Ch.132I’ll be your Buntang…

# Chapter 132: I’ll Be the Troublemaker…

Now that the Templar Knights who had been deployed to target me and the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry itself had been neutralized.

I instinctively knew it was time for me to step up as the righteous defender of classism, striking down the evil egalitarianism and capitalism that were beginning to eat away at the Empire.

‘…Is this right?’

When I considered my previous life, I thought that anyone would see me as the true axis of evil, but…

“Minister, when should we depart?”

“Let’s organize things within the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry first.”

In a situation overflowing with immediate tasks, I had no time to spare for such trivial musings.

While weeding out the incompetent elements within the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry that someone had planted.

I had successfully been reborn as a righteous defender of classism(?).

Anyway, after completely regaining control of the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry.

I was preparing to storm straight into the Chamber of Commerce of the Corporate Alliance—essentially Zeltech’s headquarters.

Just as I was making final preparations, gathering the purge unit members who had finished their work…

“Minister.”

“What now?”

“Have you seen the TV or news?”

“…?”

“Check the Imperial Net, it’s a complete mess.”

Seeing Riel’s urgent expression, I paused my preparations and decided to immediately assess the situation through my terminal.

And what I saw was…

[The Ugly Truth About a Current Minister: Is This Acceptable?]

[Partying, Eating, and Drinking with Women Every Night—When Does He Actually Work?]

[Exposing the Secret Relationships Between Senior Official A and AIs!]

All kinds of provocative articles and posts, tens, hundreds… no.

Thousands of slanderous pieces being uploaded every minute.

‘They’re insane.’

If my past self were to see this, I would immediately kneel and apologize in advance—the momentum was that tremendous.

And in the current Empire, the only entity with such powerful media manipulation capabilities…

Was obviously Zeltech, which had consumed the media with its capital.

‘Ah, these bastards, they’re already launching their attack first?’

I clicked my tongue at the speed of Zeltech’s capital-driven public opinion manipulation and decided to establish countermeasures.

“Still, their response is faster than expected.”

“Perhaps they had the Templar Knights report to them at the same time every day, anticipating this kind of situation?”

“Hmm.”

The one fortunate thing was that Zeltech’s public opinion operation at least didn’t reveal the clash between the Templar Knights and the purge unit.

Of course, if that were revealed, not only would we suffer, but they would be screwed as well.

And it was obvious they’d be ridiculed by neighboring countries (especially Prosnack), so this was natural.

But excluding just that, other stories kept popping up relentlessly.

Later, they even partially censored my name.

And tried to brand me as an evil heretic who supported AIs.

‘They openly use AI robots themselves, yet… have you ever seen such shameless bastards?’

The examples they cited were so absurd from my perspective.

‘I’m an AI advocate because I have Alina, Ash, and Levia with me?’

Of course, Alina was genuinely an AI.

And while Ash and Levia might technically fall under the AI category if you stretched the definition… though it was somewhat ambiguous.

If forced to classify them, they would be considered AIs, so such claims could certainly arise.

Nevertheless, the reason I found it absurd was for a different reason.

‘Wait, you guys were the ones who sent Alina to the Ministry of Science and Technology first.’

That Alina wasn’t even with me anymore.

“Wow, this is ridiculous. Even if they’re treated as AIs, Ash and Levia are practically war heroes.”

“Indeed, when has our Empire ever mistreated war heroes like this?”

“Never, of course not.”

As Riel and the purge unit members reading the articles pointed out, the other two could be considered heroes of the Empire.

Ash had participated(?) in the Warlord Incident, and Levia in the Nano War.

Even in the Empire’s AI-hostile public opinion, they were individuals who shouldn’t be carelessly ostracized.

And the problem didn’t end there.

“Besides, Alina, Ash, and Levia were all approved by the Emperor, right?”

“Exactly.”

As Riel said, those three were all beings I kept with permission from Arthraia and the Imperial Council.

In other words, both justification and practical benefit were on our side, and yet…

[High-ranking Imperial Official A revealed to be in love with robots, shocking…]

OO: I’m truly disappointed.

MM: I’ve trusted and followed him until now, but as of today, I withdraw my support for that minister.

BB: No longer a fan of the Minister. Goodbye.

@@@@@: LOLOLOLOL Robot loverrrr LOLOLOLOL

………

The reactions to Zeltech’s money-fueled media articles were mostly just people swept up in the content, spouting nonsense.

[The Papal Office has suggested that Minister A, who has been involved in recent incidents, should appear at the Inquisition Office in person to prove his purity if he wants to dispel suspicions…]

Perhaps because their Templar Knights were destroyed.

The Papal Office posting articles openly picking a fight with me.

[Minister A’s Secret Private Life! A New Vertex Added to the Triangle!]

‘What the hell is this?’

Articles designed to immediately grab my attention.

Seeing the complete mess that the media had become, I realized that the people I had caught and punished until now were just the tip of the iceberg.

And as I continued observing this situation…

-Ding♬

[Time Pause]

With the newly changed familiar notification sound, the world froze again, and a new event message appeared before my eyes after a long time.

[Event: Media Domination!]

[Zeltech’s capital and the Papal Office’s religious authority.]

[They are making the media believe they can risk challenging you, who has been acting as the Emperor’s practical enforcer.]

[And indeed, through massive capital and propaganda, the Empire’s public opinion has slowly begun to turn against you, except for your fanatics.]

However, this time it wasn’t a choice, but merely an event message explaining the situation.

Feeling somewhat disappointed, I closed the message and released the time pause.

[Time Pause Release]

“Riel, how long would it take to arrest the people commenting and agreeing with this?”

At my question, Riel tilted her head and asked me in return.

“Well, honestly, wouldn’t it take you longer to choose who to arrest than the actual arrest time?”

“…Come to think of it, you’re right.”

Of course, if a stranger heard this conversation, they might wonder what nonsense we were talking about.

In reality, the Imperial Net (internet) tracking system used by the Holy Sebelli Empire’s police—the Ministry of Internal Affairs—worked as follows:

They would break through the media’s security system to check comments.

Then disable the security system of the commenter to discover their identity…

In cases like this with an enormous number of targets and media outlets involved, they would typically just catch a few unlucky individuals, deal with them, and consider the matter closed.

This was actually why the public was participating in Zeltech and the Papal Office’s flashy media play without much thought…

The problem was that my title as the Diplomatic Enforcement Minister…

No, as an “Enforcement” Minister, had a hidden function.

-Ding ding.

-Master system administrator activated, user verification… Current Enforcement Minister, Arto Virtorius Sebelli, Duke.

-Verification complete.

-As of now, all Imperial Net, media, and other security and censorship systems are disabled and do not apply to the user.

[Shocking News: Controversial Minister A, Actually in a Romantic Relationship with Robots?!]

[system: Reporting media Brighter Interstellar Press, author Bill Sinius]

OO: Is Minister A for real? My heart is pounding [system: same author]

bbqq: I think we should call for Minister A’s impeachment with this opportunity, agree? [system: Media IP]

It was precisely this special function that allowed me to check all information on the Imperial Net, including the Empire’s media, in real-time.

And thanks to this, I realized that the current public opinion situation was ultimately created through extreme astroturfing and the filthiness of propaganda.

“…”

I felt my mood becoming even fouler.