First, I began the information disclosure.
I revealed Lou-chan’s appearance as a victim to the entire world.
Naturally, I had obtained Lou-chan's permission beforehand.
The Grand Duchy of Chronos issued a Statement of Condemnation regarding the heinous Human Experimentation conducted by Ozen.
As for the experiments to create a new body, we reported that these were being conducted specifically to treat Lou-chan and others suffering from similar conditions.
After all, a fully mechanized body simply didn't have a long shelf life.
What would happen if we used the Fairy’s power to grant someone a Complete Mechanical Body? Well, while AI robots and navigators existed, specialized machinery was simply more efficient for most tasks.
Consequently, creating an entirely new biological body carried the lowest risk.
When I turned on the terminal, it displayed a Live Video of Lou-chan answering an interview. A mass of flesh with an eye attached was floating inside a tank.
‘Please introduce yourself,’ the Female Journalist began.
A little girl's voice emanated from the Telepathy-to-Voice Speaker attached to the tank.
‘I am Lou. I do not know how old I am.’
The Female Journalist’s face contorted at the sound of that small voice.
‘W-Where did you live?’
Lou’s voice was raspy.
‘I was in the tank the whole time.’
It was an utterly cruel existence. A little girl had been abandoned in an underground facility in such a state.
‘Y-You were rescued by His Highness the Grand Duke, weren't you?’
‘Yes. Big brother Leo told me, ’Let’s go together.’’
‘W-Were you happy?’
According to the records I’d looked up, the Female Journalist had two children of her own. Her voice was trembling.
‘Yes! I saw the blue sky for the first time!’
Lou-chan spoke with a happy, innocent giggle. But the journalist couldn't take it anymore. Tears were streaming down her face.
‘I'm so sorry...’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I'm so sorry!’
The journalist threw her arms around the tank. This was unexpected even for me.
It wasn't that I had specifically chosen a Female Journalist with children. She was simply a prominent figure known to the Chronos administration who happened to have a free schedule. However, the emotional impact far exceeded our expectations.
The live broadcast wasn't even over yet, but the government servers were already on the verge of crashing from the flood of inquiries.
‘I-I’ll increase the server capacity!’ the Fairy cried out.
Even though she surely wanted to watch the broadcast herself, the Fairy busied herself with the technical emergency. I was also swamped with inquiries from business leaders and politicians.
Look, I did inform them properly! It was just that the sheer gravity of the situation hadn't been fully conveyed through words alone until they saw it.
That day, Chronos was obsessed with nothing but Lou-chan. And it wasn't just Chronos.
The Taikyoku Nation and Latarnia both issued a Statement of Protest against Ozen. Naturally, we protested as well.
The Taikyoku Nation, Chronos, and a portion of Magellan denounced the inhumane experiments. Latarnia was a bit off-base, protesting ‘abuse outside of contract.’ Their logic was that any contract involving Human Experimentation on a child was inherently invalid. It was a weird angle, but the sentiment was the same. That’s just the kind of people the Latarnians were; our common sense didn't apply to them.
The Ogre God Nation was even more eccentric, protesting ‘body modifications that weren't intended to make the subject stronger.’ Well, that was very on-brand for them.
Later, my notes on the interpretation of these events would lead to the establishment of 【Outer Space Law】 as an academic discipline in the Galactic Empire, but that didn't have much to do with me at the time.
Regardless of the reasons, people were siding with us. Public opinion was firmly in our camp. The masses were terrified by the story of a kidnapped child being turned into such a wretched form. After all, everyone feared the same happening to their own children.
In truth, it wasn't confirmed that Lou-chan was a kidnapped child; she might have been created from scratch. However, we didn't deny the kidnapping theory. We had no evidence to disprove it, either. So, whenever asked in an official capacity, I gave the honest answer: ‘I don't know.’
This led to a surge of inquiries from all over Chronos, with people asking, ‘Could she be my child who disappeared?’ There were victims from the Locust Terrorist Attack, and even cases from nearly a hundred years ago. To the people of Chronos, this wasn't someone else's problem.
Demonstrations became a frequent occurrence. We didn't stop them, either; we mostly just handled traffic control or broke up the occasional fight.
When Ozenians living in Chronos started burning photos of me in retaliation, I just ignored them while picking my nose. Having my photo burned didn't hurt me. Besides, my image was practically public domain at this point! Some kids were even drawing sunglasses and facial scars on them—honestly, what were they, elementary schoolers?
I did, however, levy heavy fines and deport the idiots who burned the national flag.
But the citizens wouldn't stand for it. Those who burned the flag or my photos were often beaten to a pulp on the spot. Ozen complained about the ‘Protection of One's Own Citizens,’ but I didn't care. I let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle the paperwork and ended it there.
Ozen seemed to be getting a bit irritated. They were losing their composure.
As for the rice situation, the Chronos-produced Rice had vanished into our stomachs in a heartbeat, and we had all turned into a pack of starving wolves while waiting for the Magellan Rice harvest.
Okonomiyaki was snatched away the moment it was cooked, and Buckwheat Galettes were similarly plundered. When I reluctantly made Kasha from buckwheat groats and beans, Tatiana turned into a total Bandit. Apparently, it was the taste of her home.
Between the lack of rice and the trauma triggered by Lou-chan’s situation, the entire population of Chronos had become a bit too aggressive.
In that atmosphere, the arrival of the Magellan Rice and the scheduled Experiment Day to transfer Lou-chan's consciousness drew near. Up until the very day, the Ozenians repeatedly protested, claiming this experiment would lead to their own destruction. Words no longer reached them. We hadn't been having a real conversation for a long time, so we just ignored them.
Finally, Experiment Day arrived.
Lou-chan’s new body—the Humanoid Zork Body—was connected to the machinery. Lou-chan herself was also set into the device.
While we didn't do a Live Broadcast this time, journalists were already swarming the Press Conference Venue. I watched the progress on a monitor.
Then, I felt a strange pull. For some reason, I felt like I had to go to Zashiki-warashi-chan's Shrine and where Himorogi-chan stood. I didn't know why, but I found myself wandering toward the Palace entrance.
Standing outside the entrance was an old man straddling a motorcycle. It was Suematsu-san. He even had a sidecar attached.
‘Your Highness, would you like a lift?’
‘I’m in!’
This felt like a divine revelation. As we sped toward the Shrine, I saw the Imperial Guard Knight Order chasing after us, screaming, ‘You little brat!’
Sorry, guys... I know I act on a whim too much.
As we neared the Shrine, a call came in from Claire.
‘Leo, listen carefully. Ozen has launched an invasion, demanding we stop the experiment.’
‘Issue the Interception Order.’
‘Understood.’
Why was Ozen so obsessed with this? I couldn't grasp their logic.
Himorogi-chan was glowing. Zashiki-warashi-chan was waiting for me in the Shrine square.
‘The world is going to change,’ she said.
As if in response to her words, Himorogi-chan began to grow even larger. I looked at Suematsu-san. Even he didn't seem to know what was happening. He just stood there, jaw dropped in surprise.