Chapter 40: People with Difficult Names, Please Don’t Cause Troubles

“…… Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was which Tokugawa again?”

In a classroom in an absolutely normal middle school, currently splayed over a desk is an otherworlder aka summoner apprentice aka middle schooler aka Elte-san.

Elte-san is here because she was unable to escape the law of compulsory education, but actually, due to her status as a summoner apprentice, she’s already received a fair amount of education.

But whereas in the sciences she can apply her previous knowledge here and there, the social studies that she had absolutely no prior knowledge of are torturing her every single day. It’s already to the level where she would really like it if historic generals would just be named Jirou or Saburou in order. ¹

“Are you alright, Elte? By the way, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi is the shogun who was famous for the ridiculous Edicts on Compassion for Living Things law. He’s the son of the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. The first half of his rule was great but the latter half was the Edicts that I mentioned just now and also a bunch of other things……” ²

“Oooi, if you dump it all on Elte at once she’s going to overheat.”

Elte-san is currently surrounded by her classmates. Apparently her identity as an otherworlder hasn’t stopped her from safely fitting in with her class.

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Incidentally, though the Edicts is famous for being a bad law, at the start it was merely the concept of ‘let’s treat living beings with respect.’ But everyone just ignored him so completely that he got upset about it and sent it out again and again.

It did have the good aspect of forbidding the abandoning of pups, and though the Edictswere immediately repealed after his death, this mentality still remained.

“In the first place, why is the compulsory education of this country at such a pointlessly high standard? You guys aren’t even going to become magicians so why would you learn arithmetics? What’d you use it for?”

“More like, magicians use arithmetics?”

Japan has a thoroughly educational system that is prominent even by global standards. As a result, the Japanese populace boasts an almost 100% literacy rate, a standard that sounds amazing but doesn’t really feel particularly amazing.

Incidentally, Japan’s high literacy has already been a thing since several hundred years ago. Back during the Edo period, the rate was already more than half if you look solely at the commoner class, and more than 90% if you look solely at the nobility.

This was due to Japan’s characteristic system of temple elementary education and the people’s diligent thirst for learning.

While we’re on the topic, it should also be noted that depending on the region, it was the girls who had a higher percentage of school attendance.

It is said that male chauvinism is quite prominent in Japan, but in the commoner class there are actually quite a significant percentage of households where the wife has more power than the husband.

Please don’t say the ‘husbands are great when they’re healthy and not home’ line. You’re going to make dads all over the country cry. ³

“Sweet things are best when you’re tired. Wanna hit somewhere on the way home?”

“Ah, sorry. Today Oto-… Adachi-san is coming home so I have to go back earlier.”

“You were about to call him ‘Otou-san’ again.”

As always, Adachi-kun has not adopted Elte-san, but she’s already so frequently accidentally calling him ‘Otou-san’ that she might as well just give up being conscious about it.

“Why not just honestly call him Otou-san already? Even if you’re not adopted, he’s your backer and guardian, which makes him like a parent figure, right?”

“B-, but won’t it be a bother for him?”

“I think he’d probably be glad instead. Prime Minister Adachi’s wife passed away early, so he doesn’t have children after all.”

“He even made time to come to Parents’ Day.”

“Uuu……”

Each of the incoming comments weighing on Elte-san causes her to be at a lost for words. It seems that she herself has also come to consider it about high time.

“…… Alright, I’ll call him that when I get home today.”

“Ganbare~”

Elte-san has finally folds, at which her classmates irresponsibly cheer her on.

Thus when Adachi-kun got home that day, Elte-san said “welcome back, Otou-san” but then Adachi-kun just naturally replied “yep, I’m back”. Noticing Linbel-san’s and Graios-san’s smirks, she ended up being the only one rolling in agonizing embarrassment. ⁴

Today, too, Japan is at peace.

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In a certain small village.

This village that is situated on the border between Meldeia Kingdom and Galdeia Kingdom is frequently snatched back and forth between the two countries. While this gives the Village Chief an endless number of headaches, the villagers themselves are more like “oh, our nationality got changed again? OK” and generally just living their lives normally.

That is pretty much the general degree of national identity of those living in a medieval feudalistic society. To put it bluntly, as long as their lives tomorrow are guaranteed, they couldn’t care less which country they belong to.

“Sense~i. The calculations here aren’t correct!”

“Nn-, let me take a look.”

And in this village, there is an eccentric teacher brandishing a teacher’s pointer at children.

Her name is Akechi Ryouko-san. She is a Japanese who had somehow wandered into this world and become this village’s teacher before she had gotten even her bearings.

“Sensei, I’m done with the practice problems!”

“Already? That’s fast.”

“Yep! Cus I also do this at home. I won’t lose to Eric!”

Among Ryouko-san’s students are some who are actually quite close to being adults.

This is because of the young man Erik who, after learning simple reading and writing and maths from her, managed the unbelievable success of being hired full time by the merchant firm that he had been working at as a mere errand boy.

Though it might sound strange to modern Japanese, the ability to read and write is considered a technical skill in and of itself.

That is why some foreigners who come to Japan and see homeless people reading newspapers get confused and wonder why those homeless haven’t already been hired by some place.

“It’s really thanks to Sensei that my career aspects have expanded so much.”

“I still remember when I was just an errand boy. I was struggling so hard just to make ends meet.”

“We owe Sensei a debt so great that we can never pay it back, really.”

So saying, the students direct their gazes towards Ryouko-san, then slowly descend.

“…… Small as she might be.”

“…… She really is small.”

“…… She probably won’t look out of place if she stands within a crowd of children.”

Indeed, Ryouko-san’s height is even lower than the average for Japanese women. On the other hand, the children of this world have very good physical development. If she stands beside such children, she’d just blend in and become impossible to pick out.

But for the Ryouko-san who is so small that she had been treated as a child even when she was in Japan, the word ‘small’ is absolutely taboo.

“…… Three times the homework for you three, confirmed.”

“How could you?!”

“That’s tyranny!!”

Ryouko-san increases their homework in revenge.

Today, too, this otherworld is at peace.

¹ Especially in the earlier days, it was common for Japanese sons to be named Junichirou, Jirou, Saburou (ie. ‘First Son,’ ‘Second Son,’ ‘Third Son’) etc. So Elte-san would prefer if they were all named that way, instead of whatever other weird names.

² The Edicts on Compassion for Living Things was a collection of laws protecting dogs. But this law is now known as a bad law because it reflected how he weighed the lives of dogs over actual people. The population of dogs in Edo (many of which were strays) shot up to the point where it was stinking and spreading disease. (Wikipedia)

³ This is the punchline from a commercial from 1986, “Teishu genki de rusu ga ii (亭主元気で留守がいい)” that was selling bug repellent, where the product is “Tansu ni Gon” which sounds similar to “Teishu ni Gon (husbands be gone)”. Supposedly the line was meant to appeal to wives, but now the line has become known almost as an idiom. More on this here,with a video of the actual commercial too.

⁴ Okaeri = “welcome back” and Tadaima = “I’m back”. These two expressions come in a pair, where the former is said by whoever is at home and the latter is said by whoever has just come home. The order can be switched, no problem.