Just A Reincarnation Story (Summoning Japan Edition)

Chapter 20: Fear Nothing

To the west of the Central World, across the vast body of water known as the Minerva Ocean, there is the land of Mu, one of the two great powers that occupied the region known as the Second Civilization Area. Second only to the Holy Milishial Empire in terms of national might, its civilization exuded wonders that set it apart from the rest of the world. For example, the major cities that lined its coasts are thriving metropolises with large ports, multi-story buildings, and tall towers that marked their landscape, not unlike its counterpart across the ocean.

However, unlike the fantastic and futuristic ambiance of Milishian cities, Mu's largest settlements have a more austere, rather down-to-earth feeling to them. Square-shaped brick buildings lined the paved avenues with a distinct architecture not seen in other parts of the world; factories with cylindrical chimneys churning black smoke into the sky; steel ships that filled their ports; carriages, both horse-driven and the new self-propelled horseless types, milled on their streets; and artificial lighting that illuminated the streets at night. It is a scene that will be somewhat familiar for someone from our world, Earth, reminding them of a picture from their history books. Yes, Mu is a country similar to the major nations of Earth in the early twentieth century.

The Kingdom of Mu is, in many ways, strange, but not necessarily in a bad way.

For one, they are said to be descended from a race of humans with no magic power. Even after generations of mixed marriages with the magic-wielding people from neighboring lands, a Muish's magical potential remains at zero with a mana capacity so minuscule that they can barely be detected by the Holy Empire's prided mana detector. But it didn't stop them from prospering in this magic-dominated world as they focused their efforts on the development of machines involving as little magic as possible, using scientific principles they learned to produce what is known as mechanical technology.

Furthermore, in this world, where relations between nations are marked by the strong preying on the weak, Mu championed the values of pacifism, neutrality, and fair and equal relationships, an alien concept in this world where hegemony and imperialism run rampant. As a result, respect comes naturally from other nations that have relationships with them, pure and genuine, and Mu is known as the kindest out of the five great powers of the known world.

Despite their peculiarities, Mu is still a nation of an advanced civilization with a unique and rich culture, an exciting destination for visitors eager to collect tales of their travels.

---

1 Frimaire (Month 11) 12014 Muish Calendar (Gel. 1, 1614 CC), 22:45

Capital Otaheit

The dim lights from buildings and street lamps illuminated the nightscape of the capital city of the Kingdom of Mu. The streets are still wet and waterlogged in places after it rained a while ago, further discouraging the Otaheit residents from venturing out into the already cold air of late autumn. And as the clock approached midnight, the streets of the city that was thriving with pedestrians and vehicles in the daytime became increasingly empty. Otaheit is asleep, but not quite so.

In one corner of the city, there is a facility where the headquarters for Mu's Directorate of Intelligence and Information Analysis, known in their native tongue as "Direction du renseignement et de l'analyse de l'information", or DRAI, is located; a center for the country's information gathering and analysis.

Despite their role as the handler and analyzer of information, an aspect that is vital to the development of their own technology, they are derided by the ordinary military personnel as a meaningless organization and a nuisance. Maybe it's because of the nature of this world, where there are huge gaps between nations labeled as non-civilized, the civilized, and superpowers, where their power is only below the strongest superpower of the world. Or maybe it's because of the slow, almost stagnating pace of development of nations so that the ordinary military personnel do not feel the need to seriously gather information about their hypothetical enemies.