Ch.130It’s all my fault!

# Chapter 130: It’s All My Fault!

When Artraia and I discuss the Empire, there’s a topic that occasionally pops up.

‘Where exactly did this problem go wrong?’

Although Artraia has been on the throne for nearly 17 years now.

Sometimes there were issues that dated back much further.

So whenever we deliberately dug into these problems, the same conclusion always greeted us both.

It was none other than the previous Emperor of the Holy Sebelli Empire, who is now deceased.

The former Emperor, who was criticized as incompetent and weak regardless of faction or class, was always the root of the problems…

“Again? That bastard former Emperor is the problem again?”

I hadn’t expected the former Emperor to be involved in this matter too, so I had to experience the sensation of my common sense walking out on me.

‘Come on, the former Emperor has been dead for over 17 years, why does he keep coming up?’

The dead Emperor tormenting the living one was enough to make me laugh bitterly.

But that aside, I needed to understand exactly what was happening.

“What on earth are you talking about, Artraia?”

I grabbed Artraia’s shoulders to calm her sobbing, deciding to ask about the situation.

And a moment later.

[Pause]

[Event: The Former Emperor’s Burden]

[For unknown reasons, the former Emperor of the Sebelli Empire once issued a massive amount of bonds to obtain enormous funds.]

[And now, no one knows where those funds were used.]

[What’s important is that most of those bonds have fallen into the hands of Zeltech capital.]

[Holy Sebelli Empire’s monthly Galactic Credit income rate -50% (Zeltech capital erosion and debt pile debuff applied)]

‘You son of a bitch, former Emperor!!’

After hearing Artraia’s explanation and seeing the event message with its attached “debuff,” I felt the back of my neck tense up.

‘No, this isn’t the time for that.’

But since it wasn’t time to collapse yet.

I immediately fumbled through the UI and opened the resource window for the first time in a very long while to check the status of our Galactic Credits.

‘There should still be surplus funds left. I may not know much about finance, but our Empire can’t be that incompetent.’

However…

[Galactic Credits: Current holdings: 4511-250 (50% income reduction applied, capital outflow situation, bond collection debuff applied)]

[Warning, this resource will be depleted within 1 year.]

[Multiple debuffs will be applied to the Empire when resource holdings are depleted]

‘No, the credits that used to be in the tens of thousands… where…?’

Compared to when I last checked, the credit holdings had clearly decreased for some reason.

And if it were just the holdings that decreased, I might have accepted it, but…

‘That’s an insane consumption rate.’

The value of one Galactic Credit is equivalent to about 1-2 months of the United States’ national budget in my previous life.

The fact that 250 credits are going out every month means… at maximum, the equivalent of 20-25 years of the US total national budget is disappearing into thin air each month.

Of course, since I’m not an economic expert, I can’t make a detailed assessment, but…

‘That bastard former Emperor, what kind of luxury did he indulge in with that much money?’

The important thing is that such a large amount of money is flowing out purely as interest to pay off debt.

[Pause End]

So I immediately ended the pause and decided to question Artraia.

“What were the Finance Minister and others doing while all this was happening?”

That’s what they’re there for, to prevent things like this.

At least in their areas of expertise, they should be far superior to me, so they couldn’t have just left such a mess unattended.

Of course, given the state of the Diplomatic Execution Ministry, I had a feeling other departments weren’t exactly safe either, but…

“Arto, you still don’t understand the full situation…”

Seeing my reaction, Artraia continued with a voice mixed with regret and tears, speaking as if in despair.

“You know, the ones pushing these current issues… especially those related to Zeltech capital, are the Finance Minister and the Central Bank Governor.”

“…”

“I thought they were anti-AI faction nobles to the bone and wouldn’t be connected to Zeltech, but it seems they loved money more than their own ideology.”

The back of my head throbbed.

The very people who should have prevented this took money and did this?

And Artraia’s words didn’t end there.

“Zeltech’s capitalists seem to be openly trying to turn our Empire into a corporate state like themselves.”

“…Is that true?”

“Yes… the intelligence unit within the Imperial Guard confirmed it.”

I was already dumbfounded when I heard they were openly talking about constitutional monarchy in front of Artraia.

This is nothing short of trying to completely overturn the Empire’s system.

“At least on that matter, I managed to somehow block it with a coalition of my faction and noble factions, but…”

“So it’s dangerous.”

“Yes, and it seems the Zeltech people decided their existing methods weren’t working… so they made themselves a new friend.”

“A friend, huh.”

At the mention of a friend made with money—meaning someone who took massive bribes—

I felt my dormant will as the Execution Minister stirring within me.

“Who is it, Artraia?”

“As you might have guessed… it seems the Papal Office has joined their plan this time.”

“…”

As soon as I heard Artraia’s shocking words, a new event message appeared before my eyes.

[Pause]

[Event: Unholy Alliance]

[The meeting between Zeltech, a corporate state at the extreme of material capitalism, and the Papal Office, the highest religious authority of a theocratic state, is truly an anomalous situation…]

[Despite being natural opposites, they are showing a surprisingly unified front regarding this matter.]

[Pause End]

After seeing the event message, I recalled the Papal Templar Order that was “affiliated” with the Diplomatic Execution Ministry.

‘What the hell, what are these ultimate theocrats doing?’

As I understood this absurd situation, my tone began to reveal my utter disbelief.

“What on earth is the Papal Office thinking by siding with them? It can’t be just for money.”

Unlike the Finance Minister, they wouldn’t have joined just for money.

Considering the amount the Papal Office receives monthly through donations and tithes, it could eliminate half of the debt Zeltech is pushing on Sebelli.

In other words, if the Papal Office sided with Zeltech, they must have received something other than money in return.

‘Territory? No… perhaps in exchange for converting refugees to the state religion? No, that doesn’t seem right either.’

So while I asked Artraia for the reason, I was also trying to deduce something within the bounds of common sense, but…

“…Shall I be honest?”

“Hmm?”

In response to my question, Artraia pointed at her chest with her finger and said:

“The Pope, who is my half-brother… he covets this.”

“What.”

It was such an unexpected answer that I froze in place, not even thinking to pause time.

‘Wait, the Pope’s goal is to have exclusive access to those massive maternal pouches… meaning the Sebelli-Habsburg plan?’

Of course, I could acknowledge that Artraia’s personality-maternal pouches were valuable enough to stake the position of Pope on, as I had experienced myself, but…

‘Even so, doing this between family members is a bit…’

No matter how advanced the space age is, where genetic defects can be fixed instantly, there’s still a cultural “line” that shouldn’t be crossed.

‘At this rate, it won’t be the Holy Sebelli Empire, but the Holy Sebelli-Habsburg Empire.’

So, unable to hide my bewilderment, I carefully said to Artraia:

“Artraia, no matter what, I don’t think the Pope… would want you that badly.”

In response to my words, Artraia shook her head and said:

“That’s not possible. The Pope’s obsession with this has been extraordinary from before.”

“…Obsession, is it.”

Indeed, the texture and size were worth being obsessed over, but was it worth abandoning the fate of a vast galactic empire, one’s position, and religious beliefs?

I began to feel a strange emotion toward the Pope, whom I had never seen since being reincarnated into this world.

‘Sacrificing everything for breasts, that’s… quite something.’

“That’s right, he’s been going around saying since childhood that he should be the Emperor.”

“Ah.”

And I realized I had been misunderstanding.

I had to concentrate all my mental energy on managing my expression so that what I had been thinking wouldn’t be revealed to Artraia.