The Invoice
Just what kind of bastard was the Predecessor Emperor, anyway?
It was a thought that had been hitting me with unusual frequency of late — that the man might have been actively trying to prove just how far the bottom of incompetence could go.
"Y-Your Majesty, drafting a budget of this scale on the spot is simply impossible!"
"He's right, Your Majesty!"
"We're already stretched thin just founding the new Fifth Fleet and constructing the orbital stations!"
"And additional funds have already been allocated for the supply and transport of Thalianum from Ztrak, so…"
And it wasn't just me. Everyone gathered in that room was clearly thinking the same thing. They were only holding their tongues because the Emperor herself — the dignity of the Empire, and that man's own daughter — was sitting right in front of them.
So for the moment, everyone set talk of the Predecessor Emperor aside and threw themselves into the more pressing question of how to deal with the crisis that had just landed on their heads. But…
"For now, we will take this up again at the State Council scheduled for next week."
In the end, with no sharp solution at hand, the hastily convened meeting fizzled out into nothing.
"Ah, that damn piece of trash!"
Of course, just because the meeting was over didn't mean I could simply go home.
"Yes, yes, it's all that trash's fault. Of course it is."
"Nnnngh…!!!"
I had to soothe the mental state of Her Imperial Majesty, who now found herself on the hook for the late Predecessor Emperor's debts — interest included.
But there was more to it than just that.
The Predecessor Emperor's Tab
No one knows exactly when it began, but the Predecessor Emperor of the Holy Sevelian Empire once gambled heavily at a Trade Coalition casino.
And when he lost, he went on to run up a massive tab with the Coalition's merchant houses as well.
Naturally, the Predecessor Emperor's cries of "I'll win it all back!" produced nothing but pure misfortune — exhausting both the funds he had brought and every last bit of credit on top of them.
Yet he never repaid the resulting debt. He simply ignored it completely.
The Trade Coalition parties of the time, for their part, likewise chose to let the matter slide.
But now, long years later…
With the Predecessor Emperor dead and the young Empress Artraia on the throne — healthy, capable, and very much present — the Trade Coalition has finally decided to collect on that long-dormant tab.
And while they're at it, to settle every scrap of accumulated interest in one go.
"What a mess, all because of that bastard."
"Damn it. Damn piece of trash!"
I needed someone to curse that wretched Predecessor Emperor with me. Desperately.
"Anyone watching would think you two were a lovely little anti-imperialist couple, you know."
At Riel's line-crossing remark, I reached for the Etiquette Injection Stick (Pain) I kept tucked away — but…
"Well said, Riel. Name your reward."
"Oh, then please stop whatever the Minister is about to do right now."
"You heard her. Put that away."
"…Tch."
At Artraia's words, I had no choice but to quietly put it back.
And once I had, Artraia's lips jutted out in a cute little pout as she kept right on grumbling.
"Those people deliberately waited! They said nothing the whole time the Predecessor Emperor was alive!"
"Mm. Probably."
How often did Trade Coalition issues come up in the Galactic League Council? The hot-tempered Kerzin Federation and the Syr Citizens' Alliance were forever tabling regulatory resolutions against them — that alone said enough.
Not that the Trade Coalition sat idle. Using corporate states like Mekt-Fuchs and Zeltech that they'd bought with their capital, they routinely killed every such resolution. That was just business as usual.
But this time, they had blown past even my most cynical expectations.
"Still. I never thought they'd wait ten whole years just to collect the interest."
"Right?! You think so too, don't you?!"
Artraia leaned in the moment the words left my mouth, as if she'd been waiting for them.
"Think about it! Our Empire isn't some tiny backwater — and they're demanding a sum equal to an entire year's budget?! Does that make any sense?!"
"Uhh… mm."
She barreled in without a thought for her frankly violent physique, and I barely managed to turn my burning face away as I pressed on.
"Ahem… So. Have you given any thought to what we're going to do about this?"
"Haa… Honestly? I want to just send a fleet."
As Artraia's militaristic instincts fermented into words, my head — which would normally have been shaking no — nodded of its own accord.
If the Prosnark hadn't stolen the north from us, we'd still have had some breathing room…
Not exactly a land of milk and honey, but the Empire's northern territories had been a genuine treasure house of resources. Remembering the day we'd had to sit and watch the Prosnark snatch that prize right out from under us, my fists clenched and trembled before I even noticed.
Artraia, however, seemed to read that trembling a little differently.
"Heh. So you're furious at the Trade Coalition too, huh?"
"Mm. Something like that."
It wasn't wrong enough to deny, so I let her interpretation slide.
"Then perfect timing!"
"?"
"Arto, you go give the Trade Coalition a piece of our mind!"
"???"
"I believe in you!"
…Huh?
Aboard a ship bound for a Trade Coalition direct-control star system.
Clear the Empire's Debt!
An invoice has arrived from the Trade Coalition regarding the debts left by the Predecessor Emperor.
To settle the astronomical sum written on that invoice, you are now bound for the Trade Coalition's home territory.
Clear the debt in full, and a reward will be yours.
While I was still blanking out, every last formality had been handled in a flash. Before I knew it, I was on a ship with Riel, embarked on a thrilling journey of debt-settlement negotiations.
"I never expected the Minister to be this cooperative, you know."
No.
I was just an ordinary guy whose brain had blue-screened, and the superintelligences running a galactic empire had simply scooped me up and shipped me off into exile.
"…"
"The Minister's deliberate, thorough silence — and those brief, simple reactions — let the Foreign Ministry and the Economic Ministry exercise full discretion. They asked me to pass along their thanks, you know."
No.
I just didn't even have the mental bandwidth to hit pause, so I couldn't say a word.
"You're amazing, you know."
"…Could you be quiet for a moment?"
"Yes."
Having shut Riel up, I gazed out through the viewport at the vast sea of stars and sank into thought.
Fuck.
That thought, of course, was pure irritation at the situation that had dumped me here. Not that I was entertaining any delusional ideas about wrecking the people responsible or anything like that.
"Haaa…"
Artraia. That girl had me picked out from the very start.
There was no other explanation. How else could the paperwork to send a full Minister of State — not even somewhere inside the Empire, but to a distant foreign power — be finished in under an hour?
And sure, from my side I'd just been blanking out and saying nothing. But from their side…
"So Minister Arto already settled the discussion?"
"Obviously. Look at him — pure, absolute silence."
"If a man who solves every complex problem in an instant is reacting like that, then that must be the answer."
That was the conclusion they would have drawn. Naturally.
"Haaaaaaaa…"
As I heaved sigh after sigh, Riel — who had been keeping her mouth shut — spoke up again.
"Don't tell me the Minister didn't actually want this job, you know?"
"…Artraia is a more cunning operator than I gave her credit for."
And to that, all I could manage was a gloomy mutter. But…
"Minister, the way you're talking right now sounds exactly like a middle-aged man full of regret over a failed marriage, you know."
"What is with that hyper-specific scenario."
I turned my head at Riel's breezy nonsense — and…
"Well? Feeling a little better now, you know?"
"…Mm."
Looking at Riel's sheepish smile, I realized the bit had been her own clumsy attempt to cheer me up.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Aww, it's nothing, you know."
At the way she said it, all bashful, I almost found myself wearing a dad smile for no good reason.
"Besides, you're the one who's going to suffer from here on out. The least I can do is this much, you know."
"…"
At the words that hit me immediately after, I reached once more for the Etiquette Injection Stick tucked against my chest.
"Hold on a second — shouldn't we intelligent species refrain from such barbaric behavior, you know?"
Riel opened her mouth in a hurried tone at my movement, but…
"You should have run the calculation before saying that."
"No, I already ran it and then I—"
—Crack!
"Kibet!"
"Be quiet!"
At her so-called excuse, I swung the Etiquette Injection Stick without further debate.