Ch.244Life is inherently hypocritical. (2)

# Chapter 244: Life is Inherently Hypocritical (2)

If I were to lead most of ISTO member nations’ forces to confront the Ancient Emperor, the probability of the Fuchsoviet Federation staying put would be… I could confidently assert it would be absolutely 0%.

Some might argue that’s too harsh an assessment for such a major power holding hegemony in the East.

‘I’d sooner trust mercenaries hired by pirate gangs than believe in the diplomacy of those red-flavored Fuchsoviet bastards.’

As the Minister of Diplomatic Affairs, it was impossible not to know that the Fuchsoviet Federation’s diplomatic credibility was zero.

If I didn’t know that? I might as well resign as Minister of Diplomatic Affairs and retire to the countryside that very day.

Or rather than retiring, I’d end up like a male anglerfish being squeezed dry by Artraia.

Anyway, the important thing was that the Fuchsoviet bastards were completely untrustworthy.

They might be staying quiet now, but…

That was only because of the 60,000 elite fleet units the Ancient Emperor had brought to Prosnack right next door.

Plus the combined fleet of 35,000 from our eastern member states, mobilized in response to their stupid actions (advancing fleet deployments to all border areas).

And the approximately 50,000 ISTO treaty forces dispatched at those member states’ request.

They were simply exercising anger management because powerful forces they couldn’t handle alone were standing guard on either side.

Which meant the moment I pulled our fleet away to raid the Ancient Emperor…

‘This is all for the oppressed people!’

‘…’

It was obvious they would charge in like rabid hunting dogs with their typical red-flavored garbage propaganda, burning with territorial ambition.

Therefore, to focus on the Ancient Emperor, I needed to deal with the Fuchsoviet Federation—a threat to our rear—first.

And if possible, I wanted to do it without using much of the forces we’d need against the Ancient Emperor.

And conveniently, a massive number of space monsters had spawned right near the Fuchsoviet Federation?

A hundred thousand of them, no less?

How could I not use this opportunity?

Of course, I wasn’t crazy enough to think I could control the space monsters or anything like that.

‘I can control space monsters! I can do it! Me!’

What happened to people who harbored such thoughts and tried to control those mindless monstrosities?

They all met tragic ends, didn’t they?

…That was true both in the game lore and in this world.

Of course, one might point to what I did during the Warlord Incident.

But strictly speaking, that wasn’t so much controlling the monsters as… how should I put it?

I simply baited them, led them along, and then dumped them on the enemy.

If that counts as “control,” then the Ancient Emperor opening spatial portals and mindlessly pouring out monsters should also count as controlling them.

But nobody would call that control, would they?

It’s no different from opening the floodgates of a dam full of water.

Anyway, while I was thinking about this…

-Stare…

Feeling an odd gaze, I looked up and realized Riel had been watching me the whole time.

“Minister, so what exactly are you planning to do about the Fuchsoviets and the monsters?”

I must have been lost in thought for too long without pausing the simulation.

As Riel looked at me with an expression half irritated and half concerned, I shrugged and decided to continue with the additional plans.

“The method is simple—weaken only the unmanned fleets and shipyards blocking the space monsters on the Fuchsoviet side.”

As I said this, I manipulated the hologram to display the Eternia capital planetary system based on the data I’d received from Lady Maria.

The planetary system, simplified as a perfect sphere, showed red dots representing space monsters escaping and swarming around. White dots representing Eternia’s unmanned fleets could be seen engaging in battle at the outskirts of the planetary system to block these monsters.

Watching this, Riel approached me with a worried expression.

“Will this be okay? I know the space monsters are currently taking losses from the unmanned fleets, but…”

“But?”

“Once they start spreading toward the Fuchsoviet side, will those guys really be able to hold back the monsters’ forces?”

At Riel’s words, I stroked my chin in contemplation for a moment…

But soon after, I realized there was nothing to worry about and patted Riel’s head as I spoke.

“It’s not a problem. The space monsters aren’t going to take over planets or reproduce or anything.”

“Ah…”

Of course, according to Lady Maria, it wasn’t that the number of space monsters wasn’t increasing at all.

But that was merely an illusion created by the fact that so many space monsters had been piled up in layers on the capital and surrounding planets that the survivors were now emerging back into space.

“Oh, right! What about the spatial portal the monsters came through? It could open again at any time!”

“Didn’t you hear Admiral Lüchou’s explanation?”

“I told you I didn’t hear it!”

‘Ah.’

It seemed I was missing some basic points due to having too many thoughts and distractions.

So to appease Riel, who was puffing her cheeks in irritation, I poked her cheeks to deflate them and then…

“There, there, there, there, there, there, there.”

I stroked her head thoroughly to calm her down, then decided to explain that part again.

“According to Admiral Lüchou, the spatial portal the monsters emerged from collapsed long ago.”

“Huh?”

“So there’s no chance of tens of thousands more space monsters appearing.”

“Heee… that’s a relief!”

After our conversation, we spent the entire night discussing how to design the operation to screw over the Fuchsoviets.

——————————————

The next day.

When I visited the Imperial Palace with the proposal summarizing our plan, I found Lady Maria having a conversation with Artraia after finishing their tea time.

As much as I wanted to greet them casually…

Given the many imperial guards around…

“Oh, Arto’s here?”

“Oh, you’ve come.”

“I hope you are well, Your Majesty, and Holy Maiden.”

I greeted the two dragon-like women with utmost courtesy while discreetly glancing at Lady Maria’s body.

It wasn’t out of any sexual desire, but rather concern about whether she had any scars from yesterday’s severe injuries.

“Hmm? My child… I have nothing against you embracing the fundamental lustfulness of heroes and great men, but…”

“…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to be mindful of time and place?”

‘What an unfair accusation.’

As she very naturally attempted to bury me, I had to experience an indescribable mixture of irritation and sadness.

“As attractive and beautiful as my body may be… it seems a bit beyond your reach.”

“I prefer women with large breasts, like our Artraia.”

I immediately responded to the Holy Maiden with a confident, direct answer.

“Wha?!”

“If rumors spread that I have sexual desires for someone with a small body like yours, Holy Maiden, I would be in danger in various ways.”

“My goodness.”

“So I sincerely apologize, but please refrain from such jokes in the future.”

“I… I see.”

In situations like this, a sharp rejection was the only way to save myself from a potentially fatal future.

After perfectly covering myself by using Artraia as a shield faster than anyone else could have…

I submitted my planned report to Lady Maria for her to review for any issues.

And after looking at my results, Lady Maria said:

“This looks fine, but since you brought it to me… I assume there’s something you want from me?”

I nodded gently at Lady Maria’s words and said:

“Yes, when we begin our operation… I think it would be good if you could use your control over the unmanned fleet to target those on the Fuchsoviet side as pawns.”