"Those rare treasures are priceless—you should keep them stored safely, my lord." Hiiragi Chisato gently brushed Akio's cheek as she spoke.
"Akio is the nation's divine protector. With you and Lady Ei watching over Inazuma, peace and stability are possible. It's only right that the nation provides for its gods. But the sisters and I have already talked about this."
"We all have more than enough money. From now on, whenever we host gatherings, we won't touch the internal treasury. Instead, we'll take turns footing the bill." Chisato giggled. "We're all pretty rich anyway."
"Hmm… I guess that's true." Akio thought about it for a moment.
Now that she mentioned it, all his sweethearts were absolutely loaded.
Ayaka was the heiress of the Yashiro Commission, Yoimiya's fireworks business had monopolized multiple countries' markets, and Miko was not only head of the Grand Narukami Shrine but also ran Yae Publishing House…
One rich girl after another! Was he—the actual god—the only broke one in the house?
"So… turns out I'm the only pauper here?" Akio muttered. "I'm just like that Morax guy. I keep forgetting I don't have any Mora!!!"
"That's not true," Chisato pouted. "You have us, don't you? Our money is your money, my lord~"
"..." Akio looked at her, then smiled and nodded. "My doctor always said I had a weak stomach and should only eat soft rice... Looking at things now, turns out he was right."
"My lord~" Chisato rolled her eyes at his teasing, but she didn't mind spending money on her husband.
"Alright, alright, enough jokes." Akio waved a hand. "Honestly, it'd be nice if we had more officials like that—truly serving the nation and its people."
"As for selecting staff under the Kanjou Commission, I'll leave that to you, sweetheart. You must vet them carefully," Akio said. "After that big purge, the entire Inazuman bureaucracy was overhauled."
"All the corrupt parasites have been cleared out. Make sure none of them slip back in."
"Don't worry, my lord. We'll personally review every candidate," Chisato promised.
"Good." Akio nodded. In the past, Inazuma's government posts were almost entirely hereditary. No matter how useless someone was, they'd inherit a position.
After finishing the morning's affairs with Chisato, she stretched lazily. Thankfully, her current body was divine—otherwise, the workload would've killed her.
"There just aren't enough staff right now. Once we recruit more, things will get better." She rubbed her neck and sighed.
"Oh, right! My lord, take a look at this." Suddenly, Chisato pulled out a device that looked like an earpiece, glowing with green light.
"Wait a second… Is that an Akasha Terminal?" Akio frowned as he looked at it.
"You recognize this?" Chisato blinked in surprise.
"Where did you get it?" he asked.
"Um… it came from a scholar who claimed to be from Sumeru," Chisato explained. "He wanted to make a deal. This device lets people learn things very quickly."
"I tried it myself—it's really effective," she added. "He proposed a long-term business deal: supplying these terminals to Inazuma. The price isn't cheap, but I thought it was a great idea."
"It hasn't entered the market yet, has it?" Akio asked.
"Not yet." Chisato shook her head. "I told him to go draft a formal contract. By my guess, he'll be back any moment now."
"This kind of thing…" Akio's expression darkened. "Damn that Akademiya. They're already trying to sink their claws into Inazuma?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Chisato asked, confused.
"This device is called the Akasha. It runs on the Dendro God's Gnosis. While it grants knowledge quickly, it comes at the cost of people's dreams," Akio said grimly.
"Sumeru has grand ambitions. They once tried to create an artificial god powered by people's dreams. They say Sumeru's citizens don't dream—but the truth is, they're trapped in an eternal cycle of dreams."
"That's why they often wake up tired and with headaches."
"But that's the least of it. Everyone who uses an Akasha Terminal… the Akademiya can access and even manipulate their consciousness," Akio continued. "This thing… is no better than a Delusion."
"What?!" Chisato's expression turned furious. "Those bastards! After messing up their own nation, now they want to mess up ours?! Inazuma just reopened to the world, and they dare pull this crap?"
"Foreign scum—punishable by death!!" she growled.
Then, turning to Akio, she said, "My lord, please allow me to lead our forces and arrest those foreign bastards!"
"Granted. I'll go with you." Akio nodded. "I want to see what their true goal is in peddling these things."
"Understood." Chisato stood and marched outside, calling out, "Kanjou Commission guards, assemble! We're heading out to apprehend Sumeru's infiltrators."
"And notify the Tenryou Commission—we're acting under direct divine order. They should be ready for a handover at any time."
"Yes, Lady Commissioner!" the guards replied, saluting before rushing off to gather their forces.
Though the Kanjou and Yashiro Commissions didn't command formal military troops, as one of Inazuma's Three Commissions, they had the right to maintain their own guards—and in emergencies, to exercise arrest authority.
Back inside, Chisato let out a long breath. "I can't believe it. A tool that useful… and yet so dangerous."
"If the Akasha gets widespread use, won't our people be nothing more than meat on a butcher's block for Sumeru to carve up?"
"What a perfect excuse," Akio suddenly said with a cold smile.
"Huh? My lord?" Chisato looked at him, puzzled.
"Record the Sumeru scholar's testimony," Akio said coldly. "Then have Yae Publishing House draft an official bulletin to the Seven Nations."
"I was still debating with Makoto and the others about whether we should take military action against Sumeru. Looks like they've handed us the perfect justification."
"Endangering Inazuma's citizens—that alone is enough to justify a declaration of war." Akio's smile widened slightly. "Chisato, the Firearms Division is already set up. Expedite gun production and equip the troops."
"W–We're declaring war on Sumeru?" Chisato's eyes went wide with shock.
Since the founding of the Seven Nations by the Archons, no nation had ever officially declared full-scale war.