The broadcast of the joint press conference between my wifey and the King of Latarnia finally aired.
It was shown throughout the Empire and Latarnia, and even in the Ogre God Nation and the Battle Dome. Since Latarnia was a major power, the feed was also distributed to the news agencies of other prominent nations.
As for the King of Latarnia, he was a slender, handsome man.
I-It’s not like I’m frustrated or anything! Dammit! Gnnnnnnnn!
The conference focused on the Ghouls—specifically, exposing the fact that they were actually parasites. At the same time, we announced the disclosure of information regarding a treatment method.
It was free of charge. For the sake of the world and its people.
As for you Ghouls, though? You can just go ahead and die.
We used animation to handle the explanations. The Empire’s video production company has been making a killing lately... They have a ridiculous number of small commissions coming in. The workload for foreign markets is staggering. It’s not just producing anime; it’s everything from advertisements and pamphlets to stickers and various printed materials.
It wasn't exactly a massive fortune, but it was at a level where even freelancers wouldn't have trouble making a living. In any case, the Empire had seen a massive die-off of the older generation, and the stagnant upper class that had been blocking the flow of capital had been purged. Between that backlash and our contact with foreign nations, we were seeing an unbelievable economic expansion.
Honestly, I wanted Wifey to handle our domestic affairs, but because one race after another kept facing total annihilation, we were in a state where we couldn't go home even if we wanted to. The same went for me. If Big Brother Sam—who has a domestic affairs stat of 100—hadn't been there, we would have been stuck. Currently, I even had him handling the affairs of the Kamishiro Main House. The fact that work can be done remotely feels like the true root of our misfortune...
Regardless, that meant we were experts at creating presentation materials. We leaned into that, using aggressive animation to explain the situation. The Latarnian news broadcasts included Empire-produced segments featuring professors of infectious diseases. They were gaining a reputation for being clearer and easier to understand than anything seen before.
We even explained concepts like intermediate hosts. Latarnia took the plunge, implementing mandatory diagnostics and the administration of extermination drugs for all its citizens. Naturally, the Ghouls tried to counter with conspiracy theories, but we were far more familiar with those tactics than they were. We shut them down in a snap.
As for us, we used nanomachines for prevention. Furthermore, we released data on the infection status within the Taikyoku Nation and its Imperial Family. Since these were high-level academic materials fit for international release, it didn't just make the Latarnians furious—it became a massive global crisis. Other countries got dragged in, wondering, “Wait, is our country safe too?”
What started as a story about strange diseases in the Ogre God Nation and Latarnia had evolved into a galaxy-wide pandemic problem. Chaos erupted. Total, unadulterated panic. Well, sure, that’s how people act when they think a problem doesn't involve them. But now, it did. Suspicions that the Taikyoku Nation had already been usurped were everywhere.
Inquiries flooded into Latarnia. It got so bad that servers across the entire country went down. In the end, we had to send paper materials by cargo ship! We sent non-nanomachine treatment drugs too.
Naturally, the eyes of the world turned to the Taikyoku Nation in condemnation. Borders were immediately sealed, and Taikyoku Nation citizens were subjected to mandatory inspections. Discrimination? There was no time to worry about that. Word of mouth about the Ghouls spread to the planets near the Taikyoku border. The resulting panic was so severe that administrative functions could no longer be sustained.
That’s just how much the Ghouls were hated. Government offices were burned, Prefectural Governors were executed on the spot, and a wave of refugees fled toward other countries. But those other countries couldn't possibly accept them. They were obliterated along with their ships, no questions asked.
...It turned out we Imperials were actually quite civilized compared to this. It was a truly hellish panic. Our words and Latarnia's words—“We have a treatment drug and we've made the formula public”—simply didn't reach them. Due to the rampant spread of bizarre hoaxes, even toilet paper sold out. For some reason, we ended up having to put our own facilities into full-scale production to meet the demand.
Ironically, the chaos made us more composed. Then, out of nowhere, a mysterious faction emerged from the provinces chanting “Revere the Emperor!” They began military action, declaring, “Take back the Taikyoku Nation from the Ghouls!”
Since we had been aiming for a more peaceful reclamation of the Taikyoku Nation, this was unexpected. Just as I was about to throw in the towel and admit I couldn't do anything more, Shiyun arrived.
“Please, use me. For the sake of the Taikyoku Nation citizens...”
Shiyun had finally found her resolve. If she was in, then I had no choice but to get serious. We launched an information warfare campaign against the Taikyoku Nation using Shiyun as the face. That said, we were the ones who were technically “correct.” I won't go so far as to call it justice, but we had protected several legitimate members of the Imperial Family who hadn't been taken over. We had Shiyun act as the representative and broadcast the truth that the country had been usurped.
Now, by the common sense of this galaxy, the sentiment would usually be “you were fools to let yourselves be taken over,” but this was a pandemic. Everyone was a potential victim, so we managed to push through on that sentiment alone. Double-tongued? Who cares! We were going to do this our way.
Shiyun appeared at the press conference wearing traditional Imperial Family clothing. The venue was packed not only with media from Latarnia and the Ogre God Nation, but with state-owned news agencies from across the stars. Every country was currently in the midst of its own riots. There were even lizard-like people in the crowd.
We were there, along with the King and Queen of Latarnia, Saria—the Great King of the Ogre God Nation—and the former Great King. It was a clear show of force: “We are Shiyun's backers!”
The fact that Latarnia took Shiyun's side was massive. Normally, a nation wouldn't engage in this level of intervention in domestic affairs.
“His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty the Empress, as well as His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince and His Imperial Highness the Second Prince have already become Ghouls,” Shiyun stated, her voice calm and factual. In truth, she probably wanted to talk about the General who raised her and the others she had lost, but she held back.
“The problem of the Ghouls is no longer a matter for one nation alone; international cooperation is vital.”
The atmosphere shifted from that day forward. Shiyun announced that a treatment method already existed and urged foreign nations to remain calm. Suddenly, the narrative changed to, “Isn't the Taikyoku Nation actually kind of pitiful?”
It wasn't someone else's problem anymore. The urge to “take this chance to attack the Taikyoku Nation” vanished. After all, even we had left them alone until we learned about the Ghouls' ecology. Intelligent life forms are generally like that, I suppose.
Each country began patronizingly declaring their support. They issued official statements recognizing Shiyun as the Legitimate Emperor.
But this was where the real work began.