Outbreak Company - Volume 1 - Chapter 3.2

Volume 1 Chapter 3 Part 2

Chapter 3: Liberty and Equality and Fraternity and...

It has been a few days since Petrarca’s sudden visit.

The day when we’d finished the first part of the office organizing——I finally get to go see the town.

I’m making this trip because I feel the necessity of understanding the Eldant Empire’s existent culture. Of course, if I ask Matoba-san, I can get a copy of the reports from the first group of scouts who’d investigated the Empire, but reading those stiff, formal reports will only give me a headache. Furthermore, I wish to show my face around the shops in person and introduce myself as a “future potential customer.”

If otaku culture is to take root in the Eldant Empire, then it is not enough for it to be accepted only among the nobility and Empress’s family. Otaku culture is, to be frank, a melting pot of many cultures. It is a world where anything interesting goes, and nothing is truly forbidden. 

For this very reason, in otaku culture, the people who bring out money to buy the works——in other words, the customers who support the creators and distribution companies——are ‘justice.’ No matter how much money is poured into the production of a large-scale anime, if the producers don’t show respect to the otakus, then the work is guaranteed to crash and burn in glorious fashion.

In other words, if I am to spread otaku culture in this land, then all will be meaningless if I am not accepted by the commoners, who make up the overwhelming majority of the population.

Simply importing otaku works and flinging them at the masses will never work.

In the future, it might become necessary to build an electricity supply network, but if the commoners’ literacy rate is still low, then it will all be for nought. If we are to spread not just books but also anime and games, then for now we probably have to set up something like a cinema and make do.

Going this far, this is already Sim City......no, Sim Akiba.

And therefore——

“......Hahaa.”

I am walking through the castle town together with Minori-san, who is my escort, and Blük, who is both my guide and luggage bearer. The horse carriage——I meant, bird carriage, is something that I’ve only seen that one time I was going to the palace. I am finally allowed to get down for my first walk around the castle town.

Most everything is exactly what they’ve looked like from my previous vantage point inside the carriage, but......actually being on foot enables me to notice many small details that I had missed before.

For example, the smell.

Faintly permeating the air, at a degree not quite strong enough to be unpleasant, are the smells of things burning and things rotting. Most likely, the former is from people’s kitchen hearths and fireplaces, while the latter is from trash and waste.

Speaking of which, the palace of Versailles used to have no toilets——is a bit of random trivia that I’d read somewhere.

On top of not having a proper water and sewer system in place, because being a privy contractor is not profitable enough to suffice as a job, no one has a toilet inside their house, as doing so would merely cause the smell to linger inside the house.

Letting the waste run away with a river, or collecting it in a tank to use as fertilizer, or even directly doing one’s business on a field......are all ways actually used by people here, apparently. I’ve heard that back in olden Europe, some people would also spread it throughout their own house and direct a free-roaming pig to eat it up.

Most likely, things are similar here.

By the way, for my mansion, Blük is the one who is in charge of gathering all the waste. He brings it to a far away shed, where he turns it all into compost. That way, I can freely use the toilet without worrying about it, but——commoners living inside the town have no such service.

“......Well, since they’re not some 2D characters, things that have to come out really do come out......”

Though this world is fantastical, it is a place where actual people are living actual lives.

On a different topic——I also notice that a lot of the signage is picture-based.

In all probability, the literacy rate here is low, so there’s no point in making word-based signs.

Of course, to draw truly realistic images, a high degree of artistic ability is required, so most of the signs that I see are merely on the level of symbols. Thanks to that, even though I can’t read this country’s language, I can still make out the different buildings, like “this is the liquor store” and “this is the blacksmith” and “this is the bakery.”

But above anything else, the thing that is occupying my attention the most while walking through the town is——

“Is something catching your interest, Danna-sama?”

Having been walking a step ahead of me, Blük turns around and so inquired.

At first, it was, how do I put it——when standing face to face within arm’s reach, I found him quite scary, but now that I’m getting more used to seeing him, I find that he has a surprising kind of charm, with his round eyes and his large mouth that makes him look like he’s constantly smiling. I believe the number of people who raise lizards as pets aren’t that small——I wonder if this is the reason why.

“A lot of things are catching my interest. There is so much that’s making me think.”

“Is that so? As for me, all I see is the boring, same-old scenery.”

Blük spoke with the same face as ever, but judging from his tone and the way his tongue was flickering, I can somehow tell that he is wryly smiling.

“Our country doesn’t really have lizardmen or elves, after all.”

The amount of variety and how drastic the differences are among the residents on this side makes the distinction back home between white people and black people and yellow people seem silly in comparison. Of course, humans still make up the large majority here, but at least 1 in 10 are either elf or lizardman. Therefore, no one is looking at Blük like he’s someone strange.

“If you wish to see more non-humans, I propose that we make our way to the training ground near the castle.”

So spoke Blük.

“Training ground?”

“Well, it is something like a military base.”

It was Minori-san who had cut into our conversation.

“Along with the common soldiers’ lodgings, that place is also where the military training facilities are at. Us, too——a small JSDF squad is also borrowing some space there. In this country, apparently the military is the easiest job for non-humans to find.”

“I see......”

Speaking of which, I had indeed wondered where the other JSDF members that I’d seen on the LAV normally stay. Guess now I know.

For now, we decide to make our way there.

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The appearance of the parade ground turned out to be, in short, something like a very large school campus.

In the corner, I see buildings that look like dormitories and warehouses, but otherwise, the place is literally just an empty lot. Incidentally, the JSDF have set up tents between the warehouses across from the dorms. Upon the dark green tents are the words “Ground Self-Defense Force,” but as expected, they look completely out of place in this fantasy world.

Setting that aside.

“......That’s.”

I look at the practicing solders——I think they’re soldiers——and my eyes grow round in surprise.

Several tens of humans. Several tens of elves. Several tens of lizardmen.

“Aren’t those children?!”

“They are indeed children.”

Blük answered me with a confused look on his face like “What’s this person so surprised at?”

“But......that’s.”

According to Japanese law, I’m still underage, but......however I look at it, there are some children in their mid-teens, or perhaps even younger than that, among the soldiers.

Furthermore, half of them appear to be practicing sword techniques with wooden swords, while the other half are making complicated gestures and holding out their right hand in front like——

“——Uwah?!”

Bo ga ga ga gan! Along with explosive sounds a little on the quiet side, the ground——a row of fireworks goes off.

For a second, I think I saw something like balls of light shooting out from their hands.

“That’s......”

“Magical practice.”

Minori-san completed my sentence.

“Apparently, those kids are still a ways off from the more destructive spells.”

“......Something like fireballs or the like?”

“Most likely.”

Are you serious. I’m just standing here dumbfounded from seeing real offensive magic.

Speaking of which, I’d heard before that lizardmen have almost no magical power at all, so they can’t use magic properly. Within the group practicing magic, I indeed only see humans and elves.

But still, even if that’s the case......

“This place is, in the end, a military training ground after all.”

So spoke Minori-san with a slight grimace.

How rare. It seems like she doesn’t like this sight very much.

“The core is made up of children employed as soldier apprentices. As I said earlier, for non-humans in this country looking for an occupation, joining the army is the easiest way.”

According to Minori-san, non-humans by default have no citizenship.

However, if they enter the military, and work there for a specific period of time, they will be granted citizenship. After that, regardless of whether they choose to stay in the army or retire to take up another occupation, the easiest way to continue living in this human country is to have completed some military service.

“In this way, I have also served in the military before.”

So said Blük.

“Is that so?”

“Otherwise, there’s absolutely no way that I’d be allowed to work in the mansion of a noble.”

When one mentions “manservant,” the image is of a very labor intensive job, but from the perspective of a lizardman, apparently it is a rather desirable occupation.

After having military service on his record, it serves as his proof of identity, so it greatly increases his chances of becoming hired. Blük is also wearing a magical ring, but he tells me that it is not something that was given him when he began working at my place. Rather, it was given when he entered the army.

“I believe Miusel has also served in the military for a while.”

“......You serious?”

I mean, it’s not that I’m doubting Blük’s words, but the mental image of that delicate and timid-looking Miusel having experience in the army seems to lack any sense of reality. But then again, there are various jobs inside the army, so she wasn’t necessarily a combatant.

“I understand what you’re thinking, but......”

Minori-san spoke up.

“It’s best to not probe too deeply into something like that. Even in our world, there is still social stratification, and there are societies still running along fine without seeing anything wrong with such distinctions. For example, the caste system in India. Despite it having been technically abolished by law.”

“......Well, receiving citizenship after serving in a campaign is something quite typical in America too.”

More like, in this world with so many different species——purposely using “species” instead of “races”——it might indeed be too high an order to insist on things like absolute fairness and complete equality. The differences aren’t merely on the level of skin color——there are species who look blatantly different, like the lizardmen. It would be like trying to weigh dogs against cats.

But with that said......

“Oh. Looks like they’re entering their break time.”

There’s a bell clanging noisily.

Just like what Blük said, it’s probably break time now. The children who had been working hard at training just previously are now breaking up into small groups and spreading out over the training grounds. Among them, a group of three elf children begin heading our way.

“What are you doing?”

With their eyes practically sparkling with inquisitiveness, they questioned us.

This sight makes me realize that they really are children after all. Seeing something out of the ordinary, they just can’t hold back their curiosity.

“You seem different from the Jay Es Dee Ef, but what are you guys here for?”

“U-n.”

For a brief moment, I wrack my brain for a good way to explain my presence——then I beckon Blük over.

From the container on his back, I retrieve a manga tank and show it to the elf children.

“I’m someone who’s come to let everyone know about this.”

“What is it?”

It’s an adventure manga with the picture of a young boy holding a sword on the cover.

Perhaps due to being so used to the signs all over town being symbols or simplified pictures, most Eldant citizens have no resistance at all to manga drawings like these. More like, it seems to have made them even more receptive.

The children begin turning the pages with anticipation in their gazes——but......

“What’s written here?”

They ask me with troubled looks on their faces.

Despite successfully creating an attention-grabbing impression, I can’t hold their attention if they can’t read the lines. As I thought, I really need to arrange for a translator as soon as possible.

No. Wait. Remember back to Miusel.

Even if I get all my manga translated, these children can’t read this country’s language either in the first place.

More like, the education system on this side——

“You kids, what do you normally play?”

“We don’t play.”

The children puff out their cheeks while replying.

“On the days when there’s no training, we help out with harvesting the farm. We also help take care of the livestock, and also help plow the fields.”

The children speak rapidly while looking to each other for confirmation. It seems like they think I’m making fun of them.

“Wai-Wait a second. That means......”

In other words, these children do not have time specifically set aside for ‘playing.’

For us——the children in Japan are granted more than enough free time, which they can occupy with anything that strikes their fancy. Some develop a sense of aspiration while watching the patrol car introduced in children’s TV programs, while some who enjoy collecting insects dream of becoming a scholar one day.

However, the children in this world do not have such spare time.

When they look around, all they see are adults silently carrying out jobs decided for them by someone else, and they also ask the children to help them out like it’s only natural. There is too little time and no means to “broaden their horizons.” With this kind of experience——the children become convinced that “this is just how the world is.”

This is, in all practicality, brainwashing.

The figure of Miusel studying hiragana late at night floats into my mind. She had been so shocked at my willingness to teach her the characters without demanding any remuneration.

I realize once more how warm and protected my upbringing——and that of the children in modern-day Japan——is. It isn’t simply a difference in the education system. There is also the difference in national polity, the difference in economical strength, the difference in social structure......it is with the overlap of various conditions that makes possible such a fortuitous result.

Even though otaku is said to be Japan’s culture.

Otaku culture can only be born in Japan, or countries similar to Japan.

“Do you not read books?”

“There’s no way we could. They’re expensive, and the only people who can read are nobles and scholars anyways.”

The children pouted while answering.

“Is there no one willing to teach you? I mean——reading and writing.”

“Where would we find a noble who would teach commoners how to read and write?”

The young elves replied calmly.

“......I see.”

All those interesting manga.

All those light novels that can get your blood pumping and set you trembling with excitement.

All those arousing anime and games.

These kids do not know them. They don’t even have the ability to learn of them.

I——

“......?”

I pat the heads of these little elves who’re looking at me with wondering faces.

Before I knew it, from within my chest, the desire to provide some sort of entertainment that these kids can enjoy even in their limited time is spontaneously welling up.

Since I’ve come to a fantasy world, after so much trouble.

In that case, can’t I at least bring some excitement to their hearts with an action adventure story or two.