by Dojyomaru
Kuu sat down in his seat, putting his elbows down on his crossed legs as he groaned.
“If that happens, can our country get through it? The land is locked in ice and snow during the winter, making it hard for enemies to approach, but that doesn’t give us much hope for victory. The snow and ice lower our productivity, too, making it hard to develop our country. That said, it’s not realistic to think we could expand northward and claim some land that doesn’t freeze. We don’t have an air force because of the bitter cold and violent air currents, so we’d struggle to hold any land we could take.”
The republic was so cold that wyverns and dragons hated it, the violent air currents kept air forces away, and in winter the roads were closed by snow, making it hard for foreign enemies to enter.
However, turning that all around, it also meant that they couldn’t build their own air force, and in winter the supply lines to their homeland were cut off, so it was hard to invade other countries, too.
Many in the older generation in the republic still believed in the policy of northward expansion, but Kuu thought they needed to hurry and wake up from that pipe dream.
“In considering the future of the republic, we need a new path to replace the policy of northward expansion,” Kuu said. “I’m thinking this drill development project could be the breakthrough we need.”
“A new path, you say?” Leporina asked.
Kuu nodded firmly.
“Our people are skilled with their hands. The accessories they create while cooped up in their houses for the winter are detailed, and I think it’s fair to say we’re the best on the continent when it comes to making things like that. I want to build on that even more. I want to make the republic indispensable to the kingdom and Empire, just like your skill as a craftsperson is absolutely vital for the drill.”
Basically, what Kuu was thinking of was technological nationalism.
The ability to make complicated parts could, at times, be the most powerful diplomatic card to hold.
If he could make it so the parts built in the republic were indispensable to the kingdom and Empire, he could expect the other two countries to do many things in return to benefit his country.
Furthermore, if the drill was developed and opened the roads in winter, that would mean they could import large amounts of food. It would help to raise the funds for that, too.
“The improvement of our technology will ultimately make the republic wealthy,” Kuu said. “In order to accomplish that, it’s important for the country to support craftspeople like you, Taru, who will create that technology. For that, I need to change minds in the republic.”
The people of the republic were residents of a country with advanced technology, but they only thought of the accessories they made as a way to pass the time during the winter. Until that thinking changed, he couldn’t expect further technological advancement.
“I plan to talk to my father about this, too, but we should praise craftspeople who make something amazing, and clamp down on those that churn out large amounts of shoddy garbage,” Kuu said. “That will create a desire to create something better in the country, and we’ll grow. That’s the path the republic should take.”
Taru nodded at Kuu, who gripped his hands into fists as he spoke. “I think it’s a good idea. Our techniques are a treasure.”
“Master Kuu, you can say impressive things, after all!” Leporina was even tearing up.
Kuu laughed bashfully. “I didn’t come to the kingdom just to play around, you know? I’ve been watching Bro’s policies, and absorbing what I think I should of them. That’s why I know what needs to be done.”
Then Kuu scratched the back of his head, as if troubled.
“The ability to create superior technologies requires adaptability. That’s something we lack.”
“Huh? Adaptability?” Leporina asked.
“Yeah. Like how Bro used the jewels from the Jewel Voice Broadcast to create broadcast programs. He used something that had only been used for speeches before to provide entertainment for his country’s people. No one in this world ever thought of that, right? The ability to adapt and apply existing technologies is guaranteed to be important going forward. Like the rotational mechanism in the drill. I’m sure Bro’s thinking of all sorts of uses for it.”
“You may be right.” Taru nodded with a pensive look on her face. “I’m sure Madam Genia and Madam Trill will come up with all sorts of uses for it. But I can’t think up ideas like that.”
“Yeah, and neither can I. That’s why, while they may not be up to Bro’s level, we need to find people of our own who can think of these things. Lots of them, too.”
“If we’re going to find these people, do you have any idea where to look?” Leporina asked.
Kuu smirked. “Not now, no. But with some time, we can make them.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“We round up some of the clever folks from our nation, young and full of motivation, and we send them to the kingdom and Empire to learn. Just like I’m learning from Bro. Then, if they come back home to teach, it should increase the number of people who are able to think with adaptability in the republic.”
Kuu’s idea was to gather students to study abroad in the kingdom and Empire. Of course, he would need to get permission from Gouran Taisei later, the man who was his father and the head of the republic, but Kuu planned to convince him, no matter what.
Leporina was impressed. “Wow. That’s amazing, Master Kuu. I never knew you were thinking about all this.”
“Yeah, well, you’re welcome to keep the compliments coming, you know?” Kuu said laughing bashfully. “Well, I am our future head of state. I’d be in a sore spot if everyone was useless when I take over. I’ve got to hire anyone useful I can, regardless of race or age.”
“I think that’s wonderful.” Taru seemed genuinely impressed, which only made Kuu happier.
“Ookyakya! You falling in love with me all over again?”
“You get carried away so quickly,” she sighed. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
“Well, because I want you to be the wife of the future head of state.”
At hearing him express his affection for her directly like that, Taru had no words.
The way he said it was as casual as ever, but his eyes were serious and focused directly on her.
“I’m always serious, you know?” Kuu said. “I know we can’t do it right now, but I have every intention of making you my wife when we go back to the republic. I want you to act as a representative for the republic’s craftspeople, after all. I want you to walk with me.”
She was silent.
“Well, there’s no rush to answer,” Kuu said. “Think on it.”
With that, he stood up with an, “Ups-a-daisy,” and left the workshop.
Left behind, Taru and Leporina stared vacantly at the door through which he had left.
At last, coming to her senses first, Leporina asked Taru, “The young master seemed serious. What will you do?”
Having come to her senses, too, Taru answered her question with another. “Huh?! What will I do...? Are you okay with this, Leporina? You love Master Kuu, too, don’t you?”
After she asked that, trying to read Leporina’s expression as she did, Leporina nodded.
“It’s certainly true that I have feelings for Master Kuu. However, Master Kuu will one day be head of the republic. If he were to ask for my hand on his own, that would be one thing, but I cannot ask him to take me as his wife myself. That’s why, honestly, I’m jealous of you.”
“Leporina...”
Seeing the worried look on Taru’s face, Leporina giggled.
“Until you make your feelings clear, out of loyalty to you, Master Kuu isn’t going to look at another woman. Whether you choose to accept or reject his proposal, I think now he’ll finally be able to look at me, too. I won’t ask that he marry me, but I can appeal to him so he wants to make me his bride on his own. I just want to be
by Master Kuu’s side, whatever form that takes.”
Taru was speechless.
Leporina stood up and put her hand on the door. “Now, it’s just a matter of what you want. I don’t mind being second, so I’ll be rooting for the two of you. That said, if you reject his proposal, I’ll work to soothe Master Kuu’s wounded heart, and make sure he takes me as his first.”
“You’re able to come out and talk about your feelings honestly, I see,” Taru said quietly.
“Because I want to be with Master Kuu, from the bottom of my heart.”
When Leporina said that, as if putting her words into practice, she followed Kuu out the door. Left behind, Taru asked herself a question.
What do I want...?
◇ ◇ ◇
It was a winter day when I was still ten.
I hated the winter when I was little. The Republic of Turgis was shut down by snow and ice in winter, and whenever I opened the door, the snow was piled up to chest-level for me, so it prevented me going outside.
During this season, the adults stayed near the fire, their heads down, working on crafts as a side job.
That was because it wasn’t possible to work the fields or take the boats out fishing in the winter, so they had nothing else to do. They seemed so gloomy, it was mind numbing.
I would just stare vacantly as my grandfather the blacksmith struck the iron.
In this season, blacksmiths were busy mending all the tools that the farmers gave them to repair. The orders came in during fall, and they had to be repaired during the off-season so they were ready to be returned in the spring.
That was why, even though it was winter, my grandfather was currently standing in front of a blazing furnace, wearing thin clothes.
Clang, clang, clang...
I listened to the banging of the hammer and stared into the dancing flames. I thought my grandfather was cool when he was beating iron.
But when I had to see this same scene day after day, it inevitably got boring.
I’m bored...
While thinking that, I let out the latest of who knows how many sighs that winter.
Bwoon! My thoughts were interrupted by the trumpeting of some large beast outside.
Was it a numoth?
Numoths were large, woolly creatures, and they would trudge, undeterred, through the thick snow, so they were primarily raised as large mounts for the military.
When I rushed to the door, the numoth’s feet were right before my eyes. It was so big, I had to look up to see it, so my jaw dropped in surprise.
“Ookyakya!” laughed an energetic young voice from above. “Would I be right in guessing this is the Ozumi Workshop?”
For a moment, I thought the numoth in front of me had spoken, but I soon noticed a young boy of the snow monkey race who was about my age was peeking over the side of the numoth.
“I want you to repair my old man’s sword, since I broke it swinging it around.”
It seemed the voice belonged to the boy.
“It... It is...” I managed to say.
A girl of the white rabbit race who looked a little older than me peeked out after the boy.
“Hey, Young Master,” she said. “We scared the poor girl by suddenly riding up on a numoth. Also, this numoth’s a military one that your father is raising, and we borrowed it without permission, too, so he’s going to get mad again, you know?”
“Ookyakya! Where’s the harm? It’d be grueling to walk through this snow.”
The snow monkey boy didn’t seem concerned in the slightest at the white rabbit girl’s chastening. There was probably a difference in status between them. The boy was acting like he was more important than she was.
Then the boy nimbly jumped down from the numoth.
“Ookya?!”
He was not any taller than I was, so he sank into the snow up to his chest.
Perhaps feeling stubborn, the boy shouted, “Fungh!” and trudged through the snow towards me.
When he got in front of me, the boy finally grinned and said, “I’m Kuu. And that’s Leporina up there. You?”
“...Taru.”
“You’re called Taru, huh? Nice to meet you, Taru.”
When he said that, the boy who had introduced himself as Kuu took my hand and shook it vigorously.
The boy had cut through the snow that kept me from going outside as if it didn’t matter it was there.
That was my first meeting with Master Kuu.
“It’s morning...” I murmured.
I had the day off, but out of ingrained habit, I had woken up before dawn. As per usual, it was still dark out.
As I got out of bed, I remembered the dream I just had. It was a dream of when I was little, the first time I’d met Master Kuu and Leporina.
After that day, Master Kuu and Leporina had repeatedly come over to my house to play.
There were limits to the fun we could have indoors, though, so Master Kuu had always been quick to take me outdoors. We’d ridden on the numoth and gone all sorts of places.
Because Master Kuu was reckless by nature, he’d taken Leporina and me to dangerous places where we were caught in avalanches, chased by wild creatures, yelled at by adults who found out, and put through all sorts of other rather unfair situations.
Fond memories.
I tried comparing the Master Kuu of then to the Master Kuu of now.
I think... Master Kuu really has changed.
I felt like coming to this country — coming into contact with a number of worlds — had helped to broaden his horizons.
He’d tagged along to the Union of Eastern Nations, so he was as reckless as ever, but through it all, he had an awareness that he was the son of the head of our republic, and he was seeing what was good for our country, and what was out there that threatened us.
I think he has grown.
But some things never change.
Master Kuu was always trying to break down walls that stood in our way.
Like how he had broken through the snow to come to me in our youth, now he was trying to use the drill to open a hole and bring fresh air into the republic, which seemed locked in snow and ice.
It was because Master Kuu was the way he was that, even after all the hell he put her through, Leporina loved and adored him, and would follow him anywhere.
I... wanted to help Master Kuu, too.
I couldn’t fight, so I couldn’t follow him to the battlefield like Leporina, but I could at least watch Master Kuu press forward from behind.
Just as Master Kuu had broken through the snow to take me outside, if there was a wall that stands in Master Kuu’s way, this time, I wanted to be the one to tear it down.
Since I didn’t have battlefield strength, I’d do it using all the technology at my disposal.
“...Okay.”
Having found my resolve, I ate breakfast and left the workshop.
◇ ◇ ◇
Ten days later...
“Heyyyy, Taruuuu, I’m heeeere!” Kuu called.
“Taaaaruuuu?” Leporina called.
Taru had just called Kuu out with a letter saying she had something important to discuss, so he was here at her workshop with Leporina.
The furnace wasn’t lit today, and it was high noon, so without light shining inside the building, it was gloomy.
The two entered the workshop and looked around.
“Honestly, that Taru,” Kuu said. “What’s she doing so sneakily?”
Leporina was silent.
Taru had been acting strange lately.
It seemed she was always busy, so it was common for her to be out when Kuu came to visit her workshop.
She seemed to be up to something, but when Kuu had asked, all she would say was, “It’s still a secret.”
The “still” in that sentence suggested she meant to tell him eventually, so he’d left it alone, but it bothered him.
There was one other thing that was odd, too.
About a week ago, Taru
had come to borrow the cudgel that was his favorite weapon. She was the one who’d made it in the first place, and she’d said she wanted to do maintenance on it, but he didn’t have it back yet. Had she called him here to return it today?
While Kuu was thinking about that, Taru came out from inside the workshop.
In her hands, she held an object that was very long and wrapped in cloth.
“Master Kuu, Leporina. Welcome.”
“Hey, Taru,” Kuu said casually. “Is that my cudgel you were working on?”
Taru shook her head a little apologetically. “I’m sorry, Master Kuu. The maintenance was a lie.”
“Ookya? You didn’t work on it? Why?”
“What I did wasn’t maintenance, it was an upgrade.”
When she said that, she pulled the cloth off the long object.
Inside was Kuu’s cudgel, which had changed.
The central part which had the golden centipede design wasn’t noticeably different. However, both ends had two channels carved into them, with bits of bare metal sticking out.
If Souma could have seen it, he might have thought it looked like the Wolf’s Tooth Cudgel or Langyabang that showed up in Romance of the Three Kingdoms-inspired action games.
“Wh-What is this?!” Kuu cried out in surprise.
Taru pointed to the centipede’s head section.
“Press the button there.”
“Huh? This?”
When Kuu pressed the button like he was told to, the metal bits on each end of the cudgel went, Gweeen! and started revolving rapidly.
As Kuu and Leporina stared on, dumbfounded by what they were seeing, Taru explained, sounding somewhat proud: “I added the drill function you said you wanted, Master Kuu.”
“No... No, no, no, no, no, no!” Kuu pressed the button once more to stop the spinning, and then turned on Taru. “No, didn’t you say it wasn’t possible when we talked about it before?”