[You have completed all preliminary preparations. It is time to choose how you will reveal all this to your subjects.]
[Please choose—]
[1. Give a speech that announces the existence of the Seed of Calamity and reassures the public. You believe that the subjects of the empire have only been together for a year. The people's morale is unstable, and they cannot face a serious disaster with a united front. To prevent the empire from descending into panic and disunity, you cannot reveal the infected to frighten the people just yet. You decide to first give a speech revealing the existence of the Seed of Calamity, subtly hinting at its danger. You will then hold multiple speeches to deepen their understanding, only revealing the full truth after the people are mentally prepared for the terrifying reality. Selecting this option may trigger the events: "The Ignorant in the Shadows" or "Panic Born from Lies."]
[2. Give a speech using a severely infected individual as an example to warn the public. You believe this to be a true moment of life and death for the empire. There is no more time to act as the people's nanny, carefully soothing their feelings... It is time to explain everything to them. You decide to stick to your original plan, holding a large-scale address and using the severely infected subject Natasha created as a warning to instill fear in the people. You will then use this fear to ignite their will to resist, contributing their strength to the dawn of the empire's tomorrow. Selecting this option may trigger the events: "Then Let Us Be United as One!" or "Collapse Under Despair."]
[3. Hold a bloody public execution. You believe you should not back down. Those infected by the Seed of Calamity are a hidden disaster, monsters in human skin, a complete and total enemy of the human race. You decide to widely publicize the difference between monsters and humans, fanning the flames of the people's hatred and firing the first shot to lead the ignorant masses. You will hold the bloodiest of trials, executing the severely infected subject Natasha created in front of all the empire's people. Selecting this option may trigger the events: "Drive Out Every Last Monster" or "This is a War for Racial Survival!"]
Looking at the options on the screen, Ron found himself hesitating for a moment between the second and third choices.
Theoretically, he should have ignored options one and three. One was too soft, the other too brutal. Only the second option perfectly aligned with his plan, allowing him to methodically stabilize the potential chaos...
Rationally, only the second option could perfectly achieve his goals. The third was so brutal it could easily cause the empire to collapse.
But now that the moment was here, he found himself appreciating the third option more. At a time when victory was so close and the empire was flourishing, for Sampo to pull something like this felt like having the Great Pyramid snatched away by the neighboring Qin Shi Huang one turn before completion in a game of Civilization. It was infuriating.
Ron's usual style would be to go all-in, even at the risk of losing the game, just to get even. An eye for an eye.
But...
Ron glanced at the screen. On his personal panel, a pure white entry was particularly striking—
"Embracing Under the Blue Sky."
This was the Vow of Matrimony he had made with Natasha in this simulation.
He had promised her a new world where people could walk freely under the blue sky, a world as warm as spring... He didn't like to break his promises, even in a game.
If he truly chose the third option, while he would certainly get his cathartic release, the Jarilo-VI Second Empire would face nothing but ruin...
The flames of civil war he would ignite would be impossible to extinguish. The likely outcome would be the empire shattering into pieces, with Belobog buried in the snow, leaving only Ron and a finally-forced-out-of-hiding Sampo to face each other.
At a stage like this, where a single action could affect everything, he could not make such a selfish choice if he wanted the empire to overcome this crisis and move forward again...
With that thought, Ron chose the second option.
The options on the screen faded, and new text appeared upon it...
---o---
[You have perfectly completed the task Ron assigned you.]
[Ron has decided to immediately hold a speech. He will display the severely infected subject you created before everyone as a warning to the entire empire.]
[The empire's ability to rally its people has not waned despite the recent troubles. At the announcement of the Silvermane Guards and the Pioneer Groups, the vast majority of the empire's citizens have left their posts and gathered once again in the Belobog Administrative District—]
[The last time so many people gathered before the Everwinter Monument was the day Ron declared the founding of the Jarilo-VI Second Empire... This gathering represents a turning point for the empire. Will it lead to decay and ruin, or to a new world of brilliance and light?]
[You do not know... but you believe Ron will surely fulfill his promise.]
The text on the screen faded, and a new scene materialized upon it:
The Belobog Administrative District had changed from how it looked a year ago when Ron founded the empire. The ancient buildings, some hundreds of years old, had all been renovated. Even the Everwinter Monument, a symbol of The Preservation's will, had been meticulously re-carved with engravings of vines and flowers, representing The Abundance.
The monument was polished to a shine, and the entire city exuded a sense of prosperity, a far cry from the decrepit giant that had once swayed in the blizzard, bitterly resisting the Fragmentum.
But in this renewed Belobog, the crowd gathered before the monument now lacked the vigorous spirit they should have had. Only suspicion and fear were visible on their faces.
The sea of people was noisy. A small merchant whispered to the person next to him:
"What's going on... Why did His Majesty Ron suddenly gather us all here for this speech?"
The person he asked was clearly an acquaintance, a somewhat simple-looking worker.
The man scratched his head and said hesitantly, "Something about an infectious disease...? That's what the Pioneer brother who notified me said. Don't know what kind of sickness..."
"Sigh... you're out of the loop, aren't you?"
A sigh came from the side as an uncle in a felt hat and thick clothes interjected.
"You've heard about that thing that mysteriously appeared around us the other day, right? The fruit?"
"Didn't the Pioneers and the Silvermane Guards go door-to-door collecting them? Our Lady Cocolia also gave a speech about it, but in the end, some people still didn't hand them over..."
The man glanced around cautiously at the dense crowd, lowered his voice, and spoke mysteriously.
"In the apartment building next to mine, I saw someone who ate one..."
"Ate one? His Majesty Ron and Lady Cocolia both said that stuff is deadly. How could someone dare to eat it?"
The other two were astonished, but the man in the felt hat shook his head.
"There are always people who don't trust the empire... Some think His Majesty and Lady Cocolia are oppressing them, that these fruits are divine saviors, a blessing from the Amber Lord who heard their prayers."
"They actually believed the note in the box, thought eating it would grant them immunity to the snow and the Fragmentum, and make them immortal."
He said, somewhat sarcastically, "But how could something so good be real... There's a punk in my building. Before His Majesty founded the empire, that bastard was in the Silvermane Guards, a goon for the old ministers. You'd see him splashing filth on people's doors every day, threatening those who found evidence of their corruption to keep their mouths shut."
"But then His Majesty Ron came, and that scoundrel's good days came to an end. All those ministers were thrown in jail. Without his protectors, that kid should have gone to prison too, but maybe he got lucky and managed to shirk all responsibility. He just got kicked out of the military district and now he just mopes at home drinking all day, cursing His Majesty when he feels like it. A complete wreck..."
"A few days ago, I saw him laughing like a madman, saying his time was coming, and then he ate one of those little berries."
"After he ate it, I saw strange green fur start to grow on him..."
"It was still okay at that point, but two days later, I looked out my window late at night and saw him downstairs, chewing on the apartment's wall bricks like a lunatic. He was covered in shaggy green fur, looked just like a monster."
The man in the felt hat's eyes filled with fear.
"Then our eyes met. I felt like he had gone completely insane. He looked at me like I was a sausage... He absolutely wanted to eat me!"
"Luckily, the building had already been renovated under His Majesty's orders. Even as a monster, he couldn't break in. He rammed the wall for a while then darted into the night, and I never saw him again..."
He spoke with lingering dread.
"Maybe that monster is still wandering the administrative district, dragging innocent pedestrians away in the dead of night, biting them to death, and swallowing them bones and all while they scream..."
Listening to the man's terrifying story, the other two exchanged a look and swallowed hard, a hint of panic in their eyes...
Countless similar conversations were taking place throughout the massive crowd. Although the Seed of Calamity had yet to cause a true disaster and there were only raging undercurrents within the empire, for the common people, the change was something they could easily feel.
For them, these undercurrents were the reality crashing down upon them. It was impossible to hide the existence of the infected...
The crowd was a cacophony of noise until Ron strode onto the speech platform, dragging by a leash a monster covered in green fur, its human-like silhouette barely discernible. It thrashed violently, trying to break free, its fanged mouth wide open in a furious roar. At that moment, all sound ceased.
It was not just out of respect for Ron, the sole emperor of Belobog who had brought so much progress in just one year, but also out of fear for this insane monster covered in fine, green vines...
Ron stood calmly on the platform, one hand holding down the thrashing infected, and scanned the expressions of everyone in the crowd.
Fear, vigilance, panic, confusion... The vast majority of the people were not prepared to face these infected, and they had no idea how to deal with this.
...Exactly as he had predicted.
This was the reaction he wanted.
He calmly swept his gaze over every face, his expression grim as he began to speak...
The image on the screen faded, and new text appeared upon it:
[You held a speech, using the infected as evidence to announce to everyone the horrific consequences of eating the Seed of Calamity.]
[Almost everyone was filled with great fear. For a time, panic spread, as if the empire would fall apart at any moment.]
[But you know the empire cannot collapse so easily. The entire situation is within your control... In fact, this fear is precisely what you needed from this speech.]
[You seized upon the people's simple dream of living safely and peacefully. After presenting the monster that is the Seed of Calamity's infected, you immediately proposed your solution to everyone—]
[Those who have not eaten the Seed can choose to hand it over immediately. Those who have will be admitted to the Belobog People's Hospital for quarantine and treatment.]
[Out of fear of the infected monster, a small group of people, accounting for about one-third of the Seed's holders, have turned in their Seeds.]
[Another group of people turned themselves in to the Silvermane Guards and Pioneer Groups after the speech, admitting they had consumed the Seed and hoping to receive treatment at the Belobog People's Hospital...]
[These threats, which under normal circumstances would have become mindless, severely infected individuals and thrown the entire empire into chaos, have been temporarily suppressed by your actions.]
[The faction "Jarilo-VI Second Empire" has gained the trait: "Raging Undercurrents (Gray)"]