The situation with the Magellan Provisional Government was even worse than I’d anticipated.
A mere twelve hours after the initial report, the Magellan Capital Planet fell.
The provisional government collapsed completely.
I’d wondered if they would share the fate of their nation, but they abandoned their people and bolted instead.
See, that’s exactly why! That’s the exact reason I don’t want to welcome them as Children of Chronos!
The politicians of Chronos, by contrast, had been admirable. Maybe some of them simply failed to escape in time, but they fought until the very end and died for their country. It made it incredibly easy to distinguish between the types of survivors. I treated the cowards who fled before their people with cold indifference, while giving preferential treatment to those who had simply been lucky enough to survive.
I suppose I could have pampered the incompetent ones and just let them be exploited by Chronos, but to be honest, leaving behind that kind of grudge is a losing move. It seemed better to just let them keep trading idly as a Brother Nation of the Galactic Empire. There’s no profit in pure exploitation.
The Grand Duchy of Chronos refused to grant asylum to the leadership who had fled Magellan. However, we did allow them to live in the Former Magellan Sector under Chronos control as ordinary citizens.
Whether they were living on pins and needles there was none of my concern.
The people we actually wanted were the ones who would stay and fight even if their country was ruined. We had no use for idiots who abandoned their citizens to save their own skins.
Chronos deployed military forces to the Former Magellan Sector within our territory. They were currently conducting patrol activities.
We attempted to open a dialogue with Ozen, but we were ignored. Consequently, we issued a Statement of Protest alongside Latarnia and the Taikyoku Nation. I wasn’t sure how much effect it would actually have, though.
"I feel like I’m being treated as some kind of paranormal entity, like it's 'game over' the moment you talk to me," I muttered in my office.
I was just doing the sensible thing.
Fairy-san let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, of course they're on guard. You've brought the Ogre God Nation, Latarnia, and Proone—all of whom everyone else struggled to handle—onto your side, not to mention the Pirate Guild. It's only natural they treat you like a monster."
"I just conducted normal diplomacy using methods anyone can understand, though?"
"That’s the part that’s scary."
That might have been the case.
I held a briefing for the economic sector. I informed them that war was imminent and that military demand would be skyrocketing. While telling the public that war was near, we also double-checked our food stockpiles and evacuation routes. Evacuation Drills were held across the country. Even schools were practicing fleeing to Air-raid Shelters.
I wanted to wrap this up before the civilians got caught in the crossfire, but things probably wouldn't go that smoothly. After all, Ozen was staying completely silent!
Oddly enough, despite being on the brink of war, construction companies were recording record-high profits. The stock market was skyrocketing, and the futures market was doing far too well. Man, inflation is terrifying!
Volunteers flooded the military recruitment centers, and the military academies were overwhelmed with applicants. I hadn't even done anything to boost recruitment.
Alright, alright, that was enough work for now. Now that the tedious tasks were done, I decided to go see Lou-chan and Zashiki-warashi-chan.
Lou-chan was with her mother. A Filming Crew had already arrived. Lou-chan's Mama... what a terrifying woman.
"Mama!"
Lou-chan lunged into her mother's arms. She seemed to have grown completely attached to her. Su-san, better known as Lou-chan's Mama, was a veteran who had raised two children of her own. She stroked Lou-chan's head with practiced, gentle hands.
I considered driving the bus myself, but the Imperial Guard Knight Order stopped me. We headed out in a bus arranged by the palace instead.
My wives—Wifey, Claire, Melissa, and Ren—were all with me. There was also the scholar group, including Berger-san and Kachiya. Naturally, Tatiana, One-oh-one, and Shiyun were present as well.
A Filming Crew from another station was riding in a separate bus. Understandable—everyone wanted to get footage of the glowing Himorogi-chan. Furthermore, high-ranking officials from the Chronos Religion were accompanying us. Since we weren't particularly hostile, I’d given my permission.
With a group of this scale, I had to have Eddy, Isono, and Nakajima along for security. Naturally, Rikochi, the supreme commander of the Military Police, joined us as well.
As our group turned into a full-blown daimyo procession, crowds of people came out to watch. I decided to make the most of it by having tanks and Armored Vehicles tag along, effectively turning it into a parade. This, in turn, caused street stalls to start popping up spontaneously.
So this is how festivals are born, huh?
Even though it wasn't a long distance, it took us over two hours to arrive. Lou-chan’s popularity was incredible; everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of her.
"Lou-chan, have some candy, de arimasu!"
"One-onee-chan, thank you!"
One-oh-one was acting like a big sister and taking good care of her. The youngest member of our military had certainly grown up. Tatiana was also surprisingly good at looking after her, and Shiyun looked quite pleased as well.
When we reached the shrine, Zashiki-warashi-chan came out to greet us. I paid my respects to the Shinto Priest. For some reason, Suematsu-san was there as well. There was a theory going around that we should just make Suematsu-san a Shinto Priest, but Eddy’s Knights couldn't afford to let him go. He was simply too indispensable.
I offered sake and rice—specifically, rice grown in Magellan that had finally been harvested. I made my offering to the shrine with electronic money.
I’d always wanted to try throwing a thick stack of bills into an offering box at least once in my life... but well, I guess it didn't really matter. Just in case, the screen played a hologram video of a stack of bills being inserted. Not quite the same.
It was fine, though. It wasn't like I could ever spend all my personal assets anyway. Although, something was definitely wrong. Because of the Locust Terrorist Attack, I’d used my personal wealth to import and distribute massive amounts of diapers, milk, and disinfectant wipes. My accounts should have been nearly empty. And yet, somehow, my personal assets had more digits now than they did before the distribution. I don't even understand it anymore.
Whatever. I’ll just keep investing.
The Shinto Priests performed a festival for us. Since I stayed out of religious affairs, I didn't really understand what they were doing. The local people were in awe of the glowing Himorogi-chan, watching it with deep reverence.
We introduced Lou-chan to Zashiki-warashi-chan. The two of them hugged. Wait, 'two people'? Was that the right unit for them? Well, whatever. I decided not to sweat the details.
Thanks to her power-up, Zashiki-warashi-chan had become visible to everyone. However, she still couldn't be detected by any kind of sensor. She existed, yet she didn't. Whether she was a god or a spirit, I couldn't say. In fact, I didn't even know the difference. Those were terms used only by the Chronos Religion, Galactic Empire Shinto, and the Gaming Buddhist circles. It was a waste of time to get bogged down in it.
She was there, and that was good enough, right?
When I let that slip, a Chronos Religion Priest gave me a long-winded lecture on the subject. It went right over my head. Not a clue. I didn't understand it, but I respected it.
It wasn't like I only felt this way about the Chronos Religion. I didn't understand Galactic Empire Shinto either, and I certainly didn't understand Gaming Buddhism. In fact, some sects of Gaming Buddhism had been pestering me about "what to do for my funeral," which gave me a pretty bad impression of them. Like I’d know! Just do whatever!
I was almost at the point where I thought, "Maybe the Chronos Religion is fine after all!"
When I asked Wifey about it, she just said, "If it is the funeral of the Lord Groom, every sect will likely perform their own rites whether you ask them to or not."
I hate that so much.
Well, if they asked for donations, I’d keep giving them money. The Chronos Religion tried not to interfere with me as much as possible. After all, I funded the restoration of their damaged temples, did charitable work, and actually read the books they gave me. They had no grounds to complain, even if I refused to officially become a believer.
As I stood there with a grimace, Claire looped her arm through mine.
"What's wrong? Why the serious face?"
"It's nothing. Hey, Claire, what do you think of Zashiki-warashi-chan?"
"You mean the fact that you’ve birthed a new god in this galaxy? Honestly, Leo is the one being treated like a god these days. I feel like it's a bit late to worry about that."
I guess she was right. There was no point in overthinking it. I’d just play it by ear.
The Invasion of Chronos by Ozen was set to begin two weeks later, according to the Galactic Empire Calendar.