The Wavering Nations

The failed attempt on Fuuga's life broke the Union of Eastern Nations.

While there had already been signs of it coming, the botched assassination

made the anti-Fuuga forces move more proactively, resulting in a clear

division into two camps. In terms of the number of people, there was nearly

no numerical difference between the pro- and anti-Fuuga factions.

However, if counted by the number of states, the anti-Fuuga faction had

nearly double the number of nations in it. This was because even if an

individual supported Fuuga, if the rulers of the state they belonged to were

a part of the anti-Fuuga faction, they were forced to be anti-Fuuga as well.

In fact, the more pro-Fuuga the people of a state were, the more likely their

leaders were to join the anti-Fuuga faction. They hated that their own power

base was waning, and it was affecting their ability to govern.

All of this meant that the leaders of countries that were confident in the

power of their military and nation tended to oppose Fuuga, feeding the

growth of the anti-Fuuga faction. The anti-Fuuga faction had three leaders:

King Shamour Sharn of the Kingdom of Sharn, the largest nation in the

Union of Eastern Nations; Mathew Chima of the Duchy of Chima; and Bito

Gabi of the Kingdom of Gabi.

Shamour, in particular, was well aware that his country was the most

powerful in the Union of Eastern Nations, and he could not allow a

situation where only Fuuga's accomplishments were acknowledged to

continue. This was not solely Shamour's own decision, but also the will of

the people of the Kingdom of Sharn. The people of Sharn saw themselves

as the center of the Union of Eastern Nations. They were not happy to see

the Fuuga faction's forces succeeding, and supported King Shamour in his

opposition to them. Even if Shamour had not intended to oppose Fuuga, the

people beneath him might have forced him to do so anyway.

Duke Chima and King Gabi, on the other hand, were taking proactive

measures because of their connection to Gauche Chima, the man who had

attempted to assassinate Fuuga. Mathew was Gauche's father, while Bito

was the master Gauche had served. They were both assumed to have been

involved in the plot. In regard to that matter, each had released a statement

declaring, "Gauche acted alone. He was not given any orders to act." This

was partially true, as Gauche had gotten ahead of himself, but now that

Fuuga had determined they were his enemies, the truth of the matter was no

longer an issue.

Once a confrontation with Fuuga was inevitable, Mathew moved

proactively, using his web of diplomatic entanglements to grow and unite

the anti-Fuuga faction. However, in a surprising turn of events, of all the

countries Mathew's children had gone to serve, the only ones that openly

joined the anti-Fuuga faction were the Kingdom of Shamour, where his

second son Nata served, and the Kingdom of Gabi, where his third son

Gauche had served.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the south of the Union of Eastern Nations, near the border with the

Kingdom of Friedonia, was a small state known as the Kingdom of Roth.

In a castle within the capital city of Roth, King Heinrant Roth stroked

his white beard as he held a meeting with King Lombard Remus, the young

monarch of the neighboring Kingdom of Remus. Heinrant was of a gentle

disposition, while Lombard was young and full of promise for the future.

Two girls had joined the kings at the table. Aside from the fact that they

tied their hair on opposite sides, the girls were almost identical. Next to

Lombard was Yomi. She was an excellent mage, and a literate girl with an

abundance of knowledge. To Heinrant's side was Sami. Like her elder

sister, she was also an excellent mage and a lover of books, and she also

excelled at arithmetic.

These twin sisters had been won by Lombard and Heinrant at the awards

ceremony. The elder of the two, Yomi, had received a proposal from

Lombard soon after offering her services to the Kingdom of Remus. While

they had yet to be wed, she was his fiancée. King Heinrant, meanwhile, had

taken a liking to the younger sister, Sami, and adopted her as his daughter.

Today, the four of them were seated around one table, discussing what they

would do going forward.

"But is this really okay?" Lombard began. "Duke Chima is in the antiFuuga faction, right? Shouldn't we side with him...?"

""Absolutely not,"" Yomi and Sami said in unison, causing Heinrant's

eyes to widen in surprise.

"He's your father, isn't he? You aren't conflicted about this?"

""We do feel conflicted. But the answer is still no,"" Yomi and Sami

spoke as one, their faces serious.

"I received a letter from Big Brother Hashim."

"It said, 'You don't need to follow father's wishes.' And..."

Then, speaking in unison again, they said, ""'Join Fuuga's faction if you

can, but if not, at least remain neutral.'""

"What?! Sir Hashim supports Sir Fuuga, then?!" Lombard said in

surprise, but soon shook his head. "No, but Sir Hashim is Duke Chima's

eldest son. He must be working together with him even now. I can't believe

he would tell us to join Sir Fuuga despite that."

"Could it be that Sir Hashim has some plan in mind?" Heinrant asked,

but Yomi and Sami shook their heads simultaneously.

""We don't know.""

"Big Brother Hashim is the most prudent of all us siblings."

"We can't predict what he's thinking. That's what makes him so

frightening."

The looks in Yomi and Sami's eyes told Lombard and Heinrant that their

brother Hashim was no ordinary character. In light of that knowledge,

Heinrant asked, "But Sir Fuuga struck down your brother, Gauche. Don't

you hate him?"

""Don't worry about our feelings. We weren't that close,"" Yomi and

Sami said in unison again.

"Big Brother Nata and Big Brother Gauche were proud of their strength.

They looked down on us for being bookworms."

"They told me math was a depressing hobby."

"They were especially harsh on our youngest brother, Ichiha. We didn't

want to get involved, so we stayed out of it though."

"Mutsumi was always defending him. I like Mutsumi."

"Sir Ichiha who went to the Kingdom of Friedonia, huh...?" Lombard

said with a sigh.

Word of Ichiha's accomplishments in the Kingdom of Friedonia had

made its way back to the Union of Eastern Nations. He had written the

Monster Encyclopedia together with the Black-robed Prime Minister,

distinguishing himself as the foremost expert in the study of monsters.

Thanks to Ichiha, they had become more efficient at gathering and using

monster parts, which had produced untold wealth for the Kingdom. This

was all rumors, though, so it could have been somewhat exaggerated. The

fact that Ichiha, once known as the only Chima sibling without any talent,

had undergone such a drastic transformation must have galled all the elites

who had been at the award ceremony that day.

"It's a shame to have let such a valuable resource get away..." Lombard

lamented.

"They say it was King Souma's younger sister who recommended him.

We should praise her insight."

"I suppose she lives up to her other name as the Wise Wolf Princess."

When they heard the two kings were talking about that, the sisters

puffed up their cheeks.

"Lord Lom, do you regret choosing me?"

"Father, would you have preferred to adopt Ichiha?"

Seeing the girls' anger, Lombard and Heinrant both smiled.

"Of course not. I couldn't imagine marrying anyone but you, Yomi.

Even if I was given the chance to choose again, I am sure you are the one

I'd pick," Lombard said, throwing his arm around her shoulder.

"I feel the same, Sami. Having a daughter like you, at my age, is the

greatest happiness I've ever known," Heinrant said, patting her on the head.

Yomi and Sami took on contented looks, like kittens who had just gotten

scratched under their chins. They all relaxed for a little while before

Lombard found his resolve and said, "If you can accept it, Yomi, then I

would like to side with Sir Fuuga. He is a man of rare caliber. I aspire to be

more like him; not as a king, but as a warrior. I'd love to fight alongside

him."

"I accept it. Do as you feel is right, Lord Lom."

Lombard nodded and said, "Thank you."

Meanwhile, Heinrant said, "I think...I'll remain neutral. We have

relations with many states and houses that belong to the anti-Fuuga faction.

I have no intention to oppose him myself, but I cannot attack them. Ha ha

ha... I must be getting old. If I were just ten years younger, I might have

been able to make a decision like yours, Sir Lombard..."

As he let out a self-deriding laugh, Sami cupped his hands in her own.

"I think that's good. I love this side of you, father."

"Because it's so unlike our real father?" Yomi asked teasingly, and Sami

laughed.

"You got it."

And so, the Kingdom of Roth chose to remain neutral, and the Kingdom

of Remus sided with Malmkhitan. Mathew was intensely disappointed to

find that, despite sending his daughters to serve there, he could not secure

them as allies. While the number of states in the anti-Fuuga faction grew,

the repeated rejections by his own family made Duke Chima feel a sense of

urgency, and he even sent a letter to his youngest, Ichiha.

However, Ichiha was not the only child to have gone from the Union of

Eastern Nations to the Kingdom. Fuuga's younger sister, Yuriga, was also

staying there as an international student. And Fuuga had sent her a letter

too.

◇ ◇ ◇

The weather had been unstable for the past few days. I was in the

governmental affairs office with Liscia and Hakuya when we called the

three kids, Tomoe, Yuriga, and Ichiha in. Once they arrived, I informed both

Yuriga and Ichiha that they had received letters from their homes.

First, in Fuuga's letter to Yuriga it said:

"Duke Chima's third son, Gauche, came for my life, and I killed him."

It was straight and to the point. Further, he also wrote:

"In the near future, I will raise troops to defeat the Kingdom of Gabi and

Duchy of Chima which tried to kill me. Things in the Union of Eastern

Nations are about to get violent, so don't come home. Talk to Souma and

have him protect you from any anti-Fuuga elements inside the Kingdom

that might take you as a hostage."

Once I had read the letter, I sighed and looked at Yuriga.

"It's so like Fuuga to only write the facts, and about his concern for your

well-being. Normally, you'd expect him to ask you to probe into whether or

not I was going to intervene."

"He'd never write something like that in a letter you were clearly meant

to read..." Yuriga replied. "If you had been planning to act, I intended to

send him the message subtly—in a way you wouldn't notice. I'm sure my

brother was counting on that when he sent this sort of inoffensive letter."

"You know, I think I like this girl," Liscia said, seemingly impressed by

Yuriga's forthrightness.

They had similar personalities, so she must have felt a certain sympathy

for Yuriga. If their positions were reversed, Liscia would likely do the same

things.

"A subtle message? Were you going to send your brother a sack of beans

tied at both ends?"

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself..."

There is a legend that says before the battle of Kanegasaki, Nobunaga's

little sister Oichi sent him a sack of red beans tied at both ends as a way to

subtly inform him that the house of Azai, which she had married into,

intended to betray him. Well, in this world, they didn't have the Battle of

Azukizaka, which the sack of red beans was an allusion to, so there was no

way she'd get it. Besides, if Yuriga was Oichi in this analogy, then as the

people who were holding on to her, we'd eventually be destroyed...

Getting back on track, I read the letter from Mathew to Ichiha next. It

said:

"The attempted assassination of Fuuga was Gauche running off on his

own. Fuuga has started making moves to use the assassination attempt as a

pretext to purge anti-Fuuga elements in the Union of Eastern Nations. That

man is finally revealing his hidden ambitions. We will unite the anti-Fuuga

faction around the Kingdom of Sharn, the largest nation in the Union, and

strike down Fuuga's ambitions before they swallow us whole. Our forces

now number three times Fuuga's."

That was likely an exaggeration, but he had grown the number of allies

on his side considerably. It just showed how many rulers felt threatened and

offended by Fuuga.

And at the end of his letter it said:

"Once Fuuga's ambition has covered the whole of the Union, he will no

doubt turn his fangs towards the Kingdom of Friedonia. That is just how

dangerous of a man he is. When we have wiped the Fuuga faction from the

Union, we would like to form a cordial alliance with the Kingdom."

Well, basically, he was saying, "We'd love it if you'd join us, but please

just don't side with Fuuga," I guess. I agreed that Fuuga's ambitions

wouldn't end with uniting the Union, but still...

"He wrote this letter to you, didn't he? Isn't he concerned for his son?"

"That's just how father is..." Ichiha said with a sigh.

Hakuya took both letters.

"Between both of these and the intel we gathered ourselves, I can more

or less see what happened. Most likely, Duke Chima and King Shamour

were secretly working to bring together the anti-Fuuga faction to

assassinate Fuuga. However, Duke Chima's third son, Gauche, was too

eager for glory, and moved alone in a failed attempt to assassinate Fuuga.

Instead, he was killed. Fuuga decided to take revenge on the anti-Fuuga

faction, forcing Duke Chima to speed up his plans..."

"You're probably right," I agreed. Things were moving faster than I'd

anticipated, and it was giving me a headache. This Gauche guy had

definitely moved the clock forward on this era in a big way.

The two letter recipients had no responses. They stood quietly,

absorbing the information.

"Yuriga, Ichiha..." Tomoe looked at them both, her eyes full of concern.

Speaking of headaches, I had to consider how this was going to affect

the relationship between these two.

Yuriga's brother had killed Ichiha's brother. But that was brought on by

Gauche's attempt to assassinate Fuuga, and contrary to my expectations,

Ichiha's father Duke Chima was involved. On top of that, the one that

Ichiha loved most, his big sister Mutsumi, was Fuuga's wife. If she hadn't

left him by now, that had to mean Mutsumi supported Fuuga.

Collectively, the situation was a real mess... With all the crisscrossing

familial and hostile relationships, they must have been confused how to act

towards one another.

"For as long as you're in this country, I'll guarantee safety for both of

you," I said, breaking the tension.

They both looked at me in surprise.

"It's already been decided that Ichiha will be serving here. As for

Yuriga, she's been entrusted to us by Fuuga. That's why I want to make

your safety our top priority," I imparted. "With that in mind, I want to hear

both of your thoughts. Do you harbor any hostility or resentment towards

each other?"

"I..." Ichiha was the first to speak. "...don't hold this against Fuuga.

Gauche never treated me well... When you told me he died, it felt like it had

nothing to do with me. If anything, I resent my father more. The way he

didn't hesitate to attack the man Big Sister Mutsumi married... It's just

horrible."

"I see... And you, Yuriga?"

"I can't forgive this Gauche or Duke Chima for trying to assassinate my

brother," she said, crossing her arms and looking away. "But I don't feel

anything towards Ichiha. My brother made it out fine, and Big Sister

Mutsumi, who likes Ichiha, is still on my brother's side. If he says he

doesn't hold a grudge over my brother killing Gauche, then I'm not going to

say anything about it."

Though she said it that way, I felt like I detected a hint of stubbornness.

"Liscia. How would you interpret what Yuriga just said?"

"'I didn't know how I should act towards Ichiha after hearing my

brother killed his. I'm relieved to hear he doesn't hold a grudge...' sounds

about right."

That hit the nail on the head, and Yuriga blushed. "H-Hey!"

Nice one, Liscia, I thought. You understand her because you're so

similar.

"Thank goodness..."

Tomoe, who had been quietly watching as things played out, started to

cry. She must have been worried about her two close friends all this time.

"I'm so glad," she said between sobs, "you two don't hate each other..."

"I-I'm not going to end up hating you two!" Yuriga stammered.

"Y-Yeah," Ichiha fretted. "We're going to be just fine, so please, don't

cry."

Yuriga and Ichiha panicked as they tried to console a bawling Tomoe.

Tomoe really had been blessed with such good friends.

While I was busy being happy for her as a member of her family,

Hakuya said, "Now then, sire. What do you want to do about this?"

"What do I want to do? We'll stick to our original policy and not get

involved."

No, I guess that's not gonna be good enough, huh?

"However, the assassination plot that was the cause of all this was an act

of terrorism, and must be decried. I want to release a statement saying we

cannot accept changes to the status quo brought about by terrorism."

"Is that okay? Won't you be seen as pro-Fuuga?" Liscia asked, sounding

concerned, but I shook my head.

"We have to do it. Because this incident started with an act of terrorism,

whether Duke Chima and his people intended for it to happen or not, we

can't justify Gauche's actions. Whether Fuuga ultimately wins or loses, that

remains unchanged."

If I were to bend my principles on this out of fear of Fuuga, it would

leave a lasting effect on my ability to rule.

"That's the way it is, Ichiha. Are you okay with that?"

"Ah! Yes. I can't approve of what Big Brother Gauche did either."

With Ichiha on board, we proceeded as we had discussed. But

if...someday, the Kingdom of Friedonia is destroyed by Fuuga, I might

come to regret this decision. I might think, If only I had banded together

with Duke Chima and the rest to put him down... But that was only one of

many possibilities.

Seen from the past, the future is always a series of coincidences.

Seen from the future, the past always looks like it was inevitable.

Then what of the present?

For that...we just have to trust in our own choices.