I said you are all war criminals

76

Chapter 1 SIDE .

At the age of eleven, Iwanaga Kotoko was abducted by beings commonly known as yokai, ghosts, monsters, or demons. In exchange for her right eye and left leg, she became their "God of Wisdom," a being that mediates and negotiates disputes between them. Furthermore, these monsters sometimes encounter problems with human society, and the God of Wisdom is responsible for resolving these issues, maintaining order between humans and the monsters.

She has been doing this work for a long time.

She is now 43 years old, but her appearance is no different from when she was a child, and she is still occasionally mistaken for a middle school student.

To be honest, this bothered her husband, Kuro Sakurai, a lot.

"When I go out with you, I'll always be considered a lolicon."

Jiulang often complains like this.

"I don't know how many people envy this."

Kotoko always said this with a smile.

She has always been an optimistic and cheerful person.

…But right now, Kotoko really couldn't be optimistic.

"You've gone too far, Xiangzi. Over the years, you've brought nearly all the hanyou under Japanese rule... You've gone too far."

Xiangzi was stunned, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water on her face. She stared in disbelief at the girl before her—no, should I say woman, since Kotoko was already in her forties—who looked almost exactly like the girl she remembered. But her face and figure, unchanged from twenty-three years ago, made it difficult to associate her with the term "middle-aged woman."

"Kotoko? Why...why are you here?"

Xiangzi finally found her voice and subconsciously looked around to confirm that there were no other intruders. The security system of the Prime Minister's Office was impenetrable. How did Qinzi get in?

Was there a monster helping her? Could it be Yanami who did it... No, Yanami had no reason to help Kotoko. It didn't make sense.

Qinzi sighed and interrupted Xiangzi's thoughts, "Xiangzi, you are too naive."

"Innocent?"

Xiangzi repeated the word, a nameless anger rising within her. She had toiled for ten years, transforming Japan into a paradise for half-demons, only to be called "naive" by her own old friend? How could she accept this?

"You think you are protecting the hanyou, but you are actually pushing them, and Japan, into the abyss."

Kotoko's tone was heavy. "You've gathered all the hanyou in Japan, disrupting the balance between the nations of the world. What will other nations, especially those whose food supplies you've plundered through 'special military operations', think?"

Xiangzi frowned. She had certainly thought about this question before. "We have already been sanctioned."

"The sanctions are meant to punish Japan and prevent it from developing,"

Kotoko shook her head as she spoke. "You shouldn't have pursued a space strategy. The US thought Japan would be dragged down like the Soviet Union, so they allowed you to act this way... If they knew you were going to awaken all the hanyou in the country and replace our meager scientific research capabilities with manpower, they would never have allowed you to do so."

Kotoko continued, "You allowed Japan to absorb 90 percent of the world's half-demon population, and then fully awakened the half-demon... You're going against the whole world."

Xiangzi took a deep breath and tried to suppress the rage that was boiling in her heart. Qinzi's words sounded like nonsense to her. She stared at Qinzi coldly and said word by word: "Qinzi, you don't understand what I'm doing at all. Do you think I'm willing to go against the whole world?"

She paused, her tone tinged with anger. "Do you know what kind of life half-demons lead in other countries? They are discriminated against, excluded, treated as monsters, and even hunted! I founded this country to give them a home, a home where they can live safely and without discrimination!"

Xiangzi became increasingly agitated, his voice rising in pitch. "Do you know how much we've paid? Our economy has been sanctioned, our diplomacy has been isolated, and our people are living in dire straits! All of this is to protect those innocent half-demons! And you, you actually said I went too far? How dare you!"

Qinzi listened to Xiangzi's roar quietly, without a trace of expression on her face. After Xiangzi finished speaking, she slowly spoke, her tone terrifyingly calm, "Xiangzi, I know you did all this for the half-demon. But..."

"Xiangzi,"

Kotoko continued, "Japan's colonies will be destroyed by nuclear bombs—today."

Xiangzi opened his eyes wide, as if he had heard something incredible.

"They have 1 million people on Side ..."

“I know this is hard to accept,”

Kotoko looked away. "But this is the truth. Other countries will not tolerate the existence of a half-demon nation. They are afraid, they are terrified, so they choose..."

"How could they do this!"

Xiangzi's voice was almost out of control, "They...they..."

"They are humans, and you are monsters."

Kotoko's tone was filled with pity. "You shouldn't have used the name of a half-demon nation, and you shouldn't have recruited all the half-demon into Japan. It's because of you that other countries acted without restraint... Because you are not them. Because half-demon are not human."

"What a joke!"

Xiangzi slammed the table. "There are 1 million people on Side ! million! Most of them are half-demons! Would they do such a thing? Do they have any conscience left in their heads?"

She stared at Qinzi with her red eyes, as if she wanted to stare a hole in her.

"Where's your source? Is it reliable? Who would believe such nonsense?"

Kotoko remained irritatingly calm, and her impassive expression only infuriated Shoko even more.

"Xiangzi, calm down. You don't need to know the source of my information. You just need to know that this is true."

"fart!"

Xiangzi roared and grabbed his phone. "I'm going to contact the administrator of SIDE 1 right now. I want to see who dares to make up such a big lie!"

Xiangzi quickly dialed the private number of the SIDE1 administrator, but a disturbing cacophony of noises echoed through the communicator. She called the number several more times, but the call remained unanswered, only a piercing busy tone echoing in her ears. Her uneasiness grew stronger, and a sense of foreboding enveloped her.

Kotoko calmly watched Shoko's gradual collapse. Her source of information was youkai—not the awakened half-demon of Japan, but those who hadn't entered Gensokyo, accustomed to hiding from human sight. Twenty years ago, these youkai could even enter the President's room and eavesdrop on confidential matters. Even now, with awakened half-demon serving as high-ranking security guards in every country, these youkai could still hear many hidden secrets.

Even so, Kotoko only learned about this today. The top leaders of various countries considered this nuclear attack a top secret, and even the monsters who could hide in the shadows had no idea about it in advance.

...and by the time they found out, it was too late.

"Xiangzi, after Side 1 falls, other nations will claim that Japan was planning to use Side 1 as a mass weapon to attack Sydney, but was stopped by them. Then, they'll use this as an excuse to declare war on Japan..."

Kotoko asked in a slightly weak voice, "What are you going to do? What are you going to do?"

What should I do?

Xiangzi slumped in her chair, like a pool of melted ice cream. She couldn't get in touch with Side 1, and Kotoko's words kept buzzing in her head: 1 million people, Side falling, countries declaring war... She felt like she was stuffed into a shrinking iron box, the air growing thinner and thinner, almost suffocating.

After a long while, Xiangzi took a deep breath, like a drowning man finally floating to the surface.

She already knew what she had to do.

"They said we were going to attack Sydney with SIDE 1, right?"

Her tone was frighteningly calm.

Qinzi was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"Based on the intelligence intercepted so far, yes."

"it is good,"

Xiangzi sneered, "Then let's do it. Let's go and smash SIDE 1 down."

Kotoko's eyes widened, as if she was meeting Shoko for the first time.

"Are you...are you crazy? Even if a nuclear bomb attacks, there will still be survivors on Side 1! Even if other countries really want to declare war on Japan, we can't..."

"Can't what?"

Xiangzi stood up suddenly, grabbed Qinzi's collar, and lifted his petite bandmate up. "They want to kill us, and we should just stick our necks out and wait for death? One hundred million people! One hundred million! They don't even blink an eye! Why should we show them mercy?!"

As Shoko Toyokawa said, "They want war, so we'll give them a war!"

77

Chapter 77: One Year War.

"We have lost important colonies, we have lost important farmland, and more importantly, we have lost 100 million family members, 100 million friends, 100 million - we have lost 100 million citizens!"

At the Tokyo International Forum, Shoko Toyokawa stood in the center of the venue and spoke to the citizens who filled the entire venue.

“But does this mean we have failed?”

Xiangzi swung his hand from top to bottom, "No, this is just the beginning!"

"Compared to other countries in the world, Japan's strength is less than one-thirtieth. This is a fact, but it does not mean that we cannot fight, or should not fight!"

"The United States, led by the United States, attacked our space colony, Side 1, with a nuclear bomb. We never imagined such a brutal act could exist in this modern era. Our new home was destroyed. Our families, our friends, all perished in this senseless attack. Our people died!"

"Even more shamelessly, when Side 1 was hit by a nuclear bomb and fell, directly hitting Sydney, which was the result of karma, the League of Nations actually said that we were the first to drop Side 1 full of citizens on Sydney, and they only used nuclear bombs to stop it."

"What a despicable act! The League of Nations actually wants us to pay war reparations. How greedy!"

"Gentlemen, do we want an apology? Do we want compensation?"

"No!"

Xiangzi waved his arms vigorously again, "Everyone, we should fight, we must fight! Because there is no more just reason to fight than revenge."

In front of countless citizens, Xiangzi shouted in an inspiring tone.

"My friend, the famous guitarist of the band End, Goto Ichiri, who was loved by you all, is dead. Why?!"

On the other side of the world, watching this global speech on television, Hakuno took a sip of vodka and said softly, "Because you're a little girl."

Of course, Shoko in Japan couldn't hear what Hakuno in New York said, so she just continued her speech.

"Your fathers and children, your mothers and daughters, all died at the hands of the League of Nations' cruel and inhumane actions. This anger and sorrow must never be forgotten!"

"Goto Ichiri's death proves this point!"

Xiangzi waved his hand horizontally on Ye's chest, "People!"

"Turn your sorrow into strength. Stand up, people!"

"I hope you won't forget that we, the awakened monsters, are the real humans!"

"We must make the League of Nations pay for its crimes!"

"Now, let us gather this rage and face the League of Nations!"

"For revenge! For our future! For the glory of youkai!"

"To make Japan great again!"

Xiangzi roared at the top of his lungs. The atmosphere in the conference hall reached a boiling point. The shouts of the people were deafening, as if they were going to overturn the dome of the conference center.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The crowd's shouts merged into a huge wave, hitting Kotoko's eardrums wave after wave. She sat in the first row, her face pale, her hands tightly clutching the hem of her skirt. She felt like she was watching an absurd drama, and she herself was forced to become a character in the play.

At this moment, Sakurai Jiulang beside her held Kotoko's hand and said, "There is nothing we can do about it. All the futures lead to this path."

Sakurai Kuro is not a half-demon, but rather a mermaid who ate the flesh of a demon as part of his grandmother's experiment. He possesses the ability to lock the future with his own death, and possesses an immortal body that can recover from any damage... In theory, he can direct the future to his desired direction.

However, Jiulang's power is not that convenient.

First, first, Kuro must be on the verge of death to see and choose the future's branch. This is perhaps because even if the body is insensitive to pain, instinct will still suppress the ability to observe the future to the point of death. Therefore, in the state of near death, the instinct is finally released, allowing Kuro to see and choose the future in an instant.

Or perhaps he didn't die because he made the prediction, but rather because he was nearing death. The so-called ability to see the future may be a privilege that can only be used at the moment of death.

In addition, Jiulang can only decide on the future that is very likely to happen and is very close in time.

If the future is six months or a year away, the possible branches are so numerous that they are invisible and impossible to choose from. As for the future with extremely low probability, the branches are too far away and difficult to grasp.

As things stand now, the problem lies with the latter.

Xiangzi will definitely deliver this speech as Prime Minister, and this speech will inevitably arouse the anger of the Japanese people.

All futures lead to war.

The nationalist frenzy triggered by the fall of SIDE 1 swept across Japan like wildfire.

The audience in front of the TV, the people in the square, and even the students in the school were ignited by Xiangzi's words. They waved their fists and shouted "fight" as if to vent all the resentment that had been pent up for a long time.

Because, out of a population of about 500 million, about 100 million Japanese died in this attack.

Such hatred is enough to turn any country into a crazy war machine.

Kotoko felt her stomach churn. Shoko's inflammatory speech made her feel extremely unwell. She understood the public's anger. The massive toll of the Side 1 crash had taken countless lives, but could war truly solve the problem? She looked to Jiulang beside her, hoping he could offer some comfort, but he simply held her hand tightly, his eyes filled with helplessness and sorrow.

"One year..."

Jiulang murmured softly, "Only one year..."

Kotoko understood what he meant. This time, Jiulang saw the future within a year, because within this year, all the futures were highly concentrated.

Xiangzi's speech became the fuse of the war, and Japan declared war on the whole world. This crazy move shocked the world, and countries around the world condemned Japan's aggression and formed a united front to fight back.

The war lasted for nearly a year and is known in history as the "One Year War."