Chapter 133 -Return Report

In early February of Showa 5 (1930), I returned to Japan.
Since I had departed the previous August, that meant I had been overseas for nearly half a year. 

Crossing the Pacific to North America, Europe, and then back via the Indian Ocean, I had, in a way, gone all the way around the world.

That said, in India I had only briefly landed at Colombo on the island of Ceylon.
Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai were much the same. 

It wasn’t a cruise ship, so simply stopping over couldn’t really be called traveling.

“I’ve just returned, Souichirou-sama.”

“Welcome back, Reiko.”

In the bedroom of the detached wing of the Ootori main estate, built in Japanese style, I knelt with my fingers neatly together and bowed deeply to my great-grandfather as he rose slightly from his futon.

I heard he had caught a cold this winter and that it had lingered.
Although it hadn’t worsened into pneumonia, the fact that he still couldn’t rise from bed was proof enough of how much his body had weakened.

Yet strangely, no negative emotions arose. 

That was because both Souichirou-sama himself and those around him felt that he had truly lived out his life.

“It was quite a long journey, but it seems you saw a great deal.”

“Yes. It feels like I’ve seen enough for an entire lifetime.”

“Haha, for an entire lifetime is a bit too soon. But it seems your spirit wasn’t broken.”

“There were times I wanted to throw everything away, though.”

“Now you’re thinking about retiring? In that case, should we start looking for a husband for you?”

He was teasing a little, but in his eyes was a light that went beyond seriousness.

That was why I kept my posture and tone straight as I continued.

“If it’s a husband to marry into the family, there’s no need to search. There are already plenty of candidates around me, and in the end, they’ll decide among themselves. What I’m searching for is something else.”

“…Something else you’re searching for, is it? You’ve already found quite a lot on your journey, and yet it’s still not enough?”

“Not nearly enough. Seeing Japan from the outside made me painfully aware of how much we lack. I want to move quickly with acquisitions and with preparing to bring those things in.”

“In these times?”

“Yes. Precisely because of these times. If I don’t move forward before the situation worsens completely, everything may become too late.”

When I declared that, Great-Grandfather closed his eyes and paused for a moment.
For an instant I thought he might have grown tired, but it seemed he was simply searching for the right words to say to me.

“Reiko, I can sense that there’s a ‘dream’ you haven’t yet told us about. But is Japan’s future really such that a child like you must think she has to act? Could you at least tell this old man, who doesn’t have long left, what it is that awaits us?”

His words—and his gaze—were nothing but earnest.
More than that, there was a desperate sincerity in them.

Most likely, even though I am the “Dreaming Miko,” the fact that I, who is still a child, am being made to do so many things.
Even though those things are something I myself have taken on, the fact that instead of forbidding it, they have allowed me, even helped me. 

This must weigh on him in many ways. 

Matters of conscience, of family affection, of what is right.

If our positions were reversed, I would have intervened much earlier, and at worst, shut the child away in the depths of the mansion, not allowing her to do anything.

But Great-Grandfather let me act with the greatest freedom.
Perhaps because he believed it was for the sake of the Ootori family, for the sake of Japan. 

Or perhaps, before departing for the heights, he wanted to settle his heart and make peace with himself.

At least, that was how it felt to me.

“I don’t mind telling you, but please don’t collapse from the shock of it and end up bedridden—or worse, set off down the road to the afterlife. It would leave me with a very bad feeling.”

“Hahaha! That depends on the story you tell, doesn’t it? Then, let me hear something fit to take with me as a keepsake to the underworld.”

“Yes, I understand.”

And so, instead of telling travel anecdotes, I began to speak of something I had never shared before: the war experiences of the true master of this body, supplemented with the memories of my previous life.

Up to that scene—when Japan went to total war with America, and American forces landed a great army on the Shounan coast.

Once my conversation with Great-Grandfather was over, it was already time for dinner.

It seemed I had been talking with him straight through since noon.
So, with the help of Shizu and the other maids, I quickly bathed, changed clothes, and prepared myself for the meal.

That was because, after tonight’s dinner, I was to speak to the gathered members of the family about what I had told him.
Of course, after telling Great-Grandfather about the war of the future, I had already explained the outline and received his approval.

Those gathered were, from the Sou family, my grandfather Kiichirou, my great-uncle Torasaburou, his adopted son-in-law Zenkichi, Zenkichi’s wife, my great-aunt Keiko, my uncle Genji, myself, and my chief butler, Tokita.
My uncle Ryuuya—my onii-sama—was absent, as he was still in Germany.

For reference, Great-Uncle Zenkichi was president of Ootori Financial Holdings, the head company of the Ootori Group, in practice its leader. 

Genji was head of the Ootori zaibatsu.
But in this setting, their positions mattered little.

Also, since this was an Ootori family council, no one outside the clan was allowed to attend except the chief butler.
Normally, Great-Grandfather and his butler Haga would take part, but Great-Grandfather had declined due to his health, and so Haga, who was both his butler and the family steward, did not participate either. 

Needless to say, Shizu was also not present.

On the other hand, this time leading members of the Kou family had also been summoned.

The head of the clan and director of Ootori General Hospital, Ootori Kurenichi, Ootori Shoujirou, a trustee of Ootori Academy, and Ootori Mizuho, president of Ootori Pharmaceuticals.
All three were in their fifties to sixties, the same generation as my grandfather. 

And then there was Doctor Kouryuu, who had become the rising star of the Kou branch.

Aside from Kouryuu-sensei, I had almost no real contact with the others.
At New Year’s or at family banquets, we might exchange the lightest of greetings, but nothing beyond that.

Kurenichi served as hospital director, though he wasn’t a doctor, only an administrator.
In general, he was considered a harmless, ordinary man. 

To me, he was only “the Dogeza Uncle.” 

Incidentally, he was Kouryuu-sensei’s father, though they didn’t resemble each other much.

Shoujirou, the academy trustee, had some education and business ability, but he was a conservative man.
Since I attended Ootori Academy, I had met and spoken with him a few times, but his words were always so formulaic that he left no impression on me.

The most unusual among the top three of the Kou branch was Mizuho, head of the pharmaceutical company.
She was what people call an “amazon”—a woman who, in this era, was not only a company president but also a medical researcher, with overseas study experience on top of that. 

Her career was so remarkable that she had even appeared in the newspapers a few times.

However, the fact that a woman led the company was seen as a factor lowering Ootori Pharmaceuticals’ reputation in society.
Incidentally, she was said to be Kouryuu-sensei’s nemesis.

So, apart from catching sight of her at garden parties and exchanging greetings, I had never spoken to her.
My impression was simply of a woman with a piercing gaze who spoke crisply.

By the way, all of them appear in the otome game Tasogaro no Ichizoku, but since the Kou branch itself has little connection to the Sou branch, they show up almost entirely as background mob characters.

The only exception is Mizuho, who appears as an actual character.
She is on my side, the side of me as the villainess, as she takes the part of an ally to Reika Hououin, at least on the surface, while belonging to the villain faction.

In the game, she’s involved in all sorts of shady business, so unless she manages to vanish without a trace before the ending, she winds up facing a miserable fate much like the villainess does. 

In short, she fills the role of a mid-boss type of villain.

But as far as I can see in reality, she’s just an ordinary middle-aged woman in a kimono with a lab coat thrown on.
She’s slim, wears glasses, and that trademark lab coat makes her look the part of a researcher, but she doesn’t look like a villain. 

Her gaze is strong, though, and she carries an aura—or perhaps just a strong presence.

Because such unusual people were present this time, we gathered in the largest and most luxurious drawing room.
The ridiculous part, though, is that my grandfather, the family head Kiiichirou, and I sat at the table in the back with Tokita standing behind us, while in front of us were two separate tables where the Sou branch and the Kou branch sat apart.

It’s said the Ootori clan has strong unity, but in reality it’s just that the Sou branch and the Kou branch are each tightly bound within themselves. When seen as a whole, the family is split in two.
It’s laughable, yet not something we can laugh about.

After all, even in the game, the Sou branch—the main house—is abandoned by the Kou branch, which is a cadet house. 

That makes it all the less funny.

While I kept such thoughts to myself, the family discussion began.