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Kaito took the head seat and settled in, with Benimaru standing at his side as Commander-in-Chief of the entire military.
"Who are the generals for each branch? I only know the Air Force has Garp."
Benimaru quickly ran through the introductions.
"Kaito-sama, the Army generals we have designated are Gobta, Giyu Tomioka, and Geld."
"The Navy admirals are Borsalino, Kuzan, and the specially recruited Issho."
"And for the Air Force..."
Before Benimaru could finish, Kaito cut in.
"No need to mention the Air Force. Everyone already knows. Pfft..."
"That is too much! Kaito-sama, are you laughing again?!"
Sengoku looked at Kaito trying desperately to hold it together and shot to his feet.
"No! I just thought of something pleasant!"
Kaito replied on reflex.
"You have been laughing the entire time! You have not stopped!!!"
Kaito fought down the laughter and replied.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, this is a military meeting. Please mind the occasion... Pfft..."
At that, the whole room finally gave in.
"Hahahaha!"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I truly do not want to laugh... it's just... Hahaha!"
"Poor Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Since you are my old superior, allow me to support you with five... three... one colonel!"
"Ah ah ah ah... [Buddha's Impact]!!!"
Bang... Clang...
Sakuya looked at the conference room in complete disarray, her brow creasing very slightly. She said softly:
"[Time Reversal]!"
In an instant, the tables, chairs, and benches scattered across the room lifted gently and drifted back to their original positions.
Even the broken table restored itself whole.
"It is not the first time I have seen it and yet Miss Sakuya still amazes me."
"As expected of the woman who keeps Kaito-sama and the others in check."
Sakuya gave no reaction to any of this. She turned to face everyone present with a perfectly composed expression.
"This is a conference room. I trust everyone understands what that means."
The moment she said it, everyone in the room sat up straight, eyes forward, like well-behaved children.
Everyone, that is, except Sakazuki, who already sat that way at all times and could not have looked more like a rigid soldier if he had tried.
But even he was not exempt.
"Also, Sakazuki. Please extinguish your cigarette. Otherwise, I believe Miss Ness will soon be hearing that her brother has been smoking behind her back again."
Sakazuki froze.
Something seemed to flash through his mind. He promptly spat the cigar out and dropped it into the bin.
Then, in a tone that was decidedly unlike him, he turned to Sakuya with something approaching a placating smile.
"Miss Sakuya, this cigarette was given to me by Borsalino. I did not want it. He made me take it!"
He also shot a look at Kizaru and added.
"I told you I would not smoke, but you kept insisting. Now look at what you have caused!"
Kizaru looked at Sakazuki with an expression of complete bewilderment.
'Good heavens. Didn't you force me to hand it over? Does Ness know you can make a face like that?'
"Sakazuki, you..."
Before Kizaru could get any further, Sakazuki talked over him.
"Alright, I will let it go this time. Do not make me smoke again."
"Kowai ne! Sakazuki has really become something else now!"
Sakuya looked at the two of them for a moment, then said plainly.
"See that it does not happen again."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Kaito stared at Sakazuki getting lectured like a scolded schoolboy.
Is Sakuya too powerful? And when exactly did she find Sakazuki's weakness?
She truly earns her unofficial title of "Empress of the Dark Side."
Not an official title, of course. Just what the people of the Jura-Tempest Federation called her behind closed doors.
Because from the Regent right down to the street clerks, there was not a single person in the entire Federation she could not handle.
So people had given her that name. The woman who ran the whole country from the shadows.
Thinking of her, a thought suddenly surfaced in Kaito's mind, and he spoke up before he had quite finished forming it.
"Everyone, I just had an idea. We are now a trans-dimensional nation, yes?"
"Is calling the ruler 'Queen' really appropriate at this point?"
The moment the words landed, Benimaru's eyes lit up.
"Kaito-sama, you are absolutely right! At the scale our country has reached, Rimuru-sama could easily be called an Empress!"
"Exactly, the title really should change!"
"I have thought for a long time that 'Queen' does not do Rimuru-sama justice!"
Kaito looked at the unanimous agreement below him and nodded with satisfaction.
"Then it is decided. From now on, Rimuru is the Empress of the Jura-Tempest Federation. And as for me, I will no longer serve as Regent."
The room erupted.
Everyone rose at once, voices overlapping in protest.
"No, Kaito-sama!"
"The Jura-Tempest Federation cannot lose your leadership!"
"Kaito-sama, please do not do anything rash!"
"What do you mean rash?! Kaito-sama would never!"
It had to be said: though Kaito spent his days dragging Rimuru and the others off to cause trouble, never doing what anyone would call proper work, he had always been the foundation everyone in the Jura-Tempest Federation stood on.
As long as Kaito-sama was there, no one feared anything. Not even Rimuru carried that same weight.
Rimuru was the Queen, and people loved her, but what they felt toward Kaito was something different. Pure, complete, unshakeable respect.
Every person in this room had been gathered from across worlds, one way or another, by Kaito.
Kyojuro Rengoku, Army Fleet Admiral, had come from the world of Demon Slayer.
Sakazuki, Sengoku, and the others had chosen to join the Jura-Tempest Federation because of him.
Even the children in the academy district had been rescued by Kaito and his people.
Any other person in this country could be absent. Kaito could not.
Huh? Looking at it that way, the Regent seemed to have done quite a lot. Was he really as idle as everyone thought?
"Everyone, calm down. You are all overthinking it."
"I said I would no longer serve as Regent. I did not say I would leave entirely."
Kaito looked at the alarmed faces below him and explained with a helpless expression.
"Oh thank goodness... I thought you were stepping down completely!"
"Kaito-sama, those words really can stop a person's heart!"
"Exactly! Exactly!"
With confirmation that Kaito was not going anywhere, the room breathed again.
"Alright! Everyone sit down."
The room settled. Every face turned toward Kaito in the head seat with a serious expression.
"Kaito-sama, since you no longer intend to be Regent, what position are you planning to take?"
Benimaru stood beside him and asked softly, on behalf of everyone present.
"Hehe! Since Rimuru is already the Empress, then naturally I will be the Prince!"
"Ha!!! *n"