The celebration began. Boy, was that a storm. Who could have asked them to keep it down when their prospect of being overrun by monsters changed to a victory in an instant? The saved-up food and drink were released, and the Murdock troupe brightened the party with song and dance.
There was an incredible crowd at the city’s central plaza, reminiscent of the Nebuta festival in Aomori. As I recall, that festival is also a celebration of victory, celebrating Sakanoue no Tamuramaro’s conquering of the Emishi people. That’s why it’s a no-holds-barred party.
It has a unique chant that apparently came from people chanting for ‘more and more’ celebratory sake. The fact that the haneto dance has no rhyme or reason to it is because of the same reason, I bet. Drinking while jumping up and down from the excitement of victory. No sign of etiquette there.
That’s exactly how Mostail was. Baze and Agamemnon were holding each other’s shoulders, singing a song off-key. The beautiful women of the city were dancing a fast dance with Hieronymus. They all seemed to acclimate to the city just fine. I had decided to step away from the commotion to watch the crowd, just because I felt like it. You know, as a descendant of the conquered Emishi, I had a hard time jumping into this victory party.
“Hm. The Emishi that Sakanoue no Tamuramaro conquered were in no way the people of Hokkaido.”
“Right-a-roo.”
Emishi meant ‘the people of Ezo,’ but Hokkaido wasn’t called Ezo until modern times. To be more specific, the first use of the word in that way was at the end of the feudal era in Japan. That didn’t mean that no one occupied Hokkaido at the time. The Ainu lived there, of course.
“Even the signature chant of the Nebuta festival is theorized to have derived from the Ainu language. While we’re at it, Kyosuke Kindaichi explored the theory that the word Emishi derived from Ainu, too.”
He was a famous linguist in Japan, by the way. Her trivia DLC strikes again.
“What do you think, Tia?”
Of course, I wasn’t asking about the Nebuta festival nor the Ainu language.
“The timing is too perfect to brush it off as a coincidence.”
The course of this world’s history changed after my death. The Inspector had said that beriberi casualties drastically decreased afterward. I didn’t choose that world though. I refused to solve the issue by war and demanded a redo. The history we were writing now was one where Eiji the Hermit was not killed, so Syfer and Millia did not flee the country, and Azur and Noura won’t go to war.
“But the answer was shown.”
“Mm-hm. I agree, Eiji. I think the god of this world learned from your mistake.”
I didn’t ask that the god learn. It was obvious. During war times, day-to-day luxuries are taken away. Beriberi wouldn’t stand a chance, just like it didn’t in Japan during WWII.
“Theory: The god of this world summoned someone else. Not as an aid for humans, but for monsters.”
“Agreed. Then, everything makes sense,” said Tia.
The kingdom of Noura was at war with strangely organized monsters and their newfound strategic tactics. It was outlining this one possibility.
“But, why now? If summoning can be done willy-nilly, wouldn’t it be much easier to tweak the history of when Shizuru was here?”
No need to bring in Mister Fix-it. The god of this world just had to kill the hero on the spot after he defeated the Demon Lord. None of our current problems would have surfaced. It just seemed that everything the god of this world did was reactionary and didn’t quite hit the mark.
“Time is irreversible, I assume. I think the god can deal with what has happened, but not remove the source of the problems.”
“I got a do-over, though.”
“And who made that happen?”
“Right.”
It wasn’t the god of this world. The Inspector had done that. And she had called it the card up her sleeve. That’s not something you have an abundance of. It’s a one-shot move to turn the tables.
“History was changed, and a war-free future was beginning to be realized. If this isn’t in someone’s favor, there’s only one thing to do.”
“Oh boy...”
Summon someone, not as a hero, but as an enemy to the people, to save the people. It may sound ridiculous, but it wasn’t all that complicated. It is said that any human organization (a country, for example) needs a common enemy to bond together. What had the prolonged peace in this world brought?
That was an ironic question, though. The same could be said about Japan: did the Japanese people mentally grow through the past seven decades of peace? Well, even if I didn’t bring up extreme examples, I hear that, in most retail locations, the employees have a good relationship. They have a common enemy: the customers.
“That is extreme to another degree. You owe a sincere apology to every retail worker.”
“I am terribly sorry.”
“Mm. So the next person summoned this time is an enemy to humanity.”
“There still is the question of whether or not being reborn or transported here as a non-human species is possible.”
“I’m the precedent of that. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
That’s right. Here’s the woman who turned into a Dragon. And that’s more scary than Atsushi Nakajima’s “Sangetsuki.” In that story, it was only a tiger.
“Perhaps this person was convinced to stand up for the monsters oppressed in this world.”
“That’s ridiculous...ly probable.”
“Mm.”
It is just a difference in points of view. Goblins, and other monsters, were only nuisances in the eyes of humans. Naturally, they were hunted down and killed. But monsters were not created to become human prey. They had their own lives and the right to live them. Why were they hunted down, when all they wanted was to live their lives?
If humans had to eat them to survive, then it couldn’t be helped. Each species for their own. But did humans need the monster fur and fangs to survive? Were they only hunted to make human life more convenient? Did humans own this world?
“Those are arguments we hear all the time on Earth, just for animals instead of monsters.”
By conservationists and animal rights groups. I don’t think they’re wrong. If Earth had a heart, it might wish for humans not to exist. Humanity, like an ungrateful child, has only hurt our Mother Earth. Still...
“That, too, is merely a talking point of humans.”
Tiamat jumped in. I agreed. At the end of the day, humans are humans. Nothing more and nothing less. We can try speaking for the animals, but even then, it’s only human assumption. The same thing was happening in Noura too, I imagined.
“This isn’t a battle of humans against monsters.”
“Mm. Humans against the person controlling the monsters.”
We chuckled together. Of course, none of this was backed up by facts. Just a guess, based on prior knowledge and bias.
“Time to churn our brains, Eiji. How do we take care of this situation?”
I crossed my arms. We couldn’t leave it be. If war worsened, there would be countless casualties on both sides.
...There was no point in pretty words, though. I wasn’t concerned with casualties on the monsters’ side. Baze and Hieronymus were good friends of mine, but this was another matter entirely.
“First, we have to find the enemy’s headquarters.”
“To cut the head off?”
The dragon crooked her neck.