We stepped into Claire’s manor.
An official-looking man from the Imperial Capital met us at the door, accompanied by a group of servants.
"I offer my humblest greetings to Her Imperial Majesty."
"Very well. Continue to apply yourself to your duties," my wifey replied.
She was as haughty as ever. But since she actually was the Emperor, I had no room to complain.
"This planet produces such a massive amount of food that the government gave priority to assigning civil officials and court ladies from the Capital here," Claire explained, puffing out her chest with a smug little "fufun."
To think she could exert that much influence remotely...
Incredible.
"Enough talk, let’s head inside! We can play once we’ve settled in!" Veronica declared.
...So we were definitely "playing."
I wondered if there was even anything to do for fun around here, but whatever.
I set my bags down and changed into a tracksuit. This time, I was in a room separate from my wifey. Everyone had their own private quarters, apparently.
But why the separate rooms?
"Because it’s irritating to watch you two flirt in my house," Claire snapped.
Ah, right. Noted. I’ll behave myself!
With that, it was time to change.
Tracksuit Man, transform! Shakiin! I was now wearing my Expensive Tracksuit.
Claire’s Western-style mansion was impeccably maintained—not a single speck of dust to be found. Cleaning robots hummed back and forth through the corridors.
Amazing. Those were the latest commercial models. If I remembered correctly, one of those cost as much as Isono’s sports car...
I see. So she was plowing her profits back into capital investment. No wonder this place had become a Super Technology-type Agricultural Planet.
Note taken.
Heading out to the courtyard, I found a barbecue grill already set up. A court lady arrived, pushing a rattling cart. Ren and Melissa’s eyes lit up the moment they saw it.
Claire and my wifey followed shortly after, bringing Tatiana and the others in tow. Both of them were also in tracksuits.
The vegetables were brought out.
Hmph...
"Let’s griiiiiiiiiill!"
Nina-san and Kevin stepped up as the primary cooks.
Corn, potatoes, eggplants, onions...
"Meeeat!" Ren wailed, her self-control slipping.
"Eat your vegetables first!" I found myself acting like a nagging mother while I manned the grill.
Fuhahaha! This firepower was magnificent!
"Here, have some greens!"
"Nyaaan!"
Ren forced down the vegetables just so she could earn her meat. Meanwhile, Shiyun, Tatiana, and One-oh-one were eating their vegetables with perfect manners.
"I’ve finished them, de arimasu! Meat, please!"
"Yeah, yeah, coming up."
I started searing the meat. While it cooked, I snacked on some of the veggies myself.
They were good. No, they were beyond good. They were insanely delicious. How could they be this sweet?
"Claire, what’s the secret to these?"
"They’ve gotten sweeter, haven't they? It might be the new microbial materials I developed—the ones using cultured mycorrhizal fungi."
Biotechnology was a field full of sketchy products, but Claire had said she made them herself.
"Incredible. Do you think I could use them at my family's place?"
"It might be difficult since they’re a specific blend for this planet’s ecosystem. But I’ll send the recipe and the manufacturing process to your older brother."
"Much appreciated."
The time passed peacefully, except for...
"M-Meaaaaaaaaat!"
Ren had entered a full-blown berserker mode, eating nonstop.
"The meat is heavenly, de arimasu!" One-oh-one trembled with delight.
"S-Shiyun-sama! You don't need to be so aggressive about it!"
"I’ve thought this for a while, but the Empire’s food is unnervingly delicious! I simply cannot restrain myself!"
Shiyun and her brother were practically wide-eyed with hunger.
I suppose that was to be expected. The Galactic Empire’s obsession with food was bordering on pathological.
Even Tatiana, who had the biggest Idiot Palate of the group, was wide-eyed. Her manners were surprisingly elegant today. As I’d thought before, she really was a Saint as long as she kept her mouth shut.
Nina-san was smiling, popping bits of meat into her mouth while she cooked. Kevin was focused on the grill, her chest swaying with every movement. She ate, but compared to the guys, she had a small appetite. Combatants like Claire and Melissa ate as much as any man, but Kevin stayed below that.
As for me, I had an appetite that rivaled the best of them. I was hungry!
The corn was fantastic. The meat was incredible, too—every bit as good as the most expensive brand meats.
"Claire-san... wasn't this meat... extremely expensive?"
"Yep! It received the highest possible marks at the exhibition. I bought the whole animal, so there’s plenty to go around!"
My wifey, meanwhile, was slumped in her chair, staring off into the distance. Ah, she’d reached her limit. She’d overeaten.
Ed walked over.
"So, what’s the plan?"
"We’re on standby until the relatives of House Isono and House Hanazawa reach the Isono main house," I replied. "We’ll move once the preparations to receive the Emperor are finalized."
Both families were prestigious. On top of that, their youngest son was a future Duke, and the Emperor herself was attending the wedding. If they didn't summon every last relative and prepare a flawless reception, it would be a mark of shame for generations.
Their level of intensity was a world away from our casual vibe of, "Hey, it’s a friend’s wedding. Oh, right, how much cash should we put in the envelope?"
Oblivious to the gravity of the situation, I turned to my wifey, who looked ready to pass out from a food coma. "Hey, Wifey! How much should I give Isono for the wedding gift?"
"Fifty warships."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"My wedding gift is fifty state-of-the-art battleships. They won't arrive until the year after next, but I’ve already notified both houses. They were overjoyed—I've received a literal mountain of letters of appreciation from all the relatives."
The scale was just... different.
I felt like a complete moron for considering a 50,000 credit voucher.
"Wait... so 50,000 credits isn't enough?"
A visible jolt of panic ran through the girls.
"...Don't worry, I’ve already made arrangements on everyone's behalf," Claire cut in.
"Wait, really?"
"Claire, if you would."
"I provided food under all of our names. Tons of it. It’s being transported by cargo ship as we speak. A wedding of this magnitude takes ages just to prepare the food for, but we solved that problem for them."
"And that is why we stopped at this planet first," Veronica added.
"We are unworthy!"
We practically prostrated ourselves before my wifey and Claire-sama. I’d been thinking on the scale of a normal wedding, but I had been dead wrong!
Shiyun and her brother looked confused by our reaction, but we were genuinely desperate to save face.
"U-Um, Lady Veronica. What about us?" Shiyun asked.
Wifey just laughed. "For foreign dignitaries, your mere presence is an honor enough! Don't you worry, I’ve already had dresses prepared for you!"
Seriously, I could never hope to compete with those two.
Once the meal was over, we headed down to the lake. It was several times larger than I’d imagined. Claire’s sense of scale was just on another level.
"This is actually my first time visiting, but... it's quite something," the lord herself admitted.
A massive lake stretched out before us. Apparently, there were no leeches or parasites to worry about, so it was perfectly safe for swimming!
"Everyone, I’m about to boil some corn!" the old man managing the lake called out.
He served us freshly boiled corn. It was delicious!
It felt like all we were doing was eating. Every time we moved, someone nearby would just hand us vegetables.
"This is wonderful. Perhaps I should grant this place the title of Purveyor to the Imperial Family," Veronica mused.
Despite having been on the verge of collapsing from overeating just moments ago, my wifey was firmly focused on eating her corn.
This was how it should be. This was the life!
It really highlighted how insane that Village of Evil Customs was—the one where people attacked you while screaming in Spanish!