Square Zero

It is said that whenever you are asked "who are you?", answering with your name is a beginner's mistake and talking about what you have done in your life is a sign of utter ignorance. After all, what defines our identity is never what we are called or what we or others remember we have done. The right answer for such a question simply doesn't exist.

Because of this, the relatively normal and simple question of "who are you" turns into a question that makes one think deeply about what kind of person they are and sometimes, even makes them internally question numerous things about their selves.

This cannot be more relevant than in the case of Iwasawa Hiroshi who is a special one… and not just in terms of his experiences and memories but on what he is beyond his name and what he has done in his life, both in the present and the past world.

Iwasawa Hiroshi is the name of a relatively unknown ronin who served under the invasion force of Kusanagi clan against the Akizuki clan of Kiko. He gained fatal wounds in battle and was subsequently taken by the cultists of the Daigo clan who reformed his body to allow the soul of Miyazaki Hiro to inhabit it and bring him back from his death in the past world.

However, the soul that they brought wasn't the soul of the real Miyazaki Hiro who died alongside his mother and sisters in the Sagami Bridge Incident of 2069, but instead, the soul of a clone who lived his life for two more years before he himself was killed while saving both his friend and his beloved.

Because of this, the young man who was supposed to carry only the identity of two, his own self and that of Miyazaki Hiro, ended up adopting and carrying the name and identity of Iwasawa Hiroshi as well.

"That's the only explanation that I can think of regarding his case… As you can see, I've lost my powers and I feel more and more weakened as the days go by."

"I agree too… I managed to piece together some of my memories through Kurumi-san and Reiha-san's powers, but to put it simply, I have no memories about the present world."

The words of Sora and Maya about what happened to them cleared up some answers for the others.

"I believe that when we defeated Keiji and that monster, we fulfilled the conditions for victory in the past world and alongside him and that monster, the past world's story was concluded, and it finally disappeared."

"That's what I think too. I believe that because we are Otherworlders whose identity was halved between belonging in the past world and this one, we were spared from the fate of dying alongside our world… but at the cost of the greatest connection that we had with the world where we came from."

"So for me, it was my fate back in that past world, huh? The fate of being the man that Ephraim fulfilled after my destiny was rewritten by that monster."

"And for me, it was my memories of the things that I did over here. I can't remember anything about what happened after I was summoned here and it's only through genjutsu that I managed to get the bare minimum of memories that I need to understand what is happening here."

"That makes sense. With the sense of desperation that you held for the sake of bringing Hiro and Chikako over here, it being the thing that was taken from you is similar to my destiny."

"If that is so… then Hiroshi-, no, Hiro-kun…"

As they stared at the now empty cubicle where their friend, master and comrade used to lay in an unconscious state, they all thought to their selves how all of this has changed things.

"He lost not only his memories here… but a large part of his memories in the past world."

"He was a clean slate. He says that he is Miyazaki Hiro and a student of Miyazono Old Tokyo Academy and that he wants to go home to his two sisters who are surely worried about him."

"How are we going to explain to him that that world is all gone, and his sisters cannot see him anymore?"

All of them are hurt and worried for him, but they know that more than them, there is someone who carries so much pain for this sudden thing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In a terrace at Naka Castle, the gentle breeze blew and carried with it the sigh of a young lady that caused worry for three other women gathered around her table.

"Chiyo-san…"

"Are you… alright?"

"…"

Her silence, pained and lonely, caused the other women to look at her with worry in their faces and hearts.

A year ago, they pledged to fight fair and square for the favor and love of the same man and in the end, he chose this woman over the three of them and they accepted their defeat with grace and wished the best for them from thereon… But now, it was all for nothing.

"Chiyo-san… do you really think that there is no solution for this?"

"That fox spirit managed to bring back some memories for the Otherworlder shrine priestess. I believe it is worth it to at least try and-"

"It would be for nothing. I already asked Kurumi-sama about it and she said that because our Hiroshi isn't the real deal and instead, is someone made to replace him after his accidental death, she can't bring back his memories."

"W-We can't know for sure unless we try! We… We should at least try it out for the sake of Iwasawa-sama and your sanity-"

"Enough!"

With a shout that finally broke her effort to hold back all of the pain and sadness she is feeling, Chiyo hit the table, causing the tea set and biscuits that was on it to be displaced or overturned.

"Enough… Enough with all of this… Hik-!"

"Chiyo…"

"I can't… I can't take this anymore… Kih-!"

As she fell on her knees, clutching her fists near her chest, her tears fell from her eyes… tears that showed all her frustration and pain about everything that happened which obstructed her from ever being together with the young man that she promised to love back there and here as well.

"Why… why does it always have to be… to be like this for him and I… All that I wanted is to finally be with him and yet, if it wasn't me who faced certain death, it's him who ends up losing everything… even the memories that we shared together."

As Kyoko, Mitsuhide and Kotori looked at her with pained expressions and holding back tears from falling down as well, they can all empathize with her given that they also held feelings for Hiroshi, and yet, knowing that she and that man once shared a connection and promise that literally went past all of the misery, injustice and ultimately, even death, they knew that they can never come to match the pain and frustration that she is now carrying in her heart.

"Hiro… what did we do to deserve this kind of fate…? Why… why can't we be together for once?"

As she wailed at the balcony, even the consolation of her three friends who knew of her pain more so than anyone else in the world brought her no comfort as she cried at her powerlessness against the fate that even in this new world, is keeping them apart from each other.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

In the command room of Kiko's armed forces, the appearance of a pair of individuals stopped Nobisuke from issuing the order to sink the Dutch Armada sailing towards Okinawa.

"Officer Zettour, I understand your reluctance to have these invaders' vessels to be sunk and their crew be left for dead in the sea. But you have to understand our current circumstances."

"We have just ended the hundred year long civil war and hopefully, a generation would be born that will not know war until the end of their days. We cannot afford to tie our own hands when someone who is clearly coming here for pillage and plunder can be stopped before they become a threat."

"And as I said, esteemed commanders, I implore you to wait for a few more days."

"In a few more days, they will sight the islands of Okinawa and would rush to invade it as their colony!"

"Right! We cannot heed your request to stall the order any longer, especially when you can't even answer why we have to do as such in the first place!"

"All of you, I demand your silence now."

At the order of Nobisuke, the enraged Kiko commanders shut their mouth and returned to their seats. This is when Hans turned to him with a worried expression on his face.

"While I am ready to hear your request to stall the attack order, I do wish to know why you're making the request in the first place, Shogunate Officer Zettour."

"…"

"And if my hunch is right, this isn't your request alone but also of sister Camilla. Please, sister… entreat us with an answer."

Once she was mentioned, the nun raised her face and gave the answer that Hans wasn't brave enough to speak about.

"I have a confession to make, General. Although not for the wrong reasons, I have acted as the spy of my country to this nation. For the past seven years since I have made my residence here, I have been in regular contact with the royal courts of Britain and Prussia through discrete methods."

"What-?!"

"You spy!"

"Watch your words, gentlemen! …Let the lady explain herself."

Although still carrying agitated expressions, the army officers heeded Nobisuke's orders and let Camilla to explain further.

"For the past five years, I have been writing letters to His Majesty and Herr Kaiser of Britain and Prussia respectively about this nation and the important events that are happening here. They are aware about the great civil war, how we formed the alliance and later on, our reconciliation with the Shogunate. If you're asking for the discrete methods where these letters were transported, it's through the Indian merchant ships that arrive in Naka harbor four times a year."

"We should tell the coast guard and land guard to turn them away next time."

"Idiot. If they're admitting to it now, there's no way that they'll keep doing it through that anymore."

As her answer explained what was going on, Camilla looked if Nobisuke's expression changed and unfortunately, it remained as immovable as it has been before. With this, she knew that he hasn't taken this news lightly.

"Then let me ask this, sister. Is this request for the postponement of my order made by your countries' leaders or yours only?"

"Officially speaking, I am the one making this request in lieu of His Majesty. If anything, please consider it as if my King is the one asking for this."

"…We will talk about this in more detail later, sister. By that time, I wish you would act not in your cover identity as a nun but instead, as the diplomat that you are."

"I greatly thank your understanding, General."

With that, Nobisuke turned to his subordinates and coldly gave an order.

"Command the submarines to encircle the foreign fleet and demand their surrender. If they would initiate hostilities, do not spare any method to sink them."

"Understood, sir!"

"I suppose this is just fair, sister Camilla?"

"…It's less than what we expected, but it is fair and tolerable."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Somewhere in the sea east of China and south of Okinawa, the foremost Dutch fleet dropped their anchor once again to slow their voyage to let the rest of the armada to catch up to them.

Being the first fleet, they are composed mostly of ships-of-the-line equipped with a ridiculous number of cannons as well as caravels carrying supplies and armaments alike. They are meant to sail ahead of the two other fleets that compose of transport ships for the soldiers and mercenaries that would do the pillaging and conquering while they sink whatever naval threat exists in their destination.

By this point in time, the Dutch were among the greatest voyagers and colonizers to the point that even the Spanish and Portuguese elicit their help in going to the New World (North and South America) as well as going around Africa in order to sail to India and South-east Asia.

A few years after Iwasawa Hiroshi's rise to becoming the Lord of Kiko as well as the explosive growth of Japan's economy and military technology, the Dutch finally caught wind of the place and with the tales of the ludicrous riches and the potentially easy takeover due to the fragmented province-states in the civil war, both the superiors and the footmen of the Dutch East India company approved the invasion of this so-called "grape vine bursting with sweet wine".

Little did they know that the so-called "ludicrous riches" are being guarded by the most advanced and strongest military force in the world and it has also been finally united under one flag and one order.

"Huh? What the hell is with that sound?"

"A whale, maybe?"

At the leading vessel of the fleet named Evi, a ship carrying 200-cannons all around it, a pair of sailors that was assigned with the night watch heard the sound of unnaturally loud waves and a moment later, a light rocking of their anchored ships. Knowing only one thing that can cause such a disturbance, they thought it was a whale.

"H-Huh? What the heck is that?"

"That's not a whale, that's a---!"

"Bloody mother Mary! Ship hooh! SHIP HOOOOH!!!"

*Clang-clang-clang-clang!*

The pair climbed as fast as possible to the upper deck and the crow's nest respectively and rang the bell to rouse their fellow sailors from their sleep.

"W-What on earth?! What is this ruckus about?"

"A-Admiral! Monsters! There is a monster in the sea!"

"That's huge!"

"What manner of beast is that!?"

The sailor pointed at the dark silhouette in front of their ship and all of the sailors had their jaws drop at the utter size of the dark figure in front of them.

"It's not alone! Look around us!"

"W-Wha---!?"

All around their anchored fleet of ships, the same enormous objects with dark silhouettes surfaced from the sea water all of a sudden and without any warning. This is when they realized that these things have encircled them.

"We're surrounded!"

"Kh! Load some gunpowder with no shell and fire a cannon! We have to wake up the other ships!"

After snapping out of his trance, the fleet's commanding admiral gave his men an order. However, even the experienced and disciplined sailors cannot hear his words as they began to plunge into shock and despair from the fact that they are now surrounded by these horrors beyond their comprehension.

However, from the dark silhouette nearest to them, a shrill noise of speaker feedback sounded and all of a sudden, a language familiar to some of them came with an announcement.

["Ahem, ahem! Unknown foreign fleet, we demand your surrender!"]

"I-Is that-!?"

"English!"

["Comply by lowering your ships' flags. We will give you 300 seconds! Dare to fire or raise anchor and we will annihilate your entire fleet!"]

Without a doubt, it was human speech and one that a sizeable number of the sailors are adept at speaking and understanding.

However, the sharp naval officers took their minds off their own shock and processed what was going on here.

They are in the middle of an unknown sea, it's deep in the night and all of a sudden, humans riding these dark ships that can dive into the sea and emerge back up without sinking suddenly spoke in legible and fluent English where they demanded to have the entire fleet of ships to surrender.

"What to do… what to do…"

The admiral, a former captain in the Dutch navy who served as a privateer that harassed both French and Spanish ships in the Caribbean before resigning after receiving a better employment deal in the Dutch East India company, set the gears in his brain in motion regarding the decision he must make for the safety of his men, vessels and ultimately, their mission.

"Diving ships… surely they would exchange something big in order to accommodate the tools in order to use the ability to dive and rise without sinking their ships."

"Admiral! Look at their ships!"

"-! That's it!"

He was thinking about just surrendering when the sharp-eyed captain of the ship pointed at the nearest submarine and without any other words, conveyed what he meant.

"Demand our surrender? Hah! They're bluffing! Send my orders to all the ships! We will sink them posthaste!"

"""Aye, aye, sir!!!"""

"Open the murder holes and bring out the cannons! We will claim this first victory!"

At the other side of the engagement, the parabolic microphone pointed at the enemy flagship caught everything that the admiral spoke about and even without much knowledge about the Dutch language, Ryuusui knows what kind of voice one speaks with when they are elated with the idea of glory and victory.

"Send orders to every vessel that they will not surrender. Seal the vessel and get ready for crash dive! Tell the torpedo room crew to load tubes 1 to 8 with standard guided torpedoes."

"Aye, sir! All hands, seal the vessel and prepare for crash dive. I repeat, seal the vessel and prepare for crash dive!"

["Aye, bridge. Sealing and preparing for immediate dive."]

"Torpedo crew, load tubes one to eight with standard guided torpedoes."

["Aye, bridge. Preparing armaments."]

With disciplined and coordinated movements, it only took half a minute for all of the submarines that surfaced as per the orders given to them, to return under the sea water and posture their torpedo tubes towards their enemies who are still in the process of priming their ship's cannons.

At the deck of the Dutch flagship, the sudden diving of the enemy vessel gained a mixed reaction from the sailors who either took it as the enemy realizing that their bluff fell through and subsequently escaped with their tail between their legs, or as a source of dread after they realized that not only can their enemies appear out of the depths of the sea all of a sudden, they can also disappear without a trace.

"Admiral…!"

"I know. I need you to be vigilant, men! The enemy has dived into the sea fearing our weapons! Given that they need to remain light in order to not fully sink, their vessels are surely unarmed and unable to fight us off!"

"The admiral is right!"

"Cheer, men! Victory is as sure as ours!"

"The cannons are armed! They better hide well or we will---"

At that very moment, a bright flash cut through the dark night followed by a thundering explosion and lastly, a tremendous shockwave that swept the dumbfounded sailors off their feet.

"What on earth is---?"

"Huah-!"

"D-Dael… Dael is---!"

At the center of their fleet, the place in the formation that should've been the safest and most heavily defended, the 200-cannon ship-of-the-line Dael, exploded with a flash and in a matter of moments, disappeared into the waters with no traces of its crew left.

"Battleship Dael has been sunk…"

"What the… what the hell is happening here…?"

Not a moment after the shock of one of their strongest ships being sunk has been washed away from their mind, another bright flash lit up the dark night, followed by the loud explosion and forceful shockwave.

"Supply ship Fae has been sunk!"

"Where are they attacking us?!"

"No sightings of any enemy ships!"

"How are they hitting the ships inside our formation?! Just how?!?!?!"

Of the 412 ships that was detected, this detached advance fleet contained 76 warships and one by one, they were picked off by the submarines who launched their guided torpedoes with pinpoint accuracy and without firing at the same ship twice.

All around him, one by one, the Dutch admiral watched as his entire fleet was demolished by an enemy that they cannot see nor defend against. Like a fish in a barrel or a deer in a bear's fangs, they were surrounded, soon to be outnumbered and definitely outgunned.

"R-Raise anchor! Raise the damn anchor!"

"W-what are you saying to the men?! We cannot move from here until the second fleet arrives!"

"With all due respect, General! If you want to die, jump into the sea and spare my men and I from sharing that fate! C-Come on, you louts! Get that anchor up!"

"Tch! H-how… Just how-!"

Under the sea, the submarines continued to assign targets before promptly launching their guided torpedoes on the enemy with impunity.

The standard guided torpedoes carried by the attack submarines of the Kiko submarine force's official codename is SS-3H and nicknamed as "Unagi" for its long and sleek body but also the fact that with the speed of 50 knots or 93 kilometers per hour, it is alike the well-loved Japanese eel's speedy movement in the water. Coupled with its 150-kilogram conventional explosive warhead, it has enough destructive capability to decimate anything it is assigned to hit.

"How many hostile ships left?"

"14 vessels left untargeted and not sunk, sir."

"Have you labelled the flagship of this fleet and left it untouched?"

"Yes, Admiral. Thanks to the centralized combat management system, we managed to inform the other vessels to leave it untouched as well."

"Good. With the wanton destruction happening on the surface, I'm sure that they'd try to run away any minute now. When that time comes, let's surface and give the marines their first foreign ship boarding mission."

"Is that out of consideration for my boys and I, Admiral Fumikage?"

Hearing that they're about to be given a mission, the captain of the marines attached to the submarine stood up and joked about finally being of use.

"Take it as however you wish, captain. But if anything, I want to hear nothing but "mission accomplished" from you once this is over."

"Hahaha! Anything for you, sir!"

At the sea above, the last targeted ship of the advance fleet was hit with a torpedo, sinking it alongside its crew that was either blown to pieces, had their innards vaporized by the explosive shockwave or was trapped beneath the decks.

Only one ship remained due to it being spared of the onslaught and it sped into the dark sea as all the men it carried feared for their lives and cannot spare a thought for their fallen comrades.

"Unfurl all the sails! We need as much speed as we can to get out of this place!"

"Captain! That's too risky! Maneuvering the rudder is getting difficult and we may hit a reef or sandbar!"

"Shut up! Shut up!! SHUT UP!!!"

Just as the captain's outburst had ended, a rumble ran through the entire ship and shouts from under the deck informed them of the cause.

"Captain! We hit a shallow reef! The entire lower deck is taking on water!"

"Then seal it and get the water out!"

"W-What? …T-they say that the gash is too large!"

"Kh! Then seal the entire lower deck!"

"Seal the lower deck! Get the planks and seal it shut!"

After that collision with a reef, their ship took in copious amounts of water and because of the extent of the damage, they were forced to seal the damaged deck shut just to spare themselves from the fate of sinking.

"We've lost the 32-pounder cannons and much of our gunpowder. At this point, we can only fire in self defense."

"Just thank lady luck that we even survived for this long, Admiral."

"…I wonder if anyone else survived."

"I doubt it, the enemy must've decimated them."

The conversation between the captain and the admiral was tense as they continued to try evading the enemy that they can't even see. After the collision earlier, no amount of gale behind their sails can return them to their speed prior to taking in almost enough water to sink their vessel.

"Can we find land? No, scratch that, can we even just survive?"

"Pray, Admiral… I may not be a paragon of faith but only a miracle can save us now."

Later on, even the emergency measure of sealing the flooded deck of their ship wouldn't hold and their ship would sink. But the crew, or at least those who rose their hands in surrender, would be taken by Kiko's marines and be held as prisoners of war alongside the English and Prussian sailors who preceded them with an attempt of invasion.

"…That is all that I have to report."

"I see. You've done your job well, Admiral Fumikage. From here on out, I'd leave this to the navy, but I want the silent service to remain ready to sortie out as soon as I give the order."

"Understood, General Shimura!"

"Alright, gentlemen. Dismissed! We will convene again in the early evening but keep yourself inside Naka city if ever an emergency summon comes up."

The other officers left the meeting room and went their own ways, save for two men who both peered out of the window where they once had a master who has that habit.

"Of all the things you would say, "As soon as I give the order" is one of the things that I least expected to come from you of all people."

"…"

"How is he these days? It's been a month since he woke up, has nothing really changed?"

"Not at all… I'm afraid."

"…Is that so?"

Although he has left them with a nation that is secure, strong and affluent, his "disappearance" was still a huge blow to all of the people that he personally met and changed their lives.

"Has the Shogun and Chief Priestess made their decision?"

"They have. They'll keep their positions but cede their hold in political power to give way to the new national government. As the Shogun said, "all pieces belong to their respective games. Even a golden general piece must know that he cannot substitute for a white Go piece"."

(T/N: Simply put, a Queen chess piece isn't meant to be used in tic-tac-toe.)

"Well said. They can keep their titles and sway in the eyes of the public, but they will not participate any longer unless necessary."

Ryuusui looked at his pocket watch and saw that it was almost time for him to leave. He turned to Nobisuke and spoke.

"It's time to do it, Nobisuke-kun… by force, if necessary."

Left with those words, Nobisuke gnashed his teeth in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Iwasawa-sama… I wish that you can forgive me.