Chapter 105

An earsplitting applause erupted throughout the room. “Wait, hold on! You can’t raise the stakes like that!” Shiren protested. “Hmph! That’s what you get for not listening to your mother.” Sairi pouted. With no other choice, Shiren took the stage. “Uhh, I’m the emperor. Anyone got a problem with that?” Her speech was disquieting right from the beginning. “I want to govern the Sacred Blooded of the world to make sure we can all eat our fill. In fact, that is my only goal. Because when we starve, we are unable to do anything else. Both rich and poor live in this world. That is unavoidable. A world where everyone is rich is probably, like, theoretically impossible or something. But we cannot allow people to starve. When one has no food, one loses the ability to think of others. That leads to poverty of the soul. A lack of nutrients also makes one more prone to illness. To put it another way, if we all eat our fill, we will have energy to spare. That will give us more chances to live a fun and fulfilling life. We will be nicer to others. So our foremost goal is food. Food, food, food, food. Four square meals a day. With a full stomach, everything will work out. Food first!” Shiren had no idea what she was supposed to talk about, so she said whatever came to mind. She was perfectly aware that this probably wasn’t a very good speech, but she had to say something. “The brainiacs can handle the diplomacy and negotiations and all that other boring stuff. I will govern on my ideals. An emperor does not conduct business—she rules. Anyone got a problem with that?” “““Ohhh!””” A cheer rose up from the crowd “Way more riveting than I thought it’d be!” “I was expecting literally nothing, so that was infinitely better than I expected!” “Long live the emperor!” “In a way, that was pretty funny!” It went over much better than either of them had expected. “That was great, Shiren,” Sairi said. “I guess you gave it serious thought in your own way.” “I didn’t so much think about it as just say whatever came to mind…” “Thank you, Shiren. This makes me very happy.” Sairi offered a genuine smile. “You’ve grown so much. I’m bursting with joy.” “Oh, please. You’re exaggerating.” “I’m still worried about your awful test scores, though.” “Please just forget about that!” “Name five of Natsume Soseki’s novels.” “Ten Nights of Drinks, The Minor, I Am a Catdog, Then What?, The Body Pillow.” “I’d kind of like to read I Am a Catdog.” “It’s a romance novel about a dog who thinks he’s a cat and ends up pining after a lady cat he can never be with.” “You’re close with those titles, but you got all of them wrong. Keep studying.” Sairi beamed with glee, delighting Shiren. She was certain that Sairi had never smiled so much, so brightly, while the two of them were separated. I think I could live my life for her… Here, in the Holy Sacred Blood Empire. No matter what happens. But even so, Shiren felt something was missing. There was something she would never have for herself at this rate. I don’t need to think about that. She pushed those thoughts away. Her instinct told her one thing: Once she started down that road, there would be no turning back.