10th day, 1st month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar — Royal Capital Parnam
It was a day when the festive mood of the New Year was beginning to settle
down.
The fountain plaza in Parnam where the Jewel Voice Broadcast could be watched
was still packed with people. That new king was apparently going to be broadcasting
yet another new program, so the people had gathered to see it. At this point, it was a
familiar sight in pretty much any city where the Jewel Voice Broadcast could be
watched. The people would gather every time a new program was planned like this;
the merchants would come with their carts, and it would turn into a festival-like
atmosphere.
Dece, Juno, and their adventuring party were there in that festive fountain plaza.
"Wow, it's as crowded as ever," Juno commented. "That's the capital for you."
That was the opinion the baby-faced, slender, female thief let slip out as she was
overwhelmed by all the people passing by. With the protection quest they had taken
from the guild complete, the party had decided to come see the Jewel Voice
Broadcast, since they were already in the area anyway.
The brawny brawler Augus was dragging the affable young priest Febral around
from stall to stall, so the only ones here were Juno, the hot-blooded and handsome
swordsman Dece, and the quiet, shapely mage Julia.
"These broadcast programs have already become one of the famous sights of this
country, after all," Dece told her. "The music programs are the best, you know. The
loreleis are cute, and when I consider the possibility of not being able to hear their
voices anymore, even though I'm an adventurer, I don't feel like I want to go to other
countries any— Ow!"
Dece had been rambling on about the topic, but Julia pinched his upper arm with
a smile.
Seeing that her leader just didn't understand the female heart, Juno shrugged her
shoulders with dismay. She started thinking that maybe she should be considerate
and disappear off somewhere for their sake... but then it happened.
The broadcast seemed to have started, and the people were all looking towards
the fountain, but what was displayed there was... some sort of roly-poly creature? All
the people of the kingdom were taken aback by this, but Juno had the loudest
reaction of all.
"Huh?! What's Mister Musashibo doing on there?!"
Yes. What was there to hide? The one appearing on screen was not a snowman,
or a kagami mochi, it was Little Musashibo. Little Musashibo turned to the screen
and waved his arms around.
"Hey, everyone. I'm Little Musashibo. Nice to meet you."
"""He talked?!"""
Hearing Little Musashibo's adorable, child-like voice, Juno, Dece, and Julia all
cried out in surprise at the same time. Little Musashibo, who had never said a word
no matter how much trouble they'd gotten into on a quest, was now onscreen and
talking. You couldn't blame them for their surprise.
"That voice... it sounds like a child's, or a woman's. Was the person inside him
female all along?!" Dece cried out in shock, but Juno immediately denied it.
"Nah, I've seen his hand once before, and he was just a normal guy, you know?"
"But that's a girlish voice, isn't it?"
"It's a kigurumi suit, so why can't it just be a different person inside?" Julia
suggested, in a relaxed tone.
Dece and Juno gulped, seeing the logic behind the comment. ""...Y-Yeah, of course
that's it.""
They had forgotten because of how human its gestures were, but the person in
question was a kigurumi suit. It was possible the suit had just been loaned out by the
castle.
With no idea of the confusion it was causing for Juno and the others, the Little
Musashibo on the broadcast declared in a loud voice, "Okay, Together With Big Sis is
starting now."
◇ ◇ ◇
At the same time — Parnam Castle's Great Hall
Right now, Little Musashibo was dancing to an easygoing melody right in front of
our eyes. Liscia, who was standing beside me and watching this from a spot that
wouldn't appear on the broadcast, stood there with her mouth hanging open, a blank
expression on her face. There was an awkward silence between us.
"Um... Could you maybe say something?" I asked hesitantly.
"I don't even know where to start... No, I mean, what is that even supposed to
be?"
"Little Musashibo."
"Yeah. That, I know. That's not what I meant. Why is it talking?"
"Well, because there's a person inside it, of course," I said. "Pamille Carol is
providing the voice."
"Pamille's inside that thing?!"
Yes, as a matter of fact, she was. We'd had no equipment for recording, so we
couldn't add the voice in post-processing, which meant the voice had to come from
inside Little Musashibo. I was controlling his movements, so it wasn't too heavy for
Pamille, but she had still complained it was hot and stuffy inside there.
"You have that kigurumi suit registered as an adventurer, don't you?" Liscia
demanded. "Is it okay having it appear on the Jewel Voice Broadcast? Wouldn't it be
bad if people found out it was connected to the royal family?"
Ohhh, yeah, if Juno and the others were watching, that might turn into a bit of a
headache.
"Well, it's a kigurumi suit, after all," I said. "'We saw this kigurumi in town and
thought it was cute, so the castle asked for a copy, and now we're using it as a
character in our program.' ...Wouldn't a story like that work?"
"Even if it does..." she muttered. "And wait, what is this program even supposed
to be about?"
"What, you ask? It's an educational program."
"Educational?"
"Oh, look, the main program's about to begin," I said, pointing.
◇ ◇ ◇
The easygoing song ended, and the new scene to be broadcast was set on a stage.
Up on the stage there was a backdrop of trees, grass, and stumps to show that it
was a forest. In the middle of that sparse forest, Little Musashibo was drawing
something on the ground with chalk. Looking closer, it was apparently numbers.
"Um... 1+1 is 2, 2+2 is 4... Hrm, this arithmetic stuff is hard."
Little Musashibo twisted his head around in confusion. The gesture was very
childish.
An older girl with blue hair wearing a boyish outfit including a hat and overalls
passed by. When the blue haired girl noticed Little Musashibo, she called out to him
in a cheerful voice.
"Hey, what's wrong, Little Musashibo? Why the troubled look on your
(expressionless) face?"
Little Musashibo looked up, walking over to the girl with slow, easy footsteps.
"Hello, Big Sister Juna."
At that point, the adult viewers noticed what was up. The big sister character was
the famous Prima Lorelei, Juna Doma.
Because Juna was mostly known for being so beautiful that even the girls wanted
her, they hadn't made the connection with her in this boyish outfit. Her tone of voice
was more direct, in keeping with the outfit. While this version of Juna had lost the
mature sexiness that made her seem older than she actually was, it brought out a
cuteness that was more like what you'd expect of a girl her age.
Little Musashibo turned to "Big Sister Juna" for help. "Big Sister Juna, arithmetic
is hard and I don't know what to do about it. I look at books, but there are just
numbers and symbols, and it's not interesting at all."
There were a large number of viewers who nodded in agreement.
It had been nine days earlier that Souma had encouraged the people to learn to
read, write, and do arithmetic, but those who lived a lifestyle where they didn't need
to do calculations had apparently thought, "Okay, reading and writing, maybe, but
what good is learning to do calculations for anyone who isn't a merchant?"
However, Juna giggled and gave a playful wink to Little Musashibo who was
voicing those viewers' opinions for them. "Oh my, don't you know that math can be
fun?"
"What? Really?" Little Musashibo asked doubtfully.
"It's true," she said with great confidence.
A fun, cheery melody began to play again from seemingly nowhere in particular.
Juna began singing along with it.
The song was "Fun Arithmetic." It was from Minna no Uta, or Songs for Everyone,
in the world Souma came from. This song, which was sung by Seiji Tanaka,
presented addition; subtraction; the fact that when you have a group of ten it moves
up to a new digit; and the fact that any number, no matter how large, disappears
when multiplied by zero; all in a comical fashion.
Juna and Little Musashibo sang this song, dancing happily in a circle together.
When they finished, Little Musashibo excitedly clapped his hands. "I feel like
arithmetic just got fun. If I study, will it be even more fun?"
"Of course," Juna assured him. "If you study hard, you'll be able to do even more
amazing things."
Then Juna sang a song for Little Musashibo about all the things he'd be able to do
if he studied his arithmetic. It had a fun melody and playful lyrics, but if you were
listening closely, it expressed a number of mathematical phenomena. It was exactly
the sort of song that belonged on an educational program.
The children who were watching the broadcast innocently imitated Juna and
Little Musashibo, singing the lyrics to themselves and dancing. The adults, on the
other hand, considered the meaning of the lyrics, nodding along with interest as they
figured it out.
In among them there was just one person, Juno, who was thinking about
something entirely different.
Did he just lend them his kigurumi suit? No... That can't be it. Juno was closely
scrutinizing Little Musashibo's movements. The way he moves, it's just like Mr. Little
Musashibo. But the voice I heard was a cute girl's voice. The hand I saw that time was a
man's hand. There's a different person inside, but he's moving the same... What does it
mean?
As she pondered deeply, something occurred to Juno.
Now that I think about it, wasn't there that one time I saw Mr. Little Musashibo
delivering a letter to the guild? After the receptionist saw it, she told us there was a
banquet being held at the castle. In other words, that letter was from the castle. This
broadcast is put together by the castle, too, from what I hear. Maybe Mr. Little
Musashibo is connected to the castle somehow?
Juno stared hard in the direction of Parnam Castle which was where the
broadcast was coming from.
...I'm curious. I want to look into it, but... I can't exactly go sneaking into the castle.
If they caught me, I'm sure I'd be punished. Hmm, isn't there any way I can look into it?