The Shores of Land: The Diplomacy of Japan, an Alien Nation

Chapter 21 - Witness Invitation (Part 1)

"Yoichi, are you sure you're okay?"

An old woman's voice sounded from the phone's loudspeaker.

"I'm fine. I've had some worrisome things happen to me, but I haven't been in real danger."

"I guess there's not much to say."

"It's the same for the rest of the soldiers. They're prepared."

"Hah... why do you decide on your own without telling us? Even when the meteor came and we were about to die, you still don't come home."

"It couldn't be helped. Kotono could have come."

"And that's why you want to come back?"

"No, she didn't come back. I don't know if she's rejecting my calls or not, but I can't get through to her on the phone or socmed."

"I don't know what is that soc med, but forget about the person you can't contact with."

"Yeah, yeah. I still haven't heard from her, so maybe she got scared of the Levian fall and killed herself or something. Or maybe she's just hard to reach."

"Oh, yes, I heard that the family of the next-door neighbor, Takamo-san, committed suicide."

"Wait, really? Oh, no, that's terrible. But none of us would have thought that such an absurd phenomenon like being teleported to another world would occur, so maybe it can't be helped. Mom, did you ever think of that?"

"It will be in pain for a moment anyway, so I am just going about my normal life. But I heard a rumor that there was a euthanasia drug on the market. And all I could think about now was how I could die without suffering."

"........."

Haguma was at a loss for words on the phone with his mother.

Before Japan transferred to this planet, despair engulfed the land. As an archipelago nation, it was impossible to escape, and the means to do so were quickly closed to the public.

If this was the case, there was no point in physically escaping, so people came up with the idea of escaping in a different way: suicide. More than two weeks have passed since the transference, and the police and fire departments have become more active, and the situation in the country is gradually becoming clearer.

As stated in the earlier press conference, the order has remained as normal as ever since there were no physical phenomena associated with the transference, and there has been only a small scale of riot-like activity.

On the other hand, there were many suicides after the despair, and they found 3.000 people just by what they knew. Some of them are only a few days after death, so it is said that many people choose to die not only because of Levian, but also because of the despair of living in this world.

And rightly so. Even if they live, if the economy does not revive, the consequences will be the same. If food is not available due to debt and high prices, and rations are not distributed in time, people will starve to death, so it is not surprising that they would choose to die.

Even though Haguma is working on the front lines, most of his food is preserved. The JNDF is probably having difficulty stocking up on food, although not entirely. The government claims that the stockpile will last for another six months, but he wondered how much longer it will last.

"Yoichi, can't you come home?"

"I can't. We are in contact with the natives here, so we can't leave the premises because of quarantine issues. I've had daily blood tests, and I'm still feeling healthy, so I guess I'll be fine, but I've been told to keep an eye on my condition for a month."