Disclaimer: This is fanwork based on the manga the Quintessential Quintuplets (Go-Tobun no Hanayome), by Negi Haruba. Its setting, characters and plot belong to its rightful creator. I write this only for fun and as a little writing experiment.
WARNING FOR ANIME VIEWERS: Currently, the story is following the events of the manga beyond chapter 32. If you don't want to be spoiled, STOP READING.
The Hot Springs Conference
To say that the Kingdom's claim over the Mountains of Confession caused a stir among the Nakanos would be an understatement.
For a long time, the Nakano powers had thought that the Kingdom of Nino would never commit themselves to the Discovery. That those with larger ambitions could rest easy because the Ninians, despite their power and influence, would never be a serious rival in the New Continent. However, the unthinkable had happened. Before anyone else, the servants of the Queen had claimed a piece of land for themselves. And they wanted more.
Fearing that a new conflict akin to the Great Schism of the year 39 was brewing, the Maruos of the five nations quickly arranged a diplomatic conference of the highest calibre in the most sacred place for the heirs of Rena: the Toraiwa hot springs.
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Renan baths
At the height of its power, the Renan Empire boasted a very sophisticated bathing culture. In every major city there were baths and spas, some of them as large as the imperial palaces, with swimming pools, saunas, massage parlours, gyms and even libraries. More humble versions were available at rural towns, and no villa could be complete without its own bathroom.
According to legend, the origins of this bathing culture could be found in the roots of the Renan Empire, for it was said that the founder of the city of Rena was born in the hot springs of her homeland.
While the details of the aforementioned birth are almost impossible to corroborate, it is indeed true that there was (and still is) a lot of thermal activity in the province of Toraiwa, where the ancestors of the Renan tribes first appeared in recorded history. Natural hot springs are a common sight, and scholars have unearthed clay texts describing the bathing customs of those ancient forebears. Thus, it is not surprising that their Nakano descendants would respect such places as holy sites where no fight was allowed, making them perfect to hold negotiations and diplomatic meetings.
In the year 62, the great conference about the future of the Nakanos and the New Continent started.
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A heated conference
While it is often presented as one, single diplomatic meeting, perhaps it would be better to call them "conferences", in plural, for there were several of them taking place in the thermal springs of Toraiwa for almost six years. Yes, six years: the issues and arrangements that were being discussed were very delicate, and none of the Nakanos wanted to be blamed for a conflict.
In the end, however, the conflict became inevitable.
As it had become tradition, the Nakanos sent invitations to their Uesugi partners and allies to bring representatives to the conference. Not just the Futaros; given the seriousness of the situation, embassies from the Raihas and the Isanaris also arrived to the Old Continent. For the Raihas in particular, this was their debut in the grand international stage. On the other hand, this diplomatic arrangement displeased the Maruos. Despite all the years of trade and contact, the bureaucratic elites of the Nakanos still saw the natives of the New Continent as impoverished primitives that should not be given such concessions. The accounts of the Futaro ambassadors tell us of several affronts and insolences by Nakano officials. The rulers tried to correct such mistakes, but they were too preoccupied with their own crisis.
The Ichika Empress took the lead of the negotiations, trying to cool down Nino's ambitions in the name of mutual interest and peaceful cooperation (while hiding the fact that she and the First Apostle of the Church had signed a secret treaty to divide the New Continent in zones of influence for themselves). Much to the Empress' chagrin, however, the Queen of Nino did not back down, and polite but heated arguments ensued day after day.
"She is a runaway carriage!", the Empress complained to her closest advisors after a particularly difficult session. "The Queen of Nino has no respect for the primacy of the Empire or the Church, and claims that the Kingdom will see their efforts bear fruit even if it means trampling the efforts of others. How can we negotiate with someone who does not listen?"
It was in this climate of frustration that the Republic of Yotsuba made their move.
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The Yotsuban plot
The Republic of Yotsuba could not forget the humiliation they had suffered during the Ekiden Crisis. They were grateful that their fellow Nakanos had come to their aid in their darkest hour, yet the memory was bittersweet, for it had exposed the weakness of the Republic. To make matters worse, it was part of a larger trend.
Yotsuba had never been the strongest, the largest, the wealthiest or the most influential of the Nakanos. For generations, the men and women of the Republic had tried to stand out, to make history for their country, but survival had always been a more pressing matter. They were a tiny Republic of merchant cities surrounded by intimidating giants. That those giants belonged to the same dynasty as theirs was of little consolation, for it hadn't stopped them from taking their lands or resources in the past.
Yes, the Republic of Yotsuba remembered darker times. And they did not like them.
For a time, it had seemed that the discovery of the New Continent might level the field. All the Nakanos were newcomers, and whoever played their cards right could enjoy success beyond the limits of the Old Continent. Indeed, almost since the beginning, the Republic of Yotsuba had eyed Raiha Island as their future partner and ally, and had also manoeuvred to stay in the Futaros' good graces. No faux pas had been committed, something that no other Nakano could claim.
But it was still not enough.
Now, the Kingdom of Nino was making aggressive claims on the New Continent, and even the Republic's most humble targets were in peril. Only the Ichika Empire and the Church of Miku had the power and the influence to restrict their ambitions, but they had been taken by surprise. Oh, yes, the Republic of Yotsuba knew of those two's secret agreement ("We know" was the motto of their excellent intelligence services, after all), but it was more manageable than whatever unpredictable move the Kingdom of Nino would make next. Someone had to stop them. And only an Empress could beat a Queen.
And so they talked, the Most Serene Duchess of Yotsuba and the Ichika Empress. Little by little, day by day, the leader of the Republic sought to convince the leader of the Empire that she needed to change their approach during the negotiations.
"I am worried about Your Majesty", the Duchess would say. "Is the heir of the imperial title being pushed by the circumstances? Though our lineage is the same, the Empress has always been the leader of the pack. Our leader. Even if there were times when the sisterhood of the Republic and the Empire was tested, we always saw the Empress as the eldest".
"And what does the Duchess of Yotsuba suggest we do, Your Serenity?"
"We only suggest that the Empress does not hold herself back".
To the surprise of no one involved, this and other contacts eventually led to the failure of the Hot Springs Conference. The Kingdom of Nino was not interested in being bound by the promises of others, and the Empire's patience was wearing thin. The Empresses of Ichika were not used to being vulnerable in the grand stage of diplomacy, and, due to Yotsuban influence, many at court were beginning to miss the "good old days", when the Empire was a conquering nation with the aim of unifying all the lands of the Renan Empire.
In the end, when it was revealed that the Church of Miku had tried to sway the Futaro ambassadors to their side while the Queen of Nino and the Ichika Empress argued, the conference was called off. No agreement had been reached and no treaty was signed. It was a failure that planted the seeds of conflicts to come.
One seed in particular, however, escaped everyone's attention.
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The river expedition
Just when the conferences of Toraiwa were ending, in the year 68, a secret Nakano expedition was launched into the heart of Uesugi lands. More than the Confession Mountains, it was believed that the basin of the Kiss River held the key to the New Continent. Fertile grounds and easy communication by boat were some of the reasons why hundreds of Uesugi clans made it their home. And whoever could discover them first would have a great advantage over the rest.
So, the expedition was arranged. It went and it came back, but their findings were kept in the utmost secret. Only a few of the highest officials in the country would know about them, for it was still not the time to use that trump card. Time, money and discretion were needed. And, of course, none of the other Nakano powers could know.
The identity of the expedition's sponsor would remain one of the best kept secrets in the world in the decades to come.
Author's notes:
A new chapter, a new arc. This time, it's the turn of "Scrambled Eggs", from chapter 61 to chapter 68.
I thought of ways of trying to implement the quintuplets' ploy (they were all disguised as Itsuki), but didn't find a satisfactory solution. Thus, a normal conference it is, but the consequences will be felt in the upcoming future.
It seems that having a hot springs episode or, in this case, chapter, is mandatory in Japanese stories (XD), yet it's not completely far-fetched in this situation, since the Renan Empire is based on the Roman Empire. The parallelism between Japanese onsen culture and Roman bathing customs has been pointed out before, most famously in the manga Thermae Romae. It's about a Roman architect who is looking for new ideas for baths and spas, and due to some freaky accidents, he ends up in future Japan several times. I recommend it, specially for those who love Roman history.