"Ahem, Sebas... the moment I return, you hand me the full summary of recent governmental memorials. Mm, thank you for your hard work."
"And... we're transferring everything right now? Would interrupting halfway through your work be a little too rushed?"
"Mm, Milady, this old servant has only temporarily held the reins of authority. I have been both honored and apprehensive. Fortunately, I did not fail your trust. Now that you have returned, matters of 'name and authority' are safest in your own hands. It is better for both the Empire and this old servant."
"As for governmental affairs, you... Milady, my master—you are Selene."
"Mm... but... ah..."
Looking at the calm, dignified Sebas bowing before her like a perfect old gentleman, Selene—who had barely stepped back into the palace carrying Alyssa for less than half a minute—blinked in confusion.
Then her crimson eyes widened, her cherry lips parted slightly, and her thoughts stalled for a moment.
After hesitating for a while, Selene finally understood.
Oh. He was throwing down the baton.
Normally she was the one making all kinds of strange and willful requests to Sebas. It was only natural for him to retaliate with a little dissatisfaction now and then.
A small emotional gesture of familiarity.
"Alright, alright. I'll go right away. Next time I'll definitely... inform you in advance, Sebas."
Next time for sure.
Laughing awkwardly, Selene shook her head with a wry smile and reached out to accept the report volume from Sebas.
"Enjoy your rest, Sebas. Once I sort through my administrative thoughts, we'll have dinner together tonight. This vacation trip had quite a few interesting stories worth sharing."
"Ah—and Esdeath, prepare my 'Peach Banquet.'"
At the mention of the Peach Banquet, Selene's gaze sharpened. Her blood-red eyes lowered slightly as she glanced toward Esdeath, who stood nearby trying not to smile.
"Of course, Your Majesty," Esdeath replied.
Her pent-up violence and destructive urges had been thoroughly vented during the campaign, leaving her in an excellent mood. She raised a fist to her chest in salute.
Then she extended her hand.
The Imaginary crystal flower sealing the so-called Otsutsuki God slowly floated toward Selene.
Selene nodded. Still waving the stack of memorial reports in one hand, she casually beckoned with her free right hand. Her fingers closed around the greatest "trophy" of the Ice General's expedition before she turned and left the Mirror Hall corridor, heading toward the Hall of Diligent Governance.
"Hehe. Queen, this doesn't involve Alyssa anymore, so Alyssa will be leaving first!"
Having been tempted by a certain ice-blue ultra-S woman, the gray-haired girl who had just returned to the Imperial Capital with Selene waved both arms enthusiastically at her Queen before lightly skipping away down the corridor.
She ran toward the creatures displayed in Esdeath's palm—several plump white beasts whose bodies bore tree-like patterns and possessed ten tails.
Juvenile Ten-Tails.
Alive.
And intelligent.
Selene made the judgment, withdrew the corner of her gaze, and said nothing before leaving. Alyssa's behavior was rather heartless, after all.
Handling government affairs was something Alyssa had absolutely no interest in. If she stayed for too long, she would either run off on her own or be driven out by Selene.
"Phew... chitter chitter, chirri-gurla chirri-gurla (This place is terrifying. I want to go home)..."
In their living Divine Tree state, the few Ten-Tails juveniles Esdeath had selected from the fleet's plunder trembled violently before letting out collective sighs of relief.
Too terrifying...
They no longer possessed the imposing majesty of the Ten-Tails. Each one remained extremely cautious, terrified that one wrong move might cost them even the chance to "blossom and bear fruit."
The Otsutsuki treasured them.
The Empire did not.
To the Empire, they were nothing more than tribute offerings—essentially imperial fruit.
They had been peacefully rooting themselves and absorbing genetic information when the Imperial fleet suddenly raided them.
That was the true experience shared by the Ten-Tails.
Captured by that ice-blue woman and brought here, their original Otsutsuki "tree planters" had either been crushed, captured, or slaughtered. Their intelligence might be limited, but their instinctive ability to sense strength was extremely sharp.
After being brought to the Imperial Capital, they behaved with absolute obedience.
Esdeath.
Sebas.
Selene.
Each presence more terrifying than the last.
The miserable fate of the Otsutsuki clan who had once tried to resist—those who used to shovel soil for them—was still vividly remembered.
"Oh? This thing is the seed of the tree that produces 'Peaches'?"
Like kneading a lump of clay, Alyssa grabbed the plumpest Ten-Tails juvenile from Esdeath's hand and began enthusiastically squeezing it.
The technique... somehow resembled the way Selene usually kneaded her.
"Mm. The 'Peach Trees' are still in their juvenile stage. Once they grow larger, they won't have this soft pet-like feeling anymore. They won't even feel much pain. At that point they'll simply be planted to bear fruit and then split apart for other uses."
"Though their cut branches are quite useful as interrogation tools," Esdeath added thoughtfully.
"W-Whoa..."
The Ten-Tails juveniles flopped helplessly in the hands of Alyssa and Esdeath like oversized hamsters exposing their bellies.
...
Grand Palace, Schönbrunn Palace.
Hall of Diligent Governance.
Selene's Imperial Study.
As the administrative center of the Empire, even when its owner temporarily "left work," and Sebas handled some functions from his own side hall, the daily operations within Selene's study remained incredibly busy.
At every moment, memorials and official communications arrived from every level of the Empire—ministries, sectors, governorships, and colonial territories.
Using these reports as aggregated information, Selene's two highest-level auxiliary governance intelligence servants—after numerous upgrades now essentially data-mechanical lifeforms and partially specialized toward the direction of the Herrscher of Reason—Mendicant Bias and Offensive Bias were conducting today's round of secondary memorial approvals.
Secondary—but also the overwhelming majority of administrative affairs.
Using their continuously expanding computational power—driven by tens of thousands of supermassive stellar systems after repeated upgrades by Selene—they calculated how the Empire could obtain the greatest benefit.
After comprehensive consideration, they would select or modify the most stable and appropriate proposal from among the bureaucrats' memorial submissions.
As for matters of the highest priority, they would simply review and archive them before delivering them directly to Sebas' desk.
That was the procedure when the Empress Selene was absent from the Imperial Capital.
Creak.
"Your Majesty." ×2
Selene's return to the capital had naturally not been hidden from the two intelligence servants.
"Mm."
Nodding slightly, Selene walked toward her desk while flipping through the summary report in her hand. Behind her, the Flügel guards respectfully closed the doors.
After injecting a Honkai alchemical formula for "condensation" into the crystal flower, she tossed the Imaginary ice crystal containing the so-called Otsutsuki God onto the desk.
Previously, Selene would have simply swallowed the thing whole—Imaginary crystal, Esdeath's absolute ice, and all—like candy.
But ever since she obtained the immortal-style technique of "alchemy," her table manners had become far more elegant.
No hurry.
First liquefy the Otsutsuki God and refine it into a pill. After several rounds of further refinement to improve absorption and flavor, then she would eat it.
Selene slid a finger across her workstation. Pale blue streams of data flowed through her eyes as she invoked the authority of the Herrscher of Reason.
In an instant, she reviewed the entire chain of governmental affairs from the recent period. Once her thoughts reconnected with the administrative flow, she entered working mode at remarkable speed.
Even as she read the scrolling text on the projection screens, her hands continued moving nonstop—her mind performing hundreds of tasks simultaneously.
Administrative mode—activated!
"The Emperor... the old Emperor's A–13 Direct Great Sector Governorate..."
"The Aeldari are still fighting their civil war..."
"Tsk. These relics drowning in the glory of the past. They ruined their own peak empire, yet their temperament hasn't changed much."
"I already helped them eliminate most of the most extreme and deranged Commorragh kin. Aside from the Ynnari and some Craftworld Aeldari, quite a number of Exodite Aeldari remain stubborn. They insist on their pastoral way of life. They neither oppose nor support Imperial rule. They fear the Empire might quietly fall like the ancient Aeldari Empire once did..."
"...Taxes... Emperor, that's your responsibility."
Selene did not bother writing a detailed instruction.
After all, she knew who the Great Sector Governor was.
Appeasement? Selene might consider it.
But the old Emperor was almost certainly the one writing the most furious petitions in the first place.
A single note was enough.
Handled by you.
After all, the Emperor excelled at this sort of matter.
Bring out that iron imperialist fist.
"Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) has arrived in the Imperial Capital..."
"He has passed certification from the Ministry of War. Currently lodging at the Palace of Memorials. He is touring the capital while awaiting Your Majesty's audience, investiture, and appointment ceremony..."
Instruction: Audience tomorrow.
"Mm, news from the Necrons... Their internal cohesion is far stronger than the Aeldari."
"The Silent King Szarekh has unified all Necrons. Within the A–13 Direct Governorate region, all Necrons have awakened from stasis fields. Aside from a minority that chose to retain their living metal bodies, and those damaged during the Great Silence, the Necrons seeking to regain their Necrontyr bodies have completed their biological restoration."
"Their species has now been reorganized. Tomb Worlds are fully reactivating. Celestial forges and megastructural foundries have resumed operation. Armaments are being rebuilt. They request permission to wage war in my name."
"Oh? That generous?"
"Aside from the Nihilakh Dynasty—which I personally took, the wealthiest dynasty and Trazyn's domain—and the Oruscar Dynasty, owner of the Celestial Orrery... even the Sautekh Dynasty, the most warlike and currently the strongest Necron military power, has been offered to me voluntarily."
"Szarekh only retained direct control of the Szarakh Dynasty—the symbolic legal authority of Necron legitimacy."
Seeing this, Selene nodded slowly.
Very perceptive.
Severing one's own arm to survive—and doing it decisively.
Trazyn served as Selene's proxy. Szarekh knew this better than anyone.
Yet his method of dealing with the largest internal warlord thorn—the Stormlord Imotekh—was simply to hand the entire problem to Selene.
He even relinquished the Sautekh Dynasty, which had the strongest separatist tendencies.
He did not attempt to save face by temporarily installing Trazyn as a ceremonial ruler.
Instead, he directly offered the Sautekh Dynasty to Selene.
A strategic retreat.
Simply refusing to play that game anymore.
If the Stormlord had the courage, he could go argue with Selene personally.
Although it looked like a heavy sacrifice, once the three strongest dynasties were separated, the majority of the remaining Necron dynasties naturally fell under the leadership of the Silent King.
His authority among them became unquestionable.
At the same time, once unified, the remaining dynasties possessed far greater long-term development potential in terms of restoring reproduction and new life.
Much greater than the three dynasties now directly under Empress Selene.
This was Szarekh's declaration to Selene.
He was the only legitimate ruler of the Necron race beneath the Emperor.
As expected of the monarch who had once wagered his entire species on biotransference.
A maneuver entirely within the rules of the game. No underhanded tactics.
Szarekh was satisfied.
Selene was also satisfied.
Instruction: Approved.
The newly reborn Necrons were impatient to earn fresh glory. Why would she stop them?
Her Honkai Empire's 'Undead Scourge.'
Mm—but not yet
Next.
"Message from Sangheili Legion Fleet Commander Xytan 'Jar Wattinree..."
"Mm. Good news after good news..."
"If even the rigid and stubborn Sangheili are sincerely convinced, then it seems the proud and unruly Protoss Legions have finally gained the ability to operate independently as the main combat force of a war zone."
...
"The ninja world... ninja."
"Oh? Sebas approved Esdeath's proposal. The ninja will be removed from the Imperial vassal legion recruitment system and instead serve as a dedicated talent pool for the Assassination Force..."
...
"A report from Dr. Stylish."
"With support from the former Galactic Empire—now the Imperial Governorate—a pilot large-scale Forge World has successfully begun construction. The first-stage shipyard is already operational. A new generation of small interstellar shuttlecraft equipped with hyperspace engine technology will soon enter the market."
...
Time passed quickly.
According to the data perception of Mendicant Bias and Offensive Bias, the enormous mountain of memorials once waiting for the Empress' review visibly shrank at remarkable speed.
Busy.
Very busy.
Relaxed.
Idle.
If their operational state had to be described.
Looking at the nearly empty archive of unread memorials, Selene leaned back in her chair and took a sip of the red tea beside her.
"Done."
"Handling these things again after a while always feels strangely fresh."
With a lazy stretch, the silver-haired, red-eyed Empress propped her chin on one hand and opened the final document scheduled for today.
"Apocalypse Virus... another research proposal for a non-contaminating extinction weapon?"
"Metallic crystals forming on the surface of the body... crystallization... in the final stage of infection... when the crystals break, the infected body parts collapse and disintegrate."
Selene showed interest.
Then she checked the discoverer list.
Oh.
Special technical advisor dispatched by the Imperial Science Bureau to a colonial world.
"Wait..."
"II—Colony World No. 202149 (Attack on Titan)."
"Local exploration fleet under the planetary governor..."
"Governor: Kiana Kaslana."
Selene clicked her tongue in amusement.
After the last administrative conference, it seemed Kiana had grown envious of other governors making extra profits through exploratory expeditions.
So she had quickly followed the trend and formed her own exploration fleet.
Backed by the colonial governor's office, small exploration ships were practically costless so long as they were kept under control.
Any discovery meant profit.
Her little life was flourishing quite nicely.
Instruction: Noted.
Selene's interest came and went quickly.
Work finished.
She stood, stretched lazily, and walked toward the door while muttering to herself.
"Haa... speaking of which, Sebas should probably take a proper rest as well."
"Durandal and the others are still on vacation. Sebas has also been sent on leave by me. Yet I, the big boss, came back to work early..."
"Oh well. Time to host that Peach Banquet."
"The coming days will be busy again."
"Where should I deploy the Necrons..."
"The Protoss Legions are requesting the honor of serving as the palace garrison guard. They're even willing to be deployed to the front-line meat grinder to earn the qualification."
"And Kiana's side..."
"Durandal, Rita, Raiden Mei, Natasha..."
"Tsk. They're having a vacation gathering."
"This Apocalypse Virus..."
"They really discovered it while messing around during their vacation."
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