will approachwith a speed of 600 km/hour and then will turn in front of everyone. Duringthis time, the pilot will experience a great amount of G-force.』The 『F-15』 made a sharp turn in front of theaudience seat.
「So it has a maneuverabilitythis great……」
Then it climbed again.
「Even with that position, itcould even ascend again?」
Afterward, there were various airplanes performed acrobatic performance andwith the acrobatic flying from the Blue Impulse[1],the Air Festival reached its end.
「…… Say, Tanaka-dono. That…… ef……something, the metal dragon, how fast the speed it could have? Surely, this isnot their whole power.」
「You mean 『F-15』? Its fastest speed is Mach ── speed of sound, that is to say, twice and a half faster than the speed ofsound could be transmitted by the air. Since there will be a shockwave producedwhen it crossed the speed of sound, for today’s flight, it looks like the speedhas been reduced to just about 850 km/hour.」[2]
「「…………」」
✦✧✦✧✦
From Hanki’s Diary. That day’s entry.
A city that is overflow with huge buildings, then large covered roadssuspended up in the air (they called it the expressway), the large-scale transportationsystems called railway. This country called j.a.pan that could build such tremendousstructures makes me startled.
Furthermore, this city is not j.a.pan’s capital city. This city is nothingmore than a provincial city. I wish there is a word that conveys surprisegreater than shocked.[3]
The combat metal dragon can fly with a speed 2.5 times the speed of thesound and its climbing power is also unbelievable. It’s a monster that not onlypossess such tremendous speed, but its combat operational range is alsoexceeding 1,000 km. From their point of view, our country’s wyverns might beseen like they are not moving at all. From what I heard from our guide, Tanaka-dono,that metal dragon could even be used for air support in the sea or the land.
The metal dragon that intruded on Maihark before is a threat, but it’s nottheir true strength.
If it was the combat metal dragon, then they could raid Maihark withouteven giving us the chance to do anything. In other words, their intrusion onMaihark can be guessed to be completely nothing more than a patrolling action.
We absolutely must establish a friendly relation with j.a.pan.
To make enemies of them is more frightening than making enemies of the majorcountries in the Civilized Land.
We must never be hostile to them no matter what.
✦✧✦✧✦
Shinniko Hotel, Suite Room.
「Say, Yagou-dono.」
「What is it?」
「What’s do you think aboutj.a.pan?」
「Let’s see…… If I could expressit in one word, then it will be 『affluent』, so astonishingly…… The interior of the hotel has a fixed maintainedtemperature, just like that large ship. To warm a building this large, just howmany fuels they used…… Furthermore, they are not only warming this room thathas been specially prepared for us, but also controlling the temperature in theentrance hall and even the corridor. They even have a device that just byturning it, hot water will come out. Without needing even to make the smallestfire, we can use hot water. The toilet also don’t smell at all.」
Just the sense of surprise from the housing accommodation that he hadexperienced so far had almost cause Yagou paralyzed.
However, even though he received an impact from the Air Festival as if hishead had been hit, when he returned to the hotel at the evening, he experiencedthe unknown world even more.
「If you go outside there is unmannedselling machines, where you could obtain cooled drinks or alcohol depending onthe location. You can always obtain freshly cooked food or clothes from theshops that opened in the nighttime, even the fine quality ones. The food sellingcounters in large stores always lined up with fresh foods. The major roads ofthe city are brightly illuminated from the street lamp that you could walkwithout using a lantern and the public order is extremely good. It vexing mebut the difference in national power is apparent.」
Yagou paused for a moment and shook his head. In his eyes, there was a hintof fear.
「…… I am honestly surprised at theAir Festival. It displayed the overwhelming difference in power. I think that wemust not make enemies out of j.a.pan.」
「As expected, you have the sameconclusion…… In front of that combatmetal dragon, wyvern’s sky combat tactic won’t be useful. Tomorrow we willdepart to the capital. j.a.pan is really bad for my heart.」
「I am also frightened by it,but on the other hand, I also get thrilled. For a country like this suddenlyappeared close to us, furthermore, it possesses a civilization higher than eventhe Civilized Land that looked down on others. And our country is the firstcountry they made contact with…… If they don’t have any hegemonic ambition, thenthis is a fortunate boon for us.」
Yagou and Hanki continued their conversation until late at night.
✦✧✦✧✦
The next day,
Central Calendar Year 1639, Month 2, Day 7.
It was a cool morning, The cloud was high and the sky was clear, and thevisibility was good.
Since the air pollutant PM 2.5 drifting from China had disappeared too, thesky of j.a.pan became clearer as days pa.s.sed.[4]One man wearing a stylish clothing ── the so-called suits ── was standing in the lobby, waiting for the delegation members.
「Good morning, everyone. Do youhave a good sleep last night?」
Tanaka greeted the gathered delegation members.
「For today’s schedule. Afterthe breakfast, there will be an explanation about the event in Tokyo at 10o’clock, then we will then depart the Hotel at 11.30. At 12 o’clock, we willboard the Tokyo-bound Shinkansen that depart from Hakata. Then at 17.04 we willarrive at Tokyo Station, afterward……」
While listening to the explanation, one thing that Yagou had sensed everyday since his arrival in j.a.pan was that they have a clear concept of time pa.s.sage.
Every member of the delegation was given a delicate machinery called awrist.w.a.tch.
It could mark the pa.s.sage of time in second and also could be easilycarried around, then for the military, it might be possible to perform asimultaneous attack without any time difference. In the context of its effectivemilitary application, it was amazing. What was even more astonishing, thedistributed watch is called an 「elektrik solar watch」, as long as there is a light, itcould continue move, and as long as it was in j.a.pan, the time calculation errorwill be only 1 second in 100,000 years.
He didn’t know how to explain it since he didn’t understand theconstruction of the watch itself.
Instead of asking that, Yagou has one question about the time.
「Tanaka-dono, I had heard that thedistance between Hakata and Tokyo is more than 1000 km…… But I had heard theexplanation that the vehicle that is called Shinkansen that we will board todayis a vehicle that travel in a great speed over the land.」
「That’s correct. Is theresomething that makes you concerned?」
「That we will arrive at 17:04,what does this means? Could you accurately calculate it even to the minutes?」
「Yes. Unless for a disaster oraccident, it will punctually arrive on time.」
(…… It seems that j.a.pan really can’t be measured with our common sense.)
「I understand. Thank you ver-……」
*screech*────*shhhh* ──*blam*.
There was a sound of objects colliding.
Yagou looked at the outside and saw a woman collapsed with blood leakingfrom her head and one strange yellow vehicle stopped beside her.
「So it’s yet another taxiaccident?」
Tanaka spat out.
It was something that could be said often happened in f.u.kuoka’s downtown, anaccident involving a Taxi.
The accident victim woman collapsed on the ground feebly.
「Not good! She needs immediatetreatment‼」
Yagou ran outside.
「Please wait, Yagou-dono. Theambulance will soon ──」
Yagou eluded Tanaka attempted to stop him and ran outside the hotel toapproach the collapsed woman.
From Tanaka’s point of view, a member of foreign diplomatic mission likeYagou wouldn’t be able to treat an injured person. He followed Yagou and rantowards the accident location.
A crowd already formed in the surrounding, but Yagou pushed his way throughthe people and looked at the injured woman.
The woman hung her head down and from the wound opened in her head, blood vehementlyflowed at each pa.s.sing heartbeat.
「This is bad …… 『وزرةفشهلاشوخزولاوشكصسخث٤هلشةخهسثخ』……」
Yagou started to chant something and his right hand over the woman’s headbegan to shed a pale light.
「──‼! Th-……the wound is‼」
The wound in the woman’s head immediately closing.
「Am-……amazing‼ Do you see!? Thatthing just now‼」
Someone amongst the crowd yelled.
「Look‼ That man chantedsomething and the wound is closing‼」
「Un-…… Unbelievable. It’s likea magic‼」
After the woman’s wound finished to be closed, Yagou tilted his head at theexpression of the surrounding people.
「? Certainly, it’s magic, but is there something wrong?」
「「「Oooooooooooooooo」」」
The people made a commotion at his nonchalant answer.
The confused Yagou was engulfed in that clamor.
☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽
Next part. The finalprologue!