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46. Talk with the other groups 2
“The things I found difficult, is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Thank you very much, then let me introduce myself. My name is Nana Soga. After attending a co-ed elementary school in the special ward, I was transferred to a girls’ middle school.”
“…Hm?”
I’m sure, in both elementary and middle school classes, there are three girls and one boy.
Four people, including men and women, form a group. That means, the same female-male ratio. Shouldn’t be a problem for her to continue to co-ed middle school, right?
“…May I ask, why?”
“Yes. When I went to middle school, there is a re-examination… At that time, my family situation wasn’t very good. So, I wasn’t accepted to a co-ed middle school. Until then, I thought I was on the side of the chosen ones. But I found out that it wasn’t the case, and I finally understood how difficult it is to be chosen.”
Soga-san spoke briskly, but sometimes her face contorted with bitterness.
Perhaps those days flashed in her mind.
Yeah, right… re-examination is tough. But, it’s clear what’s the priority…
So, it’s all probably because of her parent’ situation…
“The fact that you are in this school means that you managed to overcome that?”
“That’s right. Three years of middle school… I was so depressed. In that desperation, I set this as one of my goals in life.”
Some of the other girls nodded at Soga-san’s words.
Even if entering co-ed high school wasn’t their goal in life like Soga-san, this must have been that important for them…
To the point where they would do their best to go back to the side of being chosen. Or in a sense, they re-evaluate the chosen sides.
Still, they didn’t rot and climbed the cliff once again… Good.
“Hearing the story. So, you learned for the first time how difficult it is to be chosen. But, instead of giving up, you used that as a source for keep trying.”
“Yes. When I was depressed, my friend told me that was the same for them. So, I realized that it wasn’t only me. With their encouragement, I slowly thought that everything wasn’t too late to be changed. So, I tried my best.”
“I see. That’s really amazing.”
Another girl then opened her mouth saying,
“It’s the same with the entrance exam for this school, the selection criteria weren’t made public at all.”
As if to answer, another girl spoke,
“If they announce it, it’ll only be used as countermeasures. Also, because of this, even the ones usually on the chosen side, feel uneasy.”
Come to think of it, Yuuko didn’t pass the exam either. I don’t think Yuuko is inferior to them in terms of intelligence.
If it wasn’t favoritism, it was a conclusion based on a calm judgment of Yuuko’s abilities, right?
So, what are exactly the selection criteria?
“By the way, Soga-san, if you have to give one reason why you weren’t selected for a co-ed middle school, what would you think of?”
I was curious and asked.
“Only one? Then… because my parent isn’t part of “Kazoku”?”
“Umm, “Kazoku”?”
“My mother works at a bank.”
“Hmm?”
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Do other people know what it means?
Ah, it seems that one person understood. I asked Soga-san a question.
“Hey, perhaps, are your parent working at a “Zaibatsu” bank?”
“That’s right. That’s why I wasn’t accepted.”
After the “Kazoku”, came the “Zaibatsu”.
…Judging from the flow of the story, is it a feud between factions?
“Sorry, but I’m not interested in that sort of thing, so I don’t know much about it. Are you at a disadvantage if you work for a Zaibatsu bank?”
“I don’t think there is any obvious disadvantage. However, people living in Special Ward Osaka and Tokyo tend to dislike government intervention. In the area around Central Station, a lot of people living there are part of the Kazoku. So, if you’re not part of it, it’s easy to get outcasted.”
“Kazoku”… it’s the nobility of Japan. In the original world, it was gone already. But here, the nobility system still remains huh?
Still, I’ve never heard of a nobleman living in the special ward. Has it become a mere formality?
As I delved deeper into my memory, it seemed that people of the “Kazoku” had a lot of land in the countryside and lived there.
…So, in short, they’re just a local landlord. But from Soga-san’s words, they seem to have some power even within the special ward.
In the original world, there were a lot of politicians and directors of NPOs who were former “Kazoku” there.
And, in this world, where they’re not completely gone, it wouldn’t be strange to have more power… right.
“The current government seems to have few parliamentarians from the Kazoku……”
“Lately, the central government and the local government of the central area are quite fussing over the Special Ward Ordinance, right?”
The talk between the girls was indeed quite informative.
They must be interested in it because it was related to their future and their parents’ progress.
Non-noble members of parliament were called the “General”.
And, members of the National Diet were elected evenly from each region.
The “Kazoku” living in the countryside must have sent their people as members.
Of course, the ones in the special ward too. And also called the “Noble”.
And the bank that Soga-san’s mother worked for was neither one of them, but belonged to the “Zaibatsu”. Basically, the businessmen who had businesses that managed to last for generations, in short, the “Conglomerate”. Although they had a long history, as a standing position, it was below the Noble, about the same as the General, but sometimes, seen as one step below the General.
“…It’s complicated, isn’t it?”
There were no more words I could say other than that.
My family moved from the countryside, and none of those.
Originally, the social standing should be at the bottom in the Special Ward, but thanks to me, that’s not the case.
Otherwise, Mom might be put in the do-nothing spot, bullied, dismissed, moved to a different Special Ward, and even kicked out of the Special Ward even though she hasn’t caused any problems. But, because of me, a boy in her family, the one who would get in trouble if that happens, will be the one who hired her.
Probably, if I make a fuss about my mother’s unfair dismissal on SNS, the higher-up in her company may get fired by the shareholders.
So, I don’t need to worry about Mom being mistreated. But, as expected, even one boy is so much different from having zero in the family.
For that reason, Mom may be burdened with hardships that I don’t know about.
That aside, I casually asked them about what they found “difficult”, only to get a very serious story… it’s quite unexpected, to be honest…
“So, has anyone else had a hard time?”
“Yes. I’m called, Yuna Okabe. This spring, I was finally able to move into a public housing in the special ward, but I’ve had a hard time with my shopping and moving my luggage…”
I don’t know what you’re talking about either.
Someone, give me more information.
“So, you’re living in a housing complex?”
“Yes.”
“That’s how it is in housing complexes, isn’t it?”
“It’s hard, isn’t it?”
The girls were excited just by talking about a housing complex. How unexpected.
When I asked about it, I learned that the distribution network for transporting goods that ran underground covered a considerable part of the road, including the main roads and residential areas, but it seemed that it wasn’t all of them.
Okabe-san’s mother worked as a clerk in the Special Ward, and seemed to have been commuting from outside all the time.
As Okabe-san passed the exam to go into Itsuki High School, her family got permission to live in the Special Ward.
They had a financial problem, so they decided to move into a public housing complex where unspecialized workers usually lived, because it was cheap compared to other areas in the Special Ward. There was a reason why it was cheap. It was inconvenient.
“You lived outside the special ward until then, right? Compared to before, how is it?”
I was curious about that.
“The place where I used to live was pretty dirty. Trashes were everywhere, the road in front of my house was congested all year round, the exhaust gas was terrible, and it was noisy, so it wasn’t a good place.”
Is it like living in a place near the industrial area of Tokyo in the original world?
“So, a lot of traffic jams, huh? After all, everyone has a car.”
“Yes. I think everyone there has one, although mostly, it’s a small car.”
Now that I think about it, here, even if you don’t have a car, you won’t feel inconvenienced.
You can go shopping empty-handed if you want to. It’s really amazing.
You can use buses, trains, or unmanned taxis at a low cost.
In the first place, the special ward isn’t that large, so there’s no problem even if you do not have a car.
But, as expected, the outside is different huh.
Seems everyone has a car and travels by car most of the time. So, congested roads aren’t that strange.
And in a place with a high concentration of people, it must be difficult to socialize with neighbors, and also problems with bad odors and noise…
“Which is easier to live in, before or now?”
“Of course, it’s now. Shopping and transportation are inconvenient, but to be able to live in such a nice place, even if I sell my soul to the devil, I want to keep living here.”
Apparently, the outside of the Special Ward wasn’t such a good place for her.
And when I looked around, everyone was nodding, perhaps feeling the same way.
Anyway, through this exchange, I learned a lot about them.
Really, I was glad that I could hear about many things directly from their mouth.
In the end, I enjoyed talking with them until the last minute in the common room.