Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Hachiman Hikigaya was seriously sweating bullets.

"You've already got a Herrscher Core. The benefits that land reclamation alone would bring to the Far East are enough to make you Prime Minister. What are you still hesitating for? If you're worried about armed resistance, you have nothing to fear. We will be your staunchest supporters!"

The answer Noldrei gave was utterly terrifying.

Welt Yang also nodded grimly. "The Director is right. It's the same with America's military bases!"

Otto, smiling, added, "Indeed. What's there to hesitate about? Everyone has already hand-picked you to be the one in charge of the Far East."

Hachiman Hikigaya's face was twisted in a grimace, his distress so palpable that even his usual dead-fish eyes were now filled with anxiety.

He had assumed that Academy City's top brass just wanted him to be their man in the Far East, especially since the Academy City juggernaut was now tied to nearly everyone's interests here.

"No, I... I've never done anything like this. I don't even have a college degree!"

To his surprise, Noldrei replied without a hint of concern, "Don't you worry. Once you become Prime Minister, you'll be made an honorary alumnus of some famous Far Eastern university. That'll perfectly cover up that tiny little flaw in your academic record."

What kind of self-deception is that?!

Hachiman was at a loss for words. He struggled, saying, "But, aren't there plenty of other people? I'm not the only person from the Far East with a Herrscher Core. Right, I remember there's..."

"You can't say her name, you know. Not even a mention," Otto interrupted with a smile, cutting Hachiman off. How could he not see the distinction?

Academy City was Academy City, and the Far East was the Far East. Noldrei had no intention of treating them as one and the same.

Damn it, they're threatening me!

Hachiman decided to go for broke. He shot back, "No way! Not unless you come clean about Principal Theresa embezzling my salary to buy manga! Otherwise, I... I'm not going to be some Prime Minister. It's got to be a terrible job!"

Theresa flinched and stammered out an explanation, "I didn't! I didn't embezzle it! I just used the excuse of paying him early to... shuffle the funds around a bit! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to grab the new manga releases right away! I moved the money back afterward! It's not like he spends that much anyway!"

Theresa quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, realizing she might have just exposed herself.

Noldrei shot her a disgusted look. "Even Kiana wouldn't pull something like that. Theresa, you're hopeless!"

What do you mean, 'even I wouldn't do that'?! Kiana felt like she'd just been insulted, but something about the insult felt... off.

Noldrei turned back to Hachiman. "How about this: I'll give you ten years' worth of back pay. For my sake, just let Theresa's little mistake slide. After all, salary is pretty useless around here. If she dared to embezzle your Stigma Points, then I'd really twist her head off."

Theresa's face went pale with fright. She clutched her neck with both hands, terrified he'd actually do it. The scary part wasn't that having her head twisted off would kill her, but that Noldrei could make her head live on, separated from her body.

You've already put it like that. What choice do I have?

"But... the current Prime Minister has nothing to do with me. I don't know anyone in politics."

Hachiman felt that the interests of political parties weren't as simple as Noldrei made them out to be. In reality, however, Noldrei saw the current political landscape as incredibly simple.

It was only because human society had entered a long period of stagnation in the modern era that these internal struggles over distributing work had become so intense.

Furthermore, most of these people weren't diligently maintaining the functions of society. Instead, they saw government work as a blade for carving up benefits for themselves, satisfying their lust for power and a bigger piece of the pie.

"Representation is actually a very simple thing. As long as you can tie your interests to those you represent, making them believe that the future they desire can be delivered into their hands through your efforts, they will willingly let you represent them. Men and women, young and old, rich and powerful—it doesn't matter. Even if that representative might one day place a knife at their throats."

"But don't be afraid. They'll just assume someone else will die before them, and that they'll get what's theirs before that happens."

"You can use Academy City's military might as your support, the Academy City Stigma Space as your platform, and Stigma Battlesuits to build your own organization."

"What makes you think anyone in this era could possibly win against you?"

Noldrei's speech got Hachiman's blood pumping. He was so fired up he almost prostrated himself and pledged his loyalty on the spot.

He thought about it carefully, and it really did seem to be the case. He had the means to protect himself, people to carry out his will, and a collective interest group to represent.

Hachiman realized he might actually have a shot at the position of Prime Minister of the Far East.

"So... maybe I should give it a try?"

He was getting restless. This was the Prime Minister we were talking about. Even if this particular prime ministership seemed like the leadership of a soon-to-be-obsolete organization, a day of glory is still a day of glory, right?

"That's more like it. If you don't even have the guts to be Prime Minister, how are we supposed to change human society?"

Of course, Noldrei had already considered Hachiman's situation from every angle. He was never going to give him a chance to refuse.

I have a chance to become Prime Minister?

Hachiman still had no idea how to actually be a prime minister, but he was beginning to realize that his current abilities were enough to seize power from a national government. The only question now was how he would do it.

At this thought, Hachiman suddenly asked nervously, "What if they don't listen to me? Wait, don't tell me you're planning to do the same thing in the Far East that you did in the Middle East?"

"No, no, no, we wouldn't do something so crude. That only happened because the conflict in the Middle East escalated, and both sides started dropping fission bombs on each other without any restraint."

Noldrei had no intention of repeating what happened in the Middle East. He hadn't come here to watch humanity tear itself apart in pointless internal conflict.

"The old political parties and organizations might cause you a bit of trouble, but don't worry about that. Trust us, they will meet a very... spectacular end."

His words reassured Hachiman quite a bit. He was already picturing the news headlines: the current Prime Minister found dead at home, having committed suicide with seven gunshots to the back.

Noldrei, deeply concerned for the future of the Far East, spoke with great gravity, "Hachiman, a future centered on genetics is the inevitable tide of human history! If you seize the leadership position in the Far East now, you'll become the patriotic revolutionary of a new era! This is a great undertaking that will be recorded in the annals of history. You absolutely cannot betray the Directorate's trust in you!"

Hachiman looked at the circle of people around him, none of whom looked like they were from the Far East, and could only console himself with the thought that he was, in fact, being patriotic.