Translator: Nigel

Editor: Deus Ex-Machina, Skythewood

Itami Youji stood at rigid attention, wearing a neatly-ironed uniform that he had just taken back from the dry cleaners. His neck felt itchy, probably because he had forgotten to remove the dry-cleaner’s tag inside the collar. Still, the circ.u.mstances compelled him to remain still. That was because several of the highest-ranking members of the JGSDF were seated before him.

Itami was but a junior officer in the JGSDF, and he had not even spoken to the majority of these people before. Thus, simply standing in front of them was a great source of stress for him. In addition, this was not a good place for him to be standing. After all, this was the Prime Minister’s audience room, covered in a red carpet which made his hard leather shoes feel like they were sinking into the ground.

The ma.s.sive wooden door radiated an aura of gravitas. The sound of approaching clamour came from the other side.

As he had expected, the people who came through were Prime Minister Morita, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kogure, Foreign Minister Kanou, Defense Minister Natsume, among others.

“Thank you for waiting.”

With that, Prime Minister Morita sat down on the sofa.

Kanou, Natsume and Kogure took places around him. Morita’s eye turned to Itami and he asked:

“You wrote this report, didn’t you?”

“Yes. That’s correct… is it bad?”

Morita stroked the twisted black frame of his gla.s.ses and flipped open the cover of the doc.u.ment he held.

The politicians sighed in unison. Everyone glanced at each other, and then looked to Foreign Minister Kanou.

Kanou was the only person here who truly understood him, who was his comrade. However, even Kanou looked uncomfortable, and spoke to Itami in leaden tones.

“Well, it’s not just bad. It’s very bad… your report is filled with good news and bad news. In all honesty, we have no idea how to respond to this. And then there’s a veritable mountain of issues we have to address. Thus, we invited you here, because everyone wants to speak with you.”

Kanou flipped through the file he had in hand.

“Let’s start with something simple. Thank you for undertaking the resource survey of the Special Region. The oil fields there are of startling proportions. Resource-wise, the mineral samples you’ve brought back are amazing finds. The researchers were grinning from ear to ear about them. If all goes well, we will no longer use the word ‘rare’ to describe them anymore. This is truly joyous news for our nation. Well done.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Next is the problem of the black mist that was blown up all over the Net… that Apo-somethingorother. We asked Youmei-sensei, but he didn’t quite understand it.”

“I don’t quite get it myself.”

“And then, there’s the mysterious cloud spreading from that Kunaptai place in the Special Region. The TV stations and newspapers ignored it at first, but they can’t ignore it anymore, and it’s caused quite a furore.”

“It’s Kunapnui, sir. And yes, if it continues spreading, the Special Region isn’t going to be a very fun place for anyone.”

The gathered people furrowed their brows at Itami’s phrasing. “Not fun” was one thing, but the report had stated “complete biological extinction”.

“Still, its relation to the Gate is unclear.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Kogure tossed the copy of the report onto the table before him.

“The report says this phenomenon was caused by the Gate. Is that not enough?” Prime Minister Morita answered.

“Of course not. Don’t you think this might have been cooked up by the people of the Special Region to drive us away? Basically, they’re trying to link a natural disaster to the Gate.”

I see, that does make sense. Itami felt it was quite convincing.

“The person who said this was not an ordinary person, but a G.o.d.”

“Let’s not speak of them as G.o.ds. That party is always talking about cults and whatnot, it’s a pain in the a.s.s. Plus, the diplomats from religious countries are making a stink about designating living, breathing people who can speak directly as G.o.ds.”

(TL Note: That party refers to the j.a.panese Communist Party)

“Is that from the time I was summoned before the Diet? It would seem everyone here’s had a hard time.”

“Well, for monotheists, they can close one eye to other religions worshipping in some place they don’t know about. However, the idea that we, the authorities, would recognize someone who can actually speak of their own accord as a G.o.d makes them very upset. ‘That’s not G.o.d, the true G.o.d is our G.o.d’ and then they start trying to interfere in things.”

“But this is j.a.pan, isn’t it?”

“It’s for diplomatic reasons - please understand. This has sparked debates on the existence of deities. It’s not a matter of ‘abandoning the Buddha and paying the G.o.ds no heed’,” Kanou said.

(TL Note: 仏ほっとけ、神構うな - acknowledge the G.o.ds, but do not revere them)

“But then, what should we call them?”

“Espers, maybe?”

“Haaa… because they have special abilities? And then, there’s the explanation given by those espers...” Natsume said in frustration.

“Don’t you think that makes them sound even more suspicious? It’s like those TV specials about finding people with superhuman abilities.”

“Ubermenschen?”

“Do you think this is some kind of kids’ sci-fi anime?”

“Oracles?”

“That sounds less believable and more suspicious.”

“Fairies?”

“As in, fairy tales?”

“G.o.ds, then.”

“...I guess that works best.”

“So in the end, we’re still going with that?”

“Not like we’ve got better ideas. Let’s just use that term for now. When the Diet makes its official reply or when we have to commit this to official doc.u.mentation, we’ll let the bureaucrats think up something.”

They looked forward to the imagination of the bureaucrats who had changed the Flame Dragon’s name to “Special Region Type A Dangerous Beast”.

“All right, we’ll do that. Let’s move on,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Kogure said.

“Now, where were we? Right. America and the EU have gathered a great deal of money and manpower in preparation to explore and exploit the Special Region. These efforts have ground to a halt ever since these abnormal phenomena came to light.”

“Share prices have plunged and a crash looks imminent. The lobbyists pressured into exploring the Special Region by their backers have been caught off guard and can’t hide their confusion any further.”

Morita took the cue directed at him.

“Why did it end up like that?”

You don’t even know that? Chief Cabinet Secretary Kogure seemed to be saying as he looked at Itami.

“Simple. They’re starting to worry that they won’t make a return on their investment in the Special Region. If the Gate has to be closed, then the huge amount of capital they’ve committed will go up in smoke, no? However attractive that place might be, the investors will still be hounding them for some kind of return.”

“I see…”

“Of course, not everyone will be able to accept that. There’s a lot of annoying people who are decrying this as some sort of scheme, that we’re trying to monopolize the Gate and whatnot. These people even say that there’s no link between this abnormality and the Gate. Never mind that we haven’t released an official statement yet.”

Itami could only nod in response.

“...Well? Do you think you’ve fallen for an Imperial trick?”

Itami shook his head at Kogure’s question.

“I don’t think so. If they do have the ability to trigger a phenomenon that’s as lethal as the report says, then there would be no need to do it there. They’d just hit Arnus and be done with it.”

Itami felt that if it were some sort of unconventional weapon (as in, nuclear, biological or chemical), the Empire’s first target would be Arnus.

“Still, isn’t Arnus ‘holy ground’ to them? Perhaps they feel they cannot pollute the land with such methods.

It would seem Chief Cabinet Secretary Kogure thought that the Apocryph was some kind of Empire-created threat.

However, Itami felt that it was nonsense. The word “threat” was meaningless if it could not be explained in terms that others could understand. In addition, if the Apocryph could be deliberately triggered, then the Special Region Expeditionary Force would have to fundamentally reconsider their approach to combat. Depending on their circ.u.mstances, they might need to consider a general retreat. The consequences of such a phenomenon being generated in a concentration of JSDF personnel were too hideous to bear considering.

After one of the uniformed men seated nearby pointed out exactly that, Kogure amended his statement by saying, “Of course, I have considered that it might just be a freak natural occurrence.”

“However, minute changes in stellar alignment have also been detected here. Recently, Mt. Asama has also become active again. Perhaps the Apocryph is spreading somewhere on this side of the Gate as well. Concluding that it has nothing to do with the Gate is extremely dangerous. Even if we are not certain about the details, I hope we all agree that something has to be done.”

The Prime Minister, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the JGSDF generals and the others launched into fiery debate.

Kanou — who was uninvolved — addressed Itami.

“...Ahhh. And so, opinions from all over the government go back and forth.”

“What a headache.”

“Indeed. The bigger headache is the proposal submitted by the Arnus Living Community.”

“Eh?”

This was the first time Itami had heard of anything from the ALC.

They should have discussed it with him before bringing it up with the j.a.panese authorities, so a sense of detachment — or was it surprise? — welled up within Itami.

“What sort of proposal was it?

Somewhere along the way, everyone present had turned to look at Itami. Some were even leaning forward. The fake smiles on their faces made him very uncomfortable.

Prime Minister Morita spoke in a grave tone.

“Miss Lelei La Lelena, who once came before the Diet as an expert witness, seems to have mastered some sort of technology concerning the Gate. She has also said that in exchange for certain conditions, she could a.s.sist in the reopening of the Gate.”

Itami’s jaw dropped.

“This, this is the first time I’ve heard of this. What are the conditions?”

“Firstly, they want us to accept the closure of the Gate. Well, if the Gate can be opened, then it can be closed. That’s fine.”

“After that, she wants us to curb the spread of technology and knowledge into the Special Region. The implication is that the Special Region has its own values, culture and mindset, and rapid changes in them are not a good thing.”

“I see.”

“Then, the next condition is…”

“Yes, that’s the part which is giving us the headache,” Kanou cut in.

“What, what is that?”

“Simply put, they want us to give them the JGSDF commander 1st Lieutenant Itami Youji.”

“Ehhhhh… me?”

“Yes, you.”

Kanou punctuated the reply with a nod, and it froze Itami in place.

People’s Republic of China, Beijing - Zhongnanhai

“Chair-Chairman Dong. I am here to submit my report.”

Liu’s voice was off-key and hoa.r.s.e.

It was not just his voice. He stood ramrod straight, his feet and hands trembling as though exposed in the bitterest cold. Sweat poured off his body like rain, and as a result the collar and armpits of his suit had changed color.

It was hot and intensely embarra.s.sing. He knew he made a disgraceful figure. However, given the location, it could not be helped. After all, this was a special place.

Liu belonged to the National Strategy Department, an important component of the Chinese Communist Party, which sought to dominate Chinese people across the globe. However, the people seated before him were the six most important people in the Party. The imposing aura of dignity and gravitas they radiated made Liu feel his hands and feet were several times heavier than usual.

“Speak, then.”

Dong Dechou — in his centrally-located Chairman’s seat — verified that the person before him was Liu, and then addressed him in a serious, formal tone.

“Ah, ah yes. Please, peruse this data.”

Liu opened his report and urged the bigwig before him to look through it.

His hope was that if everyone looked downward, he might be relieved of his tension. However, the elders — led by Dong — did not look away from Liu. They were carefully scrutinizing the man who had just spoken. This was because they felt that they understood people better than they did printed words on a page.

Of course, the speaker would end up feeling like he was being interrogated. But at the same time, it gave an air of seriousness to the proceedings, where levity and foolishness were not tolerated. Thus, while unpleasant, the speaker’s tension improved the quality of the discourse.

Liu swallowed to moisten his throat before launching into the meat of the matter. However, his mouth felt as dry as a desert, and his tongue was like a dessicated sponge, refusing to yield up the slightest bit of moisture. When he swallowed, it was like gulping a mouthful of sand.

“There, there are reports in j.a.pan a-about various oddities taking place due to the existence of the Gate. The news and media tried to quash this story at first, but now they are releasing articles criticising Prime Minister Morita for not taking action against it…”

“We do not need reports that we could obtain just as easily from the newspapers. You are not mere collectors of information, but espionage agents. What do you suggest we do in response to these developments?” Chairman Dong replied sternly, sounding like a denouncement.

In response to that merciless criticism, Liu practically screamed his answer:

“I, I feel that j.a.pan is trying to monopolize the Special Region using these changes as an excuse! Thus I strongly advise against linking these changes to the Gate. Instead, we should advocate that a peaceful, perhaps international utilization of the Gate is in the best interests of the j.a.panese people. To that end, we will push our message forward through the news and the media. At the same time, if we begin interfering with avenues of peaceful resolution, the public opinion of the j.a.panese will eventually turn towards us.”

“Let’s get this straight. There is no such thing as friendship among nations. We might make the enemy believe such a thing exists, but we must never hope for it ourselves.”

“A-allow me to correct myself. We will make sure they refrain from endangering the interests of our nation.”

It was for this purpose that China solicited investments from foreign enterprises, opened its markets, and dispenses resources. Once these enterprises set up shop in j.a.pan, they and all the j.a.panese people working in them would become hostages, thus limiting j.a.pan’s thinking, actions and choices.

“How goes the infiltration of the news and media. Will they act as we desire?”

“The journalist exchange agreement is proceeding well. They are self-censoring reports that are damaging to our country. They have cultivated the att.i.tude of limiting exposure to anti-Chinese articles. There was a demonstration in Tokyo, about 4000 strong, against our country, but it pa.s.sed without notice. This is arguably the ideal situation for ourselves. In addition, we have reminded the leaders of the companies which sponsor news channels and variety shows about the proper way to handle information concerning our country. They are keenly aware that if they wish to do business in our country, they will need to demonstrate their friendliness and willingness to cooperate.”

“Oh, that’s good. These must be the fruits of your labor. Still, it seems somewhat sedate. I would like to see your plan for increasing the intensity of the situation.”

“But, but, suggestions like that would contradict the responsibility I am tasked with.”

“I know. Taking grand actions may end up putting all our previous effort to waste. Even so, we may have to take them to protect our interests, so I want to hear what you have to suggest.”

“That, that means, we’re going to put on a show of force to intimidate j.a.pan?”

After all, the j.a.panese media would have no choice but to air anti-Chinese news items if China decided to use gunboat diplomacy on j.a.pan. For instance, if they did not report about the fishing boat colliding with a patrol boat, that would lead to the j.a.panese people losing all faith in them.

They had already worked to ensure that if anything happened, the media would not air anti-Chinese articles, but instead let it fade out of the public eye as soon as possible.

For instance, during the poisoned gyoza incident, as public interest in the topic began to wane, they trotted out women and children approving of good Sino-j.a.panese ties and published news items approving of friendliness and peace. Then, they interweaved news of capturing and dealing with the culprits in between the coverage of other big events. Before anyone knew it, all the blame had been pushed onto those people and the matter was at an end. Then they loaned out a panda or two and everyone was friendly with them again.

With this system in place, they could minimize the impact of many things, be it the Chinese police department’s reinterpretation of events, apologizing for blaming j.a.pan for everything, and even the lack of compensation for affected industries and victims. When dealing with j.a.pan, they covered up their mistakes and left things at that. This was China’s basic att.i.tude towards problems.

Still, there were limits to how far that could go. For instance, if they actually tried to intimidate j.a.pan with a show of force, that would stir up anti-Chinese sentiment in the j.a.panese people. Their reputation in the international community would also sink like a stone. If they did this and ended up crippling themselves for small gains, recovering from these setbacks would take a great amount of time.

That was precisely what Liu feared.

“If you think a show of force refers to military power, then you are mistaken. Gunboat diplomacy and the like are relics of the past century. We will make war in a brand new battlefield, and thus win the rights to the Special Region.”

“What, what would that be?”

The female secretary waiting in the corner advanced in silence and handed a bundle of doc.u.ments to Liu.

Liu swiftly scanned through the topics.

“We call it, ‘Operation Ginza Red Flag’.”

Chairman Dong Dechou smiled to himself as he said so.

Liu gave it an once-over, and then he blanched.

“But, but… I don’t think the US and the other nations will approve of this… it seems far too risky.”

“It’s fine. There’s not need to worry. Justice does not exist in the international community; only national interests. As long as your interests coincide with the other nation, you may do as you please. This is reality… all right, come with me. I’ll introduce you to our guests, because you’ll be working with them in the future.”

“Them?”

“Indeed,” Dong Dechou said as he rose from his seat and led Liu aside. There were several men waiting in the antechamber.

“This is Mr. Balanov of the Russian Federation. And this is Mr. Lucre from France. After that we have Mr. Brudges from England. Mr. Hw.a.n.g of North Korea. Mr. Kim from South Korea. And finally, the US Presidential Secretary, Mr. Bremy.”

Liu shook hands with everyone Dong introduced, but he still gasped, “The Americans too?!” in an unbelieving tone.

He was so tense that he did not notice his voice going off-key.

“Correct. In this, we are in agreement. Does that not mean that we should work together as well?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right.”

“Of course, this is not an ironclad working relationship. We are all here for our own reasons and we must leave for our own reasons as well. Similarly, the conditions for continued cooperation are quite strict. We must take action boldly and carefully.”

“Yes, I believe that is so.”

“The reins for this operation must be placed in the hands of an excellent commander. Thus, I hope you will be the overall coordinator for this operation. Will you accept that position?”

This was an offer Liu could not refuse, so he bowed crisply in acknowledgement. Upon seeing this, Dong Dechou smiled smugly.

“Now, j.a.pan will be fighting on all sides.”

(TL Note: the term is 四面楚歌, referring to the battle of Gaixia)

Ibaraki Prefecture, Kasumigaura

Itami stood on the sh.o.r.es of the lake, looking up the sky and the huge fluffy white clouds floating up there.

He saw a speck of white in the endless azure. He heard the sound of engines from the distance. When he raised his binoculars and looked through them, he saw a civilian propellor plane.

“Oh!”

Through his binoculars, he saw several red and white-striped points scatter from the civilian aircraft, taking flight into the clear blue sky.

These points were currently falling towards Itami’s current location.

They were falling so fast that he could not track them through the high-power magnification of his binoculars. Thus, Itami put them down and waited until he could see them with the naked eye.

A moment later, kite-like objects bloomed into existence one after the other. They then drifted slowly towards him.

Itami did not look back to Yao standing behind him, but said:

“It’s a long time to stand here while craning your neck. You don’t have to keep hanging around.”

“No. I want to be by your side.”

Itami felt a little embarra.s.sed by Yao’s words, and he scratched his head while saying, “really now”. To him, those words could be taken as a vow of eternal companionship.

“Forget it, she was probably just exaggerating.”

To the long-lived Yao, dating Itami for life was hardly a big deal. Perhaps it would only feel like a couple of years to her. Just as Itami was thinking about that, Yao suddenly asked:

“Do you find me bothersome? I sometimes fail to get a hint; if you wish to be alone, please, tell me.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Wonderful… although, everyone’s flying quite well.”

Yao looked to the sky and then a shiver ran down her spine, as though a cold wind had blown.

“I keep thinking about what would happen if the parachute didn’t open, or if the straps broke, or if the wind blew me into the lake, and so on.”

Because I have bad luck. Yao squeezed the 50 yen coin Itami had given her.

Itami understood how Yao felt, and nodded.

“I wonder why everyone’s having so much fun?”

“It’s natural to think that way. It looks pretty boring from down here.”

In truth, skydiving did not seem very impressive to onlookers. Perhaps it would be different if there was a team of professionals performing aerobatics and a cunning array of stunts, but Itami and Yao were merely waiting for the skydivers to make landfall, so it was very boring.

That said, that was only because they could not see the airborne skydivers with their naked eyes.

Pina descended through the air, held from behind by a professional skydiving coach. When she saw Itami, she waved her arms enthusiastically at him.

“Itami-dono~!”

They landed in a glide. Once she touched down, Pina ran to Itami, all smiles and beaming like a child.

“It was awesome, so awesome, Itami-dono! To think such wonders existed in our world!”

“Your, your Highness… this isn’t our world…”

Hamilton had landed alongside Pina. She approached them on shaky legs after thanking her coach.

“Right. This is another world… ahhhh, there’s so many wonderful things in this world. Why was I not born here? The moment when we pa.s.sed through the clouds was lovely!”

Following them, Rory, Tuka and Lelei landed.

After separating from their skydiving coaches, they eagerly babbled about how wonderful it felt to walk through the sky. Even the typically quiet Lelei’s eyes were glowing, as though to show her delight.

“Aren’t you jumping, Itami-dono?”

“Nah, I’ll pa.s.s.”

“Could it be that even Itami-dono, one of the renowned Men In Green, is afraid of jumping? ...Well, Hamilton whined a lot on the way up, but she seemed quite happy once she was airborne.”

“...You didn’t think she was just scared speechless in the air?”

“Then, did you find it boring?”

“No. It was truly a wondrous experience.”

Hamilton placed her hands onto her chest as if she was replaying her feelings in her mind.

“Although, before we jumped, I still couldn’t bring myself to believe how a chunk of metal could float in the sky.”

At that time, Hamilton looked like she was on the verge of crying and screamed “How scary”.

“Say, say, Itami-dono, how about joining us next time? Hey, what do you think?”

Itami sensed Pina was bugging him in order to fly again.

“I appreciate your kind offer, but please permit me to refuse.”

Itami wanted to impress the cost of skydiving upon this Crown Princess-sama, who had no idea of the meaning of money.

“Why is that? Do you dislike accompanying me?”

“...In all honesty, I just don’t understand the appeal of this sort of thing.”

As Itami fumbled around for an excuse, Yao was chuckling behind his back as she covered her mouth.

“Do you know something?”

Tuka — who looked happy, like she had just waltzed with a wind spirit — pressed Yao for details. After Lelei and Rory joined in as well, Yao muttered, “I can’t say this out loud” before whispering to them.

“In truth, Itami-dono is afraid of heights.”

“Ahhhhh! You promised to keep it secret! And you’re scared of heights too!”

In response to that, Yao proudly puffed her chest up.

“Indeed, I fear heights. But that is because my luck is bad and leads to accidents! I’m not afraid like you are.”

“Let’s get this out of the way first. I can ride in helicopters or transport planes. I’m very familiar with rappelling, and I’ve done my share of combat jumps. I’m just afraid of Wyverns.”

“Oh? Really? Then who was the one hugging me and screaming back then?”

“Ah, well, I was holding tightly onto Yao, but I was afraid of the Wyvern…”

“Then why didn’t you go skydiving?”

As Rory and Tuka pressed him, Itami mumbled, “Er, I er, because, of, uh…”

“Pret~ty fishy~”

“Were you lying about parachute jumping? Father, take some responsibility here.”

“It’s not a lie!” Itami wailed, before narrating his black history to them.

“I did jump. Really. But I hated it, so I clung to the jumpmaster and refused to let go. In the end my commander and the jumpmaster went, “Get your a.s.s out of here” and they kicked me out the door.”

The fear of heights could take many forms. In Itami’s case, he feared having nothing to hold on to. Ropes were fine and anything he could hold onto would be acceptable. But without them, his fears would surge forth.

It was only natural to wonder why someone like him could have a paratrooper badge, but there was a reason for that.

After people shouted “What kind of SFG trooper doesn’t have a paratrooper badge?!” he had been shoved off a perfectly good aircraft five times and obtained it. Naturally, there were still some SFG commanders who still resented Itami for it.

Whenever he tried to run away from things he did not like, people would point at the badge of his chest and scold him, “Aren’t you a Ranger?! Aren’t you Special Forces?!” Even so, Itami still tried to flee those unpleasant tasks. Eventually, one of Itami’s previous commanders handed down the secret of controlling him.

“You can forget about ever taking leave again, particularly at the beginning and end of the year and during summer!”

“Ehhhhhh! But why?!”

“If you don’t want that to happen, act like you deserve that badge on your chest!”

Indeed, it was because of these experiences that Itami no longer wore his badge on his uniform.

If not for the Ginza incident, Itami would probably have been forcibly enrolled into free-fall courses, at which point he would seriously have considered a change in vocation.

However, the girls found this aspect of his terribly entertaining. He was the ideal target for their bullying.

They teased Itami about how he did not join them because he could not understand the joys of the sky.

In the end, Itami had to cajole them into moving on, saying “Hurry up and change, time’s right and we need to get in the microbus.”

Next, they would be heading to a Ministry of Defense research inst.i.tute.

Once they left Kasumigaura airport, black limousines surrounded their microbus from all directions. It begged the question, “what kind of VIP would ride a microbus, anyway?”

As she saw this, Rory muttered: “I remember what happened the last time came here…”

Lelei, Tuka and Pina nodded.

“Well, that was because our movements were leaked to one and all, so everyone’s eyes were on us…”

In response to Itami’s words, the man in black seated at the seat beside the driver’s turned around, saying “Sorry about leaking your location to all and sundry… it’s been a while.”

Itami asked the man addressing them: “Who’re you?”

“You can’t tell? I’ve lost a lot of weight.”

The man — who resembled Dr. Shinigami from Kamen Rider — introduced himself as Komakado. He had been their point of contact with the local police when Itami had first led his group to Tokyo.

“Ohhh! It’s been a while. What happened to your waist after that?”

“Ah, how shall I put it… My cane’s a part of me now.”

Komokado glared hatefully at the halberd Rory was holding. Seeing how a young girl like herself held it with such ease, he had decided to s.n.a.t.c.h it up unawares. In the end, he had sprained his waist and given himself a hernia, resulting in an ambulance call.

“Well, let’s just forget about it.”

“Aye. Well, I understand. Still, I heard that security preparations are being handled by the police this time. Komakado-san, you’re from Intelligence Branch; what are you doing here?”

“Ah, my secondment period is over. I’m a department chief in the Public Security Division now.”

“Oh! You’ve risen through the ranks. Congrats.”

“No no, that’s largely thanks to you. We managed to round up all the foreign spies in Ginza in one fell swoop…”

“Really?’

“Really. If you didn’t notice, then never mind.”

Komakado chuckled as he said this. For some reason, it sounded like a villain’s evil laugh. He seemed kinder when he had been plumper. His bearing now had a negative effect on his image.

One could see the reed-choked sh.o.r.es of Lake Kasumigaura through the windows. The technology inst.i.tute was further down the road. Komakado paused briefly to bring his digital communicator to his mouth.

“Status report.”

“Intersection here, everything’s fine.”

Reports streamed in from various location. It would seem they had taken very tight measures, given the prior leaks. After acknowledging the reports, Komakado looked at Itami.

“There’s a fundamental difference between the level of security now and last time. We’ve even had policewomen cosplay as the girls here and sent them strolling around with someone who looks like you to Akihabara or Nagata-cho. There’s another microbus behind us as well.”

Komakado pointed behind himself as he said this.

“I haven’t even been told the reason you’re here. Why are you here?”

“To conduct a Gate-opening experiment.”

Itami was momentarily confused over whether to tell someone who had not been otherwise informed. Just for once, he wanted to say, “that’s on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know”, or some other similarly overacted line. However, Lelei, who was sitting to the side, shattered Itami’s fantasies with her simple answer.

“A Gate-opening experiment? You mean to say that men can make portals between this world and others?”

“It could be.”

Komakado looked like nothing in the world could have shocked him more.

“Unbelievable…”

Everybody in the world understood the utility of the Special Region. If word got out that there was a way to freely open a way to the Special Region, and that the strange phenomena plaguing the world could be eliminated, everyone in the world would reach to j.a.pan for a handout.

“You need to be very cautious about this information. Do you understand me?” Komakado told the policeman driving.

“I, I understand.”

“You are not to speak of this to anyone; not your parents, your siblings, your girlfriend, your superiors, n.o.body. Do you understand?”

“I understand, sir!” the policeman practically shouted in reply.

“Good. Then, we’ll have the decoys head toward Ginza as planned.”

In response to Komakado’s order, the microbus trailing them turned left towards Tokyo, taking a lot of police escort vehicles with them. Even if someone pursued them, the long motorcade would be very distracting and they would probably not notice the microbus moving ahead of them.

“Now, even if someone is observing, it’ll look like the VIPs from the Special Region are returning to Ginza after skydiving.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice~”

Rory’s nonchalant reply was laced with sarcasm, and Komakado smiled back to her, unwilling to admit defeat.

“Well, I didn’t think it would be settled so easily. The path ahead is kind of uncertain.”

In fact, the s.p.a.ce behind them had cleared up now that the heavy police escort had vanished. There were no more cars on the road besides the ones that occasionally pa.s.sed them from the front. Rural roads would be like this outside of traffic jams.

Before long, they could see the Ministry of Defense Research Inst.i.tute. It was comprised of clean white buildings on an open field. They were actually pretty big structures, though the sprawling surroundings might have given viewers a false impression.

The microbus did not enter through the main gate, but took an unpaved, narrow road that was something like a trail running between rice paddies, and thus it entered the grounds from a side gate. Perhaps it was because his tension had been running high, but when the side gate closed, Komakado exhaled deeply.

“Hooo… Well, nothing happened this time.”

Yup, very tense.

The microbus entered an area surrounded by buildings.

Men in black were gathered there, awaiting Itami and his entourage.

“You’ve come at last, Lelei-san. Everyone, did you enjoy your leisure time in the air?”

Prime Minister Morita, Secretary Kogure and the others stepped forward, each shaking Lelei’s hand.

“Thank you. I had a lot of fun thanks to you,” Lelei replied primly. After all, she had heard that their entertainment had been paid from the Prime Minister’s pocket money. While it was more likely that the money had been drawn from a secret government account, stating that the PM had paid for them would change their impression of him. It was a truly devious maneuver.

Tuka thanked them for their warm reception, and expressed her worry that they were imposing upon them. In response, Morita smiled and said:

“Hardly, hardly. Such petty matters pale in comparison to your importance. Ahahaha~”

There was no anger in his laughter. Had he really dug into his pockets for them, Itami wondered.

Kanou approached him and asked, “How about them? Did they have fun?”

“Aye, they did.”

“If we can make them a.s.sociate this enjoyment with cooperating with j.a.pan, that’s a win for us. That’ll be their motivation to open the Gate. Same with your matter.”

“...Ah, Kanou-san. Are you serious about that?”

“You mean, handing you over to them? We haven’t decided that yet. It comes after we settle the matter of the Gate.”

Itami patted his chest and sighed in relief.

“If we have to close the Gate, I was thinking of ordering you to gather information in the Special Region, while taking charge of that Lelei girl’s security.”

“So you want me to be another Lieutenant Onoda?”

Near the end of the Pacific theatre of World War II, when the IJA was retreating, Hiroo Onoda-shi had been ordered to stay on Lubang Island to collect information. After the war ended, he continued his lonely crusade. About 30 years had pa.s.sed before his former commander informed him that World War II had ended and personally relieved him of duty.

...The Gate was closed, and the Special Region Expeditionary Force of the JSDF was no longer there. But Itami remained by himself. And after the Gate opened again, decades had pa.s.sed.

Itami’s body went weak as he imagined that future ahead of him.

“I hope you can consider it with an SF trooper’s mindset. Don’t these plots appear in light novels? Time pa.s.ses differently for astronauts due to the Urashima effect and so on. Even so, the MC boldly sets forth, for the sake of all mankind.

They would probably receive someone like Kanou with a WELCOMƎ sign or something. That would be a nice trope. For an otaku, paying his entire life to serve his nation would probably be par for the course.

“So n.o.body’s going to ask my opinion?”

“Didn’t I say this was an order?”

“But you’re the Foreign Minister now, Kanou-san.”

“Very well. Then I shall issue that order in the name of the Prime Minister’s Office. If need be, I can get Defense Minister Natsume and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to sign off on it as well. Or will I need to continue down the chain of command until I reach your immediate superior?”

“Can I hand in a resignation?’

“We won’t fire you and we won’t let you quit either.”

“I’m glad you think so highly of me, but I think you’re overrating my abilities. Work, to me, is mainly there so I can have fun. I’d rather avoid situations where I’d have to miss out on Comic Markets. You know how their stuff sells out in a flash.”

However, Kanou paid Itami no heed as he continued:

“The fact is, the organizers of the Comic Markets have been saying that they have many copies of sample doujins which they want to donate to a national art museum. However, we need to vet the content first and sort them by their content. So we’re planning the construction of a repository to hold the anime and manga which are an important cultural legacy of our nation.”

“So you’re building a public facility like that, huh… well, you may want to build a shrine to manga, but the moral guardians will whine about it being a state-sponsored manga cafe. And… well, what does that have to do with me?”

“In any case, I wanted to say that if you were worried about losing contact with us during your time in the Special Region, you don’t have to worry. All the doujins released during that period will be stored there for everyone to read. Who knows, you might be able to spend years binging on the archives.”

“Really?! ... Ah, I mean…”

Itami’s sudden shriek of excitement had drawn everyone’s eyes. After an incredibly fake cough, Itami’s voice dropped an octave.

“Kanou-san. You must have forgotten because you haven’t been to those markets. You must have forgotten the feeling of joining a long queue, wading through the sweat and pa.s.sion-laden sea of humanity with both hands, strolling past the booths and being approached by people asking you to ‘please have a look’, as well as the joy of flipping through doujin pages and savoring the beautiful cosplayer girls.”

“What are you talking about? To me, the Special Region seems like a never ending Comics Market. Doesn’t that pa.s.sion burn in the Special Region — specifically, in Arnus?”

“...Eh?!”

“You should know that, right? Isn’t living over there more comfortable?”

“That, that’s not…”

That’s not true, Itami wanted to say, but in the end he could not finish that sentence.

He knew he was being baited by Kanou, but he did not feel Kanou was wrong. At the very least, he was waiting for the results of this experiment because he was afraid that he would not be able to come and go from the Special Region.

If Comics Markets could be held in the Special Region, he might consider moving there, like Kurata had.

“You’re an important person to them, so they’ll try to find some way to stay in touch with j.a.pan for your sake. You’ll have to wait a while to weather the time storms or earthquakes or whatnot and wait for them to calm down, but only this time round. After that, the opening and closing should not be a problem. I understood that much from her explanation.”

With that, Kanou inclined his chin toward Lelei and the others, who were walking along the corridor.

“Still, isn’t that very bad?”

“Frankly speaking, it is. But if this goes on, we won’t be able to invest in the Special Region any more. So I think it’s best that we hash it out right now, at this time.”

“Still, we’re not sure if the Gate can be successfully opened…”

“Precisely. Everything turns on that. That’s what the experiment we’re conducting is meant to prove. In addition, there are many things we need to discuss with the ALC, as well as how secret we’re going to keep it. If the US and China and whoever find out, they’ll probably demand the Gate be opened on their side. That being the case, that girl Lelei is now a national defense secret. However, if we keep it a secret, mentioning the closure of the Gate will incur ma.s.sive opposition. Once that happens, we’ll have to hint to the other allied countries that we can open the Gate again. That part will be a very delicate balancing act.”

“Indeed.”

“Still, it’s not all bad. We might be able to travel to worlds other than the Special Region. Of course, we have to consider how best to do this while taking into consideration Gothic Lolita-san’s warning to strictly regulate the spread of knowledge and information here into the Special Region. When you think about how the North American colonists annihilated the Native Americans’ culture and practices, her point starts to make a lot of sense…”

Itami and the others listened to this explanation as they walked, until they reached something like a huge hangar.

It was a vast, windowless s.p.a.ce, roughly four to five stories tall, with no windows. It felt familiar to Itami; it reminded him of the Tokyo International Exhibition Center.

(TL Note: I.e. the Tokyo Big Sight at Ariake, where Comikets are held)

However, he did not see folding tables there.

“Ah, it’s a Shinshin.”

(TL Note: This refers to the Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin; an experimental aircraft.)

There was a mockup of an experimental stealth fighter here, as well as kinetic kill vehicles designed to interdict medium-range ballistic missiles, among other things.

Technicians in white one-piece coveralls stood at the edge of this testing ground, arranging cameras and machinery to surround a central platform.

The floor was covered in tapes marking off squares in a grid pattern.

A frame of white ropes — resembling a jungle gym — hung in the air, also forming a grid pattern.

They brought Lelei to the center of the elevated platform. There were familiar faces among the researchers near her.

“Ah, Professor Youmei.”

“Ohh, you’re here. I heard they were going to conduct an experiment concerning the Gate, and I was beside myself in antic.i.p.ation, so I came over promptly. Although, it seems to be some sort of top secret matter and I had to sign an oath of some sort… the point is I can’t talk about it right?”

Urushibata and Shirai were there as well, waving to them.

Elsewhere, a female technician was attaching electrodes to Lelei’s head and various parts of her body.

Lelei did not seem to mind. Instead, she eagerly asked, “What are these for?” and nodded as she received her answer.

As the preparations proceeded apace, the government officials — headed by PM Morita — gathered around as well.

“It’s rare that we’re all gathered at a place like this,” Itami muttered. After all, the people here were the sort he would normally only see in the papers and news.

“Idiot, it shows how important this experiment is.”

Following Kanou’s words, Defense Minister Natsume added, “The handling of the Gate will shape j.a.pan’s future. Should we preserve the Gate or close it temporarily? The opposition will surely use our response as a talking point.”

After that, Morita growled his annoyance.

“Why not make her existence public? That way it’ll make persuading them much easier.”

“Please reconsider, Prime Minister! The situation will deteriorate if that happens.”

“No, I don’t meant officially. I mean, through rumors and other such channels. Something like, ‘We have acquired the technology to open Gates’ or something similar.”

“In other words, our official stance is that we know nothing?”

“Correct.”

Even so, that would be a very dangerous development. It would lead to all manner of conjectures, and might worsen the situation.

“We will begin the experiment shortly. All personnel to your instruments and stations. Five. Four. Three…”

Everyone watched Lelei with bated breath.

Lelei closed her eyes, and incanted a monophonic verse which sounded like a pigeon whistle.

“Please look, the subject’s brain wave patterns are showing surprising changes.”

“The amplitude is off the scales. It’s as though she’s having an epileptic seizure… to think she could remain conscious through all this.”

“Probably because it’s limited to part of the cerebrum.”

Not every part of the EEG display was flickering wildly. Other parts showed no changes at all.

“...Two. One. Contact!”

With the merest of movements, Lelei opened a Gate to another world before the onlookers.

It looked like a pool suspended in mid-air.

One could still glimpse the scenes of this world through the other side. It was only when one drew close that one could see it. In other words, it was like a gla.s.s windowpane. Its surface rippled slightly; unlike gla.s.s, it appeared visually soft.

“Is that the Gate? It seems much different from the one in Ginza. Smaller, too.”

“The stone structures were built to stabilize and anchor the Gate. This is the true form of the Gate. I can’t sustain it for long with my power alone; this much is my limit...”

The researchers nodded and said, “I see…” as they heard Lelei. They approached the surface, bringing their faces closer to investigate.

Someone blew at it, to see if it would raise ripples on its surface. However, there was no reaction. Whatever caused those vibrations had nothing to do with air movement, they reasoned.

Youmei swiftly produced a long rod.

“Allow me to take a look… hm.”

He poked the tip of the rod into the rippling surface, and then slowly pressed it in. The rod met no resistance, but vanished where it contacted the interior of the surface. He pulled it back, and found that its length was the same, with no changes.

“I see…”

However, n.o.body dared touch it, or look past the other side. This time, they prepared a camera on a long boom and inserted it. It might have been that the other side was too damp, but the video signal they got was blurred and whited-out, so they could not make out much.

“Hang on.”

One of the technicians sprayed something on the lens to ward off condensation and then inserted the camera again, but they got the same results.

“Maybe it was obscured by mist?”

If that was the case, they would have to send someone over to take a look.

The onlookers traded meaningless dialogues like “You go,” “No, you can be first.”

Behind the white-clad men, Itami approached Lelei.

“Lelei. Where did you connect to?”

“I don’t know. I picked a world close to us.”

“Is it different from the Special Region… from your world, Lelei?”

“You can’t open multiple portals to the same world.”

Lelei explained it by saying that a tangent only ever touched a circle at one point along its length.

“I see, so does this mean you can link the Special Region to our world?”

“However, I need a marker to find a particular world among all the others…”

Following that, Youmei said, “Let me handle the groundwork for that. We’ll use a pure crystal, without any imperfections. The more valuable, the better, and it needs to be an ancient object. I guess we could mine something like that.”

“I see…”

After Itami said that, he casually approached the Gate and said, “I’ll take a look before sticking his head in.

The sight of a man’s body missing its head from the neck up was highly disturbing to the onlookers. The severed… that is, the remaining portion of the neck looked like a sectional slice of a human specimen, which only added to the effect. One of the female researchers saw this ghastly sight and immediately fled to the corner of the experimental area with her hand clutched over her mouth.

“Huh, looks like medical science has progressed once again,” someone mused.

“Not just that. Surgery is going to become something truly incredible.”

Itami had no idea that the insides of his body were on review. Instead he muttered, “Where is this” and stepped forward, and his body disappeared from the sight of his audience.

Before long, a pale-faced Itami stumbled out the portal and shouted, “Lelei! Close the Gate now! Now! Now! Now! That world’s really f.u.c.king bad news!”

“What happened?”

Kanou’s question echoed the thoughts of the gathered politicians.

“There were eggs about this size… all lined up in a row, and when I got near them, they opened up like buds…”

Itami stumbled over his description of the human head-sized eggs, arranged in neat rows on a sticky floor.

As they heard this, the faces of the technicians and the politicians blanched, as they imagined the SF film which matched Itami’s description.

“Terminate the experiment! Lelei-san, please close the Gate!”

“Security! Converge on Experimental Area Four! It may be too late! Hurry! Hurry!”

“Too late! Seal the entrances and exits to the building! Everyone, please be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for j.a.pan’s sake. Contact the people outside — tell them that if communication with the interior is interrupted for more than 24 hours, they are to destroy this building immediately. This is a direct order from the Minister of Defense.”

As Natsume thunderously addressed the entire building, Lelei tilted her head in bafflement, but complied with the request and stopped maintaining the portal.

The translucent membrane before her vanished in an instant.

At the same time, an earthquake rocked the facility. It was roughly magnitude 2.0. Since the shocks were not that great, Itami paid it no heed, but instead turned to Lelei.

“...Haaa… haaa… haa… Lelei, don’t open portals to other worlds for the time being. Especially that world. From now on, do not ever link to it. We’ll all be doomed.”

In that moment, everyone realised that they could not blindly make contact with unknown worlds.

Since it had ended without incident for the time being, they breathed a sigh of relief. But the matter did not end there.

“Oh, oi, what’s this?!”

Two heavily-muscled men in black lifted him up by the elbows, while two more grabbed his legs, for a total of four people controlling his limbs.

Looking around, he saw many people in white and men in black surrounding him in ranks. Their blank faces were like machines, and the lack of humanity frightened him.

Natsume coldly stated: “Begin examination immediately. We must verify if he has been infected by any parasites!”

Itami was dragged to the corridor.

“No, I, I’m fine! There’s nothing stuck on me! It’s true! I, I’ve been framed!”

Itami thrashed and screamed, but that only made the people present even more suspicious.

“Why framed?”

Natsume had no idea, and so Kanou replied,

“Well, that was the promise I made to him.”

Sherry learned about this news while playing with Myui at the Emperor’s side.

Since she was familiar with the young heiress of House Formal, the Emperor had put them together and said, “You two should get along; your ages are close, after all.”

The aged Emperor was delighted to see Myui and Sherry playing together by his side.

Being weak and ill, the Emperor was practically bedridden. It would seem he compensated for his immobility by watching the girls playing energetically in the d