How?
How can this happen after everything that I did?
"Sir! You are not allowed to visit any prisoners today. Please turn around and get away."
Every home and store that I burnt…
Every dream and ambition that I ruined…
"…Take this and be at peace. I won't take long."
And every person that I killed…
All of it was meant to bring me closer to my dream of surpassing my arrogant teacher who didn't believed in me.
"How many years has it been since we got to talk like this? In official functions, we only speak through messengers and letters."
What have I missed? What part of what he did have I forgotten to imitate?
He declared trade war after trade war to get whatever he wanted from his enemies.
I saw him plotting to burn houses and stores to weaken his opponents.
I saw him looking at human lives as mere commodities. Disposable objects that can easily be replaced with a single visit to a slave market.
He is a cruel, pragmatic and heartless person. And all of my life, I knew that only by being a person like him can I ever attain my dream of becoming an undisputable person of power.
So now that I am sitting inside this jail cell, waiting for someone to chain me up for the slave auction, I ask myself…
"Where have I gone wrong?"
"…You were wrong about everything."
"…"
I raised my head to look at the person whose voice was so near yet felt so far to me.
"Tsutomu…"
It was my teacher's child who inherited the Stock Exchange institution, Ikehara Tsutomu. He seems to have bribed the jail guard to let him in even though visits are not possible today.
"You look so different from how you looked like just yesterday. Have you-"
"Riko and our children… where are they?"
"…They ran to my estate shortly after Miyazaki sent his men to seize your properties. They're being cared for by my wife and Machiko is preparing to negotiate with Miyazaki to buy their freedom before the slave hunters start to harass us to hand them over."
"I see…"
He looked at me for a moment before asking the question that he was meant to ask earlier.
"Have you given your past actions more thought?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I heard you earlier. You're still thinking about how you failed even after you did everything just like how father did it before."
"…"
He took a booklet from his chest pocket and began to speak slowly.
"April 12 of whatever year this is. I acquired the farmland at the border with Asahi province and will be talking with the Daimyo near it to negotiate about the small plot of the farm that is within his land. It seems like the guy is quite prideful and self-centered, but that is not something that a little alcohol and women cannot fix. Nevertheless, I want to prepare for it like I have always used to do."
"That…"
"April 19. While going back from my meeting with the Daimyo of Asahi, a guy covered with dust and mud came to the inn I was staying at and begged me to teach him how to become a successful businessman like me. I don't like nosy brats like him, but I can see some promise in this one… I might be able to use him for my future plans for this society of beggars."
"Hehe… that's the usual him. Full of ego and looks down of everyone."
Tsutomu sighed before continuing to read the contents of the journal.
"August 28. I declared a Trade War against a group of outsiders who tried to take away my monopoly in the rice trade. I made some mistakes along the way and could've lost if not for Youji's help on reacquiring the clients that I pissed off last time for asking me to lower the price of food to ease the starvation in Iwaki. He broke my plan to hoard food until the price rises, but at least it kept me from losing my bet."
"…"
I already know what would come next.
"November 5. Youji ran away after our argument. A majority of my men who adored his help to ease up the starvation problem several months ago left with him to wherever they'll go to. I hate them. How dare those dogs bite the hand of the person who is kind enough to feed low-born beggars like them. Tsk! I wish they all burn in hell!"
"What is your point?"
"You'll know shortly after…"
He replied before continuing.
"December 24. It was Christmas eve. I am not familiar with this time period, but I'm sure not many Japanese would know about it, so I just treated it like any other day. If this was in the past world, I would probably be in a love hotel with my secretary and pleasuring her while his freak of a husband watches us happily from a cabinet. But that's all in the past now… Damn, now that not many people are in this mansion, it does feel colder than usual."
He spoke the next part which made me notice something strange.
"January 1. It's New Year and I am planning to end my life. I almost turned the mansion upside down just to find the rope but ended up settling with doing it with my silk scarf. Strange… where did I buy this again?"
"Sensei… wanted to commit suicide?"
Instead of answering my question, he turned to another page.
"January 30. I ended up chickening out of the deed. I was so scared of doing it that I ended up crying like a kid for the entire night. I remembered something while I was crying. The silk scarf that I almost used as a noose came from a local tailor who repaired my suit when I first came to this place. I think I should pay him a visit and ask him for some advice… maybe I should also order a new set of suits like this from him, albeit one with simpler designs."
The last page proved to be the one that made me aware of how that man changed.
"November 6. After several months of courting her and changing myself for the better, I finally proposed to Yuna, the daughter of the tailor. We talked to her parents and even though they knew my past self as an arrogant person, they knew about how I changed and gave us their blessings. We'll be getting married soon and… I think I'll be retiring from being a tycoon. I'll sell off my holdings for a low price and settle for a smaller yet helpful business… Hmm… Oh, why don't I make a Stock Exchange here? That would be a great help for future businesses and stop the thing that happened because of me to happen again by inciting competition in the market. Yeah! That's a good idea!"
"What…?"
"Father was a monster. But even that monster had a heart that ached terribly when no one else is no longer around him. Arrogance, betrayal, loneliness and eventual depression. There are things that even great wealth and power cannot buy."
"But how?! How can he just change like that?!"
"Because he finally realized that whatever evil he did once, will come back to him later."
Tsutomu threw the notebook past the wooden prison bars and motioned to me to read the last page.
"…September 4. It's been 47 years since I arrived at this world. I once wanted to find a way to go back to that world. That world made with concrete and steel, one that sells delicious food in every corner and encourages the rich and powerful to stay in power no matter what the cost would be for others."
As I read the next lines, I can feel my heart aching as the image of that ruthless man in my mind slowly cracked open…
"But… I have come to love this world. It doesn't have the warm and cozy villas and manors, but here, I found the people that made the four corners of this house warmer and more precious than any mansions. It doesn't have the colorful and exceedingly delicious food that I once found as a necessity in daily life, but Yuna's cooking slowly grew on me and even the simplest dishes she cooks made my heart and stomach flutter above the clouds… I once owned a great business empire and held absolute power over the fate of those under me… but in the end, it was cold and lonely at the top. I tried to be a god, but in the end of the day, I am just a human, left behind by people who had their own lives to lead and dreams to pursue."
And the last line…
"…If I can go back in time to talk to Youji again regarding his question about teaching him how to be as successful as I used to be, I would still say that "You will never become like me. Engrave it on your mind for all eternity. You will never be like me." But instead of saying those words as a warning for him to not try and be a stumbling block to my ambition, I will say it as a warning about his possible future if he continues down this line of thought."
…made me cry like a child who finally understood his mistakes.
"Having a dream, an ambition or a goal… It's a necessary part of being a human. But if that is the only thing you have left to do and no one else to watch your back as you climb, you might be successful, but in the end, who will be there to celebrate the victory of a god that no one truly cared for?"
Between my stifled sobs and the sound of my fist hitting the cold stone floor, Tsutomu spoke.
"Once you have achieved your goal, the peak of your life as you see it fit, it is necessary to have someone waiting for your descent to celebrate that climax with you. If father didn't decide to give up on that pointless dream of aiming higher and higher, he will never realize that in the end what he needed isn't a more ambitious goal but rather, someone who help him realize that he has done more than enough to be happy."
Hearing that, I remembered the thing that he told me when he first thought me how to manage his rice farm.
["No one will ever be satisfied with plowing, planting, rearing, irrigating and harvesting these grains. In the end, people will only have a smile on their face when it is finally finished and the rice are in their bellies."]
True happiness lies on the last line. Not when you are still on the journey, but when those who believed and supported you are awaiting your return. The sights of the adventure might be beautiful and fun, but the need to leave them behind to push to your goal makes them temporary things that means nothing in the end.
"Are you feeling it now, Youji?"
"…"
"How cold you have made your life that you dedicated in reaching a goal that you didn't have to reach for?"
I was lost for words. As my tears rolled down my cheeks for the first time in decades, he asked me those questions.
But our conversation was cut short once the slave hunters entered the jail for me.
"Yamada Youji. You're being called to appear in front His Excellency, Consul Miyazaki Hiro. Stand up and accept your summons!"
I stood up from my cell and turned around with my hands on my lower back which they cuffed with iron shackles.
"Come on! The other slaves are waiting for you!"
The trip to the Miyazaki corporation's office was rough for me. As I was being walked down the main roads, people began to shout insults and even throwing rocks at me.
"Bastard!"
"How dare you show your face after all that you have done!"
"You ruined my child's dream to have a store! Burn in hell!!!"
There were the people whose homes and stalls I ordered to be burned.
"My sister stole nothing from your farm! Why did you order her to be beaten to death?!!!"
"Where are my parents?! Even just their remains! Tell me where you threw their bones!"
"I wish you die a horrible death! May the heavens curse you!!!"
People related to the ones I ordered to die.
"…"
"…"
"You sure look haggard now."
And… the person that stopped me from doing worse things.
At the city plaza, the remaining state Consuls, Miyazaki Hiro, Edogawa Gin and Yutaka Ui sat at a raised platform to perform a public demonstration.
"Let's cut to the chase. You lost the trade war along with the entire Asakura Trader's alliance. Some of them managed to slip out of Hashidate but it is not something that would take long to solve using the Slave Hunting decree."
"Kneel down!"
"Argh!"
"Dang it!"
Some of my comrades who was either caught or surrendered to the slave hunters was also brought in. They were pushed into the plaza where they were brought into view.
"Now, to state the conditions set by the Trade War victor, Miyazaki Hiro!"
Here it comes… Whatever he states here would be demands that can even overrule Hashidate's laws. So even though he disbanded slavery, we can still be sold outside of the province as slaves.
"Everyone affiliated with the Asakura Trader's alliance will be stripped of their possessions. From land holdings to businesses, it will be transferred to the Miyazaki conglomerate under the direct ownership of its leader! Next, everyone in the losing side would be stripped of their political power. May it be a simple village chief or a consul, all of them will be taken out of their positions and will be replaced by provisional leaders until the next election period!"
Taking our possessions and positions… He wants us to be as powerless as possible.
"Lastly, everyone in the losing side will be exiled from Hashidate and it will be effective immediately after they have crossed the borders! If they will ever step foot into Hashidate, they will be branded as criminals and subject to the Slave Hunter's decree to work in public manual labor areas as prisoners of the state!"
"Exiled…"
"What a fitting punishment…"
*Byang!*
However, before the event can be concluded, a gunshot rang around the plaza that drowned the people in panic.
"KYAAAA!!!"
"Who was that?!"
"Protect the Consuls!"
Another gunshot rang and this time, a loud shout announced an unexpected event.
"He's been shot! Consul Miyazaki has been shot!!!"
City guards and his own men jumped to the platform while raising shields over their heads to evacuate their master who was shot on the neck.
"Stop the bleeding!"
"Cover me for a minute! It is a fatal wound!"
*Byak!*
The shots became faster and faster as the crowd became more disorderly. They pushed against each other as they escaped the place to look for a safe corner.
"Lift him! Lift him up!"
"Alright! Raise his head a bit!"
As he was raised from his toppled chair, I saw his bandaged neck that was covered with blood. From my own knowledge, that is fatal, and he has no hope surviving it.
"Hey! You criminals! Get here or you'll get shot too!"
But we were immediately brought back to the jail as the ruckus was still underway. And only then did I notice that something strange is going on here.
"Yo!"
"I knew it…"
I was right.
"You…"
"How…?"
At the prison, an unwounded Miyazaki Hiro was sitting at the lobby wearing clothes that wasn't alike the one that he was wearing earlier.
"I am facing the same circumstance as all of you right now. I may have won our trade war, but I lost in the other battle that I am waging."
He spoke and threw a cloak in front of us.
"I believe you are familiar with that hood, Yamada-san."
I looked at it and sure enough, it was the cloak that is always worn by someone in my mercenaries.
"I don't know if you're aware, but your businesses has been under the manipulation of someone that can hide himself so well that you are not even aware that he exists."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you not aware of the current government in the capital?"
Hearing that, I remembered something.
"You… are you talking about the Amanogawa Shogunate's new leader?"
"Bingo!"
He replied to my question and said something to us.
"I only agreed to the trade war because I had to gather information about them. But now that I cleaned their traces from Hashidate, I'm no longer interested about holding them anymore. But since the public basically wants to kill you, I also can't state that you are free to go and just drop you off somewhere where you can start all over again."
"W-Wait! What do you mean start all over again?!"
One of my comrades spoke out and the others followed suit.
"You… are you saying that you're not interested with making us slaves?"
"Huh? Why would I do that? I didn't disband slavery for nothing, moron. And I don't have any use for you guys anyway now that I am unwinding my business ventures."
"So, the shooting outside was…"
"Planned by me, of course."
Shortly after saying that, some masked men came in with rifles before saluting in front of him.
"Why tell us all of this?"
"Well… you can call it as something of a parting show. Since none of you can enter Hashidate anymore and all of the fruits of your efforts are now gone, I saw no reason to hide this fact from you."
"But still… why?"
"Because I want to show you that so long as you are alive, there is hope."
"…"
"You guys did a lot of horrible things to get to this point, but I cannot just be all holier-than-thou and say that I didn't do the same things to rise up."
He sighed and said something that I think I will be remembering for a long time.
"In the end of the day, we just have to choose the sin that we are most comfortable on picking and deal with its consequences later. Because of that, I can sympathize with your desire to bring me down because in your eyes, it was the only way to rise up in this society that can only recognize wealth and power."
All of us understood what he meant.
I want all of you to start over in a place where you don't have to commit the same mistakes in the name of prosperity… that's what he was trying to say.
"As for me, I became the new hegemon of this province, and many people are looking up to me. But I chose to let go of that because there are more important things that lay ahead in my hunt for information about the people going after my life. Miyazaki conglomerate must collapse to give way to a better future for this land."
"Did he just use me to come closer to you and try to take your life?"
"Your right hand man? He did. He went to the party last night and almost poisoned the guests. Probably to warn me that they are nearby and not afraid of ending me already."
"So, the things that happened in the lands of the Satou clan…"
"It was his doing. He used your trust to get to a safe position and hide his involvement in the attacks that happened several months ago."
"…Is he dead?"
"Wanna see his corpse?"
"…I decline."
I replied with a slight chuckle before he said what would truly happen to us once we are exiled.
"Well, I have nothing more to ask from you guys. Your evil deeds only took form because you belonged in this place. With my presumed death, this situation will eventually be solved by the people and will hopefully stop this cycle that gives birth to greedy businessmen like us."
"…Are you fine with that? You can be the daimyo of Hashidate if you want to."
After hearing my question, he simply giggled and replied.
"I already have my hands full. I don't want to add more things to manage."
After that, we waited inside the prison until the cart that will take us out of the border arrives.
"What do you think is the real identity of that kid?"
"No idea."
We talked for a bit while waiting, throwing questions around and passing the time.
"He won and won and won… But in the end, he just made it fall over like a dirt mound. He's ridiculous."
"I know... But his reasoning is at least noble… No one can downgrade that."
"Hey…"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think will happen to Hashidate once we, the remnants of it's greedy past, is gone?"
Hearing that question, we contemplated for a moment until I came up with an answer that was generally accepted by the others.
"We can hope… We can only hope that once all of us who used to rule this city with our greed is gone, they will realize our mistakes and never fall victim to it too."
That afternoon, we were brought to the border of the Asahi province and met our families who were waiting for us.
"Father!"
"Grandpa!"
My children and their children were waiting for me. They ran towards me and embraced me which surprised me a little.
"Youji…"
"Riko…"
And in their midst was my wife. She walked towards me and embraced me too.
"Welcome back… even though we're homeless now."
"I'm home… I guess?"
She giggled and led me by the hand to a nearby cart.
"The Ikehara clan gave us some supplies. Tsutomu said that if Sensei is still alive, he would be doing the same thing."
It was a simple roofed cart drawn by a donkey. It is shabby but it is something that I surprisingly felt grateful for.
"Should we go now, Father?"
"Yeah. Make the kids ride on the cart. I am not that feeble to not walk a mile or two."
For some reason…
"What do you want to do once we arrive at Shime city?"
"Well…"
…even after losing my power in the city that I called home and having my possessions taken from me.
"Let's build a home where the kids would be happy."
I discovered a treasure more precious than anything else.
"Mm! Good idea!"
It's just like he said… If there's life, there's hope.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Was that the right end for this, Iwasawa-sama?"
"Hm?"
Shortly after changing from his mourning clothes after the fake funeral procession, Minori asked me that question.
"Well… I believe that it is the right thing to do. Just like you said that night, I got carried away by my own emotions and chose to stick my finger further that I should have. Now that Miyazaki Hiro is dead, I can get back to the real me and continue in our journey."
"How about the liquidation of the entire company? Do you think our subsidiaries will stay on their feet after we're gone?"
"That's up to them now. In the first place, the reason why I decided to go to this route of being an overpowered entrepreneur is to show them that the age of monopolistic oligarchs has to end to give way to a more tolerant and effective economic doctrine based around the dependability of one trade to the other."
"I wish for your pardon, Iwasawa-sama. But I don't understand anything about what you just said."
Minori replied which made me laugh a little bit.
"Just think of it as my way to steer this world away from the events that made my past world a living hell. Greed is something that all humans possess as an instinct of supplying one's self with what they need in life. But that too, can be a temptation that can make them monsters with no conscience to speak of."
"About that… Is it alright to just let go of the Asakura traders? I apologize if this would make it sound like I am questioning your judgement, Iwasawa-sama. But I believe that they deserved a harsher punishment."
I sat down to rest after packing up my personal belongings and answered his question.
"I know that it may look unfair to you, Minori. But I don't have the authority to do that after I too, did it in the past. They killed for the betterment of their own interests."
"And?"
"Although it is unfair and hurtful to those that they left behind, I don't have the authority to do that."
"But Iwasawa-sama, you were a Consul of this land."
"Miyazaki Hiro has the consul. Not Iwasawa Hiroshi."
After hearing my reply, Minori seems to have understood it now.
"It is merely symbolic, but that identity that I was forced to use in the past is now dead again. The personality that I showed back then… the cunning and ruthless businessman that outsmarted his enemies are now dead."
"Then… why let them go when that identity was still alive?"
"Because if I did, no one will accept me in the end."
I looked at him and spoke.
"A hero brought down the tyrant and promised to bring the people into prosperity, but a hero who is clearly stronger than the deposed tyrant is still someone to be feared by others…"
"And in the end, another hero will bring down the past hero by calling him a tyrant…"
That was what I meant with choosing to "die" once the others are gone. If I stayed "alive", I would be seen as a new person to be brought down.
"So, in the end, I have to leave the judgement of their crimes to their own fates."
Wearing my shoes, I tapped Minori's shoulders and said.
"Come on, some people are still waiting for us."
At the northern gate of Iwaki city, the remaining friends who knew our identities watched as our group of 13 men arrived atop horses. We dismounted for a moment to bid farewell to them.
""Iwasawa-sama.""
"Ah. Aimi and Eimi. Ehehe… Are you doing this to tease me again?"
I asked after they sandwiched me between their embraces.
"Nope. We're genuinely happy to have met you and have you listen to our past."
"Having someone who knew the pain of living at that time… it made us happy to have you patch up our hearts' wounds."
Hearing that, I wrapped my arms around them too and due to the slight height difference between us, their faces fell on my chest.
"Normally, I'd tease the two of you for being 30 years older than me."
"H-hey!"
"Not again!"
"But right now, I just realized… You two sure are young to be able to smile your problems away. Knowing that, I am happy to know that you'll be fine even though I won't be here anymore."
""Ah.""
I patted their heads, and their embrace seems to have grown a bit tighter as they tried not to cry with the mention of my leaving.
"Come on now, are you two not going to let go?"
"That's actually something that I planned, you brat."
Suddenly, the old woman came close and said something that I didn't expect.
"I realized something after you beat me up that day… I don't deserve to have that two staying under me anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"You're an Otherworlder like them. I believe it would be better if they stay with you rather than being stuck under me and doing nothing but count money and handle our business."
"Are you saying that-?!"
"Yeah. Take them with you!"
After she declared that, I heard the two giggling by my chest, and I knew that this would be another headache to manage.
"I- I have a proposal, Iwasawa-sama."
"Huh? Isn't that-"
"I-Ikehara Machiko… At your service."
With a stuttering voice, the shy girl approached me with her father trailing behind her.
"What do you mean "At your service"?"
"Let me be frank, Your Highness… This is quite the abrupt decision by the congress, but now that the Miyazaki conglomerate suddenly fell, the economy is… to put it into an appropriate word, the economy is heading to a shithole."
"…"
That's not appropriate at all but I get the point.
"So, we decided to open an embassy for the Southern Quartet Alliance in Iwaki to finally open the province to overseas trading. Meanwhile, we'll be sending Machiko to the South to be our ambassador."
"I-I will do my best!"
"Wait, isn't the Kashima Merchant Alliance holding the shipping operations for the entire Hashidate?"
"I already fixed that, buddy! Dontcha worry!"
Argh… I already know who said that.
"Still, I can't believe that this day would come… I'm happy that I didn't whoop ya ass the moment we met and instead trusted ya, Miyazaki- I mean, Iwasawa-kun."
"You really have formalities, huh?"
I spoke and gave him the title for the ownership of the Kashima Seafaring Corporation.
"With this, Hashidate doesn't hafta go after each other's throats for trade opportunities… I'll be having a lot of fun with opening trade with the mainland countries!"
"Hold on, who allowed you guys to open an embassy here anyway?"
Tsutomu-san looked at Gin and both spoke simultaneously.
"Lady Kusanagi Kyoko from Shinka."
"…"
Wow. Just wow. I am the Chancellor of the alliance and they completely bypassed me to talk to he most rowdy member of the group… Well, I am currently hiding so I guess I have no choice but to accept it.
"About that… What do you propose, Ikehara-san?"
I asked to the shy young lady and she replied.
"I'll be needing some people to help me around with my work as an ambassador so I would want to ask if Aimi and Eimi-chan can help me out there."
I looked at the two and they seem to be trying to win over my disapproval of the idea, seeming to want to join me in my travels. But I don't intend to be swept by their puppy eyes.
"Go and take them. It would be good to go to an unfamiliar land with people that you personally know."
""EEEEEHHHH?!?!?!"
"Don't "Ehh?" me you brats. My travels would be hard and dangerous so I can't bring you with me."
""But…""
"Besides, I don't want to even imagine what might happen if you two do get harmed."
"Ah…"
After saying those words, they became bashful and looked down to hide their faces. I found it cute, so I patted their heads again.
"Our next destination is Haguro Province… You should already know why I want you to not join in."
As if time stopped for a moment, everyone looked at me after I said that place's name.
"Iwasawa-sama…"
"Haguro is…"
I nodded after the two worryingly tugged on my sleeves with anxious expressions.
"Man… This might sound weird for me to say but… Haguro province is currently locked down due to an internal civil war. Ya' might die there."
"Yeah. I am aware."
"Then why? Why are you guys going there?"
I took something out of my sleeve pocket and showed it to him.
"I am looking for answers and everything is leading me to that place."
"…I see."
Gin sighed and hit me lightly by the arm.
"Just stay safe, man. I don't want to hear that ya' kicked the bucket out there."
"Oh please. I'm not like you who hits his toe on a table leg every time he walks."
"Alright, alright. Cut it out before I hit you seriously."
We rode our horses again and I looked at them for one last time before we left this city of gold and grain.
"Next time that I visit this land, I promise to bring it peace after it achieved prosperity by itself."
"We'll be waiting for that then."
He rode out into the northbound road and as the city slowly faded into the horizon, I steeled myself for what may come at us after we crossed the forest that acts as a natural border to the other province.
"Iwasawa-sama… I have a request before we enter this province."
"What is it?
Suddenly Minori looked at me and asked something.
"…No matter what you see in this land, never empathize with the people and never try to involve yourself with their troubles."
"Is that a warning after I got carried away at Hashidate?"
"No."
As we got out of the forest, I finally understood what he meant.
"What the…"
No amount of preparation can help me to comprehend how chaotic this place is.
"This land's civil war started 400 years ago… during the Naisen period."
Burning homes, flooded fields and remnants of past battles filled my eyes as we looked over the forest ridge.
"And it has never stopped to this day."
This was how we were welcomed to the land of dissonance and bloodshed.