I can hear the sound of marching boots.
Three years had already passed since Sister Shia said those words.
“…What terrible news.”
Now fifteen, I was once again sipping tea in my room.
I held a newspaper in my hand.
“An assassination.”
The headline reported a major event: the crown prince of the Austin Empire, an ally of the Kingdom of Lunoa, had been assassinated.
“…An assassination?”
This world’s level of civilization was roughly early modern.
More precisely, it was at about the level of the First World War.
As for the present international situation, the Kingdom of Lunoa occupied the center of the continent, while the Kingdom of Friez and the Rosha Empire, situated on either side of it, had formed an alliance in opposition.
Our homeland, the Kingdom of Lunoa, had originally consisted of many competing noble territories before emerging as a single powerful new nation… Yes, it was exactly like the German Empire. The Kingdom of Friez was France, and the Rosha Empire was Russia.
The structure of this world wasn’t very different from Earth at the time of the First World War.
“Wait a moment… This…”
I wasn’t stupid. I had naturally understood this structure for some time.
One glance at a map made it obvious.
There were also many features unique to this world: no island nation equivalent to Britain, and the successor to a former superpower—the birthplace of a world religion unrelated to Italy—still pretending to be a neutral game master.
What mattered, however, was the axis of conflict between the Kingdom of Lunoa and the two-country alliance, and the existence of a place that had become a battlefield for their proxy wars.
That place was the Austin Empire, an empire encompassing several countries. Some of its constituent nations had begun independence movements more than ten years earlier. The two-country alliance supported the separatists, while the Kingdom of Lunoa supported the Austin Empire.
Now the crown prince of the Austin Empire had been assassinated. Could this news become this world’s Sarajevo incident?
“……”
My expression darkened as I held the newspaper.
How large would the coming war become? With magic in this world, I didn’t expect it to unfold exactly as the war in my previous life had. But if war broke out between the great powers, the incredible surface peace of the past hundred years would collapse.
“…I hate this.”
Weapons should be stockpiled and serve as deterrents.
I wished they wouldn’t be set in motion. With that thought, I continued reading.
“Noah! Have you been well? Your big sister has come to see you!”
In the middle of this, the door to my room flew open and Sister Shia’s voice rang out.
“Sister Shia!? Why are you here!?”
“What? Haven’t you heard? War—war is beginning. That’s why I came back.”
“…What!?”
Sister Shia, who was supposed to be in the royal capital, was standing here.
That alone was startling, but her declaration that war was beginning shocked me even more.
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