Chapter Thirty-Three: The Prime Minister Can't Even Afford a Meal? Theresis's Folksy Image?

As the pinnacle symbol of Victoria's industry, a Steam Knight—an existence combining honor and industry—represented Victoria's most formidable power and the symbol of its all-out declaration of war. Surely it had to be reliable, right?

But regrettably, Bernard, played by Manfred, shattered Theresis's last sliver of illusion and said bluntly:

"If it works."

"Yes, if it works..." Theresis immediately realized the problem. He fixed Manfred with a grave stare and asked, "What did you say?"

"Uh... usually, the parts delivered for new Steam Knights don't match the old ammunition used in the early models." Manfred wore an odd expression as he explained to Theresis:

"That's just how the new Steam Knights are. You know, they've been assembled, but there are always problems. The wiring fails, the chips malfunction—this is why His Majesty the Emperor hasn't invested any new Steam Knights in recent years."

"This is utterly intolerable. We should sue those factories." A faintly angry expression surfaced on Theresis's face. Using the nation's money to research unusable trash was a waste of military funds!

But Manfred shook his head and reminded him, "We can't risk the media finding out. National security, you understand."

"—Then can't we inform the factories and standardize the specifications? Or switch factories?"

"We keep switching." Manfred explained, "The factories understand that too. That's why a missile once hit a golf course through an underground pipe."

As soon as Manfred finished speaking, the Sarkaz did not quite understand, but the Victorian officials nearly laughed themselves senseless. Why? Because golf courses were where politicians went to relax, and the missile had been deliberately fired there by arms dealers as a warning to those politicians.

With these "shoddily made products," the arms dealers pocketed all the difference in price. They deliberately used such defective goods to fool the government, because that was the easiest way for Victorian arms dealers to make money. That missile had been the arms dealers' "threat" to the politicians.

"...A golf course? I didn't see anything about that on the news."

"Of course not. We covered it up." Manfred explained, "The next morning, the golfers merely found an extra trench beside the seventh hole."

"...So even the missiles can't be used properly."

In just a few lines of dialogue, the show had mocked a great many of Victoria's internal problems—the arms dealers siphoning off the price difference, funds meant for national defense being embezzled, the highly anticipated new Steam Knights proving nearly useless. All of it was part of a chain of problems caused by internal corruption.

And these problems had actually been exposed long ago, yet remained unresolved to this day. Moreover, they were not difficult for Victoria's residents to understand.

—Because nearly every Victorian citizen knew that their government was thoroughly corrupt.

After that exchange, the newly appointed Theresis merely wanted to hear some different opinions on national defense. Manfred then recommended the Chief Scientific Military Adviser.

Theresis discussed the matter with the military adviser. The adviser believed that since the new Steam Knights were useless, the funds would be better spent on the army. Huck, who had always been "indecisive" and "good at listening to professionals," finally outlined a plan of his own.

First, stop producing new Steam Knights. Second, stop investing funds into Steam Knights. Finally, restore conscription.

Yet after Theresis, in character, proposed those measures, the self-satisfied expression on his face looked utterly ridiculous to the Victorian officials and civil servants. The bureaucrats and politicians sneered:

"This is absurd! How can we abandon funding just because the new Steam Knights are useless?"

"With Steam Knights, we possess the strongest weapon for deterring Iberia, Gaul, and Ursus. How can we put that money into the army instead?"

"Conscription will lower the quality of the military! All those lazy Victorian citizens will flood into the army, making its standards even more worrying! Only uneducated Victorian citizens would think this policy is good."

For a moment, both civil servants and politicians scoffed at Theresis's policies on the screen. Then a young officer suddenly found them familiar and blurted out:

"Come to think of it... aren't those the policies we're carrying out right now?"

"..."

The instant the young officer's words fell, the once-noisy reception hall became dead silent. Every politician and civil servant lost their voice, as though the young officer had cast a collective silence spell on them.

That was right. Looking at the present... although the show depicted Victoria during its prosperous era, wasn't modern Victoria exactly like what was playing on the screen?

Now, the Steam Knights had all been destroyed, and Victoria's military strength was declining by the day. The joke on the screen had actually become reality.

The most terrifying thing in the world was when a joke from a comedy became reality, while surreal reality itself became a joke.

Everyone in the reception hall fell silent. Fortunately, Chen Qi's voice soon broke the stillness as he shouted:

"Cut! One take! No time to waste—we're on a roll, so let's hurry up and shoot the next scene!"

Chen Qi's words broke the silence. Theresis and Manfred quickly shook themselves out of their performances, while Chen Qi immediately stepped forward from behind the scenes to discuss their acting with them.

"I have to say, Your Highness the Regent, you and General Manfred are better at acting than I expected. That take was excellent, but I need to remind you about the next one."

Without the slightest concern for Theresis's status, Chen Qi introduced the next scene to him.

"You're playing the Prime Minister, so you can be more forceful in the office scenes. But in the scenes that follow, you must remain in a comparatively weaker position."

"You'll be dealing with your wife—even if she's only your wife in the script. You need to maintain Huck's character. He's slightly henpecked, but he loves and respects his wife deeply, so at home, you must take a relatively weaker stance."

"...I'll do my best." Theresis fell silent for a moment. He had no family, and among the Sarkaz, the word "family" was actually unfamiliar—most Sarkaz mercenaries had no memory of their parents. Most had either died when they were young or perished in the chaos of war.

For Theresis, strictly speaking, he had only one "family member"... Theresia.

But before Theresia, Theresis could not be described as being in a weaker position. On the contrary, whenever the siblings clashed in their views, Theresis was usually the more decisive one. Therefore, Theresia should have been the weaker one.

Until now, no one had ever made Theresis experience what it felt like to be in a weaker position... but since he had decided to do this, Theresis had naturally prepared himself.

As the door slowly opened, filming officially began. Theresis, who had spent the entire morning busy, returned home and naturally asked first thing, "What's for lunch today?"

"What do you think?"

A woman's voice rang out. A Feline woman about the same age as the aged-up Theresis walked out, and the moment she appeared, Theresis froze in rare surprise.

He could sense her aura... wasn't this the "Shapeshifter"? Director Chen Qi had invited it too?

However, Theresis only paused briefly. Though he had not known about this, he did not doubt the Shapeshifters' loyalty. Its presence here meant it was the actor playing opposite him, which actually allowed him to act a little more naturally.

"Are you going out?" Theresis asked when he saw the case in the Shapeshifter's hand.

"The Social Worker Conference, you know." The Shapeshifter had no time to pay attention to Theresis. It truly looked like a wife busy with work, which made Theresis feel rather strange.

"Ah, right... I just wanted a plate of fried bird eggs or something..."

"I remember there are still some bird eggs in the refrigerator."

"—You want me to make them myself?"

Theresis looked somewhat incredulous at the Shapeshifter's response. And not only him—even the Sarkaz in the other room were astonished. The Prime Minister had to cook for himself?

Shouldn't someone of such high status have servants? He actually had to cook his own meals? The Sarkaz found it difficult to understand, yet somewhat amusing.

—Who would have thought even the Prime Minister could go hungry? For some reason, seeing someone so powerful suffer such an awkward predicament made them feel delighted.

After that, the wife played by the Shapeshifter complained to Theresis about many things: the house was too cramped, leaving meant passing through crowds of tourists and reporters, they had to undergo security checks at all times, there was no privacy, and the surroundings were noisy...

All of it made the Sarkaz, along with the politicians and civil servants of Londinium, burst into laughter. The Sarkaz laughed because the treatment their Regent had received as this "Prime Minister" did not feel anything like the treatment of a Prime Minister at all.

The politicians and civil servants, however, laughed at the plight of "Huck." In Victoria, those who served as Prime Minister were either wealthy or noble; they would never face such embarrassment.

But Huck had once merely been a media man. He had neither title nor money. For politicians and civil servants who were all wealthy or noble, this "commoner Prime Minister" encountering such troubles was indeed worth a good laugh.

"Annie, you need to understand that politicians have to sacrifice many things."

"Fine. You sacrifice your lunch. I'm going to work."

"But I'm hungry."

The Shapeshifter ignored Theresis's call completely, merely kissing his cheek as usual to display marital harmony. After a brief moment of discomfort, Theresis immediately covered it up by asking:

"What did you have for lunch?"

"Half a bar of chocolate," the Shapeshifter replied irritably. Theresis was left alone, still somewhat dazed. He looked around the room blankly, then unconsciously asked:

"—Where's the other half?"

For a moment, Theresis's bewildered gaze and his seemingly utterly low-status relationship with his wife at home made people in both rooms erupt into booming laughter. With only a few simple lines, everyone understood the personality of the character Theresis was playing.

A commoner Prime Minister with no real opinions and nothing particularly outstanding in terms of political ability, full of grand ambitions yet unable to decide anything—not even capable of sorting out his own lunch.

Without any narration whatsoever, an extremely successful character had been vividly established in less than fifteen minutes of performance.

At that moment, "Jim Huck," played by Theresis, had undoubtedly established the necessary character image for a comedy. Yet no one thought he was a clown, because his bearing was there—he completely gave off the air of a social elite.

But... compared to a clown's ridiculous performance, people seemed to prefer watching social elites make fools of themselves. Invisibly, it felt as though the distance between social elites and ordinary people had been erased, laying the foundation for the success of Yes, Prime Minister.

"Director Chen Qi, there's something I don't understand."

After finishing the scene at home, the crew took a brief break. At that moment, Theresis could no longer suppress the question in his heart and asked Chen Qi:

"Why could someone as ambitious yet incompetent as Huck become the holder of a nation's highest authority? Could such a vast Victoria truly not find a more capable leader than him?"

"Why do you ask, Your Highness the Regent?" Chen Qi had been arranging for Big Bob and Big Adam to distribute boxed meals to the crew, while also cautiously asking the few Medical Operators from the Art Troupe led by Mephisto to inspect the meals for anything unusual. Theresis's question took him somewhat by surprise.

"It's nothing... I simply think that even a comedy should follow basic logic, shouldn't it?" Theresis shook his head. He had not come to criticize Chen Qi's show. As a comedy, even though only the first episode had begun filming and was not yet complete, Theresis had already felt its charm.

It conveyed politics in an entertaining way, allowing even those who knew little about politics to appreciate the humor within it.

But as a Regent, Theresis keenly sensed the danger hidden beneath these seemingly absurd stories—he had begun viewing matters from the perspective of one who ruled Victoria.

"I want to know more about the character I'm playing... What sort of person is he? Why could someone without great talent become the highest authority?"

"Director Chen Qi, you are the screenwriter. You created these characters, so surely you can give me an answer?"

Theresis's thirst for knowledge was intense. He did not feel ashamed to ask Chen Qi, whose status was far beneath his own. In his view, Chen Qi, who could turn politics into a satirical comedy, must possess profound insight into politics.

But Chen Qi knew his own limits. He was not even qualified to call himself an armchair political commentator, so he had better not offer Theresis any opinions. Looking troubled, he said:

"There are many reasons. For example, as I said at the start, Huck was only the Prime Minister among the available alternatives. The other two candidates were both rather extreme and thus unacceptable. Huck himself had no strong opinions and was easier to control, so the civil service system behind the scenes pushed him up as a puppet Prime Minister."

"So... they would rather have a puppet than a capable and competent Prime Minister?" Theresis frowned slightly, unable to agree with that view.

"For civil servants, stability is what matters most. After all, once they endure until retirement, the nation's affairs will no longer concern them. So long as nothing goes wrong during their tenure, that counts as a good Prime Minister."

"They have each remained in their respective positions for a long time. The civil servants are permanent; the Prime Ministers come and go. That's why a stable situation is what they want most."

Chen Qi found it difficult to explain such things to Theresis, so he only gave a few casual remarks. Yet even Chen Qi did not know that his unintentional observations made Theresis reveal a thoughtful expression.

Theresis was certain that Chen Qi, who could write Yes, Prime Minister, a satire of the Victorian government, must understand Victoria's governmental structure and systemic operations inside out. Thus, the flaws Chen Qi casually mentioned allowed Theresis, a Sarkaz, to discover the gaps and hidden dangers in Victoria's civil service system.

And these... weren't all points he could exploit? Especially Chen Qi's words, "The civil servants are permanent; the Prime Ministers come and go." In the simplest terms, they gave Theresis inspiration.

If Victoria's operations depended on civil servants of every rank... did that mean controlling those civil servants meant controlling Victoria?

"Director Chen Qi, I hope you can write a complete prequel." Thinking this, Theresis smiled faintly and said to Chen Qi:

"I want to know how Huck became Prime Minister and how the civil servants helped push him along. With your talent, I believe you can do that."

"—We can discuss that later, after we finish filming Yes, Prime Minister."

Theresis had suddenly suggested filming a prequel, but Chen Qi did not refuse. After all, the so-called prequel was the television series Yes, Minister. If they were truly following the proper order, Chen Qi should indeed have filmed Yes, Minister first.

It was simply that Chen Qi felt the roles in Yes, Minister might make people with unpredictable temperaments, such as Theresis and the Bloodborne Archon, feel their status had been insulted. That was why he had begun directly with the Prime Minister, the symbol of power's pinnacle.

With Yes, Prime Minister as a successful example, persuading them to film Yes, Minister later would be much easier. That was Chen Qi's thinking, though he had not expected Theresis to show interest in filming Yes, Minister before even completing the first episode.

Naturally, this was a good thing for Chen Qi. But for now, it was better to finish filming the Prime Minister first.

"Of course." Theresis nodded. He was not in a hurry. Instead, he turned to Manfred, who was about to perform opposite him again, and said:

"Manfred—after we finish filming this television series, gather all officers in Londinium ranked centurion and above. I want to show it to every one of them."

"Yes, General." Manfred nodded. He sensed that General Theresis might have discovered something worthy of attention in the television series...

Manfred vaguely sensed it too. Perhaps this so-called comedy... would bring them much inspiration and expose the flaws in Victoria's government.

After a period of rest, filming resumed. The camera shifted, and Huck, played by Theresis, returned to his office. Bernard, the private secretary played by Manfred, also returned to the office.

"Ah, Bernard." Seeing Manfred arrive, Theresis—hungry all afternoon—spoke with a slightly sharp edge, though he kept his voice calm. "How was lunch?"

"Uh... not bad." Manfred had no idea why the Prime Minister was suddenly asking this, but he answered honestly.

"Where did you eat?" "The Cabinet Restaurant."

"Three courses?" Theresis asked again, and Manfred confirmed it.

"Did you drink?"

"A glass of red wine, Prime Minister." Manfred was beginning to feel completely lost.

"—Would you like to know what I had for lunch?" Having received those expected answers, Theresis's tone finally carried some long-simmering sarcasm.

"Uh, would you like to tell me, Prime Minister?"

"Nothing at all!" Manfred's tentative question received a tone of disbelief that even Theresis himself found incredible. What angered him even more was his private secretary's response:

"Why? Are you dieting?"

"Heh..." Theresis had been angered into laughter. He strode forward a few steps, looking rather aggressive as he said to Manfred word by word:

"It seems this place can provide fine food for you and the other secretaries, the entire Cabinet, the News Department, the typists, and the messengers—everyone except me. And I live here too."

"Uh, sorry, but can't your wife cook?" As the private secretary who had risen alongside the Prime Minister, Manfred understood the Prime Minister's difficulties well. He had not been born into wealth or nobility, so matters that were trivial for other Prime Ministers became difficult for him.