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Nihonkoku Shoukan (WN) - Chapter Short Story 2.1

Published at 3rd of September 2021 12:22:21 PM


Chapter Short Story 2.1

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A Hero from Fiction

Previous Chapter: The Great Sea Battle off Baltica 2

Royal capital Jin-Hark, Louria Kingdom

The military campaign aiming to unite the entirety of the Rodenius continent ended in failure.

The country of Japan, which unexpectedly materialized in the seas up north, participated in the conflict and with its immense magical power inflicted catastrophic damage against the Lourian army and captured the king in the process, subjecting the kingdom to a loss of regulatory power.

The kingdom’s many lords claimed sovereignty over several territories, ushering in a kingdom-wide state of tension and minor hostilities. Pressed thin by reimbursements to the Parpaldia Empire and war reparations to the Principality of Qua-Toyne and Japan, the kingdom’s national power has started to collapse under exhaustion.

As the disorder and confusion from the defeat died down and the government made its transition to a republic, citizens and soldiers alike, unaware of the series of events that had happened in the conflict, suffered from a series of tax increases. For the time being however, a state of economic stability was maintained where putting food on the table wasn’t a worry.

The military, led by General Patagene, took to frantic efforts of rebuilding which was made difficult by drastic reductions in budgets.

“Thanakane! The big-shots in the military are calling for you!”

His name is Thanakane, the current chief of the dragon stable facilities and the sole survivor from the kingdom’s dragon knights.

“Okaay! I’ll head over immediately!”

After the war, Thanakane experienced many ups and downs and was later promoted to the rank of general of Louria’s dragon knights, the youngest person ever to take the role. He spent everyday frantically fulfilling his duties to raise and recruit new wyverns and dragon knights.

“It seems to be because you are the only dragon knight in the kingdom to have actually retaliated against the Japanese forces. They’re gonna give you an award for it, no?”

“I wonder… On top of how the military is currently in a bad state, I couldn’t be optimistic about it.”

“That too… So how are the cadets doing?”

“They’re still a long way to go. It makes me want to hire an official test rider.”

“This kingdom’s future rides on you, the youth. You gotta somehow give it your all.”

Returning a forced smile to the section chief, Thanakane leaves the dragon knights headquarters. Riding a carriage sent by the military to pick him up, he heads towards Castle Hark which will take about 2 hours.

Assembly hall, Royal Capital Defense Knights board of directors, Castle Hark

The Royal Capital Defense Dragon Knights is a substructure of the Royal Capital Defense Knights. Sitting on top of the defense knights is the Lourian army with three of the commanders belonging with the royal army. Aside from being a general, Patagene also serves as the Royal Capital Defense Knights’ chief.

In other words, while Thanakane is the chief of the dragon knights, he is only of mid-level management. Thanakane opens the massive doors of the assembly hall located deep within the defense knights’ headquarters. Inside sat the top-brass of the military fixed with stern faces.

“It’s great that you’ve come, Thanakane. Take a seat.”

As Thanakane took his seat, the military executives hesitated to open their mouths.

“I will get to the point… Japan is looking for you. Do you understand what that means?”

Japan is looking for the only soldier to have landed a blow on one of their iron dragons. Perhaps the passengers were harmed or maybe the passengers were nobility. Regardless, this doesn’t seem to be a good thing.

“What should I do?”

“We haven’t received any orders to have you detained so it seems you should keep to your usual duties for the time being. It seems that we will receive more information in the following days. Will you follow accordingly and go to Japan?”

He put his life on the line for his kingdom fighting an invading enemy. What resulted from their defeat was his extradition to the enemy country. 

The system doesn’t protect individuals. When the circumstances aren’t in their favor, they just cut us off and leave us for dead…

We should have won. However, we have lost, and to lose is to be stripped of all rights. That’s just how it is in this world.

“We’re sorry… If we had won, it wouldn’t have come to this…”

The military executives apologized to the young dragon knight.

A few days later

A sealed document arrived at Thanakane’s home. Written without any sign of handwriting on a paper with quality wildly different from those in circulation in the kingdom are characters in the continental common language.

“Hm? A guide of the ceremony?”

Upon reading the letter further, the departure and arrival time and dates, as well as the itinerary after that are written in detail. More baffling were details of the time and date of when he’ll return home as well as the locations.

“What the hell does this mean?”

For a moment, Thanakane felt a sliver of promise and hope in the letter, but he remembered that historically, there were many cases wherein important people were enticed and then executed by similar words of flattery.

He proceeded with the transfer of his duties and waited for that day to come.

A few more days later

Bidding his final farewell to the parents who have raised him, Thanakane rode on a vehicle called the automobile arranged by Japan for him. 

The automobile wasn’t being pulled by horses and yet it traversed the land faster than a wagon-less horse. Crossing the border into the Principality of Qua-Toyne, the barren landscape immediately gave way to lush green and before them appeared the vast grain-producing region. Going through the region, a large number of cemeteries came into view.

“A-are those…?”

“Those were the inhabitants of Gim. Your country practically massacred all of them so they created all those cemeteries close to the town.”

The Japanese driver answered monotonously. The driver then proceeded to tell him of how the Louria Kingdom had repeated its campaign of aggression up to now. 

Thanakane was at a loss for words.

He had heard that the war was justified since it was for the reclamation of land that was once theirs. However, he never knew that they were one-sidedly slaughtering civilians. He readied himself, knowing that he will soon face death.

Arriving at the fortress city of Ejey, Thanakane spent a night at the Japan Self-Defense Forces base there. The following day, he rode an object called an aircraft and flew for Japan. 

From above, the clouds seemed to stick close to the ground and he experienced for himself the absurd speed and altitude at which they were flying in.

This domain was simply insurmountable for their interceptions. It may possibly even be impossible for the superpowers to bring down this aircraft at this altitude. He had experienced firsthand the difference in their nations’ power. He even felt angry at the upper echelons of the military for charging into the war without any idea of the power the enemy wielded.

After cruising for more than 4 fours, the aircraft finally started to descend. It felt like the time they had spent travelling was surprisingly short, but the onboard explanation really did say that the journey would take 4 hours. 

As the aircraft slowly descended, the view of a town which he has never seen before unfolded. They eventually landed on a runway with a width and length unthinkable in the kingdom.

Thanakane closes his eyes. While scenes of his life flashed before him, the faces of his fallen dragon knight seniors came to mind, and he apologized deeply to the citizens of Qua-Toyne.

Will I soon meet my end…? My father and mother were weeping…

“Alright!”

Strengthening his resolve, Thanakane was guided by a Japanese person and prepared to disembark. Midway, the Japanese person seemed to be explaining something but since his mind was full of thoughts, he didn’t pick up on what he was saying.

With a deep unlocking sound, the heavy door of the aircraft opened.

“Ack!”

Thanakane squinted his eyes at the bright shining light coming from the sun.

“Huh?!”

Thunderous applause and cheers manifested before him. Surprised at the reception he received from the Japanese, he looked behind him if there was someone else they were cheering for.

“Mr. Thanakane, welcome to Japan. This way, please.”

Showered by continuous flashes of light and unable to comprehend what is happening, he was guided accordingly and descended down the flight of stairs. 

“In the recent Louria incident, he rushed into a formation of attack helicopters with a single dragon! The dragon knight that stood alone defiantly… Mr. Thanakane!!!”

Shouts and cheers followed. He was eventually guided to the front of an iron dragon he remembered well. Part of the iron dragon’s front compartment was burned with some parts of the paint having peeled off. Standing in front of it were 2 men with cheerful expressions.

“I am Yamane, the pilot of this helicopter. Are you the dragon knight from that time?”

“…Yes.”

“You’re a brave fellow, aren’t you! It was unthinkable for you to rush in with a single wyvern against a low flying aircraft that blends into the smoke of the battlefield!”

Yamane reaches his hand out. They should be the hated enemy that buried and killed my seniors and friends and yet no feelings of hatred welled up.  These Japanese soldiers may have done nothing more than to obey the orders their country had given them. The three men shook hands with one another firmly.

It was at this point in time that Thanakane understood that Japan wasn’t out to kill him. Praised as being “brave”, these Japanese citizens must have a completely different way of thinking from those of other countries. If anything, it felt like this had political intentions behind it…

At a later day, Thanakane studied the military tactics of Japan and devised effective air combat strategies for wyverns in modern warfare.





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