The construction of temporary housing was finished, and the public soup kitchens finally wound down.
As I expected, there weren't many elderly people around...
Ha-san, the leader of the Auntie Squad, was a spry sixty-seven. She used to run a restaurant in Chronos, so she could handle manual labor and run around just like anyone else. Apparently, she had been at the Latarnia Bank on the day of the attack because it was her shop's regular closing day.
Her shop was gone now, but she lived life with a positive attitude. For a while, it seemed she and the Auntie Squad would be running a new business together. Their shop was located in the stall district.
Even though I called it a stall district, they didn't just sell food. They sold clothes, electrical appliances, tools, and even fuel. They had charcoal for use with outdoor cooking stoves. There were even branches for tailors, clothes alteration shops, and the laundry union. Various repair businesses for shoes and locksmithing were popping up, too.
I also had a public bathhouse built in the back. I decided to get people moving, even if it was just from a stall, before they became so dependent on living assistance funds that they lost the ability to work. My approach was basically: "I'll lend you the money for your inventory, so get to it."
Around this time, the elites from the general contractors rushed in. They were the best from Latarnia and the Galactic Empire. The Taikyoku Nation was still in the middle of its own reconstruction, so they were busy doing their best over there. However, the Empire was undeniably strong when it came to the manufacturing industry.
Claire was starting to gear up. Currently, she was energetically discussing matters with the general contractors from the Kamishiro Group. Well, they were building infrastructure, but still... Claire practiced a "bright dictatorship," as I liked to call it. I just hoped she wouldn't overdo it.
I headed over to the aunties' shop. As I walked through the stall district, the residents called out to me.
"Ah, Grand Duke! Take this!"
A lady around thirty years old handed me some fruit. It looked like a citrus fruit, tasting somewhere between a mandarin and an orange. I figured I’d eat it back at my place—my temporary housing in Chronos.
"I'll pay for it!"
"It's fine! Just do your best at work!"
"Thanks!"
My luggage increased just by walking around like this. Raven-kun and the others were also receiving all sorts of gifts. We had become quite popular.
As for why we were being called out to so much? That was simple. It was because I was currently living in the temporary housing right alongside them. I was being treated as a fellow Chronosian. We were all neighbors.
I was currently living apart from Wifey, which was sad. Before I knew it, I had become able to speak Chronosian naturally. I used the communal kitchen and washing machines, and the communal toilet was the same. I even joined Raven-kun and the others in regular trash collection. Thanks to that, no crimes occurred. Plus, the underlings from the Ogre God Nation were acting as police officers. I was paying them a proper salary, after all!
Ha-san's shop came into view.
"Yahoo! Is the boss lady in?"
"Oh! Grand Duke, what's up?"
Ha-san and the aunties came out to greet me. Since they had helped with the soup kitchens, we were completely comrades now.
"Listen, I have a favor to ask."
"I'm not lending you money!"
"I'm not asking to borrow any!" If I wanted to borrow, I'd do it from the national treasury.
"It's a joke. So, what's this favor?"
"Yeah, you know the facility protecting the children? The military one."
"It's a sad business. I'd like to take them in, but we don't even know where our own families are yet."
Ha-san, who said that, was single. But most of the employees working at her shop still didn't know if their families were safe. I wanted to help the children find their families, but it was a situation where the people they were looking for were simply missing.
"The meal situation is reaching its limit. Could you dispatch some staff? It's a formal request from the state."
It wasn't just the aunties; I was calling out to other shops as well.
"A-Ah, okay. So the Grand Duke really is the Grand Duke..."
"Even I find myself wondering what a Grand Duke is supposed to be sometimes... Anyway, if there's anyone without work who can cook, could you give them a shout?"
There were many people who said they didn't want to work at a stall. This was especially true for employees of high-end restaurants. When they thought about how the careers they had spent years building had suddenly vanished... Well, I had no choice but to have them work hard to rebuild.
Leaving the aunties' shop, I bought food at the stalls. This would be my dinner.
"Big Brother Leo! Good work, sir!"
A police officer from the Ogre God Nation greeted me. They were my underlings. They had insisted on helping, so I made them police officers. Since I couldn't get my hands on Chronos police uniforms yet, I had them wear Imperial Army military police uniforms. In Chronos, the police seemed to be part of the military. Actually, I was still studying that area.
The Colonel was a soldier, but he didn't understand the fine details of the organizational chart. Even within the same organization, knowledge of a department one hasn't experienced is vague. The Colonel had become the top of the military while still technically holding the rank of Colonel. It was simply because he was the only member of the upper brass who had survived. Once the systems and databases were restored, I planned to promote him.
Anyway, appointing the Ogre God Nation people as police officers was a masterstroke. The bad reputation of those fight-loving Ogres was famous, but they specialized in fighting and didn't really have any other vices. You'd think there might be acts of violence against women, but no. After a fight, they would leave the women alone and go out for drinks with just the guys they had been brawling with a moment ago. They were that kind of creature.
In short, if Chronosians were fighting in the east, the Ogres would fly over saying, "Let me join in!" and if drunks were fighting in the west... essentially, they settled fights with more fighting. Occasionally, it turned into an uproar where the military had to be deployed. It wasn't a bad way for people to vent their frustrations. I also mercilessly beat up any Ogre who tried to pick a fight with me. In such chaotic times, I couldn't afford to be picky. It was fine! As long as they understood moderation, it worked. The morals of the Galactic Empire were being questioned, but... I played the "who, me?" card.
"Good work."
We exchanged high-fives. Then, a stall owner gave me some alcohol.
"Master Leo! Take this with you!"
"Thanks! Hey, you guys say thank you too!"
"Thanks!"
Everyone knew that I couldn't drink alcohol yet. If he handed alcohol directly to the police officers, it might be suspected as a bribe, so he handed it to the "Grand Duke who lives in the neighborhood" for me to bestow upon them. Did the Grand Duke not count as a bribe? Oh please, it was alcohol sold by my own company. There was no bribery value in that.
"Make sure to share it with your comrades."
I wouldn't tell them to get along.
"If you run wild, I'll crush you."
If I didn't say it like that to the Ogre God Nation people, it wouldn't get through.
"Understood!"
And so, I lived a Grand Duke life that had neither dignity nor grace. Living away from home was tough.
Oh, that's right. Everyone else was in the barracks dormitory. I was told that because I was now a Major General, I couldn't stay there. They said since I was married and a general-rank officer, it was a no-go! They claimed it would make the soldiers feel constrained, so they told me to go elsewhere!
Why was that?!
Ah, but Eddie, Isono, and Nakajima were also kicked out of the dormitory, so it was a partial victory. However, I couldn't accept the fact that only Rikochi, being a high-ranking member of the military police, wasn't kicked out. Was it because she was a girl? ...I see how it is.
The guys were now my neighbors. I returned home to find the three married men relaxing on the floor.
"Leo~, what are we doing for dinner?" Isono asked while playing a game.
"I bought some side dishes."
Yakitori—Chronos spice flavor and salt flavor. They weren't on skewers, but they were still good.
"I cooked the rice."
Eddie was truly reliable at times like this. Eddie lived in the temporary housing too. Next door was Suematsu-san and the Imperial Guard Knights.
"Oho! I smell the scent of yakitori-de gozaru!"
And there was Suematsu-san's entrance.
"I bought your share too, Suematsu-san. Have some."
"Iya~, I am truly sorry about this~. Hahahaha!"
In this way, the lives of us men living away from home passed by in a comfortably disorganized fashion.