Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2436 A Meeting of the Weary

Knock Knock

Someone began knocking on the door of Emilyʼs office, the sound reaching her while she remained seated behind her desk without showing any real reaction to the interruption.

Without changing her exhausted posture in the slightest, Emily weakly opened her mouth, barely gathering enough energy to respond to whoever was standing outside. ”Come i—”

Creak

Before she could even finish speaking, the door had already been pushed open and someone casually walked inside without waiting for her permission, then calmly closed the door behind him as though there was nothing unusual about what he had just done. ”Hello.”

”.....” Emily slowly shifted her unfocused gaze toward the newcomer and stared at him for a few moments, but after recognizing who it was, she merely released a weary sigh and closed her eyes again. ”What do you want, Kristan? Iʼm really not in the mood to argue with you right now.”

”What kind of impression have you formed of me?” Kristan, the Prime Minister and Robinʼs nephew, walked farther into the office with complete ease, carrying a pot that continuously released hot steam in his right hand and two cups in his left. ”I only came here to take a break. No one among the humans appreciates just how exhausting my work is more than you do.”

Then Kristan comfortably sat down in front of her and, Whoosh, poured the steaming brown liquid from the pot into both cups until they were ready, after which he immediately picked them up and began drinking from both cups at the same time.

”...” That single action was enough to make the veins along Emilyʼs neck twitch visibly, and she slowly raised her head from her hands again to stare directly at him with growing irritation. ”Did you seriously come all the way here just so you could sit in front of me and drink by yourself?”

”.....” Kristan slowly moved one of the cups away from his mouth, while the hairs of his mustache were already thoroughly covered in drops of that brown liquid. He lowered his eyes toward the cup with an expression of obvious reluctance, stared at it regretfully for a moment, and only then extended it toward Emily. ”Want a sip?”

”No, thank you!” Emily immediately waved her hand dismissively, showing absolutely no interest in accepting his reluctant offer. ”Drink it yourself and go bully someone.” Then, without bothering to continue looking at him, she returned to resting her head heavily on her hands.

As usual... Kristan was an eccentric and incredibly nerve-racking creature whose behavior could easily irritate anyone forced to deal with him for long enough, but despite all of that, he was also someone they simply couldnʼt do without.

Kristan had been appointed to his current position after Richard witnessed how effectively he could be used to suppress all kinds of internal problems and rebellions. That was essentially everything required of him in his position: keeping internal public opinion sufficiently balanced while strangling any emerging problem before it had the opportunity to fully appear, all so that the Empire could devote its attention and strength entirely toward the external wars.

And unfortunately for Kristan, public opinion had never truly been balanced in the first place.

The True Beginning Empire in the Young Belt had expanded across Sectors 99, 100, 101, and 102 on the western side, while its territory stretched through Sectors 98, 97, and 96 toward the east... Meaning that the Empireʼs territory now extended across a total of seven sectors.

Even if all those other sectors were temporarily set aside and completely ignored, Mid Sector 99 alone contained more than fifteen thousand planets that had already fallen under their rule.

That meant fifteen thousand different cultures, religions, races, and histories gathered beneath the same Empire, and for the overwhelming majority of those planets, the Empire of Tomorrow Plan hadnʼt yet progressed far enough to truly begin bearing its intended fruit among them...

And somehow, one way or another, information concerning Qarunʼs words had inevitably reached the inhabitants of those planets as well... Information telling them that the Empire they were currently living under and following was supposedly an empire that wanted to destroy the entire universe.

Kristanʼs days had therefore never been peaceful or easy... If Emily spent her days sitting inside her office worrying about how she was supposed to secure enough money and resources to maintain everything under her responsibility, then Kristan was personally jumping from one planet to another every single day, constantly dealing with the internal consequences appearing throughout the Empire.

He negotiated directly with some of the leading figures on those planets, spread Shadow Swords among their populations to gather certain pieces of information while deliberately planting others, tracked down those responsible for leaking particular information and prevented further leaks from spreading, and personally worked to calm rebellions that had already begun... And all of that was merely the approach he used for the planets where there was still some hope, the planets that possessed recognized leading figures with whom he could actually speak, negotiate, and reach some form of understanding.

As for the planets that had no such leading figures, the planets where there simply wasnʼt anyone with sufficient standing for him to negotiate with or reach an understanding, Kristanʼs solution was considerably simpler: he merely unleashed his beasts upon the rebels and used what happened to them as an example for everyone else.

At present, the planets throughout the Young Belt could essentially be divided into those that were completely submissive to the Empire without meaningful internal resistance, a condition represented only by the planets of Nihari...

Or planets that still suffered from various internal problems but whose situation remained sufficiently controllable, and these were generally the somewhat older planets under their rule...

Or the remaining planets that were drowning in blood while maintaining their stability and the continued presence of the Empire within them through sheer force... And unfortunately, those planets constituted the majority.

”Have you heard the latest news...?” Kristan casually poured himself another cup, seemingly in no particular hurry despite the seriousness of the subject he was about to raise. ”...That attack on Mid Sector 90.”

”...I heard.” Emily nearly burst into tears the instant he mentioned it. Of course sheʼd heard about it; with everything she had already been struggling to manage, that piece of news had practically broken her back!

”This might be the beginning of the end, you know...” Kristan raised the cup and calmly took another sip before continuing in the same casual manner. ”...If we lose Mid Sector 90 and are forced to retreat from there... Tsk, tsk~ Everything else weʼve built will start collapsing one after another like dominoes.”

”....?” Emily stole a sideways glance at him after hearing those cheerful words coming from his mouth. ”Did you come here to sit comfortably and drink that strange beverage of yours, or did you specifically come to make me even more miserable than I already am?”

”Actually, I came here to put your mind at ease.” Kristan waved his hand dismissively, as though what he had just said should somehow have reassured her. ”What weʼre doing here certainly helps. We do what weʼve been assigned to do and what weʼre paid to do, but the real danger that determines everything lies over there in Mid Sector 90. Our fate is currently in the hands of the men gathered there; either they manage to hold their ground, or all of us die.”

”....” Emily slowly removed her hands from the top of her head and straightened slightly, finally giving Kristan her full attention instead of continuing to drown in her own thoughts. ”What exactly are you trying to say?”

Kristan might behave strangely enough to constantly get on the nerves of everyone around him, but there was absolutely no doubt that he was a genuine genius. One only needed to look at the ingenious planetary array of Nihari that he had created to understand that simple fact.

”Iʼm saying that your problems are easy when you look at the situation properly.” Kristan waved his hand again, treating the enormous burden that had been crushing Emily as something considerably simpler than she believed. ”Your job right now is to help keep Mid Sector 90 from falling for as long as possible. Compared to that single objective, everything else youʼre worrying about is trivial and can simply be put aside.”

”...” Emily remained silent for a while as she stared deeply at Kristanʼs hairy face, trying to read the person sitting across from her. ”Iʼve always been waiting for the day when youʼd finally return to your true nature and stab the Empire in the back, Kristan... And you wonʼt find a better opportunity than this one to do it, as you already know.”

Then Emily narrowed her eyes slightly as she continued watching him, her words becoming even more pointed. ”If we manage to survive this ordeal, weʼll establish our footing in the universe permanently. Weʼll become unbeatable... And after that happens, no scheme you might devise to betray us or stage a coup against the Empire will be of any use anymore, as you know.”

By now, everyone among the Empireʼs uppermost elite already knew about Kristanʼs origins and understood exactly why there were reasons to remain cautious around him... In fact, the number of Shadow Swords assigned specifically to monitor Kristan was greater than the number currently spread throughout the entire Nihari Galaxy, and even the system under which those Shadow Swords operated was considerably more complicated!

”Ahh~” Kristan tilted his head and looked upward as though Emilyʼs words had genuinely presented him with an attractive possibility. ”Stop tempting me, girl. I already have more than enough demons whispering in my ears.” Then he stood up from his seat and tucked the pot securely beneath his arm as he prepared to leave. ”Just do what I told you and stop with all this womanly hesitation.”

”For how long?” Emily immediately called after him before he could leave the office, the problem that had been occupying her mind still impossible to ignore. ”If I pour all of the Empireʼs remaining resources into this losing war, we wonʼt be able to last for more than five years. What exactly are we supposed to do after that?!”

”After that, Uncle will find a solution.” Kristan casually slipped the cups into his pocket and began walking away as though the matter were already settled. ”And if he doesnʼt manage to find one, then weʼll find ourselves one of those little transport vessels you manufacture every day and simply run away, ahehe.”

”...”