CH 42

42. An old tale

It was about late April.

Three weeks since I started high school.

It would be nice if I was only having a good time for the whole three weeks… but the reality was, one problem occurred.

“…I really can’t understand the class.”

The specs of this body seem to be extremely high, and the knowledge up to middle school is firmly in my head.

In other words, I shouldn’t fall behind in my studies…

“…No matter how good a car is, if you’re not good at driving it, it’s useless huh?”

“Souya-kun, what’s wrong?”

Said Atsushi, whose seat was beside me.

Anyway, what the teacher was saying, I couldn’t understand it.

I stumbled at the beginning and thought it would get better as time passed, but now, zero, nothing. Not a single thing had stuck in my brain.

“Hey, Atsushi. What’s the difference between velocity and acceleration?”

It was a physics class, but I had been struggling with the fundamentals.

“Distance divided by time is velocity, and distance divided by time squared is acceleration.”

In whispering voices, Atsushi told me in a simple way.

“I see, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can always ask me.”

In the last three weeks, I had grown quite attached to Atsushi.

… So, what’s the difference between velocity and acceleration? I still don’t understand even after his explanation.

For some reason, this reminds me of when I was in elementary school and got stuck in dividing fractions.

I mean, why is 2 divided by 1/3 equaling 6?

Why does dividing by 1/3 make a number larger than the original? In the end, I didn’t understand even after the class.

It was like I suddenly opened the hell gate. Scary.

Even when I asked the teacher afterward, he said, “Inverse it and then multiply,” but that wasn’t what I wanted to know at that time.

“Ah, perhaps, this is the time when the famous phrase ‘You work your brain, you lose’ applies. I see…”

In the end, the class ended without me understanding any of the essential parts of velocity and acceleration.

◇

『“…So you came here to complain about class? Ah, this strawberry daifuku is delicious.”』 [TN: Daifuku is a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet things, in this case, it’s strawberry and red bean paste]

“Of course. I saw it at the convenience store, and it was 220 yen including tax. Just saying. So, which one, Oi Ocha (strong green tea) or collagen matcha?”

『”Hmm, I’ll have Oi Ocha.”』

“Oi, Ocha here it is.”

Saying so, I handed over a plastic bottle.

Last time, the Goddess asked for fruit, but the convenience store didn’t sell fresh fruit.

Therefore, I searched for some sweets that had something like fruit inside and found strawberry daifuku. So I bought it.

“It’s not really a complain but, I feel like I can’t fully demonstrate the specs of this body.”

Even though I’ve a good brain now, I feel like I’m just wasting such a treasure.

『”I thought you had a laid-back personality, but I see, you’re the type that is surprisingly concerned about such a thing. Well, I don’t think you should worry about it too much.”』

“Including me, everyone who isn’t good at studying, is just like that. Thinking mundane things more than necessary.”

Those who are good at it won’t have many doubts, right?

『”If you knew, you shouldn’t care.”』

“Well, that’s true… Anyway, I’ll talk about why I came here today.”

『”Hm? Didn’t you come here to complain? 』

“Of course not!… Well, it’s not only that.”

『“So, you have a problem. Sure. I will help you hit it away from your mind.”』

For some reason, the Goddess started imitating shadowboxing.

“The other day, I went out with a member of my high school group. At that time, something unexpected happened… But, that’s not the point, what concerned me the most was, I felt that women held themselves in front of men too much.“

『”I see. Well, considering the situation of the world, it can’t be helped. Also, I think that everyone, in general, has considerable mental strength since they’ve been forced to endure every time.”』

“Hmm… At least I want the women involved with me to be happy. And I’m going to make an effort to do that.”

『”I think it’s a good thing.”』

“But, a thought came to my mind. What if perhaps I don’t even understand the fundamental of this world good enough?”

After taking science classes several times, such a thought came to my mind.

Anyone who was convinced that “this society is like this” and accepted it, could live in it without questioning.

But anyone who kept questioning every small thing, would have trouble living in it.

At this moment, I didn’t even know what I was stumbling over in this society.

『”The fundamental, is it?”』

“The common sense I have isn’t the common sense of this world. That’s why I feel uncomfortable and convinced that this society is distorted. I don’t think it’s good for women to hold themselves. But, I don’t know how this society came to be, how it was in the past, and how it changed. That’s why I’ve come to think that I haven’t fundamentally understood the general way of thinking in this world.”

I mean, what kind of history has women and men in this world carved in the first place? I feel like I need to know such important things to understand better…

『”…If the place changes, common sense will also change… But well, let’s talk about the history of men and women in this country that I know. It’s just a simple and short story.”』

“That’s just what I wanted to hear!”

『”When I was born, it was a terrible famine. I think I said that before. At that time, men were forced to live a much more miserable life than they are now. It was an era in which armed women reign over. It wasn’t a war over men, but men were one of the important war trophies.”』

“Well, I can imagine that there was such a time.”

『“What is taken by force is usually going to be taken by a stronger force. So anytime they made men’s emancipation as the reason, gathering soldiers wasn’t that hard. It can be said that it was an era of repetitive exploitation and liberation of men. Under such circumstances, there was a power that held power for a relatively long time. In Japan, the nobility reigned at that time. Well, even now, it still exists. Even after successfully manipulating the people and seizing power for a long time. It can be said that the house was able to survive by distributing ‘wealth’ to the people.”』

“And men were included in that ‘wealth’?”

『”Of course. But, as time passed, it slowly changed. Now, in this modern era, it gets well governed. Well, the natural disaster is also the reason.”』

The Goddess pointed to the sun.

“Suddenly, male babies were no longer born…”

If there were one in a dozen or one in a hundred, society would have been doing well, but if it were one in several hundred or one in a thousand like it is now, a war over men will only lead the world to end for real…

The Goddess nodded and continued the story.

『“Then the nobles gave up their power. So upright, isn’t it? They gave up control of the country and switched to joint rule with the government. After about 40 years, the male birth rate began to return, but by that time, a new ruling system had already been well established.”』

“Could it be, it’s the society of today?”

『”That’s right. That’s why those who rule Japan now fear that the government will be overthrown.”』

So, even here, Japan’s history has been carved by war. The only big difference would be the abdication of power by the nobility.

Well, the nobility gave up power because the male fertility rate plummeted…

“… I see…”

『”This is the answer to the first question. The country has done everything to educate women to be humble and to force men to be patient. So that such a day wouldn’t come.”』

All so that there won’t be a chance of the current government getting overthrown.

So, common sense now has been implanted over many years for that purpose huh…