We headed for the territories of the former Duke Association, beginning with Melissa’s land, as it was the closest.
Her land sat on the fringes of their former sphere of influence.
Passing through here made reaching the other territories much easier.
While the location wasn’t ideal, Melissa had specifically requested it because it was near her family home.
Apparently, it was easier to coordinate personnel from there.
Before long, Melissa’s planet came into view.
A Duke-class world.
Duke-class planets were, above all else, designed for maximum human comfort.
For instance, Planet Mistral—Ren’s family home—allowed for agriculture and fishing across its entire surface.
It wasn't like Planet Kamishiro, which was so parched that large swaths of it had soil too poor for farming.
Parts of Kamishiro consisted of red soil heavy with iron oxide.
Attempting agriculture there was an exercise in futility—a literal impossible game.
To make matters worse, the rainy season caused that red soil to wash into the sea, turning it into a toxic "sea of death" for marine life.
Red soil is poisonous to marine organisms.
Fixing issues like that would cost a staggering amount of money.
Still, Kamishiro was livable, and you could farm wherever the red soil wasn't present.
The ocean wasn't entirely useless, either.
It was decent enough, I suppose—somewhere on the lower end of the Marquis-class tier.
Melissa’s world, Planet Tachibana Main House, featured rich Chernozem soil across its entire surface.
The climate was mild, with four distinct seasons.
The oceans featured sprawling coral reefs, vast beds of seagrass and seaweed, and even lush wetlands like tidal flats.
Wildlife was abundant, and underground resources were plentiful.
The spaceport was an original structure from the previous regime.
As we arrived, former vassals of the Duke Association came out to greet us.
"What... is with this gaudy spaceport?" Melissa asked, her jaw dropping.
I froze in place as well.
Wifey let out a weary sigh of "Good grief," while Claire simply stared straight ahead, pretending the eyesore didn't exist.
Ren, maintaining her perspective as a Higher Existence, murmured, "Humanity is as foolish as ever."
Tatiana and One-oh-one, meanwhile, were pointing and howling with laughter.
Shiyun and her brother seemed at a complete loss for words.
That was because Glowing Golden Duke Statues had been installed everywhere.
For some reason, some of them were naked.
There was even a particularly annoying statue modeled after the Birth of Venus.
The smiling ones had actual diamonds for teeth.
It was so tacky I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
I couldn't even keep up with the retorts.
A vein throbbed on Melissa’s forehead.
"Remove all of them. Immediately."
"But... they are made of pure gold," the steward stammered. "And they possess significant artistic value..."
Artistic?
You think an old man’s flabby, sagging body is art?!
Do you really believe that?
I stared at the steward with that exact question written all over my face, and he immediately averted his eyes.
Ah, right. I get it. He just couldn't make the call himself.
He was practically begging us to order him.
"Veronica-chan! It’s fine, right?!" Melissa said, passing the buck to Wifey.
"Umu. Very well. Donate them to the Imperial Capital Art Museum," Wifey declared. "Let us put them on permanent display as traitors... or rather, as historic abnormalities... let us preserve them as relics of the Empire."
"As you command."
Good for them.
They were finally free of those creepy statues.
We stepped outside the spaceport into an area styled like a hot spring town. Unfortunately, the exterior was also littered with Naked Duke Statues.
"Melissa... I used to think my own parents were the peak of incompetence," I said. "But I've realized that in this world, there’s always a bigger fish."
"Yeah. It’s a shame I can't punch them," she replied.
The Duke who had ruled this territory had lost his life in the battle against us.
The Duke's Family had been sent to prison, and they likely weren't coming out.
I heard the younger children had been placed in protective facilities before being put up for adoption, while the older ones were attending normal schools from the facility.
"Won't they be targets for assassination?" I asked Wifey.
"If they have enough spine to survive that, I’ll just recruit them into my personal guard," she replied.
My wife was such a big shot it was overwhelming.
She turned to the rest of us and spoke.
"Behold, everyone! This is what true waste looks like! Your own expenditures are not waste at all! They are merely necessary costs!"
"Wha—Whaaaat?!" we all shouted in unison.
"I-It’s impossible... this is just impossible..." Claire muttered, clutching her head.
"My old man and the others used to talk in their sleep about making a comeback with Masamune-kun Gummies," Melissa groaned, her head in her hands. "None of them ever sold... was that really not a waste...?"
"P-Please wait!" Ren interjected, looking dazed. "The time I bought a Whole Cow as a Fandom Tax Payment... that High-end Wagyu..."
"That was merely a mail-order purchase and a tax write-off," Wifey countered.
"Whaaaat?!" Ren stood there, stunned.
Thanks for the sukiyaki, by the way!
"I bought a luxury sports car!" Isono added, puffing out his chest.
"Given your income, that counts as a business expense," Wifey said.
"Whaaaat?!"
"W-Wait, Big Sister Veronica!" Tatiana asked in shock. "Then, what about when I bought that Assorted Sweets with Wan and Shiyun?"
She was referring to the Assorted Cheap Sweets.
Apparently, they'd bought about five kilograms, but they'd handed them out to everyone and they were gone in an instant.
"That is simply a daily living expense," Wifey replied.
"No... way..."
The path of luxury was deep indeed.
We hadn't even reached the entrance yet.
"Wait, Wifey... what about my twenty kilos of popcorn kernels?"
Those were the ones we ate immediately, leading me to order another fifty kilos.
"I filed those under military procurement."
"They weren't even an expense?!"
Eddie shook his head.
"It’s over... we just aren't cut out for luxury..."
"Whaaaat?!"
Having glimpsed the true heights of extravagance, we were forced to realize just how small we really were.
"By the way, Isono," Wifey said. "Tell everyone what you actually use your money for."
"I've been pouring money into game startups! I'm the owner of about twenty different indie outfits now. They even give me the games for free!"
"To think there was such a way to use money—!"
A jolt of realization struck the Kamishiro clan.
No one yet knew that this was the beginning of a massive influx of capital into adult games, publishing, printing houses, and plastic model manufacturers...
While we were having our epiphany, the situation outside changed the moment we boarded a bus.
Every time we passed a building, windows were shut and shop shutters were lowered.
It wasn't a welcome; it was a cold, blatant rejection.
"That's quite an attitude to take toward their Lord and her friends," Melissa said, her mood souring.
"How does it feel, Melissa?" Wifey asked. "The goal is to pacify this."
"Ahahaha. I'm starting to get motivated."
It was unlikely the previous Lord had been a saint.
That meant there was likely a powerful local figure influencing the residents.
"My territory was better than this," Eddie muttered.
There was nothing to be gained by staying loyal to a fallen Lord, but I suppose they didn't realize that.
Or rather, in Eddie's case, he had Suematsu-san—the monster who could accurately sense which way the wind was blowing.
I'd heard that the resident group siding with Eddie had only moved after checking which side Suematsu-san was on.
Unfortunately, this territory didn't have a Suematsu-san.
I wonder how much we can accomplish in just a few days?"}