’m going to give Zork Mother-chan a piece of my mind!
The day after we moved the mountain of meat to the warehouse, we had a barbecue. I grilled meat for One-oh-one, Tatiana, and for some reason, Ren. Melissa and the others grilled for themselves, and as for Wifey...
"Lord Groom. I desire this one."
Yes, yes, I’ll grill it for you. Today, I was the grill master.
The barbecue began. I decided to make some yakitori while I was at it, mostly because I wanted to eat some myself. I brought out skewers I had prepared the day before using the sticks I’d gotten from Manpuku (I paid for them properly, mind you). I whipped up a sauce and applied it with an unused paint brush I’d swiped from the warehouse.
As I grilled them bit by bit, I tried to secure one for myself... but everyone devoured the first batch before I could touch it.
Kawagon... was sad...
"Lord Groom! Keep them coming!"
"Dear! This is delicious!!"
"Major! It’s delicious, sir!"
"Thanks."
"Yo."
As I was grilling, Melissa showed up before I knew it. Notably, the older veterans weren't here. They’d said they didn't want to get involved in the kids' antics. People like Master Katori had gone off to a pub instead. Only Piggett remained as a guard.
I grilled a portion for him too.
"Tatiana, One-oh-one, take this over to Uncle Piggett."
"Understood, sir! Tatiana is on it, sir!"
"Got it."
I sent them on the errand and continued grilling. I was going to eat too, dammit!
Then Claire-san—no, Lady Claire—came over wearing an apron.
"I’ll help."
"Oh, God does exist..."
Seeing that, Ren, whose heart had been entirely captured by the meat, finally put on an apron. I see you've come back to your senses.
"Dear! I’ll help too."
The two of them grilled my portion for me. Kevin joined us after finishing the filming for the CM (the non-gravure one). Finally, I was able to eat.
Uuu... Kawagon was happy.
One-oh-one pushed a wheelchair and brought Aoi-san along. Aoi-san had declined at first, saying she’d only be in the way, but it seemed One-oh-one had dragged her out anyway. Good job!
Eventually, the people who had finished eating took over the grilling, and it was finally our turn to eat. I thought to myself what a fun day it was turning out to be.
But as we were cleaning up, Wifey and I were summoned to the military headquarters. We went to the remote meeting room and projected the feed. At the headquarters in the Imperial Capital, the usual crowd of thugs in suits was already assembled.
"We are deeply sorry for disturbing your rest..."
"It is fine. State your business quickly," Wifey commanded.
The screen suddenly switched to a slide.
"We have discovered one of the Zork front bases. We have already dispatched scouts."
"Why did you not let us handle it? It is far too dangerous."
"We cannot allow the military achievements to be concentrated in one place. Given the nature of the military, it was unavoidable."
In short, political pressure had been applied by someone eager for glory. The Duke Association was gone, but Wifey wasn't a dictator. There were inevitably things that didn't go her way.
"The operation plan also passed the review of Mother AI, so..."
That meant Fairy-san knew about it too. I wondered what she was plotting.
"I'm not plotting anything. The documents were formally in order," Fairy-san said, appearing on screen.
"But still, it's dangerous, isn't it?"
"Yes, but there are many people in the world who don't understand that."
"Now, look at the footage..."
The video showed ground forces being deployed without warning. What were they thinking?! Even we sent drones ahead because of the risk!
"We are told it is Marquis Roshimov's Knight Order."
They were the Marquis's private soldiers—his regional army. In other words, they weren't part of the regular Imperial Army, so they couldn't be easily stopped. To begin with, the lack of training among the lower echelons of the military had become a problem, and a Lord's private knight order was a much worse version of that. They couldn't even perform a single reconnaissance mission according to the manual.
The only saving grace was that they had deployed in Humanoid Fighters—ten of them, in fact. Marquis Roshimov must have been quite wealthy. They were likely relying on aerial footage to search for the base the Zorks had built.
Then, they discovered a structure that appeared to be the Zork base. It was a building that was clearly in poor taste by human standards. They carelessly approached it.
"Huh?" a voice muttered over the comms.
The next moment, the camera feed went black.
"The knight order?"
"Wiped out."
No clues remained. Only the location was known.
I stood up. I had to say it clearly for once.
"This is exactly why! I keep telling you—whenever I’m not around, people start dying!"
"Lord Groom, this was unavoidable. We had no means of preventing it."
I knew that, but still. They had to stop creating useless casualties. Amada had almost died just because I wasn't nearby, and this time, it wasn't even a meaningful sacrifice! If they had used drones, they wouldn't have died!
"Lord Groom, I shall reprimand Roshimov myself and prevent a recurrence. This is my duty," Wifey said firmly.
"...Understood."
"Everyone, ensure the minutes explicitly state that Roshimov failed to follow military action procedures. Make sure the other lords strictly adhere to the military manual as well!"
"Sir!"
"The army shall conduct reconnaissance while strictly following the manual! If capture is impossible, burn the site down with missiles from outside the atmosphere. That is all!"
"As Your Imperial Majesty wills."
And so, the operation truly began.