"So how does a retainer slapping his king with a paper fan factor into the royal
dignity?" I asked.
"It pains me to do it, sire, but this is a royal order, you see," Hakuya said with a
cool look on his face. "That aside, sire, you'll have to explain to everyone why they've
been called here."
"Oh, yeah, that's right... Poncho."
"Y-Yessss!"
With the conversation suddenly turning to him, paunchy Poncho stood up so
vigorously he almost knocked his chair over. He was as rotund as ever, but he was
more suntanned than he had been during the royal audience the other day.
"Have you prepared what I asked you for?" I asked.
"Y-Yes! With your cooperation, sire, I was able to visit all the places it took me
eight years to go around to before in a matter of two weeks."
"Cooperation... What did you do for him?" Liscia looked at me dubiously.
"Oh, he means how I cleared things with the countries involved and let him use
one of the royal family's royal visit wyverns to get around."
Royal visit wyverns were used by the king when he traveled abroad. The
Forbidden Army had only a handful of them. Poncho's task had required speedy
transportation, so I had loaned him one. Most wyverns belonged to the air force, but
with their admiral, Castor, being uncooperative, asking him to loan us one of theirs
probably wouldn't have worked. ...It was such a headache.
"Well then, Poncho, show us what you've gathered," I said.
"Y-Yes! In here, sire, I have the 'ingredients there is no custom of eating in this
country' that you requested, yes!" With those words, Poncho pulled out a big sack.
When Liscia saw it, her eyes went wide. "Hey, that's the Hero's Sack!"
"Yeah. It fits a lot more than it looks like it should, and, on top of that, food put
inside it doesn't rot as easily. I thought it'd be perfect for gathering ingredients, so I
lent it to him."
"Even so, you shouldn't... Oh, whatever." Liscia slumped her shoulders in
resignation. "So, what was it? Ingredients there's no custom of eating in this
country?"
"More precisely, it was 'Ingredients eaten in foreign countries and select regions
of our own country, but which there is no general custom of eating in this country,'" I
said.
Different places have different foods, and different people have different tastes.
You often hear of things that are thrown away as inedible in one place being
appreciated as a delicacy in another. Even in Japan, in some regions you could find
things that would make you say, "Huh? You eat that?" To the point that there have
been programs like Ken**n Show that have focused on the subject.
"Right now, our country grows things like cotton, tea, and tobacco, so we're
replacing them with food crops," I explained. "However, we won't see the effects of
that until autumn, at least. So in order to keep the people from starving until then, a
plan with immediate effects is needed."
In order to resolve the food crisis, serious reforms over a long period of time
would be necessary. However, during that time there would be people starving, and
there was the worry some might starve to death at this rate. What was more, the
first to die would be babies of nursing age, with their weak constitutions and high
need for nutrition.
Children were a national treasure. I couldn't let them starve to death.
That said, even if I wanted to deliver food to all the starving people of the
country, there were limits to how much support the country could offer. That was
why, alongside longer-term strategies, short-term countermeasures with immediate
effects would be necessary.
"And that's these ingredients we don't have a custom of eating?" Liscia asked.
"They're eaten in other countries, but we don't have a custom of eating them
here," I said. "If we develop those customs, it will make it harder to starve. It simply
increases the food supply, after all."
"Is there going to be anything so convenient?" she asked doubtfully.
"That's what we're checking. ...Now then, let's change locations."
"Change locations? Where to?" Seeing Liscia tilt her head to the side quizzically, I
responded with a laugh.
"We're deciding whether we can use these ingredients or not. We're off to the
cafeteria, obviously."
"Hey, Souma. I understand why you want to use the cafeteria, but... don't we have
too many people?" Liscia asked.
As she had pointed out, the cafeteria was noisy, but in a different way than usual.
In this cafeteria which was used by the guards and maids (and recently, even the
king), there were usually more than thirty long tables set up in order to
accommodate a large number of people eating at the same time. However, at
present, all but one of the long tables had been taken away to make a wide open
space. Despite this, the cafeteria was full of people and equipment, and there was
only a little free space around the long table.
The massive jewel floating in the room was eating up a particularly large amount
of space.
"Another Jewel Voice Broadcast?" Liscia asked.
"It's a horrible waste that they only used a handy thing like this to read out
declarations of war," I said. "I've got to put it to better use."
This Jewel Voice Broadcast was kind of like television. It could relay information
to the people immediately, so airing some entertainment programs was bound to
help win the support of the people. I supposed it did have a couple of faults in that
the lack of recording technology meant all broadcasts had to be live, and that the
video was only available in larger towns and cities (though apparently sound-only
broadcasts were available in even the smallest of rural villages). That was just one
thing where I would have to wait for the technology (magic?) to advance.
I had been thinking of starting with Nodo Jiman, the amateur singing contest, as
our first entertainment program. Through the singing cafe where Juna worked, I had
been calling out to the people who had come to show off their "gift of singing" during
my gathering of gifted people, and we were making preparations to have them debut
as singers and idols.
Elfrieden's first public broadcaster, huh... I thought. The dreams are limitless.
"What're you grinning for?" Liscia asked coldly while I imagined the possibilities.
"You look creepy."
I coughed. "Ahem. ...For our current project, the goal is to introduce the custom of
eating foods that are not commonly eaten in this country. Advertising them to the
people at the same time will be more efficient, right? That's why I brought some
beautiful ladies here, as well."
"Like Juna?"
"You too, Liscia. Oh, and Aisha and Tomoe, as well. They say the ABCs of drawing
viewership are animals, beauties, and children. That's why I have Liscia the
orthodox pretty girl, Juna whose mature charm belies her young age, Aisha with her
healthy dark skin, and Tomoe, who is animal-eared, a beauty, and a child, as well.
With this many beautiful specimens here, the people's eyes will be glued to the
screen."
"M-Me, too..." Liscia was blushing scarlet. As for the other three:
"It's an honor, sire," said Juna.
"Yes, Your Majesty! I will endeavor to meet your expectations!" Aisha added.
"Yesh! I-I'll do my best!" Tomoe cried.
Each of them showed their enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Hakuya was quickly getting
things in order for the broadcast, and Poncho was hastily double-checking the
ingredients. When I saw them like this, I felt like I had gotten a good group of people
together. Of course, I still wanted more.
I gave the order to everyone. "Okay, let the broadcast begin."
◇ ◇ ◇
That day, every city deserving of the name in Elfrieden was packed with people.
When word spread that the young king who had stirred up the country with his
personnel gathering the other day would be using the Jewel Voice Broadcast to do
something again, people rushed to the fountain plazas in the cities. (The systems
which dispersed mist into the air to project the Jewel Voice Broadcast on were
generally installed on the fountain in the central plaza.)
People who lived in villages that could only receive sound went out of their way
to come to nearby cities so they could see the video as well, so there were even more
people gathered around than usual.
In this world where the only forms of entertainment to speak of were exhibitions,
drinking, and gambling, the Jewel Voice Broadcast was beginning to be recognized
by the people as a form of entertainment.
And when people gather, money moves. There were already stands out in the
plazas of each city. It was beginning to take on a festive atmosphere. Everyone laid
out mats or sheets in front of the fountain, waiting impatiently for the broadcast to
begin.
"Hey, hey, ith jewel voith going to do thomething again?" a child lisped.
"Yes, darling. I wonder what it will be," a mother smiled, answering her little girl
with the slight lisp.
"Everyone seems to be having fun. Times sure have changed," another person
said.
"They certainly have. Why, back in our day, we would never have thought of the
Jewel Voice Broadcast as something enjoyable."
The elderly people, who knew the Jewel Voice Broadcast had only been used by
generations of kings for declarations of war and public announcements of the
current military situation, closed their eyes in silence. In those times, the country
had had nearly twice its current territory, but only half its current population.
The Jewel Voice Broadcast had always been things like "We have won the battle
of X" or "We must overcome the brave death of X and continue to fight!" For those
over a certain age, the Jewel Voice Broadcast carried an association with death.
"May our new young king be a man who will not make that image—"
"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
The old man's voice was drowned out by raucous cheering.
A man and a woman in uniform appeared in mid-air.
"Hello, people of Elfrieden," the woman said.
"H-Hello," the man added.
"Coming to you with the latest from Parnam Castle is our new program, The
King's Brilliant Lunch, or The King's Brillunch for short. We are your hosts, Juna
Doma..."
"...a-and P-Poncho Ishizuka Panacotta, yes!"
"...Poncho, there's no need to be so tense."
"W-Well, you see, I don't have any experience doing this... Madam Juna, you're so
confident at this. I'm envious, yes."
"Well, I sing in front of customers all the time. If you visit Parnam, please come
see our singing cafe Lorelei."
"Don't blatantly advertise, please!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The contrast between the playful beauty and the flustered
fat man brought laughs to fountain plazas around the nation.
"Now then, this gentleman will explain the purpose of our program."
"Th-The (provisional) 14th king of Elfrieden, His Majesty Souma Kazuya, yes!"
Ohhh! a cry went up in the plazas.
The young king they had seen during the gathering of personnel appeared on the
screen. "I haven't been crowned yet, so I'm not king yet, strictly speaking, but... Oh,
hi. I'm Souma Kazuya, the guy who's currently acting as king. Now, to cut to the
chase, I'd like to speak about the state of this country."
"He's not very kingly," said someone. With the way he was acting, you could
hardly blame them.