"Harem War... Hiyori... is it the kind of harem I'm thinking of?"
Momonosuke felt his heartbeat speeding up. His nostrils puffed out rough breaths, and his mind had already begun fantasizing about the beautiful older sisters in the pleasure quarters.
[Note: Momonosuke is currently eight years old. In the original work, this is exactly the age he was when he traveled twenty years into the future, the age where he lay against breasts with that extremely punchable expression.]
And without even looking, little Hiyori knew exactly what this brother of hers was thinking. She instantly jumped up and swung a punch into Momonosuke's right cheek.
"Bang!"
"Put away that ridiculous expression, you bastard!"
With his cheek swelling up directly, Momonosuke's eyes filled with tears. He glared angrily at little Hiyori, but he also knew he couldn't beat her.
But... that was a harem!
Just thinking about it made his heart surge with excitement. It was a dream!
Little Hiyori raised her fist and shook it, making Momonosuke shrink his neck instinctively.
On the podium, after Robin finished introducing Kozuki Oden's deeds, she looked at the students below.
"Then now, everyone, please think from your own position. Were Lord Oden's choices over the decades from his birth until now right or wrong? And for us, were they good or bad?"
After that, the students below began whispering among themselves.
Children were different from adults.
The new teaching method made them feel curious, and the story being told was also about Lord Oden's past.
Although Teacher said there was no need to call him "Lord," the education they had received for so long still made them believe deep down that the Kozuki were great people even above nobles.
This kind of class felt far more novel to them than the old method of simply reading from textbooks.
"Shogun Oden... going out to sea was wrong, because he violated the law."
"Mother said the years Shogun Oden went out to sea were exactly when Father was taken to the mines."
"Me too..."
"Me too."
"Wuwuwu..."
For a moment, several of the students below began crying. Before this, they had not been qualified to enter the school, because their parents were samurai who supported the Kozuki.
Only after Kurozumi Orochi died did they return to the Flower Capital, and their children were also assigned to attend classes at the Flower Capital First School.
Being around the same age, Robin's eyes also reddened. But she knew she had to continue teaching, to make these children learn how to start from their own position and understand right and wrong, to distinguish good from bad.
"The Kozuki Clan has ruled Wano as shoguns since several hundred years ago."
Robin's voice rang out, and the sobbing below gradually stopped.
"Then, students, what is the responsibility of a shogun?"
The moment those words fell, a response naturally came from below.
"A harem?"
"Bang! Bang, bang, bang..."
After a round of punches and kicks, little Hiyori, her face flushed red, decided that tomorrow she absolutely, absolutely would not sit with this perverted brother again.
It was simply too embarrassing!
On the podium, Robin's hand moved slightly, but seeing that Momonosuke had already been beaten up, she did not activate her ability.
"Although there were hidden circumstances behind the Harem War that Lord Kozuki Oden caused in his youth, as the next shogun, his responsibility certainly was not to build some so-called harem and spread the branches and leaves of the Kozuki Clan."
"According to research records, generally speaking, if a king has many children, then the chaos caused by struggles for power becomes even greater. When order becomes chaotic, the ones who lose their lives are ordinary civilians."
"Among those seated here, there are descendants of nobles, descendants of merchants, and descendants of commoners. But the upper class is still the minority, so most of you are commoners."
Robin looked at most of the students in the school.
"Then do you want chaos?"
"No!"
"If that happens, there won't be food. Father will be taken away, and Mother will be very tired."
"I just want to be able to eat my fill every day."
"I want Mother to come back to life!"
"And Grandfather too. Grandpa went to the mine in Father's place. Grandpa loved me the most, but after he was taken away that day, he never came back."
Robin continued, "Yes. Because the people of Wano recognized the Kozuki Clan, the Kozuki Clan was able to become the shogun family of Wano several hundred years ago."
"Then why did everyone recognize the Kozuki Clan? It was because everyone believed that the Kozuki Clan could make Wano better, that everyone would have food to eat and be able to survive."
"So now we can see the responsibility of the shogun. The shogun is a position responsible for the whole of Wano, not some high and mighty ruler who can do whatever they want just because they hold power."
At this moment, Momonosuke below the podium sighed.
Had his dream... shattered?
Beside him, little Hiyori was completely absorbed.
Before this, she had listened to the two speeches in the Flower Capital together with Father, but what the lecturers on stage said had sounded very vague to her. There were even more terms she did not understand.
But she understood the school lesson, especially what this older sister had said today: to judge right and wrong, good and bad, based on one's own position.
Then what was her position?
The Kozuki Clan?
No. Father had never felt that he was superior to others. Mother was the same, except for this useless older brother.
So, should she place herself in the position of an ordinary person?
"After reaching adulthood, Lord Oden went out to sea in pursuit of freedom. That too was wrong. Because from the moment Lord Oden was born, he enjoyed the treatment brought by the position of shogun. But when it came time for him to fulfill his obligations, he went out to sea under the name of pursuing freedom and ignored everything else."
"This also led to Kurozumi Orochi easily becoming acting shogun when Lord Kozuki Sukiyaki fell seriously ill."
"For making such a decision, Kozuki Sukiyaki cannot escape responsibility for Wano's suffering over the years. Lord Kozuki Oden is the same."
"In my view, what power should bring is not superiority, and even less should it be a hereditary noble class. It should be responsibility for the future of all Wano."
The moment those words fell, the children below all frowned deeply.
They were at an age where they had only just begun receiving education. Their thoughts had not yet become as rigid as their parents', nor had they been poisoned by the so-called samurai spirit.
To them, Kozuki Oden was only the greatest noble mentioned by adults. But they did not clearly understand the class gap between nobles and commoners, so they dared to question.
At this moment, little Hiyori stood up and met Robin's gaze.
"Mother told me that Father went out to sea for Wano's future, because one day in the future, Wano will open its borders..."
Before she could finish, Robin raised a hand and interrupted her.
"I know that point. I originally planned to put this content in the next class, but it is not impossible to discuss it now."
"For Wano's future, the people at the bottom can only be asked to sacrifice a little, right? The essence of that approach is exactly this sentence."
"Then, Hiyori, if you were not born into the Kozuki Clan and were only an ordinary little girl of Wano, would you be willing to suffer for some unseen future? Would you be willing for your father to die in the mines, your family to go hungry, your elder brother to starve to death, and for yourself to survive only by becoming a songstress in the pleasure quarters?"
Little Hiyori froze at the question.
Because she was truly considering the possibility Robin had described.
Would she be willing?
For the future Mother had spoken of?
Is opening the country really that important?
Is the Kozuki Clan really that important?
If the Kozuki Clan truly was the necessary ruler of Wano, then why...
For a moment, every child in the classroom turned their eyes toward little Hiyori.
Most of them were children of ordinary citizens from the Flower Capital. Today was the first time they had started from the position of their own class and questioned the once high and mighty Kozuki Clan.
Under Robin's repeated guidance, the school day came to an end.
But all the children's emotions were completely different from before. In their minds, they were still thinking back to the stories the teacher had told in class today, and how they should distinguish good from bad, kindness from evil.
Using their own position as the standard?
Then what were the positions of Princess Hiyori from Shogun Oden's family, and Lord Momonosuke?
With doubts in their hearts, all the children began leaving one after another and returning home.
The one who came to pick up Hiyori and Momonosuke today was Denjiro. They took turns escorting them every day.
"Were you criticized by the teacher today, Lord Momonosuke? Why are you both so down? Maybe we can buy something tasty on the street later."
As Denjiro spoke, he looked at Hiyori again.
"We can also buy some pretty toys later."
However, it seemed he was the only one performing a one-man show. Neither little Hiyori nor Momonosuke paid him any attention.
Scratching his head, Denjiro said helplessly, "All right. But if there is anything you cannot figure out, perhaps this adult here can answer it."
Little Hiyori looked at him.
"So when Father insisted on continuing his travels at sea back then, from the perspective of Wano's people, that was wrong, wasn't it? After all, it was precisely during that period that Kurozumi Orochi stole the position of shogun and caused so many people in Wano to die in the mines and weapon factories."
Uh.
For a moment, Denjiro did not know how to answer. After all, even the nine... no, the eight of them had also been unable to understand Lord Oden at that time.
During that period, life had been very hard. Their mistress and young master's clothes had been covered in patches.
Their mistress had even gone out every day to help everyone work, and only because of that had the people's resentment toward Lord Oden lessened somewhat.
And later...
The facts proved that Lord Oden's choice had indeed been wrong. But as his retainer, how could Denjiro say such a thing aloud?
"Hiyori, no matter what, Father cannot be wrong."
At this moment, Momonosuke beside her spoke.
Hiyori looked at him.
Momonosuke continued, "For Wano, Father, as a member of the Kozuki Clan and also the heir to the shogun, cannot be wrong!"
"Our position is not that of ordinary citizens. Our position is Kozuki!"
The moment the final sentence landed, Hiyori's eyes widened.
They were only two years apart, and little Hiyori, who had grown up together with him, understood her older brother.
The next second...
"Ah!!"
"Bang!"
She flew up and kicked him in the face, sending Momonosuke flying.
Little Hiyori planted her hands on her hips, one foot stepping on Momonosuke's chest.
"So you, a guy whose head is full of perverted thoughts, are still obsessed with Father's harem incident, right?"
Eh?
Denjiro seemed to have heard something extraordinary, and even he was a little stunned now.
The harem incident, wasn't that something His Lordship had caused back when he was young?
And he did not know whether the mistress knew about this matter or not. How did the two young masters know about it?
"Let go!"
"I won't! You perverted-minded guy!"
Momonosuke struggled for a moment. After realizing he could not break free, he simply lay there on the ground. But his gaze was no longer as pitiful as it had been in the past.
"I am a member of the Kozuki Clan, and also Wano's future shogun! This... this is my position!"
"They... everything they said is wrong! Father killed Orochi, and he is also Wano's only legitimate shogun. In the future, I will be too!"
Little Hiyori froze. Without realizing it, she loosened the foot pressing down on him.
In her mind, the words Sister Robin had spoken in class flashed past.
"Power can bring many things, and it can also bring endless desire. No one can be certain that they will not be tempted, or that they can remain clear-headed. So... power must be checked and balanced."
Little Hiyori felt her mind was in chaos. Today was the first time she had learned how to think, how to judge.
But precisely because it was the first time, it made her feel that the people around her also seemed unreal for the first time.
Momonosuke climbed up, patted the dirt from his body, glanced at Hiyori, then walked toward the shogun's residence.
"Lady Hiyori..."
Denjiro also did not know what to say, so the three of them returned to the shogun's residence one after another in silence.
And on one part of the street, a samurai took all of this in. Then he turned and left, heading toward Hakumai.
Late at night, Hakumai's daimyo residence.
Shimotsuki Yasuie kept repeatedly looking over the records on the table before him. They were the contents of the speeches and school lessons held in each region of Wano over the past few days.
The easy-to-understand guidance and the speeches that struck directly into the depths made Shimotsuki Yasuie's expression grow uglier and uglier.
"Bang!"
"Crack!"
A fist filled with burning anger fell, directly smashing the table apart.
"Bewitching the people! Bewitching the people!"
Shimotsuki Yasuie grabbed the record scroll in his hand and threw it out, smashing it in front of his retainer.
"What are they trying to do? Make Wano fall into chaos again?!"
"They are questioning the Kozuki Clan, who just inherited the position of shogun. Do they want all the people of Wano to rebel?!"
"For hundreds of years, Wano has been safe and sound under the leadership of the Kozuki Clan and us nobles. They merely defeated Kaido. What right do they have to question the Kozuki?!"
"Revolutionary Army!"
"These people are the source of disaster..."
The retainer kneeling on the ground trembled slightly, not daring to raise his head at all.
Recently, this daimyo, who had once been extremely gentle and benevolent, had become more and more irritable. And the cause was entirely the ideological education speeches and schools that had recently begun.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Shimotsuki Yasuie, who had already calmed down, turned his gaze toward the record placed at the very bottom of the table.
And written on it were precisely the words Momonosuke had spoken while lying on the ground. Those words finally made Shimotsuki Yasuie reveal a faint smile.
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