Dragon Raja: History Simulator

Page 140

This period, which is also the time when "Black Moon Tide" begins, is six months after Yukio Hatoyama lost the election, when Masamune Tachibana led the Japanese Hebi Hachike to successfully demand independence from the Secret Party under the name of the Japanese branch.

Although this independence lasted for less than a month before ending with a major reshuffle of the Snake-Headed Eight Families, compared to the Tachibana Masamune era, the Snake-Headed Eight Families' resistance to the Secret Party's rule was almost nonexistent...

It can be said that Yukio Hatoyama was neither a member of the Secret Party nor had a friendly relationship with Masamune Tachibana, which was undoubtedly good news for Wang Anzhi.

On the other side, Erii looked at the misty hot spring and the two beautiful women laughing and playing in the water, her face flushing with curiosity.

She shrank back behind Wang Anzhi shyly, but her gaze was firmly drawn to him.

Wang Anzhi then realized what was happening, gently nudged her back, and said softly in Japanese, "Go ahead and play with them."

Erii glanced at him, then at Natsumi and the Shao sisters who were smiling at her in the hot spring, and finally nodded.

She walked to the edge of the pool, awkwardly but carefully untied the sash of her shrine maiden outfit, and cautiously slid down the rock steps into the warm water.

Enveloped in the hot water, Erii comfortably squinted her eyes, like a cat being stroked.

Xia Mi immediately leaned over, grinning as she scooped up a little water with her hand and gently splashed it towards Erii.

Erii was taken aback by the sudden "attack," and then she imitated her, clumsily splashing water back with her slender fingers.

As Mai watched them play, a smile crept onto her lips. She picked up the sake from the wooden tray and took a sip.

Shao Nanqin and Shao Nanyin also joined the gentle water fight, softly instructing Erii on how to splash water more forcefully.

For a time, the hot spring water splashed gently, and laughter filled the air.

Wang Anzhi stood by the pond, gazing at the scene.

Erii's face radiated pure, childlike joy, an expression she rarely showed in that strict family.

The others, whether it was the lazy Dragon King, the capable female ninja, or the gentle sisters, all temporarily set aside their identities and enjoyed a moment of peace and warmth.

The steam from the hot spring rose up, blurring the view and softening the lamplight. The sounds of girls playing, water splashing, and the occasional sound of bamboo tubes tapping against stones in the courtyard mingled together.

Erii seemed to have completely forgotten the previous shooting and explosion, and was immersed in this novel and enjoyable experience.

She would occasionally look up, searching for Wang Anzhi's figure. When she saw him standing not far away, she would show a reassuring and radiant smile.

Just then, Xia Mi, caught up in the fun, suddenly scooped up a handful of water and unexpectedly splashed it at Wang Anzhi, who was watching the battle from the edge of the pool.

"Hey!" Wang Anzhi was caught off guard, and the front of his shirt was splashed with water.

The girls in the pool laughed when they saw this, and even Mai Shude couldn't help but smile.

Erii, seeing Wang Anzhi's somewhat disheveled appearance, also covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes curving into crescents.

A joyful atmosphere filled the air above the hot spring.

However, beneath this warm scene, Wang Anzhi's gaze swept over Erii's carefree smiling face, and a subtle, complex emotion flickered deep within his eyes.

With the key already in his hand, when and how will Odin open the gate to the ancient road to the underworld?

Chapter 221 This Country Is Sick

"Asuna, there's a lecture by Mr. Yukio Hatoyama at school today. Do you want to go?"

The ordinary-looking student named Kirito asked the rich girl with brown hair in front of him a question, his voice full of anticipation.

"Yukio Hatoyama? Who is he?" Asuna, like most girls who don't care about Japanese politics, was unfamiliar with this name.

Kirito shook his head and said, "Mr. Yukio Hatoyama is the founder and leader of the Democratic Party. It is said that he is very likely to overthrow the Liberal Democratic Party's sixty-year rule this year and become the new prime minister of Japan."

"New Prime Minister?"

Asuna was uninterested. Although she held some status in her family, at the very top level, she was no different from someone like Kirito, so she didn't care about the topic.

"What can he possibly accomplish?"

Seeing Asuna's bored expression, Kirito quickly added:

"Asuna, do you know Princess Ozawa?"

Asuna immediately became interested. In Japan, politics is often considered a man's game, while women's role is in the home.

But this year, a group of women wearing pink suits, black flat shoes with bows, and short hair entered the House of Representatives.

This is extremely rare in the entire Japanese political arena.

They sarcastically referred to these women who entered politics as "Princess Ozawa" because they were often inexperienced yet were chosen by Ichiro Ozawa, the secretary-general of the Democratic Party, to run for office.

Its main purpose is to attract voters' attention with "beauty bombshells".

Of course, when this nickname reached the ears of women like Asuna, it became a source of motivation.

Seeing Asuna's slightly aroused expression, Kirito decided to press on and continued:

"This time, the Democratic Party has more than 26 women in Congress, more than half of the House of Representatives."

As he spoke, Kirito couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Like most people, he did not believe that politics was a game for women, and even thought that the emergence of "Princess Ozawa" was a miscalculation by Mr. Yukio Hatoyama.

Such actions will not benefit the upcoming election.

However, looking at the slightly excited expression on Asuna's face, Kirito thought to himself, "Perhaps this will have some effect!"

At least, he was able to get Asuna to attend these kinds of political speeches with him, which she usually disliked.

Kirito suddenly had this thought, then shook his head, finding it somewhat ridiculous.

He glanced at his watch, frowned, and said to the girl in front of him, "Asuna, let's hurry! Mr. Yukio Hatoyama's lecture is about to begin."

This time, Asuna did not refuse; she even let Kirito take her hand and walk towards the auditorium where the speech was to be given.

When Kirito took Asuna's hand, his heart skipped a beat.

She didn't reject me.

Soon, they arrived at the venue for the speech and heard a loud voice inside. Kirito couldn't help but sigh inwardly that women really do lead people astray. Yukio Hatoyama's speech had already been going on for some time.

"The speech has already started, should we still go in?" Asuna was attending such a political speech for the first time, and she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

“It’s alright,” Kirito shook his head and said confidently, “You can join these public service lectures midway through.”

Sure enough, the guards at the entrance did not stop the two students.

Upon entering the auditorium, the seats were almost full, but Kirito paid no attention to this. He listened to Yukio Hatoyama speaking on the stage:

"...Some argue that the American-style free market economy is a universal and perfect economic model, and that all countries should adjust their traditions and rules according to global (or rather, American) standards."

This very viewpoint led to the recent economic crisis.

Yukio Hatoyama's powerful voice on stage startled Asuna, who was standing there with Kirito, who was so silly that she wouldn't look for a seat whenever the speech started.

Soon, after a brief silence on the battlefield, Yukio Hatoyama's voice rang out again:

"In Japan, there are differing opinions on how to approach globalization."

Some advocate actively embracing globalization and letting the market dictate everything.

Others are much more cautious, believing that efforts should be made to expand the social safety net to protect our traditional industries. Since Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006) formed his cabinet, the Liberal Democratic Party has consistently emphasized the former, while we, the Democratic Party of Japan, lean more towards the latter…”

When Kirito was pulled by Asuna to sit down in the back row, he suddenly noticed the people next to him whose clothes and appearance were out of place with their surroundings.

One was a woman dressed as a shrine maiden, with an innocent and naive look on her face. Kirito was all too familiar with this kind of girl; Asuna, who was standing next to him, was just like that. But this girl looked even more innocent than Asuna, and she was even wearing a shrine maiden's outfit during this speech.

The other one was also a woman, wearing a tight-fitting outfit. Her exposed figure made Kirito blush even with just a glance in the dark.

As if noticing his gaze, the shapely woman subtly flirted:

"Junior, aren't you afraid the little girl next to you will get angry if you look at me like that?"

"Senior, are you also a student at the University of Tokyo?" Kirito asked curiously.

“Yes! Mai Shude, from the Music Department of Kyoto University, just graduated two years ago.” Mai Shude looked at the junior next to her with a nostalgic expression, her eyebrows raised.

Kirito calculated in his mind that it had been two years since graduation, which meant she was a senior from the class of 03. Thinking further, this senior was probably 24 years old, 6 years older than him.

"Junior, I don't mind if you keep staring like that, but your girlfriend is probably going to be furious."

Mai said softly; she was already used to ruining other people's relationships.

Kirito was startled and turned around to see that Asuna's face had indeed turned as black as hell.

He quickly apologized to the female ninja, saying, "Private, Masai, senior."

He then quickly turned back to coax Asuna, who was already a little jealous. But it was no wonder she felt threatened; anyone would feel a sense of crisis when they saw a woman like Mai Shutoku.

Before looking away, Kirito noticed the man sitting between Mai-senpai and the shrine maiden. He seemed both out of place and perfectly suited to his position.

However, Kirito stopped thinking about these things.

The speech on stage continued.

"Furthermore, I believe that due to the failure of the Iraq War and the occurrence of the financial crisis, the era of US-led globalization is coming to an end, and we are moving towards an era of multipolarity."

However, no country is currently capable of replacing the United States' dominant position, nor is any currency capable of playing the role of the US dollar.

Although its influence is declining, the United States will maintain its military and economic lead for the next two or three decades.

Current developments clearly indicate that China will become a major global economy while continuing to expand its military capabilities.

In the not-too-distant future, China's economy will surpass Japan's.

When Yukio Hatoyama delivered such a definitive conclusion, everyone present was in an uproar, especially the students from the University of Tokyo.

They are, in a sense, the future leaders of this country.

Even those who are known for their seriousness and discipline were shocked by this.

Students kept asking Mr. Yukio Hatoyama to temporarily stop his lecture and explain it to them.

It is well known that Japan still maintains an unimaginable sense of arrogance towards the Western powers they perceive. Even though Japan's economic growth has been slow over the past few decades, it has still maintained an advantage over the Western powers.

Seeing the excited crowd below, Yukio Hatoyama said:

"Our country is sick, sicker than you can imagine."

Over the past two decades, Japan's real GDP has grown at a compound annual growth rate of only 0.7%, far below the global average of 2.8% and lagging behind other major developed countries.

The number was public, and all the top students from Tokyo University present fell silent upon hearing it.

They didn't experience Japan's golden age of the 80s, a time when it was said that Tokyo alone could buy the entire United States, but the past prosperity still faintly lingers in the stories of their parents.

At this point, Yukio Hatoyama changed the subject, saying, "On the other hand, our neighbor's economic growth rate has never been less than 9% since ten years ago."