Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Aftermath and Currency Creation
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As Admiral Nikolai's fleet tore through the sky, the coup forces surrendered without a fight.
The president who had orchestrated the coup was found in an underground bunker after a thorough search and arrested on the spot.
In this critical time when we needed to roll the snowball to secure the Federation's position in the coming space age, kicking away this turd ball meant he was probably looking at the death penalty.
Well, not execution exactly—more like exile into space. But that's as good as death anyway.
The company Black Mango, owned by former President Taniguchi, was stripped clean and utterly dismantled.
The mercenaries who joined the coup were arrested, and the officials had to pay the piper, stripping off their uniforms. The worst offenders were exiled alongside Taniguchi.
If the coup had succeeded, they'd have been handed planets or cities to lord over in luxury. But failure meant prison.
And the root cause of this whole mess: Ozz. It was now classified as a top-priority controlled resource, directly managed by the Federation government.
All civilian goods containing Ozz components were confiscated and would be used only under strict government oversight.
But the government forces still had no psionic ability users who could even detect Ozz, so I lent a hand.
Not only did I dispatch dozens of Hirak to assist in the search, but I also supplied Ozz to select Federation soldiers to help awaken their psionic potential.
No one awakened, unfortunately, but that's beside the point—I made sure to add it properly to the receipt. Do you know how precious Ozz is?
It hadn't even been a full day, but it counted as combat, so call it postwar cleanup? About a month after the cleanup began, my Varisa friends arrived.
"Nyaaong. Hmm."
The Varisa operatives, who had arrived under the guise of immigrants for internal scheming, got the news first from Catea: the president had been arrested for attempting national overthrow via rebellion.
With the investment clearly failed, they turned their ship around to head home before their tails got caught—but Deneb ships blocked their path.
Of course, the one greeting them wasn't President Taniguchi, but a different Deneb man who introduced himself as Alexandr.
"Kyat kyat, nice to meet you~. What a fine planet~"
"Pleased to meet you, Varisa folks. Arrest them."
"Yes, sir."
"Kyaaaaak! Don't touch me~! We're just tourists~! Kyaaak!!"
The cats, earning the dubious title of the first aliens arrested by Deneb, were thrown in jail. Varisa's management issued a statement: "Unrelated to headquarters. We express our regrets at our neighbor's tragedy."
They seemed to view it as a mere investment flop and were fine casually sacrificing some low-level employees.
From Deneb's perspective, they had evidence of Varisa's involvement, but with the coup happening so early, there wasn't much direct aid from them—hard to make a strong case.
Those cats were probably just attempted coup accomplices and would be released soon enough.
Two months into postwar cleanup.
To choose Taniguchi's successor, Deneb held another presidential election.
As perhaps expected, the party Taniguchi belonged to saw its support ratings obliterated. Advisor Lydia Moretti stepped up once more to begin her third term as president.
I gave her a few weeks of breathing room. She was bound to be swamped, but she needed time to handle things.
Once things looked stabilized, I pulled out the receipt and requested an audience.
"Thank you for granting me this audience, Madam President."
"Welcome. Hi... Hirak Diplomat. Your name is quite similar to the previous one's, isn't it?"
She said welcome, but the president's expression wasn't exactly beaming.
"Hihirak the Diplomat is my brother—we share the same mother. It'd be odd if our names weren't similar, no?"
I named both of them, so of course they're brothers.
"In any case, I've come to seek a few minor 'understandings' from the Federation."
I'd come to collect on what I euphemistically called "understanding"—bonds, really.
And the Federation probably couldn't meet the amount I wanted.
With endless galactic expansion costs, research and maintenance for shifting from space whale-centric fleets—it was already straining the treasury. Add the fallout from the Finance Ministry getting fleeced into buying Treegalaon-Alpha, and it was still lingering. Treegalaon-Alpha is expensive to acquire and even more to maintain.
Plus, Taniguchi, that coup-obsessed fool—did he even manage the budget properly?
"Of course, as your ally, our kingdom intends to fully consider the Federation's position."
"The Federation has no official debts owed to your nation."
Come on, Madam President, weren't we doing the diplomatic euphemisms?
Why play word games when we all know the score?
Fine, then. Time for straight talk.
"Come now. After taking all that Ozz, surely you won't wipe your mouth clean and deny it."
"...You're quite fluent in Deneb idioms."
Haa—.
"What is it you want?"
"First, I'd like the former president's pro-alien stance to continue. I know you prefer full autonomy in all fields, Madam President, but we must consider both nations' citizens, right?"
"Very well. We'll maintain it. It wouldn't do to deport settled Lushaka citizens, and we won't repeal the already-passed immigration laws."
This was a condition they had to accept anyway.
Separate from Taniguchi's pro-alien moves, expanding influence over the Federation required those alien immigration laws.
"The same goes for supporting interstellar unions."
"So be it."
The president nodded crisply, as if that much was no issue.
"And how about creating a new currency for joint use between our nations?"
I quickly followed up as her expression soured.
"In exchange, I'll provide more Ozz until enough psionic awakeners emerge. We'll also share psionic knowledge free of charge."
It was all from Professor Bahilila, but I wasn't lying.
"This isn't about halting Deneb dollar issuance. It's for a currency to use in international trade."
Honestly, how long are we going to haul around bulky organics for every deal?
She probably didn't know firsthand since she hadn't done the trading herself, but organics take up massive volume.
Deneb couldn't convert other goods into organics like I could, so they had to bring the actual fruits and crops—how tough must that be for the citizens?
With Ozz already on offer, plus psionic info and debt relief? Opportunities like this don't come often, Madam President.
"We'll discuss with the relevant departments and get back to you. It's not something I can answer lightly."
"I'll await a positive reply."
A new currency was essential for my future plans.
Right now, no issues since nations hauled organics to buy space whales or Treegalaons. If we needed something else, we just asked for it instead of food.
But what if I wanted to buy something, and the other side didn't need organics or food?
For instance, trading with tin cans like the Telluris Assimilator—that's trouble.
The Lushaka Kingdom doesn't issue much currency domestically, so we'd route through another nation's money or scrounge valuables from organic-only worlds.
But with a widely used currency? No worries. Just pay and buy.
Anyway, currency is a must.
And while we're at it, it'd be nice to have proper 'friends' rolling the economy in my stead.
To help the Federation decide, I visited the Galactic Peace Committee.
More participants should make it easier for them—and ease fears of Lushaka dominance.
Where else in the universe would you find such a thoughtful ally?
I floated the idea of a new currency to the Committee, too—something that could serve as a precursor for joint use if unions form in the future.
"A wonderful idea, Diplomat. The Committee fully supports a new currency."
I hadn't even covered credit guarantees, value backing, or issuance details, but they accepted on the spot.
Great for me, but... isn't that too easy?
"We fully appreciate how much the Lushaka Kingdom strives for galactic peace. Just look at returning star systems to nations oppressed by the Knight Orders. As fellow travelers toward peace, we offer our modest support."
What a burdensome response.
But thanks to it, the Deneb Federation soon announced their participation in the new currency.
We pegged its value to energy—gold standards don't work in the space age.
The Lushaka Kingdom would handle issuance and circulation, so we based it on caloric energy from organics.
Calorie Credits—shorthand "Credits"—began circulating.