PNB Chapter 881: The Land of Kingly Way, no longer exists?
Chapter 881: The Land of Kingly Way, no longer exists?
A few days later.
The country of cherry blossoms, Kyoto.
The ancient stone road glows with a warm luster in the early autumn sunshine.
Ever since the Dragon Kingdom’s army easily wiped out the Eagle Sauce’s last remaining forces in the Far East as if crushing rotten wood.
This thousand-year-old capital, and even the entire Sakura Country, ushered in the most profound and unique changes in its history.
On the street, the garrison soldiers of Dragon Country passed by girls from Sakura Country wearing traditional kimonos.
Those young soldiers, wearing neat military uniforms and with a simple and shy look on their faces, would often blush at the kind and curious gazes of the girls.
Next to a takoyaki stall on the street, a burly businessman from the northeast of Dragon Country was arguing fiercely with the stall owner in his heavily accented Sakura language over the price of one or two balls.
"Boss, you can't do this!"
The businessman gestured and shouted.
"I bought them from you yesterday, and they gave me two for free at the same price. Why aren't you giving me any today?"
"We are good neighbors separated by a narrow strip of water!"
"Sir, I'm so sorry."
The stall owner, a thin old man, wore a traditional blue cloth jacket. He flipped the hot octopus balls skillfully with a smile on his face.
He replied in the same stiff Long Guoyu.
"Yesterday was yesterday. The price of flour has gone up today."
Although they don't speak the same language and are still haggling over tiny profits.
But their faces were filled with a kind of relaxed and life-filled smile that they had never had in the past depressing years shrouded by the American troops stationed there.
Thanks to a series of drastic reforms in the Dragon Kingdom - the emperor system, which symbolized the remnants of feudalism, was completely abolished;
The land and property of the old nobles who once dominated and acted tyrannically were all confiscated.
Then, it was distributed fairly among the common people who had worked for them for generations and had nothing.
Ordinary people in the Sakura Country were surprised to find that their lives were much better than in any previous era.
Most people have gradually adapted to the existence of the Dragon people.
They even discovered that these "conquerors" looked tall and majestic.
They are much friendlier and more... approachable than those arrogant and rude American soldiers who treated them as second-class citizens.
However, beneath this seemingly prosperous and peaceful scene, shadows are still growing.
On the second floor of an izakaya in Gion, in an elegant tatami-matted private room.
Several men wearing traditional warrior uniforms and long swords at their waists were staring coldly at the bustling street scene below through a carved wooden window.
There was no trace of joy in their eyes.
There is only hatred as deep as a poisonous snake.
"Mimi てください! (Look at it!)"
One of them was the youngest, a man with a pale face that still had some of the characteristics of an old aristocrat. He suddenly slammed the sake cup in his hand heavily on the table.
The cold wine splashed onto the expensive tatami.
"Look at those lowly people downstairs! They are untouchables who have forgotten their roots! Look at their despicable faces wagging their tails and trying to curry favor with the people of Dragon Country!"
His voice became a little sharp due to extreme anger.
"That Dragon Country merchant just gave the old man selling takoyaki a few extra coins! And the old man wanted to kneel down and lick his shoes!"
"Have they all forgotten?!"
His chest was heaving violently, and his originally handsome eyes now looked somewhat ferocious due to bloodshot.
"Have they forgotten the kindness His Majesty the Emperor has shown them over the past thousand years?!"
"They have forgotten who gave them the land they need to survive! And who gave them food to fill their stomachs during the years of famine!"
"Now, the Dragon people, those 'Chinese' who are only fit to be our slaves, we only gave them a little bit of benefit, not even leftovers!"
"They have completely forgotten their identities! They have forgotten their bloodline!"
"You forgot that you are a descendant of the Yamato people!"
"It's abhorrent... Absolutely abhorrent! They are all traitors to the Empire! They all deserve to be hacked into pieces!"
He became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he wanted to pour out all the humiliation and anger in his heart.
"Be careful with your words, Gen-kun."
At this time, a middle-aged man sitting opposite him, who looked much older and had a gloomier expression, slowly spoke.
His name is Ito. He has the highest status among this group of people and his bloodline is closest to the former royal family.
"Keep your voice down."
He picked up the wine glass and took a sip slowly. His narrow eyes, like those of a poisonous snake, glanced coldly at the people downstairs.
"Don't let these untouchables hear it. They are now the most loyal dogs of the Dragon Country."
"If we let them tell on us, we'll be in real trouble."
"But... Lord Ito!"
The young noble known as "Gen-kun" said unwillingly.
"Are we just going to sit back and watch helplessly as our country is defiled by these foreigners?"
"Watching our compatriots sink into this false 'happiness'?"
"So what can we do?"
Another sword-wielding warrior sighed with a sense of helplessness.
"The Dragon Nation today is far more powerful than the Eagle Nation back then, and even more... unfathomable."
"We need weapons, but we don't have any. We need people, but we don't have any."
"Even our navy, which we were once so proud of, is like paper in front of them. What can we use to compete with them?"
These words plunged the entire box into a deathly silence.
Yes.
What can we use to fight back?
They are like a group of former tigers whose fangs and claws have been pulled out.
They could only watch helplessly as their territory was completely occupied by a more powerful and terrifying dragon.
However, just when everyone was immersed in this suffocating despair.
A man with a hideous scar on his face, who had remained silent throughout the entire process and just silently wiped the long knife in his hand, suddenly spoke.
His voice was hoarse and cold, like two pieces of rusty iron rubbing against each other.
"If you ask me, this group of untouchables have completely forgotten the grace of His Majesty the Emperor and the glory of being part of the Yamato nation."
"Then, they are no longer... citizens of our Great Sakura Empire."
He slowly raised his head.
There was a bloodthirsty light flashing in the single eye, which was made even more ferocious by the scar.
"They are just a bunch of pests disguised as our compatriots who need to be 'purified'."
"I now have a plan to take revenge on them and those high-ranking Dragon people."
He looked at the "comrades" in front of him who were also filled with resentment and hatred.
He slowly revealed a hideous smile like a devil.
"Do you guys want to listen?"