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Chapter 63: Awakening from Peaceful Slumber: Jōkisen

It was a winter day, just after the New Year’s holidays had ended.

The snow that had fallen overnight blanketed the surroundings. I was bundled up in winter gear, building a snow sculpture in the backyard when I heard a sneeze coming from the mountains.

Could flower spirits even catch colds? Curious, I grabbed a spare scarf and snuck off to investigate.

What I found was three fire lizards running circles around Fuyou, melting the snow.

Unaffected by the cold, the fire lizards nimbly dodged every attempt Fuyou made to catch them with her roots, all while letting out high-pitched giggles.

Fuyou, frustrated, shouted at them—but she was smiling.

They’re getting along pretty well, huh.

…Or were they? Well, at least they were playful enough to be considered friendly.

Not wanting to interrupt their game, I draped the scarf over a low-hanging branch where it would be easy to spot, then quietly retreated.

Have fun fighting, you guys.

As I exhaled a puff of white breath and returned to the backyard, I found Hiyori there.

She was staring intently at the snow sculpture I’d made, which made me a little embarrassed.

“Yo, Hiyori. Uh, just so you know, I didn’t have any reference materials for that. The details are kinda sketchy.”

“No, I get it. It’s a cow, right? But why would you go through the trouble of making such a realistic cow out of snow?”

“Because we had beef hot pot for dinner last night.”

—Well, technically, it was monster beef.

After the Gremlin Disaster, most livestock farms had been attacked by carnivorous monsters, causing a drastic decline in the production of purebred beef. The industry still hadn’t recovered.

With import bans in place, beef was now a luxury item. It was expensive, but more than that, the supply was so limited that even if you had money, you might not be able to buy any.

But monster meat wasn’t bad either. It needed to be marinated in a secret sauce to be edible, which left a faintly acidic aftertaste due to the stomach acid-derived ingredients—but you get used to it.

Hiyori crouched down and started making a snow rabbit at the feet of my snow cow. I, in turn, began shaping a snow weasel on the cow’s back. As I pondered the best pose to give it, Hiyori suddenly paused mid-rabbit-production and spoke.

“Almost forgot. Big news, Dairi. America is coming next month.”

“Hmm… huh!? America is coming!? What do you mean!?”

“The Black Ships are arriving. The Seer Mage saw a future where a steamship bearing the American flag docks in Japan.”

“That’s a huge deal!”

“Yeah. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, so keep it to yourself.”

Not like I have anyone to tell besides Fuyou and the fire lizards.

Wait—America still exists!?

America was supposedly the migration destination of Class A monsters. I’d thought it had been completely wiped out.

From what Hiyori had heard, this wasn’t an American invasion of Japan. The people aboard the steamship—presumably Americans—were very friendly and even bringing gifts.

More details would become clear as the arrival date approached, but for now, the Witch Assembly was leaning toward welcoming them.

Hearing the phrase “Black Ships” didn’t exactly bring good historical associations.

Back in the Edo period, Japan had been forced to open its borders under military pressure, resulting in unfair treaties.

But in the previous era, Japan and America had been allies. This time, opening the country was actually a good thing. If anything, Japan now had the upper hand, with military power on its side.

I counted the months on my fingers and marveled.

“It’s been five years and eight months since the Gremlin Disaster, right? And they already managed to build a steamship and cross the Pacific? That’s some crazy-fast recovery.”

Tokyo had only just finished constructing its first shipyard, and shipbuilding was still in its infancy.

America must have also suffered a massive blow from the Gremlin Disaster, yet they had already rebuilt enough industry to construct a steamship.

Gotta hand it to them—America’s industrial strength is no joke.

“Still, wasn’t America supposed to be the migration destination for Class A monsters? Did they actually take down all of them? That would be insane.”

“Who knows? I personally think it’s a refugee ship that escaped the destruction.”

“Yeah… that makes more sense.”

According to estimates from the Department of Monster Studies, if every Class A monster in the world had gathered in America, at least fifty Class 1 monsters would have landed there.

And alongside them would be tens of thousands of Class B and Class C monsters, plus a massive wave of Class B elites.

No way you win against that.

If Japan had been the migration destination instead, we’d be wiped out ten times over. The only realistic strategy would have been to gather every witch and wizard on some remote island and barely scrape by.

So… was the second arrival of the Black Ships next month a Noah’s Ark that had fled destruction?

Or, against all odds, was it the emissary of an America that had annihilated the monster hordes and emerged as the world’s strongest nation?

When the Black Ships arrived and we could speak to them, we’d know for sure.

“Hey, if you want to go see the Black Ships, tell me first. I’ll be your escort.”

“Wait, you’re not stopping me? I thought you’d say something like, ‘Stay in Okutama until they leave!’”

“If this were the Aratake Gang incident—”

“Oh. Uh. Yeah. My bad.”

Right.

I had a record.

Last time, I’d been explicitly warned not to leave Okutama, yet I had done so anyway.

Hiyori must have figured it was better to let me go with an escort than risk me sneaking off alone again.

“Real steamships do sound kinda cool. But there’ll be a huge crowd, right? I think I’ll pass.”

“Please do. Now, the reason I’m telling you this—Dairi, how about making a gift?”

“A gift…? For America?”

“Yeah. They’re bringing gifts for us, so we should prepare something in return. The Hokkaido Monster Farm is getting a Golden Eagle Beast ready in time for their arrival. The Tohoku Hunting Guild is offering Daidarabotchi materials. The Biwa Lake Confederation hasn’t decided yet but is working on something. And from the Tokyo Witch Assembly, we’d like you to craft a magic staff.”

“Oh hell yes! I’m in!”

I was ecstatic.

This is amazing.

Starting as a staff craftsman in Okutama.

Becoming a staff craftsman in Tokyo.

Becoming a staff craftsman known throughout Japan.

And now, my magic staff will take flight into the world.

Even when I was running an online auction, I never shipped a product overseas.

If the Americans arriving on the Black Ships take a liking to my magic staff, achieving global recognition won’t just be a dream.

Engrave it into history, magic staff.

I immediately shut myself in my workshop and began designing and crafting a diplomatic gift wand.

According to Hiyori, there’s no need to worry about technology leaks.

After all, my staff’s “multi-layer structure” and “Quant-style magic compression ring” have already broken the spirits of Japan’s finest craftsmen who tried to imitate them. It’s over-technology—understanding the principle doesn’t mean they can replicate it. If someone actually managed to copy it, I’d applaud them.

Even the relatively simple anti-magic-backflow mechanism isn’t easy to mimic just by looking at the finished product. The liquefy-and-reconstitute Gremlin material looks identical to a regular Gremlin at first glance. While it’s obvious it functions differently—since it can’t be used as a magic conduit—it’s still difficult to discern the secret behind it.

That said, I was given one strict warning: don’t make it overpowered.

This is, first and foremost, a gift. To me, it’s essentially a product sample.

Of course, it should be of the highest quality, but sending something as destructive as Kyanos would be problematic. It’s like giving someone a nuclear weapon as a token of friendship—completely inappropriate.

That makes perfect sense.

Since America is known for its gun culture, I designed the diplomatic staff as a gun-staff, based on my previous model, “Titan Slayer,” with support for 5.56mm live ammunition.

Hiyori searched the black market and managed to find pre-Catastrophe bullets for test-firing.

I personally wanted to show off my Sealing Rounds to America (they would absolutely love it!), but when I consulted the Blue Witch, our diplomatic representative, she immediately vetoed the idea. The Sealing Rounds were too overpowered.

Fair enough. With those, even non-mages could potentially kill witches and wizards. If you used one for a sniping attack, froze time on your target, then stacked dynamite at their feet, you could blow them up with no chance of escape. It’s seriously dangerous.

In the end, I balanced the performance of the diplomatic gun-staff.

• The core is made of Gremlin material, structured in three layers.
• It features a Quant-style magic compression ring, but only a single loop instead of a double-crossed structure.
• The anti-backflow mechanism is at full capacity.
• It has a transformation mechanism to switch between staff mode and gun mode.
• The only playful element is the staff’s grip. I used wood that Fuyou created as her first real test of material generation. It’s lightweight yet as strong as bronze—an impressive achievement. Despite its strength, it weighs no more than normal wood.

Finally, I carefully placed the completed gun-staff into a high-quality paulownia wood box befitting a diplomatic gift and sent it off.

Now, all that’s left is to wait for the results.

The arrival of the Black Ships is near.

How will America react to my magic wand?

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