Tempest - Chapter 3

[haranami]

Location: Reception Room

Wataru: If I’m not mistaken, we were told about how…

One of Butler-san's colleagues from that institution has now retired and is managing a flower shop in ES’ vicinity.

 

Eichi: Yeah. We discussed something along those lines.

 

Yuzuru probably studied how to be a bodyguard, so I can more or less understand how he went from soldier to butler…

 

But I don’t feel like there’s any connection between being a soldier and a florist.

 

Wataru: There can be. This is mere conjecture, but perhaps that person’s heart was once soothed by a flower they caught sight of on the battlefield.

 

Additionally, we cannot assert that they don’t have any interest in things that can heal people, such as flowers, simply because they had a violent occupation.

 

After all, even those who are kind are capable of killing. In fact, some people can even kill out of kindness.

 

Eichi: That’s true. At the same time, people can also kill without any ill intent. Like a prison guard carrying out the death penalty...

 

But I understand why there are those who wish that the culprit acted out of malice when someone dear to them is killed.

 

Wataru: Yes. If there is malice, one can both understand why such a thing happened and take revenge for it. No one wishes to die like a mere insect, and no one wants to be killed.

 

We're all human, with hearts beating in our chests. That is precisely why we cannot accept irrational deaths.

 

Eichi: However, as an administrator — and as an “Emperor” — there are times when I have to cause exactly that.

 

At this very moment, I'm killing things as if they were insects. Without any ill intent, I’m stealing away and trampling all over that which people hold dear.

 

I’m deciding that it's necessary to do so and processing people’s love into mere numbers.

 

From the moment I became a ruler, I could no longer expect to have a life of ordinary happiness...

 

Who said something like that? Was it Caesar?

 

Wataru: Yes. Although that line was omitted from Shakespeare’s play. [1]
 

Eichi: Well, he was an Englishman. At the time, he probably couldn’t have portrayed Caesar, who was the first person to invade England, in a favorable light.

 

Wataru: Who knows? I do love Shakespeare, but I am not the man himself.

 

Actors surely consider him to be a magnificent, almost God-like writer precisely because there is so much room for interpretation in his works.

Eichi: Fufu. Of what Shakespeare has written, I like the monologue-like lines that adorn the conclusion of the last work attributed to him —  the lines that sound like he, himself, is speaking to the audience.

 

Wataru: Oh, are you referring to ''The Tempest''? Yes, that would resonate with you. [2]

Eichi: Yeah. Although I’m still not allowed to speak such lines myself.

 

Right now, I’m in the midst of the dream that I had envisioned.

 

I created a utopia for idols, ES, and am devoting absolutely all of my energy to maintaining, managing and administering it for as long as I can.

 

Of course, as a newly emerging force, it's still very subject to outside pressures and criticisms, and there are many companies that view it with hostility.

 

That’s exactly why I have to make them yield, win them over, and use them to my advantage—

 

Day and night, a secret battle is unfolding. An economic war is being fought right now, at this very moment.

 

And in the midst of this veritable storm, the flower shop that Yuzuru’s acquaintance is managing is on the brink of collapse.

 

Wataru: Yes, that sums up the situation. We, as ES, have been using every trick in the book to try and expand our territory, and as a result…

 

That store is getting swept away by a strong current, and is about to capsize in this storm.

 

Even though that person has finally thrown away their blood-stained weapons and distanced themselves from violence to begin raising flowers...

 

Even though they're trying to make precious things — things that heal people and make love grow in their hearts — bloom brilliantly…

 

We're ruthlessly, unreasonably crushing their dream, which should ideally be supported, for the sake of our own.
 

 

Eichi: You don’t need to try and lighten my burden by saying things like “our” and “we". It actually makes me feel insulted in a way, which isn’t very pleasant.

 

I am the one who's crushing everything. It’s me — it’s my dream that’s destroying so many others.

 

I thought I had understood that. Fully aware of that, fully accepting that, I walked my path while trampling over the sinless flowers that grew on it, after all. [3]

 

Wataru: Yes. We understand that, and have at least chosen to walk together with you.

 

Butler-san is smart and rational — no, he too is a member of fine — so he must feel the same way.

 

However, even though he could grasp and accept the logic of it, there must have been something he still couldn’t quite accept.

 

The heart always takes longer to process things than the mind does, and yet it holds more power.

 

Butler-san must be perplexed because he cannot tear out the feelings in his chest that have now sprouted.

 

That is the reason why he has been so absentminded lately.

 

Unfortunately, it appears that he wasn’t lovesick; I cannot poke fun at him, but…

 

Eichi. We have walked this path for much longer than he has, so we can lead him towards the destination.

 

If he comes to a halt in his journey, we can carry him forward, and if he stumbles, we can extend a hand to him. No— please allow me to do so, as a senior in our unit.

 

Do be at ease. You surely know this already, but I am exceptionally skilled at such things.
 
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Notes:

1. Wataru and Eichi are referring to Julius Ceasar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_(play) 

2. Now they're talking about The Tempest. Like Eichi says earlier, the main character, Prospero, is often seen to be a representation of Shakespeare himself. As you might guess, this event story references this play quite often, with lots of storm imagery and the chapter titles being "Spring Storm" and "Storm's Vigor"; the "vigor" here can also be translated as "fairy/spirit," which is an allusion to Ariel, a character in the play.

3. Interestingly enough, a popular interpretation of The Tempest's message is that "the powerful must show mercy" (https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/tempest/) which is very relevant to what Eichi and Wataru discuss here. This may be why Wataru says it "would resonate with [Eichi]" earlier.