A riot broke out in Lepsitol.
It would later be known as the Democratization War, but it began as a series of moderate protests.
In Lepsitol, freedom of speech is non-existent. Defying a corporation is a capital offense punishable by death. What a joke. If they had the resources to crack down on stuff like that, they should have spent them on actual major crimes. Even in our feudal Chronos, we have freedom of speech...
Lepsitol did not forgive the protesters. Tanks attacked mercilessly, and Armored Rikishi were deployed to clear the crowds. Enraged, the citizens began to fight back with weapons seized from the Yakuza.
Let’s set aside the fact that those weapons were genuine products from famous manufacturers in Latarnia, the Taikyoku Nation, and Chronos for a moment. That was Karen-san's plan; I had nothing to do with it.
The citizens took up guns—well, it looked like there were some people mixed in who were very used to handling them. There were Molotov cocktails, too... no, wait, those were military-grade grenades. They raided the warehouses of companies with weak military presence and seized supplies.
People tend to think the software industry would be immune to riots, but the crowds raided data centers and looted the servers—both the data and the hardware. A massive number of servers flooded the used market. The Kamishiro Group will gladly snap those up! Hahahaha! A popular uprising is a capital crime, but that only applies if the citizens can’t overpower the state with violence. Even the police, usually corporate allies, began siding with the people. The corporate militaries were the enemies of the public, but I wondered how long they would hold out. If the companies couldn't pay their soldiers, the soldiers would join the citizens. It was that simple.
The corporations began spreading propaganda, claiming, "Everything is a Chronos conspiracy." Meanwhile, the citizens started saying unsettling things like, "I’d rather just become part of Chronos."
So, since I was currently barred from entering Chronos, I released a public statement: "I wish to maintain friendly relations with Lepsitol."
Now then, this is where the dominoes start to fall. The corporate council system backfired. A regional military enterprise called Saigoz, located on the border with Parcion, began an invasion of Parcion. Under Lepsitol's laws, this was a permissible, albeit reckless, act.
Saigoz had been guarding shipping routes but fell to the brink of bankruptcy following the suspension of seafood exports. Traditionally, when a Lepsitol company faced such a crisis, they simply went and plundered another country. Thus, the fighting with Parcion—which had temporarily settled because both sides were too cheap to pay for military expenses—resumed in earnest.
Takanashidain’s reputation was completely ruined. It was a total bug in the political system. Parcion realized this wasn't just a military provocation but a full-scale invasion and fought back. They organized a fleet several times the size of their usual force and crushed the Saigoz Fleet.
Was that the end of it? Of course not. Parcion’s military expenses had gone way over budget. When they demanded compensation, Lepsitol refused, saying, "Saigoz did that on their own! We have nothing to do with it!"
The family of the Saigoz chairman committed Seppuku. The company fell into Parcion's hands, but it was saddled with nothing but massive debt. Even seizing their battleships was a drop in the bucket because Parcion had beaten them so thoroughly that not a single unit was functional. In a war with Lepsitol, you have to worry about the money until the bitter end.
Parcion was enraged by this malicious behavior. "Pay up, or we invade Lepsitol," they threatened.
It was strange... Parcion’s demands actually seemed reasonable for once. Naturally, Lepsitol—whose motto was "money over life"—had no intention of paying, and the two nations entered a state of all-out war.
It’s a mess, right? The Lepsitol Four Great Conglomerates organized a fleet. Even Takanashidain, who had been negotiating a truce, joined the war. While Parcion was more desperate for cash, an anti-government movement had caught fire inside Lepsitol. It was a proper hellscape.
Our ninja team, specializing in corporate disputes, suddenly found ourselves with nothing to do. Oh? How strange. I was idle again. There was a limit to how much I could play with Rikochi. In the first place, Lepsitol has very few entertainment options! It's just clubs. So, with time to kill, we decided to engage in some voluntary ninja activities.
"Leo-kun, are the servers really here?"
"Yeah, Fairy-san said a huge amount of data is being routed through here."
"If Luna-chan says so, I guess it's true."
We stood before a dilapidated building. Why raid this place? Because I was bored. As long as we didn't get caught, it was fine. First, I disguised myself as a delivery man to infiltrate. The entrance wasn't even blocked. I went down to the basement.
There was a door with an Electronic Lock and a Surveillance Camera. I left a bag containing hemorrhoid medicine at the door and stepped back outside. While I was at it, I released an AI-controlled spider drone to disable the lock and the camera. Then, I changed into my Ninja Suit and slipped inside with Rikochi.
The interior was a laboratory.
"It really is a lab."
"I wonder what they're researching?"
"Who knows?"
I looked for a room with a high thermal signature and followed the cables. I couldn't use the ducts, and there were no gaps in the ceiling. Fine then. I sent a drone into the cable piping to unlock the door from the inside. I successfully infiltrated the Server Room.
"Leo-kun, isn't your aptitude for espionage a little too high?"
"Not really~"
I looked for a cable that matched the server connector. Oh, it was a Latarnia standard. I plugged it in and used Fairy-san's program to break in. After teaching the intrusion detection programs a lesson, I began routing the data through Chronos, the Taikyoku Nation, and Latarnia before sending it to the Galactic Empire.
"Okay, Fairy-san, it’s sent."
"Data confirmed. I'll begin the analysis now~"
If this were Chronos, Fairy-san would have personally wrecked the place, but this was Lepsitol. There was only so much she could do. At least, only so much she could do directly. She posted on Lepsitol's social media: "Found the server. It’s all mine!"
We withdrew after that. I had to choke out a researcher who was picking up the hemorrhoid medicine, but we made it out without further incident. We headed home, watching the mob of rioters swarm into the facility. Just as I got home and changed into my Officer Academy Tracksuit, a message came from Fairy-san.
"Leo-kun! It’s terrible! It looks like the Four Great Conglomerates and Parcion knew about the Wild Ghouls... They were secretly researching a Removal Drug!"
"Whoops..."
And... sent to Lepsitol’s anti-establishment faction. Hahahaha!
"In the end... just by Leo-kun being here, the enemy gets destroyed, don't they?"
Rikochi... I don't have that much malice, you know.