Very Wrong Reincarnation: Isekai with Game Nation

Chapter 23

The morning routine unfolded predictably: I woke up, attended to my personal grooming, showered, dressed, had breakfast, and made my way to the office, which was conveniently just a few blocks away from my boarding house for government officials.

As I arrived, my office door was crowded with several men—high-ranking military officials. "What's the matter?" I asked, taken aback by their early presence. The cleaners hadn't even had a chance to tidy my office yet.

"Good morning, Mr. President," they saluted in unison. "We have an urgent situation," Major Lenoir Holt of the army began. "I was sent by General Smith to relay an important situation report from Valur."

"Okay," I replied awkwardly. Why did they need to send so many burly military men to my office this early? I felt like a stick figure standing next to them.

I opened the door and gestured for them to come inside. "Please, come in. It's not entirely clean, but you can sit anywhere you like," I said, though the cleaners had been through yesterday; there might be a bit of dust, but it was relatively tidy.

"So, what's the report?" I asked, taking a seat and crossing my arms.

"It's classified information," Major Holt hesitated.

"This is my office. The guards outside are more than enough to prevent eavesdropping," I reassured them. Besides, who would be reckless enough to try listening in with my formidable escorts standing guard outside?

Holt continued, "The operatives have successfully instigated a conflict as ordered by you, Mr. President."

"Okay," I nodded in approval. That part of the plan seemed to be unfolding as intended.

"Now, they're proceeding with misinformation campaigns in the surrounding provinces and territories."

"Hmm?" I furrowed my brow. I was under the impression there were only a dozen operatives, mostly focused on the capital of Valur. How could they possibly have spread so thin? Wasn't it just two weeks ago that we began planting sleeper agents in Valur? A few days ago, I received a report indicating they had barely begun establishing connections.

"They have pushed the surrounding regions to the brink of civil war after Prince Ledrich, the brother of the current emperor, received the fake Blackdoor deal treaties we forged. He mobilized his followers and vassals to raise combatants. The emperor detected it and attempted to negotiate, but we staged an assassination attempt against the prince just as they were about to meet, and fabricated an order from the emperor to interrupt their meeting. This further fractured their already strained relationship, escalating toward full-scale war."

"What?" I struggled to process the rapid escalation of situation that I can't comprehend. What in the world was happening? How did things spiral out of control like this?

"Yes, we successfully stirred up trouble as you ordered," Holt declared confidently.

"That's not what I meant!" I exclaimed, surprising everyone in the room. Internally, I cursed the headache-inducing report they presented. What kind of mess had they created in the week when I took my eyes off from them?

I gathered everyone to provide their situation reports, and the summary left me stupefied, it was something like this... "So, I've requested sabotage and stirring internal trouble, and somehow you guys interpreted that as causing a civil war?" I scratched my head in disbelief, looking around at the stunned faces of my military officers. Silence filled the room.

"Major Holt," I said firmly, and he immediately snapped to attention.

"Yes, sir?"

"What's 1 + 1?" I asked bluntly.