I regained consciousness thanks to an IV drip.
Then I was given food.
God, I was hungry!
An announcer from the management team read my speech for me.
"An announcement from the management. We are reading the Grand Duke's speech ahead of schedule. 'People of the nation! You have endured well! The harvest is expected to exceed average years! The food shortage is over! Glory to the Grand Duchy of Chronos!'"
Well, the reality was that I was borrowing heavily from every direction—the Galactic Empire, Latarnia, the Taikyoku Nation, the Ogre God Nation, the Battle Dome... the list went on.
I wasn't being scolded because I was paying the money back properly, but we were going to be a poor country for a while.
Incidentally, when I offered to pay them back with planets, they refused, saying, "We don't want them."
The benefits of a peaceful Chronos were significant enough that they were willing to tolerate our existence.
"We're going to keep on earning from now onnnnnnnnnn!" the announcer screamed.
"Wooooooooh!"
Yay!
Now I just had to do something about this crippled domestic industry.
As far as current industries went, shipbuilding and home appliances were handled by the Taikyoku Nation.
Missiles, satellite technology, metal processing, and finance were Latarnia's domain.
Industrial machinery, including Humanoid Fighters and drones, felt like the Galactic Empire's territory.
The Ogre God Nation could develop their own Humanoid Fighters, but their tech was roughly at the level of the Galactic Empire before the Zork War. Their main strength was light industry, like clothing.
The Battle Dome Member Nations also received a share of light industry from the Ogre God Nation.
As for entertainment, the Galactic Empire was overwhelmingly dominant.
Food was a bit different; since agriculture was strong everywhere, most nations kept their production for internal use. However, a surplus inevitably occurred, and Chronos was being allowed to buy up those leftovers.
Currently, while Chronos was focusing on reconstruction, we were taking on light industry contracts from the Galactic Empire.
Originally, Chronos had a bad relationship with the Ogre God Nation, so we had always manufactured our own domestic goods.
...We managed somehow.
I’d honestly thought we were stuck because the unit price for doing light industry with Shaping Printers was so low, and yet it took forever to train actual artisans.
I mean, the machines existed! But even so, in the end, human artisans were cheaper and produced better quality goods.
We had managed to attract fashion brands from the Galactic Empire.
The thing was... people in the Galactic Empire didn't want to do light industry. The wages just weren't good enough for them.
Back in Maro’s day, a simple "Do it or face execution" would have worked, but Wifey was different.
After endless meetings, the ban on placing light industry orders with Chronos was finally lifted.
Unlike Latarnia, if trouble arose here, it could be resolved through litigation. Chronos actually had a bankruptcy system, after all. Dissolving a local subsidiary was a viable option.
That was why the Kamishiro Group—which had started moving into textile-related companies and international trade consulting—was opening branch offices all over the place.
...I wondered if it was really okay, though. Wouldn't this lead to conflict decades down the line?
Would people start saying, "You're making slaves of the Chronosians!"?
We in the ruling class had been a bit fearful when we lifted the ban. However, as far as the trading companies were concerned, reckless daredevils were flocking to Chronos in droves.
I did hand them pamphlets and warn them, "Promises with Latarnians are absolute. Please be sure to have a lawyer mediate," but...
I figured they wouldn't truly understand until a few people died over a "broken promise to marry" or "changing a contract after delivery."
Both were serious crimes in Latarnia.
I had already told the Latarnians, "Idiots won't learn until they die," and we had signed an extradition treaty for criminals.
In this manner, we had dragged the country from a mountain of rubble to a point where we were at least eating.
A gummy factory for Latarnia was finished. Printing factories were popping up everywhere too.
Techniques for things like paint and ink had been quietly lost. I mean, the recipes were available through the patent system, but the artisans who could actually look at a patent and replicate it... they were all dead.
We had to beg the trading companies to bring their factories here for that. It felt like Chronos’s intellectual property was being snatched away, but it couldn't be helped. We simply couldn't make it ourselves right now. Even I didn't know how. So, we built Imperial factories for those as well.
As for Chronos’s own unique technology, our only hope was to throw money at young researchers and hope we hit the jackpot in the "research gacha."
Brilliant minds were necessary, but luck was just as important. We just had to increase the volume of research and pray for an SSR result.
In short, we had swallowed a lot of bitterness and hardship to get this far.
The pride of the people—who in their hearts felt like they were the top of their class—was in absolute tatters.
I remembered someone like that back at the academy. A guy whose parents' planet management failed, so he gave up on the Empire's top elite preparatory school to join the academy just because it paid a salary. He quit after a year.
That was the level of devastation we were dealing with.
But that ended today!
I was going to eat!
I sat in the VIP seats and stuffed my face with yakisoba and gyoza. For some reason, the broadcast kept cutting to me eating. Eventually, a ticker ran across the bottom: 【*Note: His Majesty Leo is a very heavy eater】.
Kevin came by every fifteen minutes to do a blood test.
"Look... if you suddenly eat this much after being in that state, you might faint from hyperglycemia."
My father had diabetes. Apparently, I was genetically predisposed to being weak against rapid changes in blood sugar. My muscles were strong, but my pancreas was a weakling.
Wait, both my father and I had received genetic rewriting treatment! And yet, my father still ended up diabetic, leading to this state of affairs.
More importantly... can I have some cotton candy? No?
Ugh!
"No juice either! Stick to tea!"
Ugh!
I usually only drank sweet things like protein and amino acid drinks during training anyway, so it wasn't a huge loss. I gulped down my barley tea.
Wifey watched us and murmured, "Doesn't Kevin seem more like the wife?"
"Wifey, stop it."
It was an exchange that had become a routine at this point. The only difference was that Kevin had stopped offering clear rejections. He just looked down, acting embarrassed.
I am a dense protagonist... yes, I am a dense protagonist...
I repeated the mantra in my head.
Begone, boobs! Begone!
Setting that aside—or rather, ignoring it entirely—the baseball club exhibition with Isono and the others began at another venue.
First up was a match between student teams from the Ogre God Nation and Latarnia against a team Isono had put together from kids slightly younger than us. A former professional baseball player who had been in the military was the manager. Isono had prioritized character over stats when picking him.
Isono was acting as the coach.
Seriously, Isono-kun. It was the same during the pro-wrestling matches, but you're way too good at scouting professionals. And you always find people with maxed-out personality stats. Where do you find them? How do you do it?
If this were the Warring States period, you probably would have conquered the world.
That lasted for about two hours. During that time, people who weren't interested in baseball headed for the food stalls, while we watched leisurely.
Simultaneously, a soccer match was being held, also featuring a former pro discovered by Isono. They were playing against a corporate team from a Latarnian company. Basketball and volleyball matches were happening at the same time too. It was a "watch whatever you like" kind of atmosphere.
To fill the gaps, former members of the Brass Band Club performed. On the organizational chart, they weren't part of the military band, but the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs Band.
Everyone had suddenly been promoted to management-level officers in the military, so they couldn't join the actual military band. Sorry about that. That was why we'd set up a band in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a sort of double-work arrangement.
The morning session concluded like that.
In the afternoon, there would be Judo, Karate, Swordsmanship... Melissa was also participating in the traditional martial arts category. Shiyun would appear for the Taikyoku Nation's traditional martial arts demonstration. Wrestling and rugby were on the schedule too.
And then there was the Pro-wrestling Research Club, for which tickets were already considered platinum items.
In the plaza, cultural clubs were holding exhibitions. Mr. Berger was the lead for the Chronos archaeology exhibition.
Between the Taikyoku Nation and Latarnia booths, the whole thing looked more like a World Expo than a harvest festival. The cultural exhibitions were scheduled to continue for a while. They were even holding races alongside a motor show.
And then... there was a group making suspicious movements.
Taking advantage of a manpower shortage, some Humanoid Heavy Machinery for police use and Latarnian export-model Humanoid Fighters had managed to escape inspection.
Trucks carrying units emblazoned with the flag of Proone were moving through the crowds, disguised as supply deliveries.