ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

Sibling Emperors

Elie-Darren, capital of the Elmstacia Empire

Imperial Palace Reception Room

Japanese envoys Uemura and Nakamine, as well as Elmstacian Emperors, Schildrea and Elizabeth, looked at each other. The first to open his mouth was the brother, Emperor Schildrea.

"You must be surprised. The fact that the leaders who governs this empire, a nation of people who, from your point of view, have strange appearances, looks just like you humans."

"!"

Uemura was a bit puzzled by the fact that he was suddenly struck by the crux of the matter. As he spoke, Schildrea and Elizabeth had neither animal ears nor body parts, but had the same appearance as human beings, and Uemura and Nakamine wondered about this.

"No wonder you mistakenly thought we are humans. The royalty of this country looks no different from humans. However, their internal physique is completely different from that of human beings. We are a race that feeds on blood."

"!"

Emperor Schildrea was followed by Empress Elizabeth, who spoke next. Uemura and Nakamine were shocked at these words. The Tepes family, the royalty of the Elmstacia Empire, is a family of vampires.

Vampires... according to the folklore of our world, they are one of the strongest monsters among the many that exist, and are said to be born when they rise from the dead. Despite their legendary existence, the horror of their tales has had a strong influence on people's consciousness since ancient times, and various weakness have been added to them as they have been passed on to future generations, perhaps to distract from their horror. Even in the 20th century, there are still records of vampire exterminations.

The vampires of this world are slightly different from those of our world. First, vampires in this world are a kind of creature called "bloodsuckers" and are not born from the dead. Furthermore, Christianity is not existed in this world, so the cross is not their weakness. And although they boast a long life span compared to humans and other demi-humans, they are not immortal. However, when exposed to the sun, they are incapacitated, though not reduced to ashes, a characteristic similar to that of the lore of this world.

'Vampires...!?'

Witnessing these legendary beings, Uemura and Nakamine were caught in a strange tension. They are vampires, the strongest of all the demi-humans in the world.

"Aside from that... our country and the surrounding countries are currently under a certain threat."

To the slightly stunned delegation, Schildrea stepped into the main issue.

"Threat...?"

After regaining his composure, Uemura asked about the 'threat' that Schildrea described. It was the source of the Elmstacia Empire's uneasiness about establishing diplomatic relations with Japan, and a source of headaches for countries on the eastern coast of the Annan Continent.

"Actually... every year at this time of year, a pod of Anans whales come north from the Southern Pole Ocean to the eastern coast of the Annan Continent... but this year, they brought with them a terrifying monster from the South Pole."

Anans whales are an endemic species of whale that inhabits the world's South Pole Ocean, and every year at a certain season, they come north to the waters off the eastern coast of the Annan Continent, riding the ocean currents. This in itself is an annual event and not something to be concerned about, but this year they brought with them a troublesome problem.

"That thing that has been chasing a school of whales as prey now has making its home off the coast of the Homunculus Kingdom, one of our satellite countries. However, it occasionally appears off the coast of our country and attacks ships entering and leaving port."

"Is it some kind of sea monster?"

Uemura asked about the identity of the thing that Schildrea describes.

"Yes, but it's not just a sea monster..."

"...?"

"It is the legendary Leviathan...!"

"...I beg your pardon!?"

The identity of the threat mentioned by Schildrea was the name of a legendary monster that also appears in the Old Testament. The two diplomats were surprised that the name appeared in this world.

"The Leviathan has sunk more than 100 vessels, both public and private, of all nationalities. Military vessels have also been damaged, and the death toll has risen to 20.000."

Elizabeth explained the damage to date. Certainly, the Japanese would be at great risk to their trading vessels entering and leaving the Elmstacia Empire even if they built a port if such monsters were to appear in the surrounding waters. In fact, countries on the Annan Continent have been unable to send out trade ships for fear of the presence of this abominable monster, and this, combined with the damage to ships, has caused tremendous economic losses.

"We have mobilized our navy and carried out numerous campaigns to defeat the monster, but they have all failed, resulting in many casualties..."

Even the mighty soldiers of the Elmstacia Empire were helpless on the sea against this monster, which was covered with hard scales that repelled gunfire and moved freely throughout the sea.

"So... we have a request for your country in establishing diplomatic relations..."

"..."

Elizabeth looked up and states that she has a favor to ask of Uemura and Nakamine. Up to this point in the preliminaries, the two had a 90% idea of what it was about.

"If this continues, we will not be able to establish diplomatic relations with your country... We need the help of the Japanese navy to defeat the Leviathan!"

'Aah, I knew it...!'

Hearing Schildrea's words, Uemura and Nakamine have the expected look on their faces. This was immediately conveyed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As some of you might have guessed, the Tepes family is a family of vampires.

Speaking of which, the name Tepes is taken from Vlad Tepes, Duke of Wallachia, the basis for Dracula, and the names Schildrea and Elizabeth are also taken from Gilles de Rais, a real serial killer in the Kingdom of France and also suspected to be a vampire for the former, and Elizabeth Báthory, noblewoman of Hungary, for the latter.

- Bokutotsu Zen'u