messiah novel (you are in shine, part 26)

[devilism]

Ushio Junjirou felt that this is exactly what people meant when they talked about being surrounded by enemies on all sides.

A few minutes had already passed in the Imperial Hotel, the venue of the summit, since the moderator had called out "Japan."

After that, for about a minute, Junjirou had slowly pulled the mic towards him, held water in his mouth since he got flustered, and unnaturally cleared his throat and regained his breath.

The other participants, who had watched him being unable to calm down while looking as if they were about to burst into laughter, were silent for ten seconds, and then turned to him with unease after twenty seconds.

(Something... I have to say something...)

While he was flustered, his gaze fell on the first letter of the outline the bureaucrats had prepared for him to read aloud.

The results of the disarmament that Japan had achieved over the past ten years---, specifically the dismantling of the national defense forces and doubling the amount of members of the Japanese coast guard, and the transfer of half of the army to the police department. It emphasized that Japan was only increasing its personnel for rescue purposes and domestic protection.

"F... For quite a while we've been wanting to improve the welfare within Japan. For that reason part of the dismantled army was put into service of the local governments' social services and civil works projects, as well as taking care of medical aid in underpopulated areas. Naturally such a large-scale personnel shift was accompanied with great criticism and difficulties while it was being carried out, but in order to contribute to the brilliant step humanity was taking called disarmament, our country had to literally cut itself---"

Each time he read it, it gradually seemed to lose something, and instead the bad things seemed to grow.

But time couldn't be stopped.

What should he do? What would be good to do?

His invisible impatience seemed to pile up in front of him, layer by layer like Mille-feuille. There was no way he would be able to read this until the end like this. Because it was intended to agree with the disarmament continuation plan that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had prepared.

If he'd read this out loud and agreed with the disarmament, he wouldn't know what Yoshiya would have to suffer through.

His opponent was the spy powerhouse that chief Kaminski had - it was Russia itself. Amputation of both arms, lower body paralysis, getting drugged... Every conceivable bad thing went around Junjirou's mind like the interior of a washing machine.

He couldn't help but hesitate to speak. But he couldn't afford to read this continuation out loud. ... Be as that may, considering his own will and political performance, it was appropriate to agree with the disarmament.

He had always called for peace. Even at gatherings of war victims or votes about the abolishing of a military base, his own honest and clean image required the keyword to be peace.

But would he turn that around here? Would he label the brand called "Ushio Junjirou", that had been built up for decades, as a traitor now?　If he did that, he would lose public support for sure.

Even as someone who came from a family of politicians, even as someone who came from a wealthy family, he had sold his image as a politician as a clean, honest and decisive man who wasn't influenced by money. Going against the disarmament here and now would mean the death of the politician Ushio Junjirou.

Did he care more for his feelings as a parent and the life of his child?

Or did he care more for his political career?

Would he approve of the world taking its first step towards peace as written in this summary devoid of content that only stuck to formalities?

(I have to decide it here and now...!)

But his hands were shaking and his heart felt hollow. Even though he had to decide on which action to take here, there was nothing to base the decision about what he should do on.

Junjirou put down the summary on the desk without any plan in mind.

"--- What in the world is peace?"


Chief cabinet secretary Narashino noticed that the prime minister wasn't reading the summary they prepared. He stared at the TV monitor in panic, but his screams about what Junjirou should be doing weren't transmitted.

"Is actually implementing it an impossible delusion in the end? --- Ahead of this big vote I took a pen in hand to represent the Japanese people with my own words. But the pen didn't want to move even one millimeter."

"What happened? What's the prime minister saying?!"

No way. He doubted the prime minister would go up against disarmament in order to save his son.

"Can anyone confirm the intentions of the prime minister?"

"It's impossible. We can't send a message while he's speaking!"

The aide said with a tone as if he were shrieking.

"As you all know, Japan has article 9 of its constitution. Although we had an army, it was only meant for defensive purposes. During peacekeeping missions like PKO and such, we weren't allowed to attack or fire independently. As a result of that, many countries in the world have put a financial burden on us instead. And since we couldn't offer to send out personnel, we received many heartless feelings in return. Japan has put its taxes on the line for the world."

Narashino turned pale, wondering what in heaven's name he was saying.

For what reason was the prime minister at such a sensational place like the disarmament summit starting to shout criticism about Japan's burden?

"There are also people who say that Japanese people, since they only ever send money, they stopped thinking about peace and military activities. I understand, perhaps that is so. If your relatives are dispatched to another country as soldiers, people connected to them really start thinking about what peace is and whether that act was really necessary. That is a very important thing.　As Japan's prime minister, I don't just etch that into my mind, but mainly quickly have to take measures in order to make sure Japanese people don't just stop thinking. --- However."


'But', Junjirou continued with that strong word indicating contrast.

"If we were to keep up article nine of the constitution as a result, Japan wouldn't be allowed to openly have an army. We wouldn't be able to send out soldiers to foreign countries for peace missions. The problem right now is that Japan's defense has been left vague, and that you usually use an organisation called the army for those protection purposes. Therefore Japan shouldn't be blamed and called weak or a coward. The Japanese people have done enough. Japanese people have worked harder than anyone else in the world, as you can see from their results. I like the country called Japan. With the same tone as all of you use when you speak of peace, I keep talking about how I like Japan. After this as well."

That was a very natural claim for Junjirou. It was a craving that had been shut up inside of heavy stones and hadn't been seen for years.

Finally he had said it. The power to say things that usually no one can say can perhaps only be gained by people who are fighting with their back to the wall. He thought that somewhere in the back of his head.

For now he should just say the things he'd say. Faith as a politician, dignity as a human being.. aren't those beautiful things?

This was anger.

He had always wanted to say that. The truth. Just that was it.

"In order to think about how to attain world peace from now on, it's necessary to prevent the Japanese people from once more giving up their critical thinking, we need to sincerely and immediately face each other. That's why I want to declare this here. The current disarmament should be continued. Japan is in favor of the disarmament, and won't spare effort to continue it. I say this to all of you. Japan is a wonderful country. Japanese people know that, no matter the reason, murder should never be affirmed. Our country without handguns, our country with the lowest crime rate in the world.. It can definitely contribute to world peace, more than any of you."


"Japan is in favor of disarmament. Because it's fine like this."


--- Junjirou kept throwing his words at the microphone, while the interpreters at the venue were frantically translating.

If he did it exactly right, the desperate speech of Japan's prime minister would not only explode on government broadcasts, but also on various daytime talk shows.

For a long while the commentators didn't say anything.

In the end prime minister Ushio bowed to the clerical staff, which were staring at him with open mouths, and when he returned the microphone to its original position, applause rose up from the venue.

The cameras quickly captured the source of the applause. Surprisingly it was chief secretary Kaminski of Russia.

It seemed that Ushio's defiant speech was surprisingly enough granted a favorable impression at the venue.

".. For sure.. how do you say it.. his spirit came out."

As the camera switched, the usual newscaster and commentator were shown on the TV screen.

"Is that the usual spirit? Doesn't it seem a little like he was snapping back?"

"But the usual saying came out. "It's fine like this.""

The commentators, who usually lashed out with harsh language or tried to figure out whether to laugh or not, couldn't give a proper reply.

The same thing happened on every other program on every other channel.


The people who were watching TV weren't special.

They changed the channel by idly pressing the remote control. Very normal Japanese office workers, housewives who were killing time until their soap opera would start, a student who just happened to turn the TV on. A female student who put on the TV rather than music because she was feeling lonely without really knowing why...

Various people were watching the summit. Only one percent of them must have consciously chosen to go and watch that.

But regardless of their age or circumstances, they all surprisingly shared the same thought.

"Well said."

They always had wanted to say that.

"What's so bad about Japanese people?"

— — — — — — — — —
"What was that?"

The disarmament vote was over, and since the venue where the reception would be held was a different place, the representatives of each country were quickly starting to leave the venue.

"Why is Japan throwing around the "What we're doing is the right thing" idea around that America usually loves so much?"

Ardrid Kaminski, chief secretary of the Russian Federation said as he put gum into his mouth rather than the usual cigars that he quit a few years ago for the sake of his health.

"I thought they were much more submissive."

"It always seemed like they were very submissive. It was as if in Shakespeare's plays Ophelia suddenly became Lady Macbeth. A sudden change."

Kaminski took the gum packaging and threw pieces of chewing gum into his mouth, one after another.

He had the bad habit of throwing more of them into his mouth while there was still one in there, no matter whether it was hard candy or chewing gum. He was impatient. Thanks to that he carried a lot of it around with him, and his aide was in charge of carrying around the notes.

That aide handed him the next one, realising that his employer's hand had been exhausted. It was Japanese candy. Just like many other people from Russia, Kaminski loved sushi and Japanese candy. He himself owned stocks of multiple candy manufacturers in Japan.

"You really like sweets, huh?"

"Isn't that just artificial food to you, Yuri?"

Kaminski called Egor by his nickname. That name was the kind of image he had attached to Egor Ginzburg. Right now he had the face of someone from Russia, but his original face had been more Asian. He had recommended plastic surgery to him in order to not have anything prevent him from moving up the ranks in the army.

Because of that Yuri accomplished a lot of feats as Charo in Yasenevo. So he changed it every time Kaminski ordered him to do so.

At this point he didn't even remember what kind of faces he had before this one. He only strongly remembered the face he had when he met Kaminski for the first time, the one he had gotten from his parents. Because there was an enemy in Japan who had the same face.

"Shouldn't you be meeting him?"

"And who would that be?"

When Kaminski heard that reply, he widened his eyes in astonishment.

It was exactly as he thought. Haku still remembered Sou well.

The things Sou had once liked. The things Sou disliked. The school trip they couldn't go on. The shoplifted candy. The cherished oboe he had stolen from a junior high school student they didn't know---

He had been sent to kill his partners from Public Safety, his Messiah, to convey this message. So Haku would realise that his brother had become someone from the North, up until the very tips of his fingers. The means he chose for that purpose were the North's style - the kind that was so cruel that it'd make anyone want to cover up their eyes.

(Surely that is because the cold numbs all of your senses.)

Your sense of smell would numb in that way too cold air. Your sense of touch would grow fuzzy as well when your fingers would freeze up, and blizzards obscured your view. The people from that country had, during the time of the revolution, swung down their hatchets even at innocent women and children in order to get rid of all the nobles.

And those blood-stained hatchets were now on the national flag.

"It's simple. I thought you'd make a fuss if we abandoned your little brother."

"It's fine. Haku was more tenacious than I thought. If he had been deceived by "Charo" and came to the North with him, I would have been so disappointed that I would've killed him."

"You're frightening."

"In any case, we'll meet one day since we're both alive. Besides, I remember the important things. The things I disliked and my thought patterns.. I just wanted to confirm whether I was still alive inside of him. If not, then one couldn't say that I'm still alive."

He took in a breath, seeming satisfied, and relaxed his shoulders.

"And it also might not be appropriate yet to bring him to the North."

"Appropriate?"　

"Moroz doesn't exist for Haku."

Kaminski frowned. Moroz was a word that meant an intense cold, and the word was often used to represent the basis of the North.

There was an old Russian legend, a story about a cold wave spirit named Ded Moroz. Ded Moroz brought happiness to the daughter who said, "It's not cold", but he just let the daughter who was rude and bluntly said that it was cold freeze to death. This story showed that for the Slavic people it was generally considered a virtue to be obedient to strong people, and that there was no value in being honest or original.

"I thought that with me being gone there would be ice that wouldn't melt deep within his heart, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"In other words, you can't stomach that he isn't being submissive to you."

".. He was cute in the past. He couldn't do anything without me. That's why, even if I give up this time, I plan on saving him someday. Once Haku has ice like you'd see on lake Vostok in his heart. That kind of despair is necessary to become someone of the North. That country's people always carry Moroz in their hearts. Friendship, love and passion are annihilated when faced with that winter. Even germs can't survive. It's a country where you can't be honest, no matter what."

"Moroz is kind to people who hold the same cold as him within them. That's the legend. Happiness is given to people who are slyly obedient."

"Like me?"

Kaminski just chuckled without saying anything.

"In any case, you were like Ded Moroz for me."

"It's fine if you become like that as well. I'd like for you to bring excellent people here, even if they're obedient."

Yuri shrugged. It was as if he thought that the possibility that his little brother would betray the Sakura he got so cozy with wasn't very high.

"Yes, colonel. It seems that "Star" has released Ushio Yoshiya. He was sheltered near Kaidou Eiri's house, and was told that it was okay to return once the smoke signal went off."

"Ushio.. What a son."

Kaminski chewed his chewing gum, only making a half-interested "hmm-hmm" sound.

Ushio Yoshiya had to go back by himself. He wasn't kidnapped by spies from the North. He has to claim that until the end. Ushio Yoshiya himself had to declare that no one from the North had been in direct contact with him. It had been betrayers from Japanese Public Safety that had helped him escape from his house and that brought him all the way out here.

He had already known it would be succesful around the time when the prime minister's son agreed to cooperate with them. Kaminski had been able to put pressure on Ushio Junjirou without having to dirty his own hands or use his own staff.

He had easily secured the Japanese "no" vote. Kaminski had been putting more effort into trying to gather the votes of Africa, who would be swept away by America's opinion otherwise.

But then there had been that twist.

"Thanks to that Ushio's lovely speech, all swing votes have turned into being in favor of disarmament. I completely misread the situation."

At the moment he had put five pieces of chewing gum into his mouth, and he skillfully smacked his lips.

"I thought those Japanese people wanted peace no matter what. And if that wasn't enough, then surely it'd be fine if his son was taken hostage... What happened? Are the Japanese people stupid? Isn't it a miracle from Buddha that they managed to produce sushi and liquid crystals?"

"It was also the Japanese people who made the soft candy with jelly in it, the cola flavoured chewing gum and the sticky fried candy that you like so much. The wisemen from the east would also be surprised that they could repeat such a miracle."

He smacked his lips again.

"There wasn't a single good card for my arrival in Japan this time. I really believe in divination."

"There's no good way to finish it up. Moreover, once you go home there will be negotiations with three Baltic states awaiting you. Since the weapons we deployed there will also be subject to disarmament..."

"Was the suit you got newly made unlucky?"

"Don't blame the suit. It's sacreligious."

The aide would turn pale if he cut up the suit he got tailored all the way in Naples.

"Well, at least there's sushi at the reception."

Kaminski made a balloon with the gum. Since he had turned the many gums into one big piece of chewing gum, the balloon he made was also huge. No one could see his face.

"There are a lot of sushi fans. If we don't hurry up, there might not be any left."

"Understood."

Kaminski was really fast paced.

He likes Japanese people in his own way. Sushi and Japanese candy were amazing. And also the bidet toilets that helped him when he was suffering from bleeding hemorrhoids a few years ago.

He thought that he should buy some stock of that toilet maker this time around. All the toilets in Yasenevo came with showers, and the government office of the secretary general was still a rusty old building.

"Even I appreciate Japanese candy, cuisine and their cleaning toilets."

Ahead of them he could see Ushio Junjirou having a friendly chat with someone, seemingly in a good mood.

He thought this was the first time he saw the Japanese prime minister standing so proudly at a place like this.

Usually he was always like a bullied child that had to go get its graduation photo taken.


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