The uproar in Republic Square had gone from boiling over, to subsiding, to numbness—and then, suddenly, to burning. But we all knew that flames this fierce and mighty could never last long. Before long, those scattered tongues of fire began to die away.
Meanwhile, the meeting at the Guild of Rangers headquarters in the Lierman Archipelago—which included senior officials from the Interstellar Security Committee, the Guild, and the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, and could be said to represent half of the galaxy's highest security and psychic authorities—was also rapidly drawing to a close.
Throughout the meeting, representatives from all sides exchanged views freely and frankly on the unrest sweeping the country, the worsening public order, and even organized supernatural crime.
In the end, everyone agreed that they couldn't do anything about politics; all they could address were matters of public order. And everyone agreed that the problems with public order stemmed from economic problems, which in turn were undoubtedly caused by the war. To put it plainly, everyone had been ready to join forces and develop the New World on a massive scale, but the war had begun, and everything had changed as a result.
More importantly, one side in the war was dirt poor, while the other was already a military-industrial power. There was no chance to profit from the war, so the economy was bound to decline, and public order was bound to deteriorate.
In short, no matter what went wrong, it was all the Galactic Empire's fault!
Once everyone agreed on that, it set the tone for everything else, and the rest was easy to discuss.
"So, those stirring up strikes and riots across the country aren't just being egged on by the Serpent. The Empire must be backing them, too. We should follow that lead and