It happened in the pre-dawn hours.
It happened while we were still distracted by inquiries regarding the glowing Zashiki-warashi-chan.
Someone had torched the rice paddies where we had nearly finished our harvest.
A flammable substance—perhaps gasoline, bioethanol, or oil refined from waste. It might have even been napalm. In any case, a volatile liquid had been splashed across the fields and ignited.
The remaining stalks, which had been kept specifically for research, were reduced to ash.
The fire also spread to the adjacent fields. They weren't mine; they were experimental plots managed by a trading company. The fields where they were trial-cultivating buckwheat, miscellaneous grains, and soybeans were lost to the flames as well.
The buckwheat was incinerated before it could be harvested. The soybeans were also reduced to gray dust. Because the soybeans were being grown to full maturity and had already dried out, they had apparently gone up like tinder.
Both crops were so close to harvest...
If only I had picked them early as edamame, it wouldn't have come to this.
The wasabi was being grown in a separate location, so it remained untouched. However, the trading company’s agricultural experiment station had suffered a devastating blow.
I really should have handled this through the Kamishiro Group. Then I could have deployed my private soldiers... though, thinking about it logically, the attack was unpredictable. The result probably would have been the same.
The culprit made no secret of his deed, boldly stepping forward.
"They say he's a former priest of the Chronos Religion. Apparently, he took offense to us building a shrine for a foreign deity," Melissa reported.
She was referring to Zashiki-warashi-chan’s shrine. Blue veins were throbbing at Melissa’s temples. Even someone who usually belonged to the bread faction had moments when they craved rice. Of course she was livid.
Considering the situation—two months until rice from the Galactic Empire arrived, one month until the Magellan harvest, and my own paddies’ Honorable Rice having been just days away—everyone was quietly fuming.
Besides, everyone loved Zashiki-warashi-chan.
I threw myself into kneading soba like a man in his golden years seeking a hobby. We still had plenty of buckwheat flour, at least. Thanks to the technology the Empire took pride in, the noodle-cutting could be managed with a dedicated soba-use pasta machine.
My dough-making was haphazard. To be precise, the quality varied wildly from batch to batch. When it was bad, it was truly abysmal. It made me realize that I could never actually make it as a professional soba chef.
The flour itself was produced here on Chronos; apparently, it was a staple in certain regions. For the dipping sauce, Nina-san had prepared a broth using chicken stock. Kevin, whose skin looked radiant after finally getting a proper night's sleep, handled the frying of the River Shrimp Tempura.
Both of them were clearly enraged, even if they didn't let it show in their professional demeanors. Though we hadn't been farming them intentionally, the river shrimp that had been multiplying in the area were almost entirely wiped out by the runoff and heat. This was the very last of our stock.
Once I finished the dough—or rather, once I finished the batch I had been kneading all night since the fire started—I ran it through the machine.
I handed the cut noodles to Nina-san, who was practically radiating murderous intent. She offered to boil them for me. I could make handmade soba, but I didn't want to make a habit of it. I just knew this would inevitably lead to someone demanding I make ramen next!
And so, topped with a few garnishes like nori, the soba was complete. It was meat soba, served with slightly thick noodles.
It was delicious.
As we ate, Wifey spoke, her voice a low, squeezed-out rasp. "This is unforgivable..."
To her, the Honorable Rice was the very soul of the Galactic Empire’s people.
"But look, we can't exactly go to war with the Chronos Religion over this," I pointed out.
Claire, looking exhausted, replied, "The Chronos Religion seems to think Himorogi-chan is a far more important matter than the arson. They’re already calling Leo a hero chosen by God."
"And the former priest?"
"They said we’re free to kill him."
I wondered if that was because I’d been inadvertently recreating their creation myths. "Is the Church going to oppose me at all?"
"They have no intention of doing so."
"So they have no reason to attack my property. In other words, someone was whispering in that priest’s ear."
If that was the case, the people who had hired pirates to target our cargo were likely the same ones behind this. They were trying to incite terrorism within Chronos.
It was the grim reality of governance. It was impossible for politics to save everyone. The best-case scenario was usually a state where everyone was only slightly dissatisfied. A politician’s job was mostly just balancing welfare policies and managing unemployment. Though, admittedly, that was the hardest part.
No matter what you did, people would fall through the cracks. And those people were the ones recruited as terrorists. Or they brainwashed children to do their dirty work. I hated it. I truly hated that kind of joyless, cynical maneuvering.
I mean, why did the Zen God Race only ever do things that made people loathe them?
Still... I didn't know where to strike back. I had my fist raised, but no target to hit.
I slurped my soba. At least I’d made the right call setting the pasta machine to thick noodles.
"In the first place, why burn the rice? All it does is piss us off!" Isono shouted.
"The culprit claimed that immortality was an affront to God’s will," I answered.
Isono snapped. "We already told them we aren't doing any of that!"
"I know, right? In every manga and anime, immortality always leads to a miserable end."
None of us had any longing for eternal life. I certainly didn't want to keep living after the world perished.
"And besides, the shrine isn't even unpopular. It's a facility where anyone can come, even if they follow the Chronos Religion!"
That was true. The shrine and the Chronos Religion weren't in conflict. In fact, the Church treated the shrine with great hospitality, viewing it as the guardian of Himorogi-chan. We didn't interfere with their faith, and the shrine didn't engage in proselytizing. We simply enforced laws that forbade the Church from seizing the assets of believers or engaging in exploitation. The Church leadership actually claimed they were grateful to have that kind of corruption purged from their ranks.
I’d made sure to have proper discussions with them. We weren't hated by the Chronos Religion, and the extremist views of the arsonist weren't common. Even the local media was sympathetic to us. It was a simple fact that the field had been a peaceful agricultural experiment.
Lunch ended. I figured I might make pasta for dinner.
I worried that if they didn't leave a trail, I wouldn't be able to do anything. But as it turned out, the idiots were more than happy to show their hand.
It happened the very next day.
"The Ozen Alliance has issued a Statement of Condemnation, demanding that Chronos cease its 'religious oppression' and halt its 'immortality experiments.'"
When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs relayed the news, I just stood there with a blank, stupid look on my face.
Oh... I see.
We weren't doing any experiments of the sort, but these people... just how obsessed with immortality were they?
"Right... Okay, now I'm officially pissed. Until now, I put Lou-chan’s happiness above everything else, but I’ve reached my limit. We’re releasing the information! I’m going to go get Lou-chan’s permission now."
If they wanted to play with petty tricks like that, fine. Unfortunately for them, I was quite good at that game myself.
Hahaha, so you want to challenge me to cognitive warfare? Is that how it’s going to be?
I’m not holding back anymore. A grudge over food is a terrifying thing.