Nihonkoku Shoukan Chapter 31

I was planning to get this done yesterday, but I got distracted, a lot, between yesterday and today, so I only just finished it now, heh. Pretty fun chapter, though, and now we can get back to blowing up arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.ds (maybe, I haven't read ahead, so I dunno what's next).

I also need to replenish my stock of Nara deer images…

Chapter 31 - Interlude: Diplomatic Progress

j.a.pan, capital city Tokyo

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was vigorously ramping up efforts to expand their diplomatic reach. Even though it had been some months since they had transferred, they had only formed diplomatic ties with a single country that was considered a major power in this world, the Second Civilization's superpower Mu.

The ministry considered two countries of critical importance: the world's strongest country, the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire; and a single-race country that only had a population of one million but still carried the t.i.tle of "superpower," a nation that was said to be tough to deal with because of their ego, the Eimor Kingdom.

There was also the Gra Valkas Empire, a strong country that declared war on the Second Civilization that the people of this world didn't know much about. Their technology was extremely advanced compared to the standards of this world, so there were some who insisted that it would be beneficial to trade with them, but they were extremely far away from j.a.pan so contact was put off for the time being. Based on what they knew of Gra Valkas's current level of technology, because there was a possibility that they might possess nuclear weapons, the ministry planned to do a thorough investigation before reaching out to them.

With Mu as an intermediary, they expected talks with the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire to go smoothly. However, because the Eimor Kingdom was so prideful, their intelligence indicated that negotiations would probably be rough. Furthermore, they were located rather far inside the First Civilization, the Central World, so just getting to them could be somewhat difficult. The word "prideful" brought to mind the Papaldia Empire, so the ministry's executives foresaw many headaches. They considered trying to go through Mu, but Eimor didn't believe in using intermediaries, they held the belief that "if you need something, come ask for it with your own two feet," an att.i.tude that was quite alien coming from Earth, so they abandoned the idea.

The j.a.panese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had recently made progress in their negotiations with the Kingdom of Meerkie, a country that neighbored Eimor, so they decided to try dispatching a small delegation from Meerkie to establish first contact.

Central World, Kingdom of Meerkie, Baumna Desert

The seven members of the j.a.panese delegation were currently on board a curious vehicle in Meerkie's Baumna Desert. After traveling through the desert for another 100 km, apparently they would be in the Eimor Kingdom. They were riding what was known as a "sandboat," which had twenty wheels on each side and used sails powered by magic gems that produced wind, to slowly make their way through the desert.

Arao with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was standing on the boat's deck. Under the clear blue sky, on board this wheeled boat with sails making its way over the sand, he imagined how weird it must all look from outside.

"What a strange boat," he muttered to himself.

"Hey, mista! Whatcha going ta Eimor for?"

A local man as thick as a barrel wearing striped clothes called out to him. He was carrying all sorts of goods, so he was probably a merchant.

"I'm just… going to make some friends… as they say. What about you, sir?"

"Me? As ya can see, trade! I got magic tools from Mirish'l… Here, looka dis! A wind-up watch from Mu! Dis thing sells for a lot!!!"

"Oh, is that so… by the way, sir, do you travel to Eimor often?"

"Ah, o' course! The Eimorsh are really sn.o.bby, dey always look down on me, and I don't really unnastand what dey say, but dey've got money. Ya say ya wanna make friends, but dey don't make good friends, if ya ask me."

"I see, thank you for the warning."

"By da way, mista, where ya from?"

"A country in the east called 'j.a.pan.'"

"Oh really, I ain't heard o' dem before. Well, g'luck in Eimor!"

Central World, Eimor Kingdom, Dragon Capital Dragkysmakira

The Eimor Kingdom was a country founded by a single race for the members of that race: the rare dragonfolk. The vast majority of dragonfolk in the world were Eimorsh. Even though they only had a population of about one million, they were given the t.i.tle of "superpower." The Eimor Kingdom was north of the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire, landlocked in the Central World continent. The country was small, about the size of s.h.i.+koku, and its capital city, the dragon capital Dragkysmakira, was situated at the source of a large river that flowed across the Central World. Eimor consisted mostly of forested areas, and the majority of Eimor's population was concentrated in Dragkysmakira.

In Dragkysmakira's royal castle, the Dragon King Wagdran was standing before the s.p.a.ce diviner. (Unlike on Earth, divination in this world uses magic power, so its results are very accurate.) The divination of s.p.a.ce was a yearly event that would determine the future of the country. Dragonfolk had magical power on the same level as high elves. For this ceremony, they gathered thirty people with the highest quality magical power and squeezed out as much pure magical power as possible to cast the divination spell.

This divination was used to determine whether there were any important or significant events that would affect the country; its primary purpose was to identify obstacles as early as possible in order to take countermeasures. The ritual took place in a dome-shaped room, supervised by the country's leaders. The diviner, Alesthre, used both of his hands to siphon the magic power from the thirty mages; when he was done, they s.h.i.+ned a pale red. This gave off the effect of stars being projected onto the dome's ceiling.

"I invoke the name of the G.o.d of s.p.a.ce to reveal the future."

Everyone watched nervously. s.p.a.ce divination was known to have an accuracy of over 98%.

"Wha!!! It… It can't be!!! How could this—!!!"

Alesthre appeared to be extremely distraught.

"What is it? What do you see?!" Dragon King Wagdran asked.

"…the Mage Emperor."

"Wha—What?!"

"It is not far off… the ancient sorcerous empire… from the myths, Latistor will return!!!"

"How… How is that possible!!!"

"How long?! How long do we have?!?"

"……I cannot see."

"What about the location?"

"There is a distortion in s.p.a.ce. I cannot see where."

Everyone in the room shuddered in fear. During the age of the ancient sorcerous empire, long before the Eimor Kingdom came into being, when the dragon G.o.ds still reigned, there was a country called Infidragoon. The sorcerous empire demanded that the dragon G.o.ds send them a number of dragonfolk each year. When one of the dragon G.o.ds asked the reason for this, the answer was that dragonfolk had strong and beautiful hides, and satchels made from dragonfolk hide were very popular in the empire.

In order to protect the dragonfolk, the dragon G.o.ds resolutely refused this demand, which triggered what would later be known as the Dragon Sorcery War. The war was extremely fierce, and the sorcerous empire decided to employ its ultimate weapon, called "Core Magic." Using Core Magic, they wiped one of Infidragoon's large cities off the face of the planet, and the dragonfolk ended up deserting the country, fleeing all over the world.

After the ancient sorcerous empire transported their continent into the future, the dragonfolk once again gathered to form a country, which became the Eimor Kingdom. Since dragonfolk were such a powerful race, throughout all of history, they never bowed to any power other than the ancient sorcerous empire.

"So then… will the world, including our country, be oppressed once again?"

"Nay, I cannot see that… the future is uncertain."

"Uncertain?! What does that mean?!"

"It is as I said."

"So is there any way to avoid destruction or enslavement?"

"There is!"

"How?"

"A new country has made an appearance."

"An emerging country?"

"Nay…… they were brought here from another world… a transferred nation."

"Where are they? What are they called?!" the king demanded.

Alesthre the diviner's face turned grim.

"Hrgh… rrrr… east… an island country, further east than Fillades, a nation ruled by humans…… they fly a flag with the sun, they are named… j.a.pan."

"Humans?! This is the ancient sorcerous empire! What can humans do with their weak magical power?!"

"I know not what they can do, but this j.a.pan, they are the key to opposing the empire."

"The key… Perhaps somewhere in their country they have a powerful legacy from another world. Hey, you!!!"

The king called to a n.o.ble in charge of diplomacy.

"Yes sir!"

"Find out everything you can on j.a.pan! It nauseates me to reach out to some human country, but investigate them, then begin diplomatic negotiations!"

"By your will!!!"

"Do it as quickly as possible! Go there at once!!!"

"……That is not necessary," the s.p.a.ce diviner countermanded.

"Why not?!"

"…j.a.pan has already sent diplomats here… currently, they are crossing Meerkie's desert. They will soon arrive at the twenty-seventh border gate."

"…That is quite convenient. Tell the gatekeeper via the magical communicator, do not turn them away!!!"

"Yes sir!"

Dragon King Wagdran was terrified of the Mage Emperor's return.

The sandboat with the delegation from the j.a.panese Ministry of Foreign Affairs shook.

"Attention, attention, this boat is now arriving at the border gate to the dragonfolk kingdom of Eimor. Thank you for using our services on this long journey."

Of course, there wasn't a speaker, it was just the boatman yelling out the announcement. The boat came to a stop, the door opened up on the bottom of the boat, and everyone got off. The sandboat pier was built right on the border of the desert and the forest; after getting off the boat, all of a sudden they were faced with a forest. In front of the forest about two kilometers away, looking completely out-of-place, was a huge gate that was painted blue.

"Attention, attention, please use the cobblestone road to enter the forest. It winds around a bit, but it will take you to the border gate of the superpower Eimor."

They walked on the stone path. After some time, they found themselves looking up at the thirty-meter-tall blue gate. Standing next to the gate were a two-meter tall soldier and some other people of the same height wearing native clothes; they were checking permits.

Dragonfolk: males had an average height of 2 meters, females had an average height of 1.75 meters. They had dark skin, but otherwise looked very similar to human beings. However, upon closer inspection, they had very small scales covering their entire bodies. They also had two horns on their heads. Both their eyes and hair were red.

Arao looked around. There was a booth next to the gate with a long line of people applying for entry permits. The delegation from j.a.pan got into line. After they had been waiting for a bit…

"You people have to line up too!!!" an Eimorsh staff member watching the line yelled at a group of humans.

The group shouted back angrily. "We aren't just some merchants! We are envoys from Kingdom of Rheem in the Third Civilization! We've come to renegotiate the establishment of diplomatic relations. Please announce to whoever is in charge of your country's diplomacy bureau that we are here!"

"It doesn't matter if you're diplomats or merchants or whatever! You're all still humans!!! You don't get special treatment at the border gate, only dragonfolk or something on the same level as high elves do! Everyone else lines up. So get in line!"

"Ghh!!!"

The envoys from Rheem quietly went to the back of the line.

"I suppose… negotiations will be difficult, as predicted," Arao said to his colleague Houki standing next to him.

"Indeed, this will probably be a fun time," Houki replied wryly.

"Hm? What's going on there?"

Someone wearing formal clothes, along with what appeared to be an escort of four soldiers, came out of the gate and walked towards them. It was clear that this person was someone important, considering the quality of his clothes. The Eimorsh staff member noticed this person, got fl.u.s.tered, and began bowing his head.

"Probably someone important."

Said person stopped in front of the j.a.panese delegation.

"Wuh?!"

"I represent the dragonfolk and the Eimor Kingdom with regards to affairs of diplomacy. I am called Moriaul. From where have you come, and for what purpose? What is the name of your country?" the man named Moriaul asked Arao.

"We're here from an island country far east of the Third Civilization continent of Fillades named j.a.pan. We've come to establish diplomatic relations with your country, the Eimor Kingdom."

Laughter suddenly rang out from behind them in the line. Those people began to chat, loud enough to be heard, clearly aiming their slander at the j.a.panese delegation.

"Barbarians from outside the civilized areas, huh. The Kingdom of Rheem belongs to the Third Civilization, but even we are having troubles with our negotiations. It's preposterous for a barbarian country to try as well. Hehaha."

They just spewed words of abuse.

"Ooh!!! So you are the diplomats from j.a.pan! We are sorry you had to wait. Come with me. Before we begin diplomatic negotiations, let us speak privately for a bit."

"Eh?! Ah, yes…"

Suddenly things proceeded so smoothly that Arao and Houki were simply flabbergasted.

"But… they should have to wait!!!" the badmouthing Rheem envoys blurted out. "We're from the Third Civilization, envoys from the Kingdom of Rheem. We've come to renegotiate diplomatic relations with your country. Ours is a civilized country. We request to be treated in accordance with our status!"

"Fuuh," the dragonfolk Moriaul sighed. "If I remember correctly, the Kingdom of Rheem is just some human country. You just wait in line there."

"Wha—!!!"

Moriaul turned back to the j.a.panese delegation.

"Now, j.a.panese guests, let me show you to your room. This way."

At a later date, j.a.pan would establish diplomatic relations with the dragonfolk country, the superpower Eimor Kingdom.

 —  — Chapter 32