Chapter 393: Betting Everything on This One Hit...!

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Honestly speaking, getting distracted by Bakumatsu might have been a mistake.
Sitting back deeply in the chair in the study of the President House, I couldn't help but think that, especially now that the United States of Dinner had grown to the point of demonstrating its might to neighboring nations as a contender for continental hegemony.

"Mr. President, an envoy from the nomadic tribe Shanarasta is requesting an audience."

"Makes sense, there's no way they could ignore us when we border the Great Plains..."

• Take a friendly stance

• Take a hostile stance

• Turn them away

"Entertain them with all your heart. The United is always welcoming to those who are friendly, after all."

"Understood."

Watching Rice-chan—who was wearing much nicer clothes compared to when we first met—leave the room with a fond smile, I let out a single sigh of, 'Phew...'.

"Religion really is amazing, huh..."

I feel like I'm starting to understand the Kusoge-nium (Trash Game Element) of this game... Basically, the difficulty setting of this game is actually pretty lenient. Or rather, the combat is already a breeze to begin with, but even in the domestic affairs management, if you choose specific options, the difficulty completely plummets.

The situation goes like this. Once you raise your national power to a certain degree, an envoy from the Arflent Holy State arrives. Whether it's the Parufion religion or whatever else, at first glance, you receive an invitation that essentially amounts to a demand for religious subordination... But at this point, depending on your choices, the President (Player) can directly barge into the Holy State.

If you succeed in persuading Saint Fionare there, you can form an alliance with the Arflent Holy State. In that case, the difficulty becomes... incredibly easy.
The moment the United States—already rapidly increasing its national power—gained religious backing, a swarm of smaller nations came rushing in asking to join us. Furthermore, relations with nations that designate the Parufion religion as their state religion improved, allowing me to casually toss in a few spies, instigate enemy nations to attack our allies, and then Unite (Absorb) them when they're weakened... Man, this is basically creating the sickness just to sell the cure.

If I had to point out a flaw, it's that checking my own faction's stats and issuing orders becomes tedious, on top of having to hold audiences with the leaders of various regions... Isn't it just the bad parts of domestic affairs simulation games standing out?

That being said, the National Policy (Motto) of our United States of Dinner is "Everyone gets along," and it's the President's job to give a full-power hug even to some useless old man running a tiny country.

"Mr. President! The forces of the Neo Galcart Empire are approaching! They're being led by the Purgatory General!!"

"That guy again..."

I've already beaten him to a pulp like five times, does he ever get tired of this...? Dammit, having just experienced the Raid Boss-san Subjugation Battle after the Bakumatsu event, every single combat element in Presi-Legend feels like nothing but pure agony.

• I will deploy!

• Leave it to subordinates

• Send an envoy of friendship

You're not fooling me anymore. No matter how many envoys of friendship I send to Galcart, all I get back is their severed heads!

"I'm going!"

Yup, slash, yup, beam, yup, Presideeeeent!!

"The fact that the EXP and stuff is actually pretty decent makes it kinda complicated..."

This makes the sixth set of the Purgatory General's armor... It's a guaranteed drop, so it's actually not that strong. Oh well, I guess I have no choice but to make an exception and equip it on the Presidential Guard, where I can build the soldiers individually.

"Only four more sets to go, huh."

Am I aiming for the Presidential Guard: "Purgatory Legion" now? The fact that it seems entirely possible makes it kinda complicated again.

Time passes, and it is the next day.

"Go forth! My 'Purgatory Battalion' Guard! Scatter the enemy! Charge! Charge! Charge!!"

The fact that capturing the workshop making the Purgatory General's armor lets you obtain it in battalion-sized quantities has to be a joke; it's hilarious.
Watching hundreds of Purgatory Series armors plodding in formation and cornering the actual original Purgatory General gave me a sci-fi horror vibe, kind of like a clone rebellion or something.

Even if it's trash, it's still General-class equipment. To be perfectly honest, deploying a Royal Guard fully kitted out in strong gear drops the soldier attrition rate massively, which only accelerates the game turning into a complete cakewalk.
For now, having joined the ranks of the major powers, it's safe to say the United States of Dinner effectively only has one enemy nation left.

The Neo Galcart Empire. A major power claiming to be the legitimate successor to the great empire that flourished before the game's prologue.
Despite the generals of other smaller nations being more or less recycled sprites (differentiated by facial hair), that empire alone has commanding, unique sprites given to its high-tier soldiers.

The guys in the Four Heavenly Kings position, specifically called the Four Generals, are actually somewhat troublesome. If you fight them without the player character, no matter how much you train your troops, they're strong enough that you can't erase a roughly 20% chance of defeat.

"Well, it looks like I've managed to establish a cheese route for the Purgatory General, but... the Dark General is annoying."

Despite having a name that implies high ATK, everything he does revolves around schemes and plots. When he launched a surprise attack on our granary region, I actually broke out in a cold sweat.
Well, I launched a counter-pursuit right after and beat his army into a state of near-annihilation, but... in this game, enemy generals are invincible until their specific event chapter triggers, and their soldier depletion rate is strangely low, almost as if they grow them in fields.

"For now, I'll keep farming aggro from the Purgatory General while sending reinforcements to the countries the other generals are attacking... Ah, but I need to delay them just the right amount so they get whittled down first..."

Yup, President Beam.
A grind is a grind. Even if you find an efficient way to farm, tedious things are still tedious.
While watching a President Beam, fired from a handstand aiming for the legs just to change up the pattern, explode on target, I processed the results screen as usual.

"Good grief..."

"Excellent work, President. Are you injured?"

"Ah, Rice-chan. Another resounding victory today."

"...I am glad to hear that. Let us celebrate our victory today with a pie I baked myself."

Mmm, I'm really glad I raised Rice-chan's affection rating. Perhaps they prepared a large variety of variations, but my cheeks naturally loosen at the welcoming words that almost never repeat.
To be completely honest, the quality of the taste can't even be compared to ShanFro, but when it's a luxurious menu item, it still makes me happy.

"Maybe it's because it's right after doing some grinding... but this is strangely healing."

Is Rice-chan the best or what? Alright then, I'll do my best in the next chapt—

"Hah!?"

Don't tell me, is this the reason why this game is strangely rare on the market...? By piling up all those trash game elements, when the secretary character finally acts dere, it produces an effect far beyond its actual numerical value... Don't tell me, all the trash elements up until now were just to highlight this...!?

No, when you think about it like that, there are a lot of things that strangely make sense. I brushed it off as normal since it's a simulation game, but the secretary character has an unusually high number of dialogue patterns, and her character sprite (though comparing it to the mobs isn't really fair) clearly had a strange amount of effort put into it... In fact, considering the release date of Epic of President Legend, isn't this character engine the absolute newest one available at the time?

"Don't tell me... they sacrificed everything else just for this one hit...?"

No, that's completely missing the forest for the trees!
What the hell is that, 'We sacrificed the noodles and the broth to gather the ultimate ramen toppings'?!
Then just serve the toppings by themselves! I don't want to eat half-assed noodles and broth as a side dish! Well, I guess it's still better than having the noodles, broth, and toppings all laced with poison... Ain't that right, Faer-kuso.

Well, putting a lot of effort into the secretary character—essentially the partner character—isn't a bad thing. In most cases, you end up getting completely sick of looking at the face of those kinds of navigator characters.
If you get to see a new side of the character the further you progress the story, it does make you feel like enduring the grind.

Or rather, the graphics for all the other characters are just so indescribably bland that the secretary character is basically my only emotional anchor... Oh well, if it serves as fuel for my motivation, I guess that's a good thing.

"Alright, time to advance the chapter."

The flag to progress was capturing the Purgatory General's stronghold, wasn't it. That being said, if I start the fight, my country's trustworthiness will drop, so... alright, I'll send spies into this small nation that's conveniently building up a lot of dissatisfaction against my United States, and... Fuhahahaha, you shall become a sacrifice for the Greater Good (Game Progression)...!!