Ch.98The World Still Turns (1)

# Chapter 98: The World Still Turns (1)

After Arto was dragged to the bedroom by Artlaia.

At first glance, it appeared to be a situation where the Minister had been kidnapped and imprisoned by the Emperor.

“Hmm, so this day has finally come.”

“Didn’t I tell you? All it needed was a little push.”

Surprisingly, everyone except Arto himself felt no seriousness about this situation whatsoever.

“Ah, Imperial Guards? It seems the Emperor is trying to create a new era with the Minister inside, so please guard them well.”

“We wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise, Assistant Riel.”

Rather, they seemed to be quite welcoming of this situation.

“At last… the day has finally come when His Majesty the Emperor takes a consort.”

“This is truly an occasion worthy of the entire Empire’s blessing!”

Of course, this was only natural from the perspective of Riel and everyone else present.

The Imperial Guards who faced Artlaia every day, as well as Riel who accompanied her during reports—they all remembered how many signs of affection Artlaia had shown toward Arto.

“His Majesty has suffered such heartache all this time…”

“Sniff… we cannot keep this joyous news to ourselves!”

Upon hearing the news from Riel, the Imperial Guards immediately tried to spread the word using the communication devices on their enhanced suits, but…

“Ah, wait a moment. I think it’s better if this information stays within the Imperial Guard for now.”

Blocking the guards’ hasty actions, Riel shook her head and said:

“While the two of them are in the middle of their… important business, we shouldn’t cause any unnecessary complications by spreading rumors prematurely.”

Hearing this, the Imperial Guards nodded in agreement, realizing they had been too hasty.

“Then I’ll leave the guarding to you. We have many things to take care of now.”

“Rest assured, that is what we do best.”

As Riel was about to leave, she suddenly paused, turned her head toward the Imperial Guards, and said:

“Ah, just in case I should mention this.”

“Yes?”

“If our Minister comes out looking ‘normal’ and says it’s over…”

“Yes?”

“Then pretend to escort him out of the palace, but actually put him back into the Emperor’s bedroom.”

This was exactly the kind of statement that would make Arto wail, “YOU TRAITOOOOOOR!!!” if he heard it, yet Riel delivered it with complete nonchalance.

“Oh… would that be appropriate?”

“Even though he’s a Duke and a member of the imperial family, it would be difficult for us to handle him forcefully.”

“It’s fine. If he comes out without looking thoroughly ravished, it means the Minister has used some trick to escape.”

With malicious intent and thorough planning to block any possible escape—this cold, rational demeanor was completely different from Riel’s usual behavior of acting up around Arto and getting bumps on her head as a result.

“I understand.”

“Hmm… then in your opinion, Assistant Riel, what state should Duke Arto be in?”

In response to the guard’s question, Riel took quite a long time to consider.

Of course, with her quantum core brain that boasted overwhelming performance compared to ordinary humans, it was less than a second by normal standards before she answered:

“Nothing special. Just assume the Minister is playing tricks unless the Emperor personally brings him out. That should cover it.”

“Understood.”

“And if anyone contacts you looking for the Minister from outside, that’s also our Minister trying to escape, so feel free to ignore it.”

“What?”

“Isn’t that… potentially very dangerous?”

Of course, hearing Riel’s words, the relatively normal Imperial Guards wondered if this was really acceptable, but…

“Any contact for the Minister comes to me first anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Ah, I see.”

The possibility of such a situation occurring wasn’t just 0.1%, but a perfect 0%.

Having determined that she had completely blocked all of Arto’s escape routes, Riel finished her handover to the Imperial Guards and…

“Hmm-hmm~hmm-hmm~♪”

As if a humanoid could feel joy, she returned to the Diplomatic Execution Agency humming happily.

“NO, STOP!!!”

Although she thought she heard Arto’s voice screaming behind her…

“Is that really okay, Riel?”

“It’s fine. He’s saying ‘NO’ (meaning ‘yes’) and ‘STOP’ (meaning ‘do more’).”

“…”

As if taking revenge for everything Arto had done to her, she casually ignored his desperate pleas.

—————————–

Of course, just because Riel returned to the Diplomatic Execution Agency didn’t mean her work was over.

Rather, it would be fair to say it was just beginning.

“Assistant Riel, what happened to Minister Arto?”

“He’s currently engaged in extremely important work for the Empire, so we’ll need to run the Diplomatic Execution Agency ourselves for a few days.”

At first glance, it seemed like quite a serious situation.

That was understandable, since until now, Arto had always been present at the agency, directing traffic and leading the grand plan.

Especially after the Diplomatic Execution Agency had been expanded.

The new civil servants who had just joined seemed particularly anxious.

However, in contrast to the newcomers, the veterans of the Diplomatic Execution Agency continued their work as usual, showing no signs of concern.

Of course, this wasn’t due to resignation.

“Come on, everyone, get moving. Don’t waste time on unnecessary thoughts.”

The detailed matters within the Diplomatic Execution Agency that Arto didn’t handle directly…

Personnel affairs and such…

Most of the work that didn’t require the Minister’s direct involvement had been handled by Riel all along.

Of course, since Riel wasn’t both a “Minister” and a “Duke” like Arto, there were limits to her authority, but…

“How’s the refugee situation right now?”

“With the recent calming of unrest in the north and west, refugees staying in the Empire are gradually trying to return to their home countries.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and the National Land Development Agency, National Labor Agency, and Pioneering Agency seem to be trying to secure personnel by distributing residency permits to refugees.”

“Well, let them handle that themselves. More importantly, what’s the reaction of other countries regarding the refugees?”

“Except for Ztrakfor, other countries are maintaining a wait-and-see attitude.”

“Hmm, so what is Ztrakfor saying?”

“They’ve requested our assistance in supporting the return of refugees in our Empire who wish to go back.”

Unlike Arto, Riel held meetings with the department heads within the Diplomatic Execution Agency, demonstrating her competence in gathering opinions and reaching conclusions.

“We can’t do that for free, so try to extract as much as possible from Ztrakfor.”

“Understood, Assistant Riel.”

Additionally, rather than drawing the big picture like Arto, she focused on detailed plans that would benefit the Empire.

As she proved her abilities, the atmosphere of doubt that had been flowing through the Diplomatic Execution Agency quickly disappeared.

“Assistant Riel, the overall number of refugees hasn’t changed much.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Due to the recent unrest in the eastern region, races from that area are migrating here in search of safety.”

Of course, just because the doubt had disappeared didn’t mean Riel’s workload improved.

“So it’s essentially a plus-minus-zero situation?”

“That’s correct. We might need to renew the migration treaty, but…”

“Ah, that’s under the Minister’s exclusive authority, so we can’t touch it. Request denied.”

No matter how hard Riel worked, there were limits to her authority.

In reality, she was riding on the back of the giant dinosaur that was the Diplomatic Execution Agency, focusing solely on maintaining the status quo.

The one fortunate thing for Riel was that, at the very least, she didn’t need to touch or check the counterintelligence operations.

‘The Minister has handled the counterintelligence work so meticulously that I don’t need to interfere.’

Thinking of the Minister who was probably being thoroughly ravished under Artlaia right now…

Riel silently wished for their happiness and returned her focus to the pile of work in front of her.

Of course, while Riel was wishing them happiness(?), the person in question was…

“It hurts, it doesn’t fit, please stop…”

“Huff, huff…”

“Stop!!”

Due to the overwhelming difference in hardware specs, he had become a victim of the tyrant Emperor on the bed, having all his territories thoroughly violated.