Soft spring sunlight cast gentle shadows across the plaza in front of Amencho Town’s station. March 30th. In a corner of the plaza, Kopo had spread out his handmade “Frog Conquest Map,” muttering to himself with a deadly serious expression.
“…First, I take control of the pond’s edge. Next, I secure the area under the weeping cherry tree. And finally, at Dragon God’s Lake, I get the girls to cheer, ‘Congratulations on unifying the land, Lord Kopo!’ This — this is my ‘ambition.’”
Just then, Sonchō approached, flicking the brim of his top hat with a finger. “Feh-feh. Kopo, ruling the land takes more than military might and a map. Even the old warlord Nobunaga, they say, loved dance and song.”
“Singing…? Isn’t that Keromi’s department?”
Kopo puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction, just as a clear, ringing voice drifted in from somewhere.
It was Keromi, singing on a street corner. Something about her felt a little different from usual today. Perhaps inspired by the “legendary Idol 100-Hour Broadcast” starting today in the city, her singing carried an earnest, prayer-like quality — the kind meant to stay in someone’s heart across ten years, twenty years, transcending time.
“…I wonder if my song could become someone’s ’legend’ too.”
At Keromi’s murmur , Hasshi, who had been napping in the shade, cracked open one eye to answer.
“A legend, you know, is just the accumulation of ’time’ someone protected, holding back even when they wanted to eat it. …Kind of like the reason I don’t eat you guys.”
Hasshi laughed it off as a joke, and Keromi smiled, looking a little reassured.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the plaza, Tacchi was showing off a new move he called the “National Stadium Completion Pose” — legs stretched straight up toward the sky.
“Watch closely, Kopo. Ambition doesn’t live in some map crawling along the ground. It lives far up in the sky, as high as these legs can reach…!”
But Tacchi raised his legs a little too high, tipped over backward, bounced off the soft, doughy belly of Peshan, who happened to be passing by, and dove straight onto the map Kopo had spread out.
“Aaah! My plan for conquering the land, crushed under Tacchi’s backside!”
“…Heh. This, too, is what you’d call a turning point in history.”
The muddied map, and friends rolling with laughter. The ambition of unifying the land had drifted further out of reach, but the plaza of Amencho Town, wrapped in Keromi’s singing, was filled with a warmth and excitement that no legendary concert could top.
【Today’s Motif: March 30, 2026】
- Nobunaga’s Ambition Day: March 30. Named after the historical strategy game, depicting Kopo’s ambition and grand strategy spinning its wheels.
- National Stadium Completion Anniversary: On this day in 1958, the old National Stadium was completed — the origin of Tacchi’s “reaching for new heights” pose.
- μ’s Final Live 10th Anniversary: Against the backdrop of a citywide rebroadcast, Keromi reflects on what it means for a song to “remain.”
This is an English translation of “天下人の野望と、十年の歌声”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).