Ch.241Dangerous elements must be suppressed quickly.

# Chapter 241: Dangerous Elements Must Be Suppressed Quickly

Maria’s perfect surprise attack with her I-shaped leg split successfully protected our minds from the madness of the crazed Polarbear slaughterer.

And it seems the Admiral also returned to his senses after taking a hit to the jaw.

With a chin resembling that of a hunchbacked old man or a Habsburg, he once again attended the meeting.

“I apologize for my behavior. I’m truly sorry, Your Imperial Highness.”

“…”

Of course, even though he was now displaying a cool-headed demeanor again.

The expression Artraia wore toward someone who had shown a glimpse of madness was, how should I put it?

It was truly something difficult to describe in words, and it seemed about to take physical form.

But through superhuman patience and reason, it appeared to be barely corrected.

“To show such behavior in front of inferior races is truly shameful… but this time, I’ll overlook it for the sake of the Saint and Your Imperial Highness.”

Amid all this, his sense of superiority toward “inferior races” remained unchanged, making me feel increasingly tired of it.

‘Whatever you say.’

Of course, if I were to needlessly add a word or two about this, it was obvious without saying that the conversation wouldn’t progress at all.

So I simply glossed over the Admiral’s attitude smoothly and tried to move the conversation forward.

But perhaps displeased with my approach.

Or maybe seeing his behavior, she wanted to take this opportunity to teach a lesson to the Admiral who was prone to sudden outbursts…

Or perhaps she simply wanted to ease the worsened atmosphere.

“Admiral Lützow, you seem to need to develop more tact.”

Just when I thought things might finally flow in a normal direction.

Maria sighed deeply and quietly uttered a remark toward the puzzled Admiral Lützow.

“Have you not noticed that this child and that one share the same family name?”

“Family name? …Could it be?”

“Yes, that child… Duke Arto is also said to be of imperial lineage from this Holy Sebelli Empire.”

“…”

Upon hearing Maria’s words, the eyes of the now-conscious Habsburg-jawed Admiral Lützow began to waver once again.

“…Are you joking?”

Nevertheless, from the Admiral’s mouth came a voice that seemed to deny reality, as if such a thing couldn’t possibly be true…

“Well, his blood is a bit thin… I believe he was mentioned to be from a collateral line.”

Hearing Maria’s subsequent words, the Admiral’s gaze became so unfocused it was as if a powerful earthquake had struck.

“T-that’s, that’s impossible…!”

He seemed to have entered the denial stage of the five stages of grief, so I quietly took a step back to observe the situation, but…

At that moment.

-Ding-a-ling♪

[Pause]

With the sudden pause, a new event message appeared before my eyes, interrupting my retreat.

[Event: An Admiral Lacking Tact]

[Admiral Lützow, who leads Eternia’s Annihilation Fleet, is a self-made individual who has secured his position as Admiral from childhood to the present through strict meritocracy.]

[However, he has been criticized for lacking political and interpersonal tact compared to his abilities.]

[This time, his grand shortcoming has finally caused a major incident.]

[Option 1: Seeing how he insults royalty from the moment they meet, he might even stage a coup later. (Execute Admiral Lützow, ability to appoint a new Admiral to Eternia’s Annihilation Fleet)]

[Option 2: He lacks tact, but he’s a good person. (Stop the purge of Admiral Lützow, possibility of additional rewards)]

And checking the newly appeared event message, well, how should I put it?

‘…This is the power of authority!’

An event that stimulates someone else’s decision paralysis had appeared.

Unlike other times, though.

This event didn’t require much deliberation from me.

‘I’ll choose option 2.’

[Option 2: He lacks tact, but he’s a good person. (Stop the purge of Admiral Lützow, possibility of additional rewards)] <Selected>

At first glance, it might seem like an event where I could purge Admiral Lützow, who had been treating me like trash, and install an obedient Admiral to manipulate Eternia’s Annihilation Fleet as I pleased.

But in reality, this was all a trap.

I couldn’t see the Admiral’s characteristics or status window right now, but.

Given how the event message explicitly treated him as a “capable being,” it was clear he was an SSS-class talent with plenty of practical experience, high levels, and positive traits.

But what if I purged the Admiral here?

Even with the best luck, it was obvious that a successor would be appointed who was inferior to Admiral Lützow in both level and traits.

That would result in the Eternian fleet, which would play a crucial role in the upcoming battle against the Emperor, having its combat power significantly reduced in an instant.

And most importantly… even if I installed a new Admiral, they would still be people I couldn’t command anyway.

‘This is the kind of event that traps newbies in games. I won’t fall for it.’

Since Eternia’s fleet followed Saint Maria.

Purging the Admiral and installing someone new would only slightly increase that individual’s goodwill toward me.

It would weaken the fleet’s combat power, and later, if things went wrong, a rebellion might break out within the fleet, killing the newly appointed Admiral and resulting in an even worse disaster with an incompetent replacement.

Having no desire to experience such a catastrophe, I had no reason to choose anything but option 2.

[Pause Released]

But after choosing option 2 and releasing the pause.

“I-I sincerely apologize for disrespecting royalty!!!”

“Ah.”

“How dare I, a mere subject, show such disrespectful attitude to someone of royal blood, calling them inferior and whatnot!”

“No, wait…”

“I shall atone for this sin by slitting my belly!”

Had Japanese culture somehow been reflected in the game?

Seeing him suddenly attempting to commit seppuku, I hurriedly deployed Riel to stop such action and said:

“That’s not necessary. Please return to your seat.”

The problem was that the Admiral seemed to misinterpret my words…

“Ah! The royal bloodline won’t even give me a chance to atone for my sins, so what’s the point of living!”

“Uwaaah!”

He was wildly swinging around Riel, who was stronger than an average person due to being a humanoid, trying desperately to slash his own belly.

But having no desire to witness a bloody scene in the presence of Artraia and Maria, I urgently addressed the Admiral who had fallen into madness.

“Wait, if you want to atone, shouldn’t you stay alive to do so?!”

“…!”

“If you’re that determined, use that resolve to accumulate merits in the future!”

“Ah… Aaah!”

And right after I uttered these words.

-Ding!

[Pause]

[Event: Wave of Emotion]

[Admiral Lützow, commander of Eternia’s Annihilation Fleet, is moved by your merciful heart.]

[Admiral Lützow’s goodwill toward Arto Virtorius Sebelli +10]

‘…’

Seeing such an event pop up as if this were a dating sim, I couldn’t help but feel complicated emotions.

———————————————

But regardless, now that the mad dog had regained his senses after being struck.

Our conversation began to flow more rapidly.

The most important topic was the current situation in Eternia and the treatment of the remaining “civilians.”

“Currently, various unmanned vessels built through automated shipyards are being deployed for surveillance and defense missions…”

“That’s right, but we must consider that the stockpiled resources will soon run out.”

“Hmm.”

Although it was true that most Eternian citizens residing in the capital planetary system had perished when it was destroyed in one go.

Special forces stationed outside the capital planetary system.

Researchers dispatched to research bases or civilians traveling around for mineral resource extraction.

Outsiders who lived separately in outer regions, disliking the bustling capital planetary system.

There was a high probability that some Eternians had survived, so the topic of rescuing them had emerged.

But there were numerous problems with this.

“Then where do you plan to place these rescued survivors?”

“…Hmm.”

The biggest issue was where to take these Eternian “survivors” with their strong sense of superiority.