Nihonkoku Shoukan Chapter 41

Meant to work on this and get it out on Friday or Sat.u.r.day, but got distracted by video games, haha.

Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire, imperial capital Runepolis

Everyone knew about Miris.h.i.+al… Every single person in the world knew that the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire was the strongest country. They had become prosperous by themselves, without any help from other countries. Their level of advancement was so incredible that they used to be known as the "center of the world," which led to the empire's continent being named the Central World.

The Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire had:

With all of these world-cla.s.s advantages, compared to all the other countries in the civilized areas, and even compared to other superpowers, there was no doubt that Miris.h.i.+al's national power far outstripped any other country's. There were ruins from the ancient sorcerous empire all over Miris.h.i.+al. Investigating these ruins with the support of their advanced technology led them to develop their military in a very warped fas.h.i.+on, at least when compared to countries from Earth.

In the imperial capital Runepolis, within a room in the foreign affairs bureau building, two men were having a discussion.

"But… for the Papaldia Empire, the only superpower in the Third Civilization, to actually lose… Not only that, but to a country outside the civilized areas, some skinny strip of land… I still can't believe it," the head of Foreign Affairs Riage said. "Our fleet of magic s.h.i.+ps could easily blow away something on the level of Papaldia's navy, but, aside from us, and considering the Third Civilization's technological level, Papaldia's military power should be far above any other nearby country's reach. This 'j.a.pan' has captured my attention."

"Indeed! That's why, if you could, about this delegation…"

"Arneus, as the information director, I get that you like to go out and gather information, but we're the most powerful country in the world, you know? For us to be the ones sounding things out from our side, asking to negotiate and sending a delegation… And not only are they not a superpower, they're not even in the civilized areas!"

"Sir Riage, for all intents and purposes, j.a.pan now is the superpower representative for  the Third Civilization… no, for all the countries in the Great East. I believe they will earn superpower status soon. For the eleven-country leaders.h.i.+p conference, we should invite j.a.pan in place of Papaldia. Under the guise of helping them prepare for their partic.i.p.ation, we can send a delegation and just tack on preparations for opening diplomatic talks. How does that sound?"

"Hmm, if that's how we play it, the members of Parliament shouldn't raise a stink. Let's run with this plan for now and start laying the groundwork for it."

At a later date, the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire approved of sending a diplomatic delegation to j.a.pan.

Kingdom of Marl, outside the Third Civilization

"What?! Is this true?! If it is…"

"Yes; we were under extreme pressure from the Papaldia Empire to gift them our land, but, in their war against the country of j.a.pan, they were so devastated that they ended up splitting into seventy-four countries in order to avoid complete destruction. They were essentially annihilated. Because of this, the empire no longer has the power to threaten us; our country is safe!"

In the Marl castle, during an audience with the king, one of the king's aides made this report. The king's posture and expression crumbled in great relief.

"Praise the G.o.ds! If we were invaded by a superpower, we would probably have been wiped out in the blink of an eye. I know this topic has been popular recently, but did the country of j.a.pan really come from another world?"

"Yes. They themselves are saying so, at least, but a superpower would probably never lose to a typical country that only established itself recently."

"Yes, indeed… If I'm not mistaken, j.a.pan's flag depicts the sun, does it not?"

"You are correct."

"So this sun from another world also rises from the east… Will it light up our future, perhaps…? Or will it drown us in a sea of h.e.l.lfire…?"

"Either way, it's imperative to open diplomatic channels with j.a.pan, isn't it?"

The big news about j.a.pan's victory over the Papaldia Empire, a superpower, quickly spread around the world. The j.a.panese Ministry of Foreign Affairs went through a h.e.l.l-like period of overwork after the war with the empire ended and emissaries from all around the world visited j.a.pan in hopes of starting new diplomatic relations.h.i.+ps.

Gra Valkas Empire

In the Second Civilization, west of the superpower Mu, there was a great empire that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It quickly subjugated all the countries around it in a flash, moving on to topple the Kingdom of Paganda, finally even laying waste to the superpower Leifor with only a single s.h.i.+p, giving birth to a new legend. To the people of this world, they were a terrifying existence, and some even speculated that they could be stronger than the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire.

Gra Valkas had now attracted the attention of the entire world. In their flouris.h.i.+ng capital, one man looked out from his room while lost in thought. Emperor Gra Lukas was admiring this city, which was at the apex of prosperity.

"What do we desire from this world?"

When their entire country had been transported to another world, the unthinkable had become reality.

In their old world, the Gra Valkas Empire enjoyed the status of being the most powerful country on the planet of Noluthe. Back there, one of the oldest countries in the world, the Divine Kingdom of Kain, who wors.h.i.+ped the G.o.d Mirook, divided the world in two and waged war across it. No one doubted that Gra Valkas would emerge victorious, though. Compared to any other country, they had abundant resources, overwhelming production capabilities, the most advanced technology, and superior military strength.

However, because of the sudden world transfer phenomenon, their mainland found itself in this world. Although they lost huge swaths of land, because they had recalled most of their forces in order to prepare to invade their enemies prior to the transfer, aside from any forces that were stationed in overseas military bases, the empire still retained the vast majority of their military. In addition, their rival, the Divine Kingdom of Kain, had disappeared.

After arriving on this strange planet, the empire fell into chaos for a short time, but, when they explored east, they found plenty of land populated only by natives with laughably poor equipment. In light of their unbeatable superiority, everyone in the empire was overcome with delight.

At first, the neighboring countries were all aggressive towards them, but they were far too weak and quickly fell under imperial control. But then, while dealing with all these minor countries, they discovered that this world had so-called "civilized areas" where stronger countries cooperated with one another. Since they had no idea how powerful these countries were in this completely unknown world, everyone advocated a careful approach where they tried to peacefully form international relations.h.i.+ps.

Basically, diplomacy was preferable to blindly stabbing in the dark.

However, they went to country after country, and, despite being so-called "civilized countries," they were much weaker than was rumored, yet they still looked down on anyone outside the civilized areas. The empire's efforts at diplomacy simply never moved forward. When one of the imperial royalty was in one of these small countries as a peaceful diplomat, he was mocked with "You barbarians don't understand this world at all." He lost his patience and angrily objected. They responded by killing him.

After this incident, no one in the empire advocated for peaceful interactions in this world any longer. Just like in their old world, they would rule with force and aggressively expand their territory. First on the list was the country that committed the act of lèse-majesté by murdering a member of the imperial family, the Kingdom of Paganda; with one successful a.s.sault, they quickly fell and were a.s.similated into Gra Valkas. After that, the empire declared war on the entirety of the Second Civilization, took on Leifor, one of the five fingers of the world, the so-called "superpowers," and easily beat them into submission.

In this world, it didn't matter if they were an uncivilized barbarian country or a superpower, they still fell like gra.s.s before the Gra Valkas Empire.

"This… this is truly an amusing place," Emperor Gra Lukas mumbled to himself while dreaming of world conquest.

Gra Valkas Empire, Information Bureau

In a dimly-lit room, the noise of beeping, similar to Morse code, permeated the air. Next to that room, there was a nicer room decorated in brown. A man had come to that second room to make a report to his superior—he knocked on the door.

"Enter," came a deep voice from within the room. The man did as ordered.

"Your Excellency, we've completed the comprehensive a.n.a.lysis of j.a.pan's military capabilities. I've come to request your approval for this report."

The man handed over the doc.u.ments. While his superior read the report, the man provided a verbal summary as well.

"Unfortunately, we have little information on j.a.pan at the moment, and extend our apologies. The personnel gathering information on the Naval Battle of Fenn did not report back in time. Same regarding the Battle of Altarus—we did not expect them to island hop like that. In addition, it's very hard to enter the Kingdom of Altarus, and our operatives were unable to witness the main battle. With regards to the main war, j.a.pan has made peace with the superpower of the Third Civilization, the Papaldia Empire. In other words, it appears that they lack the national power to take over the empire themselves. We believe there's a high possibility they planted some kind of flimsy diplomatic contingency in order to quell future aggression towards their country.

"j.a.pan has a population of one hundred and twenty million people. This is extremely large compared to the size of their country; they cannot produce enough food on their own, so trade with the countries on Rodenius has become their lifeline. If j.a.pan and the empire were to clash in the future, our dominant maritime forces would just need to set up a blockade between j.a.pan and Rodenius, then j.a.pan would dry up on its own. We've confirmed that j.a.pan has heavy cruiser-cla.s.s wars.h.i.+ps, but we haven't found any battles.h.i.+ps. We heard this via a third country, but, aside from aircraft carriers, their largest s.h.i.+ps are around the ten thousand ton-cla.s.s."

The man paused for a breath then continued.

"The j.a.panese const.i.tution stipulates that their military must not grow beyond a certain limit. It is perhaps for that reason that almost all of j.a.pan's s.h.i.+ps only have a single small-caliber peashooter installed on them. Frankly, their naval strength is severely lacking. Regardless, they're still very threatening to the barbarians of this world. Next, j.a.pan's ground forces number a mere hundred and fifty thousand, which may as well be nothing compared to what our country can muster. This might be the reason why they gave up on conquering the Papaldia Empire. Their air force currently has around three hundred aircraft, which, again, is far too puny to cause our air force any concern."

"……I see. These pitiful numbers might be why the j.a.panese military calls itself a 'self-defense force.' With that level of air force, with so few aircraft, even if they had superlative capabilities, they could not even leave a scratch on us."

"Yes, there's nothing to fear from j.a.pan. No one can stop our conquest."

In order to establish a new world order, the Gra Valkas Empire began to move.

j.a.pan, capital city Tokyo

Step… step… step… step.

Every time she heard someone walk near her cell, she became paralyzed with fear. She was the one who ordered the ma.s.sacre of dozens of j.a.panese citizens, and she had been captured as a criminal.

What… will happen to me?

Remille, anxious about her own future, desperately fought to keep her terror down.

Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire, imperial capital Runepolis

"All right, let us be off."

The Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire, said to be the strongest country in the world, and the largest superpower, was sending an advance delegation in order to invite j.a.pan to the 11-country leaders.h.i.+p conference as well as begin preparations for diplomatic negotiations. They were heading east, far past the Third Civilization, to a country outside the civilized areas.

There were 30 representatives in the delegation, including:

As a group, they headed to the airport parking ap.r.o.n. There was a pa.s.senger vehicle with white wings parked there. This airplane was called "The Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens."

If a j.a.panese person were to look at the Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens, they would probably think it looked very, very strange. There were strange shapes carved where the engine was housed, and there was no propeller, so at first glance it might resemble a jet. However, those carvings were necessary for the plane to reach a speed of 310 km/h, they weren't retracted wings.

They would be receiving a.s.sistance from the technological powerhouse Mu on this trip. There was a planned stop at the Mu military base in the Kingdom Altarus to refuel with magic gems, then they would continue their journey, ultimately landing in the western j.a.panese city of f.u.kuoka. They would experience all j.a.pan has to offer while sightseeing, steadily making their way to j.a.pan's capital, Tokyo.

All the transportation within j.a.pan would be handled by the j.a.panese government. During that time, Mu would take custody of the Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens, refueling it with high-purity magic gems they had prepared in advance. On their return trip, they would once again stop in Altarus to refuel and resupply.

Information Officer Rydorka boarded the plane and sat down in a large seat. Casually glancing to his right, he saw the diplomat Phiam, who had boarded earlier, sporting a rather severe expression.

"Mister Phiam, is something the matter?"

"I know this was explained before, but… We are the number one country not just in the Central World, but on the entire planet, and here we are, going out of our way to travel all the way past the Third Civilization to some little country outside the civilized areas… This… sycophancy… does not sit well with me.

"I understand that, for all practical purposes, it is accepted that j.a.pan defeated the Papaldia Empire, but I do not agree with that conclusion. Papaldia basically threatened itself into power, so there was already a lot of unrest within their borders and territories. Didn't j.a.pan just skillfully exploit that unrest? In the first place, I'm not even fully convinced that the Third Civilization should even be considered a civilized area. They certainly have their own independent culture, but they also haven't developed any means of flight other than riding wyverns.

"The way I see it, the Third Civilization is just a huge clump of land populated by groups of primitive, developing countries. And the country we're about to visit is even further removed from that! If the Third Civilization's advancement is already this low, I can't imagine how bad it is in j.a.pan. My main concern right now is whether there is even a suitable runway on which to land the Heavens."

"As far as the runway goes, as you already know, Mu has confirmed that there is no need to worry."

"That reminds me… I believe this delegation was originally suggested by your Information Office. Shouldn't you just stick to gathering information? We of Miris.h.i.+al have our pride as number one. If they want a diplomatic relations.h.i.+p with us, I would prefer that they be the ones coming to us instead."

"I apologize for my office overstepping… Based on our information… No, whether I tell you or not, you'll understand. Once you see j.a.pan with your own eyes, I believe you'll come around."

The Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens began to emit a blue light from its engine and taxied down the runway. The s.h.i.+p rose up in the air and began its long flight to j.a.pan.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant

The new provisional head of state Kyeos had his head wrapped his arms because of all the problems piling up. How many years would it take to pay just the reparations to j.a.pan and the Kingdom of Fenn? In particular, the compensation fees for j.a.pan's ammunition use and the costs of upgrading the military base in Altarus far exceeded the amount requested for personal rest.i.tution. With their national power now a fraction of what it was previously, this was an amount the Papaldia Empire simply could not pay.

Kyeos had gone over the invoice doc.u.ment countless times.

…pay the required amount converted to any global currency. Alternatively, give the country of j.a.pan exclusive access to the underground resources found in the Parsa region. In the latter case, j.a.pan will supervise all mining operations.

"How demonic… there is essentially no choice here."

Being told to give away their land was a truly disgraceful state of affairs, but the Parsa region did not produce very much metal. The empire didn't know why exactly j.a.pan would want rights to that mine, but if they could give away a region that had nothing for them and simultaneously square away their astronomical debt with j.a.pan, that would actually be convenient.

j.a.pan continued to throw requests his way, so Kyeos found himself constantly running around to fulfill them.

Imperial capital Esthirant, former navy base

Having miraculously survived j.a.pan's large-scale bombing attack, the magical technician Paie was gazing at the destroyed port.

The light of the sun reflected off the ocean, glittering beautifully, while sea birds lazily floated in the water. However, right next to that serene sight were the scattered ruins of the mercilessly decimated navy base. Reconstruction had not yet started on the port.

"j.a.pan…… huh. We sure went to war with a f.u.c.king crazy country. I can't lose hope, though! We… can still start fresh, and, someday, the empire will flourish like never before!"

Paie's imagination ran wild, dreaming of a resurrected empire.

 —  — Chapter 42