The Federal Republic of Deutschtonia and “Defunct the Five! Don’t believe witches!”

January 1st of the new year, nearing noon. I have landed back in my country. One of the signs that I have returned to my country is the airport, which looks more sophisticated than airports in other countries.

One of the sophisticated things is the presence of several clumps of ‘writing clouds.’ The large clouds appear to glow and are colored red, black, yellow, and white, contrasting with the eternal twilight that forms the background. The clouds form the words “Welcome to the Federal Republic of Deutschtonia.”

Planes can still penetrate the welcome clouds. These clouds can still maintain their shape even if they are penetrated at any speed. Our country is the first to create such clouds, and maybe we are the first to penetrate the Quietus Cloud, as Mrs. Rostand said yesterday.

In addition to the clouds, another example of our country’s technological superiority is the several planes that pass by this airport. There is a jumbo jet plane with a length of about 80 meters doing a vertical landing. Large planes that can do VTOL, or vertical take-off and landing, are one of our country’s newest technologies.

Our country has also been able to create regular-sized cars that can fly. The safety, comfort, and other aspects of the technology have been tested. However, the means of transportation have not yet been launched to the public because the rules on how the vehicle will cross are still being discussed by our government.

But besides technological innovation, there is something classic that is a sign that I have arrived in my country. That is the flag and symbol of our country flying on a pole. Both the flag and the symbol of our country use the same color combination used in the welcome cloud—namely, red, black, yellow, and white.

The Deutschtonia flag uses a white base color. Then there is an inverted triangle and a compass in the middle of the flag. The inverted triangle is black, while the compass is red. Above the compass, there is a yellow crown.

Meanwhile, our national symbol, like other countries, uses more complex objects than our country. The symbol shows a bird with two heads, where the bird has a red color on the head and legs that are connected. The bird has white eyes. The head and legs are deliberately designed to display the silhouette of a compass.

The bird in the symbol uses yellow, with ruler-like lines as a sign of its feathers. Meanwhile, the bird's wings are black. On the bird's body, there is a red ruler decorated with ruler lines.

"Hey, Schoneken. How are the places I recommend?" A voice was heard from my gadget.

At that time, I was already sitting in a ride-hailing service that would take me directly from the airport to my house. At this time, I chose to use a regular ride-hailing service. Although I could have chosen a luxury ride-hailing service or rented a helicopter, it wouldn't be good if I kept spending too much, right? But as for the voice that had just called me, taking a luxury ride-hailing on a daily basis didn't seem to be wasteful to him.

The voice that had just been heard was a message from one of my fellow members of The Five. He asked that question after seeing my social media status update that I had returned from vacation.

I answered the question, "Yes. All your recommendations are interesting, Nanzu."

“By the way, you must have been somewhere impromptu as usual, right?” he guessed.

“That’s right,” I confirmed his guess.

The friend who spoke to me was named Gaetano Glanzrad Ragunanzu. I had known him personally when we were both in college. He has family members who live in the country of Bharat and have vacationed together there several times. That's why I made him a resource for recommendations on places in the country of Bharat.

The Ragunanzu family members who live in the country of Bharat are representatives of the AZ gun company in that country. The Ragunanzu family is the pioneers and developers of AZ guns. Anzura gun is taken from the anagram of the Ragunanzu family name. The family has been a weapons manufacturer for more than 500 years.

With such a track record, the Ragunanzu family is one of the richest families in my country today. The family itself has a good and mutually beneficial relationship with The Five. Well, actually, all the ultra-high-net-worth families in our country have such a relationship with The Five, except for one family.

“How was your family vacation, Nanzu?” I continued the conversation.

“Our experience was also good. From Siquijor Island to Salem on the other side of the continent, to Pendle Hill on the other side of our country. Only a few problems from my brother’s son and daughter. But you know, they are little kids. So the fussiness was predictable and, of course, can be overcome. Now we are getting ready to go home,” Nanzu explained.

Nanzu was on vacation with several members of her family. Other than Nanzu, Nanzu’s vacation group consisted of her grandparents, as well as her older sister and her husband, and their two children.

“By the way, have you tried the OSHI sake that is only sold in the country of Bharat that was just released, right?” Nanzu asked.

“Yes,” I answered briefly.

“How?” he asked again.

I answered by shrugging my shoulders—although, of course, Nanzu would not see it because we were not communicating by video call but only by exchanging voice messages—and said honestly, “That version of sake is not my cup of tea.”

“Hahaha, I could have guessed that,” Ragunanzu laughed.

Then Nanzu said again, “I will tell my father. Then my father will tell Mr. Fermi Herzwarm.”

“Go ahead,” I replied.

The name Herzwarm that Ragunanzu mentioned was another ultra-high-net-worth family. Of course, that family is a family that has good relations with The Five. Moreover, the status of one of his family members is a former 'crème de la crème' of The Five.

After that, for a few seconds, there was no reply; it seemed that there was nothing else we wanted to discuss at this time. Then Nanzu sent a message that ended our dialogue: “Then, see you in the laboratory, Schoneken.”

“Yeah, see you again at The Hessestadt Hill,” I said.

At that time, the ride-hailing vehicle I was riding had entered the urban area. When the car turned, we passed a shopping center. At that time, on the edge of the shopping center, there was a booth guarded by people in the same uniform. Several other people in uniform were seen walking around while each holding up a poster.

I—and all other residents—are already familiar with those people. Well, it’s not just our citizens who know who they are, because other people from other countries know too. That’s right; they are an international organization.

They were people from an organization that campaigned that the Quietus Cloud was no longer possible to overcome. They campaigned that humans must accept our fate of dying on an earth that would be swallowed by the sun, that we would not be able to explore outer space to find a new place to live.

One of the posters that those people carried read, “Defunct the Five! Don’t believe witches!” They did use the word "witch" as a derogatory term for members of The Five.

The organization that housed those people itself received a lot of donations from the Felsenmann family. Who was that family? They were the only ultra-high-net-worth family in my country that did not have a good relationship with The Five.