Ch.48I prefer civilization over the wild.

## Chapter 48: Civilization is Better Than the Wild

“Well, what do you think? Just as I said, right?”

“Yeah, it’s amazing… To think that a worthless garbage satellite could transform into a paradise-level planet in an instant.”

After examining the materials I brought, Artraia was blinking her large eyes in astonishment.

“…Arto, you’re right. With this kind of ability, we could give away the Northern Territory and still have plenty to spare.”

“Oh.”

How happy she must be—Artraia was now joking about the Northern Territory, which until recently had been a sort of trigger for her.

“I never thought you’d say something like that.”

“Wouldn’t you feel the same? Thanks to Gaia, our empire’s only weakness has disappeared in an instant!”

Artraia smiled, soaked in happiness, and soon began muttering all sorts of plans to herself.

“There are quite a few planets within the empire that we’ve abandoned due to habitability issues… If we could transform all of them into paradises… hehehe…”

Her determination to turn every planet into a paradise was extremely evident, but…

‘Ah, I need to stop this now.’

I felt that if I left Artraia like this, some major disaster would likely occur, so I decided to immediately throw my next report at her.

“By the way, Artraia, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it? Oh wait, that expression means it’s quite bad news, doesn’t it?”

But Artraia still spoke to me confidently, with a smile still plastered across her face.

“But this time, I think I can accept any news with a good mood! So go ahead and tell me anything!”

Our Emperor Artraia, overflowing with confidence and happiness.

And facing such an Artraia, I put on the most expressionless face I could manage and opened my mouth.

“Artraia, Gaia won’t be able to perform another terraforming for at least 10 years.”

“…Huh?”

“Free terraforming will be possible after 10 years.”

“Huh?”

I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to forget the expression Artraia showed when I uttered those words for the next 10 years.

—————————

After finishing my private audience with Artraia, the old Head Chamberlain and Riel were waiting for me in front of the door.

“Hmm.”

After exchanging brief nods with the Head Chamberlain,

I picked up Riel and left the imperial palace.

“How did it go, Minister?”

“Well, I gave her a reality check.”

After leaving, we headed straight for the Diplomatic Execution Planet.

“Nothing much should have happened in a week.”

“If you include the travel time, it’s been almost two weeks.”

“…When you put it that way, it makes me unnecessarily anxious.”

Though I trembled with all sorts of fears on the way, fortunately—if you could call it that—

‘Hmm, it seems there are no major problems.’

There was no sense of crisis in the atmosphere inside the Diplomatic Execution Planet.

So I was about to head straight to my private bedroom beyond my office with peace of mind, but…

“Where do you think you’re going? The afternoon work still remains.”

“Ah.”

Riel’s ghost-like tactic of not allowing me to abandon my duties and rest alone—or rather, her salary-thief prevention strategy.

Faced with her artificial eyes that clearly showed her de-ter-mi-nation, I had no choice but to sit down and start working.

But as if waiting for that moment, reports began flooding in.

Seeing almost two weeks’ worth of backed-up work, I could only let out a deep sigh.

Moreover, it seemed the world was determined not to give me any easy tasks.

-Beep beep! Beep beep!

Hearing the urgent alarm from the terminal I always carried, I had to rub my face first.

“Sigh… what is it now?”

“Minister, you’re always so spectacular.”

“Be quiet, Riel.”

After silencing Riel who was unnecessarily running her mouth,

I manipulated the terminal’s screen to find out what was going on.

And just as I was about to open the screen…

-Ding♪

Along with the familiar sound effect, the status window’s event message began showing a summary of the situation.

[Event: Prelude to Rebellion]

[A rebellion has broken out in the Seban Administration Bureau!]

[However, due to the lack of other information, the Sebelli Empire is doing its best to gather intelligence.]

‘…Rebellion? Seban Administration Bureau?’

This unexpected information left me perplexed.

With the appearance of a country I’d never heard of, I had no choice but to immediately question Riel, who was working beside me.

“Riel, where was the Seban Administration Bureau again?”

“Huh? How can you not know that, Minister?”

Of course, this was followed by Riel’s look of disdain directed at me…

‘I’ll let it slide for now.’

Regardless, I was the one who didn’t understand the situation.

“…”

Seeing me back down, Riel realized I wasn’t joking and scratched her head.

“Ah… come to think of it, it makes sense that you wouldn’t know.”

Saying that, Riel hacked the screen on the office wall and brought up a map of the galaxy.

“Looking at this map, the western region of our empire might appear to be unexplored territory to you.”

“…Hmm.”

“But everyone forgets that the galaxy isn’t flat.”

As Riel said this and slightly wiggled her finger, the galaxy map began to be rendered in 3D and tilted slightly…

“Whoa.”

“Can you see it now?”

Countries above and below our region that weren’t visible on the conventional flat map suddenly appeared.

‘…To see such a structure in this game world, rather than reality.’

But apart from my surprise, one question arose in my mind.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen this during the handover process.’

It wasn’t just a simple excuse; it was actually true.

At least if my memory was correct, I had never heard about such a structure in over ten years.

[Event: Multi-layered Galaxy Structure]

[You have discovered that the galaxy you belong to has a three-dimensional multi-layered structure, completely different from conventional games!]

[Galactic Insight increased]

Moreover, even the status window message confirmed my thoughts.

And seeing me like this, Riel nodded and said,

“Well, that traitor you personally dealt with, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, had sabotaged the data.”

“Ah.”

I didn’t expect that bastard to come up here.

“Because of that, information about Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 3, except for Quadrant 2 where we are, is still being compiled.”

“Hmm…”

“And the Seban Administration Bureau that just came up is located right here… in Quadrant 3.”

“Hmm.”

“Because of that, information from there is delivered a bit later compared to here in Quadrant 2.”

It felt like reading a novel that only reveals its worldbuilding after nearly 50 chapters, giving me a strangely peculiar feeling.

But more than that feeling, there was an issue I needed to understand first.

“Wait, do the secretariat or… other people know about this?”

“Of course! At least everyone at the secretary level or above in each department should know.”

“…”

The thought that I was the only one being made a fool of made my face flush.

“Ah, but most people just know about it and don’t really deal with other quadrants, so they might not remember.”

“Still, someone must have noticed that I know nothing about each layer… I mean, quadrant.”

Seeing me trembling with fear, Riel pounded her flat chest with her fist as if to say, “What’s there to worry about?”

“Of course I’ve taken care of all that. Others think that you know about each quadrant but just don’t talk about it.”

“…Oh.”

How reliable Riel looked as she said those words.

“As expected of Riel, I knew I could count on you!”

“Wha?!”

Without realizing it, I grabbed Riel and lifted her up like I was cheering, expressing my joy.

“W-wait a minute, do you really have to do this?!”

“Of course! Finding out that you, who’s always been so insolent to me, have actually been doing a good job—how could I not react this way?”

“Ugh… if that’s the case…”

Of course, this behavior didn’t last long.

“Minister, we just received a communication from the Seban Administration Bureau…”

“This humiliation from Riel… I’ll never forgive you!”

“Gyaaah!!”

Startled by the secretary who suddenly opened the door and entered, I ended up throwing Riel, whom I was holding, straight to the floor.

“Ah.”

“…What is it, Secretary?”

And as if nothing had happened, when I calmly addressed her, the secretary, while sweating nervously, corrected her posture and reported again.

“Y-yes! Urgent communication from the Seban Administration Bureau! They say that due to the current rebellion, they need immediate assistance from the Holy Sebelli Empire…”

“Hmm… I understand. I’ll think about that matter and get back to you.”

“Understood, Minister!”

And after the secretary left,

“…Sorry.”

“You should sincerely apologize, Minister.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t feel your sincerity.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“…”

Before officially starting my work,

I had to continuously express my apologies to Riel, whom I had power-slammed to the floor.