Kara no Teikoku : The Empty Empire
written and illustrated by Naoe Kita
translation by ryuuen yanagi

Chapter One: The Empty Empire

--page 5

Towards the end of the year 2500 AD, suddenly and for the
first time in the world, mankind was united.

Emperor Idea*
*pronouced ee-dey-ah

During his several year reign, the world was peaceful.

However, his eventual death threw the world into chaos.

"It's Idea-sama!"

--page 6

In the absence of a king,

the upside-down world became a place of rebellion

Thugs: "Quit running away!"

"They're gonna kill me!"

"Found him!"

Boy: "!"
"Dammit..."
"Aa..?"


--page 7

Boy: "~~~"

Thug: "Don't make this hard on me."

Boy: "Uwa~"

Thug: "Your face is the spitting image of him, huh..."
"Good night."

[BANG~!]


--page 8

[the palace]

Eiri: "So, even with modern science, it's impossible! 
Making copies of people..."

minister: "But, Eiri-kun! The entire world is waiting and hoping
for the arrival of the king! What's so bad about copying
Emperor Idea!?"

Eiri: "Even if his features are identical, and his disposition
is the same, he will not become the same person. He will be 
someone different. There will be differences."
"Experiences and memories."

minister: "!?"

Eiri: "Living and experiencing things would make his feelings 
different." 


--page 9

Eiri: "The original technology could only copy. In essence, a baby."
"With culture fluid, in a few days we could make someone the same 
age as Idea, but... Idea's essence is dead. I really don't know if 
we will be able to cultivate his experiences and memories. It's 
possible that the brain may have some sub-standard information, but 
Idea's life was so obscure that I don't know if the copy would grow 
up to become him or not. There's no guarantee that it would become 
the exact same person. Idea had a unique ability that no person after
him will ever have, and I can't take responsibility for it. So, if 
you'll excuse me..."

minister: ".....shit! That brat! I don't know if he's a kind of genius, 
or just impertinent!" 

royal attendant: "Minister! The situation is serious! Look 
at this world! The situation is such that in the year since Idea's 
death, half the world has turned into slums! Minister..."

minister: ".... we have no choice."


--page 10

minister: "This situation is worse than when Idea arrived. The empire, 
in the absence of its king... the country is falling apart because we're
just standing around wishing."

In an empty empire...

The arrival of a king!

thug: "What the hell?"
"Ge... Let's see his blood."
"Exhilirating, isn't it... did he have anything worth money?"
"Which?"

Ririka: "Heeeey!! What are you trying to do!?"

thugs: "Uwa~?"


--page 11

thug: "Ririka!?"

Ririka: "Nobody gets to act so selfishly in my territory!"

thug #2: "What's with this cute girl, huh?"

thug: "Wa~! Cut it out! She's the 'wild animal tamer' Ririka from 
Eiri's place!" 

Ririka: "What do you mean by that? (A circus girl?) Shall I teach 
you a lesson? It would seem that you guys are rather hopeless, now, 
aren't you? Calling me that shows me I have to train the rudeness 
out of you!"

thugs: "O- oi... let's go!"


--page 12

Ririka: "Geez... even in the royal territory of Jioria... The number 
of hoodlums is sure increasing... so he must be worth a lot of money,
hmmm? A cyborg or a robot; I can take it apart and sell it.... hm?"

(what a pretty child...)

Ririka: "If it's 100% organic materials, I don't really have any 
chance of selling it... eh?"


--page 13

boy: "I.. am not Idea... I'm not..."

Ririka: "Kyaaa~~~ you're alive? Hey, you, wait a sec!"

Eiri: "What's wrong, Ririka?"

Ririka: "Eiri... this kid is..."


--page 14

"Idea...!?"

Ririka: "But, when he collapsed, he said he wasn't Idea."

Eiri: "But he's the spitting image. There's a chance that the royal 
palace may have revived him. There's a chance that they..."

There's a chance that what?

boy: "What is this place?"

Eiri: "Hey, now, you'll fall down if you get up too quickly." 

boy: "Where am I? Who are you guys?"


--page 15

Eiri: "This is the royal palace, in the city of Jioria. I am Eiri,
and this girl is Ririka. What's your name?"

boy: "Eh~"

[[introduction by the author; to be translated later]]


--page 16

boy: "I... I don't know..."

Ririka: "What!? You've forgotten your name!? It couldn't be
amnesia, could it!?"

Eiri: (Could it...?)

Ririka: "Waa~~~ You poor guy!! You were exhausted! You really 
can't remember a thing??"

boy: "...?"

Eiri: "...."

Ririka: "What should we do, Eiri, huh?"

Eiri: "Aa... well, please feel free to stay here until your
wounds have healed."

Ririka: "Eeee~~?? You're gonna keep this kid here!?"

boy: "Mu~"

Eiri: "Well, you're the one who saved him, aren't you?"

Ririka: "E... yeah, I saved him, but..."


--page 17

Eiri: "Are you acquainted with the name 'Idea'? Or possibly 
'Emperor Idea'?"

boy: "Eh... Huh? I've never heard it before, but why should I have?"

Eiri: "When you passed out, you said something like 'I'm not Idea'. 
You said it, that's why."

Ririka: "...."

boy: "Why does that have anything to do with me!?"

Eiri: "Because your face is identical to Idea's."

boy: "Eh?"

Eiri: "I've been researching the revival of Idea, and I think that you
might be his..."

boy: "...his...?"


--page 18

Eiri: "...no. His sibling, or his relative, or something like that,
I think."

boy: "? Really?"

Eiri: "If you don't have your memory, why don't we check your gene
sequence or run a blood sample to investigate? I think we could find
out your identity that way."

boy: "Aah... okay."

Eiri: "Ah, Ririka. Why don't you try to give this boy a name?"

Ririka: "Eh? Me? Calling him Idea isn't okay? He sure looks like him..."

Eiri: "Ah... he said he isn't Idea. It would seem wrong to call him 
that, then, wouldn't it?"

Ririka: "Hm? Hmm... okay... well, you have a scar that looks like 
a flower, and it's kinda red, so... how about calling you Rose?"

boy (Rose): (A name...)


--page 19

Eiri: "Ririka... that's a little girl's name."

Ririka: "Isn't that okay? I mean, he's pretty cute..."

Rose: "...really, anything is okay. Rose or Margaret or whatever. 
I'll know the real one when my memory comes back... my real name."
(Real name...)

Ririka: "...so get out of the way! We have an invalid, here! Rose! Carry
this stuff! You're going to eat most of it, anyway. You know, that scar isn't
going away!"

Rose: "Ow..."

Ririka: "If you really don't know your identity, and your memory doesn't 
come back, then what are you going to do?"

Rose: "You..."

man: "Yo, Ririka. You haven't come to play with us for awhile."

Ririka: [Ge...]


--page 20

Ririka: "Rose... it was ignorant of me to forget how popular you are."

Rose: "Ririka?"

Ririka: "It's okay, though, because I'm not weak."

thug: "I think I'll become the next emperor, so what do you think of 
that?"

Ririka: "Hmph. What are you saying? Replace Idea...? Ah, that's it. 
You guys aren't really scared? Even though right over here... is Idea!"

Rose: "Eh?"

thugs: "What... are you saying? If I recall, that's just a guy who
looks a lot like him~~~~~ It's just another guy who resembles him for
some reason... but it sure does look like him... it couldn't be that 
Idea's death was a lie, could it?"


--page 21

thugs: "Oi... let's go... yeah..."

Rose: "..."

Ririka: "It's greaaat, you just say Idea's name, and those thugs
turn into little babies! Rose, you could pretend to be Idea some more..."

Rose: "No, okay? What is this... I'm turning into a bodyguard."


--page 22

Rose: "I... really hate the name 'Idea'."

Ririka: "Hmmm, really? But you might be his descendant, right? It's 
said that Idea was a great person... strong and clever, and what's more... 
it's said that he had a mysterious power..."

Rose: "We're not related-! Anyway, I'm not Idea! I'm myself. Aren't you
the one who named me 'Rose'? I was... really happy, so..."

Ririka: "Rose... you..."


--page 23

Ririka: "Are you getting attached to the name 'Rose'?"

Rose: "~~~~~~~" (I was really happy to get a name, but... she did a bad
job of it.)

Ririka: ("Ah! There! How cute--!")

Rose: "Ah-" (It's falling... it's going to crack... STOP!)


--page 24

Rose: "Eh? Ahhh, it did, didn't it.... it fell, didn't it..."

Ririka: "What are you trying to dooo~~~~?? We don't have any eggs now,
and you're not worried!?"

Rose: "Yeah... but even if you say..."

old woman: "Hey! Aren't you Idea-sama!? Hey, if I had known that Idea-sama 
was still alive, I would have welcomed you! I never dreamed that I would
look straight into those eyes~!"

Rose: "Eh? Eh~"


--page 25

old woman: "What? You don't have any eggs? Well, it's a good thing you
said something... if you like these, please take them!"

Rose: "....these... (are heavy)................."

Ririka: "With this... we'll never lack food again, hmm..."

Rose: "Eh?"

Ririka: "Old lady, we want some meat, too-- Idea-sama has been hurt,
you know..."

Rose: "Oi... (this girl...)"


--page 26

Ririka: "Today we have a feast---!"

Eiri: "Oh?" (Itadakimasu!*)
*literally "I'm going to eat this."

Rose: "...."

Ririka: "Rose really did good!"

Rose: "I'm not Idea! How can you continue this!? I'm not doing it 
anymore!"

Eiri: "Eh? That's going to be a problem!"

Rose: "Eh?"

Eiri: "No, um... as someone who researched Idea, meeting someone like
you with a similar form, who must be a relation of his, I can still
continue to the best of my ability. I mean, just a little bit more,
until we know your identity."

Rose: "Really?"


--page 27

Rose: "I've got it, then. I'll try to do it."

Eiri: "Hmm... no matter how many times I look, it's the same...? The 
people at the palace kept this from me... only thinking
of protecting Idea, hm. I wonder how Rose will be when he eventually
finds out..."

Rose: "Hey... what's between you guys?"

Ririka: "Eh?"

Rose: "You and Eiri."

Ririka: "----... he's my boyfriend."

Rose: "EH~"


--page 28

Ririka: "At least, that would be nice, wouldn't it... oh, I think so..."
(Eiri is so coooool...)

Rose: "~~~~~~"

Ririka: "I'm sorry to say, I'm almost the same as you... when I was a
child, I was abandoned... in the time of confusion and everything falling
apart, Eiri found me. It was a time when I was kindof an un-needed person,
and very sad, and Eiri came and found me."

An un-needed person...

Ririka: "Eiri said 'If you would live here and have fun, I would be
happy'. His saying that made me feel indispensible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~ROSE!? Why are you making me talk about things that involve
my heart so much!!?? Do you want me to kill you~~??!!"


--page 29

Rose: "Quit talking like 'Eiri this' and 'Eiri that', okay!?"

Ririka: "Huh? What are you say--"

"Waah~~" "Ack~~!"

Ririka: "...just now... did you do that on purpose?"

Rose: "...no."

["...no"]

Ririka: "Oh."

Rose: "...."


--page 30

Ririka: "Our stuff went everywhere..."

assassin: "-------!? His head moved?"

Ririka: "What was that!? Just now!?"

Rose: "They were aiming at me?"


--page 31

Ririka: "Really, it came out of nowhere... a ballistic rocket or 
something fell right out of the sky, straight at Rose..."

Eiri: "I need to think about this in my room for awhile..."

Rose: "Wheewwww..."

Eiri: (It was a mistake... he's not Idea. He ran away because of
something... I'm starting to feel like...) "Perhaps... they were
trying to dispose of him... those guys..."

Rose: "Eh?"

Eiri: "That's what I thought..."

Rose: [What am I? If I'm not Idea, then what does that mean? That...]


--page 32

Rose: [This power...]

Eiri: "Rose-kun."

"WAAAAHHHHHHH!?!?!?"

Eiri: "-------why did you make it rain eggs...? [arrow: washed->] 
Rose... you..."

Rose: "Umm... so, Eiri~! I'm going to go locate the source of my power!"

Eiri: "Eh~"


--page 33

Eiri: "Rose-kun, wait! What on earth are you planning to do?"

Rose: "It's okay, there's someone who will know. I'll just ask that
guy who was aiming at me. Because if he was aiming at me, he must
know something about me!"

Eiri: "Wait! You're-"

Ririka: "Eiri! Eiri! Phone call from the palace!"

Eiri: "....dammit."

Eiri: "What is it, minister!? (Look, I'm sorry, but I really can't talk.)"

minister: "Eiri, a very important matter has come up."

Eiri: "We're rather busy here, too."

minister: "The situation is rather serious. We tried to keep this quiet 
from you, but this has become somewhat of a disaster. Hearing this will
probably disturb you quite a bit, but the truth is----"

Eiri: "I know."

minister: "Eh?"


--page 34

Eiri: "Idea's clone has run away, hasn't he?"

Ririka: "Eh? CLONE!?"


--page 35

Eiri: "You went behind my back and did that to Idea... I told you it
was impossible!"

minister: "I... I'm sorry. Don't get upset... you're right. At any rate,
we couldn't make a person who was exactly like Idea. When we realized 
that, we tried to dispose of our mistake, but really... it got out and
ran away-----"

Ririka: "'Dispose of?'"

minister: "Yes. We tried to have him shot but he got out of the city. 
Some people... we sent in some people to clean up after that one time...
but he got away in the confusion. There were some who said that they
witnessed other people helping him get away. Hurry, we have to take
care of this before it starts a panic, if only because he's a clone of
Emperor Idea!"


--page 36

minister: "I'm sorry, but I'm leaving it to you to take care of this
clone. You two are the best for the job; you know that town."

Eiri: "Minister!? Oi! You can't just do this to save your own hide! 
Hello?"

Ririka: "...Eiri, was he talking about Rose? This clone that he said
was a mistake..."

Eiri: "Ririka."

Ririka: "Rose doesn't know?"


--page 37

Ririka: "He doesn't know a thing about it?"

Rose: (What's the connection to Idea?) "Wa~! Wait~! Oi, assassin?"

assassin: "?"

Rose: "I have something I want to ask you... wa!?"


--page 38

Rose: "Shit... I guess he doesn't want to talk!"

Ririka: "They're going to kill him because he's useless?"

Eiri: "Ririka..."

Ririka: "I used to be useless, too... according to both my parents...
they didn't want me to have been born. But I'm still alive. I still
exist. I'm here, so... am I still useless?"

Useless?

Then...


--page 39

Rose: (What's with this guy?) "You blockhead! Why are you gonna kill 
me? Can't you just tell me that!?"

assassin: "You must die."


--page 40

assassin: "You... why are you asking? Are you going to beg for mercy?
You should know that you're not likely to get it from a stranger... That 
scar on your forehead is better proof of that than anything! Your life
is not necessary----"

Ririka: "Don't you talk to Rose!"

assassin: "Uwa~~"


--page 41

Rose: "RIRIKA?!"

Ririka: "Rose. Reinforcement is here. Don't listen to anything this
guy has to say."

Rose: "......."

assassin: "Who the hell are you?"

Rose: "Ririka, we may not be able to stand him, but he's the only one
who knows anything about me! Don't stop me!"

Ririka: "But~!"

assassin: "Eh~ What? You don't have any memories? Ehhh... it's true!
Okay, I'll try and tell you."

Ririka: "STOP IT!"

assassin: "You..."


--page 42

assassin: "You are a copy of Idea, y'know? Someone's mistake. A 
screw-up from when someone tried to copy the Emperor."

Rose: "...a mistake?"


--page 43

Ririka: "Wha... what are you putting it like that for? Couldn't you
find some other way to say it!?"

assassin: "It's the truth."

Rose: "I see. I see... the truth. That's why I can't remember my name.
Because I never had a real name." (Not Idea! I AM NOT IDEA!)


--page 44

(They can't kill me just for that! I am myself! I'm going to try and
run away!)

Ririka: "Rose."

Rose: "Ririka... I remember about myself now. I'm an imposter of Idea.
I wasn't needed anywhere. I couldn't exist anywhere, so to speak..."

Ririka: "ROSE. I... You are the person I met!"

(Idea's apparition)

Ririka: "The person who gave me strength was you! Not Idea!"


--page 45

Ririka: "I really don't know Idea! You don't resemble Idea! Emperor
Idea resembles you!"

Rose: "....yeah."

Eiri: "And your character is entirely different from Idea's."

Ririka/Rose: "Eiri!"


--page 46

Eiri: "And since I know Idea so well, you can't doubt what I'm
saying. Because I was Idea's closest friend."

assassin: "What the hell are you people saying?! I've been given
an order from the palace! I've been told that he's a mistake!"

Eiri: "I don't listen to anyone but Idea. I don't know about the 
palace. Idea didn't expect to take the position of king, so he was
probably only cooperating."

assassin: "So now you're saying that it's okay that I can't do 
any damage to Idea? He resembles the great Idea, but then again
he doesn't!"

Eiri: "That's true, isn't it?"


--page 47

Eiri: "After listening to this story, don't you think there's 
something a little strange going on? If you're the one who was
sent to take care of Rose, and you're the one who gave him that
gunshot scar, then why didn't he die? And in the town, with that
sharpshooter, why did it just leave a scar? The pros are people
who kill without giving any warning, so why couldn't they
kill him? You don't think that's a little strange?"

assassin: "......"

Ririka: "Eiri?"

assassin: "It was just chance! A lucky move! This time I'll take
care of this brat; I'll quickly get rid of this mistake once and
for all!"

Eiri: "The answer is Rose-kun. You know that, right?"

Ririka: "Eh?"


--page 48

assassin: "What is it I'm supposed to know? This brat-"

Ririka: "KYAAAAAA~~~!!! Rose!!"

assassin: "...what!?!?"


--page 49

assassin: "Eh... WAAAA~~!!??"


--page 50

assassin: "...ugh..."

Rose: "This is the same gun that I was attacked with last time."

(Chase him!)

(It's the 'mistake' version of Idea!)

(No!)

(Why do you have to kill me?)

("Goodnight.")

Rose: "My head was cut open, but I could still move. Even before that
attack, I had this power. But the attack... that's what woke it up."


--page 51

Rose: "The fear of death... and conversely... that's right. Do you
also not want to die? Lean your head forward. Russian Roulette... let's 
make a bet. Is it death? Or the emperor?"

assassin: "Eh~... stop it..."

Ririka: "Eh? Stop!"

assassin: "Stop it!!"


--page 52

Rose: "Missed."

Ririka: "You turned the bullet? (You made it move, huh?) Your head making
it turn that fast... what an awesome power..."

assassin: "This is.. unbelievable... until now it was completely..."


--page 53

assassin: "-------- Idea-sama?"


--page 54

Rose: "----After all this, it would probably be better if I came up with
a more serious name, huh... (Rose is going to seem kinda weird...)"

Eiri: "...but you can't find it in you to change it, hm?"

Ririka: "Did you say something?"

Rose: "Nothing."

The empty empire...

is waiting for you.


----chapter one : fin----

translations copyright ryuuen 1999
reproduction in whole or in part is absolutely forbidden
furthermore, if you do, i'll send Himmel after you
and THEN you'll be sorry... ufufufu