I was making steady progress with my campaign of petty sabotage, but so far, no one had breathed a word of war.
I mentioned as much during a meeting with the diplomatic representatives from the Taikyoku Nation, Latarnia, and the Ogre God Nation. After all, it wasn't exactly a secret. Both Latarnia and the Taikyoku Nation had surely launched their own political maneuvers against Chronos at some point.
In Latarnia's case, lobbying groups within Chronos—composed of resident Latarnians and religious organizations—were hard at work. Naturally, Latarnian moneylenders were busy greasing the palms of local politicians. The Taikyoku Nation was doing much the same through its own expatriates living there.
"Lobbying" might sound like an intimidating term, but in practice, their main activities usually involved organizing events like the Latarnia Festival or the Taikyoku Nation Festival.
Still, it seemed they weren't quite as adept at diplomacy as we were. They hadn't reached the point of importing their own culture to build a base of local sympathizers. As for the Ogre God Nation, there was an implicit trust that they weren't up to anything. We were besties, after all...
To my surprise, the other nations reacted with pity. "Poor Chronos," they muttered, actually feeling sorry for the place.
As for my sympathizer-building project, was it really that much? I had just brought in anime, movies, and TV dramas while simultaneously training a crop of local translators and voice actors. I had also established clubs for things like martial arts, baseball, and soccer.
Nations like Latarnia and the Taikyoku Nation tended to be stingy about exporting their culture to others. My initiatives were currently in the red—worse than zero—but the Galactic Empire was providing subsidies based on my personal credit.
Wifey had even explained it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "He is creating a stalemate to facilitate a slow internal collapse. It is a characteristically devious method employed by the Lord Groom."
I wasn't sure why she gave me that much credit... I hadn't thought it through that far. If any of those seeds actually sprouted, I’d just dump more resources into them.
The soccer program was already a massive success, with workshops led by retired pros drawing huge crowds. People might call it a waste of money, but sports were one of those things no one really complained about.
The biggest surprise, however, was that yoga had become a colossal hit among women. Come to think of it, there had been a similar trend back in the Galactic Empire.
And then, of course, there was pro-wrestling.
The subtitled footage had been watched by a staggering number of people. Master Saurus and Master Tank were already being worshipped like literal gods. Their workshops were overflowing.
It seemed this was exactly the kind of entertainment they had been craving. Simple, mindless slaughter just wasn't interesting anymore. It is a truth that has held firm since the Roman era.
I was enjoying this relaxed pace of life until...
"Hey! Get up, Leo!"
Splash!
A bucket of water hit me square in the face. What the—? What happened?
Memory came rushing back. I had been sparring with Katori-sensei and had taken a direct hit from that construction wire whip. Even though I had been wearing a combat suit and a helmet!
That hit had sent me sprawling, eyes rolled back and tongue lolling out. The visor of my full-face helmet was webbed with cracks.
When I tried to stand, the world tilted and warped. Uh-oh, I thought, right before I collapsed back onto the floor. I didn't hit my head, at least.
"Sensei... I can't stand..."
My knees were shaking, but more than that, my sense of balance was completely shot.
"Sleep it off for a bit," she said. "If you feel like you're going to puke, say so. I'll call a medic."
Waaaah.
Isono kindly grabbed my legs as if he were setting up for a Giant Swing and dragged me to the corner of the dojo like a piece of oversized scrap. I’ll remember this, you jerk...
Rikochi was also participating this time. It was a bit bizarre, having her sit in on a strategy session about how to defeat her.
"Sensei! I really think your whip is too heavy, no matter how you look at it!" Rikochi argued on my behalf.
"But that’s just the nature of the weapon, isn't it?" Katori-sensei replied. "You give up on things like maintaining a proper edge. Instead, the flexible blade bends and vibrates to tear the target apart. With my wire, the rough surface acts as a substitute for a cutting edge."
"Ugh, that's... not perfectly correct, but it's close enough. No, that's not the point! Normal humans can't swing a construction wire around like that!"
The problem was, we weren't normal. We could swing them just fine because we spent our days sparring with ridiculously heavy compression wooden swords.
"In that case, Riko, you should start by learning to use this—"
"Absolutely not! More importantly, don't any of your disciples want to be my husband!?"
"Not a chance. See, most of my students are the types who say things like, 'I'll rise to the top with my sword!' or 'The title of strongest shall be mine!' Do you really think guys like that could handle being a groom? Especially when the wife is the strongest executioner in the Empire."
Rikochi’s current position was a difficult one. I figured the only people who could actually take a point off "Full Armor Gatling Mode Riko & Usapyon" were probably me and Eddie.
Claire lacked mid-range firepower. While she was an absolute master of grappling once she closed the distance, Rikochi knew that and wouldn't let her get anywhere near. Melissa faced the same problem. Seriously, Melissa, we need to get you some mid-to-long-range weapons. Occasionally firing a submachine gun isn't enough.
As a sniper, Ren could take her down if she landed a shot, but that required her position to remain unknown. That was just the nature of her role.
Isono and Nakajima tried to fight back with pulse rifles, but they just got pulverized.
On the other hand, if we were talking about unarmored combat—no combat suits and just the Urumi—Isono and Nakajima could actually manage a win. But once the combat suits came on, they were toast.
Melissa, Claire, and Ren could technically win if they forced a grapple. Ren, in particular, could use her transcendent physical abilities to secure a victory, though she hated doing so because she found it "unbecoming."
Eddie and I could also win if we were willing to sacrifice our shields. For now, at least! But Rikochi had been getting exponentially stronger ever since Katori-sensei started coaching her. Once she mastered swinging those wires, I didn't think I’d stand a chance. If you tried to block those with a shield, your entire body would probably snap along with it.
I was busy contemplating these trivialities when the situation finally shifted.
Mr. Berger and Kachiya arrived, carrying a stack of documents. If those two were here, it probably had something to do with the Zen God Race.
"The Chronos Nation was originally a land belonging to the Ancient People," Berger explained, "but it fell to ruin following an influx of Chronosians."
"What exactly are Chronosians?" I asked.
To my eyes, they didn't look much different from the people of the Taikyoku Nation. Their features were perhaps a bit more defined? But you could find people like that in the Galactic Empire, too. They weren't fundamentally different from Imperial citizens. Their biology was compatible, and they could even have children with us. They could also breed with the Ogre God Nation.
Interestingly, while Latarnians were technically the same species, the probability of them successfully conceiving was quite low. We’d need more time and research to understand the full extent of those differences.
"What about the Ghoul situation?"
"It appears to be a major source of social unrest," Berger replied.
Well, no surprises there.
"As for this specific planet in the Chronos Nation... it appears to house some Ancient ruins."
"I wanna go hoooome!"
"Please, accept your fate," Kachiya said.
"Whimper!"
And so, my project to toy with the Chronos Nation was put on hold. I was now forced to play the part of the helpful neighbor and conduct a ruins investigation.
I think I'll drag Rikochi into this one. Just out of spite.