REIWA JIGOKUHEN - Chaotic Disturbance of Reiwa Era

Chapter 105 - Non-Contact Warfare

Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture: Uji University

"Uhh... what's this all of a sudden, Associate Professor?"

Post-doctoral fellow Akutsu made a face when he was approached by Associate Professor Hashimoto, the queen bee of the laboratory.

Due to the so-called North American Occupation Facilitation Program, their workload had increased significantly lately. Although there was no doubt that it was fulfilling work, he was feeling somewhat fatigued. Moreover, his time for social games had been significantly reduced, and he was almost unable to participate in the "Earth Descent Battle" event of "Ekimei." Needless to say, he had fallen from the TOP500. Furthermore, he was aiming to recover his lost ground when the associate professor appeared.

"I don't think we can describe this war as a non-contact war. That's what I think," said Hashimoto in her usual tone. "What do you think about this, Akutsu?"

"I still think it's ongoing... but if you say non-contact, then it's like this thing," Akutsu replied, smiling like a skeleton as he lightly tapped his smartphone on the charger with his finger.

"Well, if you mean war... then it's certainly non-contact. They bring in unmanned weapons and remote-controlled weapons for civilian use and blow up command posts in advance, bury people alive, and blind them. There are also very few members of the Self-Defense Forces who directly see the enemy's face. It's not like it's a psychological trauma if you don't think about the enemy, and there are no prisoners of war because they are wiped out outside their field of vision. It's efficient or whatever, but it's not very exciting. It's a good thing because you don't have to worry about the mental trauma and all that, and you can wipe them all out outside your field of vision without taking any prisoners."

"I understand that you're not listening to what I'm asking about."

"Yeah, sorry," Akutsu replied with a dry sigh.

Although it was natural that their perspective was different because this was a laboratory of historical psychology, there was a concern that some strange research topic would be given. He remembered that the current constitution was partly written by a female student who was younger than he was.

"But isn't it important that we don't see the enemy's face?" Akutsu continued, tilting his head unsurely. "In addition, you are not talking about not even seeing the faces of the locals. Except for the ones who are really needed for oil drilling and such, the Self-Defense Forces are driving them out of the occupied areas, right? You never know when they will turn their guns on you, and you don't have to provide food, clothing, and shelter for those who aren't there. To be honest, I have a bit of a soft spot even from people of the country that firebombed Tokyo and call to exterminate us, when I see people suffering, I might want to help them. That's why I put them all out of sight, out of mind, so that I don't have to think about them. It's super non-contact, right here."

"Ooh, you've got it all figured out," Hashimoto said with a satisfied smile.

However, she was convinced that not seeing the other person's face was unexpectedly convenient. It may be a mentality that can even carry out the ultimate genocide, as in the recently remade feature film about a cat-shaped robot.

"But from now on, this perfect state of detachment will no longer be possible," Hashimoto concluded. "What we are studying is how to facilitate the occupation of North America, and as you know, there is a UN resolution for that purpose. Even this strange war will last only a few more months, if at all. If that is the case, there will be contact with this world in some form or another, and at the same time, there will be many troublesome issues. Akutsu, what problems come to mind?"