Nihonkoku Shoukan Chapter 42

OK, important news for all of you who read j.a.panese or Google Translate the WN or whatever.

This isn't really chapter 42 (or 43, if we're counting by WN chapters (I renamed chapter 5 to 4.5 since it was just like a 10-minute translation of the countries of the world)), it's chapter 48. Why? Because this is the foreword on chapter 43:

This side story, The Legend of the Dragon, is a test to change my writing style. I waffled over whether or not I should submit this, but I decided in the end to just submit it. Because I changed my writing style for this side story, it might not be as good as before, and people who don't like it and don't want to read it may be worried about missing something in the main story. However, I've written this in a way to cause no issues; you'll be fine if you skip it. Rather than j.a.pan being the protagonist, they'll be playing a supporting role. I'll be finis.h.i.+ng this side story over the course of Golden Week.

So, as you can see, chapters 43-47 are actually a side story that the author gave no plot weight to the main story. Given my current release pace, that would mean at least a month of translating stuff that ultimately “doesn't really matter,” at least not to the main plot. I wondered if I should just skip it.

Deer B was pretty indifferent; he thought that either way would be fine. So, with 1 vote for skip and 1 abstain, I sped forward to chapter 48 (which will be 42 on the blog). I plan to circle back and do the side story as chapters 41.1-41.5 once I catch up to the current chapter of the WN. As someone translating in my free time for free, motivation is a key factor, and I didn't really want to translate a side story for a month while leaving the main story floundering.

Also, because I know Novel Planet still rips these chapters, another plug to read for free, with minimal ads (or no ads if you have an adblocker) at:

We don't want your money, we don't want your comments, and I personally think the blog is pretty f.u.c.king sweet, so come on by and stop giving ad dollars to pirate sites!

j.a.pan, Ministry of Defense, Technical Research and Development Inst.i.tute

Ouno and Okamoto from the Ministry of Defense's Technical Research and Development Inst.i.tute were reviewing the investigation doc.u.ments regarding weaponry used in this world.

"First off is the wyvern, the primary aerial weapon here," Ouno said to his boss, Okamoto, while flipping through the materials. "When a wyvern spits fire, it looks like they're activating fire magic, but actually, for guided fire blasts, they're first producing a viscous, combustible chemical inside their bodies, then combining it with both fire and wind magic. The wind wraps around a mixture of flame and the chemical compound. Then, in order to fire it, the wyvern stretches out its neck, creating a straight line from its torso to its mouth opening."

"Then they can't turn around and shoot behind them?"

"It would be possible to emit simple flames in that manner, but yes, they can only shoot fire blasts directly in front."

"That's oddly inconvenient."

"Yes, indeed; they're rather delicate creatures, they fall ill easily, and they p.o.o.p a lot as well. They can exhaust themselves during aerial combat, and they're unable to shoot consecutive fire blasts. They may be beneficial when providing support during ground combat, but, with regards to air control, they're quite useless."

"What about weapons for infantry?"

"Right, in the war with Rowlia, compared to the 'civilized areas' as they're called, their military capabilities were considered to be high. However, their main armaments were swords and bows, so we have nothing to gain from that a.n.a.lysis. As for the Third Civilization's Papaldia Empire, while they were considered a 'world superpower,' they were only using flintlock-type muskets. Using Earth as a yardstick, they'd be around the 1620's, at the level of antiques. Bullet speed, hit rate, reload time, they're all far below modern standards and pose very little threat to our armed forces. Of course, if they do hit, they can still kill a person, so it's necessary to be appropriately cautious around them. However, even if we see them as antiques, to the countries around them, the empire was still considered remarkably advanced, technologically speaking. Regardless, despite the fact that we've only had overwhelming victories to date, in order to minimize damage, I think it would be best for us not to get too conceited.

"However, what was most surprising about the Papaldia Empire was their possession of dragon carriers and s.h.i.+ps-of-the-line. The cannons on their s.h.i.+ps clearly displayed destructive power on the level of the nineteenth century, and the concept of using s.h.i.+ps to transport and supply wyverns is an idea from the first half of the twentieth century. If they had fought instead against the British or j.a.panese Empires from the early Meiji era, they might have won. If we theorize that the universe's error margin might be around a couple hundred years worth of advancement, we ended up hitting the jackpot."

The fact that j.a.pan had such an advantage due to their level of civilization rea.s.sured the two men. After completing their investigation of the Papaldia Empire, they moved on next to discuss the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire.

"What do you think of the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire? They're considered the strongest country in this area of the world."

"They leaned on magic to develop weapons we just don't understand, so I don't really have anything to say. We need to do a lot more research. Miris.h.i.+al has the '0th magic fleet,' said to be the strongest force in the world. A pretty ostentatious name, if you ask me. Their threat level is unknown, but we know they're about as large as s.h.i.+ps from World War II, and we have photos showing that they're equipped with what look like cannons. If we were to go up against them, I'd say we should use modern warfare strategies, but we need to be extremely careful."

"There really are just way too many unknowns regarding Miris.h.i.+al. I wish we had more intel."

The two men proceeded onto the Gra Valkas Empire.

"Now, what are your thoughts on the Gra Valkas Empire?"

At Okamoto's question, Ouno excitedly retrieved their doc.u.ments.

"Look at this!" he exclaimed, showing Okamoto a single photograph.

"My G.o.d! This is……"

"Somewhat recently, the Gra Valkas Empire wiped out a superpower country, Leifor, and these are pictures of Leifor's capital. They're called 'magic photographs,' but, well, they're basically just photographs. No matter how you slice it, that's a Yamato-cla.s.s battles.h.i.+p. When we a.n.a.lyzed the satellite pictures, its dimensions, the placement of its guns, it's strikingly similar to the Yamato-cla.s.s battles.h.i.+ps sunk by the Americans. But, according to survivor testimony, and based on blast a.n.a.lysis from their sh.e.l.ls, we believe they have practical proximity fuzes. Meaning, their electronic technology is on the level of the United States during World War II, but with a design philosophy similar to j.a.pan."

"So they're around World War II… We need to keep in mind that they could have nuclear weapons."

"Yes, they're clearly in the vicinity of a developed country from World War II, so it's very possible that they're already in possession nuclear weapons. Including the fact that they've been subjugating other countries, the Gra Valkas Empire is, at this moment in time, the country we most need to be wary of, in my opinion.

"Next, we have reports about the mythology of this world…"

Ouno pulled out another set of doc.u.ments.

"The Reen forest in the Princ.i.p.ality of Kua Toine was charged with the safekeeping of a 'divine flying s.h.i.+p' belonging to the Emissaries of the Sun who allegedly defeated the demon king far in the past. Unbelievably, the investigation team we sent there discovered that the 's.h.i.+p' they were guarding was a Mitsubis.h.i.+ A6M Type Zero Model 21 fighter aircraft. The government was shocked to find out that it's possible the former j.a.panese army may have come here before, in the past. If those troops were able to return to our old world, then there is a chance we could return the entire country of j.a.pan back to Earth. We're still not sure whether there's anything to celebrate… The matter is currently under investigation, but this world's myths and legends appear to be grounded at least in part on actual events.

"What concerns me is that, on that international aid mission to the Topa Kingdom to, ahem, 'exterminate dangerous wildlife,' the ancient sorcerous empire supposedly created those creatures. Monsters that evince highly advanced biological advancement like genetic editing, gene manipulation. We've heard from many other countries about the ancient sorcerous empire; there are records stating that they weren't one of the races of mankind, instead looking down on them and ruling over them like livestock. Furthermore, the superpower Eimor's folklore says they were extremely advanced and that they had attacked the land of the dragon G.o.d with 'Core Magic.' Based on the description of the aftermath, I was clear that this was actually an intercontinental ballistic missile with a simple nuclear warhead."

Okamoto was astonished to hear that a nuclear event had occurred in this world's past.

"How… How did they know it was nuclear?"

"Have you heard of the Kingdom of Kar Amik?"

"Ahh, we recently opened diplomatic relations with them, right?"

"Kar Amik has some very old ruins. We're currently investigating them, but they most likely belonged to the ancient sorcerous empire. They've found records explaining the foundation of Core Magic. Inside a hollow stone pillar, they put a detonation device and a round core. The device can use explosive magic to wrap the core in explosive pressure from all directions, causing an atomic fission chain reaction and resulting in an extremely high-powered explosive phenomenon. That stone pillar is launched into the air using a magical light discharge-type engine (instead of an air pressure engine), flies through the upper stratum of the atmosphere, then falls straight down on the target country; it's an attack that can target anywhere on the planet. Luckily, the records don't mention anything like a MIRV, but still, this country had practical nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, and also had no qualms about using them. The legends say that they're going to come back any year now. If they really did appear, they would be the worst threat we could currently imagine. I feel like j.a.pan is allergic to it, but we really need to be maintaining our nuclear weapons and ICBMs. The government does seem to be seriously considering it lately, though, keeping up with submarine-launched ballistic missiles and nukes. Well, this isn't something an SDF officer like me should be talking about."

The men continued discussing.

Kingdom of Rheem, royal castle

In the Third Civilization country of Rheem, the king and the prime minister were having a meeting in the royal castle. The prime minister was explaining the information that had been collected to the king.

"So what you're saying is, no matter what field it is, our kingdom cannot best j.a.pan?" the king asked, his expression split between anger and bewilderment.

"With regards to magic, our country is superior, but in the end there is no way we can fight against such a country. First, their weapons are simply in another dimension compared to ours. If our dragon knight order were to battle the j.a.pan Air Self-Defense Force, we would be quickly obliterated without causing even a single injury. On the ground, we lack any weapon capable of stopping even a single j.a.panese tank. Castle walls are worthless before them. And our s.h.i.+ps can't even take a glancing blow without turning to waste. Above all else, the thing we should fear the most is their industry—the absolute power of ma.s.s production, and the national power that allows them to easily make use of it. Nothing about them is ordinary," the prime minister extolled fervently.

"They sound far too prosperous. If they're so powerful, they might even be above the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire."

"I shall say it plainly: I believe we should pay much more attention to j.a.pan than Miris.h.i.+al. While they may be inferior in number, their technology is far, far more advanced than the Central World's. My king, I beg of you, do not take an antagonistic stance towards j.a.pan. If you do, then we shall follow in the footsteps of the Papaldia Empire."

The king could not even imagine a worse tragedy than what happened to the Papaldia Empire, being split into 74 different countries and losing the vast majority of their national power.

"I… I understand. We shall absolutely not be hostile with j.a.pan. However, when you say their weapons are 'in another dimension,' I do not understand that. Exactly how are they different from ours?"

"For example, take the 'automatic rifles' that j.a.pan's infantry carry… Your majesty, are you familiar with the guns that the Papaldia Empire uses?"

"Ahh, yes, those. When they first debuted, wars in the Third Civization changed forever."

"These 'automatic rifles' are capable of firing over twenty times in a row. Their rate of fire is six hundred and fifty bullets per minute. They have a range of over five hundred meters. If we were to fight against them, they would be capable of firing at us at high speeds from far beyond our reach. Another weapon they have is called the 'light machine gun,' it uses this 'ammo belt' to continuously feed bullets into the gun, allowing it to fire without pausing or reloading for a ghastly amount of time. This gun can fire seven hundred and twenty-five bullets per minute, and it can be wielded by a single soldier."

The king took a moment to digest what this information meant from a military perspective. In his mind, he saw his kingdom's elite army being mowed down without being able to lift a finger.

"Impossible! I can't believe it! There wouldn't even be a battle, would there!!!"

"What I described now is only the tip of the iceberg. For instance, j.a.pan is a mechanical country, just like Mu, but their combat aircraft can fly faster than the speed of sound, and they can attack targets that are too far away to be seen with the naked eye. This weapon, called a 'missile,' simply cannot be evaded."

An unseen enemy capable of attacking accurately, and that cannot be avoided, was something completely beyond the king's understanding.

"How do they do that?"

"Even if it is dodged, the weapon changes direction to give chase. j.a.pan calls them 'guided missiles.'"

"Those are… from the fairy tales…"

"Indeed, this weapon resembles the ancient sorcerous empire's light magic homing missiles."

The king was speechless. The prime minister continued.

"Their s.h.i.+ps are just as frightening. All of j.a.pan's s.h.i.+ps are mechanical, but their cannons are unbelievably accurate. They can even hit objects flying in the air."

The king had already reached his limit and stopped thinking too hard about anything he was being told.

"How do they do that? Isn't it impossible?"

"I believe they have some kind of technology that keeps the cannon stable even when there are waves. In addition, they have a way to calculate the enemy's position, the flight speed and trajectory of the cannon sh.e.l.l, and the enemy's flying speed. Then they have a way to predict the future position of the enemy in order to fire at that location."

"This is nonsense; if that were possible, they would need to constantly and precisely measure that distance every second. Not only that, they would have to perform these calculations far faster than any person is capable of."

"Apparently, j.a.pan has mechanical devices that can do those calculations. They say these machines are capable of calculating a quadrillion times per second…"

"Quadrillion! A quadrillion, you say?! Even a hundred would have been crazy enough, but a hundred, thousand, million, billion, trillion, quadrillion?! Are you sure you didn't hear wrong?!" the king retorted hysterically.

"Your majesty, please, calm down. Quadrillion is not a mistake. Either way, it's not a commonly-used number."

The king ma.s.saged his brow and sighed deeply.

"My apologies… please, continue."

"j.a.pan apparently has s.h.i.+ps that can dive and sail under the water. Deep in the ocean, hiding their presence, they can then fire off underwater guided missiles called 'torpedoes' to damage s.h.i.+p hulls. We have absolutely no way to counter such an attack."

The king gradually became bitter as he heard more about j.a.pan.

"While their military capabilities are terrifying, j.a.pan also has an enormous technological industry supporting it, and their ability to invent new weapons is exceptional as well. If you want an example of their technological prowess, they have an invention called a 'bullet train' that—"

The king stopped him, looking green. "I'm sorry, I will hear about it next time. I think I'm feeling slightly ill."

The Kingdom of Rheem's king swore in his heart to never become hostile to j.a.pan.

j.a.pan, about 700 km southwest of the Kyuushuu region, in the sky

In the cloudless blue sky, a white-painted aircraft flew through the air. The two engines on the plane glowed with a blue light and spewed out air, propelling it forward. This was the Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens Type 35 from the Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire, transporting their diplomatic delegation towards j.a.pan at a speed of 310 km/h. This aircraft was the epitome of their technology, the Central World's strongest country, and it was a product that could never be crafted with the level of technology available in the Third Civilization.

>

The in-flight broadcast gave the pa.s.sengers a flight update.

"That was so long! Another two hours or so and we'll finally be there," Information Officer Rydorka commented to the diplomat Phiam sitting next to him. "But man, this really was far. It hurts my head just to think of having to fight against someone all the way out on the eastern ends of the uncivilized world. And they're sending two escort for us; not wyverns, but combat aircraft! That sure was a surprise. I guess I should expect no less from a country favored by Mu. I can kind of understand how they beat Papaldia now. I look forward to seeing what kind of aircraft they are."

As Phiam listened to Rydorka, Mu's reciprocating engine aircraft (a biplane) came to mind. The information office had compiled a certain level of information in advance of this mission, but the specifics were rather vague and nothing had particularly stood out; aside from the fact that this country had defeated the Papaldia Empire, there were no other details.

"Mister Phiam, I think it would be better if you approached j.a.pan without any preconceptions of a typical barbarian country from outside the civilized areas."

"I shall take your advice under consideration."

"You know, I'm very excited to see what kind of aircraft j.a.pan is bringing," Technical Officer Baeluno interjected.

The three looked outside through the windows. Far below, they could see the ocean. Inside the plane, the only things they could hear were the high-pitched trill of the magic engines and the sound of the aircraft cutting through the sky.

All of a sudden, two other aircraft zoomed past them, followed by a delayed boom. Far behind them, the two planes changed course and quickly caught up to the Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens. One plane took the lead to guide them, while the other came up along the side of the Heavens.

"Wh… What?! How are they so fast?!"

"They don't have any of the propellers that Mu's aircraft use!!! Ah! They have an intake in the front! Don't tell me the j.a.panese also developed light discharge air compression engines!" yelled Technical Officer Baeluno.

"But what speed! They even surpa.s.s the Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens, our ultimate aircraft!!!" Military Officer Arpana cut in.

"The shape of their wings… my goodness! Those are swept wings! They're for surpa.s.sing the speed of sound, reducing drag within supersonic flow! We're still researching that… or actually, we've only begun theorizing it, I never imagined I'd ever see the actual thing! Sir Arpana, those aircraft can, at the very least, break the sound barrier!!!" Baeluno responded excitedly.

When an aircraft travels at supersonic speeds, a shockwave forms in the shape of a cone around the plane, originating from the tip of the nose and sweeping back around the body of plane. If the wings were to touch the boundary layer of this shockwave, swept wings were necessary to maintain stable flight. Baeluno knew all about the theory behind them.

The diplomat Phiam, trembling in fear, raised his voice. "That's impossible! An uncivilized country can't have an aircraft that surpa.s.ses one of ours! You must be mistaken!!!"

"But, that aircraft was clearly constructed for the purpose of supersonic flight. There's no reason to make wings with such a useless shape like that otherwise."

"Our empire has the most advanced education system in the world, and we've inherited the research of the ancient sorcerous empire! We have an absolute advantage over every other country! Despite this, you're saying in flight technology, the most important field of study, we're behind?! How is that possible?!"

Phiam watched the JASDF's main combat aircraft, the F-15J Kai, his expression clearly betraying his bafflement.

The Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens Type 35 arrived in the skies of Kyuushuu, led by j.a.pan's combat aircraft. After some time, they could see an extremely advanced city spreading out before their eyes. The entire delegation felt shocked beyond belief; normally, there would only be one large city per region per country, but here, all the way outside the civilized areas, they were already greeted by the sight of this monstrosity of a city.

"I heard that j.a.pan was a country without magic, but… is it even possible to build a city this large without magic?" Baeluno asked, mystified.

Finally, the vehicle landed on an entirely too large runway, then was guided to the pa.s.senger plane area in the parking ap.r.o.n.

The diplomat Phiam felt his pride shatter to pieces and a sense of humiliation rising up in response to the sight before him. The Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire was the strongest country in the Central World, widely believed to be the strongest in the world, and the culmination of their advanced civilization was the Floating s.h.i.+p of the Heavens. The beautiful vehicle showed off the quality and refinement of their technology. No matter where he traveled, being able to clearly see the difference in civilization, in national power, made him proud beyond compare. So what the h.e.l.l were these things sitting next to their beautiful aircraft!!! Why was he now being made to feel so… wretched and miserable!

Parked between a Boeing 777 and a Boeing 787, the empire's plane seemed very, very small.

When the delegation members alighted from the aircraft, there were representatives from j.a.pan waiting to receive them and exchange greetings. They had prepared a method of transportation, "cars," which were used to bring them to a hotel within the city of f.u.kuoka.

The vehicles called "cars" were very similar to the empire's magic carriages, but their shapes were very sleek, and they were extremely fast and smooth. However, what was most surprising about the cars were their numbers; he heard from the j.a.panese people that even the lowest cla.s.s of citizen could easily purchase a car. As a group, they went straight to the hotel since everyone in the delegation was tired from the long journey.

Excerpt from Phiam's diary entry for that day

Today, I received the biggest shock in my life, and also went through the most tiring day in my life. Our Holy Miris.h.i.+al Empire built up a civilization with high-quality magic as a pillar by researching the remains of the ancient sorcerous empire. Our country is, aside from the ancient sorcerous empire, the largest empire in history, undisputedly the most prosperous country in the world. Our use of magic is what fueled our civilization's advancement and prosperity. The machine civilization of Mu is also exceptional, but in terms of vehicles and such, they fall far short of our magical civilization.

However, today, I have laid eyes on a civilization that exceeds my empire, in at least one field. Unbelievably, they are a country outside the civilized area, and they don't even know very much about magic. For this country to be the one to surpa.s.s us, there's no way I wouldn't feel shocked. Their scientific civilization has been pushed to the extremes. We will be investigating the exact scale of j.a.pan's civilization, but, in quality at least, they truly surpa.s.s our empire, irritatingly enough.

In place of the Papaldia Empire, the country of j.a.pan has become an existence that represents not only the Third Civilization, but all of the eastern continents. In 3 days, I must officially invite j.a.pan to partic.i.p.ate in our leaders.h.i.+p conference of 11 countries. I need to be cautious in accomplis.h.i.+ng this task.

The other diplomats in the empire advocate a high-handed approach; they want to send a warning to j.a.pan, make them know their place. However, while I may have initially agreed with them, now that I've seen their country first-hand, I have to revise my opinion. For a long time now, the diplomats of the countries that reigned at the top of the world have imprinted the superiority of their own countries on their very souls. Now that they will be forced to correct these misconceptions, I believe there will be a great deal of upheaval in the times to come.

"So tomorrow, I'll be mingling with j.a.pan's diplomats…"

The diplomat Phiam went to sleep while contemplating various worries.

 —  — Chapter 43