From Zero

Three years has passed after the end of the sengoku period.

In three years, the devastation of the war across the nation, whilst visible through the fresh gravestones, historical markers and statues placed in honor of the battles that transpired and the people who made the ultimate sacrifice for it, it also showed the resilience and hope that those who still live carry in their hearts.

Today was a special day for many people in Japan. A new holiday was reserved after a short deliberation in the government about a unified Memorial Day for the war and its heroes.

"""Cheers!"""

"Rest in peace, you good lads."

"Man, we'll miss you guys always."

At many cemeteries, men wearing their uniforms and armor clinked their glasses and poured its contents to the gravestones of the friends and brothers that they lost in the war.

"For everyone on eternal patrol, let them receive their roll call!"

"FIRE!"

At the harbors of provinces with navies during the war, all the cannons in the naval fortresses and ships fired blanks into the sky and wreaths of flowers were thrown into the sea, offered to the sailors who were fated to be in the sea's embrace forever.

"Alright boys, let's do this nice and right!"

"Aye, captain!"

At Yamashiro airfield in the Shogunate capital, an airshow was held in honor of the airmen that lost their lives during the war. Flying the Keima fighters that were the workhorse planes during the conflict, the pilots performed tricks and fly-bys that ended with forming the "red rising sun" symbol on the sky using colored smoke.

Overall, Japan has recovered greatly since the time that the war has ended. Villages and towns that were literally wiped off the map by battles were mostly returned to by its residents and farmlands that saw bloodshed from before are now being plowed by tractors and planted with rice seedlings.

Families, although still missing those that are no longer there, did their best to move forward and honor the sacrifices of their loved ones for the peace that they are experiencing now.

Even the province of Kise, that was hit by the most devastating missile strike in the war, has returned to relative normalcy with the reconstruction of Kingo Sanctum acting as the survivors' symbol of resilience and recognition of their past sins and dedication to the newly established law and order.

However, this return to normalcy is not alone in the lives of the people. There was the other side that involved continuous development through an industrious workforce with high morale.

"Good morning, sensei!"

"Good morning too, sorry I'm a bit late. Are your classmates gathered in the room?"

"Yes, sensei. I'll inform them of your arrival."

Across not only Kiko or the allied prefectures, but even the prefectures outside of its circle of influence, purpose-driven and industrious work was being done by everyone from the studious student to the company higher-ups that are affecting the economy of the nation.

"Alright! Let's start the day with a smile! Mind your work and report anything unusual! Remember that we're about to hit our quota and we can go home with bonuses from the contract."

"""Yes, sir!"""

At various cities across the country that acted as the workplaces of people who live in nearby towns and villages, the well-planned mass transportation systems made up by trains and tram cars allowed for urban sprawl to be avoided and for rural areas to not be drained of its native families.

Almost all citizens in the labor force are employed, all children receive the highest quality of education that focuses more on real experience rather than standardized tests and the fine balance between modern productivity and traditional values have been met.

All of this was caused by the effort and sacrifice of many, but only one man who had the ambition and did all the actions necessary for it to start can be credited with it.

In Naka General Medical center, heralded as the best medical facility in Japan, the room of a young girl received its visiting doctor who had a cute exchange with the patient.

"Now, are you really eating your veggies and fruits, darling?"

"I-I do, doctor. I eat them… even if I don't rweally like them."

"Okay, that's good. Keep that up and you can go home soon, okay? Isn't that right, mommy?"

"That's right. You hear that sweetie? You can go back to school and with your friends soon."

"Yay!"

Just as the doctor was filing out the last lines of his visitation report, the door of the room received a rapid succession of knocks before a nurse opened it with a sense of hurry in her expression.

"Miyazaki-sama! We have a call for you in the emergency room!"

"Alright. I'll get there as soon as possible."

B his own request, or perhaps, his last order as their master, he left his position, power and probably even his entire life and identity in this world, to return to who he was from the very start.

A humble yet capable doctor.

"I'm here. Tell me about it while I sanitize myself."

"Y-Yes! 12-year-old male from the western wharf residential area attending Naka Prefectural Middle school. On his way to the bookstore, he was swerved by a loose horse and hit his head on the pavement. He was taken here by the owner of the horse and-"

"Prognosis by attending physician?"

"U-Umm! He has lost consciousness and---"

"Are you newbies?! The moment he entered here, you should administer care already and arrange for an on-call specialist!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"Just because I'm here doesn't mean that everything must fall on me! Get hold of the surgery department and have them prep a room. NOW!"

"Y-Yes, I-Iwasawa-sama!"

Not minding the fact that his true name was spoken in a moment of panic, Hiroshi turned to the boy that was spasming randomly on the bed he was placed on and examined him with quick, precise and methodical movements.

"Tch! This is a bad concussion. He is probably bleeding inside… You two, unlock the bed's wheels! We're rushing him to the surgery department!"

"B-But sir! They're still processing the request to-"

"We have no time! Tell them to have it by the time we reach their floor or else, I'm entering one that's being used!"

Aided by the two nurses who pushed the bed towards a special elevator that are larger and can climb floors faster than its normal variant, Hiroshi continued to monitor the unconscious boy, looking at his vitals on the monitor while also nervously watching the elevator's floor indicator climb towards the 7th floor.

"Come on, come on!"

"Get out of the way! This is an emergency!"

As soon as they left the elevator, the three pushed the bed out and shouted at the others on the hallway to make way for them.

"I-I-Iwasa--- Miyazaki-dono! We're still preparing a surgery room for your request. We need ten minutes to-"

"Have it done in five minutes while I prepare. Call an anesthesiologist and the resident neurosurgeon and have them scrub up too. Time is sensitive on this one and a young life in on the line, am I clear?!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Just as he commanded, five minutes was what it took to have a surgery room prepared for him and as he entered it with five other personnel, Hiroshi started the operation to save the life of the boy.

"The raptured artery is deep."

"Just do what you can and make sure you're not fiddling too much with his brain."

"Y-yes, doctor."

Battling his nerves, the neurosurgeon carefully looked at the monitor where they can see a fairly large blotch inside a faint shape being approached by a narrow line.

"Adjust by two degrees, you're going off course."

"…"

Slowly but surely, the line crept towards the blotch until it reached it and the hose that was slid into the patient's brain spurted out the blood clot.

"You got it good. Now we just have to remove the clot and close the wound."

"D-Doctor… Is this supposed to happen?"

"What?"

The nurse pointed at the monitor that indicated the boy's vital and sure enough, the line monitoring his heart rate was climbing slowly but steadily.

"Screw it! Now what?'

"D-did we pierce a vein on the way in?"

"Can it be an allergic reaction to my anesthesia?"

Everyone's mind was racing as the monitor began to alarm the unnatural climbing heartrate of the patient that can spell his death. As the others were wondering if they made a mistake in the operation, Hiroshi noticed something from the boy's face.

"You're all wrong. We didn't make a mistake."

"Iwa--- Miyazaki-sama?"

"The boy is just resistant to the sedative, he's half-awake."

As Hiroshi announced that, the heartrate monitor began to slow down but is still blaring an alarm.

"Listen to me lad, calm down. You're in a hospital and you're about to get well, I promise you that. If you're feeling something weird or ticklish, endure it for now. Give me your hand."

Hiroshi grasped the hand of the boy and with a reassuring tone, told him that everything will be alright.

"H-His heartrate is normalizing."

"Good. Finish up with draining the clot and the other procedures. Let's not keep him enduring any longer."

Over an hour after the start of the surgical operation, the boy left the room and was transferred to a recovery room.

"Haah… that was intense."

"I almost lost it when his heartrate monitor climbed up."

At the rooftop, the personnel finally breathed out a sigh of relief after saving their patient from the grip of death. The neurosurgeon and anesthesiologist sat down on a bench while the three nurses just kept silent, still shaking from their first emergency case.

"…Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Is he…?"

"…Yeah. That's him right there."

Standing by the guard rails and letting the wind sweep away on his long, uncombed hair, Hiroshi's identity was asked and answered by the two medical specialists.

"What is Iwasawa-sama doing here?"

"I guess… you can call it as something of a self-exile."

Three years has passed since the end of the war and almost the same amount of time has transpired since the highest seat of Kiko's government has been practically left empty.

Officially, Daimyo Iwasawa Hiroshi of the Iwasawa clan still remains as the master of Kiko, the Chancellor of the Southern Quartet alliance and one of the great unifiers of the nation… but in this new country and new age, his name has nominally remained to belong to the past rather than the present.

With the house of lords and the house of commons, alongside the ministries of Kiko running the province, much of what would have been his responsibilities and powers were given to these people. While they have done exceptionally well to run Kiko while also being the prime model of the new national government to follow, there was a certain sentiment amongst the people of Kiko about the fact that their daimyo has resigned from public appearance or returned to his rightful position.

"I wonder what kind of burden he is carrying in his heart."

"…We may never know."

One thing they know for sure is that whatever it was that caused Hiroshi to leave his lordship, it was a burden that they cannot imagine.

Later that afternoon, Hiroshi went down to check on the boy when out of the elevator came out a woman who had agitated expression and tone.

"N-Nurse! Where is my son?! P-please tell me where my son is!"

"M-Madame, calm down for a moment and please clear up who you're looking for."

"Ahhh!!! My boy! My sweet, little boy!!!"

"D-Darling! Calm down for a second and stop overreacting!"

"A-ah-ah! D-doctor! A little help here, please!"

Hiroshi approached the crying woman and noticed something on her.

"Are you Ueda Mariko? The mother of Ueda Masuyo?"

"M-my boy! That's my son! T-Tell me doctor, did he survive?! Did my dear son survive?! Please tell me! Tell me please---!"

"Wawawawa!"

"D-doctor!"

Hearing her son's name, the woman held Hiroshi by the shoulders and with her overreactive nature, shook him vigorously while bawling her eyes out.

After telling the child's parents that he survived, he led them to the recovery room where the still unconscious boy had bandages thickly wrapping his head and several sensors attached to his body to monitor his vitals.

"He's out of harm's way now, but we'll know if everything went well after he wakes up and the attending doctor performs the necessary check-up."

"Thank you very much, doctor. Our child may have lost his life without you."

"Please, it was the sense of responsibility of the horse owner who brought him here as well as the skill and tenacity of the hospital staff that saved him. I just did what I can to help."

"Still, we owe you a lot for saving our son… and everything too. Truly, thank you very much, Miya- No, Iwasawa-sama…"

"That…"

After he left the parents to care after their child, Hiroshi went down to the hospital lobby where he took his timecard and brought it to the machine that printed when he left today.

"Miyazaki-san. If we may ask for your cooperation…"

"…"

"Please, this is urgent."

Outside the hospital entrance, a few men wearing suits beckoned his attention and with a gesture, directed him to a car waiting by the parking lot. He had no interest with following them until he heard that this is a pressing matter.

"Good evening, Dr. Miyazaki Hiro… or should I say, Iwasawa Hiroshi-sama."

"…You disappoint me very much. I remember well that I requested all of you to not address me with that name and honorific anymore, Minori."

"Then I beg for your understanding, but the situation at hand requires me to address you as I should, Kou-sama."

In the car, he met face to face after three long years his subordinate and close friend, Akizuki Minori, who is still leading the intelligence agency of Kiko as its director. There, Minori told him about why he broke his request to be left alone.

"As you may know from the newspapers and news broadcasts, our negotiation to free both the British and Prussian prisoners-of-war was successful and with it came diplomatic relationships with the two nations alongside a few other European powers that are creeping their colonial ambitions here in the east."

"I am well aware, yes… what does this have to do with this urgent thing?"

"You see, the Netherlands have also requested for the sailors of the Dutch East India company to be freed but because of the… to put it lightly, rough initial diplomatic meeting with their side, the national government has refused to let them go as easily as the British and Prussian prisoners. Even negotiating with ransom are no longer being held as a possible method to restart talks while also maintaining our image internationally."

"Minori, get to the point please."

After he heard his master asking him to just tell him what all of this about, Minori understood that he can't entertain him enough to force him to listen to everything that happened behind the scenes ever since they last met. With that, he cut to the chase.

"To put it simply, the national government is asking for our opinion regarding a "limited naval operation in the south" in order to neutralize the enemy before they make their move."

"Oh yeah? What did Nobisuke and the others have to say about that?"

"They are halved… It's the usual thing."

"…Right, the usual thing."

Ever since Hiroshi resigned from actively meddling in the political and military side of Kiko's inner workings, the rift between two factions in the military became greater and greater.

The veterans of the civil war took the side of General Shimura Nobisuke who advocated for lesser conflicts in order to preserve peace while the newer batches of soldiers took the side of General Himeji Kotori who saw it fit to flex the great power that Japan holds in order to fulfill its ambitions and national demands.

This long brewing conflict has begun to boil over as fears that the western powers might be considering allying themselves to defeat Japan became truer and truer as the days go by. Just like before, fear of the vicious unknown became stronger as more news from overseas arrive from either unsubstantiated rumors or public announcements.

"For now, the Diet is still on the majority opinion that Japan shouldn't be the aggressor… but their opinions are being swayed by public sentiment and personal fears in the upcoming election."

"As expected, this is why I limited the democratically elected officials in Kiko. They begin to only listen when they fear being thrown out of their seats."

After analyzing the situation at hand, Hiroshi understood why Minori had to come here personally to solicit his help and even called it an urgent matter.

"Do you want me to step in an pacify the two conflicting sides?"

"…If I may humbly ask for you help, yes. I want for Shimura-dono and Himeji-dono to quit their feud and tackle this situation together for once. Ever since your departure from Naka castle, they have been on each other's throats, and I fear that they may even bring with them the rest of the government."

"…"

"At worst, this might become the start of another civil war."

"Right… that would be the worst-case scenario."

After half an hour of travel by car, they arrived at the mountain castle of Naka that has been renovated to keep its traditional aesthetics whilst being one of the most modern seats of government in the country.

"Things have changed up here. I see that most of the stables has been changed to mechanic garages and storage sheds for parts."

"Most of the horses has now been relegated to parades and patrol convoys of cavalry. The castle guards have transitioned to gasoline automobiles while the castle maids now use light electronic bikes."

"I see that you guys have kept my intentions in mind to not have us depend on gasoline for long."

"You can thank Kurogawa-dono for that. He's the one that made it a priority to electrify much of our industries and transportation. Oil and gasoline are definitely cheaper individually, but with more powerplants being built across the country, electricity is becoming cheaper as a whole."

"Right… besides, oil is not a local resource. It was just because of the war and the need for faster and more efficient production and transportation capabilities that I asked them to go there for oil… speaking of which, did Nobisuke handle our withdrawal from there properly?"

"Yes, Iwasawa-sama. We've left little to no traces that we were there, and we returned the land to the natives. We also paid them the agreed upon payment of tools and clothing."

"Good. Let's put that behind us now that we're on the way to a better energy system… by the way, I want to enter at the rear entrance."

At his request, the car stopped at the rear entrance of the castle leading to the kitchen which at this time are packed with cooks and maids preparing the evening feast for the castle's staff and officials for the Memorial Day celebrations.

"Let's meet up at the office. I want to go somewhere first… and please, keep my arrival known to no one. Just tell them that all of you should celebrate together."

"I understand, Iwasawa-sama. Please be there on time too."

Covering his face with a face mask, Hiroshi entered and passed through the kitchen where he saw the lavish dishes being prepared for the banquet. From traditional Japanese dishes such as sukiyaki, sushi, sashimi and many others, to foreign dishes that has become well-loved such as pizza, doner kebab and butter chicken, the stoves and ovens are brimming with all of it and their scrumptious aromas wafted around the kitchen.

"They sure have refined their recipes well since the last time I came here."

Without gathering too much attention, Hiroshi exited the kitchen and walked through the corridor leading to the castle elevator. This hallway, flanked by many other rooms where the castle's daily functions are done, such as laundry, cleaning and many others, were also filled by maids and housemen that earnestly performed their duties.

"Good evening! Which floor is it, sir?"

"12th floor, please. Upper Administration."

At the elevator, the attendant asked him where he would go, and he answered. However, his response caused the woman to be puzzled.

"It was the upper administration level, yes?"

"U-um, yeah. Isn't it located at the 12th floor?"

"Not anymore sir. It was changed a year ago after the expansion of the inner keep was finished. The entire upper administration sector is in the inner keep now."

"I-I see. I haven't been here for a while now. Still, let's go to the 12th floor."

After a minute in the elevator, Hiroshi stepped out and headed to a room which he remembers poignantly.

"…"

Filled with books, scrolls and his half-finished dioramas and inventions. On the wall facing the hallway are scribbles and blueprints tacked on the soft plywood wall, some of them being even on the sliding door itself.

There was a long L-shaped table filled with his scattered tools and parts of invention prototypes that he didn't finish disassembling. While on the bins and crates under it are metal parts that was opened but never assembled.

"It wasn't even dusty… nor was there a spot of mildew."

Lastly, there was his bed that showed no spot of stain or a grain of dust upon the white linen sheet. To be exact, nothing in the room had dust or mildew. While the objects were indeed strewn around just as he remembers them to be before he left, there was no dirt to be found anywhere. Hiroshi sat by the bed's footrest and was surprised when from the door came someone he used to know.

"Despite me being nothing more than a retired chief chambermaid in this castle, I have promised to myself that no one but I will care for this room from where everything good that happened to this country and people came from."

"Asada-san…"

The former chief chambermaid of the castle appeared and without addressing him, talked about this room which she has painstakingly kept clean whilst also being preserved in time.

"I may have married, given birth and aged a bit… but I will never forget the one who used to stay here, so buried in his study and work that he'd starve to death if I didn't come here regularly."

"…From whom did you hear that I have arrived?"

"Stop underestimating me, Kou-sama. I have served you for over a decade. It would be an understatement to say that I cannot somehow sense that you are nearby."

A brief silence went between the two as the woman entered the bedroom and walked towards the window to open it and let the cool evening air enter the room and remove the stale air.

"…Does anyone else know?"

"I cannot assure that no one else does. While I may have served you far longer than anyone else in this castle, I do know someone who has been with you from the very start and even today, yearns for your return."

"…"

"I know that you still see yourself as unworthy of this new life and conflicted about who you really are… but just like what she told you before you left without anyone's knowledge and tried to make up for your so-called "sins", I will say this again for her sake: No one knows Miyazaki Hiro or his Replicant, nor do they know of the sellsword ronin named Iwasawa Hiroshi… all they know is their Daimyo who gave them this peace and new life, even if it meant his own broken heart."

"…It's not as simple as that---"

"When have you ever done anything simple, Kou-sama…? Tell me, when have you ever let anyone understand enough about yourself or what your vision is?"

"That…"

Asada walked towards the door and without turning her face to be seen by Hiroshi, spoke while slightly shaking from holding back her tears.

"You have always been a complicated man… you're the kind of person that cannot be described in one word or even a poem, and yet, all of us recognized and respected that. So in lieu of everyone else, I say this before you…"

"Asada-san…"

"Please… for once, and even just for her… let her understand you."