Ch.7Janiradiah Rebellion (1)

# Chapter 7 – The Janiradean Rebellion

If the minister’s private airship hadn’t been flying with emergency signals, we would have received multiple speeding tickets for our acrobatic flight before our rapid landing. We headed straight to the office in the Executive Palace and were working to establish a connection with the central network.

“What on earth is happening?”

“I’m not sure myself.”

During the brief moment while the connection was being established, I decided to check the notification on my status window that had appeared along with the emergency alert earlier.

When I opened the status window, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

[Emergency Quest: Janiradean Rebellion]

[For unknown reasons, a large-scale riot has broken out on Janus, the mother planet of the former Janiradean Republic.]

[Some of the local garrison troops who should be suppressing the riot have instead joined it and are now in a standoff with other garrison forces.]

[Due to the large-scale riots on Janus, civilian airports and stations have ceased operations, making it difficult for local residents to escape.]

[If the local riots are left unchecked, the rebellion could grow uncontrollably.]

[When progress reaches 100%, the situation will advance to the next phase.]

[If the riot’s progress cannot be stopped, rebellion will spread to all planets in the former Janiradean Republic territory.]

[Current progress: 30%]

‘…Is this for real?’

It had been a very long time since I’d seen a quest with such specific and lengthy explanations.

But before I could say anything about the quest, the connection to the central network was established.

“Connecting in 3, 2, 1!”

“Hmm.”

After a brief moment accompanied by a slight tingling sensation and the feeling of my entire body being scanned…

-Flash!

“…”

Suddenly, I found myself looking at the Interior Ministry’s galactic conference room, filled with numerous people and video feeds.

It was a place known for its exceptionally luxurious decorations and strategically placed furniture… or so they say.

“A riot in Janiradea at a time like this!”

“We just heard about it ourselves and know nothing. Shouldn’t we listen first to understand?”

“Well… indeed.”

Of course, like the others who had connected before me and were already deep in practical discussions, I had no time to admire the surroundings.

“The Executive Minister has arrived.”

“Pleased to meet you, Minister of Interior.”

Only after several dozen more people joined after me could the strategy meeting about this incident finally begin.

“First, regarding an explanation of the current situation… can someone explain what exactly is happening?”

Though it was called a strategy meeting, most attendees had only seen the emergency alert for high-ranking officials and essentially knew nothing.

Therefore, the Deputy Minister of the Interior, acting as the moderator, maintained a tense expression as he began to carefully explain the information.

“Ah… actually, just a short while ago, the planetary governor of Janus, the mother planet of the former Janiradean Republic, reported the local situation through the hotline.”

“A report through the hotline?”

“If it was that urgent, this must be truly serious.”

Planetary governors were almost essential to running the government of a massive space empire.

To put it bluntly, these planetary governors, who could be called the Emperor’s subcontractors, wielded enormous authority and power commensurate with their responsibilities.

“You take care of this planet, and as long as you pay your taxes properly and follow orders, I won’t interfere with anything else you do.”

“Yes, sir.”

As such, planetary governors rarely requested help for planetary issues.

Most would make requests indirectly if at all, and using the hotline was even more unusual.

And it seemed others shared my thoughts, as everyone wore expressions full of doubt.

“A planetary governor requesting support through the hotline?”

“Since the establishment of the Empire… that’s almost unheard of.”

But the murmuring became so intense that the meeting couldn’t proceed, prompting several people to step in.

“I understand everyone’s concerns, but shouldn’t we hear the rest of the story first?”

“Indeed, there are many other questions besides that.”

“Ahem, that’s right.”

Once the conference room calmed down, the Deputy Minister of the Interior wiped away his sweat and moved on to the next topic.

However, contrary to expectations, even the Interior Ministry, which was presiding over the meeting, didn’t have proper information.

“Since we only identified the problem through the hotline, we don’t know the details.”

“What about the mention of resistance within the local garrison?”

“If that’s true, shouldn’t we be treating this as a rebellion rather than a riot?”

“Perhaps we should deploy the main forces from the capital to deal with these rebels?”

“How dare they commit terrorism against our Sebelians!!”

“Those Janiradeans clearly haven’t learned their lesson from losing the last war!”

When the person in charge admitted ignorance, participants began to cross lines…

The emergency alert I received contained only this information:

1. Large-scale riot.

2. Confirmed insubordination within the garrison.

3. Terrorism targeting Sebelians.

4. Direct support request from the planetary governor.

These four points were all that everyone present knew.

“We must mobilize all armored corps stationed in the capital and crush them!”

As a result, some were even suggesting a Tiananmen-style tank deployment, accelerating the confusion.

‘Not modest but certain happiness, but rather modest expansionist tendencies, is it?’

Seeing the specter of militarism that supposedly exists in everyone, I could only mentally facepalm.

‘No, this isn’t the time.’

If I let these militaristic ghosts run wild, the outcome of this meeting would likely be bizarre.

‘Like ordering orbital bombardment to eliminate the rebels… hmm.’

I couldn’t let the Empire commit acts that even Prosnack would do.

As the conference room was losing its way due to lack of information, I decided to create ripples by speaking up.

“Excuse me, everyone seems to lack information, so may I speak?”

“Minister of the Executive, do you know something?”

Simultaneously, I requested support from several parliament members connected to me to focus attention.

“Ah, Minister Arto.”

“Come to think of it, the Executive Minister participated in the Janiradean campaign.”

“Is that so?”

Of course, I wasn’t just drawing attention but also establishing myself as something of an ‘expert.’

Feeling this was sufficient, I casually opened my status window and boldly began to cheat.

-Slide.

Naturally, since I had explicitly asked to speak, I also performed the gesture of standing up.

“Regarding this Janiradean riot, according to my understanding, the local situation is developing in a very complex manner.”

“Complex? What do you mean by that?”

In response to the parliament member’s question, I pretended to look at him while actually reading the quest window.

“…It goes beyond simple demonstrations in major cities; problems are occurring across virtually all planetary infrastructure.”

“What does that mean?”

“As far as I understand, with civilian airports and stations shut down, the local civilians are essentially detained on the planet.”

At my words, the expressions of the parliament members who had been supporting orbital bombardment just moments ago visibly faltered.

Yes, if they had even minimal conscience, they shouldn’t consider bombarding civilians.

“And the issue with the local garrison is even more serious.”

“Oh?”

“At least several corps have joined the local riot and are in a standoff with other local garrison forces.”

“What?! How could this be?!”

“How did the planetary governor manage things to allow such a disaster to happen?!”

I wonder that myself.

Unfortunately, that information wasn’t in the quest window either, so the truth sank into darkness.

“That’s not all that matters.”

“There’s more?!”

The parliament member was startled by my words.

Even though this wasn’t someone I had planted, their active reaction made it quite satisfying to speak.

‘It might not be a bad idea to look them up later.’

With that thought, I nodded at the parliament member’s words and continued.

“Yes, this is just my prediction, but…”

I deliberately trailed off, paused briefly, then sighed deeply with concern before continuing.

“Even in the best-case scenario, I believe the result will be ‘large-scale rebellions across all planets that belonged to the Janiradean Republic.'”

And after I said this…

“…”

The vast video conference room fell into heavy silence and stillness, as if someone had hit the mute button.