Ch.12Why can’t I just know something like this on my own?

# Chapter 12: Why Can’t These Things Just Work Themselves Out?

It’s not like the mining vein problem would be solved by me just sitting around here anyway.

We quickly moved on to tackle the next issue.

[Event: Global Riot]

[The riots that broke out on Janus were, in fact, caused by the excessive mining of the veins.]

[Overwork due to unreasonable operations and destabilization of the geological layers.]

[The government and corporations that only concealed rather than compensated the increasing casualties.]

[Plus all kinds of abuse directed at the Janidrians who lost their country due to defeat in war.]

[That’s how large-scale riots broke out all over Janus, centered around the Janidrians who were already bearing an excessive burden.]

Of course, I spent my time pausing occasionally to read our wonderful status window messages.

[The problem was that the planetary government’s response to the riots was the thorough suppression and extermination method that was only practiced during the late emperor’s era.]

Even seeing this nonsense, I felt a headache coming on despite being in pause mode.

‘Are they joking?’

This isn’t even their game anymore.

It’s essentially reality, so why act like a game in these aspects?

Thinking this, I opened the national status window after a long time to check the current suppression stance.

But…

[Current Suppression Stance of Your Nation: Negotiation (Reflecting reality, some areas must be personally refined by the player)]

How dare they pursue such pathetic realism in such a useless area.

I couldn’t hide my tears at this betrayal of its role as a game status window.

‘Why is it that the system that’s usually desperate to prove this is a game world suddenly pursues realism at times like this?’

Of course, no matter how much I blamed the status window, nothing would come of it.

I spent a full six hours venting my extreme irritation and anger in the paused state.

After six hours of raging, I ended the pause and was able to return my mental state to reality.

[Event: Janus’s Secret Stage 1 Clear.]

[To proceed to the next stage, please visit the administrative department of Janus!]

And so I took our all-purpose graduate student… no, staff member, and headed straight to the planetary government.

Or more precisely… to the mansion of the baron who was the de facto ruler of the planetary government and who had performed a deep apology at the previous party.

—————-

“I’ve heard the story, are you alright, Your Grace?”

“Your information travels quite fast, Baron.”

As expected of someone in power, he seemed to have many ears extending behind him.

“To think that such lowly commoners would cause Your Grace such concern…”

“…Hmm.”

“I would like to personally flog them if I could, but unfortunately, at my age…”

“Baron, I understand your feelings well enough.”

Unlike the mining vein issue, this time the conversation continued in a leisurely and relaxed manner.

I’d like to just barge in and get to the point, but…

If I did that, I would soon face the damp social lynching unique to aristocratic social circles, so I was holding back.

Honestly, it’s an extremely annoying custom from my perspective, but this is the subtlety that every noble from the Emperor down to the lowest baronet has mastered, so there’s nothing I can do.

If I showed impatience here, I would be severely beaten by the aristocracy’s damp social lynching, even as a duke.

Anyway, after about an hour of such talk about the insane insubordination at the mines and other nonsense…

“By the way, Your Grace… what brings you all the way here?”

Seeing that the real conversation was finally starting, I sighed inwardly and began to speak.

“Baron, I know that you are the de facto ruler of this planetary government.”

When I came out so directly and bluntly, I could see the baron’s hand tremble slightly as he was about to drink his tea.

“…I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

This attempt to curve away from the topic was typical Sebellian noble style.

But if I went along with the baron’s words here, that could lead to other rumors.

Like how the duke followed the baron’s words and failed to properly carry out the Emperor’s orders~~or something like that?

The reason I listened to nonsense for an hour was precisely to lead to this situation.

“Baron, I don’t like attaching too many flowery words.”

“…I’ve heard much about that.”

“Then you understand well.”

[Pause]

As I sipped a warm cup of tea, I hit pause again to organize my thoughts.

And a moment later.

[Unpause]

Feeling the warmth of the tea flowing into my mouth, I opened my eyes again and spoke to the baron.

“The suppression stance for this riot… seems quite different from the Empire’s standard method.”

“What do you mean…? We have been responding to the riots based on the Empire’s standard suppression method.”

At the baron’s puzzled reaction, I presented the revised law from a few years ago through the terminal I was holding.

“You might not know, so I brought a copy of the newly changed law.”

“Ah…”

And at that moment, as the terminal updated frantically again, event messages appeared before my eyes.

[Event: Janus’s Secret]

[The Empire’s standard riot suppression procedure from the late emperor’s era.]

[It was a method that focused on early elimination, believing that riots should be stamped out from the beginning, and it was certainly effective during wartime.]

[But as time passed and an era of peace approached, for some reason, Janus was handling riots according to the old law rather than the newly changed one.]

[As a result, public sentiment that was already boiling over the mining vein casualty issue exploded due to excessive suppression.]

[Like the gaps in a crushed can appearing in multiple places at once, the riots also occurred simultaneously but sporadically due to the excessive pressure from the planetary government.]

Oh shit.

‘Just like in the original game where the AI would mess everything up if you didn’t cheat a little, it’s similar here too.’

With the thought that I wish it wouldn’t sync with the original game in areas like this, I read through the event message that was longer than expected.

[The bigger problem was that not only Janidrians were participating in the riots.]

[Rather, as time passed, the number of other aliens, including Sebellians, increased to the point where Janidrians made up less than half of the participants.]

‘…?’

Wondering what this meant, I continued reading.

[The planetary government only realized this fact after responding with indiscriminate firing on riots and demonstrations throughout the planet.]

[Therefore, the government, realizing the seriousness of the situation, chose to report to the Empire first using the planetary governor’s hotline.]

[Of course, there was ‘some’ embellishment in the process.]

As similar content appeared on the terminal, I could see confusion rising on the baron’s face.

“D-Duke, this is slander!”

“Wait, I’m still reading.”

Of course, I ignored the baron’s opinion with my rank and continued reading the terminal and messages…

[But due to the planetary government’s behavior that had already crossed the line, some of the local garrison troops actively protected the rioting citizens, saying they couldn’t follow such absurd orders.]

As such content appeared, the baron’s face had turned as blue as moldy cheese.

“…Hah.”

How should I deal with this?

To think that someone like this was acting as the ruler and governor of a conquered territory of the Empire.

With the irritation welling up, I hit pause again and could only vent my frustration internally.

————————

One month later.

Somehow, I managed to normalize this broken planet and especially changed the stages of that damned riot suppression stance.

The situation that almost turned into a full-scale rebellion beyond riots had barely escaped the crisis phase and was firmly starting to enter the path of peace.

And what would cement this direction toward peace would be the authentication shot from this negotiation room.

“Now, taking the picture!”

“I have no intention of reconciling with such a person with a smile.”

“…Ahem.”

Of course, there was still some bad blood between the parties…

“…Let’s do this the easy way, shall we?”

“Hahaha”

“Hahaha!”

I (forcibly) made them shake hands and decided to leave after creating a performance of taking a friendly photo in the middle.

[But by personally delivering the law to the planetary government this time, it seems that no more harm will come from outdated laws on Janus.]

Plus, I’ve dealt with the law issue and patched up as much as possible the civilian suffering caused by the government’s infrastructure blockade, so my job should be done.

“I cannot end like this. As soon as the duke leaves, I must immediately deal with them and take this planet into my hands!”

But was our former ruler… the baron… too afraid of being ousted as a consequence of this incident?

There was even an attempt to move some of the local garrison troops that had been quietly privatized by him, surprisingly like a coup.

“If we succeed, it’s a revolution, and even if we fail, there’s nothing to lose!”

“Oh.”

However, such an attempt, unfortunately, ended in failure very quickly.

-KABOOOOM!!!

“Ow.”

The 3rd Fleet stationed in orbit.

The massive orbital bombardment unleashed from there as a warning surrounded the troops the baron tried to mobilize.

“This is impossible.”

“Agreed.”

And so I naturally abandoned the elite troops and space fleet that the Emperor had subtly passed on to me on the planet.

Under the pretext of long-term stationing for the stabilization of planetary politics and society in bureaucratic terms, I decided to return with just myself and the enforcement office personnel.