I left General Woo and the others behind and headed back to the battleship.
I was starting to feel like it was about time to head back to Planet Proone. Or rather, I just wanted to go home to the Kamishiro Main House and live the rest of my life without taking a single step out of that tropical resort.
But I was stuck here because that just wasn't an option!!!
A Court Lady had been assigned to Shiyun. Originally, we'd relied on Lord Eyens's subordinates, but they weren't exactly experts at attending to royalty. Shiyun had only been accompanied by guards until now, so this was a massive help.
That said, Shiyun's day-to-day role was still that of a Private Second Class. The Court Lady's actual work as an attendant was virtually nonexistent. Instead, she spent most of her time busy with interviews and paperwork for a book we were publishing on Taikyoku Nation culture.
The thing is, the Imperial Family doesn't actually remember the minute details of their daily routines. The Court Ladies and Eunuchs, who've had high-level education and manuals drummed into their heads, are far more knowledgeable. Then there are the general managers of ceremonies—the equivalent of the Empire's Chamberlains. Having materials from people like that makes everything much easier to understand.
...Well, that was the official reason.
The truth was, an unprecedented craze for foreign culture was sweeping through the Empire. Petitions like "Let us go sightseeing!" were a daily occurrence. People were saying whatever they pleased—they wanted to do business, they wanted to marry foreigners, they wanted to study abroad to "find themselves."
I rejected them all. It was too dangerous.
For now, only military personnel, merchants with ties to House Kamishiro, scholars, and a handful of media outlets were permitted to venture into outer space. It's the way of the world that when information is scarce, creativity flourishes. Everyone was clamoring for more material.
Academic collections on foreign clothing were putting up insane numbers, like tens of millions of copies for a first edition. Data suggested that every single citizen in the Empire had watched the documentaries we produced. There was even a romance drama about an Ogre God Nation warrior and an Imperial soldier that was so popular it was actually a little scary.
Those guys are total muscle-heads, you know. While there were plenty of things to criticize about the show, it was a hit even on the ship. In fact, it was even popular in the Ogre God Nation and Latarnia. We were flooded with nitpicking complaints after every episode, but for the most part, the locals looked at our silly attempts with warmth, thinking, "Well, they’re trying their best."
Because of all this, we needed specialized staff.
"I have returned."
Shar, the Ogre God Nation woman who had been away for a while, finally came back. Yes, she was the one we'd set our eyes on—or rather, the one we'd "discovered." She was a local, a young woman, and brilliant to boot. When I went looking for more educated women, I crossed paths with Kirti. I practically begged her to start a publishing company.
I had Saria provide half of the startup capital. Then a Latarnian bank demanded a piece of the action, and before I knew it, the business had grown to an incredible scale. That was the platform we used to release our outer space culture books.
Our initial plan allowed for the business to run in the red, but our fashion magazines were selling like wildfire. Apparently, nothing like them had ever existed there. Since we respected local traditions, there wasn't much of a backlash. Even books like comparisons of military uniform designs—the kind of thing where you’d wonder, "Who on earth would buy this?"—were flying off the shelves.
Because of that, even the Court Lady was put to work in the publishing business. The pay was good, so no one was complaining. Shiyun also seemed to enjoy her current life, where she handled her own needs.
As for Tatiana, who belonged to the "resolutely refuse to be photographed" faction, I'd managed to coax her into modeling clothes from the Ogre God Nation, Latarnia, and the Taikyoku Nation. Her photobooks were bringing in insane revenue. "Insane" was the only word for it.
You can tell just how obsessed Imperial citizens are with outer space by the sheer number of "Proone Scams" popping up. These scams involve people soliciting funds by claiming they're "establishing schools to provide Imperial-style education on Proone."
That’s exactly why we, the government, have made official announcement after official announcement stating: "We will prioritize science education while maintaining the Proone Faith!"
We aren't doing Imperial-style education because that would be a cultural invasion! Use your heads, people!
I gave that bastard Amada a call.
"Yo."
"Is this about the Proone Scam?" he replied. "I'm about to conduct a raid. Tell the Emperor for me. I'm hanging up."
A cold response, as usual. Apparently, the police were struggling with a massive increase in their workload. Amada had become quite the big shot, too. He'd been informally tapped as the General Manager of Community Safety at police headquarters, which included oversight of fraud units.
Once you reach that level, the structure is so different from the military that I don't quite get it, but I suppose it's roughly equivalent to a Colonel? He's really sprinting up the ladder of success.
In any case, the purification of the Taikyoku Nation and Latarnia regions was progressing smoothly, and I was starting to feel relieved. It was a stalemate: Latarnia would fire missiles, the Taikyoku Nation would deploy a Huanglong-class battleship, and everyone would retreat. It was a game of attrition. The first side forced to move because of domestic instability or supply shortages would be the loser.
That’s how real war works. Zork, with its infinite supplies, was just a total cheat. Then again, we weren't exactly normal either, since we'd defeated Zork and then used their own supplies to restock.
But this time was different. This was a war between major powers, and I figured things would stay like this for a few years. In the meantime, I’d focus on Shiyun's monarch training and Tatiana's education as a Saint. If her friends matured, One-oh-one would likely start to realize her own responsibility as the future Queen of Zork.
I was right in the middle of drafting those long-term plans when an emergency broadcast from Latarnia played.
"Catastrophic damage reported on Planet Taiga! Latarnian forces have begun a full withdrawal."
The front line had collapsed. They’d been pushed back hard.
"We are now going to an interview with General Lao of the Taikyoku Nation."
General Lao? I didn't recognize the name. Just then, Shiyun and her older brother arrived.
Shiyun's brother had undergone emergency surgery on our battleship. Reconstructing his eyes was going to take time, so we were waiting for the cells to finish cultivating. The skin around his eyes was also being grown for the surgery. For now, he’d been fitted with camera prosthetics, and he was waiting for the final procedure. Apparently, he didn't find the prosthetics too uncomfortable.
People who hate surgery tend to be satisfied with just that much, you know. The Taikyoku Nation's nanomachines didn't seem to be very effective. Of course, the only reason the Empire’s nanomachines were so advanced was because of the Zork War.
Since it was unclear if my Healing ability could handle intricate plastic surgery, I wasn't permitted to try. Tatiana's Mimicry was also off-limits. It was a difficult situation.
The brother had lost a patch of hair from the base of his ear to his temple, and the visible scars on his scalp were painful to look at. However, he acted as if it were nothing.
"Latarnia is running an emergency broadcast. Can you explain what's happening?"
"Brigadier General, sir! Private Second Class Shiyun, reporting for duty!"
Shiyun gave a sharp salute. Her brother caught the display and shot me a sharp glare. He looked irritated.
I couldn't help it! Making her a soldier was a loophole to keep her from being taken away! We'd discussed this properly, but he still didn't seem convinced. I didn't think I was the one in the wrong here.
"Who is General Lao?"
"Sir! He is a relative! ...Though it is highly likely his body has already been taken over."
She looked heartbroken. I patted her on the head to comfort her, but my hand was immediately intercepted by her brother.
"Your Excellency the Grand Duke. Are you not standing a bit too close?"
"Ah, right. Sorry. Force of habit."
"I don't mind, though..." Shiyun murmured.
A vein bulged on her brother's temple.
"...Your Excellency the Grand Du-u-u-uke!!!"
"Really, my bad! I'll be careful!!!"
I quickly said the first thing that came to mind to smooth things over.
"Well, at least you're happy, right Shiyun? Your brother is alive."
"Yes, sir!"
Seeing Shiyun's smile made it all worth it. But seriously, Big Brother, stop glaring at me while you're grinding your teeth."