Chronicle Legion:Volume 3 Prologue
Prologue[edit]
The biggest lake in the Kantō Fiefdom was Kasumigaura.
From here, it was possible to go sightseeing at the imperial capital of Tokyo and return on the same day. In other words, it was not far from the heart of Imperial Japan.
However, it was definitely an undeveloped rural region.
The lush natural environment here did not have any high-rise buildings. Traffic was extremely low without any congestion whatsoever. The cars on the road drove very fast.
And currently, a certain man was at a ranch near Kasumigaura.
Dairy cows were kept at the ranch along with animals such as horses and sheep.
The sight of cattle grazing leisurely was quite a pastoral scene. The inorganic office zones and trendy shopping districts would offer no such idyllic atmosphere.
Speaking of the countryside, one would inevitably come across youngsters yearning for urban prosperity.
"When I finish high school, I'm gonna study in Tokyo too~"
"Oh, I remember there's a girl whose family runs a restaurant by the national highway. Didn't she enroll in something like a hairdressing school at the capital? Is that your plan too?"
Hearing a second grader girl's declaration, he smiled and replied.
Although he was living a life akin to seclusion, he was not a man without social skills.
Knowing the local gossip about his neighbors was only par for the course. However, his eight-year-old "female friend" pouted indignantly, displeased with his perfectly ordinary comment.
"Not something like. She went to a professional school for training beauticians. Don't get it wrong~!"
"...You're right. That is definitely what I heard recently."
Corrected by the young girl, he shrugged.
Once again, he was confronted by the fact that he had not only arrived in a distant foreign land—but also future world he could never have imagined.
Incidentally, this little female friend was the ranch owner's daughter.
This man had also spent his youth as a shepherd in remote mountains. Perhaps because of that, he found ranches to be quite nostalgic. Of course, this was only relative to other places in the modern world.
"Have you been to Tokyo?"
"Only five or six times? You see, Oji-san here was never used to big cities... So I've never wanted to live there."
"...Oji-san?"
The girl made a questioning look.
"Did I say something weird?"
"Yup, you called yourself 'Oji-san' when you're younger than my dad. It's really weird. You should call yourself 'Onii-san'."
"Hahahaha... I'm only young in appearance, you know?"
In his previous life, he had passed away in his late forties.
For some reason, he had revived with a body in his twenties. This disparity between age at death and current appearance seemed to be quite common among Resurrectees.
Then he noticed that the girl was looking up at his wryly smiling face.
"What's the matter?"
"In Tokyo, do they have many ikemen like Onii-san?"
"Ike, men? You mean good-looking guys, right? For an eight-year-old girl to be curious about this kind of thing, I don't know if I should worry for the future or lament how the world has changed..."
"What are you talking about!? This is very important~!"
"Uh, sorry, you are very right."
The girl's surprisingly stern scolding made him involuntarily apologize in earnest.
"It is possible for the beauty of a face to bring not only unexpected glory and splendor but also ruin and destruction. On further thought, it's a lesson that my clan should absolutely not forget."
He had always lived by keeping a low profile, unwilling to attract attention.
However, his face frequently drew stares from ladies. This was due to his facial resemblance to his elder sister, a renowned beauty.
"Some people in weird clothing are coming... Are they students?"
"Oh, no. Those are military uniforms."
"Liar. The men at the fort don't dress like this."
"Those aren't Imperial Japan's uniforms but Eastern Rome's... It's the Empire's military uniform."
Two men in military uniform approached.
Imperial Japan's military organizations could be roughly divided between the Imperial Guard, which served the imperial family directly, and the provincial armies of the Twelve Fiefdoms. These separate organizations all shared a common uniform.
Ignoring the stylistic differences between those of officers and common soldiers, the Japanese uniform's chic design was primarily black.
However, the arriving men were wearing uniforms featuring blue blazers.
Their neckties were red. This was the officer's uniform of the Eastern Roman military.
"I still don't think those clothes look good on me at all."
He was currently wearing a navy-blue jacket with beige cotton pants.
These ordinary garments were bought from a discount store and not fancy at all, but he liked their advantages of being modest and convenient.
Besides, he had grown tired of wearing military uniforms and armor a long time ago.
A feeling of resignation rose up.
Looks like his "days of seclusion" were coming to an end.
Not surprised, he knew this would be coming eventually. Ever since last month when the British Empire and the Kinai Fiefdom had joined forces to establish the Restoration Alliance...
He knew he was going to be summoned—
He was the "hidden trump card" Generalissimo Caesar had placed in rural Kantō. This man, who enjoyed idyllic life in the countryside, had been ready to enter Tokyo at a moment's notice...
"Time to work, huh?" He muttered to himself and nodded to greet the approaching Roman soldiers.
| Back to Illustrations | Return to Main Page | Forward to Chapter 1 |
