Ch.83Hidden Truth

# Chapter 83: Hidden Truth

“…What did you just say?”

I couldn’t help but ask the ambassador to repeat himself, momentarily unable to process what I’d heard.

‘Ah, shit.’

This could easily come across as me saying, “What do you expect me to do if I don’t listen to you at all?” Not the best diplomatic response.

Fortunately, Ambassador Prosnack seemed to understand why his words might provoke such a reaction, nodding in acknowledgment.

“It’s perfectly understandable for you to react that way. In fact, anyone other than Minister Virtorius would likely respond similarly.”

I felt dumbfounded by the ambassador’s response.

Although I had defeated the three great powers of the galaxy at the time, we were still just a modern nation.

“Does Prosnack actually want the entire nation to commit suicide?”

I wasn’t being diplomatically rude without reason.

The Pioneer Empires, by their very nature, had witnessed countless alien civilizations rise and fall over eons.

They generally showed little interest in what other alien empires did.

It was like… how a cow might look at a chicken.

Even if Prosnack massacred numerous alien species…

Or if powerful nations invaded weaker ones, causing chaos like in the East…

Such violations of universal moral principles were matters of complete indifference to them.

But now a Pioneer had come personally to issue a warning?

This was essentially saying, ‘If you cause any more trouble or draw attention to yourselves, we’ll remove you from the universe entirely.’

“Are you telling me you came here because of that? To suggest we form an alliance now that you’re being threatened by the Pioneers?”

I thought that perhaps Prosnack, finding themselves in crisis, was seeking an alliance with our Holy Sebelli Empire through me, someone they considered somewhat reasonable by their standards.

But Ambassador Prosnack firmly drew the line at my suggestion.

“That’s impossible. With Sebelli’s current military power, you’d struggle to properly defend against even a single Pioneer fleet.”

I felt puzzled by this blunt factual assault.

Then why on earth had they come here?

Perhaps my confusion showed on my face, because Ambassador Prosnack continued, needlessly fiddling with his empty coffee cup.

“Well, to be precise, it’s about building trust… and we thought it would be good to issue a warning as well.”

“A warning?”

“Yes. This is actually confidential information, but… the Pioneer envoys who came to warn us have been expressing contempt for the Sebelli Empire’s religion, calling it heretical.”

“…”

Hearing this, I hoped the ambassador was lying.

Of all the Pioneers, we’d caught the attention of the particularly fanatical ones?

After hearing this shocking news, I had to use time-pause to gather my wits before continuing as calmly as possible.

“Isn’t that everyday business in religious circles? It’s common for even a single planet to have three or four major religions competing with each other.”

Being labeled heretical and despised meant our goodwill with the Pioneer Empire was plummeting.

But that should only mean decreased friendliness, not the risk of war like Prosnack was facing… right?

However, the ambassador shook his head at my assessment.

“If it were that simple, we wouldn’t have come to warn you.”

“Then…?”

“According to our intelligence, there are voices within that Pioneer Empire calling for the complete extermination of all heretics.”

Hearing this, I had to forcefully swallow the curses that rose to my throat.

[Time Pause]

I immediately had to use time-pause repeatedly, making considerable effort to maintain my sanity.

—————————–

After finally regaining my composure…

[Time Pause Released]

I deactivated the time-pause and responded to Ambassador Prosnack’s statement with a much calmer mind.

“So, you came all this way to tell me that?”

“…”

“You wouldn’t have traveled this far just to say something like that… what’s the real reason?”

In response to my question, the Prosnack ambassador looked extremely surprised…

Then he began clapping with both hands, lavishing me with praise.

“As expected of Minister Virtorius, your level of composure and rationality is truly remarkable.”

Of course, since the source of that praise was my time-pause ability, I didn’t feel particularly pleased.

Seeing my blank reaction, the ambassador awkwardly stopped clapping and adjusted his disheveled attire as he sat back down.

Nevertheless, unlike his previous cold and emotionless tone, he began speaking to me in a distinctly friendly manner.

“Like Kerzin, we no longer intend to stand by while the Pioneers subtly exert their influence outside their sphere again.”

“Are you saying you’ll check the Pioneers’ expansion of influence?”

“Exactly that.”

“Hmm.”

After his answer filled with firm resolve, I set down my coffee cup.

“Then I’m quite curious about your method.”

Leaning back against the appropriately soft yet sturdy sofa, I listened carefully to what the Prosnack ambassador would say next.

“Of course, it’s about letting the Sebelli Empire possess the Dark Age vessel discovered a few days ago.”

“…Pardon?”

How did he know about something I’d only received reports on recently?

For a moment, my eyes narrowed suspiciously, wondering if Prosnack had a collaborator within the Diplomatic Enforcement Planet.

“Oh, don’t worry. Our agents aren’t stupid enough to charge headfirst into your insane counterintelligence network.”

Seeing the ambassador deny it on his honor, I decided to set that matter aside for now.

However, I still couldn’t understand why Prosnack would want to give us this object, whatever it was.

“This is difficult to comprehend. If you’re going to war with the Pioneers… wouldn’t you need the Dark Age vessel yourselves?”

To fight the Pioneers, they’d need every resource available.

In such a situation, why would they help us obtain a Dark Age vessel, especially one of battleship class or higher?

To my question, the ambassador nodded and replied.

“In dealing with the Pioneers, having one more nation to disperse their forces is better than gaining just one good ship.”

“…”

In other words, they wanted to use us as a de facto ally and as aggro dispersion against the Pioneers.

“Besides, Minister, haven’t you honestly felt desire for that ship yourself?”

Hearing this, I felt internally disgusted.

‘Seems like they did some profiling before coming here.’

Moreover, I wondered if we really needed Prosnack’s help to capture what was essentially a ghost ship without a crew.

Any opposition would likely be standard special forces at most.

Such forces couldn’t possibly defeat the purge squad members I’d sent.

Therefore, I was about to subtly decline Prosnack’s cooperation when…

“Oh, and I forgot to mention this.”

“?”

“To obtain the Dark Age vessel, the Kerzin Federation has sent their proud Cerberus Special Task Force… and a separate special operations team has been dispatched from the Pioneer Empire as well.”

“…Oh.”

While I could understand the Kerzin Federation sending their special task force, equivalent to our purge squad…

Learning that a Pioneer Empire was also targeting the vessel made my head spin.

“Moreover, the Pioneers’ special ops team is… believed to be aiming to destroy the vessel rather than acquire it.”

“Ha.”

The Pioneers were even trying to destroy the ship.

“I don’t understand. The Pioneers should avoid external activities according to their own laws.”

At my words, the Prosnack ambassador nodded in agreement.

“That’s why we believe the Pioneer Empire itself won’t get involved in this matter.”

After hearing this far, I could understand why Prosnack was offering to help us obtain the Dark Age vessel.

It would be impossible to deal with both the Kerzin special task force and the Pioneer special ops team, who were covered in all sorts of ancient technology.

“So… what exactly do you plan to do?”

When I spoke with a willingness to accept, the Prosnack ambassador finally moved to the main point, saying with a pleased expression:

“We’ll support you with our marines to help you acquire the Dark Age vessel.”

“…And what’s the price?”

“There’s no price. Isn’t it enough that we secretly join hands against those fanatical Pioneers?”