Dantalian no Shoka

He was a serious student.

Although still young, he was grieving over the future of his country more earnestly than everyone else.

But the more earnestly he thought, the more hopeless and dark the future of his country appeared to him.

The resources were spa.r.s.e in his country and daily life was hard to overcome.

The cities were crowded with adults who fail to get jobs and the crime rate was constantly growing.

Bordering countries were threatening his country with their military strength because of the land.

In the end, he lost all hope and began to live a vapid, ephemeral life.

Then one day, he came across a little girl.

She had a beautiful appearance.

Faint green hair resembling an emerald.

White skin resembling marbles, almost translucent.

Countless frills and laces were stuffed into her deep crimson colored dress, similar to the color of blood. Out of the gaps between them, gauntlets as well as a breast plate could be seen.

The right eye of the girl was colored in the same emerald-green as her hair, while her left eye was covered by a metal eye patch shimmering with a dark gray l.u.s.tre.

There was a big keyhole in the midst of her eye patch that resembled an old lock---

"It might be too late for this country, huh?" the man said with a tired voice to her.

The girl asked back, why he would think that.

"You see, the politicians are incompetent and the bureaucracy is on the ladder way, corroded by corruption and bribery. The people are not thinking of anything other than to stand in the way of each other. I"m telling you, there"s no hope for this country, as long those guys are running it!"

He sorrowfully answered with those words.

"How idiotic!" the girl said.

"If you say the current rulers are incompetent, then just try running the country yourself."

The man was taken aback and asked her:

"Are you telling me to become a politician?"

"Right! You"re thinking more earnestly about the future of this country than anyone else, aren"t you? Then you"re supposed to rule it."

After a short consideration, he shook his head weakly.

"That won"t work. Even if I"d try to improve politics on my own, another politician would get in my way. I"m sure."

"How idiotic!" the girl laughed.

"Then just become the most powerful politician throughout the country! After that, just capture and kill anyone hostile to you."

The man was taken aback and asked:

"Are you telling me to become a dictator?"

"Right! All other politicians are incompetent and corrupted, aren"t they? Then you"re supposed to rule this country on your own."

After a short consideration, he shook his head weakly.

"That won"t work. Even if I"d try to rule this country on my own, another politician would a.s.sa.s.sinate me. I"m sure."

The girl, however, showed a brilliant smile.

"Oh no, it will work. It will. You were chosen by this phantom book after all."

She presented to him a book.

It was an old book written in the language of a country that was destroyed ages ago.

The man accepted the book and looked at it with a wondering face.

The girl explained to him:

"It"s a book made for dictators. As long you"re conforming to what"s written in it, n.o.body will be able to injure you."

"I see. That sure is splendid."

He believed in what she had said.

And then those two went their own ways.

A few years later, a young politician appeared in this country.

He was a politician that was thinking more earnestly about the future of his country than anyone else.

In order to gain resources, he invaded other countries and gave wealth to the people.

He made the jobless adults join the army and punished all criminals without exception with the death penalty.

Before other countries could threaten his country, he started a war against them.

His policies were supported by the citizens with wild enthusiasm. The citizens who didn"t were captured without mercy and then sent to prison.

He was praised by his comrades in the government. The politicians who didn"t praise him were also captured without mercy and then sent into exile to a foreign country.

And so, he had become an imposing dictator.

But for some reason, he was holding a book in his hands all the time.

There were many enemies of the dictator.

Politicians who were bereft of social status because of him. The relatives of the n.o.bles who were executed by him. The people who lost their families or friends during the wars he started. And not to forget the citizens of the other countries, who despised his country---

The ones hostile to him became rebels and tried to take his life in various ways.

They tried to mix poison into his food or planned a bomb attack on him. Sometimes they acted as allies for a while just to try and a.s.sa.s.sinate him using a blade, bow or gun.　There even were some people that tried to form a rebel army or ones that instructed a famous spell caster to curse him.

However, every attempt proved to be a failure.

No matter how skilled the a.s.sa.s.sin, the dictator wasn"t even wounded.

His enemies were captured one after the other and then either sent into exile to a foreign country or publicly executed on a plaza. The number of rebels opposing him was constantly declining.

Again, some years pa.s.sed, until the dictator finally was able to capture the last rebel.

He decided for a public execution of the rebel as warning to the citizens.

And so, he announced to all the people gathered at the wide plaza that this would be the last rebel and no one would ever oppose him anymore.

"And that"s why, I"m no longer a dictator, but the true king of this country." he continued.

Moments later, a guard stationed at the plaza suddenly shot him with a gun.

The guard wasn"t a citizen of his land, but an a.s.sa.s.sin from a foreign country that mixed in with the crowd.

As one could think, the targeted man was holding an old book.

But the book didn"t protect him, who stopped being a dictator, anymore.

The man who once was a dictator was shot by an a.s.sa.s.sin and died.

The people that heard this message told each other:

"This incompetent politician finally bit the dust. Now this country is alright."

A little girl wearing a dress colored in deep crimson laughed, amused upon hearing this.

How idiotic!, the girl laughed.

At last, she got going and disappeared into the crowd of people who all smiled, full of hope.