Emissaries - A Kai Side Story

Chapter 1: The City and the Sanctum

NOTE: This is rose. I apologize for you having to wait this long for a new chapter. The next chapter, Chapter 1.5, will be coming up later this week (as early as tomorrow); we will try to get 2 chapters out to get back to the main story as soon as possible. Until then, we'll tell this story about the past and present.

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Cent. Calendar 07/09/1639, somewhere above the oceans north of Qua-Toyne, 7:00

It was the early morning of a day in late January of the 4th year of Reiwa (2022 elsewhere); or at least, that should have been the case had they not transferred to Asherah some months prior.

Remembering that it was actually the 9th Month of the local solar calendar, Hikaru Izumi still had trouble wrapping her mind around what had happened and what was happening. She clutched her head, which was throbbing in pain due to stress, as she tried not to throw up from the rumbling of the Hercules transport plane that she was in. Feeling that she was losing herself in the egregiously fast pace of recent circumstances, she looked outside the small glass window to her rear left.

"Huh."

What greeted her was an awfully large expanse of sparkling blue ocean dotted with the occasional puffs of white clouds in the foreground. Had it not been for the context that she was really in another world, she would have easily been convinced that she was on a chartered flight that was flying across the great Pacific.

"Looks just like back on Earth, 'ight?"

A squeaky, feminine voice assailed her ears from her right with the all too obvious Kansai dialect combining with the innate talkative aura hidden underneath the words to create a force strong enough to rival Izumi's gargantuan patience. Sitting just to her right was her friend and fellow humanities professor, Kita Michi. The early morning sunlight leaking in from the windows served to brighten her flowing golden locks, illuminating the rest of the dark cabin in a somber yellow glow.

"It looks too much like Earth, despite this place being alien. It's scary."

"Aw, ya just have 'ta ruin the atmosphere."

"I mean, we don't really know what to expect. Sure, we've been briefed and trained on their local cultural mannerisms and language for the past four months, but that's not much to go on."

As part of government-commissioned research, they would have to be present onsite to do their work. Several teams consisting of archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, historians, and others recruited from many of Japan's prestigious universities were created to undertake many objectives. So far, the government has not disclosed the reasons as to why these objectives were being pursued, but the compensation was too good to pass up for many, including Izumi and Kita.

"They showed us some pics, didn't they? What're they called again? Was it Qua-Toyne?"

"Yeah. A 16th century-esque principality with farmlands that 'stretched beyond the horizon'–or so they said."

What appeared in their minds were the pictures of rustic stone and brick buildings, towering spires, magnificent city walls, and a seemingly endless ocean of agricultural wealth. They were actually set to go there a month ago, but leftover tensions after a local hostility in which Japan was involved prompted the government to delay their deployment.

"Ah! Remembering makes me even more excited, Izumi-san! It reminds me of beautiful Toscana back home~"

The excitement came from a woman who sat to the right of Kita, whose elegantly straightened brunette hair contrasted with Kita's blonde locks. She spoke fluent Japanese, but her intonation at times breaks the immersion of a listener convinced that she was not a foreigner.