My work was done for the day.
It had been a light load. I had a vague feeling that I’d drafted a reconstruction plan for Lepsitol somewhere along the line, but it was probably just my imagination.
"Well then, Saijo-kun, shall we head out?"
"To where?"
"The supermarket in front of the station. We’re out of cake flour."
I used so much of the stuff that I’d been scolded for it, so now my baking supplies were handled under a separate budget from the palace’s.
"Just have it delivered!"
"I’m just going for a quick spin on my bike!"
I had my very own utility bike—a commuter bike—waiting in the rack for just such an occasion. Naturally, there was a secondary one for my guards as well.
"A bike? Just how often are you sneaking out?! Anyway, no means no! ...Ah, Chamberlain Staff? His Majesty says he wants you to buy some cake flour."
"Hey, don't go pushing my private errands onto them..."
"They said, 'With pleasure,' Your Majesty. Apparently, they’re going to check the dining hall's refrigerator and pick up anything else we need while they're at it."
"How could this be? The line between public and private has completely vanished."
"Actually, a chamberlain's duties specifically include managing your 'private' life."
"Is this kind of thing even allowed?!"
"Of course it is!"
I traded barbs with the Taisho-era-style maid. I’ll say it again for the record: Saijo-kun was a man.
Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to kill some time by contacting the spy I’d dispatched to Parcion.
"Yo, how’s it going?"
"Your Majesty. Are you bored?"
How did he know?!
The agent was a Chronosian. That said, among the planets near Parcion that leaned toward Chronos, there were many populated by our people. On the capital planet, interbreeding had progressed so much that he could go undercover without a hitch. A Lepsitolian would stand out, but he fit right in.
There were also a lot of Latarnians there. Since they had historically been used as slaves, they were scattered everywhere. There were Latarnian-descended Chronosians and even Latarnian-descended people from the Ogre God Nation.
Actually, while the people of the Ogre God Nation had horns, we’d discovered they were a Latarnian-descended race. Some said that made them perfect for infiltration work...
Since Latarnians had their own tight-knit religious communities, an agent could easily find allies there. It wouldn't be unusual for a sleeper agent or two to be lurking in the pews. There were certainly Parcionian and Lepsitolian agents in Chronos, after all.
The world of espionage was a chaotic mess; double agents were a dime a dozen, and we often bribed them just to turn them into information exchange hubs.
I had officially dispatched this particular man as an employee of a Latarnian trading company. However, even he hadn’t been able to penetrate the Parcion capital planet yet. He was currently stuck on one of the local urban planets.
"Well, I finally made contact with the main infiltration force."
These were agents who had been stationed there since before the collapse of the old Chronos. We hadn’t heard a peep from them in over a year. They weren't my direct subordinates, but I wanted to get them out of there.
"No, nothing at all. We can't even find a trace of them."
"That’s a problem. Oh, by the way, I tucked some relief supplies into the Latarnian cargo."
"Thank you very much."
When I said "relief supplies," I meant it in every sense of the word. There were the usual tools of the trade—alcohol, sweets, ammunition, and cash for the agents—but the bulk of it was basic necessities for the citizens of local cities that had been cut off from the capital.
We were providing those supplies to local sects of the Parcion and Latarnia religions, making sure everything went through the proper Latarnian religious channels. We did this openly as a joint venture between Chronos and the Latarnia Bank.
Hahaha.
Their system involved siphoning every bit of wealth and produce to the center before redistributing it; once the center collapsed, the whole house of cards came down. It looked like salaries and rations for the entire populace were being delayed. Since logistics was a state-controlled enterprise, they couldn't even distribute the goods they managed to produce.
That was why I was bringing the Pirate Guild into the mix.
Furthermore, we’d already set up the barriers. The environment was now clean of Ghouls. Recently, the local military had even softened up enough to help us hand out supplies.
In some areas, black markets using Latarnian currency had begun to crop up. For now, it was mostly just people setting up stalls along the roadsides.
For some reason, shirts printed with the bizarre slogan "Let's Swear Loyalty to the King of Chronos!" were being sold. Even weirder, they were a massive hit. The design was actually quite stylish, with a "workers of the world unite" sort of aesthetic. I kind of wanted one.
There were also shirts that said "Let's Thoroughly Resist the Invasion of Chronos!" but those weren't selling at all. Probably because they featured the face of some bearded old man from the high command. Still, the design used a cool retro dot-print style like an old newspaper. I wanted that one, too.
According to local intel, pirated media filled with Chronos pop music was being sold on every street corner. Apparently, Chronos culture from the last few years had become a major trend. Posters of Claire, Melissa, and Ren were being sold without a lick of permission. Obviously.
They were even selling charms with Tatiana's face on them. Since Tatiana wasn't a Latarnian believer herself, she was absolutely livid, screaming, "I don't know anything about this!"
Tatiana came from the colonies, where a "proper" religious figure was a rare sight. She didn't even know what religion her family was supposed to belong to. My family was the same way.
I liked to think we were a loose blend of Gaming Buddhism and Shinto, but I couldn't tell you the specific sect. Our local funeral home was run by a non-denominational monk who’d gotten his credentials through a correspondence course. Nowadays, it seemed like temples and shrines for a dozen different sects were popping up like mushrooms.
For the sake of the paperwork, we were officially listed as "Shinto (Zashiki-warashi-chan Faction)." For children from families of Viscounts or lower, it was all pretty much the same.
Given that background, we weren't exactly in a position to criticize Parcion's religious issues. My plan was to avoid antagonizing the local faiths. Mostly because I didn't understand them. If I was honest about my ignorance, the locals were usually happy to teach me, which worked out fine.
As for my spy, his current cover was the man in charge of the soup kitchen. He was also busy assigning workers to fix Parcion's crumbling infrastructure. They were currently restoring a railway line that had been completely totaled. I expected they would move on to housing projects after that.
The local government had already been bought and paid for. As long as there was food and work, things would stay stable for a while. It would be a nightmare if the whole population turned into refugees.
I decided to call in someone who actually looked like they knew how to govern. Enter Lady Claire.
"...How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a dictator?"
"I know, I know. But as the Grand Duchess of Chronos, give me your thoughts."
"Oh, Saijo-kun, you're looking adorable again today."
"Thank you very much, milady."
"I’m being ignored!"
"Oh, hush. You haven't even invaded yet. You're just providing aid because the Parcion government left their own regions to rot. Besides, Latarnia is the one spearheading the effort, right? On the surface, it’s all about helping their kin, so why not just let them be?"
"I mean, sure, but the residents are already starting to say things like, 'Maybe we should just join Chronos instead'..."
"Honestly! You can't just keep picking them up!"
She made it sound like I was bringing home stray cats.
"Here, go play with Kinako!"
As soon as Claire spoke, Kinako entered the room as if she’d been summoned.
"Meow~"
"Oh, Kinako-chan, who’s a cute girl? ♪"
I immediately started petting her. My cat was definitely the cutest in the galaxy.
"Meow~"
"Kinako-chan. Make sure you watch Papa so he doesn't do anything stupid, okay?"
Saijo-kun... isn't that a bit harsh?