Split Path
A week had passed since the incident with Kaguya.
Prodigy journalist Shinobu Sarutobi was away infiltrating the empire under the guise of being an exchange student. However, the other six High School Prodigies were having lunch in the Republic of Elm’s government office building in Dulleskoff with their three closest acquaintances from Elm Village: Lyrule, Elch, and Winona.
Lyrule sighed in her seat.
“This is quite the predicament we’re in…”
“You mean with the Yamato princess comin’ and asking for help three years after her country went down? Seems like it’s all people’re talking about these days,” Winona replied.
“My staff members are starting to get restless, too. And right after we managed to make peace with the empire…,” remarked Elch.
The two echoed Lyrule’s concerns. And it wasn’t just the people of Elm who were worried about the republic’s intruders, either.
“My exchange students from the empire who came to learn about medicine have been on edge as well. Why, they can hardly even focus on their studies,” Keine added.
In the students’ case, they were scared that the event would worsen Elm and Freyjagard’s relationship.
Although unilateral agreements between the two nations guaranteed their safety, it was all too common for such accords to be ignored in times of war. Elm had no intentions whatsoever of doing such a thing, but the students could hardly be blamed for feeling uneasy.
“What about yours, Ringo?” inquired Keine.
“…She…doesn’t seem…too worried. But Bearabbit…is another…story…”
“Well, if anyone starts acting oddly, don’t hesitate to call. My counseling services are at your disposal.”
“…I feel like…it’s hard to find anyone…at the workshop…who doesn’t act oddly…”
Cranberry’s success with the Panjandrum had only served to heighten her arrogance, and Ringo had observed a corresponding uptick in her coworkers’ degeneracy. She gave a small, sarcastic laugh. The Prodigy scientist suspected that counseling wouldn’t do them much good.
“Yamato, huh. Never thought I’d hear that name again.”
“Winona, you got some sorta history with ’em?” Masato asked.
“…Yeah, you could say that. You know how I told you my Adel died from getting caught up in a war? It was the one against Yamato.”
“Oh, man.”
“Yamato was pretty closed off and didn’t produce anything all that impressive, but my old man made big inroads with them for the Orion Company. Even after the fighting started, he headed down there anyway ’cause of all they’d done for him and helped smuggle food and medicine to the civilians who got caught up in the fighting,” Elch added.
“Sounds like he was a good man…”
Although Adel’s actions technically qualified as aiding the enemy, Akatsuki couldn’t help but view them favorably.
However, Winona felt differently. “Like hell he was,” she replied indignantly. “What kind of ‘good man’ dies and leaves such a young, hot, likable, and most importantly, young, widow behind? Jerk’s probably burning in hell.”
“Mom, I don’t wanna say you’ve got an ego problem, but…”
“Nah, Winona’s right. Any guy who’d make a babe as choice as her mourn for him is scum!”
“See, Masato gets it, unlike a certain little punk who wouldn’t know how to talk to a girl if she hit him over the head. Maybe if you took a page from his book, you could actually get some mileage out of those good looks you inherited from me.”
“Piss off!”
Flustered by his own flesh and blood, Elch angrily stuffed his mouth full of bread.
“Heh…” Keine laughed. “Still, Tsukasa, I must say that you handled the situation at the election announcement with aplomb.”
“Indeed. He was as cool as a cucumber, that he was,” Aoi agreed. “And seeing that helped the citizens keep their composure in turn. Might it be that you knew they were coming, m’lord?”
Tsukasa Mikogami, the person who had arranged the lunch, responded to their inquiring gazes by nodding. “More or less. I didn’t know that they would choose that moment to do so, but I was prepared for Yamato to make contact sooner or later.”
“You…were?” Ringo asked.
“When Shura saved us back in the Emperor domain, she said they would in not so many words. Still, showing up when we were broadcasting to all of Elm… Their timing couldn’t have been worse for us.”
There was no shortage of exchange students and other Freyjagard citizens staying within Elm’s borders. It was foolish to think that the empire wouldn’t find out about Yamato’s plea to Elm.
Now the Prodigies were forced to make a bitter decision: either side with Yamato and bring discord to their relationship with the empire or refute the call for aid and have the angels themselves renege the Seven Luminaries’ guiding philosophy.
“Makes sense why the chick would do that, though. Her showin’ up as she did keeps us from sweeping the whole issue under the rug and pretending she was never here. But if you knew they were coming, I take it you’ve already figured out how you wanna deal with ’em?” Masato questioned.
“That I have.” Tsukasa put down his utensils and wiped his mouth. “In fact, that’s the very reason I gathered you all here today. As the core members of the Seven Luminaries, I thought it was important that we all get on the same page regarding the situation we now face and the actions we need to take from here on out.”
After waiting for everyone to get ready to listen, he cut to the chase.
“Let’s start by briefly summarizing the situation. One week ago, we captured a pair of women calling themselves Kaguya and Shura when they invaded our announcement ceremony for the national elections. Then, in accordance with our joint security agreement with Freyjagard, we reported the news to them. When we did, we also asked for their help in identifying the two.
“Three days later, Freyjagard dispatched a diplomat who used to live in Yamato, and with their help, we determined that the women were indeed Kaguya, the first imperial princess of the defeated country of Yamato, and the military leader Shura, who is also known as the White Wolf General. When that fact became clear, the empire informed us that the current Yamato dominion government was demanding they be turned over.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet.” Masato nodded. “Freyjagard can’t exactly let royalty from a nation they took over just run around free.”
“…What’s this about a Yamato dominion government? I was under the impression that Freyjagard had simply annexed them.”
Tsukasa gave Keine’s question an affirmative dip of his chin. “They did, after Yamato’s capital fell and its emperor died, but…Yamato had a fierce resistance movement, and the Freyjagard nobles had little success administrating the country.”
As Elch had just mentioned, Yamato didn’t have any sort of specialized industries or production. Thus it followed that there were no nobles invested enough in ruling the territory to want to go up against a resistance movement spearheaded by the first imperial princess Kaguya. Despite going to great lengths to invade Yamato, none among the empire’s aristocracy actually wanted to hold on to it.
“After a series of trials and tribulations, the empire ultimately returned internal sovereignty to Mayoi, the second imperial princess and a member of the Yamato imperial family who betrayed her homeland and aided Freyjagard during the war, while retaining external sovereignty and ultimate decision-making power over the region. That was how the Yamato dominion settled into the state it’s in today.”
“Goodness me,” Aoi replied. “You mean to say that Kaguya’s younger sister was a traitor?”
“I can’t speak with any confidence about the way events actually played out, but the public version of accounts certainly seems to suggest as much.”
“That’s weird, though. If they didn’t need it, why bother invading in the first place?” asked Akatsuki.
“…That’s an excellent question. It doesn’t make sense, and that’s something that definitely bears further consideration,” Tsukasa replied.
“A-are you sure? I was just kinda curious.”
“Absolutely. However, we have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. We need to consider how we Seven Luminaries are going to respond to the demand made through Freyjagard. Now, I didn’t swear any of my staff to silence, so I imagine many of you have already heard, but a few days ago, the official statement I made to the dominion government was—”
Before Tsukasa could go any further, someone interrupted.
“Hey! H-hold on just a minute!”
“““……!”””
Everyone at the meeting heard a loud cry come from outside the dining room.
“Was that Nio just now?” Lyrule inquired.
Tsukasa turned to her and nodded. “It was. Something must have happened.”
Nio Harvey was an exchange student from the empire who had come to learn about governing. Tsukasa was the one who’d spent the most time with him, so he rose from his seat to see what was going on.
Yet before he could even finish standing…
“You can’t go in there! They’re in the middle of a meeting!”
“H-he’s right… We can’t just rush in out of the blue like this. I—I think we’re being hasty…”
“You’ve got a good head on yer shoulders, Juno, but you always play it too safe! If you wanna get through to ’em, you gotta do it face-to-face!”
“““Yeah, that’s right!”””
“The angels said they were here to hear us out, didn’t they?! Ain’t no reason for us to hold back!”
“L-like I said, if you have something you want to discuss, then as Mr. Tsukasa’s secretary, I’m perfectly equipped to pass on a message…”
“We wanna talk to the angels in person! ’Sides, you’re one of them imperial exchange students, aren’tcha? This is an Elm issue, so keep your nose out of it!”
“But I—Ah!”
“Excuse us; comin’ through!”
The dining room door swung open with a bang, and eight brawny men wearing grubby outfits noisily barged in.
Masato reacted to the unexpected newcomers by casting a snide look Tsukasa’s way. “Whoa, you double-booked the room? That’s not a great look, Prime Minister Mikogami.”
“They aren’t here by appointment. It’s not my fault.” After replying to Masato’s dig, Tsukasa looked to Nio, who had followed the men in. “Nio?”
“I-I’m terribly sorry. I told them that you were in the middle of a meeting and that they needed to come back later, but…”
“That’s fine. More importantly, who are they?”
Instead of Nio, however, Tsukasa found his question answered by the large, bull-horned byuma heading up the group’s vanguard.
“Our bad for chargin’ in uninvited! Er, I mean, we’re sorry? No, no… ‘Our humblest apologies’! We’re a group of humble farmers from Narnia, in the Buchwald domain, and we’re here today ’cause our leader’s got something she needs to tell y’all angels!”
The men made no attempts to hide their identities, and between the dirt under their nails, the stained state of their clothes, and the calluses on their hands, a single glance was enough for Tsukasa to tell that they were precisely who they claimed to be. Furthermore, that none of them were armed informed him that they truly did just wish to speak.
As such—
“I’m Tsukasa, the angel entrusted by God Akatsuki in matters of state. If you have something to say, I’ll hear you out.”
—he gave Aoi, who had been readying herself to suppress the intruders, a look to tell her she could stand down. Then, he turned to the men and gave them his full attention.
“C’mon, Juno! Yer up!” responded the large byuma, and he gave the young woman hiding behind him a little push. She was short, wearing glasses, and looked to be about twenty.
“I—I can’t. This is all so sudden; m-my heart isn’t ready yet…”
“You’ve been goin’ on about this since yesterday, haven’t ya?! You’re a smart cookie, so have some confidence!”
“Eeep!”
The man gave the bespectacled woman a solid clap on the back, and she stumbled all the way up to Tsukasa. If the horned man was having her take over, then she must have been the aforementioned leader.
Tsukasa’s eyes fell upon Juno. Realizing that it was too late to back out, she stopped glancing around nervously and timidly began her speech.
“…My, um, my name is Juno, and I’m Narnia City’s treasurer. First of all, I’d like to apologize again for barging in on you in the middle of a meal. I’m so sorry.”
“Think nothing of it. As angels, listening to what the people have to say is our foremost priority… Isn’t that right, God Akatsuki?”
“Huh?! Oh yeah! Totally! Verily, I mean! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!”
“You have our deepest thanks for your magnanimity, God Akatsuki,” said Juno with a bow of her head.
“So what is it you came here to tell us?” Tsukasa pressed.
“Be-before that, I have a question I’d like to ask. If it turns out that what we heard wasn’t true, then it would mean that all my fears are baseless.”
“Oh? And what is it you heard?”
Juno met Tsukasa’s gaze as she posed her inquiry. “There’s a rumor going around that the Seven Luminaries have rejected the empire’s demand that we extradite Princess Kaguya of Yamato, the woman who crashed the election announcement the other day. Is this true?”
“ ”
Ironically enough, Juno’s question was getting at the same thing Tsukasa was going to tell the others about before they were so rudely interrupted.
Everyone wanted to know how he had replied to the dominion government’s insistence that Kaguya be relinquished into its custody.
Tsukasa gave his answer plainly.
“It is. As the angel entrusted by God Akatsuki with matters of state, I personally informed the dominion government via Freyjagard that both Kaguya and Shura are criminals being held for the offense of illegal entry into the Republic of Elm, and we’re unable to deport them until after they’ve served their sentences.”
“““Wh—?!”””
“What in tarnation wouldja do that for?!”
The moment they heard Tsukasa’s reply, the farmers’ expressions froze with panic, and Juno was thrown for such a loop that she lapsed back into her rustic accent.
When she realized her mistake, her face went bright red, but after clearing her throat to regain her composure, she stared at Tsukasa with renewed determination.
“The two of them are wanted in the empire for high crimes. One of them is the princess of Yamato. And what’s more, the whole nation knows that they asked the Seven Luminaries for help liberating their home. Doubtless, Freyjagard must know of this as well. In light of all that, I don’t comprehend how your decision is anything other than sheltering felons from the empire! I beg of you, please accept Freyjagard’s demand and extradite the Yamato princess! I see no good reason why we should have to take on such risk for the sake of a nation that hasn’t existed for years!”
“And that’s what you’re here about?” Tsukasa questioned.
“You’d better believe it!” one of the farmers replied. “Ever since Juno heard ’bout the rumor, she’s been saying that we might piss off the empire and start another war! That’s why we all came over to ask y’all to change your minds! Ain’t that right, Juno?!”
“I-it is… When I first heard what you did, my immediate thought was that beings as exalted as you all might not understand the animosity you risked breeding in the empire by refusing their demand. Unlike you, we humans are petty and narrow-minded.
“You can assert that your decision is based on accords made between Elm and Freyjagard, but there’s no guarantee there won’t be people who get enraged regardless and turn to violence to get their way. I implore you, turn the two women over as soon as possible. We don’t want our peace destroyed!”
“I see.” Tsukasa was impressed by Juno’s earnest plea. She had seen the diplomatic implications of their situation with stellar clarity.
And she was right—even though Tsukasa was acting per the joint security agreement, his refusal to deport Kaguya would no doubt inspire unjust anger in the empire all the same.
Furthermore, choosing to take such a hard-line, by-the-book attitude with a party they had only just signed a cease-fire treaty with could hardly be described as tactful.
However…Tsukasa already knew all that. He’d made his choice despite it. And he had had good cause for doing so.
As such—
“I appreciate you coming to me with your concerns. Yet I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
—he curtly shot her down.
“B-but… But why?!”
“There are two reasons. The first is that when an individual commits a crime in a foreign nation, they’re only to be forcefully repatriated after they’ve been punished by local law. That was what we and the empire decided in the joint security agreement we made after the cease-fire. Unless they can convince us otherwise, I see no justification for making an exception of those two solely for the sake of Freyjagard’s convenience. The second reason is that we act per the ideal of equality for all. As such, we can’t dismiss Kaguya’s plea to save Yamato without at least affording it due consideration.”
“Hey, whoa, hold up!” one of the farmers interjected. “You mean you’re just gonna believe that princess chick outta nowhere and back Yamato?!”
“If what she says is true, and her people do need our aid, then it’s in keeping with our principles that the Seven Luminaries, and in turn the Republic of Elm, convince the empire to correct whatever injustices are being perpetrated.”
“But if ya do that, it’d mean war!”
“Yeah! It’s too dangerous!”
Tsukasa answered the pale-faced farmers with a stern tone. “It won’t come to that. The empire is a valuable partner to us, and I have the utmost confidence that our relationship with them will hold strong for a long while to come.”
“You talk real slippery-like, don’tcha…?” Juno grumbled quietly.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job as a politician if I didn’t.”
Juno’s accusation had an almost disappointed ring to it, and Tsukasa replied as shamelessly as could be.
Even if, hypothetically, he was considering making Freyjagard listen by force if they refused his demand, as a part of Elm’s government, he would never dream of saying so out loud.
However—
“That said…while we have every intention of approaching this issue via economic aid and diplomatic efforts, if the empire responds to us with hostility, I don’t deny the possibility that we’ll have to reply in kind.”
—he was willing to admit the chance of Freyjagard forcing Elm’s hand.
By doing so, Tsukasa was indirectly communicating to Juno and her entourage that their fear about him and the other angels not understanding the subtleties of human emotion was unfounded. This revealed that the Seven Luminaries chose not to extradite Kaguya knowing it might lead to war, while also affirming that Tsukasa’s political stance was that equality for all was more important than Elm’s relationship with Freyjagard.
“…Is…that so…?”
Juno let out a long exhale and closed her eyes. She was steeling herself. After a few seconds of silence, she opened her eyes, narrowed them, looked at Tsukasa and the other five Prodigies, and spoke with a voice positively brimming with animosity.
“I get it now. There ain’t no point in trusting you.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Tsukasa.
“All them things you said were moving and true. But they’re all just platitudes. God Akatsuki showed us that you angels can survive being cut in two, but we humans aren’t like that. If we die, that’s the end for us. And that means we can’t afford to put our lives on the line for niceties. We can’t go marching off to our deaths for the sake of your lofty ideals. So if you all would have us die to uphold them…then we the people have no choice but to rise against you to protect ourselves.”
No sooner did Juno finish her impassioned speech—
“I refuse to stand idly by and listen to this!”
“““ ?!”””
—than a new voice cut through the chamber, and the doors on the far side from where Juno and the farmers had entered swung violently open.
Eight burly men and a silvery-haired woman dressed in red appeared. Immediately, the woman shouted at Juno and the farmers in a tone shaking with fury.
“Not only do you object to divine providence, but you even have the nerve to threaten the angels?!”
“…Today’s quite the day for unannounced visitors, I see.”
Tsukasa gave a light shrug, then directed an inquisitive glance at the new guests.
The ash-blond-haired hyuma woman who looked to be the group’s leader gave him a deep bow.
“I beg your pardon for our sudden entrance, Mr. Angel. I am Tetra, captain of the Vigilante Corps that serves Hamel and fifteen other villages in the Gustav domain! And the men behind me are members of that corps!”
“““Pardon the intrusion, sir!”””
“Oh…! That would make you Great Scythe Tetra, then?”
When the woman introduced herself while inclining at a sharp ninety-degree angle, Tsukasa recalled having heard her name before.
Gustav’s region during his rule had been a breeding ground for poverty and lawlessness. But as the story went, a single brave woman organized a large-scale vigilante group to protect the area’s villages and also stood on the front lines herself and mowed down bandits with a massive scythe.
If Tsukasa recalled correctly, that hero’s name had indeed been Tetra.
Tetra herself confirmed his suspicions. “For the name of one such as I to have reached your exalted ears…it’s a great honor, sir!”
Merely standing across from her was enough to make Tsukasa’s skin bristle with tension.
Aoi was also far more on guard than she had been when Juno’s group entered. Thus, there was little reason not to believe the red-garbed woman’s claims.
“We came here today to report something to you, but while we had every intention of waiting outside the room until you finished your current appointment…when I overheard the blasphemy coming from inside, I couldn’t bear to remain silent. I ask that you forgive my impropriety.”
“…I see. Well, that’s all well and good, but are you planning on raising your head at some point?”
After first bowing, Tetra had yet to stop. She gave her reply while her face was still pointed directly at the ground.
“N-no sir! I would never dream of being so irreverent as to lift my head to the same level as an angel’s!”
“…Your piety is impressive.” It may have been for the greater good, but as one of the people deceiving her, Tsukasa still felt a pang of guilt. “However, I can’t say I’m too fond of staring at someone’s scalp while I talk to them. Would you mind looking at me?”
“F-forgive me! Th-then by your leave, I shall raise my gaze alone.” With that, Tetra turned her face up toward Tsukasa while leaving her back bent. Her expression was the very image of sincerity.
…If not for that earnestness, it would have felt like she was mocking him.
Tsukasa shot a stern look at Masato to stop him from bursting into laughter, then spoke.
“I see. Then as an angel of the Seven Luminaries, I order you thus—stop bowing and straighten up normally.”
“A-as you wish!”
After being given a direct order by an angel, Tetra finally relented. Now that they were at last at eye level, Tsukasa could get on with business.
“So what was it you came here to tell us?”
“Sir! With all due respect, in the week since the Yamato princess came seeking our aid, you angels have yet to begin amassing troops. Upon noticing that, I couldn’t help but fear you were acting out of consideration for the residents of Elm, so I felt it was my duty to come convey the will of the people to you!”
“And what might that be?”
“Sir! We wish to abide by the Seven Luminaries’ glorious philosophy of equality for all and rescue Yamato without a moment’s hesitation! No, not just Yamato—we would deliver salvation to every nation in the world whose people suffer under the yoke of oppression. It was the principle of equality for all that gave rise to our great Republic, and I see it as our responsibility to spread that ideology across the globe! Thus, Elm has a duty to fight for the sake of that ideal. Hoarding the liberation we’ve been afforded would be utterly inexcusable. And yet…”
Tetra paused to stare at Juno’s group as harshly as when she had first barged in.
“…You people! Are you truly base enough to abandon Yamato to its fate despite recently having been saved by the angels’ grace yourselves?! Selfish cowards, the lot of you! The angels are trying to bring deliverance to us per their sublime goal. If saving Yamato means war, then that struggle would be no less than a holy endeavor! As people rescued by the angels, we should be honored to take part in such an undertaking!”
The large men behind Tetra followed her sermon by yelling at Juno and the farmers.
“Yeah! Tetra’s right!”
“What, you think everyone else can go suck it as long as you’ve got yours?!”
Juno shrank back at their angry cries, but her allies weren’t so easily cowed.
“The hell you people talkin’ about?! Why should we put ourselves on the line for a bunch of foreigners?!”
“Yeah! A government’s gotta look out for its own citizens before it starts worryin’ about a bunch of people off somewhere else!”
“And whenever there’s a war, it’s always us little guys you collect tons of taxes from! If y’all love fighting so much, then go take your bloodthirsty angels and battle it on your own!”
The farmers met Tetra’s group’s criticism by shouting back that they were in the right.
“The masses don’t want war,” they cried.
“No, the people will join our holy crusade with joy,” the other side shouted back.
The air was rife with voices championing rival ideologies. Each exchange grew more and more heated, and before long—
“Insulting us is one thing, but calling the angels bloodthirsty…?! This affront cannot stand! Perhaps you need someone to beat your rotten hearts into shape!”
“Ha! I’d like to see y’all try!”
—the two factions were on the verge of coming to blows.
Fortunately, Aoi reacted quickly to the mounting tension.
Knowing she needed to put a lid on the situation, she drew her blade.
“EVERYONE, QUIET!!!!”
““““……………””””
Yet before the swordfighter could do anything, Tsukasa’s voice boomed a thunderclap. Even the windows shook. Few, if any, of their visitors had expected such a roar to come from a man as slight as Tsukasa. Tetra and the others froze in shock.
Tsukasa swept his gaze across them as he spoke. “I can see that everyone feels strongly about how the Yamato situation should be handled. However, altogether you are only eighteen people, and there’s no way to draw meaningful conclusions about the populace’s opinion from such a small sample. If you want to find out where the consensus lies, the only way to do so is by asking every person in the Republic of Elm. And it just so happens…that we’ve already prepared a stage for doing exactly that. Isn’t that right, Juno?”
The woman gave him just the reply he was looking for.
“…You mean the national elections.”
“I do indeed. There’s no restriction that says those who disagree with the Seven Luminaries’ way of doing things can’t run. The candidates are free to choose their platforms however they see fit, and the people are free to vote as they please. That’s how democracies like Elm work. Instead of wasting your breath shouting over one another in this tiny room, I think you’d be better served by going out recruiting like-minded allies for the election. If your opinions truly reflect the majority’s will, you should expect to see that reflected in the vote. Isn’t that right, Tetra?”
Tetra straightened her back and apologized.
“Sir! Absolutely, sir! I’m terribly sorry for losing my temper and putting on this unseemly display!”
Hearing that made her realize that justice was on her side. The masses would never agree to besmirch the wonderful ideal of equality by pandering to the empire and forsaking Yamato. Once it was time to vote, the selfish fools before her would find their upstart notions rejected. And once that happened, the cowards would have to realize the error of their ways.
“Now, I’d like to ask you all to leave. We still have matters we need to discuss among ourselves.”
Now that both sides had calmed down, Tsukasa called for them to disperse. His bellow from earlier had left quite an impression.
Instead of quarreling any further, the two women and the men behind them bowed and left the same way they had come in.
Once the doors on both sides clicked shut—
“Wh-wh-what the heck?! What just happened?!”
—Akatsuki immediately went pale as a sheet.
“Th-the second group was one thing, but the first one said they were gonna rise up against us! Isn’t that, like, treason?! Like, a mutiny?! Wh-wh-wh-wh-what do we do?! Crush them? Crush them, right?!”
“Geez, Prince, dial it back a notch.”
“Masato is right, that he is. There were scarcely more than a handful of them, and I could have managed the situation with ease. Worry not and keep your dignity about you, m’lord,” Aoi assured.
However, Elch remained unconvinced. “…Just a handful for now, maybe.”
“Elch, m’lord? What do you mean by that?”
“Ever since those two crashed the election announcement, more and more people have been getting worried that our treaty with the empire won’t last. It’s worsening every day, and I’ve heard that public opinion of the Seven Luminaries’ government is starting to take a turn for the worse.”
Folks were frightened that they might get dragged into another war with the empire if they kept following the Seven Luminaries.
Juno’s group may have been the only one who came to express as much in person, but that didn’t mean they were the only party who felt that way.
Fear and distrust were building, and there was no release valve in sight.
Elch worked more closely with the general populace than the High School Prodigies did. He could sense the shifting opinions all the more keenly.
With the war for liberation over, the nation was starting to lose its unity.
Elch felt obligated to offer a suggestion to Tsukasa, the nation’s secretary of the interior.
“Shouldn’t we start taking steps to prevent an insurrection?”
Yet Tsukasa shook his head.
“That won’t be necessary.”
“B-but, Tsukasa! Those guys said they were gonna rise up!” Akatsuki yelped.
“When they said that, they weren’t talking about armed rebellion. That Juno woman is wiser than she looks. She chose her words carefully, knowing that, as angels preaching salvation, we can’t take heavy-handed measures against people for merely defending themselves. She saw us take the empire’s four northern domains in a few short months, so she understands the power differential she’s up against. No…when she declared she would rise up against us, she was alluding to winning the people over in the election and delivering a vote of no confidence against the Seven Luminaries.”
Proof of that could be found in the fact that Juno understood just what sort of function an election served. There was no reason to crack down on what she was doing.
As Tsukasa laid out his stance—
“Tsukasa…?”
—Lyrule gave him a perplexed look from the seat beside him.
When Tsukasa realized that, he tilted his head to the side.
“Hmm? What is it, Lyrule?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just…you looked like you were having fun.”
Tsukasa realized that a faint smile was playing on his lips. His emotions had started creeping onto his face without him even noticing it. That said, he had no particular reason to hide it.
“Having fun? Yes, I suppose I was. This is something to be celebrated.”
“I-it is? Even with things about to come to a head like they are?”
“Not long ago, those men and women would have left themselves at the whim of the tides, even if the ship that was their nation was heading toward the great waterfall called war. But they’ve changed. Both Juno’s group, who believes that a country should prioritize its welfare above all else, and Tetra’s group, who disagrees and feels that we should save Yamato in keeping with the Seven Luminaries’ principles, have clear visions for what direction they want the country to go in and are taking the initiative to try to steer the ship that way.”
In other words, the idea that the people should choose their nation’s trajectory was starting to take root in the populace. Democracy didn’t work unless all believed that they were their own masters. However, that was a hard thing for those at the bottom of the world’s ruling structure to buy into.
To them, a country was a ship controlled by the privileged, and they were merely slaves being made to row. They had no right to choose its heading. The very thought was ludicrous. Yet now, thanks to their belief in the doctrine of equality for all and their newfound independence from the empire, their attitudes were slowly beginning to shift. Juno’s and Tetra’s visits were only the beginning.
“This marks a monumental step forward for the Republic of Elm,” declared Tsukasa.
Winona nodded from her seat beside Elch’s. “Yeah, definitely feels like people are changin’ a bit. Hell, even just the fact that they’re complaining ’bout their worries and grievances woulda been unthinkable back when the empire was in charge… By the way, Tsukasa, which of those two you think has it right?”
“I…don’t believe that anything as simple as ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’ exists in the world of politics. For instance, a king’s job is to make their land prosperous, but that sometimes means having to suck wealth out of other countries, and doing so will draw criticism. However, if the king decides to prioritize fostering strong foreign relationships, then they’ll be criticized in turn for not doing enough to help their people. Politics is all about making trade-offs, and being a politician isn’t about finding the ‘best’ solution—it’s about finding the ‘better’ one.”
The best outcome for Group A might very well be the worst for Group B.
“Comparing their opinions with that in mind, though… I would say that Tetra’s way of thinking is closer to the ‘better’ solution.”
“It…is…?” Ringo found that surprising. She was a timid person by nature, so to her, Tetra’s belligerent opinion had come across as almost scary.
“Comparatively speaking, yes,” Tsukasa replied. “While I won’t deny that Tetra’s philosophy is dangerously aggressive, Juno’s is actually the more dangerous of the two. The idea that we can preserve the peace by handing Kaguya and Shura over to the empire is deeply misguided. In fact, it would do the exact opposite. Handing them over would only serve to damage the most crucial element toward maintaining peace… Nio?”
“Y-yes?!”
“Why do you think wars happen?”
“Um…”
Tsukasa’s sudden question gave Nio, who had missed his opportunity to leave the room, a bit of pause. After a moment, he gave his answer.
“There can be historical issues or economic factors, and sometimes troops are also dispatched for domestic reasons like wanting to weaken lesser lords’ forces. There are usually a lot of factors and motives at play, so it’s hard to speak unilaterally.”
However, Tsukasa shook his head.
“It’s not hard at all. You see, Nio, all the things you just listed off are nothing more than pretexts. The heart of the issue is something much simpler. Maybe I should ask it a different way. Let’s suppose you were utterly destitute, and you hadn’t eaten anything in a week. However, your neighbors were affluent and had gold and food to spare. Under those circumstances, would you steal from your neighbor’s house?”
“O-of course not! I would never stoop so low!”
“You’re a good kid, Nio.”
“Huh?!”
As Nio’s cheeks turned bright red, Tsukasa went on.
“However, the only reason you say that is because you’re well educated and have a sound character.
“Not everyone is like you. There are people in this world lacking in morals who don’t think twice about violently seizing things from others. You could say that your neighbors in the hypothetical were immoral for letting you starve and not sharing their surplus food with you themselves. And the same holds just as true for nations as it does for individuals. The reason war happens is that people with flawed characters and no sympathy for others attain positions of power.”
If both sides were good and just, then the one in poverty wouldn’t steal, and the one with wealth would share it freely. Peace would reign throughout the world. But when a faction—or both—lacked a good conscience, then that didn’t happen.
“This world suffers from a stark shortage of ethics. That was true of many of the nobles we fought, and there are still plenty of influentials who view commoners as nothing more than pets or objects. They don’t think of them as human, so they don’t hesitate to take from them as they please. And when that’s the way they treat their own countrymen, it goes without saying that they don’t lose a wink of sleep over what befalls poorer folks in other nations.”
In this world, the strong only recognized the humanity of the strong. Commoners were like stalks of wheat growing from the ground to the aristocracy, and they mowed them down without a second thought.
“But that’s unsustainable. Any castle built on a rotting foundation will soon crumble, no matter how strong it is,” Tsukasa stated. “We could do as Juno’s group said and make friendly with the empire, yes, but it wouldn’t bring about the era of peace that they’re looking for. To achieve true harmony, the ideology of equality for all can’t stop at Elm’s borders. It needs to become an internationally recognized standard.
“People seek out labels, like commoner and enemy country, as an excuse to hurt others. It’s imperative that we foster a more moral world that acknowledges that doing so is evil and denounces such things as evil.”
Back in the Prodigies’ world, global weariness about war caused by a pair of nationalism-driven world conflicts had led to an unprecedented push for ethical systems that transcended national borders. Once these policies spread, it created a global environment where even nations with overwhelming military might could no longer thoughtlessly wield their power. It wasn’t a perfect solution by any stretch of the imagination. Still, the difference between Earth and this planet was like night and day.
War was kept in check through morality, not force. Humans were the only animals who could claim to have achieved that feat in all the Earth’s history. It was an advancement on par with the discovery of fire. Now the planet the Prodigies inhabited was in need of the same ethical development and diffusion.
“As such, we can’t write the Yamato situation off as a mere issue for Freyjagard to handle internally. It’s common courtesy to stay out of other nations’ domestic affairs, but that doesn’t mean courtesy can be prioritized over basic human rights. Even if it’s happening in another country, that doesn’t change the fact that wrong is wrong. As proponents of equality for all, we must do everything in our power to correct the situation, both for its own sake and as an example for generations to come. Now, as far as our plan for the immediate future goes…”
With that, Tsukasa continued from where he had left off before Juno and the others had interrupted him.
“For the most part, our plans for the election remain unchanged. As we hand over the reins of power, though, we should investigate whether Yamato actually needs the help that Kaguya claims it does. If so, we’ll need to prepare to make firm demands that the empire rectify the situation. Furthermore, we should keep in mind that the empire is unlikely to cooperate readily. We have a lot of work ahead of us that I didn’t initially account for, so…I hope I can continue depending on you all.”
“I have no objections,” Keine replied.
“Nor I. My blade is yours, that it is,” Aoi chimed in.
“W-well, if you say it’s important…,” Akatsuki said.
“I’ll do…my best…,” Ringo agreed.
Tsukasa’s allies nodded in agreement.
Their dear friends lived in this world, and they wanted to build an era of peace and stability for them. It was a sentiment shared by all seven of the high schoolers, the absent Shinobu Sarutobi included. None had a reason to begrudge the legwork Tsukasa’s plans would necessitate.
Yet—
“Count me opposed.”
—one member of the group, Prodigy businessman Masato Sanada, voiced his dissent.
“Huh…?” Akatsuki froze when he heard Masato’s objection. It wasn’t just the Prodigy magician, either. Everyone present stared at Masato in wordless shock.
“M-Masato…? What was that you just said…?”
“Clean out your ears, man. I said I’m opposed.” After answering Akatsuki by restating his objection to the proposal, Masato began tapping his teaspoon against the rim of his teacup in annoyance as he glared at Tsukasa. “I mean, Tsukasa, are you even hearin’ yourself right now? In case you forgot, that grandmaster’s our only way of getting back to Earth. The hell you gonna do if we piss him off?”
Lyrule and Elch raised their voices in alarm.
“M-Masato?!”
“Hey, man, watch what you say! And where you say it!”
Everyone else stared at the businessman in disbelief as well, but none so much as Nio.
“Huh? The grandmaster…?”
Someday, the High School Prodigies were going to go back home to Earth. They had their own lives to return to, after all. That was why they had set up their Seven Luminaries teachings. The hope was that they could hand power over to the native populace smoothly and depart.
However, they had deliberately kept it a secret that their current method for getting home involved the aid of Imperial Grandmaster Neuro. Not only would that fact call their divinity into question, but it would also raise concerns about whether they could be trusted at all.
And yet Masato had now revealed it not just to an outsider, but to Nio, an exchange student from the empire.
It was a blunder that couldn’t be undone.
Upon seeing everyone’s faces, Nio realized he had heard something he shouldn’t have.
“It, um, it sounds like you all have something important to talk about! I’ll just see myself out!”
Thus, he hurriedly tried to scamper out of the room.
“No, it’s fine. Stay. I’ll explain it all later.” Tsukasa stopped him in his tracks, however.
The damage was already done. Now the only option was to explain the situation and ask that Nio keep his silence.
Letting him wander off to who knows where with the knowledge he now had would be far more dangerous.
“That was careless, Merchant.”
“You wanna talk about careless? You’re the one pickin’ a fight with the grandmaster.” Not fazed in the slightest by Tsukasa’s rebuke, Masato put down the teaspoon he’d been restlessly tapping his cup with and downed his tea in a single gulp. The brusque manner in which he did so made it all too clear how annoyed the young man was.
“Your concern is valid, Merchant. But cultivating a worldwide system of moral beliefs founded in humanism is essential for maintaining international peace; you know that.”
“Yeah, sure, that’s all fine and dandy. What I’m sayin’ is that we’ve got no reason to put our one ticket home in danger just to develop all that.”
“It may have been a means to an end, but the fact remains that we were the ones who built a nation here founded on the belief of equality for all, not just those with distinguished families and noble bloodlines. We accelerated what would normally have taken these people hundreds of years to develop on their own. And because of that, we have a duty to ensure that it finds its legs.
“If we turned down Princess Kaguya’s plea solely to protect our relationship with Grandmaster Neuro, then we would be leaving a black mark on this world’s history and deny humanism the chance to reach global acceptance. That would be a depraved act of selfishness on our part, would it not?”
“And what’s so wrong with that?”
“……!” Tsukasa gasped at Masato’s curt response.
“Nothing, that’s what. This world ain’t the only thing we’ve got a responsibility toward, y’know. I’ve got people who count on me. I’m talking about my company. My employees. I have an obligation to them. I’m mad grateful to Lyrule and Winona, don’t get me wrong, but you compare what I owe this planet to that obligation, and the two aren’t even close.”
Masato rose from his chair as he spoke.
“Honestly, the grandmaster’s sketchy as hell. I get why you’re wary of him; I do. And there was that whole bit about the world being in crisis, too. But at the end of the day, I believe he’s telling the truth when he says he’ll send us home. So if you’re over here talkin’ about potentially getting on his bad side, then it means you and I are after different things. So from here on, you can count me out.”
Masato was talking about parting ways.
Akatsuki let out a cry that was practically a scream. “M-Masato, you’re kidding, right…?!”
Yet astonishingly—
“Very well.”
—their resolute leader, Tsukasa, accepted Masato’s divisive statement without pause.
“Tsukasa?! Wh-what do you mean, ‘very well’?!” Akatsuki cried, gaping in disbelief.
“The reason we agreed to work together in the first place was that we recognized it would let us search more efficiently for a way to get back to Earth. But Merchant is right. Strictly from the perspective of wanting to get home, the decision I’m making can hardly be described as apt. Thus…I have no reason to stop him.”
“B-but still…”
“I have to ask, though, Merchant, what specifically do you mean when you say you want out? Grandmaster Neuro may know about our situation, but if you stay in Elm, I find it hard to imagine him believing that you’ve actually cut ties with us. Even if it’s just temporary, you’ll probably need to put some distance between us. Do you have an idea of where you plan to go?”
Despite Akatsuki’s continued opposition, Tsukasa shifted his gaze back to Masato, who replied without hesitation.
“The vice chief of the Lakan Archipelago Alliance is tryin’ to poach me. I’m gonna head her way for a while.”
“I see… In that case, we can announce that the Seven Luminaries will be dispatching one of its angels to Lakan to proselytize equality for all. We can’t afford to have our internal disunity become public, not when we haven’t even handed over power yet.”
“Yeah, I’ll make sure to keep up the cover. It’s not like I’m tryin’ to screw you guys. But just know that if you botch things with the grandmaster bad enough to start a war, I’m telling the world how I seceded from the Seven Luminaries.” Masato was drawing a line in the sand—ticking off Neuro was the one thing he wouldn’t do.
Tsukasa respected his friend’s conviction. “Of course. That’s perfectly fair,” he replied. “You’ve been a tremendous help up until now. On behalf of everyone, I’d like to thank you for everything.”
A lonely smile spread across the young prime minister’s face. That was his way of saying he wouldn’t try to change Masato’s mind, even if it meant losing a friend.
“…Yeah.” Masato accepted Tsukasa’s gratitude and turned around.
“Hey, what?! Wait, Masato, hold up! I—Ow!”
Ignoring Akatsuki, who had banged his knee on the table in his haste to try to stop him, Masato left the room alone. The double doors slammed shut behind him. The whole turn of events was so sudden that Akatsuki forgot all about Nio and rushed over to Tsukasa.
“You’re really just gonna let him go like that?!”
Even Winona, who had watched everything unfold, felt the need to speak up. “Tsukasa, we all appreciate everything you’ve done for us. But nobody’s asking you to keep looking after us if it costs you your friendships.”
Elch and Lyrule nodded in agreement. Still, Tsukasa shook his head.
“I know. However, regardless of how we got here, the fact remains that we were the ones who accelerated your world’s culture. We guided the People’s Revolution to success and founded a democracy with no regard for the proper process those things were supposed to take.
“As such, I hold that our foremost priority should be making sure that this nation is strong enough to weather the coming transition to a more enlightened era. That’s something I’m not going to back down on. I’m not doing this for the sake of this world—it’s for my own pride and dignity.”
Tsukasa was determined to take responsibility for what he’d said and done. There was no abandoning things midway through. To the young prime minister, doing so was the greatest sin a politician could commit.
Lawmakers were people who earned trust from others through their promises. In Tsukasa’s eyes, anyone who weaseled their way out of those commitments and pushed their responsibilities off onto others was no politician at all. They were nothing but a parasite leeching off their country.
Even though Tsukasa wasn’t in Japan, and none of his voters were there to keep him accountable, his pride and dignity denied him any corner cutting. That fastidious pursuit of virtue was what had earned him the moniker of Prodigy politician in the first place.
“…That said, the fact that we’ve met someone who can get us home means that the circumstances we first formed this alliance under have changed. Now would be a good time for the rest of you all to reconsider how you want to proceed. If you disagree with the direction I’m taking, I won’t ask that you force yourselves to accompany me. Just as Merchant stated, the decision I’m making endangers our relationship with Grandmaster Neuro and carries considerable risk for us.”
“I intend to continue collaborating with you, just as I have.” The first reply came from Keine, who didn’t show a moment’s hesitation.
“While I would certainly prefer to avoid drawing the grandmaster’s ire, my long history on the battlefield has taught me precisely how important the morals you espouse are. And what’s more, if negotiations break down, and the Yamato situation devolves into war, then I daresay I’ll have my work cut out for me.”
Aoi followed her lead. “I shall follow you as well, m’lord. If battle comes, my skills may be of some use… And I have personal business with Yamato as well, that I do.”
“Finding a replacement for Hoozukimaru, you mean?”
Aoi gave Tsukasa’s sharp remark a nod.
“Verily. If we get involved with Yamato, we may cross paths with the one who forged those two’s blades. Returning to Earth empty-handed would impede my future endeavors, that it would.”
“Fair enough. I’ll make sure to ask Shura if she knows anything.”
“You have my thanks.”
After Aoi, Ringo chimed in.
“…I’m…with you…too, Tsukasa. There’s still…a lot of things…I still need to do…here.” She, too, was prepared to continue working for Elm’s sake under Tsukasa’s leadership.
“Thank you, Ringo. That means a lot.”
That left only Akatsuki.
“I—I…”
Inevitably, everyone else turned toward him.
Now that he was the center of attention—
“ !”
—he leaped up as though unable to endure their gazes and rushed out of the room.
After fleeing, Akatsuki glanced around, looking for Masato.
Eventually, he spotted him down the hallway. The Prodigy businessman hadn’t stopped or looked back once. The distance he’d covered was evidence of that, and Akatsuki felt a twinge of pain in his heart.
Masato was serious about this. This wasn’t some prank he was pulling. The young man indeed was planning on parting ways with them here.
Technically, Tsukasa was right. The reason the Prodigies had joined forces was so they could get back home. It made complete sense that they’d split up if their goals fell out of alignment. Everything about it was perfectly logical. Yet in Akatsuki’s mind, crash-landing on this alien world had made the seven teenagers into inseparable comrades. To him, the idea of their scattering to the winds was unthinkable.
He hated it. The thought of the group splitting up was terrifying. Spurred on by that terror, Akatsuki called out to his departing friend.
“MASATOOO!”
It was the loudest voice his throat could muster. Masato’s shoulders twitched at the unexpected bellow—
“Hwah?! G-geez, you gave me a heart attack! What’s with the shouting, Prince?”
—then he stopped in his tracks and turned toward Akatsuki.
“‘What’s with the shouting’? How could I not after you said all that dumb stuff…?!”
Akatsuki ran up to Masato, chewed him out—
“C’mon, man, let’s go back. You and me, together. I don’t want us to get all split up…”
—then tugged on his sleeve and asked him to reconsider. His tone was almost pleading.
Masato took one look at Akatsuki’s pathetic expression and laughed sarcastically. “Hey, don’t give me those abandoned-puppy-dog eyes. It’s not like we’re breakin’ up or anything. We just see things differently, and we’re each doing our best to get home in our own way. That’s all there is to it. Plus, think about it. If all seven of us took a hard-line stance with the grandmaster together, that’d be putting all our eggs in one basket. But if I split off from you guys ahead of time, then we can use that to give us another chance to negotiate down the road if things go south here; you feel me? And Tsukasa knows that, too—it’s why he didn’t try to stop me.”
“I—I mean, you might be right about that, but…even so…”
This wasn’t an issue of rationale. It was the act of parting ways itself that filled Akatsuki with fear. There were so many things the Prodigies didn’t know about this planet, and having the seven strongest people around all working together had put Akatsuki’s heart at ease.
Now he was terrified to lose the arrangement he’d taken for granted. He tripped over his words, trying desperately to find some way to convince Masato not to go.
“Plus, I don’t have anything left I can do for this country.”
Masato cut Akatsuki with a quiet remark that was heavy with remorse.
“What do you mean?”
“You heard about the big mess with the currency issuance, right?”
Masato was referring to when Elm tried to mint its new goss currency, and the empire and its other neighbors had cornered the market on raw gold bullion to interfere with Elm’s plans.
Thankfully, Masato’s ingenuity and Ringo’s skills had resolved things without much issue.
“Back then, I was seein’ red. If Tsukasa hadn’t been so quick on his feet, I woulda ended up destroying the empire’s whole economy.”
Still, Masato regretted how rashly he had handled things.
“Just now, Tsukasa was talkin’ about how politicians gotta look for the better solution, but going after the best option is Business 101. Even if you know it’ll lead to the worst outcome for someone else, you take that best option, and you run with it. Then you keep on going till your legs give out. That’s the way I’ve lived my life.
“And up till now, that’s been fine for us ’cause we’ve been jump-starting this nation pretty much by brute force. From here on out, though, Elm’s gotta learn how to keep the peace with its neighbors and set down roots in the international community. But if a one-man army like me starts butting his head into something like that, all it’s gonna do is cause issues for everyone.
“Problem is, I’m not a patient enough guy to sit on my hands and watch other people learn by trial and error. The whole mess with the coinage reminded me of that loud and clear. Even if this thing with Yamato hadn’t come up…I’d probably have put some distance between us anyway.”
And there was one other thing, too.
“Plus, there’s something besides Elm I’ve got a responsibility toward here.”
Akatsuki had a pretty good idea of what Masato was talking about.
“You mean Roo?”
“Yeah. I’m the one who bought her, so it’s my job to raise her into a strong enough merchant to be able to buy back her parents. That’s something I gotta do myself, and Lakan’s got the best seafaring tech this world has to offer. They’ve got their fingers in pretty much every maritime trading company pie there is, so if there’s anywhere I could find where Roo’s parents ended up after being taken as slaves from the New World, it’s there. That’s why I gotta hit the road.”
The difference between Tsukasa’s methods and Masato’s was only one reason why the expert merchant was leaving. The goss trouble had already informed Masato that his disposition and skill set were poorly suited to the task of founding a democratic nation. There was nothing left for him to do here. What’s more, he had Roo to think of.
Masato was the only one who shouldered that weight. He was the only one who could. Now that the Prodigies had found a way to get home in Neuro, he couldn’t afford to put it off. That was why Masato had chosen now to break ranks with the others. After considering what he could provide and all he needed to accomplish, he felt that this was the young man’s best option.
“………Man, you guys really are amazing,” Akatsuki admitted after listening to Masato’s speech.
“How’s that?”
“You all know exactly what it is you can do and what needs doing. It feels like…I’m the only one without a clue.”
Akatsuki had realized something. It wasn’t just Masato; it was everyone. They all knew what the score was. It explained why, when Tsukasa asked Akatsuki if he wanted to keep working together, he hadn’t been able to give his answer right away.
Keine had known, as had Aoi. Even Ringo, timid as she was, hadn’t hesitated. Shinobu was absent, but Akatsuki was confident she would have been no different if she weren’t. So where did that leave the young illusionist?
When Masato announced he was leaving, Akatsuki’s mind had gone blank. After Tsukasa hadn’t stopped Masato and instead asked the others to consider their positions as well, Akatsuki’s legs started trembling. He had thought of their community as unbreakable, and because of that, he had let himself grow dependent on it.
“Unlike you guys, I was just going along with whatever Tsukasa said without thinking twice about it… And now that I have to decide for myself, I’m a mess…”
He had fled in place of giving an actual answer. It was pathetic.
As Akatsuki lambasted himself for his comparative lack of consideration, Masato softly placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, Prince. You mind if I kiss you?”
“WH-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!”
Another chill ran up Akatsuki’s spine, though this one had a very different feel from the one he’d gotten when Tsukasa asked him how he wished to proceed. He shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Wh-wh-what are you going on about?! Don’t be a creep!”
“Nah, you just sounded so much like a chick there that I figured you’d made up your mind to start livin’ as a woman.”
Akatsuki shook off Masato’s hand with all his might.
“Like hell I did! There’s something wrong with your brain, man!”
Masato replied with a snarky chuckle—
“…That stuff about you not thinking isn’t true, y’know.”
—then gave Akatsuki a heartfelt smile and spoke.
“After all, you made a choice to believe in Tsukasa. And the only way you could do that was by considerin’ things and selecting for yourself that he was someone worth trusting.”
“I… I mean, I guess so…”
“So then, what’s the problem? If you ask me, there’s no quicker way to screw stuff up than to have amateurs tryin’ to talk over specialists when they’re out of their depth. If it weren’t for you keeping your mouth shut and just trusting in Tsukasa, there’s no way he woulda been able to unite the people and found a nation so quickly.”
Without Akatsuki’s help, establishing Elm would have been a much more involved endeavor. Initially, the commoners on the bottom end of this world’s power structure thought of “nations” as simply being possessed by the rich and powerful. The notion of collectively leading one hadn’t even begun to cross their minds.
Uniting them under a common cause should have been nigh impossible. To them, all of that stuff was just someone else’s problem. Yet because Akatsuki was there, the Prodigies had been able to employ the pseudo power structure of religion to unify the populace. That had led directly to the Republic of Elm’s birth.
“You can trace all that back to you choosin’ to trust Tsukasa. You’re not pathetic, Prince. Hell, you might not realize it, but you’re actually kinda badass,” Masato declared, and it wasn’t hollow patronizing, either. All the praise he was heaping on his pip-squeak friend came from the heart. “So…I’m countin’ on you to keep looking after Tsukasa for me. He doesn’t bend people to his will like I do. He’s the kinda guy who can only get stuff accomplished after the people around him buy into it.”
That was Masato’s parting request—for Akatsuki to keep using his talents to help Tsukasa out.
“…” Akatsuki went silent and looked down for a moment. After a little while, he let out a big breath like he was purging a great weight that had been building up in his chest, looked up, and spoke with his chest held high. “Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Very well! Be off, then, and leave things here to me!”
His voice rang with the dignity of the Seven Luminaries’ living deity. All his gloom and helplessness from before had vanished.
“See, that’s more like it. Good talk, man.” Seeing that his pal was back in high spirits, Masato turned to leave.
As Akatsuki watched his friend go—
“But don’t forget!”
—he called out to him one last time.
“When we leave here, we’re all doing it together.”
Masato glanced back over his shoulder, and Akatsuki stared him straight in the eye. They might have been going their separate ways for now, but this was the one thing Akatsuki refused to back down on.
“…Course.”
Masato raised his hand to express his acknowledgment, then set off again. Akatsuki did likewise and began walking back toward the dining room.
The two pairs of footsteps beat at different cadences as they drew farther apart.
As Masato listened to the sound coming from behind him, he whispered, “Sorry, Prince.”
The kind smile he had given Akatsuki mere moments ago was gone. All that remained was a gleam in his eyes, as sharp and cold as any knife.
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