The Red Princess's Shadow Empire
I landed at Haneda, then immediately arranged accommodations with the help of local branch organization members in Japan.
Just like in Korea, I secured a hotel room once again. The only difference was that this time I chose a location with a direct view of the Imperial Palace.
There were plenty of other options, but I picked this one for a reason: it aligned perfectly with the objectives of my current Japan assignment.
Our princess and the circle she leads must expand their recognition across the entire archipelago.
Korea didn't need recognition boosts, but Japan was a different story entirely.
To push the Japanese Communist Party from the fringes of power into the central government, we would have to employ methods that could only be described as extreme.
Of course, the most convenient approach would be to place Koizumi Junichiro, the prime minister, directly under my control from the outset.
Yet that path held almost no appeal for me. Who could say what dormant dreams of a Greater East Asia would awaken if a real clash with the Soviets ever erupted in the Far East?
Ultimately, I could only control individuals and the few direct subordinates they oversaw.
In that reality, could I possibly master all two hundred thousand Japanese Self-Defense Force members?
No need to think twice. The answer is a clear no.
Even with Hokkaido, the Kurils, and Sakhalin annexed, turning once-proud Yamato people into contemptible puppets in the north was inevitable.
But from a broader historical lens, the path to Japan's defeat in the previous world war was remarkably similar to its real counterpart.
Stalin's decision to use captured Japanese national artifacts as guinea pigs had merely accelerated the Soviet declaration of war by a slim margin.
At the end of the day, Japan still suffered the devastating effects of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing unconditional surrender.
So too did the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and the dissolution of the Empire of Japan unfold swiftly—except for Hokkaido, the Allied victors carried it out.
The Showa Emperor had become a mere man, and the once-mighty Imperial Army had shrunk dramatically.
Countless Japanese soldiers were forcibly discharged, and the military was eventually renamed the Self-Defense Force.
Half a century had passed since then—
The archipelago was now desperately trying to heal the scars of the previous world war and return to being a “normal state.”
In such a Japan, the greatest obstacle remained the Peace Constitution. A draconian law that forbade the possession of an army.
Of course, it was a draconian law, but the fact that it had been written by Americans wasn't particularly significant.
There was one key difference from the original history.
The presence of the Ezo Soviet.
Just as the real Republic of Korea endured enemies from outside even after the new regime was established, so too would purging the old system remain incomplete.
Just as there were plenty of pro-Japanese collaborators in the founding days of the Korean army?
Same story for Japan in this world... or rather, South Japan as well.
Despite the lack of open warfare with the Ezo puppets, the newly formed Japanese state had no choice but to recruit some of the former Imperial Army officers to defend its southern borders.
“Defendant Araki Sadao has been involved in and even encouraged various war crimes, making his culpability extremely grave.”
“However, if we evaluate Araki solely on his abilities as a general in the Imperial Japanese Army at the time, he possessed exceptional talent. This court therefore sentences him to life imprisonment.”
“Life imprisonment means he must serve with full dedication to rebuilding the new Japanese Self-Defense Force. He will reinforce the defense of Honshu against the communist advance...”
“Defendant Itagaki Seishiro shall also receive a life sentence for the same reasons, despite the suspicion of biological experiments on Korean, Chinese, and Allied prisoners of war in Manchuria.”
“Regarding defendant Mutaguchi Renya, we find him innocent, accepting that he made no substantial contribution to the Japanese army during the Sino-Japanese War.”
One oddball slipped in at the end, but it was a fact that several Class-A war criminals sentenced to life imprisonment or execution in the original history were now being released.
This information had been verified through Delis and cross-checked with the British embassy already established in Japan.
So if I controlled only the prime minister and his circle, any fascist tendencies that might erupt among the rank-and-file Self-Defense Force members would be no surprise.
In other words... amending the Peace Constitution to restore the military, or pushing northward to reclaim the glory of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere—those were voices I had already heard too many times.
In the worst-case scenario, a sudden crisis could erupt in Tokyo. All attention that should have focused on Hokkaido and its surrounding waters would suddenly swing to the Kanto region.
This was far beyond the role I had originally expected from South Japan.
Primarily, the bad side of the equation.
The role of South Japan was simple: while Korea prepared its northward push toward Manchuria to confront North Korea head-on in the Far East, South Japan needed only to draw the rest of the world's attention away.
Amending the Peace Constitution or reviving the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere were issues I had no particular interest in.
To be more precise, while I could suppress them, they weren't worth the precious time or the insight of me or my key organization members.
That was exactly why the plan to draw Tokugawa Chiyoko into Japanese central politics had been conceived.
To control an overly right-leaning Self-Defense Force to the degree I desired, beyond what the original history offered, a symbol of national unity—the Emperor—was indispensable.
But that alone wasn't enough. Would Japanese right-wing extremists sincerely revere the Emperor?
They would simply treat him as a long-term pawn in their own plans, as they had during the February 26 Incident and the Palace Incident.
Both the February 26 Incident and the Palace Incident were coup plots hatched during the Empire of Japan.
Each one had carried a surprisingly naive goal: “Remove the traitors and corrupt officials surrounding the Emperor and directly embrace His Majesty's will.”
Should we call this naivety or simply foolishness?
From that perspective, for a symbol of national unity, having two—rather than one—would be even better.
If not only the current Emperor Akihito but also his fifth-cousin princess sat in a key position in the central government, controlling the right-wing extremists would become far easier.
Of course, there would still be grumbling voices within the Self-Defense Force.
“Because the princess is influenced by the Red (communists), she's treating the Ezo communists too gently.”
Yet among Self-Defense Force members who only complain without acting, compared to those driven by resentment to seize power and push for constitutional revision, I preferred the former.
What was required for that was something I had already pondered many times: raising the recognition of the Japanese Communist Party.
Because the matter was far too important, I had no intention of leaving it solely to the subordinates I had left behind in the field or to the Red Princess herself.
Thus, Tokugawa Chiyoko arrived at the hotel suite overlooking the Imperial Palace and its surrounding gardens, responding to my summons.
“...It's been a long time since I've faced you like this. Irene Ronska... no, Yerina Bronska-san.”
“Let me see... We met at the end of last year, so this is my first time since then. Nearly half a year, I suppose? I'm truly glad to see you again, General Secretary.
Tokugawa Chiyoko's gaze moved from me standing in the center of the suite straight to the landscape beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“......”
“Why, does the view make you nostalgic?”
At the end of her gaze lay the garden where the Red Princess used to run around as a child. Places separate from the paths taken by ordinary tourists.
Tokugawa Chiyoko answered my question with a sharp edge, adding a hint of ridicule.
“...What a curious hobby. You must know what that place meant to me, don't you?”
“Well, if you truly abandoned your status as a princess, shouldn't your longing have faded by now?”
“......”
I switched to Japanese and asked again.
“But that's not the case, is it? It simply means that the latter part of your identity as the Red Princess remains strong in your heart.”
“...I can't deny that.”
Actually, there was one more reason I had deliberately avoided visiting Tokugawa Chiyoko and instead let her come to me.
It was to peek at her true feelings.
In the plan to elevate Tokugawa Chiyoko, the Japanese Communist Party's General Secretary, to a nationwide political newcomer who would shake the entire archipelago, a royal bloodline was inevitably tied to it.
For politicians, nothing mattered more than attention. No matter how capable or ambitious they were, in a democracy they had to be imprinted on people's minds.
From that viewpoint, Tokugawa Chiyoko's royal status was a identity too precious to discard.
Wasn't it an identity that rivaled the idol-level popularity from simply existing on stage?
Therefore, before turning the plan into reality, I needed to first ask the princess her true intentions.
Otherwise, if I forced her into an unwanted role, things would get complicated. She would simply be taking on a part she didn't want.
To suppress the princess who was also a mage and guide her toward what I wanted, it would have taken considerable effort.
That was exactly why I was glad she still carried the scent of her former identity toward me.
To perform the role I offered skillfully, the actor herself had to become fully immersed in the part.
Only then would the “authenticity” required for the performance exist. Authenticity in which both actor and audience were truly immersed in the role.
I walked slowly toward Tokugawa Chiyoko and asked.
“I'm curious how you define your own identity yourself.”
“Thinking about it, I haven't heard the direct story from you yet, have I? I've read a lot of what the media says, but even with the person standing right in front of me, I never heard it.”
“If it's all right with you, please tell me? What kind of future does the princess truly dream of? And what kind of future for Japan do you truly dream of?”