CHAPTER 16 SPEECH

Capital of the Yamato Empire, Teito. It is the largest city in the world with a population of over 10 million. 

The Imperial Sports Palace is a massive structure at the center of the city. 

The magnificent exterior of the building, which shows the prosperity of the Empire, is truly that of a sanctuary. It is the largest multipurpose event venue in the Empire, with a capacity of over 10,000 people. 

If you were to compare this building to something in Japan, it would be close to Tokyo Dome and Ryogoku Kokugikan. It is a magnificent building that usually hosts sports competitions and music concerts. 

But the atmosphere was different today. The usual cheerful atmosphere was nowhere to be seen, and there was a solemn and tense atmosphere. 

A soldier well dressed in military uniform. 

A politician looking anxiously at the people. 

A scholar wearing a new white coat for today. 

A worker who usually doesn’t shave neatly groomed his beard, and was well dressed. 

A housewife who usually stays at home waiting for her husband to come home. 

The people who fill the large venue. Everyone was waiting in the sports palace with nervous looks on their faces. 

It’s too diverse. There is no bias towards one field or one occupation, and there are various ages and genders. It can be said that it is the epitome of this country. 

People from various fields, who normally would never meet each other, were gathered there. 

They are waiting for just one girl. 

The Yamato Empire Führer, Eryutheia. 

The people look up at the podium, which is decorated with the rising sun flag, and the sakura emblem that represents the Führer. 

“I heard that the Führer has something important to announce.” 

“Could it be something related to the Final War?” 

“Is the war finally coming to an end? Is it a victory for our country?” 

The people speculate, and whisper to each other. Why were we gathered here. 

In the midst of all this, a girl in a black military uniform with long, flowing silver hair― Eryutheia appears on the podium. 

The people held their breath at the beauty, and the next moment they raised their hands and chanted in unison. 

“It’s Her Excellency!　It’s the Führer!　Long live the thigh!” 

“Glory to you!　Führer!” 

Over and over again, they chanted, “Long live!” 

The combination of the Fanatical Patriotism of the national traits and Leader Worship creates a near-brainwashing effect. 

Madness, and Fanaticism. It’s the state of a dictatorship. 

Eryutheia makes a gesture with her hand and orders them to silence. 

The chaotic madness, and feverish excitement, are brought to a halt in an instant. That is exactly the power given to the dictator Eryutheia. 

Nobody, speaks a word. Silence reigned over the venue, as if the excitement of a few moments earlier was a lie. 

Everyone was quiet and ready to listen to the words of their Führer, Eryutheia, and then she finally began to speak. 

“On 13 March, Year 304 of the Yamato Calendar, an emergency occurred in our Empire. It is not a situation in the final war; rather, it is a much more dangerous and extraordinary event.” 

Eryutheia opened her mouth nonchalantly and simply stated the fact, “Our country has been transferred to a different world, a different world than the one we have been in.” 

Nervousness runs through the people who listen to the speech. ‘Otherworldly Transference’ is an unscientific and unbelievable phenomenon, but if the Führer says so, for them it is the absolute truth. 

And they quickly realized how dangerous a situation it was for the empire as an industrially-oriented country. 

Loss of markets and food shortages. Everything is in peril, a crisis that shakes the very foundations of the Empire. 

“I think you all understand how critical this is for our country.” 

Eryutheia does not lie. She firmly acknowledges that being transported to another world is undesirable, and that the empire is currently in a perilous situation. 

“For the past two months and a half, our excellent Imperial Army and Navy have been working hard to overcome this situation. And just the other day, we succeeded in making contact with nations from this other world.” 

Thus, giving the people a glimmer of hope. 

The people, delighted to listen to her voice, cried, “Oooh!” They all cheered at once. This populace, who was thinking about the final war just a few minutes ago, seems to have forgotten all about it. 

To these people, Eryutheia showed a slightly sad expression and said, “But…” She continued. 

“But those countries were not the ones we could use our common sense.” 

She told. About the various nations that exist in this world, about the alien races that inhabit them, and how they killed the Empire’s ambassador. 

As she continued her speech, her tone became increasingly harsh. The threat of this alien race is now looming over the Empire. 

In order to break through this critical situation, national unity is precisely what is necessary. We need to make them understand our power. 

All to incite the populace. 

“The Beastkin, the Barbarians, and the Dark Elves refuse to have a verbal dialogue with our Empire, and instead seek to communicate through force.” 

Now, dear citizens of the Empire, Eryutheia asks the people. 

“They seem to think that. Our Empire’s subject will submit if intimidated by a mere threat of a weapon. And if you make them bleed lightly, they’ll get so frightened that they’ll rub their heads on the ground, get down on their knees and do what you tell them.” 

When the people hear this inquiry, they all raise their fists in the air and answer wildly. 

“No. Absolutely not!　Nonsense!　Our Empire will yield to no one!” 

Eryutheia nods in satisfaction at the response. 

“Yes, I know. Our Empire will yield to no one. If it’s to overcome this national crisis, will you give me everything?” 

Absolutely!　And the people raise their voices. 

From among the people, the clear voice of a girl echoes. “The Führer commands, we obey!”

In response, all the peoples repeat that slogan. “The Führer commands, we obey!”

And as if in response to the statement, “Total war is the shortest war!” A banner bearing the words will be displayed. 

“Very well, then, it’s a Total War. Rather than perish while being pitied by the rest of the world, let us survive even if we make the whole world our enemy. From now on our countersign will be this― Come forth, People, Rise up and Raise the Storm!” 

The speech comes to an end amid great excitement. 

Eryutheia would consider this to be a great success. 

What she was looking for in this speech was to make the people go crazy. Concentrate on hostile foreign enemies, unite the people, and walk them into the next war against “Beastkin”, “Barbarians”, and “Elves”. 

All to keep them away from domestic problems. 

That is exactly what she wanted. 

However, things did not go as well as expected. 

Eryutheia is unaware of this. Because inside her, she’s just a normal Japanese person. She thinks of things based on general Japanese common sense. 

Therefore, she assumed that the people did not want war, and that if the nation was in danger, it would be divided by self-centered people. 

If the nation that has been transferred to this world is not the Yamato Empire but Japan, it would not be surprising if that were the case. 

The people who are allergic to war even though they have never fought, the politicians who think only of their own interests, and the capitalists who are only interested in exploiting wealth. 

In such a country, the nation wouldn’t hold together without a strong leader. But here she did what she was supposed to do as a leader. 

But that thinking is completely wrong. 

Since the beginning, the people of this country have gone frantic because of ‘Fanatical Patriotism’ and ‘Leader Worship’. If you have this, and you do something to ignite it even more… 

There will be no need to put it into words anymore. 

After this speech, the 120 million Imperial subjects of the Yamato Empire began to move in unison. All for the sake of war. 

……

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“How was my speech, Ayame-san?” 

“You’ve become quite good, Eryu-san. All that practice in front of the mirror was worth it.” 

In the car on the way home from the Sports Palace, Ayame-san cuddles me on her lap as I recover from my exhaustion. 

I was extremely nervous. 

When I said to Ayame-san “I want to make a speech to raise the morale of the people,” she prepared such a large venue for me to make a speech… 

Why would you prepare such a splendid venue? I had envisioned a small speech event in front of several hundred people in the Great Hall of the Führer’s residence… 

Before I knew it, I started my speech in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. 

The moment I was shown the speech hall, I realized a lot of things. 

Somehow, it seems to have gone well… 

Never again, I want to do that. 

“The slightly nervous expression on your face is also sexy… Let’s turn this into a newsreel film and show it in movie theaters across the country.” 

　……What’s with the sexy, nervous expression. Is that the kind of fetish you have? 

Well, I’m not complaining because I was going to make a newsreel film to boost morale. 

By the looks of the speech I just gave, I don’t think there’s going to be that much public protest. I think it’s probably safe to start a war.