Ch.127My Beloved Home…?

# Chapter 127: My Longed-for Home…?

*BOOM! BANG!*

Back in Ka’zan after half a year, a grand victory celebration for the Nano Machine War was in full swing.

“Looks quite lively, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed it does.”

And we were just watching this victory celebration from a considerable distance.

“Minister, I was just wondering, do you plan to participate in the celebration?”

“Of course not. You know my personality well enough.”

“True enough.”

Of course, we could have participated if we wanted to.

After all, we did get involved in the war to some extent.

But personally, it wasn’t a particularly appealing situation.

“Why is that, Minister Arto?”

“From the beginning, the war with the nano machines was fought by the fleet. We merely conducted a special operation, not participated in the war.”

Above all, what we did aboard this massive ship was just watch from behind and then slip into the gate to handle things.

It felt somewhat awkward to participate in such a victory celebration.

But since we couldn’t completely ignore it either…

As a temporary measure, we were just observing the celebration.

Besides, watching as third parties rather than participants, we noticed many interesting things.

“What’s this? Did that old geezer from the Ministry of Defense finally retire?”

“That was quick. Honestly, I thought he’d stick around for at least another decade.”

For instance, as Riel and I just noted, the Minister of Defense who had served longer than I had been replaced.

“When did he retire? I guess natural causes would be the only answer anyway.”

“Hmm, the article only mentions he resigned voluntarily due to health issues, nothing else specific.”

“So who’s the new Minister of Defense now?”

“Someone called Andrew something… honestly, I’ve never seen him before.”

And the fact that neither of us could remember who this newly appointed person was.

“Well, our inability to remember him probably means he’s relatively clean.”

“True, if we remembered him, it would either be because he helped us or because he’s corrupt enough that we’d want to tear him apart.”

Since there wasn’t anything else particularly noteworthy, we stayed in orbit just a little longer.

*Ah, enough of this.*

After concluding there was nothing more to see,

We parked the Leviathan in a suitable empty spot(?) in orbit.

Then we decided to take a shuttle down to the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency on the surface.

——————————————-

But the moment I opened the door to my sweet home, the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency…

“…?”

I immediately stopped in my tracks upon sensing a strange atmosphere permeating the agency.

“What’s wrong, Minister?”

Riel, following behind me, showed a puzzled reaction to my behavior.

“Hmm… no, perhaps it just feels awkward since it’s been so long since I’ve been here.”

Since I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what felt strange, I resolved to go to my office first to gather my thoughts.

——————————–

But once I arrived at my office…

Seeing everything perfectly maintained exactly as I had left it before my departure,

I finally realized why I had sensed something off within the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency.

“Riel, it seems like many of the personnel in the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency have changed…”

“Personnel? Now that you mention it, there were quite a few unfamiliar faces.”

Riel nodded in agreement with my observation.

“Should I prepare a separate personnel roster for you?”

“No, thinking about it, there should be reports sent to my account and terminal… let’s check those first.”

Saying that, I sat down on the impeccably maintained office sofa and immediately turned on the table terminal to check the reports.

Of course, I had already handled most of the urgent matters on the Leviathan on our way here.

So the remaining reports were simple things like personnel rosters as Riel had mentioned…

But looking at the personnel roster, I couldn’t help but be taken aback.

“What is this?”

“What’s wrong?”

When Riel questioned my reaction, I turned the terminal toward her to show the personnel roster.

“I’ve only been away from active duty at the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency for about four months. How could so many personnel changes happen in that time?”

As I compared it with the roster I remembered, Riel showed a very intrigued reaction.

“Almost half of them have changed.”

“Exactly.”

“And most of that half… have never even handled diplomatic or enforcement work during their careers.”

“I might understand if they at least had experience in those fields, but none of them do. It’s quite perplexing.”

I was genuinely baffled.

If they had at least worked in related fields, even if I didn’t remember them, Riel might have recognized them through her quantum brain memory.

The fact that even she didn’t know them meant they were complete newcomers.

Well, calling people “newcomers” might be a bit harsh… but they were essentially complete novices.

“Was there perhaps a major personnel shuffle in the Empire while we were in that other universe?”

“That’s plausible. I heard the new year began about a month ago.”

Hearing Riel’s words, I began to understand why the personnel roster had changed so drastically.

‘I suppose the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency was getting a bit stagnant… they probably used the new year’s personnel changes as an excuse to thin out the ranks.’

Believing this to be Arthraia’s intention, I decided to put the matter of the personnel roster to rest.

“Well, I suppose that could happen.”

“I… suppose so?”

Although there were still some suspicious aspects to it,

Having just returned from a long “business trip,” we were quite tired.

We felt we needed to consider this matter further, but for now, decided to take a much-needed rest.

——————————-

But the next day…

After regaining our senses and taking another look, the situation at the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency was far worse than Riel and I had anticipated.

“Wait, Alina has been completely transferred to the Ministry of Science and Technology?”

“That’s strange. In Alina’s case, she was supposed to be under our management by the Emperor’s direct permission.”

If it were just internal personnel changes, I could have accepted it.

But I couldn’t understand how someone appointed by the Emperor could have their position changed arbitrarily.

“Minister, the problem doesn’t end with Alina.”

“What…?”

Riel showed me a report summarizing how many additional problems there were…

The moment I saw it…

“…Which bastard is responsible for this mess?”

I realized that these absurd personnel changes weren’t Arthraia’s doing, but someone else’s machinations.

“Even high commissioners and ambassador-level personnel have been moved, and their positions filled by people with no experience dropping in…?”

“The enforcement side is relatively better, but even there some high-ranking officials have been replaced… and the new enforcement recruits seem quite suspicious.”

But the biggest problem was something else entirely.

“The Purge Unit has been disbanded.”

The very force that served as the military arm and execution squad of the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency had suddenly been dissolved during my absence.

“Wow, they didn’t even provide a reason, just stated that it no longer exists.”

Seeing how they had effectively gutted the current fighting force of the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency—essentially the Emperor’s blade—I had a feeling this situation wouldn’t resolve itself easily.

“…Riel, is there any execution force assigned to replace the Purge Unit?”

“Just a moment, they’ve made it difficult to find… Ah, found it!”

“What is it?”

“…It says ‘Papal Direct Templar Order’?”

The moment I heard which unit had been assigned here,

I found it completely incomprehensible how the situation had developed, so…

[Time Pause]

I immediately paused time to assess the situation more calmly and make a judgment.

‘So the current situation is… the Diplomatic Enforcement Agency has effectively lost its limbs and blade.’

But looking at the situation objectively, I couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded.

‘This isn’t just crippling; it’s practically half-dead.’

And it wasn’t simply a matter of being messed up—it was precisely half-killed.

If I hadn’t realized this and had mindlessly accepted diplomatic or enforcement tasks…

It was clear that tremendous damage would have resulted, too horrible to even imagine.

‘Could this be a plot by someone hoping for my downfall? Or perhaps a scheme by an opposing faction to weaken the Emperor’s blade…?’

Who would do this, and why?

I couldn’t grasp anything at the moment…

Feeling deep sighs escaping me, I released the time pause I had activated.