[Japan — Kantei]
Not long after the Olympics, Prime Minister Urabe Seiichirou was ready to enter a do-or-die battle in which he would risk his entire political career: the constitutional reform proposal.
“We only have nine years left before the Monster Stampede. We need to prepare for the crisis that will eventually befall humanity by clearly including the JSDF in the constitution. We will hold a national referendum next year on February 7 and aim to put the law into effect by May 3,” Urabe explained.
The cabinet ministers nodded. The current constitution stated that the Japanese people were “determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world,” but it had not taken bloodthirsty monsters into consideration. It didn’t take terrorists like Joker into consideration either. The current constitution embodied the cruel divergence of reality from pacifist ideals. With seventy percent of the current Diet in favor of reform, depositing a reform proposal was possible. The Diet would approve it when the extraordinary Diet session ended in late November and set the rest of the plan into motion.
“Mr. Prime Minister, when do you plan to meet the man set to become the next president of the United States of Gamerica, Peter Wozniak?” the Minister for Foreign Affairs asked.
Every minister wanted to hear the prime minister’s answer. The next Gamerican president would officially take office after a two-month-long presidential transition, but the world was changing at an alarming pace. Waiting two months was too long.
“I had assumed Vice President Bates would attend the next G20 summit in the Kingdom of Saud Arab, but Wozniak will have been appointed president-elect by then. It will happen soon after the elections, but perhaps we could request that the president-elect also make an appearance at the summit. If need be, our government will get the approval of the other countries before the event. I’m sure the Oriental Republic of Sina will agree as well.”
The United States of Gamerica and the Oriental Republic of Sina had basically been waging war on one another from either side of the Pacific Ocean before the dungeons’ appearance. A tariff war had broken out between the two countries, and the situation had escalated all the way to military tensions in the Sina Sea. In the past year, however, the Oriental Republic of Sina had made a full U-turn. Naturally, there were still issues, such as the human rights violations against the Uighur people and the Tibetan sovereignty debate, but if the leaders of Japan, Gamerica, and Sina managed to come together, and united against the dungeons, it would send a positive message to the rest of the world —and a stronger one to the so-called Demon King.
“How is that experiment going?”
The prime minister changed the topic, now addressing the Minister of Defense and checking on their progress. Strengthening the Japanese military was of the utmost importance in preparation for the Monster Stampede set to happen nine years from now.
“During our experiments on monsters, we have had Rank A wyverns fly from Kagoshima to Sapporo. They ended up rather exhausted, though, so we aren’t sure whether they can withstand an actual battle. The data we’ve compiled is still provisional, but their flying range appears to be around 1500 kilometers. If monsters appear in the Kingdom of Ko, our whole nation will be within range.”
“I’ve heard that a Dungeon Buster appeared in the Kingdom of Ko. Is this true?”
“Unfortunately, our current relationship with the Republic of Woori means that the information we’re able to gather on the Kingdom of Ko is very limited. We have no way to verify this.”
Several simultaneous sighs could be heard. Dungeon Busters were able to materialize monster cards aboveground, which made using monsters as a “weapon” possible. On top of that, it was possible to acquire new, low-cost “soldiers” indefinitely as long as the dungeons existed. Busters were incredibly dangerous and threatened the military balance of the world.
“As expected, we need to create a national system to supervise dungeon busters...” Deputy Prime Minister Souma muttered, armed crossed.
Some agreed with him, saying that there was no other choice at this point, while others opposed him. Prime Minister Urabe was rather unfavorable to the creation of such a system in Japan but couldn’t let his reluctance show on his face at the moment. As the president of the cabinet meeting, his job was to get everyone to state their opinions, not to meddle. The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Minister of Justice stated their opposition to Souma, perhaps having sensed Urabe’s predicament.
“I would like to remind you that Busters are still Japanese citizens. Infringing upon their freedom would be a violation of the constitution.”
“You know, I don’t want to do things like that either. I’ve never even heard anything remotely bad about the members of Dungeon Busters, but planning our national defense on the assumption that human nature is fundamentally good would be irresponsible. I’m not suggesting we lock them up behind bars. We could ask them to wear GPS wristbands to keep track of their locations, or something like that. Or we could have them pledge not to materialize monsters aboveground without explicit permission using a dungeon item. I am aware that no conclusion has been reached yet on the legality of using dungeon items, so I’m not asking that we take action right now. It’s just something that we should keep in mind going forward. Wouldn’t you agree?”
No further argument was brought forward, and the room fell silent for a few moments.
“As the government, we are sometimes forced to put the needs of the many over the needs of the few,” Prime Minister Urabe finally said. “However, we must remain extremely cautious in the way we handle dungeon Busters. Although they are few, they hold tremendous power. In fact, the fate of humanity rests upon the shoulders of these few individuals. It is indeed important to manage them properly, but we should be careful not to alienate them.”