Beneath the Pages of this World's Foundation

Almost thirty years ago, I was reborn into this world as the prince of the relatively weak Takamori clan of Niijima province. Even as a baby, I was already aware of my surroundings and had keen interest on what kind of place I have been reincarnated into.

My father, the Daimyo of Niijima, always speaks about the ceaseless wars between the northern provinces' militant clans. He would say that it is the curse of our frozen land for the corpses of dead soldiers to remain in the fields, casting their empty and pained gazes on us who are alive who will be next to join them in their suffering.

Even though he leads an almost non-existent province where poverty and hunger is a day-to-day occurrence, my father is a man of care and compassion. Though we are nobles, we live in a home not too different from commoners. And what we eat is almost indistinguishable from those lower than us.

"Father, I am not a normal child. I, the soul that inhabits this body, came from another world."

At my seventh birthday, I spoke these words to my parents who has half expected me to say it at some point. Apparently, they became suspicious about my extended amount of vocabulary and even mannerisms that show a prim and proper self.

My mother was quite uneasy with the confirmation of her worry. She often questioned me and the priests and shrine maidens of the Inazuma clan about whether I have stolen her son's body by reincarnating into him, but my answer and their answers all pointed that I was the true owner of this body as dictated by fate. Soon, she came to accept my existence and bond with me as a mother should, and I did the same, finally receiving the maternal love and warmth that I missed so much since my past life when I received the same kind of care from my previous mother.

My father though, wasn't able to easily accept the news. With me being an only child, he expected me to carry on the state of pacifism and neutrality of Niijima to preserve the safety of our people. But since I am a grown man inside his son's body with my own motives and plans, rather than an innocent and easily shaped child, he is worried about letting me our province after his death.

"Father, we cannot remain indifferent and weak against the changes of this country's tides. I am aware that our clan has remained neutral against any crossfire of our neighboring provinces ever since the Naisen period 400 years ago… but we now live in an era of constant change, where anyone who will remain complacent will forever be left in the consuming fire of the past."

"…"

"Please, let me go to our neighbors to vouch for peace end not only our people's suffering and fear, but also theirs."

"Well then… I have just one condition."

"What would it be, father?"

"…If you cannot broker this peace before your coming-of-age ceremony, I will void your right to ascend to the throne and give it to your uncle… and you of all people know how much I have tried to keep him away from it."

I was only seven when we made this bout. And my coming of age will happen once I am fifteen years old. Simply put, I have eight years to realize my plan.

"I will not fail you, father."

Unbeknownst to him though, my plans have already been in motion since I was only five years old.

"Young Master, this is the letter from the Adachi princess."

"Here is the letter from the Domen prince."

"We just received the letter from the Hirai princess."

"Just read the important word. Speak all of it together."

"""We accept the designated time and date for the summit."""

During our friendly visits to the ruling lordship families of our neighbors, I secretly befriended and secured a line of communication with the children of the Daimyos. Through this line, I arranged for them to speak to their fathers and mothers about a meeting for the pacification of our warring provinces.

Since they all thought that we are finally breaking our neutral stance and they are about to gain a new ally, these three warring leaders all came to Niijima for the meeting, only to find out in the last minute that their sworn enemies have also came for the same thing.

As expected, all of them immediately drew their swords and shouted threats. Both father and mother shook in fear after seeing the scene unfold. To them, it may have looked like I sent them all in here to end everything in one clean blow… but I am not that haphazard and cruel to them.

"Ladies and gentlemen… I highly advise that you put down your weapons. After all, we are inside Kurumi Sanctum. I believe the White Tiger spirit wouldn't be appalled with this display of dishonor."

"You shut your mouth, you brat!"

"How dare you lure us to a trap! Once I am done with these two old boons, your puny family is next!"

"Don't underestimate me, you damned vixen!"

*BYAK! BYAK! BYAK!*

"""-!!!"""

"EEEEEKKKK!!!"

"W-W-What on earth…?!"

"Don't make me repeat myself, you war freaks… Have I gained your attentions now?!"

I shot my guns towards each respective clan leader's weapons, shattering them in half and gaining their gazes and undivided attentions.

"If you all insist to still fight, then I will do all of you a favor! See this? This is a keg of gunpowder! Once I light this up, everyone inside of this temple will die in an instant! Tell me, should I do it now?!?!?!"

"Kuh…"

"S-Son…"

It may have seemed surreal to see a seven-year-old child threatening grown adults into a mass suicide, but because I knew how much they are willing to kill each other, I opted to do the most extreme and effective way to force them to back down.

"If you don't want to die here meaninglessly, sheathe your swords and order your men to stay outside… let's all talk in here like civilized people."

"Lady Adachi…"

"…Bring Yumeko here and stay outside. Unless there is a clear attempt on my life, don't step inside here."

"As you wish!"

"Lord Domen, your orders please."

"Stay outside and protect my child. I can handle my own safety in here."

"Lord Hirai-"

"Stay outside and only come in under my orders."

"Y-Yes, sir."

All three clan leaders agreed to send their men outside of the temple building as they took their seats in the special table I prepared for just this day.

"Ahh."

"This is…"

"What is this table?"

"Quite toasty, isn't it, Your Highnesses?"

"…"

"It's called a Kotatsu table. I have made it when I was five years old for my father who has a bad case of arthritis."

"A-Ahem…"

"…Pardon me, father. I spoke too much."

"D-Don't worry about it…"

In order to slowly but surely diffuse the tense atmosphere in the receiving area, I cracked a joke that seemed to lower their weariness against each other. But soon, their foreheads were creased in confusion.

"Wait… you are…?"

"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Takamori Sora, your highnesses. I am the prince of Niijima and the one who has extended an invitation to all of you through your children whom I sent those letters to."

"-!"

"By the way, I am only seven years old."

Things went relatively well after that. After all, even when the meeting was over, they all carried a flabbergasted expression on their faces after learning that all of this has been done by a kid who hasn't even turned to a double digit in terms of age.

"A three-year long ceasefire and proposal for another meeting next year, huh?"

"I believe it went well, father… Don't you think the same?"

"…Don't joke around like that, son. All of us know that what you did earlier was beyond impossible for anyone else."

"Ehehehe… Then I guess being caressed by mother like this is a perfect reward, huh?"

"You spoiled child… and to think that you're actually a grown man. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I'm still your child, mother. I told you already, you can just forget the thing about my actual age. I don't want that to weigh on your mind constantly."

"Alright, alright… I get it."

The three year long peace that I brokered was a great success for all of us. During that time, I got to work on making our relatively weak province into a powerhouse in the northern island provinces. From being a rural land fed by whatever animals we get to hunt or what fish we get to catch from ice holes, the plans I made transformed it into a center of production. Specifically, bottling and canning of preserved foods as well as items important during the long winter season like the Kotatsu tables, insulator lining for houses, etc.

"Happy 10th birthday, Prince Takamori."

"We are glad to be here again in your presence."

"Truly, we are joyous for being invited."

"…Please, your highnesses. I believe it is wrong for people of your stations to give such courtesies to a child like me."

"""…"""

"Or perhaps, you wish to ask for something by doing this…?"

As I expected, we only needed a three-year long time period where my people won't be bothered by their wars to advance enough in terms of comfort of living that the people of their lands will feel envy and become aware of their leaders' crappy way of treating them like fodder.

"Today is my tenth birthday… It should be obvious that talks about politics and the continuation of your wars should be reserved for a different time. Even a child like me has enough tact to know that, your highnesses."

"B-But-!"

"I will apologize later, Prince Takamori. But please, heed my request…"

"You're friends with my daughter, right? You would surely not want her to be placed on harm's way, right?!"

"…"

A celebrated political theorist in the past world once wrote that "People that don't have a leader are nothing but lawless savages and a leader with no people to lead is just a delusional fool". If those words are applied properly in their current case, one can easily see that their people whom they all fooled into believing that their current life is the best possible life one can lead has finally awakened to the truth after seeing Niijima's prosperity.

"And what if I refuse?"

"-!"

"You wouldn't-"

"What wouldn't I do, Lord Domen?"

"Kh!"

"As far as I am concerned, I have already shown that we will not cave in for your demands as soon as your palanquin crossed into my province's land."

Another change I made was regarding the mass production and training of riflemen amongst our populace. After talking to father and our local artisan guildsmen, I secured about two thousand rifles and seven thousand men and women prepared to both protect our land and also extend our military power out from our border.

"You cur! You will regret the day you crossed me!"

"I will order my soldiers to burn all the towns we conquer and slaughter all living beings on your land!"

"I will pray for your demise! I will make sure that your people will curse you even in the afterlife!"

"Well then, your highnesses…"

The game is on.

In only three weeks after they openly declared war on my province during my birthday, the army of that Hirai clan was the first to be seen by our advance scouts who relayed the sighting to us through my newly made portable radio.

"First Rifle Battalion, step into your ambush platforms and wait for them to wade into the river water before you initiate your attack. Fourth Assault Company, light the gunpowder kegs as soon as the bulk of their supply carts and cavalrymen have stepped into the bridge."

""As you will, Your Highness!""

On the western river land of Niijima, the Hirai clan crossed over to their march towards us. They were all armed to the teeth. Samurai warriors had their armor fully equipped and the common soldiers all seemed to be excited already to loot our homes and assault our women.

"Commander, the time is right."

"…Fire! Initiate the attack!"

"What the hell?!?!?!"

However, they were met with a volley of gunfire that they have never encountered before.

"Go back! Go back!"

"Don't push the horses!"

"The cart is going overboard!"

*BYUICK… KA-BIYAK!!!*

And soon, the explosion from the lit gunpowder kegs attached to the supporting posts of the bridge blew up, carrying hundreds of horsemen and valuable supplies to the frozen water below them.

"Protect Lord Hirai!!!"

"Surround the palanquin!"

"Fools! Don't tell the enemy about my- KUACK!"

"Lord Hirai!"

In the midst of the firefight, the soldiers made the fatal mistake of informing us about their master's location and soon, he was shot dead inside of his palanquin.

"Princess Hirai Ayako is here, Young master."

"Let her in."

Only a few hours after the successful decimation of the Hirai army in that battle, the princess of the Hirai clan and my close friend came to us just like how we have arranged in advance.

"I wish to send my apologies and sincere condolence, Ayako… Your father was too adamant, and I needed to stop him immediately."

"Don't worry about that, Sora-kun… It is his own hardheadedness that led to his death. As a warrior, dying in battle is what fits him most."

"…Well then, about our agreement."

"Of course. I will wait here until the entire war is over and just like how we agreed upon privately, my province fully acknowledges to be the Takamori clan's subordinates."

"Neat… Well then, you should enjoy your time resting in the hot springs until we can recover your father and brothers' corpses so they can be given a proper burial."

Because of the slow spread of news in our land, the Domen clan's army fell on the almost same trap as the Hirai clan. I arranged for our riflemen to ambush them on the narrow mountain pass on the north-west valley and with the help of several man-made avalanches and rockslides, our general quickly returned with the severed head of the Domen clan's daimyo.

"The rest of his body can be given tomorrow. You should inform your family that we demand for the burial to happen here in our land."

"I understand your unspoken reason for that demand, Sora-kun… It's because you don't want us to be lynched by the people we abandoned, right?"

"…You really are a sharp guy, Ikki-kun."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"…Go on now. You should rest."

I would've also ordered the death of the female Adachi daimyo if not for the insistence of her daughter and my close friend to let her mother to just be a subordinate of ours.

"…"

"This imprisonment is simply for official purposes. We can't convince our people that we have defeated you if they are not informed that you are behind bars."

"I have a few questions, Prince Takamori."

"Go on, Lady Adachi."

"…Why did you spare me after killing all of my soldiers?"

"It's a personal request from your daughter. She didn't want to become an orphan and inherit the throne when she is not yet ready for it. There's also the part of me that wishes to avoid further bloodshed amongst our ruling families. Just a few weeks ago, Lord Domen and Hirai died in battle and both of their children must face the possibility of having their rule usurped by other nobles in their provinces."

"Then… why spare only me?"

"…When Akeno-chan begged me to spare you, I can see genuine care and love from her towards you. I didn't saw that much care from Princess Ayako and Ikki when we talked about how we can finish their fathers' tyranny, that's why I was moved with her words and instructed my warriors to catch you with that net and bring you back alive."

"…"

"There's also my principles in play… As a young child spoiled by his mother, I don't wish to do something that I don't want to happen to me as well. I don't want Akeno-chan to lose the only parent she is left with."

There was an expression of shock on her face after what I said, it seems like she was surprised to know the true reason behind her survival.

"What would happen starting from here on, then?"

"I already penned a truce and armistice agreement between our lands. If you want to read it ahead of the time, here it is."

"W-Whoa…"

I slipped a 30-page book through her jail bars, and she seemed surprised with its contents.

"It contains subjects like the reformation of the entire military structure, sustainment of social equity and integral human rights, economic and internal diplomatic policy, agriculture and fisheries plans and even a clause regarding a potential alliance of our lands."

"Incredible…"

"There is a part of that agreement that I wish to speak in our formal meeting, but right now, I believe it is not the right time to tell it to you, Lady Adachi."

"Prince Sora."

"Yes?"

"Just who are you…?"

I wasn't a stranger to that question since most people I met who can't believe in the disparity between my abilities and my age always speaks those words.

"I'm just a child with a dream, mam."

Only two months after the start of the conflict, the first Northern Coalition summit started.

"This is…"

"Please, Lady Adachi. As far as we are concerned, age plays no part in this anymore."

It do was awkward for the lone grown-up leader in the meeting to sit around a table where I and the two other newly crowned Daimyos are gathered to represent our lands and people.

I went ahead as the host of the meeting, stating the pros and cons of the truce and armistice agreement to them. Because I used to work in a medical corporation in my past life, giving presentations like this has been second-nature to me.

"About this alliance, Prince Sora…"

"Yes, Prince Ikki?"

"How can we be sure that we will be treated equally in this deal?"

"I am aware that your land and people's fate hinges on your choice here and talk is cheap. As such, let me give you these things, your highnesses."

I raised my hand, giving a signal to my servants to bring in the gifts I prepared for them.

"What are these?"

"Wait… aren't these scrolls-"

"You have ascertained it correctly, Lady Adachi. These are blueprints of the rifles we used during our war."

"B-but… wouldn't this weaken your standing in the alliance?"

After hearing them ask that question, a slight smile traced on my face before I replied.

"You asked for a guarantee that all of us will be in an equal footing in this alliance. This is it."

"Prince Sora…"

"I am not an unfair and dishonest person. When I wish for peace, I pursue peace. When I wish for war, I pursue war. A wise man once left these words that I made as my credo in life "Trust between people starts with openness and respect towards each other. Speak lies and you can expect to hear lies, but speak the truth and you will also hear truths."

"…"

"Ladies and gentlemen… I have beaten you three in battle, yet I ask for just one thing for the sake of all of our people's safety and their continued existence."

"What would that be?"

"Be honest, loyal and helpful to each other. And I am sure that a future way more fruitful than killing each other will surely come to our way."

As I said that, I undid the knot of the rolled-up scroll hanging on the board behind me, showing the map of the entire country of this world's Japan.

"You can't possibly be-"

"I have a dream much broader than the short-sighted ambitions of most people. I do not wish for us northerners alone to be the only ones to arrive at this equitable kind of society and a comfortable life… I wish to extend it to everyone who wishes to be freed from the unfair and painful lives that they lead. It would be an arduous and difficult dream to make, but I believe it is worth it."

I had one reason to do all of this even if I may never enjoy this new life anymore.

"I do not wish for this world to drown in evil and hopelessness as my past world did."

After the Northern Coalition was formed, we continued to improve the quality of life and economic power of our lands through mutual cooperation and melding of our societies. Sworn enemies who used to slaughter each other under the old leaders now share drinks and warm their legs inside a warm kotatsu. As conflicts between our people dwindled and their tolerances to each other became better, it only took five years for the next part of my plan to come to fruition.

"You can join us and continue to flourish… or we will conquer your lands and take your people in as our own."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"You really think that we will accept your demands!"

"Preposterous! Utterly preposterous!"

"I see… Well then, ladies and gentlemen."

The game is on.

With my close friend, Furutani Garou, being summoned just in time at Kurumi Sanctum by the Inazuma clan, I was able to convince him to use his chemical engineering knowledge to further strengthen our technologies, both for civilian and military use.

*BIYAK! BIYAK! BIYAK!*

"R-RUUUUUNNNNN!!!"

"HEAVENS PROTECT US!!!"

"I DON'T WANNA DIE! I DON'T WANT TO- GUAAHHH!!!"

For a while, I consoled him about the effects of the things I asked him to do the ended up being used in my wars. We even fought once after the dynamites he made was used to cause a landslide that swallowed a fortress whole and let us win the war. But in the end, he accepted his new position as my personal general and became accustomed with the military profession.

"Son…"

"Yes, father?"

"You're doing so much while just being a prince… I believe it is the right time for you to rise to the throne."

"…"

"Do you remember the bout we made when you were just seven?"

"Yes. I do remember that."

"…You did well. I can never wish for anyone else to supersede me, son."

After we won several victories in the main island, my reputation spread throughout the land and from active and front to front battles, I switched my style of conquest into a more passive kind.

"The rebel group in the enemy province has sworn fealty to our cause. I believe it is the right time to strike, Sora."

"I see. Send our operatives and train them until they can complete the coup d'état again the ruling nobles."

"Understood."

One by one, being tempted with the comfort and lack of a discriminatory social strata, the people of our enemies began to form separatist or outright rebel groups, doing the work we are supposed to do and later on, cleaving into our alliance with the hope of attaining just that.

As we slowly approached the Shogunate capital province of Yamato, I was reunited with someone that I never expected to see again.

"E-Endou?!"

"Waaahhh! I finally found you, senpai!"

"O-Oi! Stop clinging to me, doofus! Get the heck off!"

To say that I was caught off-guard with his appearance to my camp's door would be an understatement.

After all, this young man isn't the person you'd wish to cross paths with when you are awfully aware of something you have done wrong in your life.

"…and because of that, the police tried to find you for almost forty years. To think that the reason why you disappeared in your jail cell was because you were summoned to this world…"

"Hey, hey… Don't make it sound like I did it on purpose, senpai. I was shocked when I appeared all of a sudden in that temple, you know? I even thought that some cult did some magic stuff just to break me out!"

"Hey, Sora…"

"What is it, Garou?"

"Is this kid… that "Endou"?"

"Yup! The one and only Kawasaki Endou, sir! I used to be the underclassman of Sora-senpai until I did a teeny-weeny bad thing after being tired with how the world treats me."

"-! Hey, Sora! You couldn't have been-"

"For the record, I wasn't planning on hiding the truth from you, Garou. Yes, I was the one who provided him the materials for that thing he did later on."

"You… you can't possibly just hand wave what happened! Millions of people-"

"I gave him those vials, but he is the one who weaponized it. He is my protégé, Garou. Even I didn't expect him to have a screw loose at that time and would do what he did!"

"B-but…"

"I regret that I am an accessory to his crime. But given that I lived long enough to see it to the end, what he did actually changed something in our past world."

"…"

"Now, we will try to do that same change without the things that he did. But let it be a reminder to both of us that changing humanity requires an effort so big that we may just end up repeating Endou's biological attack if we fail."

"Sora-kun…"

"But let's leave that as the last and most extreme choice. Right now, there is a huge hope for a change that doesn't need so many deaths. Let's strive to keep it that way."

With the entire northern provinces and the northern part of the country under my control or had its leader join our coalition, we besieged the already dying Amanogawa Shogunate and I ascended to the throne as the new Shogun. But with that greater title and influence came a revelation that I never expected to see in the palace of the Shogun.

"…I need to hurry up."

I was reunited with my wife in the past world and after a while, was remarried with her. I would've been content with the extent of the land I have put under our control, but now that I became aware of the truth hidden in the walls of that palace, I needed to finish all of this as quickly as possible.

And all of this, came straightly down into the conversation I am having with this person right now.

"This world is not just a random world of distorted history, pseudo-cultural practices and a place to be sent in a stereotypical light novel or manga adventure. The murals I found in the depths of the Shogun's palace in Nadeshiko city conveyed the unknown history of the very beginning of this world."

"What is it then?"

"…I have already told you that our past world was destroyed by Ephraim, right?"

"Yes… I even saw it at my dream-like vision when I was almost possessed by a demon from Yomi."

"Well then, the truth behind this world's start came directly from the end of our past world."

"Huh?"

"When Ephraim destroyed our past world and saved only a handful who didn't bow down to the carnality and evil of the remaining humans, that left the Spirit who is inhabiting his body to look after our past world until humanity has either died out by killing each other or opting to finally finish their lives after tasting all kinds of excessive pleasures."

"…"

"That is to say, this new world is the inversion of our past world… a clean slate to start anew. A test to see if humanity will always choose to go down the wrong way for one last time."

"Then you are saying that-"

"Yes. If we wish to stay alive… if we wish to not let this world meet the end that our past world went to. We must change the world and humanity now while it is still young."

I then looked up at the ceiling and spoke the words that was engraved on those murals that I found in the palace.

"The depths of this world hides the scars of the bitter past. If you wish to start anew and to come to a different conclusion, change the present and you may just avoid the dark and soulless abyss that will one day greet humanity in their peak as a living testament to the power of existences."

"Are you talking about… that place?"

"Yomi, or in our mythology, the land of darkness and death, is the place where the residual evil of our past world was placed and contained in order to let us flourish without its influence. But now that someone has been trying to open it again for the sake of their own greed and madness, there is only one sensible thing to do."

I extended my hand out towards Hiroshi and asked him a question.

"Will you be my enemy? Or will you stay by my side under the same agenda of making this world a better place?"

"…"

I am aware that you are sick with the evil that you suffered through in our past world. I know that even if our principles about leading our people and how they should spend their lives has been affected by your repressed life in the past world, you are now aware that such absolute freedom and tolerance cannot truly save this world, but instead, make it worse.

"Prove to me that you are worthier than I to rescue this world from its destruction."

"I am…"

"Honor your best friend's sacrifice… because more than anyone else, I knew how much he suffered and almost lost everything just to save humanity from their own evil… and yet, in the end, he was forced to destroy all of them."

"-!"

"You can succeed in where he failed."

He looked down as I spoke those words, seemingly still thinking deeply about what this really means for him.

"What would it be, Iwasawa Hiroshi?"

"…"

It took him several minutes to think it through and after that, he asked one last question before giving out his answer to my offer.

"You have done a lot of evil things to rise to power. I am not one to talk as I have mountains of corpses behind me as a leader myself… but have you deluded yourself like I did just to get past through it?"

"…"

"Because if you are really doing this to change the world for the better, shouldn't you be the role model for it?"

I was quite silenced with his question. But I am not so inept to not have already thought about that once.

"No human is absolutely good or absolutely evil, Hiroshi. We are all hanging by the center of a coin until we have done something that will swing us to one side of it."

"…"

"But for me, I am willing to take on all possible evils if in the end, those who wish to be good can stay good."

"That…"

"For me, a leader is someone who takes on the burdens that his followers shouldn't take on their shoulders. In my case, that is the burden of protecting them from the things that will bring them to the wrong way of life… so they can flourish and find their purpose in life that will set them up as exemplary people."

"But wouldn't that just be having them live under your very strict instructions? And how about many centuries after this? Would they who would come after us remember such a noble purpose amidst the advancements and modernity that will inevitably come one day?"

"That's exactly the reason why I want you to stay alive until this very point."

"What do you mean?"

"One day, we would surely be nothing more but written history. Figments of the past that once shaped the world but are no longer relevant. But if someone like me who saw the very depths of human evil before his world was destroyed, and someone like you who suffered through that same evil will be the examples of this change, then I believe we can keep humanity from going to the wrong way."

"But wouldn't that just-"

"I believe that we humans have a heart that actually desire good and seeks to do what is right. But amidst the freeness of will that is given to us, the temporal happiness afforded by evildoing almost always takes precedence above everything else."

"…"

"You should've already seen what I meant when Kameko-chan brought you to the tea house. All of those people you must've met have went through the same dilemma of no longer knowing what truly makes them happy. But after I came to power and removed the distractions on their life such as sources of meaningless and temporal happiness, as well as their discerning eyes for each other, they found what really makes them happy and strove to reach it."

As I was speaking, my daughter's room door opened from the inside, and she walked towards me slowly with her face down.

"Sweetie. Why do you look sad?"

"Kichi… Kichi can't sleep, mister Shogun."

"…"

"I think I ate too many sweets at lunch."

"Ehehe. Okay, okay… Go back to your room then and let's stroll around the garden after I am finished here."

"Really?! Yaay!"

She went back to her room with an excited face, making me smile a bit too.

"I assume that wasn't scripted?"

"Of course, it isn't. That kid is too childish for anything like that."

I cleared my throat and returned to what I was saying.

"As you have seen just now, I have worked tirelessly to realize my dream that along the way, became the dream of my people too. We are all just tired with the endless conflict and misery that we were born to. As you have said earlier, there would surely come a time when life becomes so convenient and easy that the future generations wouldn't share the same sentiments as we do. But surely, just as how we have our own hardships, they will also have theirs and a way to deal with it together.

"…"

"Because unlike our past world, I will shape this world to always have a goal to reach for and an enemy to fight against."

I am keenly aware of how our past world fell to hedonism and ruin. I will not let that happen again.

"And so, I ask you again, Hiroshi…"

"I accept. If this is truly the way for us to move towards a better future, I will not stop it… and I will side with it."

"Well said. But before we move ahead, there is still many things for you to settle."

"What?"

I raised my hand and stood up, giving a signal to my soldiers to let some people past the human barricade they made in the hallway.

"You three…"

"I believe that before a leader changes his people to resolve their problems, he must first resolve his own issues and change for the better."

You must correct your errors first, Hiroshi. Your egotistical and stupendous mistake of believing that you have the right to keep their genuine feelings for you is not a good thing to keep.

"I will give you as much time as you need to resolve this thing before we make our move. Hitachi is open for all of you now. You are no longer just guests or hostages."

"Iwasawa…"

"Iwasawa-dono."

"Iwasawa-sama."

As I turned around, I saw that he has a worried expression on his face while looking at the three women in front of him.

"Who among them truly has your heart, Hiroshi? That is a question that you have to find an answer to."

Kusanagi Kyouko, Ayanami Mitsuhide and Himeji Kotori… do you truly hold them dear as the one that I know you have loved even before you were reborn?