Tatiana's photobook was selling like absolute madness. In the midst of that chaos, we had completely forgotten about the Proones.
But they were intelligent beings too, and some of them were starting to realize their position was hopeless.
Terrorist bombings occurred daily in the Holy Capital Great Proone, and armed factions in regional cities were declaring independence.
Most of these were part of the Vegetarian Armed Uprising.
Vegetarianism for humans is a trade-off with one's lifespan unless managed perfectly, but for Proones, it was scientifically sound.
It was only natural; since they were originally herbivores, a significant number of individuals were physically incapable of digesting meat.
They had occupied the lowest, most discriminated class of society, but once we played the good guys and revealed the truth to them, they rose up in arms.
It seemed they had already reclaimed a decent percentage of their national territory.
Furthermore, acting on our advice, Battle Dome had made contact with them and was providing weapons and ammunition.
By this point, a mood of total defeat blanketed the Holy Capital.
I hadn't expected it to be this effective.
The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but thinking about it calmly, their system of governance had been unsustainable from the start.
I mean, just because you don't want to be eaten, forcing herbivores to eat meat is a bit much...
Anyway, today was my meeting with their leader.
He told me they were on the verge of reclaiming not just the Holy Capital, but other planets held by the Proones as well.
He said that, deep down, none of them actually thought meat tasted good.
Apparently, they only ate it happily once their brains were riddled with holes from disease. Terrifying.
As the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Trainee, I was the one to handle the initial talks.
But seriously! Surely there was some battle-hardened veteran more suitable for this than me?
There were plenty in the Duke Association, but did they all die?
Ah, right. I'm the one taking responsibility.
I presented him with tomatoes, strawberries, and water spinach—items we had in such surplus they were practically bursting out of our warehouses.
The water spinach was stir-fried.
"These are truly precious gifts..."
Apparently, on the Proone planets, plant diseases had run rampant due to the introduction of a meat-based diet that shouldn't have existed.
Perhaps it was nitrogen overload from the proteins in their waste?
Or maybe the bacteria used up too much nitrogen during decomposition, leading to nitrogen starvation in the soil.
It could have been salinity, but the salt content in cooked food is only a few percent at most. Probably not that.
In any case, the plants had vanished from the seas first, followed by freshwater weeds and moss, until land plants were nearly extinct.
As herbivores, they lived in a state of chronic starvation.
"I'll share our stock with you," I said.
Actually, I'd been getting complaints from all over about our food inventory issues.
The stuff grew at such an abnormal rate that even after supplying Battle Dome, we still had mountains of it left.
"Thank you... truly. My daughter... she died shortly after she was born. Her body wouldn't accept the meat... If only I had known the truth back then..."
He broke down in tears.
Malnutrition wasn't just his story.
The death toll was staggering. People were burning down churches across the regions, placing the blame squarely on the Proone Faith.
That said, the religion's very foundation was flawed, making reform impossible.
The opposition had grown into a massive, unstoppable wave.
Or rather, we were the ones who had finally ignited all that pent-up frustration.
"If only we could grow vegetables again... ugh... uuu..."
Man, what was I supposed to do?
I was actually starting to feel sorry for them.
If they had just been this honest with us from the start... things wouldn't have ended in the total destruction of their culture.
If they can pull off this Vegetarian Revolution, they might avoid total extinction.
But it's probably too late.
Once the revolution leaves them weakened, the Ogre God Nation and all the people they used to eat will come for their heads.
The Empire won't stop them.
It's not our problem.
The Empire only came here to secure its own safety, not to play savior.
They likely won't go extinct as a species, but they'll probably be treated as a "managed species" with strict population limits from now on.
No matter who takes power, that's an unavoidable fate.
They brought this on themselves.
The Revolution Army seemed to have a vague understanding of that.
They only asked for post-war support on the off-chance we'd say yes.
Wifey was never going to allow that, so the answer was a flat no.
We planned to keep providing military support to the Revolution Army, though.
Whether they win or lose, it'll be hell for them. Hmm... I guess Imperial citizens are lucky after all.
With that gloomy meeting over, it was time for some bright news.
"Tatiana... is super popular!"
"Big brooooooooooo!"
The moment the sale of Tatiana's Photobook was decided, the site crashed from the traffic.
Not just in the Ogre God Nation, but in the Empire too.
I mean, who wouldn't be curious?
Born and raised in the slums, killed in action, and brought back as a clone.
Then she becomes a hero of the Zork War, and now she's being treated as a Saint in deep space. The story is just too good.
Tatiana... don't look at me like that. You're the one who acted out the creation myth. It can't be helped.
And then there was Master Adam. I have to call him "Master" here! Master Adam!
He and his company produced the costumes at breakneck speed.
The designs were finalized using Ogre God Nation Clothing Data analyzed by the Fairy, combined with testimonies from Saria and his aides.
There are all sorts of rules, like "you can't use this color" or "this dress code is wrong."
We never would have known that stuff on our own.
Basically... to put it simply, we threw a massive amount of money at it.
And then a miracle happened. Tatiana was an idiot.
Trying to drag someone else down with her, she threw a fit and said, "I'm not doing it unless One-oh-one is with me!"
What a dummy.
That just made it even more popular.
As if we'd ever say no to that.
The Photobook of the Two was a massive hit in the Empire.
They're treated like full-on idols now.
They were the members we'd intentionally kept out of the news until now, after all.
As for the Ogre God Nation, pre-orders were through the roof because it featured both the Saint and the new princess of their former enemies, the Zorks.
If it had just been the Saint, only the religious types would have bought it.
But now the news junkies were all over it.
Everyone was interested.
Of course, since they're underage, there are no swimsuit shots.
Wifey and I wouldn't stand for that.
There were plenty of shots of her working as a Medic, though.
Thanks to those sales, the Humanoid Fighter Photobook I supervised dropped right out of the rankings for its genre.
So sad...
Anyway, that's the gist of it.
The Ghouls and Pirates have been sluggish, maybe because they're wary of us.
Fighting with diplomacy really is a powerful strategy.
So, on the surface, we were just idling about.
But you see, the places I wasn't looking were hell.
And even the places I was looking would have been hell if it weren't for my companions.
That was the reality of this world.
And the arrival of a single ship was about to remind us of that.