Arknights: Prime Minister of Kjerag — Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Governing a Peculiar Small NationYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

Consider this hypothetical scenario: you live in a nation where the religious leader is the eldest sister of your family, the economic pillar is your eldest brother, and the head of government—the leader of the newly formed parliament—is you, the middle brother.

Does a country monopolized this thoroughly by a single bloodline still have any hope for the future?

“, my dear brother, the Tri-Clan Council has reached a consensus. You are now the first Speaker of the Kjerag National Assembly.”

The tall man standing at the center of the chamber delivered the declaration with absolute, unbetted authority. Enciodes SilverAsh adjusted the collar of his heavy black windbreaker, his expression as unreadable as the frozen peaks outside.

A sparse, painfully hollow round of applause followed his announcement. Across the triangular seating arrangement, the leaders of the Browntail and Paleroche families mechanically brought their hands together. They ensured their clapping produced just enough sound to maintain basic political courtesy, though the sheer awkwardness in the room was thick enough to cut with a broadsword.

In stark contrast, Encia SilverAsh sat off to the side, practically vibrating with optimistic energy. The youngest sister of the family flashed a bright, excited wink at Ernst, entirely oblivious to the political hellscape her revered eldest brother had just shoved him into.

Ernst SilverAsh pressed his lips into a thin line. He shifted his gaze toward the elevated dais, looking one last time at the Holy Maiden seated solemnly upon the divine throne. She was the mortal vessel representing the will of Kjeragandr, the supreme authority of the Karlan Temple, and, above all else, his elder sister—Enya SilverAsh.

Their eyes met across the heavy, incense-laden air. Genuine emotion flickered beneath her sacred veil. Half of her gaze held deep, sorrowful pity; the other half burned with quiet, suppressed fury. It was painfully obvious what she was thinking. She viewed Ernst as just another sacrifice, another pawn pushed onto the board by Enciodes to fulfill his relentless ambitions, exactly as she had been forced into the gilded cage of the Holy Maiden years ago.

Enciodes, naturally, acted as though he didn’t even notice Enya’s hostile glare. He made no move to explain himself, a cold dismissal that would undoubtedly fracture their already brittle sibling relationship even further.

‘An absolute disaster for the family,’ Ernst sighed internally, rubbing his temples.

Other transmigrators had it easy. They woke up as pampered princes in Victoria or glorious competition knights in Kazimierz. Even the unlucky ones usually ended up scraping by in Lungmen, trading witty banter with Senior Superintendent Ch’en or running odd jobs for Penguin Logistics.

Only he possessed the rotten luck to transmigrate into the freezing, isolated snowscapes of Kjerag.

Honestly, the location alone wouldn’t have been a death sentence. Ernst had been a casual player in his past life, dropping the game shortly after launch, but he still retained a vague impression of the SilverAsh family and the overarching Kjerag storyline. His original survival plan had been brilliantly simple: keep his head down, survive the cold, and wait for Enciodes to build up Karlan Trade. Once his elder brother initiated the inevitable Snow Mountain Incident and seized absolute power, Ernst could comfortably coast through life on his family name, perhaps even squandering a bit of Enciodes’s vast fortune on fine wine and idle luxury.

That beautiful, lazy fantasy had shattered into a million icy fragments the moment he heard Kjerag was establishing a National Assembly.

Clearly, the timeline of this Terra had deviated into uncharted territory. His already meager meta-knowledge was now entirely useless.

‘Fortunately, I’m not entirely unprepared for this kind of nonsense.’

Swallowing his bitter frustration, Ernst gave Enciodes a long, knowing look. He stepped forward, taking his place behind a podium carved from raw pine that still smelled sharply of fresh wood lacquer. Gripping the edges of the timber, he looked out at the assembled leaders and began his glorious, inaugural speech.

“I extend my deepest gratitude to the SilverAsh Family, the Browntail Family, the Paleroche Family, the Karlan Temple Elder Council, Her Holiness the Saintess, and the great Kjeragandr for their deep nurturing and trust. It is the honor of a lifetime to stand before you today, representing the people of Kjerag, to serve as your first Speaker and Prime Minister.”

He paused, letting his gaze sweep over the skeptical faces of the clan leaders. “I believe the challenges Kjerag faces today are, fundamentally, economic. Secondly, they are military. And finally, they are religious. To address these complex issues, I propose the following—”

Ernst took a deep breath, mentally preparing the payload. Then, a rapid-fire stream of absolute corporate drivel poured from his lips in a perfectly measured, authoritative cadence:

“We must pivot to reach new operational levels and achieve unmatched heights. Through synergistic new initiatives and dynamic developments, we will manifest model-shifting breakthroughs. To this end, we must use new methodologies, clearly map out our evolving geopolitical situations, and accurately align with shifting demographic requirements. Only by doing so can we, amidst these new expectations, use cross-functional skills to project a modernized demeanor. Disruptive knowledge creates disruptive infrastructure, and active practices yield actionable deliverables!”and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

He didn’t stop, his voice rising with manufactured passion.

“It is critical to recognize our core competencies, internalize our strategic urgency, and maintain active self-awareness. With a complete, forward-looking bandwidth, we must improve our timeliness and uphold pragmatic deliverables, using a highly targeted, granular approach. When facing long-term, macro-level tasks, we must synergize our enthusiasm and creativity to execute with maximum operational keenness!

“Simultaneously, we cannot ignore the vital metrics of standardization, proceduralization, and institutionalization. Only under conditions of strict scientific rigor and specialized knowledge management can we normalize our national rejuvenation. We must remain active, resilient, and aggressively sincere! With our hearts devoted to Kjeragandr, we will steadfastly improve our integrity, clearly delineating our big-picture synergies from our crisis-management protocols. We will focus on continuous upskilling, ultimately cultivating a top-down management ecosystem!

“Identify the launchpad, the entry point, and the core foothold! Target the intersectional use points! These are the foundational pillars of our active deliverables! Only through this improved workflow can we build a modern, scalable Kjerag that satisfies the KPIs of Kjeragandr!”

As his final, resounding words echoed off the stone walls, the simple venue plunged into an eerie, suffocating silence.

The quiet stretched on. Then, after a few agonizing seconds, applause erupted.

It was fervent. It was thunderous. It was infinitely more passionate than the polite clapping from earlier, echoing so loudly that the clan guards stationed outside the heavy oak doors jumped in surprise. Leading this explosive standing ovation were Ratatos, the matriarch of the Browntail Family, and Arctosz, the gruff leader of the Paleroche Family—the very same people who had been looking at Ernst with thinly veiled contempt just minutes prior.

Were they moved to tears by Ernst’s earnest dedication and philosophical brilliance?

Absolutely not.

Ernst knew exactly what was happening. Their ecstatic joy stemmed entirely from the fact that, after listening to that agonizing word salad, they were thoroughly convinced the new Prime Minister was a complete, irredeemable idiot.

It was a necessary deception. In a theocratic snow-nation where the religious leader was the eldest SilverAsh sister, the corporate monopoly was run by the eldest SilverAsh brother, and the government was now headed by the middle SilverAsh brother, the optics were terrifying. To any outside observer, it looked like the SilverAsh family had just executed a flawless, bloodless coup of the entire country.

If Kjerag didn’t possess such isolated, simple folk customs, a monopoly of this scale in any other Terran nation would have already sparked a violent, unsustainable civil war.

Ernst had no desire to be the corrupt aristocrat who bled the commoners dry. Even though his ruthless elder brother had forced him into this political crossfire, Ernst was a pragmatist. Since he was already sitting in the chair and wearing the hat, he might as well do the job properly.

Or, more accurately, he had to become a terrifyingly effective politician.

To achieve that, he had a long, brutal road ahead of him. Step one: aggressively feign incompetence to lower the enemy’s guard.

On paper, it looked like the SilverAsh family held Kjerag by the throat. But Ernst knew the fragile reality. Did they truly hold absolute power? Not even close.

The Browntail Family were professional fence-sitters, constantly swaying their loyalties to maintain political gridlock. And the Paleroche Family was a genuine threat; they controlled a full third of Kjerag’s territory, commanded over half the population, and held the nation’s military might firmly in their calloused hands.

Transforming Kjerag into his ideal nation—one boasting a booming economy, unified politics, a harmonious society, and a genuinely happy populace—was going to be an agonizing uphill battle.

Stepping down from the podium amidst the mocking cheers of his rivals, Ernst maintained a pleasant, vacuous smile. Deep down, he just wanted to open a mental terminal, log onto a forum, and scream into the digital void:

Title: Thanks for the invite. I’m on Terra and just got drafted as Prime Minister. How the hell do I govern a peculiar small nation?You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.