A Trivial Incident
The Rixi Republic Submits to the Holy Sevelian Empire!
The Rixi Republic has judged that the Kerzin Federation, the sovereign power that once held them as a vassal, is no longer fit for the role. They now seek to entrust their safety to the Holy Sevelian Empire.
Yet such a move is far too dangerous in the arena of interstellar diplomacy. Thus the Holy Sevelian Empire and the Rixi Republic have agreed to treat this treaty as a secret pact known only to the parties involved.
The Rixi Republic has become a secret vassal of the Holy Sevelian Empire!
Mm. Nice.
The thought that we had handled things rather splendidly left me feeling genuinely pleased. And I was not alone in that mood—Artraia felt exactly the same.
“Arto, Arto! While we’re at it, why don’t we bring the other former Kerzin-aligned states over to our side as well?!”
Before the Rixi Republic had come over to us, such talk might have been mere fantasy. Now that they were effectively ours, Artraia’s hunger for expansion was flaring so fiercely it was almost blinding.
Unfortunately, I could not answer that hunger in the way she hoped.
“Artraia, I’m sorry, but becoming another Kerzin is simply impossible.”
“...Why?”
The moment I delivered that cold verdict, an icy chill radiated from her. It lasted only a heartbeat.
“Ah… sorry. I got a little carried away.”
“Mm.”
Seeing her reason return so quickly, I swallowed dryly and pressed on.
“Ahem. To continue—the states in the eastern reaches of the galaxy… it seems they sought cooperation with other powers even earlier than Rixi did.”
“...”
We had mocked Rixi for being so quick to switch sides. Learning that the others had already cut ties with Kerzin long before left Artraia silent for a long while.
“...How much have you found out?”
“As far as I know, the Ikh-Nur-Bal Independent Republican League and the Sir Civic Alliance have each concluded secret pacts with different parties. That’s certain.”
“If those two are confirmed, then the rest…”
She let the sentence trail off, but I knew exactly what she meant to say.
“Right. The remaining states are leaving Kerzin as their nominal leader while they enjoy a happy little life among themselves.”
“Is that so… Reality truly is cold.”
After unintentionally delivering that harsh dose of reality to Artraia, I returned to my sweet office and began sorting through the flood of reports that followed.
Let’s see… this is a report on the resource convoy coming from Rixi… Why is this even coming to me?
Unlike the old Executive Ministry days, a perfectly functional secretariat was supposed to be filtering out the useless noise. Yet these things still slipped through now and then, testing my patience to its limit.
Sooner or later I’m going to have to crack down hard on this.
Until now I had let things roll along while everyone adjusted to the new workload. But even pleasant dreams eventually end. The Foreign Executive Ministry was running like a circus, and the urge to whip it into proper shape filled my head completely.
“Mm… no. Not yet.”
That was not a job for this very moment. I stuck a sticky note on the side screen of my desk and kept grinding through the work.
Recent developments in the Miss-Pel Democratic Union of Nations… and what is this supposed to be?
Whenever a report caught my interest, I took a moment to read it properly.
“Tsk. These bastards never change.”
Of course, that “proper reading” never lasted long.
> [Paused]
> [Resume]
“They’ll cross the line soon enough, so we need countermeasures ready… Not wrong.”
Scroll down, pause. Resume, scroll, pause again. Reading like that made my report-processing speed look insane to anyone watching—borderline skimming, even. In other words, what felt long to me barely registered as time in the real world.
“Riel, do we have an embassy established in Miss-Pel?”
“Hmm… no? Those guys haven’t even been an interstellar civilization for fifty years yet.”
“Then push for the establishment of our embassy there.”
“...Wouldn’t it be better to tell the secretariat that directly instead of me?”
“Ah.”
Trading banter that wasn’t quite banter with Riel, I kept clearing the additional work. The grueling session finally ended several hours later.
“Mm… Riel? What’s tomorrow’s schedule look like?”
“Nothing special.”
And with that final report on schedule management from Riel, the wrap-up was complete.
“Good. Then tonight I’ll finally enjoy a dreamlike, deep sleep.”
And the next morning.
“Mm. Refreshing morning.”
“Minister, I’m terribly sorry to bring you sad news first thing.”
“...”
“An imperial command from Her Majesty the Empress. Arto Virtorius Seveli, Minister of the Foreign Executive Ministry, is to depart at once for the Rixi Republic.”
“Ah.”
“Everything is prepared. You need only move your body, Minister.”
“You… you little— Riel!”
“You’re being noisy, so please hurry up and move.”
I had barely finished a perfect night’s sleep when Riel, already waiting, kidnapped me. Without even a chance to change clothes, I was loaded onto a shuttle bound for the Rixi Republic like a piece of cargo.
At least my clothes had been packed with me, so I could change into something decent…
“What the hell is this, Riel?”
Even so, I had no intention of forgiving such villainy.
“Riel, you clearly said there was no schedule today. Did you lie to your minister?”
I shoved my face close to hers. Riel answered with perfect calm.
“Her Majesty said if she gave you any time to think, who knows what you’d come up with, so she ordered me to kidnap you immediately.”
“...If Her Majesty commanded it, then there’s nothing I can do.”
I simply had not expected her to hit me with both the facts and a preemptive strike. All I could do was wear the expression of a man who had suffered a crushing defeat.
If it had been just the two of us, Riel would already be getting her head pounded by both the Hellish Discipline Blade and the Etiquette Injection Rod at once…
“Your Grace the Duke! It is a great honor for this pilot to have you aboard this shuttle!”
“Mm, right… good work.”
Unfortunately, this was a VIP shuttle arranged by the Imperial Palace. With pilots and stewardesses everywhere, I could hardly call Artraia by name and start thrashing Riel.
“Is there any problem, Your Grace?”
“No, nothing of the sort.”
“Understood. Please call if you need anything at all.”
“Mm.”
The stewardess kept her head bowed from the difference in rank. I said nothing further and took my seat.
“Riel, come sit.”
“Yes.”
Naturally I seated Riel beside me—my secretary, aide, or pet, depending on the official occasion…
Whisper whisper
“Just wait until we get back, Riel.”
“...Hic.”
My anger had not cooled in the slightest. At my words, Riel’s small frame flinched and trembled…
Murmur murmur
Wait a second.
The natural whispers and strange glances directed at me made me realize Riel had just handed me another massive troll.
I swear, when we get back I will not let this slide.
And the more Riel’s karmic debt piled up, the more catastrophic the price would become. That resolve only hardened.
But what followed was a string of events I truly never saw coming.
Perhaps because we were traveling to conclude a secret pact that could not be advertised to other nations, we had no escort force to speak of.
“Shuttle ahead! Halt at once!”
“Your Grace! Pirates! Pirates have appeared!”
Absurdly enough, right on the shipping lanes near the capital world of Quesada, pirate scum showed up and started causing trouble.
“Hohoho, our friends seem full of youthful vigor again.”
“Ah—”
Of course those pirates were annihilated in an instant by a patrol fleet that happened to be circling nearby.
“Mm. Thanks to the valor of your fleet, we have suffered no damage. We appreciate the swift support.”
After being rescued by the passing patrol fleet, we continued on our way…
Kyaaaaaaaah—!!!
…only to be attacked by a space beast that happened to be passing through. The shuttle nearly exploded with us inside, but we managed a hair’s-breadth escape and finally reached Ishin’Kan Fortress.
“Riel, is this even right?”
“From where I’m standing, no. Our journey is clearly cursed.”
Looking back on a voyage packed with nothing but disasters, I felt only a growing sense of dread for whatever still lay ahead.
“Haa…”