Organizational Reform (1)
They're all the same anyway. Might as well stay on good terms with Artraia.
I picked option one and spent the days after burning through every hopeful circuit I had left. And then, at last, the day I had both dreaded and half-expected finally arrived.
"Riel, today is the day our final battle begins."
"Minister, did someone inject you with weird drugs or something?"
Still completely failing to grasp the situation, Riel's reply made me let out a long sigh.
"Haa… You really don't know a thing, do you, Riel."
"I never understand how someone who usually acts more normal than me can suddenly break down like this every once in a while."
"…"
Her sarcasm was sharp enough that the raging wildfire of my happiness circuits began to die down. And as those circuits flickered out, cold, ordinary reason took their place.
"There's no way Artraia would pull something that nasty on me."
"There we go. You're back to normal."
Coming to my senses at the last second only made the anxiety spike harder. I still forced myself through a few deep breaths, trying to keep my composure…
—Ding♪
The moment that needlessly cheerful, bright alarm chimed in my ear, I flinched hard enough that I couldn't hide my surprise.
"That's the organizational reform confirmation notice. You should check it."
"Mm."
Still, how should I put it? Having Riel right beside me deliver the news so flatly and without any reaction somehow settled my nerves.
"…This really is a tense moment."
Of course, the second I went to wake the terminal screen, a little tension still slipped through…
"How long are you going to keep stalling?"
"Ah—!"
That insolent humanoid had the gall to jab her finger straight at the terminal belonging to an Imperial Minister, and before I could stop her—
—Ting!
Without even a second to brace myself, the official reform plan popped up, and right alongside it a brand-new event message bloomed before my eyes.
Large-Scale Organizational Reform!
For long ages the Holy Sevelian Empire had piled bureaucratic layer upon bureaucratic layer, until the vast interstellar empire itself had begun to suffer a kind of sclerosis.
Like industrial-accident victims whose legs had gone lame under the accumulated injuries of endless overwork.
But the Empire's Empress, Artraia, declared major surgery upon that dinosaur of a civil service and government.
And at last, through that great operation, the dinosaur known as the Holy Sevelian Empire could once more take a vigorous step forward!
Reward: Increase in Imperial Influence and Cohesion
Looking at that classic wall of flowery fluff, a strange sense of anticipation rose in me.
Ah, so this is just a passing event. Nothing special is going to happen to me, then.
I was about to light up the happiness circuits all over again when—
Wait a second, why is there a scroll bar…
(Upon selecting Option 1)
Additional linked event will proceed
Yet another baseless reward had popped out of nowhere, leaving me with a thoroughly blank expression.
"What the hell is this."
Time flowed on, and the day of the appointment ceremony for every ministry under the new organizational reform finally arrived.
"Good day. I belong to the Fisheries Management Office…"
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm involved with Trade Team 32…"
—Murmur murmur
—Whisper whisper
"Haa."
Since it was the day the real power-holders and department heads of every ministry were being appointed, even people from offices you never saw in ordinary times had flooded into the Imperial Palace. And the place they had all gathered was none other than the Grand Hall—the palace ballroom.
A space that would normally be packed with nobles draped in every kind of glittering ornament was instead filled only with civil servants in neat uniforms or suits. Watching such a rare sight, I couldn't help thinking…
"Quite the crowd."
"Humans are trash."
—Smack!
"Stop saying weird things and let's move."
I shut down the mad robot who was busy shredding other people's reputations in real time, then headed for a reasonably secluded corner to wait for the ceremony. Of course, with so many people crammed into the Grand Hall, even that short walk forced me into countless half-accidental collisions…
"Ah, Minister of the Executive Ministry…"
"Mm. Just passing through."
"A-ah, s-sorry!"
Civil servants popped up at random like Pokémon trainers; the moment they recognized my face they hastily retreated. After we finally reached a properly out-of-the-way corner of the Grand Hall and settled onto the sofa set aside there—
"Ahem, ahem. To all of you gathered here today, I shall convey…"
"Oh, it's starting."
The timing was perfect. The appointment ceremony began, and Riel and I decided to enjoy the show in leisurely comfort. Anyone watching me right then might have said I was a lunatic spinning baseless happiness circuits with zero foundation. But I had my own grounds for confidence…
A few days earlier.
"Artraia, about this organizational reform…"
"Ah, that?"
I had managed another chance meeting with Artraia and casually dangled the topic of the reform. She was receiving a full-body massage from her maids at the time, tasting paradise on the bed, yet she still answered me cleanly.
"Well, the Executive Ministry is scheduled to be merged, sooo… you'll be stepping down as Minister of the Executive Ministry too…"
"Oh."
That was the foundation of my happiness circuit: the Empress herself had said it. You could argue that basing everything on mere "words" was ridiculous, but in the galaxy's only imperial system, the person sitting on that throne would never lie over something so trivial.
Her face and prestige are on the line. There's no way Artraia would feed me a bald-faced lie.
So I sat with a far lighter heart, smiling as I watched the poor civil servants rise and fall with every announcement.
Common sense says they'd pick a minister from some halfway decent department long before they chose the guy who ran a rootless outfit like the Executive Ministry.
Still, even I had no way of knowing in advance who would become the new Minister of the Foreign Executive Ministry.
Just how useful a person did they pick that they won't even tell me?
Artraia herself refused to say, so I had even used my remaining authority as Minister of the Executive Ministry plus Riel's insider channels to dig for leaks. I still came up empty. A few weeks ago that would have wounded my pride enough to make me snap; now the very same secrecy strangely put me at ease.
If they're protecting the information this thoroughly, the person must be far better than I expected.
And it couldn't be that no one existed at all.
During the information chase, tiny new scraps kept surfacing. That means a living person is definitely involved.
Whoever Artraia had chosen, the airtight protection around them filled me with a weird warmth.
See? You want me to retire and suck honey too, don't you.
It was a pretty big leap in logic, but I decided to stick with that interpretation anyway.
A little more time passed. Having reached a reasonably rational conclusion, I no longer had any reason to ride the emotional roller-coaster of the appointment ceremony. So I simply enjoyed the moment and offered a quiet prayer for the poor soul who would become Minister of the Foreign Executive Ministry—whoever that might be.
Not long after the announcements began, the turn for the Foreign Executive Ministry finally arrived.
—Bam-pa-ba-ba-bam!
A bright fanfare of trumpets rang out, and the master of ceremonies on the dais unleashed a booming voice through the microphone.
"Next, we announce the birth of a new ministry formed by the merger of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Executive Ministry—the Foreign Executive Ministry."
"Oh."
"Finally our successor agency is here. I wonder who the person in charge will be."
"Yeah, same."
That grand voice even sparked a little anticipation in us. Without realizing it we focused every scrap of attention on the information about to be revealed…
The Mouthpiece of the Empress's Will
Because you declared that you would follow the Empress's will, the Empress was deeply impressed.
And for your sake, she has decided to place the troublesome Ministry of Foreign Affairs under your command, thereby expanding your power.
🎁 Reward: Appointment of Arto Virtorius Sevely as Minister of the Foreign Executive Ministry
"The inaugural Minister of the new Foreign Executive Ministry is… former Minister of the Executive Ministry, Duke Arto!"
"…What?"
The sudden, earth-shattering news left me unable to hide my shock—for more reasons than one.