Ch.41Annoying.

# Chapter 41: Irritation

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately.

Contrary to my anxious expectations, the journey to Riksi was truly comfortable and enjoyable.

Even when returning through our Sebelli Empire, we were able to complete our schedule smoothly without any particular incidents.

“Thanks to you, I had an extremely good experience.”

“Oh, n-not at all!”

I was the one who, in the final situation of being chased by a space monster, drove the VIP shuttle into an asteroid belt and then escaped with acrobatic flying…

Patting the shuttle pilot’s shoulder, I was once again able to greet the beautiful sunlight of the mother planet Ka’zan.

And sitting in my office at the Diplomatic Execution Planet after returning to this sunlight, I was consumed by one thought:

‘…I want to ram into the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Public Security Agency.’

Setting aside the space monster, what on earth was going on with pirates running wild near the capital planet?

“Uuugh… *sniff*”

If I had been kidnapped by pirates, what a catastrophe it would have been.

At the very least, I would have been sobbing just like Riel, who was now sniffling with a large bump on her head after being hit with an etiquette injection rod.

I was trying to convey my anger at the fact that I had nearly become a victim of tax embezzlement.

But…

“Minister, if you go there personally, you’ll have to reveal this secret agreement. Can you handle that?”

“…”

With those words from Riel, who still had a large bump on her head and a sniffling face, I was able to regain my senses.

“You’re right, now that I think about it, your point is valid.”

“Isn’t it?”

Of course, that didn’t mean I had forgotten what Riel had done during our shuttle journey.

“Then why did you say something you couldn’t handle in the first place?”

“…”

At my words, Riel pouted, acting as if she regretted giving advice…

*Thwack!*

“Ouch!”

And thus she earned another bump on her head for acting out without reflecting on her own mistakes.

———————-

After resolving various issues, a week passed.

Then another week.

A month went by.

And during another month that passed, I was simply devoted to my work.

But one day, suddenly, a thought occurred to me:

‘Shouldn’t I start choosing what to do for my victory objective?’

The idea of establishing a future plan began to fill my mind.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time I’d had such thoughts…

But back then, the very survival of the empire was in question, making it difficult to form concrete plans.

Now, however, the situation has changed significantly.

Until recently, the hegemony created by the Kerzin Federation was so solid that the Holy Sebelli Empire alone could hardly approach it…

‘Thanks to Prosnak’s mischief, Kerzin’s authority has collapsed.’

Additionally, through the secret agreement with Riksi, if things go well, the vast territory connecting the western and southern galaxy could all become ours.

And at this point, I realized something while looking at one of the quests in my status window.

[Pause]

[Current Quest in Progress]

[Main Quest: Achieve victory with the Holy Sebelli Empire!]

[Galactic Ranking: 4th]

[Warning! You will fail if factions opposing the empire’s ethics gain power or if the empire’s name is changed by another country!]

Victory.

Only those two words were written, with no indication of how it should be achieved.

‘…Should I aim for a diplomatic victory?’

Considering various practical issues, that seemed like the best approach.

Of course, I wasn’t simply thinking about sending envoys or ambassadors to gain goodwill and create international isolation…

‘Prosnak still exists perfectly fine despite being internationally isolated.’

After much deliberation about how to resolve this situation…

[Pause Released]

I released the time-saving pause and manipulated my terminal to display the positions of nearby countries.

Looking at the 3D map, I inwardly strengthened my resolve.

‘…A federation is the answer after all.’

The true essence of diplomatic victory.

None other than the establishment of a Galactic Federation, which is used to maximize victory points in the original game.

‘Ah…! The dream of federation!’

After considering everything, it seemed there was no other solution in the current situation.

‘Although Prosnak defeated the top three superpowers simultaneously, if we could establish a federation and extract a federal fleet from the participating countries…’

With such happy dreams, I eventually shared my plan with Riel, whose bump had subsided, but…

“Hmm, but is that realistic?”

“What.”

Our robot tin-head dared to directly deny the brilliant idea of her human master.

I was about to unleash politically incorrect discriminatory remarks at Riel, but…

“I mean, honestly, how many countries around us would be willing to form a federation with us?”

“Quite a few, don’t you think? Even excluding Riksi, there’s Ztrakfor, and though a bit far, Roirakan too.”

Seeing her relatively logical approach, I also stopped my crude behavior and decided to engage in proper conversation.

And her subsequent words struck right at my core:

“Minister, what you want is for our Holy Sebelli Empire to be the presiding nation of a massive federation, right?”

“That’s obvious.”

“But have you actually read this report that just came in?”

After striking at my core, Riel sent a file through the internal messenger.

With a puzzled feeling, I opened the file to check its contents.

And the contents of that file made my head spin:

“What? The Ztrakfor Council… they’ve accepted the Uko’Praknar Interstellar Union as a protectorate following Kar-Du?”

“Yes, according to the latest intelligence that arrived this morning.”

Realizing that my dream plan was falling apart before it even began, I could only let out a groan.

“…It’s hard to believe.”

“It’s reality. Denying it will only make you look foolish, Minister.”

Seeing that the sender was not just a field agent but the diplomatic ambassador dispatched to Ztrakfor, I couldn’t deny the reality anymore.

“If we form a federation as you wish, Ztrakfor will become the first-ranked presiding nation.”

“…”

“Logically, Kar-Du and Uko’Praknar are more likely to vote for Ztrakfor than for us.”

“This isn’t easy.”

“Indeed.”

To achieve diplomatic victory through federation, one must absolutely become the presiding nation.

In the current state, even if we created a federation, it would be like the saying from my previous life: cooking porridge only to feed it to a dog.

“Then what should we do?”

“Well, unless Riksi becomes our public subordinate state…”

“You know that’s… impossible, right?”

“Yes.”

But I couldn’t give up here.

“What about Roirakan? Aren’t they relatively friendly with us?”

If the best option doesn’t work, it would be foolish to cling to it.

Moving quickly to the second-best option is necessary for the flexible operation of the Diplomatic Execution Agency.

But despite my flexible thinking, Riel shook her head from side to side.

“Roirakan is the same. This is just our intelligence, but…”

After pausing briefly, Riel nodded and said:

“There are indications they’ve exchanged secret agreements with either the Sir Citizens’ Alliance or the Mekt-Fuks Free Trade Association, or possibly both.”

“…Them too?”

“Yes, isn’t this what you once predicted to the Emperor?”

At Riel’s words, I rubbed my face and let out a deep sigh.

“It was just a prediction. Now that it’s reality, it’s incredibly frustrating.”

With that thought, I got up from my seat and turned on the large screen installed on one wall.

*Whirr*

The screen displayed a map of the galaxy.

After showing the positions of all the countries I was aware of in that galaxy.

Looking at the Holy Sebelli Empire, my country, I couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

“Indeed, our position is too disadvantageous.”

Stuck in the northwestern corner of the galaxy, a place that would typically be treated as a rural backwater.

An isolated country whose only physical connection, excluding the space Nazis, was to Kar-Du.

Looking at this, I gradually felt my confidence in diplomatic victory, which I had considered a winning strategy, fading away.

‘Damn, how am I supposed to handle this?’