The Land of the Rising Sun Transfers to Another World

Chapter 135: The Lit Fuse of War

Thanks as always for the typo report!!

- ワイアード

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Phoenitz Station Boarding Area, 25th Territory Capital Suburbs, Second World

On the outskirts of the capital of this country, now a dominion of the Lemurian Empire, lies Phoenitz Station. Inside it, the passenger platforms bustled with activity.

The platforms were overflowing with soldiers burdened with large luggage. All of them belonged to the Covenant, and most gathered here were heading to the Western Front Support Command Base. Amidst the steam blowing from the already-arrived trains, soldiers exchanged farewells with their families, relatives, friends, and lovers before boarding.

Some shed tears.

Others laughed together.

Still others embraced one another tightly.

Several trains were already stationed inside, prepared to depart at any moment.

Among the soldiers was First Lieutenant Razeph Loew Moore.

'What twist of fate... that I should survive like this.'

He had been court-martialed for the crime of aiding the escape of heretics, enemies of the state. The military tribunal had sentenced him to death by firing squad—or so it should have been. Instead, his punishment was reduced to demotion and reassignment to the Western Frontline Base at Grazil. Now, he was about to board a train heading toward the forward base via the rear-support station of Dea.

'I wasn't even allowed a final meeting with my family... but I'll have to accept it. They say I'll at least be able to send letters once I arrive.'

He thought of his wife and two beloved daughters, left behind in the 11th Territory. His wife, though a local, was well-regarded by many in the settlement regardless of her origins. His daughters, too, were cheerful and kind-hearted. He reassured himself that they would likely be fine.

Moore's thoughts drifted back to the military tribunal. Even now, thinking about it felt unsettling.

The man who whispered into the ear of the presiding judge was Lemurian, but there was a distinct coldness about him.

'Could he have been... one of the secret police?'

The secret police were an organization tasked with investigating, exposing, and eliminating insurgents or subversive elements within the Empire. It was rare for an operative of the Emperor's directly-controlled organization to be active in foreign territories like this.

'Even along the way here, I overheard disturbing rumors. It's not impossible.'

The stories he had heard: Many soldiers like him, engaged or romantically involved with locals instead of pure-blooded Lemurians, had been accused of fabricated crimes and sent to the frontlines. He had personally seen a Lemurian woman separated from her husband, a local resident of the 23rd Territory.

That wasn't all. Even in regions where tensions with the locals were beginning to ease, overt discriminatory policies were being implemented. Reports of locals being imprisoned as dissidents or subjected to large-scale purges were increasing. In the past few months, the Empire had openly returned to ruling its dominions and local populations with violence and fear. High-ranking officials and commanders advocating reconciliation and peace were being reassigned, replaced by arrogant supremacists who upheld Lemurian dominance.

There is no mercy, even to the elderly or women and children. The regime's brutal suppression of even the smallest uprisings with heavy landships and warships was horrifying.