Ch.54Hate Intelligence and Neo-Statism (2)

# Chapter 54: Neo-Theocracy with Hateful Intelligence (2)

*Slurp*

“Mmm, quite juicy.”

“Where did you learn that way of speaking now?”

In the weather of Ka’zan, which was gradually entering early autumn.

Watching the chilly wind that blew as the evening sunset tilted, touching the window glass, I sipped the coffee Riel had brought and fell into thought.

‘Another day of overtime work.’

Of course, thoughts about enjoyable overtime work would only make a person more exhausted the more they dwelled on it.

I struggled to find something else to think about.

Finally, I recalled a piece of information I had forgotten for a while.

“Riel, when did the delegation depart?”

“The Relic delegation? Those people left three weeks ago by current standards… they’re probably having heated arguments by now.”

“Hmm.”

If the delegation was busy arguing, I wondered if my small and precious purge unit members might have caused some trouble out of boredom.

“No additional reports?”

“No, even in the regular weekly reports, there wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy.”

“Really…?”

While the delegation was there for that very purpose, it was strange that even those precious troublemakers were staying quiet.

“It’s more concerning that there’s no news at all.”

“Isn’t that excessive worry, Minister?”

“Do you really think so?”

“No.”

Seeing even Riel respond this way, I could only sigh deeply.

“Haaaaaah…”

“Well, still, don’t worry too much. They say no news is good news, you know.”

Grateful for Riel’s attempt to comfort me, I nodded and said:

“I suppose you’re right, Riel.”

“Heehee.”

Though she made some strange sound at the end, what did it matter one way or another?

As Riel said, the old saying that no news is good news didn’t exist for nothing.

‘Perhaps they’re really just getting along fine without any problems, and I’m wasting my mental energy on unnecessary thoughts.’

After organizing my thoughts, I agreed with Riel’s words, chatted a bit more, and then:

“Wow, so very hap-py…”

“Minister, you’re going to lose your teeth.”

Only after finishing my very happy and enjoyable voluntary overtime could I finally look at Ka’zan’s shining night sky and fall asleep.

——————————-

And the next day.

“What is this?”

“Duke, this is our heart.”

The purge unit members, who had crash-landed a meteorite into the Empire’s national park, appeared carrying a strange, massive stone boulder.

The problem was that the boulder was very, quite very large…

“Wow, I heard the national park was devastated, but you crashed something like that.”

“…”

“Are you all crazy? More importantly, how did you get past the capital defense fleet and orbital command surveillance with something that huge?”

“We dodged here and there, went whoosh, then boom, and it worked out well.”

“…?”

The moment I heard their words, my mind filled with thoughts about who would be held responsible for this incident.

A massive meteorite and spacecraft crashed into the sacred motherland Ka’zan, turning the precious national park into a crater park?

As I thought about all the people who would have to take responsibility, I felt another bout of gastritis coming on.

‘Those who’ll be disciplined for failing border duty include the 1st Fleet Admiral and the Capital Defense Fleet Commander… and the Orbital Defense Command will be reprimanded for failing to intercept and monitor…’

And the most important key point:

The purge unit who turned the national park into a crater park, and me, their master.

“…”

“Minister, how are we going to resolve this? It seems like there are going to be quite a few people implicated in this incident…”

“…”

“Minister?”

The moment I realized the full situation.

[Time Pause]

[Event: One Billion Stars Falling from the Sky]

[News of a massive meteorite falling on the capital Ka’zan has severely negatively impacted diplomacy and politics in the Holy Sebelli Empire and neighboring countries.]

[Uncontrollable suspicions are spreading that the Sebelli Empire’s military and regular fleet have become lax in discipline.]

[As a result, the Sebelli Empire’s government has expressed its intention to strongly discipline those responsible for this incident.]

[Trust from other countries toward the Holy Sebelli Empire -10 for 5 years]

[Without additional measures, one of the Empire’s high-ranking officials will be forced to resign.]

[Additional personnel may be forced to resign based on random probability.]

[If Arto Virtorius Sebelli is forced to resign, his position will be relegated to the Emperor’s pet.]

[Time Pause Release]

At the sudden news that a resignation Russian roulette had begun, my legs trembled and cold sweat started flowing.

Well, of course, there was a chance I wouldn’t be chosen since it was random probability…

But according to the message, it was essentially saying that Artraia was determined to wield her knife and carry out a purge.

With the thought that I might develop the Neurotic trait again, I pressed my throbbing temples and collapsed into my seat.

‘Sigh, first I need to find out what that thing is, and then gather opinions from everyone involved in this incident.’

Once my thoughts were organized, I pointed at the boulder they had brought and asked:

“So, what exactly is that?”

“Oh, that’s an AI that helped us escape from the ancient ruins.”

“…?”

A special unit from the theocratic state, sent as an escort for relic exploration, was helped by an AI from ancient ruins to escape?

“What exactly happened…?”

In response to this incomprehensible statement, I reacted with a sense of emptiness…

“As expected, we anticipated that the Minister would be very curious about this story.”

“What?”

“This story begins from when we were in LA—”

Suddenly seeing them start their own conversation, I felt bewildered.

————————–

And after quite some time had passed:

“You all talk too much. You should zip your mouths for a while.”

Riel, who had blocked the eardrum terrorism from these chatterboxes, said irritably:

“So basically, when everyone at the ancient ruins—the exploration team, the delegation, and you all—were about to die, you barely survived because the ancient ruins’ management AI woke up, right?”

*Nod nod*

“And then, because the facility would be annihilated due to the power source going out of control, the AI asked for help, and you brought it here with the ground and all, correct?”

*Nod nod*

“The AI was made with technology from an ancient collapsed empire, so it direct-warped to Ka’zan, right?”

*Nod nod*

“That’s what they’re saying, Minister.”

“…Hmm.”

After quickly summarizing the purge unit members’ chaotic explanation, Riel looked at me and spoke again:

“What are you going to do? If we stay like this, it seems the Emperor will purge you, the fleet admirals, and others to build up her own faction.”

In response to Riel’s words, I paused time.

And only after what felt like two full days had passed did I unpause and say:

“For now, connect with everyone involved in this incident. I have a way to resolve this.”

“Amazing, you came up with a solution in that short time.”

“Not really.”

Truly.

———————————

The next day, I checked the faces of those gathered in the hologram conference room set up in the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry to discuss countermeasures for this incident.

“Minister Arto, I came because you said you were establishing countermeasures for this incident?”

The 1st Fleet Admiral, also the leader of the Neo-Imperialist faction with aristocratic and nationalist tendencies.

“His Majesty the Emperor’s wrath regarding this incident is extremely great.”

The Capital Defense Fleet Commander, who had been maintaining neutrality.

“How on earth did they even manage to get here?”

The Orbital Defense Command Chief, who had been unfairly implicated.

Seeing all the other relevant parties in attendance, I nodded and said:

“Everyone, I understand you all have many concerns about this incident.”

“Of course we do!”

“If we’re not careful, everyone here could be purged…”

People who would normally be at each other’s throats in factional fighting were now united in the face of potential beheading.

‘If Artraia saw this, she would weep, begging them to show even a glimpse of this unity before her.’

Pushing aside that stray thought, I snapped my fingers at the holograms and said:

“I have one solution, but can you all follow my lead?”