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Apparently this land had originally belonged to the sea god, but he had lost it
after being defeated by the land god in battle. However, the sea god still believed this
land was his, and when people built houses on it, he would destroy the people who
lived in them.
This was why there was a rule in the nearby fishing village that no one should
build houses here.
Once they had heard Urup's story, Liscia said, "It's too vague. I don't really get it."
"Listening to him was a waste of time," Aisha added.
Both of them seemed exasperated, but I felt differently.
Partway through his tale, I'd had Ludwin bring a map, asking just how far the sea
god's holy land stretched. Then, once I had narrowed down the range of "the sea
god's holy land" enough, I looked at the map and told Ludwin, "We need to make
major changes to the city plan."
"Hold on, Souma, why are you saying that all of a sudden?!" Liscia demanded.
"Do you believe what this old man is saying, sire?!" Aisha cried.
"If we make changes now, there will be a major delay in construction..." Ludwin
protested.
I could understand how they felt. I didn't want to do something so bothersome,
either. However, when I considered the peace of the new city, it had to be done.
"Souma, you can't mean to tell me you really believe in this sea god?" Aisha asked.
"No, there's probably no sea god," I told her.
"Then..."
"Liscia, legends are people's memories." I pointed to my temple. "Legends are
something we hand down. So, why do we hand them down, you might wonder?
Because our forefathers decided it was important to do so. Worthless stories won't
be handed down. If this one has been handed down, there's a 'lesson' to be found in
the legend, or 'wisdom for everyday life' in it."
"And you're saying this curse of the sea god is like that?" she asked.
"Yeah. In this legend, the 'lesson' is don't build houses in a specific area. If people
ignore that lesson and build houses there, they're sure to be destroyed." I looked
straight at Urup and added, "By a tsunami, right?"
Urup's eyes went wide, and he suddenly began to tremble.
"Y-Yes! By a tsunami! Everyone in the houses there, they were washed away,
houses and all!"
"Was there a big earthquake before the tsunami came, perhaps?" I asked.
"H-How did you know?!" Urup cried, as if he had just remembered that now
himself. Perhaps the sight of people being washed away, houses and all, was so
shocking that he had unconsciously been suppressing the memory.
"In other words, the sea god's true identity is 'a tidal wave triggered by an
undersea earthquake,'" I said.
Even on Earth, it was only recently that the mechanism behind earthquakes had
been discovered.
We had had to wait until the 20th century, when the interior structure of the
Earth had been discovered. Until that point, even if we'd experienced an earthquake
as a phenomenon, we had said it was because of reasons like "volcanic activity" or
"underground water turning into steam and causing a hollow cavity to form."
I used my hands to demonstrate one plate subsiding under another, like you
often see on news programs' earthquake coverage, but all I got was a bunch of blank
stares.
"Ummm... Sorry. I don't really get it," Liscia said.
"Plates? Vibration? Are you talking about magic, sire?" Aisha asked.
"I'm lost, too," Ludwin added. "When it comes to things that advanced, I don't
know if they teach it even at the Royal Academy."
Not one of them understood. It was ahead of their time, so I couldn't blame them.
"Okay, forget the mechanism behind how it works, then," I said. "The important
thing is, when there's an earthquake underwater, sometimes it causes a tsunami. In
other words, Urup's 'wrath of the sea god' doesn't occur because people build
houses there; it's a periodic thing."
"My word... It will happen even if we don't build houses there?" Urup's eyes were
wide.
I traced the contours of the coastlines on the map and showed them. "I could also
mention, this country's coast is in a < shape, and this spot is in the corner of it. Places
like this will be damaged more heavily than other coastal areas in a tsunami. The
reason for that is... something you wouldn't understand even if I tried to explain it to
you, so just accept that that's how it works."
If I'd built a miniature model of the coast and poured water in so they could see
the waves converging, they might have been able to understand. That'd take effort,
though, so it could wait.
"Still, if this place is so dangerous, won't the new city be at risk?" Liscia pointed
out.
I groaned. "Hrm... Some spots might be better than this, but all coastal regions are
about the same, and I can say for sure that this is the closest port to the center of the
country. From what I'm hearing, there's a long period of time between them, and
they only happen once in a hundred years, so if we design the city assuming it will be
hit by a tsunami, it should be okay."
With that, Ludwin and I looked at the map, hammering out the details of our plan.
"First, we should pile up dirt and raise the ground level," I said.
"Right now? If we do it by hand, it will take quite a while," he answered.
"Have earth mages in the Forbidden Army prioritize working on it. It will have an
impact on the building time, but there's no other choice."
"Understood." He nodded. "Now that I think of it, I've heard that Duchess Walter's
coastal city has these things called seawalls. Should we make those here as well?"
"Seawalls, huh... It'll hurt the view..." I gave that some consideration. "If possible, I
want this trade port to be usable as a tourist destination, as well. Besides, they
wouldn't be able to stand up to an unprecedentedly large tsunami, anyway."
"We shouldn't build them, then?" he asked.
"...Let's see. Actually, I'd rather build a city that doesn't rely on seawalls. It seems
like the civil engineering and construction guild has an expert on flood control, so
let's summon him and get his opinion."
"Understood," he said. "Now, as to the specifics of the city plan..."
"Thanks to old man Urup, we know roughly the area that the tsunami can reach,"
I said. "We'll avoid it when we place the residential, commercial, and industrial
districts. Of course, that goes for important facilities like consulates, as well."
"You're not going to develop the area that the tsunami reaches?" he asked.
"The fishing harbor and wharf can't go anywhere else. As for the rest, we'll
develop it as a seaside park."
"I see. You'll develop on the assumption that it's going to get washed away."
"Yeah," I said. "Oh, one other thing, old man Urup."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I'm going to make you a state-registered storyteller, so see to it that the Legend
of the Sea God gets handed down, please. I'm going to make it a public service job
that requires a certification, so work hard to train the next generation to tell the
story before you die."
"M-Me, a public servant?!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah. In addition to the 'Don't build houses where the tsunami can reach' lesson
from earlier, work in 'If you feel an earthquake, assume there will be a tsunami,' and
'Because a tsunami is coming, evacuate to high-ground,' as well. You can blame the
sea god's wrath, just make sure the tale is one that's easy to hand down."
"...Understood! I shall spend the rest of my life on it!" he cried.
"Good. By the way, about the castle wall that will surround the city..."
Three men talked enthusiastically about the plan for the city. Liscia and Aisha
watched them with wry smiles.
"His Majesty... looks like he's enjoying himself," Aisha commented.
"He is enjoying himself," Liscia nodded. "Compared to hunting for funds, at least."
"I wonder why it is, but I think I've finally seen the youthful side of His Majesty."
"Youthful... huh. The reason Souma doesn't seem youthful is almost certainly
because..."
"Hm? What is it, Princess?" Aisha asked.
"No. It's nothing. ...Hey, Aisha."
"What is it?"
"Aisha, do you... like Souma?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yes! I have great respect and affection for him!"
"...I see. Well, then. Let's work to support Souma so he can keep smiling."
"Yes! But of course!" Aisha cried.
At the time, I didn't realize at all that a conversation like this had taken place.
◇ ◇ ◇
Thirty years later, an earthquake and unprecedentedly large tsunami struck this
area.
The land was inundated by turbid waters and many boats were washed out to
sea, but surprisingly few lives were lost. Because everyone in the area had grown up
hearing the Legend of the Sea God from the storytellers, they were able to begin
evacuating as soon as they felt the earthquake.
After the disaster, a statue titled "The King and the Old Man" was built in the
seaside park.
It was a statue to commemorate the old man who, at the time of the new city's
construction, had risked his life to make a direct appeal to the king and tell him how
to prepare for the tsunami, and the wise king who had listened to his plans. If the
two of them could have heard, they'd have laughed wryly, saying, "That's overembellishing it."
Particularly for old man Urup, who had once been the storyteller, but now
appeared in stories of his descendants as the Legendary Old Man, what sort of
expression did he have on his face while he watched over them from the next world?