Then We're Comrades?
TIME PAUSED
After hearing the Prosnark proposal, I hit pause again and sank into thought.
Would this actually help the Empire? And if it did, how much? Was it a trap? On and on the questions piled up. With time overflowing in the frozen world, I turned the problem over and over until choice paralysis had hit me a few dozen times.
Fine. We're doing this.
TIME RESUMED
I released the pause, nodded at the Prosnark ambassador's suggestion, and spoke.
"An excellent idea. I like it very much."
At that, the very ambassador who had offered the proposal looked suddenly flustered.
"I... this may not be my place to say, but perhaps you might give it at least a little more thought?"
Not merely seeming flustered—genuinely rattled. The composed, dignified air from moments earlier had vanished, replaced by pure bewilderment. Unable to grasp why, I nearly reached for pause again to sort my thoughts.
TIME PAUSED
Ah.
The instant time froze, I finally understood the ambassador's reaction. From my side, the answer had come after long deliberation. From hers, it looked as though I had decided the moment her words left her mouth.
I studied her face and read a dense, complicated meaning in every line of it.
This bastard just agreed without even thinking, her expression seemed to say.
Understanding the situation at last, I released the pause and set about clearing up the Prosnark ambassador's misunderstanding.
A short while later.
"To reach a conclusion in so brief a span... truly remarkable."
After my vigorous self-defense, the Prosnark ambassador—Jad Samiya Halabi'dus—wiped cold sweat from her brow and looked genuinely astonished.
"It's nothing special. Even someone like me is glacial compared to Her Majesty the Empress."
"Hmmm..."
She eyed me as though she suspected a lie.
Technically, I didn't lie.
Without the pause function, Artraia really was smarter and faster than I was. That much was fact.
"...If you insist it's true, I suppose I must believe it. Though I find it hard."
The ambassador shook her head with a thoroughly fed-up expression. I offered her the most businesslike smile I could manage and began easing toward farewell.
"In any case, we are grateful for your nation's support. However, since cooperation between our two states is required... I will proceed only after consulting with Her Majesty."
"I leave it in your capable hands. I brought the matter to Minister Virtorius precisely so that consultation and agreement might move as swiftly as possible."
I know you're near the top of the power ladder in your Empire, so don't waste time.
Even the parting shot was pure Prosnark—threats to the last.
"Quite right. Both I and Her Majesty are... extremely eager regarding this affair."
We'll handle it ourselves. Don't pick a fight.
I wasn't about to fold under pressure. The moment I fired back, the Prosnark ambassador adjusted the hijab-like hood of her cloak, smiled thinly, and I smiled right back. We finished the diplomatic meeting (?) with mutual grins.
And yet...
"...Ambassador Halabi'dus?"
"Mm... yes?"
"Is something the matter?"
Even after everything was settled, she kept hesitating. I wondered if some clause in the agreement had gone wrong and asked, only to receive an answer I never saw coming.
"...Might I have one more cup of that coffee we just drank?"
"Pardon?"
"It suited my tastes far better than expected. I'd almost like to take some home if possible."
I blinked in momentary confusion, then...
"Well then, let's have one more cup."
Even people who turned aliens into soap and gas were still people, I supposed. While I was at it, I decided I could use another cup myself. I gestured toward Gaia, who had been peeking her head over the café counter for some time now.
"Gaia, sorry, but could you brew one more for me and the ambassador here?"
"Y-yes? Y-yes... yes!"
Thus ended my thoroughly unthrilling, thoroughly unromantic meeting with the Prosnark ambassador. I headed straight for the Foreign Executive Ministry on the Ka'zan surface.
The moment I stepped inside, however—
"Assay! From this moment, this place is under Marine control!"
"You barge in out of nowhere and run your mouth like that?"
—I found Purge Squad members and Prosnark Marines locked in a sudden standoff inside the Foreign Executive Ministry.
"Bweeeeh!!!"
"Ah, no! I still have installments left!"
Two human weapons were steamrolling the poor office slaves caught in the middle.
"Minister, I just want to ask one thing. Why did you abandon me—us?"
And there was Riel, somehow armed with a Lightning Claw and a mace, one heartbeat away from starting a heresy.
Total chaos. I let out a long sigh.
"Ash, sorry, but restrain the whole lot of them."
"Yes~"
I used Ash—who was half-fused with the Foreign Executive Ministry building and grounds—to put down the riot and start figuring out what the hell was going on.
"Uwooooh!"
"Dah-haang! It's a Grey Nightmare nanomachine assault!"
The Prosnark Marines and Purge Squad members reacted quickly to Ash's surprise attack, dodging and fighting back. But—
"Ah, it's the Minister!"
"Everyone stand still! The Minister is caressing us with tentacles!"
"Ooooh!"
Their motives were a little impure, but once the Purge Squad realized I was the one controlling Ash, they let themselves be captured without further fuss.
The Prosnark Marines, on the other hand...
"How dare mere Grey Nightmare nanomachines lay hands on bodies filled with Marine spirit...!"
"Grrrrrk..."
They paid the price for the Purge Squad's share as well, thoroughly bound by Ash and forced to their knees on the floor.
When the situation was finally under control, I pressed my throbbing temples and spoke with as much calm as I could muster.
"So. Who wants to explain—quickly, and according to the five Ws and one H—exactly what is going on here?"
"Yes, me."
Riel, who had been about to commit heresy until Ash's etiquette baton restored her sanity, filled me in. I finally understood how this mess had started.
"So... just a little while ago the Prosnark Marines smashed through the front gate of the Foreign Executive Ministry without any notice, and you ended up in a standoff?"
"No, not the front gate. The back gate."
"You bastards... Marine spirit demands we always strike the enemy from the rear!"
The truly ridiculous part was separate. The Prosnark Marines who had forced their way in weren't actually doing anything special—just milling around and chatting among themselves. But the moment the Purge Squad members down in the basement heard that Prosnark Marines had "attacked," they followed the principle of act first, report later and moved straight into confrontation.
I was still reeling from the absurdity when—
Ding♪
—an alert chimed on my terminal. The contents made my remaining sanity take flight.
"...Ha."
The notification about the Marines she had sent the moment we parted had only just reached my terminal. Of course the Prosnark ambassador had assumed the embassy Marines would start moving around the time I arrived. Who could have predicted that the moment they received the order they would steal a truck from the embassy, ram the back gate of the Foreign Executive Ministry, and charge straight inside?
I briefly organized the situation in my head, then used Ash to haul both the Purge Squad and the Marines down to the Foreign Executive Ministry basement. Once their restraints were released, I spoke.
"Effective today, the Purge Squad and the Prosnark Marines will be conducting joint operations for the time being."
"...What?"
The Purge Squad members, who had heard nothing of the arrangement, could not hide their shock. But then—
"Huh?"
"Us?"
—the Prosnark Marines, who had just barged in like they owned the place, reacted as though they were hearing the news for the first time. Looking at them, I began to suspect this whole affair was not going to resolve as smoothly as I had hoped.