Ch.177Come to think of it, names don’t seem that important.

# Chapter 177: Come to Think of It, Names Don’t Seem That Important

After going through various pointless ordeals…

“Now I will announce the results of the vote regarding what to name our federal treaty organization.”

“…”

“According to the vote results, the provisional name ‘Federal Treaty Organization’ has been officially changed to ‘Interstellar Security Treaty Organization,’ or ISTO.”

Despite all the fuss about needing a cool-sounding name…

What we ended up with was a truly boring and emotionless name.

“Minister, your expression is quite intriguing right now.”

“…”

“It’s like you didn’t get what you wanted, but you’re thinking it’s not bad after all.”

Perhaps annoyed by Riel’s cynical remarks despite knowing everything…

I immediately brought down my etiquette injection rod on Riel’s head.

-Beep!

I turned off the TV screen and activated pause, then began checking the national rankings for the first time in a while.

[PAUSE]

Of course, the reason for checking this was that since we were elected as leaders of this newly formed treaty organization…

It was clear that we would receive bonus points for it.

‘If things go well, we might not surpass the Precursor Empires… but we could at least catch up to them?’

After indulging in such wishful thinking…

I fumbled through the system UI, which had become a mess again due to yet another manly update that never bothered asking for user consent.

Finally, I managed to find and activate the console I wanted.

‘Nation window, check national rankings.’

[Galactic National Comprehensive Rankings]

1. Eternia Holy Empire

2. Ten-Ron Guardians

3. Prosnack Union

4. Holy Seveli Empire

5. Ztrakfor Council (+1)

6. Fuksoviet Federation (-1)

7. Roirakan Republic

8. Sir-Hod Alliance

9. Nurval Republic

10. Riksi Parliamentary Territory

11. Uko’Praknar Interstellar Union

12. Kar-Du Holy Grand Duchy

13. Mis-Fel Democratic Union

14. Sevan Administration

15. Balakur Interstellar Federation

[Nations below 15th rank excluded from the list]

But for some reason…

Despite my indulgence in wishful thinking…

We established a massive federation with participation from two-thirds of the nations in those comprehensive rankings.

Yet why was there no benefit for the founding party?

Instead, Ztrakfor, who did nothing, conveniently rose in rank and reaped the benefits.

‘This isn’t just unfair, this is truly unfair and biased.’

Come to think of it, it’s not just about the federation…

Our empire has now become a true feudal empire with five vassal states.

In the original game, having this many vassal states would grant additional victory points…

And one could achieve victory through such point inflation…

‘Even with vassals and a federation, stacking bonus upon bonus, there’s no change in our ranking?’

Unable to comprehend the situation, I inwardly expressed my anger and decided to check the detailed contents of the comprehensive rankings.

However, upon seeing the details, I had no choice but to force myself to be positive…

[3rd. Prosnack Union]

[National Ranking Correction Plus Factors]

[Large-scale territorial expansion in a short period +1]

[Largest territory size, 1st place +1]

[Fleet power rating, 1st place +1]

[Recent victory in war +1]

‘Hmm.’

There were no minus factors in their ranking correction, only four plus elements.

To surpass them, our Holy Seveli Empire would also need four plus elements, but…

[4th. Holy Seveli Empire]

[National Ranking Correction Plus Factors]

[Population rating, 1st place +1]

[Recent victory in war +1]

[Made other nations into vassals +1]

[Leader of a massive federation +1]

Unfortunately, even with my successful scheme to increase vassals and the formation of ISTO, we couldn’t exceed Prosnack’s ranking correction score.

This means that to surpass Prosnack and even leap over the Precursor Empires, we would need something more.

‘If I can’t beat Prosnack even with all this, what more am I supposed to do?’

Of course, assuming the ISTO’s legal system gets properly established, and the treaty forces are formed and consolidated…

Using the “treaty forces” drawn from the member nations of this massive treaty organization would create a fleet that even Prosnack couldn’t ignore.

‘So I haven’t become the victor yet, but rather just now become an equal competitor to Prosnack…’

Looking at Prosnack’s map with the “Largest territory size, 1st place” event message, I felt rather complicated inside.

‘Damn, it really made a huge difference that those who should have kept Prosnack in check self-destructed instead.’

The northern galaxy was completely dominated by Prosnack’s territory.

And with the collapse of the Kerzin Federation, the eastern region—except for our essentially neutral Fuksoviet—had also become Prosnack’s territory.

Of course, if we consider the overall size, our ISTO (Interstellar Security Treaty Organization) territory is larger.

But while ISTO is a loose federation guaranteeing “collective” security…

Prosnack is literally a single nation occupying that much territory.

In terms of efficiency, they would be overwhelmingly superior…

‘Oh shit.’

It really was as I had just thought.

Through the establishment of ISTO, we had merely reached the point where we could directly compete with Prosnack in terms of power.

Therefore, I decided to stop thinking about this matter any further.

[PAUSE RELEASED]

After releasing the long-activated pause…

“Owwww…”

Looking at Riel, who was clutching her head and moaning in pain from the blow I had delivered just before pausing…

I quietly decided to have an in-depth conversation with Riel about the current situation.

“Riel, what do you think about the current situation?”

“Oww… if you were going to say that, couldn’t you have done it before hitting me?!”

Of course, since Riel was quite upset about being hit for her impudence…

Unfortunately, it would take a bit more time before we could have a proper conversation.

——————————————–

And after Riel’s sullen mood had improved…

We began to exchange opinions about the future…

And our upcoming plans…

“Minister, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“Yes?”

While discussing various matters while looking at the holographic map of the galaxy…

Riel tilted her head toward me again and began to express doubts about something I had forgotten to properly remember.

“Didn’t we secretly form an alliance with Prosnack before?”

As soon as I heard those words, I recalled an issue I had forgotten, just as I mentioned earlier.

It was exactly what Riel had mentioned, regarding the agreement between Prosnack and our Holy Seveli Empire…

“Wait, Riel, you need to be precise with your words.”

“Yes?”

“Strictly speaking, we don’t exactly have an alliance with Prosnack, not even a secret one, and we need to remember that.”

It’s not that I hadn’t thought about this matter.

What was Prosnack’s stated goal in the first place?

The Precursor Empire.

Didn’t Jamiya’Dus, their plenipotentiary ambassador, openly state that their goal was to conquer the Eternia Holy Empire?

But even if that wasn’t an issue then, now there was a problematic aspect to this…

Namely, the fact that our Emperor Artraia had blood relations with the Precursor race that constituted the Eternia Holy Empire.

To be precise, due to the excessive manifestation of that bloodline…

She was quite different from other Precursor races, but…

In any case, the situation had changed significantly since we handled the secret meeting with Prosnack.

‘No joke, if Prosnack invades Eternia… would Artraia really just stand by?’

While Artraia outwardly displayed the characteristics of an iron-willed monarch…

I knew better than anyone how much of a softie she actually was.

There were too many variables in that flimsy assumption to even begin to predict.

So after organizing these thoughts, I diligently implanted them into Riel’s mind.

“Huh, why did you keep this to yourself? No wonder I sometimes can’t understand your actions, Minister.”

“Hmm.”

When Riel, of all people, made such a remark, I could only maintain silence, unable to find any excuse.

—————————————–

And so, after somewhat determining how to deal with Prosnack…

One day, while I was engaged in my usual work activities combined with counterintelligence operations within the empire…

-Beep, beep, beep.

“Hmm?”

When a communication suddenly connected to my terminal, I felt puzzled but immediately accepted it.

-Communication connected.

And the moment the communication connected…

“…Minister Arto?”

“Ambassador Samiya, isn’t it? What’s the matter?”

Ambassador Samiya, who appeared on the communication screen, looked around after confirming it was me…

Then she…

More precisely, she brought her face close to the screen and whispered to me in a very small voice.

“Could you possibly help us?”

“…Pardon?”

It was an extremely abrupt and unexpected request.