Around the time that the commotion from Souma's personnel gathering
had settled, a certain ghost story began to spread in the castle town of the
capital Parnam.
According to the tales, there was a mannequin that roamed the streets at
night. It was the type of doll you could see in clothing shops: faceless, with
arm and leg joints. Carrying swords in both hands, it stalked the streets
night by night, hunting animals and monsters.
One adventurer said this:
"A while back, I took a quest from the guild to escort a peddler and was
walking around the streets at night, y'see, when we had the bad luck to get
surrounded by some subspecies of gelin (those gel things). They're weak
individually, but this time there were a lot of them, and the battle was going
badly. Then a mannequin carrying swords in both hands tottered along from
the direction of the palace and attacked the gelins. It was such a creepy
sight that we bolted right away, but... I wonder what was up with that
thing."
Another adventurer said this:
"It was a week ago. I took a mission from the guild that said, 'A group
of hobgoblins has crossed the border to the north and is traveling
southwards. We want you to intercept them.' We were waiting in a valley
that was along their route to intercept them, but wait as we might, they
never appeared. Something seemed strange, so we went scouting for them,
and what we found was a mannequin standing in the middle of a pile of
brutally killed hobgoblin bodies. Thinking it was some new type of
monster, me and my warrior buddy attacked it, but it parried us with two
swords it carried. When our mage tried hitting it with fire, it ran off at an
incredible speed. That thing... it's probably a new autonomous weapon
created by the demon king, don't you think?"
There were many sightings, and though many said it was a ghost story, it
was almost certain that it existed. However, when the adventurers' guild
recognized its existence and quests to capture or destroy it were issued, all
sightings stopped.
After that, some wondered if it hadn't been a prank by someone.
◇ ◇ ◇
"...so, well, there are rumors like that going around in the castle town,
you know?" Liscia told me.
"Oh, yeah, are there now?" I asked.
As I lay back on the sofa, my hand with the needle not stopping as I
responded to her, Liscia, who was sitting on the bed, took on a slightly
upset tone.
"...What? Don't stories like this interest you?"
"No, it's not like that, but..."
"Souma, you're the king, so shouldn't stories that are causing unrest in
the castle town be important to you?" she said.
"You don't need to worry about it. That mannequin won't be showing up
again."
"...Do you know something about it?"
"Yeah, sorta..."
I packed the "cotton" in while I gave vague answers. Now, I just had to
sew the back closed and it would be done.
"...And, hold on, what are you doing there, Souma?"
"What? Exactly what it looks like. Sewing."
"No, I'm asking why you're coming to my room to sew!"
"Well, where else would I go? My room's still the governmental affairs
office, after all."
Recently, the amount of work to be done had settled down a bit, so while
my Living Poltergeist pens were working, my main body could rest like
this. Though, that said, the governmental affairs office where my bed was
always had a lot of officials coming in and out of it, so it was a bit hard to
take it easy there.
"Besides, you know how Aisha's been lately..." I added.
"I can guess..." she said.
Recently, Aisha had become so clingy that she would never leave my
side.
When a dark elf pledges their loyalty to someone, they pride themselves
on staying by that person's side and protecting them until the day they
themselves die, apparently. That was why Aisha had appointed herself as
my bodyguard, and whether it was work time, meal time, or sleep time, she
tried to follow me everywhere I went, even into the bath and toilet. I
thought it was problematic to have someone who hadn't even officially
been hired yet so close to the king, but she was beautiful, highly loyal, and
her skills were well known, so Ludwin and the royal guards turned a blind
eye to her. As for Hakuya, who had taken over the post of prime minister
from Marx, he said:
"Is it not lovely to be surrounded by such beauties? The princess,
Madam Aisha, Madam Juna... it matters not to me which you choose, but
please hurry up and give us a child. It will bring stability to the royal
house."
That's a hell of a thing to say so easily. Good grief.
While I was thinking about that, Liscia came over and poked me in the
back.
"I bet you don't actually mind the attention, do you?"
"Give me a break. Just when I was finally able to get some rest... Wait,
huh? Come to think of it, where's Tomoe?"
"Tomoe is over in Mother and Father's room. Mother's taken a liking to
her..."
Just a few days ago, Tomoe had come to the castle to live as Liscia's
adopted sister. Of course, as we had promised, her family had come with
her, too.
Incidentally, Tomoe's mother worked at the palace daycare facility,
which we had set up as an experiment to help encourage the advancement
of women in society. She stayed with the wet nurses, caring for other
people's children at the same time as her own. This daycare facility was a
hit with the young maids, who said, "Now I can get married without
worrying."
With maternity leave being nonexistent at present, women were often
dismissed the moment they got pregnant. That was why, unless they became
a king's mistress, most of the maids spent their entire lives single.
But I digress. Basically, it meant Tomoe had two mothers in the palace.
She had seemed a little bewildered at first, but now both of them adored
her.
Liscia stood up and, resting her hands on the back of the sofa, she
peeked over my shoulder. "Still, when you have time off, you sew...? Is that
a doll?"
"Oh, this? It's Little Musashibo."
I finished sewing up the doll's back, presenting it to Liscia.
"Little Musashibo?"
"Yeah. He's from my world... Something like a rare and exotic beast, I
guess?"
Little Musashibo was a cute super-deformed mascot based on
Musashibo Benkei from the city I lived in. A white silk face. A Buddhist
priest's stole and prayer beads. Big bushy eyebrows that looked imposing,
but adorable acorn eyes underneath. People liked that gap, so he was well
received.
By the way, the city where I had lived had absolutely no connection to
Musashibo Benkei. So why Benkei then, you might wonder? Well,
"because long ago Saitama Prefecture was known as Musashi Province."
That was the only reason.
Now, you might ask, "Then, wouldn't Musashi Miyamoto or
Musashimaru have worked just as well?" or, "If it's because of Musashi
Province, doesn't that cover all of Saitama?" but to do so would be boorish.
You don't think, you feel. That's just how mascot characters are.
"Urkh... It makes me mad how surprisingly cute it is," Liscia said,
looking at the Little Musashibo doll. "Still, why would you make something
like this?"
"Well, actually... turns out my Living Poltergeists works really well with
dolls."
With those words, I focused, and Little Musashibo began to move before
our eyes. He used his short little arms and legs to break dance. That he was
good at it only made it more surreal.
Liscia stared, dumbstruck. "What is this...?"
"When I use it on a pen, all I can do is make it float around, but with a
doll, I can move it around almost as if I were inside it. What's more, with
dolls, the limits on distance go away."
Up until now, I had only been able to manipulate objects up to 100
meters away, but with dolls, I was able to send them not just into the castle
town but beyond the walls.
"That's certainly impressive, but... What are you going to do, become a
street performer?" Liscia looked exasperatedly at Little Musashibo.
"Ha ha, now there's an idea. Maybe I'll quit being king and make a
living on the road."
"Don't be silly. I won't let you abandon the job halfway."
"...I know that. Anyway, here's the important bit."
I gave Little Musashibo two short swords. When I did, despite being
made of felt and stuffed with cotton, Little Musashibo managed to hold two
swords that would have felt heavy in the hands of a grown man. Little
Musashibo posed like Musashi Miyamoto with his two swords.
Liscia's eyes went wide. "No way... It's a doll, right?"
"It seems that when a doll holds something, its counted as an optional
item for the doll. What's more, it can use any items I equip it with freely. As
a test, I gave another doll some weapons and tried sending it to fight
monsters. It managed to fight just fine."
"A doll fighting monsters. Wait... The mannequin from the rumors!"
"Yeah. I used a doll I happened to find around the palace to experiment."
I had never imagined there would be rumors about it, though. I had tried
to do my tests at night when there wouldn't be people around to see, but
maybe that had just made it feel even more like something out of a ghost
story.
"Thanks to that, I found out they can hold their own against monsters.
On top of that, the more experience they gain, the better the dolls get at
moving."
As I said that, Little Musashibo spread the arms he was still holding the
short swords with wide, spinning in circles fast enough that you almost
expected a "whoosh" sound effect to pop up. He looked like a big spinning
top, but he was actually like a revolving saw turned sideways, so he was
more dangerous than he looked.
"Is the training done by the dolls reflected on your main body?" Liscia
asked.
"If it were, that would make it one broken ability. Sadly, no; even if the
doll learns to use a technique, I can't reproduce it myself. Maybe it's
because I don't have the muscle strength for it? My body's still weak."
"Hmm... Why not work out?"
"I think it's a more effective use of my time to improve my ability to
control the dolls than to try to get stronger myself. No matter how much I
work out, I'm not going to get tough enough that it's better than keeping
three strong dolls around me."
"That's not how a hero fights." Liscia said, exasperated.
Sadly, I had to agree with that assessment.
In fantasy works from my old world, my job class would have been Doll
Master or Puppeteer, probably. Those sorts of jobs tended to be mid-range
support types. That's a long way away from the mid to close-range attacker
type impression that most people have of a hero.
"When I watch you, I can feel my image of what a hero is falling to
pieces..." Liscia said.
"Ha ha ha..." I chuckled. "Don't worry. I feel the same."
In roughly a month since I was summoned, all I had done was domestic
politics. Since all I planned to do for the next few months was domestic
politics as well, could I really call myself a hero? No, I could not.
(Rhetorical question.)
Suddenly, a knock came at the door.
"Excuse me," someone said, entering with a bow.
It was the palace's head maid and Liscia's personal attendant, Serina. An
intellectual beauty who was five years older than Liscia, she was as talented
as she appeared, a woman who knew how to get her job done.
When Serina saw my face, she lowered her head reverently.
"Your Majesty, Sir Hakuya sends word that 'Sir Poncho and the others
have all gathered.'"
"They're here, huh? I've been waiting!" I rose from my seat eagerly,
taking Liscia by the hand. "Let's go, Liscia."
"Huh? What?!"
When I suddenly grabbed her hand, Liscia blushed.
"Oh, my word, Princess," Serina said. "To think you would blush just
from holding hands... With such innocence, how will you ever attend to
your nightly duties with His Majesty?"
"Serina?! What are you saying?!"
"Please, let me hold your child soon. You do know how babies are
made, yes?"
"Augh! You're always teasing me!"
...Serina was a capable maid, but she had a bad habit of being downright
sadistic to cute girls. Her master Liscia was no exception to that. Well, I
guess that meant their bond of trust was strong enough to allow it. So long
as she didn't turn that sadism towards me, she was a very capable worker.
"Well, we're heading off," I said.
"Hey, wait, Souma," Liscia objected.
"Take care!" Serina called. As we left the room, she saw us off with a
bow.
We picked up Aisha along the way, and by the time we arrived at the
meeting room, all of those who had been summoned had gathered.
At the round table in the center of the room sat Hakuya the prime
minister, Tomoe my sister-in-law, Juna the lorelei, and Poncho Ishizuka
Panacotta. If we excluded Ludwin, who was occupied with another matter,
and Marx, who had relinquished the title of prime minister to Hakuya and
now managed the palace, everyone who had been present for the gathering
of personnel was here.
"Your Majesty," they all said, rising.
"Please, remain seated," I told them, holding out my hand. "I'm the one
who called all of you here."
Liscia and I took our seats, as well. Aisha was the only one who
remained standing, hovering behind me so that she could act at once in case
anything should happen. Honestly, it was bothering me having her stand
there, so I asked her to sit, but she stubbornly refused.
Weren't you supposed to follow your master's orders? I thought with
annoyance.
...Well, we'll set that aside for now.
"Everyone, thank you for coming," I said. "I give you my heartfelt
thanks."
"N-N-N-Not at all! I-I-I-It was nothing!" Poncho stammered.
"Sire, do not bow your head so easily," Hakuya said. Beside the
flustered Poncho, Hakuya had a disapproving look on his face. "If the one
at the top abases himself so, there may be those who come to look down on
him."
"Any dignity I can only maintain by acting self-important is dignity I
don't need. Besides, all of the people in this room I think of not as retainers
or citizens, but as comrades."
"You're too kind, Your Majesty." Juna gave a slight bow. Those little
gestures of hers always made for such a pretty picture.
Tomoe, on the other hand, was so nervous she was stiff. Her clothes last
time had been falling apart, but now she wore what looked like a miko
outfit with a miniskirt, which was apparently a traditional outfit for mystic
wolves. "A-Am I your comrade as well, my king?"
"No, no, Tomoe, you're my sister-in-law, remember?"
"Oh, right."
"Yep. So don't call me your king, call me 'Big Brother Souma.'"
"Ah, no fair! Call me 'Big Sister,' too, then!" Liscia cried.
"Um... Big Brother Souma. Big Sister Liscia," Tomoe said with
upturned eyes.
""Nice!"" Liscia and I both gave Tomoe's cute reaction an enthusiastic
thumbs up.
Thwack! Thwack!
We got whacked upside the head with a paper fan. It was Hakuya who
did it.
"You two, it's taking us forever to get on with things, so please cut that
out."
""We're sorry..."" we both earnestly apologized.
By the way, that paper fan was something I had given to Hakuya when
he had taken the position of prime minister, saying, "If I act too far out of
line, don't hesitate to slap me upside the head with this." It had been a joke
to try to get the too-serious Hakuya to lighten up, but as you would expect
from a man who was the greatest genius in the history of Elfrieden (or so
Marx claimed), he was putting the paper fan to brilliant use.
"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 animaleared, 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 doublechecking 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.
Not seeming to realize this at all, Souma stood in front of a board that
had been prepared for the occasion, explaining things with charts and maps.
He was especially thorough about the causes of the food crisis.
"...In response to this increase in demand, it created conditions where
you could sell as much as you could produce, so farmers shifted from
growing food crops to growing cotton, and that is the cause of our current
food crisis. Of course, this isn't solely the fault of the farmers.
Responsibility also lies with the merchants who coerced them to do it in
order to sell their products, the soldiers who benefited from those products,
and the royal family for ignoring this until it became a problem. For this, I
deeply apologize." With those words, Souma bowed his head.
For a king to bow to his subjects and retainers... this was unheard of.
The situation hadn't even been caused during Souma's reign.
"At present, our kingdom is making the switch from cash crops back to
food crops. However, I don't expect to see the effects of that until autumn
or later. We are considering the importation of food from other countries,
but the situation there is not favorable, either. One reason is that we have
nothing to replace our primary export, cotton, and so we can't secure
foreign currency. The other reason is that every country is in a similar
situation. They can't sell us what they don't have."
Souma's words were more than enough to depress the people. But they
were more surprised that Souma had released this information to the public.
Normally, those who stood at the top didn't disclose such information to
those beneath them. Sometimes it was because that information included
mistakes they themselves had made; many times, they also believed that
those below them wouldn't understand even if they were told about matters
of national policy.
As a matter of fact, the king's explanation had been simple enough that a
middle-schooler from Japan could understand it, and yet only around threetenths of the people of this country could. However, this young king had
disclosed the information.
The more educated a person was, the greater their surprise. Why had he
exposed such a national disgrace, one that could lead to his own loss of
power, to the people?
"Um, er... Is that something that's okay to tell the people?" Poncho
hesitantly asked the question everyone was thinking. However, Souma's
expression didn't change in the slightest.
"The more you hide, the more people doubt you. There are things we
need to hide when it comes to foreign affairs, but for internal policy, I
intend to continue disclosing such things. You see, I want my fellow
countrymen to use their heads. What is best for this country? Are my
policies correct? I want them to think along with me."
"I've never seen a king like this before..." someone whispered.
It was unheard of for a ruler to ask his people to think about politics with
him. Technically, even in this country, there was a Congress of the People
which represented their will, but it was, to put it simply, "a place to decide
on the people's pleas to the king." The king was free to implement or not
implement them as he saw fit, and the content of these congresses was
limited to things like requests to correct the inflation in prices for X or
requests for public works spending. It was about as useful as having a
suggestions box, and it was not a place for debating political decisions.
The feudal system was also still strong in this country. To put it at its
simplest, the political system in this country was "Those below pay their
taxes. Those above protect the lives and property of those below." That was
all there was to it.
Commoners paid taxes to their lords, and the lords guaranteed their lives
and property. Their lords (the nobility) paid taxes to the king, and in
exchange for them serving in the military in times of crisis, the king
guaranteed their lives and property. It was a society with a complete class
system.
When there was rot at the top, the rot risked spreading throughout.
However, to look at it the opposite way, so long as the people above them
were on the level, the people didn't need to think about national policy; they
could think about nothing but themselves. So it was an easy system to be
part of in that way.
However, this young king had asked the people to use their heads. He
had asked them to think about his policies with him.
There was no clear path yet for political participation from the people.
And even if they were to be given that right, it was clear to see that the
uneducated citizenry would descend into mob rule. However, even so, he
sowed the seeds.
"This country's going to change..." someone said.
"I envy young'uns who'll be able to see that change," an old man added.
"Oh, we're not done yet," another one said.
While looking at the young king, the old squinted their eyes, as if
blinded by his radiance.
Without any way to know this, Souma continued his explanation.
"As you see here, we will have to wait until autumn for a fundamental
solution to the problem. It goes without saying that we intend to provide
support, but there are issues of volume and geography preventing us from
reaching every person in the kingdom with it. Not everyone lives in the
flatlands, after all."
This was a country with many races living together. From the dark elves
who lived in the forest, to the dragonewts who preferred to live at high
altitudes like in the mountains, to the dwarves who lived in underground
caves, there were those who lived in places supply lines did not pass
through, and it would be difficult to deliver relief supplies. It was the same
for those who lived in marginal villages deep in the mountains.
"That is why I come to you, my countrymen, with a request... no, an
order." Here, Souma stopped. Then, after a breath, he said clearly:
"Everyone, survive until autumn."
When they heard those words come from the young king's mouth, the
people gulped. The words' meaning was simple. However, his intent behind
them was inscrutable.
"Because we have no cards to play, you will all need to survive for
yourselves," the king said. "Go into the mountains, into the rivers, into the
sea, in search of food. Cooperate with each other and bow your heads to
others if necessary, no matter how humiliating it is, because I want
everyone to survive until autumn."
Those words could have been heard as an abdication of responsibility.
He was telling those who were suffering to go work hard on their own, after
all. However, it was also true that only those who worked hard would be
saved.
The young king bowed his head sincerely. "Please. When I say
everyone, I mean every last one of you. Don't lash out at others because
you're suffering; don't send away children because you have too many
mouths to feed; do not throw away the old and frail. I want you all to greet
the bounty of autumn together. This broadcast is something we've put
together in the hopes that it will be some help with that."
Souma went into the objectives of the current broadcast. As a means of
buying time until the food crisis could be solved, they would introduce
ingredients not commonly eaten in this country and show the ways to
prepare them. These ingredients could be obtained cheaply (or freely where
they grew in the wild). Furthermore, by eating those ingredients on air, they
would demonstrate that they were edible.
Even those citizens who had been indignant at his earlier statement,
which had seemed to abdicate responsibility, felt their anger cooling as they
listened to Souma's explanation. Because this king truly was thinking about
them. They could feel that keenly.
"...So, there you have it. Now then, I'll hand the show back over to your
hosts, Poncho and Juna." With his explanation complete, Souma returned to
his seat.
Souma couldn't have known this, but at that moment, roaring applause
erupted through plazas around the country. It was spontaneous applause
from those citizens deeply impressed by Souma's words. Without knowing
it, Souma was slowly beginning to gain recognition as their king.
The video returned to Poncho and Juna hosting once more.
"Now then, let's get right to it," Juna said. "Poncho, what's our first
ingredient?"
"Y-Yes! Our first ingredient is right here!"
With that, Poncho brought over a cloth-covered box, placing it on the
table where Souma, Liscia, Aisha, and Tomoe were seated like guest
commentators.
It was a box big enough to hold a largish aquarium.
Pausing a moment for dramatic effect, Poncho pulled back the cloth.
◇ ◇ ◇
We were in the cafeteria at Parnam Castle for the live broadcast.
"Urkh..."
"Eeeeeeeeek!"
"Wai— What?!"
When they saw what had appeared on the table, Aisha, Tomoe and
Liscia each let out their own cries of shock.
Juna, on the other hand, looked at it and seemed to be thinking, "Ohhhh,
so that's it."
"That's an octopus."
"It sure is an octopus."
The thing in the box in front of them was the eight-legged wriggly softbodied creature you all know to be an octopus.
While many of the creatures in this world had a touch of the fantastic
about them, such as even the cows and chickens having armored carapaces,
this was just a straight-up (though rather large) octopus. Well, even in
fantasy worlds, giant octopuses are often a thing, so I guess it's okay?
By the way, in this country, they called octopuses "ocatos," but that's
just confusing, so we'll stick with octopuses. I mean, with my mysterious
translation ability, the word sounded like "octopus" to me, anyway.
"Huh? You people don't eat octopus in this country?" I asked.
"We do not! Hold on, Souma, have you actually eaten one of those
creepy things before?!" Liscia looked at me incredulously.
Come on, it's just an octopus, you know? I'm having a hard time
accepting this reaction.
"Well, considering how they look, I'm sure they're only eaten in some
coastal regions. My hometown is one of them, though," Juna gently
explained.
Well, even back on Earth, in Europe (excluding Italy and Spain) they're
called "devilfish," and in some countries people refuse to eat them... I
guess? I thought.
"But they're so tasty..." I said.
"A-Are they?" Liscia asked.
Once she heard they were delicious, Aisha was ready to dig in. Her
being my bodyguard meant we often ate together, so I already knew this,
but this girl was quite the glutton. She had a special weakness when it came
to sweet foods (like the snacks that came as offerings for the king and
maids), and she would munch away at them to the point that the maids
jealously grumbled, "How does she eat so much and still maintain that
figure...?"
"Yeah. There are divergent opinions about how good it is raw, but if you
just rub salt into it, wash off the mucus, and boil it, it's good like that.
Cooked, fried, served with rice, it's delicious any way you like it."
There was silence.
"Aisha, you're drooling," I added.
"Whoops... Pardon me."
"Honestly, it's high-protein, low-calorie, so it's great if you're on a diet,
too."
"High-pro? I-I'm not sure what that is, but my ears pricked up when I
heard the word 'diet'..." Liscia seemed to be ready to dig in now, too.
Honestly though, I thought Liscia could stand to put some more meat on
her bones. Maybe it was because she was in the army, but she was pretty
slender.
"I don't think you need to worry so much about your weight," I told her.
"Souma... A girl stops being a girl the moment she stops caring about
her weight," Liscia admonished me with eyes that seemed to be staring off
into the distance.
Since Juna and Tomoe gave firm nods as well, I guessed that was just
how it was. Aisha was the only dissenter, with a face that seemed to say,
"Forget that, I want to eat already..."
"Okay, then... For now, shall we get to cooking?" I asked.
We moved to the kitchen attached to the cafeteria and began to prepare
the octopus. The cooks who worked there protested, "If you had just said
something, we would have done it for you ourselves..." but I liked cooking,
so I decided to do it.
First, I put the octopus in a large bowl, cutting out the guts, ink sack, and
eyeballs with a kitchen knife. (This elicited an "Uwah..." from the girls, but
I ignored them.) Then I rubbed salt into it, waited for the slimy surface to
harden, then washed it well with water. I cleaned the suckers thoroughly, as
well, because there can be mud in them sometimes.
After that, I brought water to a boil, dropped it into the pot legs first, and
then that very octopus-shaped creature (I mean, it was an octopus) boiled
up. Watching until its yellowish-brown flesh turned a firm reddish-purple, I
pulled it out, and a fine example of a boiled octopus was ready. After it had
cooled a little, I cut the legs into bite-sized pieces. It would already be
delicious like this.
"Eh, good enough. Time to eat," I said.
"Wha?!" Liscia and the others were shocked to see me nibbling at it
already with zero hesitation.
When I popped a bite in my mouth, yep, it sure tasted like octopus. That
slightly salty taste was great. And because it was so great, I couldn't help
but lament that there was no soy sauce in this world yet!
"...Is that really edible?" Liscia murmured.
"Come on, Liscia. You could just try it and find out, you know?"
"Uh, no... I'm not emotionally prepared just yet..."
"You sure? It's delicious."
Ignoring the hesitant Liscia, Juna popped a slice in her mouth.
"Ahh, no fair, Madam Juna!" Aisha cried. "Fine then, me too!"
Seeing that, Aisha went chomp, and—
Hey, wait! Don't just bite right into the head! Just how much of a glutton
is this dark elf?!
"Oh! It's crisp and delicious!"
"...Is it now?"
...Okay, time to get back in control of things.
I coated the bite-sized pieces of octopus in wheat flour, egg, and white
flour, putting them on skewers three at a time. Then I put the whole skewers
into a pot of hot oil. I let them fry until the batter was light brown and
crispy. I pulled them out of the pot, and once I had put on the finishing
touches with Worcester sauce, which they had even in this world, and a
homemade mayonnaise I had made with eggs, vinegar and other things,
they were done.
"'Fried octopus skewers'... is what you'd call them, I guess. Go on, try
eating them." I offered each person one skewer.
Liscia and Tomoe timidly brought them to their mouths. The moment
they took a bite...
"What is this?! It's delicious!"
"It really is... very delicious, Brother."
Their eyes went wide at how good it was.
Nice! I thought, giving myself a mental thumbs up.
"It really is delicious. The octopus hidden inside the crispy batter is very
juicy," Juna said.
"I-It really is! Even I didn't know octopus would go this well with
Worcester sauce!" Poncho cried.
"This white sauce goes well with the octopus, too. Splendidly done,
sire," Juna added.
"Y-You can cook, too, sire! That surprised me, yes."
Juna and Poncho gave commentary like professional food critics. Since
both of them had eaten octopus before, they could both take the time to
properly savor it. Meanwhile, Aisha was chomp, chomp, chomping away
and producing a massive pile of empty skewers.
...There's nothing more I can say about that.
◇ ◇ ◇
"It really is delicious," the broadcast said. "Wrapped outside in a crispy
batter, the octopus inside is very juicy."
"...Hey, Daddy?" a child asked.
"Yeah. If you want octopus, a lot of them got caught in our nets today,"
the father answered.
"Really?! I want to try it!"
"Sure thing. Normally I throw them back, but let's try it."
It seems there were a lot of conversations like this one in many villages
by the sea.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Our next ingredient is this."
After we had finished eating the well-received octopus skewers and
returned to our seats, Poncho opened a new box in front of us. When we
saw the thin brown ingredient covered in dirt inside...
"Are these... roots?" Liscia said.
"I think they're roots..." Juna added.
"They don't look so good... Are they really edible?" Tomoe asked
doubtfully.
Liscia, Juna and Tomoe all acted like they had question marks floating
above their heads. Aisha and I, on the other hand, were completely
unsurprised.
"Oh, burdock root, huh?" I said.
"That's burdock root," Aisha agreed.
Well, I had heard burdock root was seen as a strange thing to eat in the
West, so I didn't find it strange that it wasn't eaten here, but that Aisha, who
looked like a Westerner, knew about it surprised me.
"In the forest, we have to eat everything we can, otherwise we would
succumb to malnutrition in no time," Aisha said, staring off into the
distance.
Perhaps that food situation was what had made her the hungry dark elf
she was today.
"Since they're being introduced here, that means you can eat them,
right?" Liscia asked, to which I nodded.
"You can eat them. But rather than enjoy them for their own flavor, you
enjoy the flavor of the broth they were stewed in, or their texture. They're
mostly dietary fiber, which you can't digest, but they have a medicinal
effect and can help keep your bowel movements regular. They're a good
friend to those who are constipated."
"...I wish you wouldn't talk about bowel movements and constipation
while we're eating," Liscia said.
"It helps expel waste products from the body. Of course, it's good for
your health and beauty."
"Urkh. When you say that, it sounds tempting, but..."
Well, now that Liscia's been talked into it, shall we get down to eating? I
thought.
This time, I kept it simple. After scraping off the dirt using the back of a
knife, I cut the burdock into long, thin shavings, coated it with potato
starch, and put it into the pot of oil we had used earlier. Once it was
properly fried, I took it out of the pot and split it into two bowls. One of
these, I sprinkled salt on, while the other I sprinkled with sugar. With that,
the burdock chips (potato chip-style and rusk-style) were complete.
As for everyone's reactions after eating them...
"Huh, they're crunchy and delicious." said Liscia.
"These... would probably go well with beer," Poncho said.
Liscia and Poncho were munching away at the salted ones like a snack.
"The oil that comes out when you bite into them melts the sugar, and the
sweetness spreads through your whole mouth," said Juna.
"I'd sure like to let both my moms try this," said Tomoe.
Juna and Tomoe, who were eating the ones with sugar, gave comments
that were worth full points as a food critic and a child respectively.
As for Aisha...
"If you eat them together, they're salty-sweet and delicious!" she
announced, munching away at both.
Yeah, sure, I guess it's okay to eat them that way, too.
The next edible ingredients were red bear's paw (bear paw), sword
tiger's liver (tiger liver), and whole cooked salamandra (whole cooked giant
salamander), but we only went as far as introducing them.
It was true that they weren't customarily eaten in this country, but rare
delicacies that only an adventurer could hope to catch weren't something I
wanted people going out of their way to acquire. If they happened to get
their hands on them by some chance, I just wanted them to know to please
eat them, not to throw them away. Besides, even I don't know how to
prepare bear paw.
Ah, by the way, at the ingredients selection stage I removed blowfish,
poisonous mushrooms, and anything else poisonous from the list. I knew
they could be eaten if prepared properly, but if starvation-stricken amateurs
were to try their hand at them, it was clear it would only end badly.
Mind you, even the poisonous parts could be eaten if you really wanted
to. In Ishikawa Prefecture, there's "blowfish ovaries pickled in rice-bran
paste," and in Nagano Prefecture, there are regions where they eat the
famously poisonous fly amanita mushroom.
...The human appetite sure is something, huh?
Getting back to the story, the next ingredient shocked all of us.
"This here is our next ingredient, yes."
"""""Th-This is..."""""
This time, all of our eyes went wide.
Inside the box Poncho opened, there was a bluish-green gelatinous
object.
"That's... a gelin, right?" I asked.
It was one of the soft-bodied slime creatures that could be found in
fields everywhere. They looked and acted just like the enemy from RPGs.
Their defining characteristic was how weak they were. If you cut them,
they'd die. If you smashed them, they'd die, too. They attached themselves
to living (or dead) creatures and sucked nutrients from them. There was no
male or female: they multiplied by division. They were probably what
you'd get if you had an amoeba or other single-celled organism grow to a
gigantic size.
Huh? We're eating that? Or, rather, can we even eat that?
Then I noticed Aisha seemed to be cocking her head to the side in
confusion.
"Hold on. Is that gelin dead?"
"Yes. This gelin has already been finished off," Poncho said.
"That can't be. I've never heard of a gelin corpse before."
"Oh, that's right. Now that you mention it, it is strange," Liscia agreed,
seeming to have noticed something.
I, on the other hand, didn't get it. "Liscia, could you just tell me what's
up already?"
"What's with that tone...? Gelins are weak. They have a thin membrane,
and if you cut them just a little, gush, out flows all their bodily fluids. It's
the same if you splatter them with a club. All you have left is a bluish-green
puddle."
"Is that how it is?"
Aisha nodded, as well. "Yes. That's why such a neatly preserved corpse
seems impossible."
I see... Aisha as a warrior and Liscia as a soldier have experience
fighting gelins, so they noticed something was odd here.
"So, what did you have to do to get the slime like this?" I asked.
"Well, you see, there's a slight trick to it. This is a technique I learned
from a tribe that lives far to the west, in the Empire. They use a thin polelike object to strike the nucleus without breaking the membrane. If you do
that, the gelin will maintain its shape in death. In that area, they called it
'ike-jime for gelins.'"
Ike-jime? Come on, this isn't like draining blood from fish... But, still,
that makes sense now. It looks like I wasn't wrong to think of them like
single-celled organisms.
"The fluids of a gelin gradually lose liquidity and harden once the core
is destroyed," Poncho added.
"Like rigor mortis, I guess," I said.
"Yes. If you leave it longer, the fluids will evaporate and it will turn into
a dry husk, but around two hours after death, while it has hardened
somewhat but the flesh is still supple, it is possible to cook it. That would
be the state this one is in, yes."
Hmm... I get that you can cook it, but isn't that a separate issue from
whether you can eat it? As I was thinking that, Poncho took out a knife and
began making a vertical cut in the gelin.
"When the gelin is in this state, you can insert the knife vertically and
cut it into pieces without the body collapsing. The fibers of the gelin's body
run vertically, so doing it this way gives it the best texture, yes."
Poncho skillfully cut the gelin into long thin strips, like making ika
somen. It was turning into noodles with an udon-like thickness. Poncho
took those and put them into a pot of boiling water.
"Now, if we boil them in a pot of water with a little salt, the flesh will
firm up more."
Now it was seriously starting to turn into something like soba or udon.
As they were boiling, that vibrant bluish-green color had darkened, starting
to look something like green tea soba, too. Then Poncho added things like
dried mushrooms and kelp to the pot with the boiling gelin.
Is he boiling those to get broth out of them?
Lastly, after adding more salt to adjust the flavor, he served them to each
of us in a bowl of soup.
"Here you go. This is Gelin Udon."
"He's even calling it udon!" I exclaimed.
"I-Is something the matter, sire?" Poncho asked.
"Oh, no, nothing."
I heard this country's language as Japanese. "Udon" was probably some
other word that had gotten translated into that. How confusing. Though,
well, setting that aside, what was laid out in front of us looked exactly like
Kansai-style green udon in a clear broth.
Red Fox and Green Gelin, is it? I thought. Yeah... Now's not the time to
escape reality by remembering old commercial jingles for instant udon.
Huh? Wait, I seriously have to eat this?
When I looked around, everyone was looking at me as if to say, "Go
ahead, go ahead."
I haven't put up my hand and said "Okay, I'll eat it," yet, you know!
...Well, I guess I've been making Liscia eat things she's not used to. It
wouldn't be fair for me to be the only one who runs away! Time to dig in!
Slurp...
"?!"
"W-Well, how is it, Souma?" Liscia asked with a worried look.
"...This is surprisingly good," I responded.
Yeah. I wonder what it is. This is completely different from what I
imagined.
I had been imagining something like ika somen, with a slimy texture and
fishy flavor, but these were smooth and chewy, no fishy flavor at all. Rather
than udon, it was like kuzu-kiri that you cook in a pot, or Malony noodles.
However, when you bit into it, there was a unique squeaky texture. Was that
fiber, maybe?
If I were to describe it as a whole, I would say, "It looks like udon, tastes
like kuzu-kiri, with the texture of a regional dish from Kyushu."
Yeah, it's not bad. Not bad at all.
"You're right... It's surprisingly good," Liscia said.
"It's delicious the way they've absorbed the flavor of the broth," Juna
agreed.
"Is this really gelin? I'm shocked," Tomoe said.
"SLURRRRRP."
That was Aisha.
It seemed everyone who ate after me had a good impression of it, as
well. Well, of course they did, because it was delicious. If you were to ask
which tasted better, this or normal udon, I would say the question was
nonsense. It would be like asking which was more delicious, soba or udon:
it's just a matter of personal preference.
"By the way, what sort of nutrients are in this stuff?" I asked.
"Nutrients... I don't know what those are, but I suspect that its similar to
the gelatin you can extract from bones," Poncho said.
"Collagen, huh."
So they have the protein you find in animal bones with fiber like you
would find in plants, huh. It really is hard to decide whether gelins are
plants or animals.
"Anyway, it sounds like it should be fine nutritionally," I said. "Gelins
are everywhere. If people eat them, it should alleviate the food crisis a fair
bit, don't you think?"
"Yes, I suppose so. Raising gelins is easy. If you just give them raw
garbage as food, they'll grow and multiply on their own," Poncho said.
"...Uh, no, I don't want to give weird stuff to something I'm going to be
eating," I said. "I don't want to eat a gelin that's absorbed toxic chemicals
and have it give me food poisoning."
"I-I suppose not."
"Anyway, let's try raising them as an experiment. Hunting them in the
wild is fine, too, but I wouldn't want to reduce their numbers too much and
have it impact the local ecosystem..."
"I think that would be for the best," Poncho agreed.
All of that aside, we greatly enjoyed the rest of the gelin udon.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Are they really edible?" someone asked.
"Well, the king and the others seemed to be enjoying them," another
person responded.
"I think I'm going to request a gelin capture quest at the adventurers'
guild."
"Oh, me too, then."
It seems there were conversations like this in fountain plazas
everywhere.
"Elfrieden's signature dish is gelin." Who could have predicted that
people would be saying that in the not-too-distant future?
◇ ◇ ◇
"Now then, on to our last ingredient. I have something already cooked
and prepared."
When we saw what was inside the container Poncho opened after saying
that...
""""Uwah...""""
...was our universal response.
Because inside it were "insects." What was more, this sort of dish
existed in my world... In Japan even, as well.
"This is inago no tsukudani, isn't it?" I asked.
"Yes. This is large locust tsukudani."
"Yeah... They certainly are large."
With the inago no tsukudani I remembered, each one was about the size
of a cricket. With these, on the other hand, each one was the size of a
kuruma prawn.
Though the color suggests they have that spicy-sweet flavor boiled into
them and have the flavor properly seeped all the way in... Wait? Tsukudani?
"If these are tsukudani," I said, "that means..."
"Huh? Souma, you're going to eat them?"
Since I had suddenly stabbed my fork into one of the big locusts, Liscia
was now looking at me, shocked. Fair enough; they did look like the sort of
thing you'd normally hesitate to eat. If I were more calm, I might have
eaten it a bit more timidly. But, right now, there was something I was more
interested to find out.
Munch, munch...
"?!"
The texture was like shrimp with the shell on, but there was something
more important.
This taste... there's no mistaking it!
"This tsukudani... is made with soy sauce!"
"Soy sauce?"
Soy sauce.
Yes, soy sauce.
The flavor of the Japanese heart.
You can't have sashimi or nimono without it. It's the magic sauce that
can turn ramen, hamburg steak, spaghetti, and any other foreign dish into a
"Japanese" one. It was the flavor I had probably longed for most since
coming to this country. The mystic sauce that, due to its fermentation
process, I couldn't recreate as easily as I had mayonnaise. Now, a dish made
with it lay before my very eyes! Locusts or not, they were looking like fine
cuisine to me.
"What? No way, Souma, are you crying?" Liscia exclaimed.
"How can I not?! This is... the taste of my homeland."
"The taste of your homeland..."
"Brother, they have large locust tsukudani in your homeland, too?"
When I looked over, Tomoe was crunching away at the large locust
tsukudani and clearly enjoying them. Come to think of it, when everyone
else had been recoiling in shock, this kid had been the only one who was
unsurprised.
"Could it be, this dish is..." I said.
"Yes. I ate it a lot back in the mystic wolf village."
"Then do the mystic wolves make soy sauce?!"
"Soy sauce... do you mean hishio water, maybe?"
"Hishio water?"
"Hishio water is a sauce that the mystic wolves are fond of using, yes,"
Poncho jumped in to explain. "Originally, the mystic wolves would coat
soybeans in salt and allow them to ferment, creating a sauce called 'bean
hishio.' When they take the clear liquid that is created in that process and
let it ferment, that produces hishio water. Both are sauces with a unique
flavor not found in this country, yes."
"I see."
After that explanation, I was certain of it. I had read in a book
somewhere that soy sauce was born from the process of making miso. So,
basically, bean hishio was miso and hishio water was soy sauce. (The
reason I didn't hear those words as miso and soy sauce may have been
because they were similar to, but distinctly different from, modern soy
sauce.) Maybe the mystic wolves had eating habits similar to the Japanese...
Wait, hold on. This flavor permeating through the locust is...
"Hey, Tomoe. Alcohol is used in making these, too, right?"
"Ah, yes. It's an alcohol made from the seeds of a plant."
"What kind of seeds?"
"Let's see... It's a plant that grows in marshy areas, it has ears that look
like the end of a broom, and on them, there are lots of little seeds like with
wheat."
No doubt about it! Those are rice plants! My hope for the future!
For the transition from cash crops to food crops, I had wanted to grow
rice, because I had heard that paddy fields didn't degrade the fertility of the
soil, unlike wheat in dry fields, but because the all-important rice plants
didn't exist in this country, that plan had ground to a halt.
Now I see. It grows further north, huh? I'd very much like to bring some
here and try cultivating it. Still, these mystic wolves... Between the soy
sauce, miso, and now rice, their race has a lot of the things I've been
wanting.
I paused.
"Okay, that settles it! I'll give the mystic wolves among the refugees a
district in Parnam."
"Whaaaa?!" Tomoe exclaimed.
I wanted them to produce this bean hishio and hishio water there. We
had plenty of soybeans, since we had planted them as part of the soil
restoration process.
"Hold on, Souma, are you serious?!" Liscia seemed confused and
flustered, but I was as serious as serious gets.
"With soy sauce and miso... I mean, hishio water and bean hishio, I can
recreate most of the dishes from the country I came from. It sounds like
there's rice here, too. Don't you want to try the tasty foods of another
world?"
"Th-That's..."
"Yes! I really want to try them!" Aisha raised her hand with gusto.
"Ha ha... while they may not feel as strongly as Aisha, I'm sure our
people would like to try them. If I publish the recipes, they'll either gather
the ingredients and make them themselves, or go to a restaurant that serves
them, I'm sure. Either way, it will cause a lot of movement in the
economy."
Huge market liquidity would bring prosperity to this country. That, I
firmly believed. That was why I said this to the people watching: "My
search for the gifted is still ongoing. If people have a gift, I will use them
even if they are refugees. This race has superior food production
techniques, so I have no reason not to accept them. Oh, I know... For the
next five years, I will grant the mystic wolves a monopoly on bean hishio
and hishio water. We will clamp down on illicit production by any other
parties. However, five years from now, I will lift the monopoly on bean
hishio and hishio water to create a free market, so I recommend the mystic
wolves create a firm economic base for themselves in that time. That is all."
◇ ◇ ◇
After this pronouncement, a mystic wolf quarter was built in the capital
Parnam, and bean hishio and hishio water were produced there with
assistance from the country.
In this world, there had been many cases where refugees had been given
a district of their own and it had turned into a slum. That was because the
refugees faced economic limitations (lack of jobs, being used for cheap
labor, and more) and struggled with poverty.
However, in the case of the mystic wolves, because they had been given
a monopoly on bean hishio and hishio water by the king, they were able to
build an economic base for themselves, and so their quarter did not turn into
a slum, instead becoming an integrated part of the capital by the time the
five-year limit was up.
Furthermore, even after bean hishio and hishio water had been renamed
to "miso" and "soy sauce" and the monopoly had ended, they continued to
study it. The miso and soy sauce that the mystic wolves put out under the
Kikkoro brand, marked with a hexagonal logo with a wolf in the center,
would continue to be loved for a long time after that.
◇ ◇ ◇
Cheery background music and the soft voice of Juna Doma echoed
through the fountain plaza.
"Now, it is time for this program, The King's Brillunch, to come to a
close. How did you feel about hosting, Poncho?"
"Y-Yes. If my knowledge has been able to help our countrymen in the
slightest, that would make me very happy. Still, I think hosting was too
great a burden for me, yes. Please, have someone else take my place next
time."
"I wonder, will there be a next time? What do you say, sire?" June
asked.
"If the people demand it."
"Well, there you have it. I hope they do demand it, Poncho."
"I-I don't think I want there to be a demand for me, yes!"
"Oh, don't say that. Do this with me again sometime!" Juna cried in a
singsong tone.
"Eeek! Please, spare me!" he yelped.
"Now then, thank you all for watching. This is your hosts, Juna
Doma..."
"...and Poncho Ishizuka Panacotta, signing off, yes."
"Now everyone, I bid you good day."
The music cut out, and the video faded away. It seemed that the program
had ended.
From here and there around the plaza, sighs could be heard.
"Aww... It's over, huh."
"That was more interestin' than I expected. Wish I coulda watched it a
bit longer."
"Yeppers. It don't hafta be every day, but I do hope they'll make the
broadcasts semi-regular."
"If there's demand, they'll do more, yeah? Well, how's about we send in
a request to the Congress of the People?"
"Oh! Now that there's an idea that wouldn't've occurred to me! I'm
gonna go talk to the mayor about it right now."
Conversations like this one happened in towns everywhere.
The people were completely taken with this new form of entertainment
called the "variety program." Souma had intended it as an "information
program" about the food crisis, but with Juna and Poncho playing off one
another, the cooking program-like aspects, and pretty girls squealing over
and then eating bizarre ingredients, you couldn't blame them for seeing it
that way.
Later, the Congress of the People submitted a "request for the regular
holding of Jewel Voice Broadcast programs." With Souma's assent, a time
for a public broadcast that would take place every evening was established.
There were those who took a different view of this from society at large.
"When the new king suddenly took the throne, I suspected usurpation,
but that young king seems to be a surprisingly affable fellow," said one old
man.
"You're right," another responded. "I can see why King Albert chose to
abdicate in favor of him."
"The princess seemed to be in good spirits, too. I had suspected she was
forced into the betrothal."
"They were very natural together. They didn't seem to be on bad terms."
"Ho, ho, ho, we may have an heir by next year, I reckon."
"A child between the wise and gentle king and the dignified princess,
huh. The next generation will be one to look forward to."
"It really will. Ho, ho, ho."
The old men laughed quietly together.
A wise and gentle king... that was how they had evaluated Souma.
However, about half of that evaluation was wrong.
Souma was not purely a gentle king.
◇ ◇ ◇
Sitting in my chair in the king's governmental affairs office, I spoke to
Hakuya, who stood across from me.
"Give me your report on the surrounding countries."
Right now, Hakuya and I were the only ones present in the room. Liscia
and the others were elsewhere, probably having a great time at the party to
celebrate the launch of the Jewel Voice Broadcast. Even Aisha, who usually
stayed at my side at all times, claiming it was to guard me, was busy with
the food that had been prepared for the occasion.
We had left the celebration partway through, coming to the
governmental affairs office for a secret meeting.
Hakuya spread out a map of the world on my desk.
"I will now make my report. First, I will review the surrounding
countries. Our country, which is situated in the southeast of the continent,
shares a border with three countries: the Union of Eastern Nations to the
north, the Principality of Amidonia to the west, and the Turgis Republic to
the southwest. Also, across the sea to the southeast there is the Kuzuryu
Archipelago Union. In addition, to the west of Amidonia, the mercenary
state Zem could also be called one of our surrounding countries. Of these,
zero are friendly, four are neutral, and one is hostile."
"We're pretty isolated, huh," I said.
"With all due respect, given that these are troubled times with the
Demon Lord's Domain expanding, this is normal. In these days where each
nation eyes the others with suspicion, the only countries on friendly terms
are those in the relationship of suzerain and vassal state."
"You call that a friendly relationship?"
"If there is no fear of betrayal, it is friendly enough."
He said the most outrageous of things with a cool face. What he had said
meant, basically, that he felt a relationship of control and subordination
which allowed no room for complaint even if one nation was used like a
tool and then thrown away still qualified as friendly, didn't it? Sort of like
the alliance between the Matsudaira and Oda clans when Nobunaga Oda
had still been alive.
"So, which is the hostile one?" I asked. "Amidonia? Zem?"
"Not Zem. Certainly, that matter has worsened their impression of us,
but not to the point where they would be considered hostile. That said, if
Amidonia requested reinforcements from them, I have little doubt they
would dispatch mercenaries on their behalf."
"Amidonia, huh... If I recall, they sent us an 'offer of assistance,' right?"
"Yes. 'The stability of our neighbor Elfrieden is directly tied to our own
national defense. If a request is made, we will dispatch forces to help
subdue the Three Dukedoms,' is what they offered."
"Ha ha ha ha... That's pretty straightforward."
It was plain to see that they wanted to take advantage of the discord
between the Three Dukedoms and myself to expand their territory.
"It is. The Three Dukedoms have likely been told something similar."
"'Let us strike down the usurper Souma together,' is it? Hard to laugh at
that."
Well, I could probably count on the Three Dukedoms to see through
Amidonia's scheme. They wouldn't let foreigners run roughshod over this
country just because they didn't like me. Of course, Amidonia knew that
too, so basically...
"By making offers of aid to both sides, they want to give themselves a
cause to mobilize their troops," I said.
"While seizing cities in the west, they'll send reinforcements to the side
that 'won,'" he agreed. "Then, they'll come up with some reason to assume
de facto control of the cities they occupied, integrating them into their
country. It's an orthodox strategy, but an effective one, I would think."
Well, yeah. There were many examples of it in my own world's history.
Like So'un Hojo with his "Borrow a deer hunting trail, steal a castle." The
simpler the strategy, perhaps the more likely people were to be deceived.
Amidonia was blatantly trying to deceive us, Zem was tilting towards
hostility, and the Elfrieden Kingdom was unable to achieve national unity
because of my conflict with the Three Dukedoms. Difficult problems to
solve, all of them.
"However, this is all part of the scenario you wrote, isn't it?" I asked,
staring hard at Hakuya.
Hakuya remained unperturbed.
"Yes. At this moment, everything about the situation is shifting as it
should," he declared. That cool expression of his made me scratch my head
vigorously.
"You... do realize, right?" I asked, referring to the number of people who
would be sacrificed by Hakuya's plan.
The scenario Hakuya had laid out would mean great losses for our foes,
and great gains for our allies. It was true that I needed a move, no matter
what it was, that would let this country rise to be a strong nation. However,
to bring it to fruition, this country would also need to shed a fair amount of
blood.
Despite that, Hakuya declared this without showing any guilt: "Yes. I
believe we should take everything that this opportunity offers us."
I was silent.
"Sire, you should understand, the result will save many of your
countrymen."
"...I know that. But, still, I'm only going to accept doing 'this' once." I
looked Hakuya straight in the eye. "A political thinker from my world,
Machiavelli, wrote about it in The Prince. If a ruler does 'this' just once,
and in doing so finishes everything, never doing it again, he will be
regarded as a great ruler. On the other hand, should the one time he does
'this' fail to be decisive, he will sooner or later face his end as a tyrant."
"...This Machiavelli had a terrifyingly realistic view of things." Hakuya
was slightly taken aback.
Yeah. That was why I liked him. I had been enthralled by the endless
realism of Machiavelli, and reread The Prince many times. Though I had
never expected the knowledge to come in handy like this someday.
"Regardless, I have deemed your plan to be an example of doing 'that,'"
I said. "So..."
—If we are to do it, let it be in one stroke.