Volume 4 Chapter 1Part6 (1/2)

Translator Corner

Minasan oideyasu. This is Yukkuri demasu!

Yukkuri here.

This is just temporary cover chapter until

Larvyde return, okay?

Also, should I call Human Race as Hume just

like FFXII?

DISCLAIMER: There is no

guarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I was

wrong.

Author:

Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)

Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan

Editor:

So-Chintzy

Enlightenment Arc

Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Cities F

Author’s

Note: This is a work of fiction. Yukkuri’s Note: Likely placed since it deals

with refugee situation. (Sensitive matter for sensitive people)

I left the dispute clean-up to

Juno and her group. In order to accomplish our original objective of meeting

with the leader of this refugee community, we traveled further into the settlement.

Then, after we followed the young man guiding us, he finally lead us to a

remarkably large tent similar to a Mongolian yurt.

We entered the tent and saw a

large Human male inside, sitting down cross-legged with both of his hands propped

against the floor as he bowed his head down. It was a pose that could e often

seen in Jidaigeki,[1] and

was how a retainer would behave towards his lord.[2]

The large man looked to about 30 years old, but if I was to describe his

appearance, then he gave off a similar impression to that of a Native American.[3]

His large burly figure was lightly dressed, which was common to the people who

came from the warmer northern region and his face was painted with what looked

likes symbols or charms.

Behind him, there was a girl who wore

a similar attire to him and was sitting in a similar pose, too. Her age was not

that much different from Liscia or Roroa. She was not that sophisticated, but she

was a girl that gave off a simple cute feeling. Both of them had similar features

on their faces, so perhaps they were siblings.

「Thank

you for visiting us, Your Majesty, the Great King of this Country.」(Man)

「Yes……

Can you stop with that Great King? I’m not really fond of that phrase.」(Souma)

I sat down in front of the man. There

was no chair, so I sat directly on the carpet that was spread over the floor. As

a j.a.panese, this was something that I was familiar with. Judging from the

sensation, the carpet was affixed to a board. So it seems that the carpet wasn’t

directly spread over the bare ground. Liscia sat down next to me. Owen, Hilda,

and Carla, who had returned back from the Castle, sat down behind us.

「Fumu…… Then,

how should I refer to you?」(Man)

「You may

simply call me King or Your Majesty.」(Souma)

「Then

I shall do so. My name is Jirukoma[4].

I have been entrusted with the leader position by this refugee community. For

helping the people of this community at the incident that happened not long ago,

let me express my grat.i.tude from the bottom of my heart.」(Jirukoma)

Jirukoma made a very deep bow as

he said these words.

「I am

the one who is acting as the king of this country, Souma Kazuya. Then, the ones

who rescued them are the adventurers that had been dispatched as guards Please

direct your grat.i.tude towards them.」(Souma)

「I

can’t do that. The deployment of the adventurers itself is due to the support

from the King. We are also thankful for the continuous support of goods.」(Jirukoma)

「Then

I will accept that grat.i.tude…… However, I didn’t come to this place today to

hear words of grat.i.tude.」(Souma)

「………」(Jirukoma)

Jirukoma’s expression tensed when

he heard my words. The significance of my visit should be obvious to Jirukoma. After

all, this discussion about “that case” had been repeated numerous times by the envoys

that I had dispatched.

「I came

to demand your decision. You have heard the “recommendations” from the envoys,

correct? Then, which one will you people choose?」(Souma)

「!

That is-」(Komayin)

「Stop

it. Komayin.[5]」(Jirukoma)

「However,

brother(anija)!」(Komayin)

The girl tried to stand up, but Jirukoma’s

hand held her back. So this girl’s name is Komayin. Just like I had thought,

they were siblings. Jirukoma sharply rebuked Komayin.

「Our

words will decide the fate of all the people of this community. Do not be

imprudent.」(Jirukoma)

「…… I

understand.」(Komayin)

Komayin who had stood up half-way,

sat back down. For a moment, the two bodyguards behind me were also on alert,

but since Komayin had calmed down, they too backed down. The air inside the

room became heavy. Perhaps becaise she was concerned about the situation, Liscia

raised a question.

「Souma,

can you explain the situation please……」(Liscia)

「……

Fine. I want to resolve this refugee problem. If the status quo continues, then

it would not end well, both for our country and for the people who live in this

place. That’s why I compelled a certain decision for the refugees.」(Souma)

「Decision?」(Liscia)

I nodded.

「Either

discard their homesickness and become this country’s citizens, otherwise, leave

this country.」(Souma)

◇　◇　◇

The refugees that were chased out

from their homelands when the Demon Lord Realm appeared. Their genuine wish was

to repatriate back to their homeland and return back to their old lives. However,

at the current state, that prospect can’t be fulfilled. The last large scale

invasion towards the Demon Lord Realm ended in failure and only left fear in

the hearts of the people. Even the largest major power of the Humanity Side, the

Grand Chaos Empire, hesitated to send out another invasion. Right now, it only

focused on preventing the Demon Lord Realm from expanding any further towards

the south. This was the current situation.

Perhaps, even if we a.s.sume that the

current conditions will improve in the future, it won’t happen tomorrow or the

day after tomorrow. It will also be impossible to achieve in just several months.

Achieving it in several years is also too difficult. It might take dozens of

years, or perhaps we will need to be resigned t the reality that it may take

hundreds of years to accomplish. Then, during that time, what will the refugees

do? If they only wish to return to their homelands, then would they keep

staying in foreign countries as a stateless people?

…… This is impossible. This distorted

situation w ould surely become a source of

problems in the future.

「The

former King Albert took an att.i.tude towards tolerating their stay. I too, in

order to deal with the mountain of other problems, had accepted that position

until today. Even if it was only in small quant.i.ties, I had provide aid and

suport.」(Souma)

「………」(Jirukoma)

「However,

now that the other problems have been resolved, I could no longer ignore tackling

this problem. Even for us, we can’t continue to provide aid indefinitely and we

are also troubled with the refugees staying here illegally. We have tolerated

it up until now, but hunting and gathering without permission were originally

illegal activities. If I permit these illegal activities then it will surely provoke

the anger of our citizens.」(Souma)

The reason for this was they were

not citizens of this country. Up until now, they received an air of sympathy since

they had lost their homelands because of the appearance of the Demon Lord Realm.

However, air is still air. When it will eventually drift away, no one knows. Their

wish of repatriation won’t come true. If we continue to support these

non-citizens and tolerate their illegal activities, then voices of

dissatisfaction would arise amongst the citizens in the future. In the worst

case, it might turn into a violent conflict.

「That’s

why I compelled the people living in this place to make a decision. Give up on

returning back to their homelands and live in this country as citizens, or don’t

give up on returning back and leave this country for another country. I came for

them to decide this.」(Souma)

「Souma,

that is……」(Liscia)

「This

might be heartless. However, this is necessary. In the end, a country is like a

very huge person. She will easily love someone who loves her, but to love

someone who doesn’t love her? Her heart isn’t that generous.」(Souma)

That’s why, while the air of

sympathy still exists right now, I want to promote the integration. This

country is a country of many races. Compared to a nation that is dominated by a

single race, there is a pre-existing basis to receive them. ――― However, that

depends on whether or not the refugees accept on becoming citizens of this multi

racial country. I had spoken about this earlier when pointing the flaw in the Humanity

Declaration, a feeling of nationalism that is too strong will become the source

of rebellion.

「If

perhaps, your people, are determined to return to your homeland no matter what

and don’t have any sense of belonging to this country, then I…… will have no

choice but to deport your people.」(Souma)

When he heard my words, Jirukoma clenched

his teeth.

「……

We just…… want to return to our homeland.」(Jirukoma)

「I

understand that feeling. I don’t mind if each person simply holds that feeling

inside their heart. If the situation improves, then when the situation for the

repatriation arrives, we won’t mind if you return back to your homeland……

However, at least while you are in this country, I want you to identify

yourselves as citizens of this country. If you can’t then… this country is not

a place for you to stay.」(Souma)

「………」(Jirukoma)

Jirukoma was at a loss for words.

In exchange, Komayin stood up.

「You

don’t understand anything……」(Komayin)

「Stop

it, Komayin!」(Jirukoma)

「No brother(anija), let me say it! You are this country’s king, right? You have

this country as yours, right? The sadness of people who have parted with their country,

what do you-」(Komayin)

「I

understand it all.」(Souma)

Komayin shouted out in

exasperation, but I looked straightforwardly into her eyes and spoke up.

「You

should have heard about this. I am a person that was summoned from a world

different from this one. Furthermore, it is a perfect one-way ticket, you see. I’m

different from you guys who can still have hope, even if it is just a little. There

is no way for me to return. That’s why I understand the sadness of parting with

your homeland.」(Souma)

「Gugh……」(Komayin)

「Homesickness……

sure is hard to get rid of. In my world, there is a saying 『Home

is where you reminisce when you are far away.』[6]  What an

accurate saying, but it was only after I lost it that I noticed how precious home

was to me. It’s easy to say that this is how things go, but it’s not that easy

to be satisfied with it.」(Souma)

「Souma.」(Liscia)

When I spoke out the grief inside

my heart, Liscia softly linked her hand with mine.

「However……

I have Liscia and the others. There are people that are supporting me on my

side. There are people who care about me. I responded to their feelings and worked

feverishly. Thus, before I was aware of it, I had started to think of this

country as my own. If I parted with this country, then perhaps I would have the

same sadness like I felt when parted with my homeland, at least that’s what I

believe.」(Souma)

In the end, homeland is “a connection”.

A connection with a location and the people who live in it. The only thing that

could replace it, is another “connection”. Komayin feebly sat herself down and hung

her head down. She might not accept this immediately. However, stubbornly

refusing to move means not being able to move forward.

「That’s

why I wanted to give you what Liscia and others had given to me. If you can love

this country and become its members, then this country will receive you.」(Souma)

「To

be specific…… In what way will she receive us?」(Jirukoma)

Jirukoma’s eyes became more

intense than ever. It was as if he was ascertaining my true intentions.

「I am

aware that it is extremely rude to ask about this, even when you have told us

that “she will receive us”. However, we had seen and heard the cruel reality

before we reached this land, exactly what “receiving the refugees” means. A

country that exploits us in harsh workplaces like the mines as cheap labor. A

country that forces us to the frontlines as anti-Demon Lord Realm soldiers. We

had received this kind of treatment repeatedly.」(Jirukoma)

「Yes,

typical… but I can only see those as idiotic measures.」(Souma)

「Idiotic?」(Jirukoma)

「Ah,

yes. First, it’s idiotic to send refugee to the frontline. National defense is the

core of a country. If they make the foreigners bear this role, then eventually the

country will surely face a grave national crisis.」

There were many precedents even in

Earth’s history. For example, the Western Roman Empire. To counter the invading

Völkerwanderung Germanic people, they invited Germanic people to peacefully

migrate as Germanic mercenaries, which become the main force of the army. As a result,

it caused the Germanisation of the army and the chief of the Germanic

mercenaries, Odoacer, to overthrow the country. Then, in China, during the Tang

dynasty era, An Lu Shan, of mixed Sogdian and Göktürk ancestry, was granted

supreme authority. Because of this, he instigated a rebellion, which shortened the

dynasty’s life.

「Furthermore

treating the refugees like slaves was also an idiotic measure. This would only stir

animosity from the refugees. What would they do if the resentful refugees plot

a rebellion or terrorist acts? Weren’t they only growing seeds of calamity towards

their own country?」(Souma)