Seriously.
Give me a break. A massive fleet arrived, and their numbers were just absurd. It felt like it would be a struggle for us to even attempt a fight.
It was unpleasant; they were blatantly flaunting their military power at us.
We secured the Proone children before the deadline. Once their destruction became a certainty, the Pope finally grew quiet. He seemed to have abandoned all hope.
"……Are you satisfied?"
the Pope asked as I landed.
"Are you satisfied now that you have stripped us of everything?!!"
"Latarnia's intervention was unexpected…… Honestly, I didn't even know they existed until recently. To us, war is just one part of a negotiation. We never intended to wipe you out."
"Ugh……"
"Sorry. We really have our hands full just rescuing the kids."
"Fuhahahaha! These children will carry the will of the Proone! One day, they will destroy the Galactic Empire!!!"
"You should probably aim that at Latarnia instead," I countered.
"……"
The Pope fell silent, his spirit finally broken.
We loaded the children onto the ship and departed. I received a correspondence course from Saria, who had also been helping with the rescue.
"Everything is finished on our end," he reported.
"Good work. Still, you know, for people so obsessed with promises…… don't these Latarnians seem like they’d be easy marks for a scam?"
Saria shook his head vigorously at the suggestion.
"Absolutely do not try that! Oh, for heaven's sake! I'll tell you everything I know!"
"Just who are these people?"
"Latarnia was originally a collection of high-interest lenders."
"So, the people least likely to keep their word."
"Precisely. They made so many enemies that they were nearly wiped out once. They eventually rebuilt into a major power, but at their core, they're essentially financial lenders backed by brute force."
"I don't like the sound of that……"
A nation-scale lender could just stack interest and collect however they pleased. Terrifying.
"You're likely imagining a criminal organization, but they're a bit different. Because they were nearly destroyed, they've placed a shackle on themselves: they will keep their promises even if it costs them their lives."
"The value of a promise is way too heavy!!!"
Why do these people always go from one extreme to another? Their values are just too intense. It's like dealing with some high-class Yakuza!
"Consequently, while they are trusted, they've carved out a niche where no one wants to get involved with them. Are we clear? If you borrow money from them and fail to pay it back…… having your organs harvested would be one of the kinder outcomes! Latarnia still practices slavery, after all!"
"But, you know, you could just…… pay it back."
"If it were a standard debt, people would just use the financial institutions in the Battle Dome. Only people who know they can't pay borrow from them……"
They were full-blown predatory lenders.
"Does the Ogre God Nation ever borrow from them?"
"In our country, we teach children from the earliest age that they must never, under any circumstances, borrow money from a Latarnian. As long as you don't interact with them, they're harmless."
Good grief. They treated them like some kind of legendary monster.
"The point is, you must never try to deceive them. If you do, it becomes a war of extermination that doesn't end until one side is dead."
"O-Oh…… So it's not a 'shame on the one who got tricked' kind of culture."
"No. It is a 'the one who lied is overwhelmingly evil' kind of culture."
Finally, I started to understand what Latarnia was thinking.
"Wait…… If those loan sharks are moving for free, does that mean—"
"Most likely, the Proone borrowed money and failed to repay it! I suspect they ignored the warnings, too. Latarnia simply waited and watched until our conflict with the Proone reached its conclusion. It’s likely a debt so old no one remembers when it started. Latarnia recognizes neither a statute of limitations nor bankruptcy."
"Give me a break……"
A society without bankruptcy or a statute of limitations? That’s horrific.
"So, what happens to the Proone Holy Capital Planet?"
"I imagine it will be seized as collateral."
"O-Oh……"
As Saria and I spoke, the Latarnia Fleet began firing. A barrage of missiles surged forward, incinerating the Proone Holy Capital Planet. Proone offered no resistance; the gap in the quantity and quality of their equipment was simply insurmountable.
The sheer power was terrifying, even from a distance. It was likely a total massacre.
And so, the Holy Proone Empire—a name that had earned ill repute throughout the galaxy—met its end. They brought it on themselves, but……
From our perspective, it was hard to feel good about it. As I was stewing in my own thoughts, I received a message from Wifey.
"I bought it."
"Bought what?"
"The Proone capital. I approached Latarnia and paid them in cold hard cash!"
The money we'd made through trade was mostly meant for operational expenses. We were free to use it as we saw fit. Still, I was shocked she managed to pull it off.
"You didn't borrow any money from Latarnia, did you?"
"No. It was quite cheap. It seems Latarnia has no interest in territorial expansion."
"Were there any other conditions?"
I was worried. I trusted Wifey, but still.
"They suggested a Peace Treaty, but I don't know enough about their character. I told them I'd decide once I understood them better."
"Thank goodness……"
"Are you worried because the Groom said they were high-interest lenders?"
"Yeah. Saria called them predatory lenders."
"I didn't do anything that would give them leverage over us. I paid the full amount before they could hike the price, and I have the contract in hand. I won't let them claim it was a lease after the fact."
"It's the not knowing what they're thinking that scares me."
Regardless, we had acquired a whole planet. And then, of course, a new problem arose.
"So they've come to demand their money back, have they?"
Latarnia? No, no. They were much smarter than that. It was the idiots.
"Don't tell me the Proone even borrowed money from the Pirate Guild……?"
The Pirate Guild had the audacity to claim, "Since you took the planet, you lot better pay back every cent of Proone's debt!"
I wondered if there was some kind of mortgage, but there was nothing of the sort. It was a completely baseless demand.
"Ora ora ora ora! We've got Latarnia backing us up! Pay up, you punks!!!"
Right. Sure.
We bought the planet, but we aren't the Successor Government of the Proone. We have absolutely no legal connection to them. It was a total shakedown.
As the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Trainee, I contacted Latarnia.
"We have indeed lent money to the Pirate Guild," they replied. "War? Feel free. We have no military promises with them. If we determine they cannot repay us, we will simply take the liberty of collecting from them ourselves."
Apparently, Latarnia was the more reasonable party here.
"Latarnia's response was 'Feel free,'" I informed the guild. "Therefore, your baseless demands are rejected."
"W-Why you little—!!! I'll kill you! Hey! Call every Pirate in the sector! We're gonna wipe out the Empire!!!"
And so, we entered an all-out war with the Pirate Guild.
There's just no talking to some people. The vacuum left by the Proone's collapse had triggered an immediate backlash.
……Still, I have to wonder. Why is the Pirate Guild so incredibly confident?