Ultimately, I ended up stuck in the embassy hut.
I mean, look at this mess. They said it would take years just to come up with a rough estimate of the victim count.
Apparently, a census had been conducted just last year, so at least we had that data to work with.
I wanted to say that restoring the buildings was our top priority, but in reality, it was the recovery and burial of the dead.
The capital planet was humid, with sweltering summers and freezing winters.
If we didn't handle this with the utmost urgency, an outbreak of pests and disease would claim even more lives.
For the time being, I decided to hire crews for body recovery and rubble removal as special national civil servants.
Volunteers would have been fine, too, but it had already been half a month. I really needed to start paying people a salary.
I also decided to provide funding to various volunteer organizations.
Once the Latarnians were paid, they would work for their keep. In times like this, they were actually quite reliable.
There were no idiotic organizations here that would dare embezzle public funds. The reason their presence was tolerated despite being so widely hated was likely because they never broke their promises.
Strict rules, it seemed, served as a shield to protect oneself.
The Zen God Race’s attempt to stall us had, in the end, proven successful.
Well, it couldn't be helped.
It seemed the Ghouls had become the enemies of the entire universe. News was already circulating that Ghouls were being attacked without warning in some unknown country.
I suspected they were heading straight for extinction.
Today, I had a meeting with the survivors of the economic organizations.
The Chronosians were similar to the Taikyoku Nation people; at a glance, there wasn't much of a difference between them and us.
The people gathered were young. Most were in their thirties, around the same age as me.
This was not good...
I looked through the dossiers on the participants. A section manager from the headquarters sales department of Chronos Industries... Katcho-san! In his thirties. He was attending because his superiors were all missing.
"Let's see... Chronos Industries. A giant corporation handling everything from energy and chemicals to materials... This is bad!"
The entire upper management had vanished!
Well, that was only natural. Among those attacked by the locust swarm, those who survived were mostly people with physical stamina. Or the children whom the adults had protected with their lives.
Even for those in power, there had been no room to protect the elderly.
Seriously, I wished this world would stop occasionally returning to sanity and forcing me to face reality.
The department managers had likely been near the high-ranking officials and were caught in the initial slaughter. They probably died without even knowing what was happening.
The representative from Chronos Energy was in his twenties. An engineer, apparently.
He was so young it filled me with nothing but dread—though I suppose that applied to me as well. He had been back at his family home for his sister's wedding when the locusts attacked.
He had narrowly escaped and taken refuge in the basement of the Latarnia Bank. According to him, the energy companies had been the first targets and were effectively wiped out.
The other energy companies were in the same state. There was no choice but to have them merge and do their best to rebuild.
The Colonel also participated as an advisor.
Hey, it couldn't be helped! I didn't understand the social climate of Chronos yet! The Colonel was the only one I could trust!
The representative for Capital Planet Electric Power was in his forties. He was a slender man who looked like he had a weak stomach.
Finally, someone from a generation that actually understood management! Alright, I'll bet everything on this guy—oh, wait, he’s a researcher.
Ah. I see.
Chronos Textiles was a general textile manufacturer. Another section manager in his thirties. He was a man with glasses whose thinning crown I didn't want to mention. He had quite handsome features otherwise...
It was a large company that did business with Latarnia.
"The factory has vanished, so management is out of the question. I can't get in touch with the executives, the founding family, or even our local business bank."
"I thought as much..."
The only thing actually functioning was the Latarnia Bank. We were at the point of total civilizational collapse.
Even the universities were in no state to hold lectures.
On the other hand, the construction group was energetic. As expected, general contractors were the apex predators of industry. They had stamina to spare.
The representative for the Great Chronos Group was a department manager in his fifties. He was a thick, muscular middle-aged man. Muscular, but with a bit of a gut.
He had escaped the danger by fleeing into the Latarnia Bank with his subordinates. Resin wound medicine was smeared all over his arms—the kind that seals the wound shut once it dries.
Apparently, he’d been injured while helping with the rescue efforts. His hands were covered in scratches too.
He laughed as he told me he’d cut himself because he didn't have work gloves and had to make do with cotton ones. He was a hearty old man. He’d at least had the sense to grab a helmet, so his head was fine.
In the end, physical strength really was the final word. That said, they couldn't exactly source their own iron or raw materials. They were essentially in a state of suspended business.
"I’ll send you the manuals. Could I ask you to handle the construction of temporary housing?"
"Of course!"
I had been hiring Oyakatas like crazy until now, but it would be much better to have a general contractor who knew the ropes acting as an intermediary. We didn't have any local connections!
And so, I decided to let them handle it. It would probably be grueling work, though.
There was one more person. The son of a restaurant chain owner. Thirties. Heavy-set. He likely had actual cooking experience. His wrists were thick and sturdy.
I had a feeling the food this man made would be delicious.
"Your Majesty."
For a split second, I wondered who he was talking to. Oh, right. Me. Give me a break.
"I would like you to provide me with Your Majesty’s recipes."
His eyes weren't those of an heir to a major corporation. No, they were the eyes of a diner-owner’s son.
"Sure. Just don't monopolize them."
And thus, a legendary restaurant was born that would eventually produce a mountain of obese followers... Or so my intuition told me. I wasn't quite sure yet. Tone it down, gut feeling.
By the way, this chain was impressive. Many of their shops had been leveled, but because of the evacuation drills they conducted regularly, the employees had managed to save a great number of customers.
"First, regarding the plan for the soup kitchens... if you provide the supplies, I can mobilize all employees from every store, as well as our peers in the industry."
"Please do!"
He might have been exaggerating, but I had to take the gamble. If it didn't work, I’d distance myself; if he pulled it off, I’d give him a key role. Even as a Grand Duke, this wasn't my home turf, so I just had to try things out.
"I’ll pay salaries, so please submit a formal plan."
"Yes, sir!"
"Next, regarding the shopping districts..."
Black markets were already popping up, but it would be a disaster if they started price-gouging. I needed them to operate where I could keep an eye on them.
Then there was the matter of public morals. Prostitution was already cropping up. People were desperate for food, after all. Whether it was the shops or the Pirate Guild, those people would be in a miserable state without someone to protect them. No one else had the mental energy to care about them right now. I didn't want people just rotting away in the streets. That sort of thing causes public order to collapse rapidly.
And finally, the Colonel.
"Please continue the protection of the children."
Children died first in crises. They were the absolute priority.
"I’m counting on you."
The meeting adjourned.
Now then, I had work to do.
And so, my life as a king began in earnest.
Word was already spreading through the Galactic Empire, too. I might end up getting fired from the Space Marines. I wonder how much the severance pay will be?