Propeller Opera Volume 1
Epilogue
August 12th, 1938, New York City, Gameria.
As the skyscrapers of Fall Street sank into the hazy twilight beyond, Kyle McVille sat in his office on the eighty-fifth floor of the Empire State Building, telephone in hand, smiling amiably.
“It’s not necessary to be disheartened by a little defeat. It’s only a little ……, isn’t it? Yes, the loss of seven flying battleships may not be considered a small loss in your world. But Fall Street is still bustling with the war economy. The shipbuilding industry is a good buy. The more they lose, the more big orders they get. Don’t be mad…….. The final victory is fixed, so let’s enjoy the process.”
While comforting the caller in a brisk manner, Kyle stroked the head of Estella, the receptionist, with the hand that was not holding the phone.
It’s just Kyle and Estella in the office. The New York Stock Exchange is closed, the brokers and chalk men have gone home, and Kyle is enjoying his direct line to the White House.
“We’re dealing with a poor, uncivilized nation, remember? Just cashing in the assets of me and some of my acquaintances would exceed the national budget of Hinoo There is no way such a weak nation can continue to wage war indefinitely. Just maintaining an army that is too big for its size is draining its strength.”
The anger-filled voice coming out of the receiver reached Estella, who was kneeling in front of Kyle. Kyle seemed to be more interested in politics than the market these days. As soon as the market closed, he kicked out his staff and contacted government officials to exchange information. He is also a major shareholder in several major corporations based in presidential battlegrounds.
While on the phone, Kyle glanced at the front page of today’s national morning newspaper on the side table beside him.
[Grand Ocean’s main squadron of flying battleships annihilated.]
[Admiral Primrose’s humiliating descent under the parachute]
[The first princess of Hinoo, Izaya Shironomiya, is enthralled by her historic victory.]
Under a large headline, there was a photo of Izaya dressed in the first class military uniform of the Hinoo Navy and Air Force.
Kyle gazed enraptured at Izaya’s now eighteen-year-old face and tapped Estella on the head with his fingertip to signal her.
“Yeah. I know, Jeffrey. Fall Street will always be your ……! We are always on your side. Don’t worry.”
After a few more words, Kyle hung up the phone. After wiping everywhere with a wet wipe, Estella brushed her messy blonde hair out of her face and helped Kyle into his underwear and slacks.
“Is Mr. President feeling vulnerable?”
” He’ s worried that they’ll find out about the Gull Note. He’s a pathetic old man. I guess he’s afraid that Fall Street will give up on him because his supporters are upper-class white people. As soon as things get bad, he comes crying to me.”
Kyle sat down on the couch, leaned back deeply and looked up at the ceiling. President Jeffrey Wimbert, the man he had just called, seemed quite dejected after his crushing defeat in the first battle. He’s afraid that the pessimists will start screaming if he loses, and that they’ll find out about the many provocations and harassments he’s inflicted on Hinoo, which was hidden from the people.
Wimbert, after all, is too nervous. Unless a more sturdy and talented person becomes the leader of Gameria, the nation of Hinoo will remain after the war is over.
“It’s a year from now. Let’s wait one more year.”
“What?”
“Until the next presidential election.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’ve got the money. Now I want power.”
Estella brought her blonde, blue-eyed beauty closer to Kyle.
“What will you do with the power?”
“Of course I’m going to make this country even better.”
“Bullshit. You must have something you want.”
“I don’t understand.”
“After the signal, I saw you looking at her again.”
With the tip of her finger, she pointed to Izaya’s mug shot on the paper and raised her eyebrows in disapproval.
Kyle was surprised.
“How did you know?”
“…… sucks. I’m a substitute for her?”
“Ha-ha-ha. What if you are?”
Estella looked at Kyle sadly for a moment.
“You used to have a little more humanity in you. You’ve lost it, my dear.”
She walked to the door and said,
“I quit. Goodbye.”
With a snap, Kyle was alone, staring out the window into the twilight.
He grabbed a bottle from the cellar, poured himself a glass, and with a newspaper in his hand, walked over to the wide open window to the south.
In the distance, Fall Street was about to sink into the night. Lights were beginning to come on in the many windows.
“You can’t even be a substitute for Izaya, you know.”
They can hire any number of replacements for Estella. Since his victory in the Thorn Dark stock, Kyle has used his financial power to beat Kronos and many other market makers and has taken their assets. Now the de facto king of Fall Street and one of the three richest men in the United States, Kyle can have what he wants, whether it’s a castle-like mansion, a model, an actress, or even the presidency.
Only one person can be Izaya Shironomiya.
Kyle read the newspaper article again, which he had read several times today.
The details of the great defeat of the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria in the naval and air battles off Manila, as well as Izaya’s battle to destroy a battleship squadron and a heavy cruiser squadron in a single blow, were met with a mixture of regret and admiration.
Kyle gazed at the picture of Izaya’s face and fantasized about the noble, interesting, and transparent Izaya fighting on a warship. He overlapped the picture with the image of Izaya when she visited the office, making his heart thump in his chest.
“My heart is sad and in pain. It’s frustrating to want something so badly but not be able to have it. Is this what love is all about? Thank you, Izaya, for teaching me about love.”
He’s had hundreds of relationships with beautiful women in his life, but this is the first time he’s been made to feel so sad and frustrated. He had never felt so sad and frustrated in my life. He had never known that not being able to get what you want can make you feel so out of tune.
In appearance, status, and military prowess, Izaya was outstanding and inviolable, and that was why Kyle wanted her so badly. He wants to possess Izaya, even if it means trading everything he has.
Estella’s point is correct. Kyle’s goal in running for the next presidential election is not to lead Gameria but to destroy Hinoo, dismantle the royal family, and take Izaya for himself.
“What a pure love. To become president just for the sake of the one person you are in love with. Isn’t it the most intense, sad and beautiful love in the world?”
After many hardships, he will became the president, burn down Hinoo, dissolve the old royal family, and hold a beautiful, inviolable girl in his arms. In a boring world where anything you want can come true, what dream could be more beautiful than this?
Kyle sipped his glass of wine as he swooned over the future scene. Then he thought of another person who should be on the same stage.
“So where are you, Kuroto?”
Kuroto’s name was nowhere to be found in the article. He had said he was going to return to Hinoo to become a soldier, but it seemed he still had a long way to go.
“Come on up to the stage. Harassing you is another subject in my life.”
When he thought of Kuroto, a dark heat spread in his chest. He want to remind that cocky kid, who had the ability to control Fall Street but despised market makers and looked down on them as monsters obsessed with expansion, of the horrors of the upper class white man.
Perhaps the reason he is so obsessed with Izaya is because of Kuroto’s involvement.
[I’m not going to let you touch Izaya as long as I’m here.]
The words that Kuroto uttered before parting rang in Kyle’s head.
The smile on Kyle’s face reflected in the window pane was awe-inspiring.
“I’m going to touch Izaya, not with my fingers, but with something much more. Right in front of you.”
What would Kuroto’s face look like then? Just imagining Kuroto crying and begging for forgiveness, rubbing his forehead on the ground, made Kyle’s heart clear.
“It’s been two years. Two more years. ……”
If Kyle becomes the President of Gameria, he will add even more power to his ample wealth. If he becomes the king of this world, not just of Fall Street, it will be his will to crush the heroes of the day.
“I will destroy Hinoo and fulfill my love.”
The distorted smile that bloomed on the glass mirror was directed at Hinoo from afar.
Now is the time for surrender.
Let Hinoo’s army take the south as it pleases. Two years later, President Kyle McVille will lead a large fleet of ships that will swallow up Hinoo. The largest naval and air fleet in the history of mankind, with ten times the shipbuilding power and twenty times the steelmaking capacity of the Hinoo, will kick the United Fleet to the curb. Having lost the sea, Hinoo would be cut off from the sea transport routes and would dry up and eventually surrender.
Then Izaya, the sacred and inviolable beauty, will be his, and Kuroto will squirm with jealousy and beg for forgiveness with a funny face.
Two years later, Kyle’s presidency would mark the beginning of the best future ever promised.
“I look forward to seeing you again.”
Kyle’s smile in the glass mirror turned into that of a demon king of disaster…….
On that day at Yokosuka Military Port, government officials, military leaders, royal family members, foreign dignitaries, and wealthy private citizens lined the bleachers, while hundreds of thousands of spectators gathered at the docks and in parks along the coast, all looking up at the blue sky.
Five silver-gray, polished underbellies of airships stood before the eyes of the people.
They were the flying destroyers of the Second Air Raid Squadron of the Naval Air Force, the “Kawayodo,” the “Sugurono,” the “Yasose,” the “Sakashio,” and the “Unami.” The five ships that had survived the “Battle of Manila”, a major battle between air fleets that had taken place two months earlier, were greeted with cheers that sounded like the roar of the sea …….
Underneath the hull of the destroyer in the sky, the semi-cylindrical bomb tank was opened, and colorful confetti was scattered at an altitude of 1,200 meters. The seven colored droplets scattered in the autumn sky conveyed the shape of the wind to the spectators looking up at the sky.
◆
On October 8, 1938
The Ministry of the Navy decided to hold a triumphal return ceremony to announce the victory of Hinoo to the world. The crowd was full of praise and applause for the heroes of the skies who had sunk the most of the elite Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria, which had destroyed twenty ships of the First Flying Airship Squadron.
Of all the people cheering, it was these two who received the loudest applause.
“Your Highness Izaya…! Thank you for saving Hinoo…!
“Your Highness, Izaya the Sea God! I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!”
A middle-aged man raises his voice and waves to Izaya, who is presumably aboard one of the destroyers flying 1,200 meters in the air. Many children and adults waved small flags and towels with Izaya’s picture printed on them so that they could be seen from the sky. They also wore headbands with her name on them and called out her name with megaphones in their hands.
The other hero is just as popular as Izaya.
“Her Highness, Rio…! Please continue to save Hinoo…!”
Children and adults holding various goods with Rio’s name and picture printed on them waved happily in the air. A group of people unfurled a large banner that read, “Rio and Izaya are the pride of Hinoo,”. The cheering showed no signs of stopping.
All eighty million people of Hinoo were intoxicated by the victory of the first large-scale fleet battle.
Izaya and Rio were at the center of the enthusiasm. The royal family themselves had boarded a destroyer and sailed to the front line, and with just one ship they had sunk five flying battleships and three heavy cruisers, a feat never seen before in history. The two princesses, Izaya and Rio, are strong, noble, and beautiful. It is said that their names echoed not only in Hinoo, but also in Asia and even in Gameria itself.
The people were not told of the true honoree behind the beautiful princesses.
◆
“I don’t get it.”
On the roof of the forward watchtower of the Second Air Raid Fleet’s flagship, the air destroyer Kawayodo, he peered over the railing of the open-air command post, looking down at the black forest of people that filled the air below him for 1,200 meters. With binoculars, he confirmed that there were no towels, and muttered to himself, his cloak fluttering in the wind, as he was dressed in his Type 1 Navy and Air Force uniform.
He put his binoculars on his neck and looked at Rio beside him.
“Did you do something?”
” I did my job as a navigator.
Rio, who has healed from her side wound, is now dressed in a female officer’s first-class military uniform and looks completely healthy as she replies matter-of-factly.
“You left the ship at a critical moment, didn’t you? So what’s the big deal about that?
“I’m not the one you should be asking. It was the Ministry of the Navy who publicized it in the newspapers and magazines.
Izaya interrupted the argument between the two.
“You’ve been through a lot. Making you a hero would complicate things on all sides. Give it up this time.”
Izaya was also dressed in a beautiful Type 1 military uniform. Her black cloak fluttered as she folded her arms in front of her chest.
“The boy who was called unpatriotic and chased out of the country came back from Gameria and saved the country. Where can you find such a dramatic story? The people should praise me.”
“…… Yeah. Well, I think it would be good if there was a little more coverage, but the impression of a great criminal who bows to the royal family is too strong,……. There was some debate within the Ministry of the Navy, but this time they should be patient. Instead, you have been promoted three ranks, and the military commanders are evaluating you. Now that you’ve been recognized as an Operations Chief, you can take even more credit next time.”
Kuroto took Izaya’s words in stride with a silent profile that he didn’t like. The reward for his work this time was that he had been promoted from second lieutenant to major at once and was approved as Chief of Operations. This is definitely an extraordinary promotion, but Izaya was also promoted from major to brigadier general, a rank between colonel and major general, so Kuroto is still Izaya’s subordinate.
Both of them are too young to be Major General and Brigadier General, but now that Commander-in-Chief Nangou, Commander Takamura, and all other major high-ranking officers of the Command Headquarters have been killed in the Battle of Manila, the United Fleet Command, which is short of officers, has high expectations for Kuroto.
He sent his eyes to the blue sky ahead of him.
In the high, clear October sky, colorful confetti flew up in an updraft. The cheers of the crowd were also carried high into the sky along with the wind.
After inflicting so much damage on the enemy, the sea will return to peace for a while. Soon, however, Gameria would use its industrial strength to create an even larger fleet and march on Hinoo. To be honest, he had no idea how the Hinoo United Fleet, which had lost its six flying battleships, would fare against them.
But anyway, he’ll just say a few words to his neighbor Izaya.
“……. I’ll let you off with a promotion of this magnitude this time. The next step is to rise to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet with overwhelmingly great results that no one can complain about. You can look forward to it because I’m going to make you my subordinate and give you a hard time and move you to the other side.
“I don’t want a man who moves his subordinates to the other side because of his personal grudge to become the Director. If anything, I’m closer to that position than you are. After all, I am the commander of the Second Air Raid Squadron.
Izaya, too, looked pleased with herself as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and slumped down.
After losing their great commander, Lieutenant General Takeshi Takamura, the military commanders selected Izaya to be the commander of the Second Air Raid Squadron. She was too young to lead the fleet, but her popularity with the people and the fact that there were no admirals left in the current United Fleet who had experienced a large-scale air fleet battle like the Battle of Manila were the deciding factors. And from now on, Kuroto would be involved in the operation as the Chief of Operations with the Second Air Raid Fleet.
“If you entrust me with the job of operations chief, you’re a fish out of water. I’ll overtake you in no time. Enjoy the comfort of your chair at least.”
” Do something about that tone of voice. I am a brigadier general. Don’t threaten me when I’m a major.”
“You two are so close. You ve been frolicking ever since we got here.”
“We’re not frolicking.”
“Rio, this is his education.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s all keep getting along. For everyone who isn’t here, be cheerful.”
Rio smiled, looked back at the upper back plate diagonally, and waved her hands from side to side.
Heisuke, Onizuka, a large number of air raiders, engineers, and familiar sailors leaned forward to wave back at Rio. The “Ibuki” lost fifty-two men and seventy-six men were wounded in the Battle of Manila. On the day after the battle, a water funeral was held on the upper deck of the “Kawayodo,” with no remains of the dead, as a memorial and appreciation for those who had not returned.
Family, hometown, friends, lovers, the future of this country. They feel frustrated that they can only send their condolences and thanks to those who fought and died for something they wanted to protect.
They sacrificed so much. They cried as much as they could and mourned from the bottom of their hearts. After it was over, it was the duty of those who were left to live on to not be discouraged. They believed that the best way to pay tribute to their fallen comrades was to get up again and do their duty with the same cheerful smile as before.
“Oh. I’ll fight until the end. I’m going to finish the fight until the end, for everyone who is gone.”
Izaya said, nodding to Rio.
When she thought of those who had been wounded and died in the battle, she realized that war was wrong and must never be repeated. The cruel figures of the sailors lying folded on the deck never left Izaya’s mind. They would never pass on to the next generation a world where such a scene was the norm.
That’s why.
In order to prevent the children from repeating such foolish wars, she wanted to put an end to all wars with this battle against Gameria. If this war is a necessary part of the evolutionary process of human history, then she will fulfill her responsibility as a person born in this era. And she must end it here, so that the greatest nightmare in the history of mankind will never be repeated.
That’s right. I’m going to fight to end it here.
Izaya renewed her resolve and set her eyes on the sky ahead.
The flying destroyer flew through the sky, its stern propeller whipping furiously as the seven colors of confetti flew.
The cheers of the crowd that had filled the land faded into the distance. The shadow of the ship was buried in the infinite blue, and before they knew it, the tone of the stern propeller had changed to the melody of the wind.
The end of the melody – someone’s song faintly reached the empty sky.
Beyond the clouds, a peace song sung by many people was echoing in the empty sky.
Notes/Thoughts:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUTURE TRANSLATION OF THIS NOVEL
Okay first off, when I first started MTLing/editing this novel, I originally planned to do only the first volume to see how NovelUpdates would react to Propeller Opera and to the gauge the interest in this series. Essentially, if NovelUpdates reacted well to the first volume and there was sizeable amount of interest in the series, I would consider doing the rest of the series.
As you can tell, this is my first series/first time doing something like this, and let me say, THIS WAS MORE TIME CONSUMING AND TEDIOUS THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE! I have more respect to those who do translate every volume of a series and put out chapters consistently. After doing just this one volume, I am a little burnt out at the moment, since I wanted to get this first volume out as soon as possible.
However, thats not to say I didn’t like Propeller Opera. I actually LOVED this volume and can’t wait to read the rest of the series! Hopefully, I was able to do this first volume justice even though it is MTL Edited!
In the end, I’ll be taking a break on MTLing/editing since I got some stuff I want to do. To emphasis, I will NOT be committing to translating the next volume or the whole series just yet. Like I said earlier, I want to gauge the interest in the series first, before continuing. In other words, don’t be surprised if this will be the only volume that I end up translating. However, on the bright-side, If I ever do feel like translating the rest even if there is no interest, then expect to see more Kuroto, Izaya, and Rio!
PS. ALSO I WILL BE COMPILING EVERYTHING FROM THIS VOLUME INTO AN EPUB and PDF. So, for the new readers who want to read this on an EPUB device and/or those want to add it your digital collection and mark it as read, you can do that. The link will be posted in main Propeller Opera page!
Eh, even if it’s a machine translation, maybe a real translator will see this and get interested since it has…
Thank you for translating this volume! To help you gauge the interest in the series I had it made into…
dude thanks to translate this, even tho out of boredom but thank you
Thank you for picking this up! I have been wanting to read this as well but was sad to see…
No not at the moment. This is only something I did because I wanted to read Propeller Opera.
Boredom Translations 
Thank you for translating this volume! To help you gauge the interest in the series I had it made into an audiobook on youtube and people seem to be interested in it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_HGBNqFUD4&t=63s
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