Sampo, full name Sampo Koski, is a fanatical worshiper of the Path of Elation's Aeon, Aha, and at the same time, a member of the Masked Fools.
The followers of the Elation Aeon are many, but the ideology of the Masked Fools is the most radical. They believe the truth of the world is nothing more than a joke, and that the ultimate meaning of all existence lies in simple laughter.
They will stop at nothing for the sake of fun, often turning the worlds they pass through, and the people they encounter, completely upside down.
All their actions are meant to stir up the stagnant pool of life, to set it surging and changing, and from that change, the Fools interpret amusements worth mocking.
If someone can mock them in turn, that is even better, a delight they welcome.
It is said that in another world there is a group called the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, and they too seem to have some kind of connection with the Elation Aeon.
As a Masked Fool who has long wandered the universe in search of fun, Sampo's knowledge and horizons far surpass the natives of Belobog.
So, when the Emiya family had just arrived in the Silvermane Guards' restricted zone, Sampo used his ability to erase everyone's memory of him and secretly went into hiding.
During that time, whether it was Emiya's earth-shaking sword, or Zoe's various strange inventions, Sampo was so thrilled he could hardly breathe.
But if things really continued to develop step by step like this for the Emiya family, then by the time the Interastral Peace Corporation came to collect debts, they might actually handle it smoothly and without danger.
That would be way too boring. Finally there was a god-tier development, and as a Masked Fool who treats fun as life itself, Sampo would never allow things to turn out so dull.
So Sampo decided to make a move himself, to speed things up, just a little bit.
"House Landau, Builders, I'm sure I don't need to say more, you should already know how terrifying the Emiya family is, right?"
In the Landau family's dim underground chamber, Sampo flipped his hair and revealed an oily, greasy smile.
"It won't take three to five years, not even two or three years. The Underworld will completely surpass the Overworld. Once they walk out from underground, all of Belobog will treat the Emiya family like their darlings!"
Hearing Sampo's words, the bosses' faces, already dark, grew darker still, like coal.
They knew better than anyone the countless evil deeds they had committed over the years.
When the time came for them to be pulled down, they might not even get the chance to dig mines underground. Their best outcome would be being shot on the spot.
Otherwise, even if the Emiya family spared them, even if the Supreme Guardian spared them, the Silvermane Guards and the people of Belobog would never spare them.
Even if they were torn apart by five horses, even if they were executed by slow slicing, it still would not quench the hatred in people's hearts.
"Why should we? Belobog was developing just fine. Why should a wild monkey crawling out of the wilderness get to reap the fruits?"
No one knew who spoke first, but in the silent chamber a string of agreeing voices immediately rang out.
They grew impassioned, indignant, just as if the Emiya family were not here to lead the people to a better life, but rather despicable invaders.
"That's right, they are definitely malicious invaders!" The head of the Landau family's words fell like thunder, so forceful they even startled the other bosses, who now wore complicated expressions.
As if not seeing the looks on their faces, or rather, as if he could not look, could not even think, the Landau patriarch stubbornly continued.
"All of this is just a façade. Didn't you see the endless number of robots?"
At those words, his lifeless eyes suddenly lit up like lightbulbs.
'Yes! There are far too many robots, that must be the scheme those vile outsiders carefully plotted!'
Though lust had clouded the minds of these high-ranking bosses for many years, when it came to matters of profit, their minds still turned quickly.
Hearing the Landau head's reminder, they immediately found their opening.
"Yes, everything they've done is just a façade. They only want to use Belobog's abundant resources to build a robot army!" Even Adrian, usually steady, spoke in a voice gone hoarse with agitation.
"Exactly. Just listen to the name they gave the Underworld, 'Mechanical Empire'!"
"Mechanical Empire, how ambitious, how wolf-hearted!"
"Exactly, exactly. Just from the name, you can tell. They'll strip our resources bare, then kill off all the people, leaving only robots!"
Once the opening appeared, the bosses' flood of words followed.
Sampo sat quietly to one side, his cup of tea gone cold without him taking a single sip.
'Tsk tsk, who'd have thought listening to these idiots' conspiracy theories would be this entertaining? Next planet, I've got to try this again!'
The heated debate grew more and more intense. In all the conspiracy theories they conjured up, their hearts aligned more closely, their tones grew more unified, until their voices shook the chamber ceiling, sending dust falling down.
"But we couldn't defeat them before. Now it should be even more impossible, right?" Among the Builders, the most senior woman, Hetty, suddenly raised a discordant note.
"That's nothing to worry about!" Seeing someone about to spoil things, Sampo quickly patted his chest and jumped in. "I don't know if you've heard of the Interastral Peace Corporation. I went ahead and contacted them for you."
Centuries ago, Jarilo's civilization was prosperous enough to connect with interstellar trade, and naturally drew the investment of the Interastral Peace Corporation.
It's said that when the Antimatter Legion descended on Jarilo, all the investors withdrew, but at that time the IPC provided a huge sum of money to the Builders for disaster relief.
However, that money was never actually used, the automaton factory they built was never put into production, and then the Eternal Freeze suddenly erupted and swept across the world.
The corporation's people ran without hesitation, declaring publicly that Jarilo was finished, and that their investments there had turned into bad debt.
Jarilo then completely fell into being a neglected frontier planet.
If not for Sampo running off to tip them off, by the time the Emiya family fully rebuilt Jarilo and largely cleared away the Eternal Freeze, only then would the corporation remember this planet.
But since the matter had been raised again, and it looked like someone else was about to reap the fruits of Jarilo, naturally the corporation could no longer sit idle.
After all, on this planet were still the miracle left behind by the Preservation Aeon, an entire Stellaron brimming with powerful energy, and vast mineral resources, an immeasurable fortune.
From Belobog's perspective, the IPC's money was never even used.
The automaton factories the IPC built, and the automatons they developed, were garbage. The city walls were all built by the Creation Engine, and Belobog survived only thanks to their ancestors' blood and flesh piled up.
But from the IPC's perspective, since Belobog took the money, whether they used it or not, it was still debt. And debts must be repaid, this is only natural.
According to what the IPC employee told Sampo, Jarilo's original repayment term was 280 years. Now the debt had been overdue for centuries.
This had gravely damaged the corporation's reputation. Depending on the situation, the corporation might even consider sending armed forces to collect the debt, and punish a planet that broke its word.
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