—31st Day, 12th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar — Royal Capital
Parnam
There were eight days in this world's week. With four weeks in a month, that
meant each month had 32 days. There were twelve months in a year, so the year
ended on the 384th day.
The third through fifth months were spring, the sixth through eighth were
summer, the ninth through eleventh were fall, and the twelfth through the second of
the next year were winter, the same as Japan.
Today was the 31st day of the twelfth month. In Earth's calendar, this would be
New Year's Eve, but in this world's calendar, it was just another day at the end of the
year.
In this country, New Year's Eve and Day were generally celebrated quietly with
one's friends and family. Normally, the castle wasn't all that busy (the political year
began on the first day of the fourth month), aside from priests who carried out the
New Year's ceremony, but right now the great hall in Parnam Castle was in a state of
pandemonium.
"Aisha, carry that set over to the right," Liscia ordered.
"Understood, prin... Lady Liscia."
Following Liscia's directions, Aisha picked up a stage set that would normally
have taken multiple adults to lift and easily slung it over her shoulder. Aisha could
always be counted on to do the heavy lifting... Oh!
"Carla, Hal," I directed. "Line up those two pillar props over here."
"Understood, master."
"Right, right," Hal said. "...Sigh."
With my directions, Carla and Halbert, a vanguard commander from the National
Defense Force, were affixing (fake) marble pillar-like objects that looked like they
belonged in the Parthenon to the floor. From there, Liscia and I kept giving orders to
my vassals (and betrothed), following the plans in my hands.
"Still, to think you'd not only use the National Defense Force, but also a future
queen to do hard labor for you..." Ludwin said with a wry smile.
Behind us, Ludwin, the Captain of the Royal Guard, and his second in command,
Kaede, were finalizing the details of their plan for on-site security.
"It would be unthinkable in any other country, you know," said Kaede. "Also, Hal,
work faster. Chop chop."
"I am, Kaede!"
I waved my hand dismissively at Ludwin. "Now, now, Aisha said she wanted to
help herself. Besides, it's just a fact that there's no one in this castle stronger than
Aisha."
If we'd had earth mages (for gravitational control), this would have been easy,
but they had all been sent out to lay roads in the newly absorbed Principality of
Amidonia. We didn't have cranes for indoor use, meaning we had to rely on human
labor for all of this, and I couldn't see a reason to let Aisha's muscles go to waste.
Liscia let out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly... If you had just said something
sooner, we wouldn't be dealing with this tight schedule..."
"It's not like I could have," I said. "I mean, I only came up with this idea a week
ago."
"It's pretty incredible that everyone said, 'Let's do it!' to something you came up
with on the spur of the moment, though."
W-Well, lately, it did feel like my brakes were starting to break down.
With Roroa and Colbert joining us, there was more funding at my disposal, and
Genia the Overscientist was merrily giving birth to new inventions. Also, because of
the many new policies we had instituted, the people of Friedonia themselves had
developed a fondness for the strange and were overflowing with curiosity. It was
like the Japanese craftsman spirit, or something like, "No matter how meaningless,
when you master a thing, it becomes an art." That was how an idle thought that had
come out of my mouth one week ago...
"Oh, hey, it's almost the end of the year. If it's the end of the year, its time for the
Kouhaku Year-end Song Festival."
...had ended up being implemented like this.
The first one to hear me, Roroa, had said, "What, what?! Tell me more about that
wonderful name that sounds like profit!"
So I ended up having to explain Kouhaku, the Red and White Song Battle, to her.
When I did, Juna, who was also listening, said, "A festival of songs, is it? That
sounds like an opportunity to put our talents to work," and was uncharacteristically
proactive about it.
Then Pamille and Nanna, as well as other loreleis, and the general who had
become a singer, Margarita, had gotten highly enthusiastic about the idea, and after
some point it had gone so far that I couldn't say, "Nope, we're not doing it after all!"
anymore.
Between loreleis from the singing cafe Lorelei, which had at some point turned
into something like a production company, and participants from the Nodo Jiman
amateur singing contest program we ran in Van gathering, it had turned into a fairly
large-scale event. That was when the sudden rush to get things ready had begun.
Well, having everyone work together to create something was fun in a culture
festival sort of way, but it meant my workload had gone up just that much more...
The hard part was going to be the "White" part of Kouhaku's red and white.
The Red Team (female singers), led by Juna, had variety and flair, but the male
singers just didn't leave as much of an impact. The vast majority had come up
through Nodo Jiman, and they all sung this world's folk songs. If there were no male
idols participating in Kouhaku, and it were all enka singers, that wouldn't be very
stylish, now would it?
Because of that, I had decided on a big experimental deployment of my male idol
response to the female loreleis—the singing knights, orpheuses—which I had been
developing for some time.
"Now, my orpheuses, gather!" I called.
"""Yes, sir!"""
When I called out to them, three young men who were discussing something off
in the corner came over to me. One of them, the tall, silver-haired, twenty-something
man, saluted me and said, "The orpheus unit Yaiba is ready and awaiting your
commands."
He was a human from Van and the leader of Yaiba, Axe Steiner. He was an
attractive man with striking, cool eyes, but his overly formal speech that was
characteristic of young men from Amidonia gave him a strait-laced image.
When he saw the way Axe was acting, the comparatively easygoing young man
with tiger-stripped hair laughed wryly. "Sheesh, our leader's such a stiff. Am I right,
Kukri?"
"I think you're a little too laid back, Kotetsu," Kukri agreed.
The frivolous and superficial looking young tiger beastman was Kotetsu Burai. He
was a fiery man with distinctive yellow and black stripes; athletic; and his sharp
dance moves made him stand out even in this group.
The one he had turned to for agreement was a middle school aged pretty boy (?),
Kukri Carol. I think you'll have realized this from his surname, but Kukri was a
kobito and Pamille Carol's big twin brother. He was clearly filling out the shota
position in the unit, but he was still the eldest of the three.
...Man, the kobito race were scary.
Well, anyway, these were the three members of Friedonia's first idol unit, Yaiba.
The name had come from the fact that all three of them had names that sounded
kind of like bladed weapons. I hadn't had much time to come up with a name, after
all.
Incidentally, I'd considered including Hal, who also had a weapon-like name, in
their members, but he had firmly refused. According to Kaede, "Hal can control his
pitch, but he's tone deaf, you know."
That wasn't important now, though. I clapped my hands. "I want the members of
Yaiba to start rehearsing as soon as the set is ready."
"Yes, sir!" Steiner announced. "Are you certain you want us to go first, sir?"
"I want to test that the stage is strong enough," I said. "You're the only act during
the song battle that will have multiple members singing and dancing. If you guys are
fine, it should be safe for everyone else, too."
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
When Axe, who was as stiff and formal as ever, headed toward the finished stage,
the remaining two smiled wryly and followed after him.
"Good grief," Kotetsu said. "Why's our leader gotta be such a square?"
"It's because he's nervous, isn't it?" said Kukri. "Though I'm sure his personality
has something to do with it, too."
"Hey, you two! Look alive!" someone yelled as they were dragging their feet
toward the stage.
""Eek!"" they shouted, jumping a little.
When the two hesitantly turned around, they found a frowning Margarita
standing there in a deep red dress. It was a showy color, but that only made her
three times more intense.
Margarita looked the two of them up and down then raised her voice. "You are
the face of Friedonia! Stand up straight and get your acts together!"
""Y-Yes'm!""
"If you get it, then get going! On the double!"
""R-Roger!""
Margarita had risen to become a general in Amidonia's patriarchal society. When
she tore into them, those two responded with the same stiff formality as Axe and ran
off toward the stage. They were like new recruits being chewed out by a drill
instructor.
Then Margarita noticed me and hurriedly bowed her head. "Wh-Why, Your
Majesty, I've let you see something most embarrassing there."
"Oh, I don't mind," I said. "They're a bunch of strong personalities, so having you
take charge helps. Still... that outfit really is something."
"This is, well... I snuck out during the costume fitting..."
"You snuck out?" I repeated.
"Oh, there ya are. Runnin' out durin' a fittin'? That's just not right, Margie."
"P-Princess?!" Margarita yelped.
"'Margie'?" I repeated.
I turned to look because Margarita had let out a scream, and there was Roroa
rushing over to us.
She reached us and smoothly wrapped herself around my arm. "Darlin', I've been
workin' hard, too. Praise me, praise me." She rubbed her face up against my
shoulder.
Her adorable little animal-like gestures felt somewhat calculated, but... still, she
sure was cute. The fact of the matter was, without Roroa's financial cooperation, this
plan wouldn't have been possible.
I petted her on the head. "You've been a big help. Thanks, Roroa."
"Mwuhuhuh!" she giggled.
"Come on, Roroa," said Liscia sternly. "You've gotten your praise, and you're
satisfied, right? We're working here, so it's time for you to let go."
Liscia grabbed Roroa up by the scruff of the neck like she might do to a cat and
pulled her off me. Roroa got into it and even threw in a playful meow.
"Wait, I didn't have time to be doin' this," Roroa added, interrupting herself. "I'm
gonna take Margie back with me. We're still in the middle of her costume fittin', after
all."
"Costume? You mean this red dress?" I asked.
Roroa gave me a bold laugh. "Look forward to it. It's gonna knock your socks off
durin' the main event."
"I don't like it, princess!" Margarita protested. "Not that. Spare me that, at least!"
"I already put in the order, so give up and just accept it," Roroa smirked.
"Nooo! Not eighteen meters!"
Margarita was dragged off by Roroa, looking more frantic than I'd ever seen her
before. Margarita could scare your average man senseless, but she couldn't stand up
to Roroa, the former princess of Amidonia. I didn't really get the balance of power
between the former Amidonians.
"And, wait, what did she mean by 'eighteen meters,' anyway?" I added.
"The length of her dress, apparently," said Juna.
The lorelei had come over here because she was the next one going on for
rehearsal after Yaiba. She wasn't wearing her usual easy-to-dance-in outfit. Instead,
she wore a shining blue dress and looked very pretty in it.
"Wait, an eighteen meter long dress?" I asked, startled.
"Roroa was saying she wanted something that would knock the audience's socks
off," Juna said. "She's going to be putting Madam Margarita on stage in a massive,
eighteen meter dress. I hear that the dress is painted with powdered lightmoss, like
the kind we use in the streetlamps, and it lets off a dazzling light."
"Well, that's... gaudy as all hell," I said.
I dunno. Somehow, I could see this becoming an annual event and it getting
gaudier every year.
Margarita... I had thought she was the big boss of the entertainment industry, but
she was apparently the last boss.
What should I do? I wondered. I had planned to have Margarita sing the Japanese
version of "Snake Eater," but maybe I ought to change that to "Kaze to Issho ni."
That was when I noticed another girl standing behind Juna.
She was a simple-looking young girl of fifteen, maybe sixteen years of age. She
was cute, but didn't stand out in any way. It was a sort of natural, girl next door type
of look.
"Juna, who's the girl?" I asked.
"Let me introduce you, sire," Juna said. "This girl is Komari Corda. She was in
training at Lorelei until just recently, but I'm thinking of having her debut in this
song battle."
"I-I'm Komari Corda! It'sh a pleashure to meet you!" the girl gasped.
While tripping over her words spectacularly, Komari bowed her head deeply to
me. While I laughed wryly at how tense she was, Juna explained a little more about
her.
"She has a voice with room for growth, and an enthusiasm for practice that
makes me think she'll transform in the future. I think she may have the hidden talent
to surpass me as a lorelei."
"Well, that is impressive..." I said.
"I-I could never! It's too much of an honor for you to suggest I might surpass you,
Lady Juna!" Komari yelped.
When I saw Komari hurriedly try to act humble, I thought, Oh, I can see it...
Her appeal likely lay in how unpolished she was, unconsciously making you want
to cheer her on. That was a charm that the already-perfected Juna didn't have. When
this girl was finished, she might be a lorelei who could lead the kingdom's singing
world forward.
She was someone whose development I would look forward to seeing.
That was when the current Finance Minister of the Kingdom of Friedonia
appeared.
"Ah, Madam Juna, Madam Komari," said Colbert. "So this is where you two were."
For some reason, Nanna, the cat-eared beastman, was hanging around his
shoulders. Pamille the kobito was standing behind him, too, holding on to Colbert's
sleeve. I don't know what to say... They looked like father and daughter.
"They're awfully fond of you, Colbert," I commented.
"You're the one who pushed them off on me, Your Majesty..."
In addition to his duties as finance minister, I had Colbert handling their finances
(and the paperwork). This country was in the middle of an unprecedented lorelei
boom. For Juna, Nanna, and Pamille, in particular, as the first loreleis, there was far
more money moving around them than they could ever use personally. Setting aside
Juna, who was at the castle as a candidate to become a secondary queen, it was
dangerous for Nanna and Pamille, who were still ordinary citizens, even if they were
loreleis, to be given too much money.
That was why I had the financially talented Colbert handling their assets,
arranging bodyguards (primarily women from the National Defense Force), and
handling other general business for them. In a way, he was like their manager.
I could understand that that was why he spent a lot of time with them, but why
did they love him so much? When I asked them, they said...
"The meals! He treats me! I get to eat lots of fish!" Nanna squealed.
"After meetings, Mr. Colbert often takes me out for dinner," Pamille added.
"When we go, he never treats me like a child. He always treats me like a proper
lady."
...There you have it. He was taming them with food, huh! No, in Pamille's case it
was a little different, but...
"Colbert, if you're going to lay your hands on them, wait for the two of them to
grow up a bit first," I said.
"I'm not going to, okay?!"
"I won't be getting any bigger, though..." Pamille had a sour look on her face.
Uh... um... sorry.
"Th-The four of you have rehearsal now, right?" I asked, hastily covering my
mistake.
"Yes," said Juna. "When Yaiba finish, we're up next."
I looked toward the stage where the three from Yaiba were singing passionately.
It was a song from a male idol group back in the other world. I hadn't been familiar
with what was trendy, but the sort of songs that they played all the time during
commercials had stuck in my head. They were a bunch of cool, young people singing
cool songs with all their heart. I thought that might be enough to capture the hearts
of the ladies of Friedonia.
"Everyone, we've brought food for you!" Serina called.
"I-In order to keep it simple to eat, we decided to go with rice balls and
sandwiches," stammered Poncho. "Of course, there are spaghetti buns, too, yes."
"Big Brother, Big Sister, it's time to eat!" Tomoe called.
While I was watching Yaiba, Serina, Poncho, and Tomoe brought the maids along.
They all had large baskets in their arms. They were probably filled with rice balls
and bread. When they spread them out on a long table, everyone gathered around.
"Oh! That looks good," Hal said. "Can we have some?"
"Hal, you have to wipe your hands first, you know," Kaede scolded.
"Carla, please prepare tea for everyone," Serina ordered.
"R-Roger that, Head Maid!"
As the area started to grow more lively with conversation, I stared off absently.
"Things sure have grown..."
"They have," Liscia agreed.
It looked like Liscia had overheard the thought I'd let slip. I felt awkward, but
Liscia gave me a big smile. "You've gathered people, people have gathered around
you, and before we knew it, we've become surrounded by this huge crowd."
"It's reassuring, but it also makes me nervous," I confessed. "It means I have that
much more that I want to protect, after all."
"What are you saying?" Liscia put her left hand on her hip, pointing her right
index finger at my nose. "The people you want to protect, they want to protect your
reign, too. That's why... those that you want to protect will surely protect you."
When Liscia firmly declared that, mysteriously, it made me feel like she was right.
"They will, huh?" I asked.
"Yes, they will."
"I see... Well, Liscia, could I ask you to hold down the fort here for a while?"
"I can, but... where are you going?" she asked.
"It turns out there are some people I have to meet. Look, Hakuya's here for me
now."
When I looked to the entrance, Hakuya had just come in.
"Bye," I said. "I'll be back soon."
"Sure. Leave things here to me."
With Liscia seeing me off, I left the great hall. Then, together with Hakuya, I
walked down the hall.
We didn't talk along the way. It was already pitch black outside the windows.
It was around eight o'clock. I thought back to how things were now in the great
hall. If that was how far along they were at this time... we were in for an all-nighter,
for sure.
I needed to make sure to send the performers home early to get some rest. It was
going to be broadcast live, so if we made them stay with us, and then they went and
collapsed on us during the main event... it would be a total disaster.
While I was thinking about that, we arrived at the room which was our
destination.
In front of the door, Hakuya stepped aside to make way for me, standing with his
back to the window across from the door. He probably meant to wait here. I hadn't
forbidden him from entering the room, but Hakuya had decided to refrain from
doing so on his own. Then, crossing his arms in front of himself, he gave me a
respectful nod.
"I have the Black Cats patrolling the area," he said. "Take as long as you need to
talk."
"Got it."
I nodded, then opened the door and entered through it.
When I closed the door, the room suddenly became dim. In the room with
flickering candlelight, what caught my eye was the king-size bed, and the moonlit
terrace beyond it. The people I was looking for were drinking tea at the glass table
by the windowsill. When I approached, those people put down their teacups and
rose.
"Why, Sir Souma, it's been some time."
"It's good to see you again, Your Majesty."
I greeted the two who had welcomed me here. "It has been a while, Sir Albert and
Lady Elisha."
The ones waiting for me were Liscia's parents, the former king, Sir Albert, and his
queen, Lady Elisha.
"Have some," Elisha said.
"Thank you," I said.
When I took the proffered cup of tea, former queen Elisha gave me a broad smile.
Lady Elisha was like Liscia, only calmer, with a more womanly sexiness. Would
Liscia eventually become like her? If so, I had a lot to look forward to as we grew
older.
I was sitting at the glass table, with Sir Albert across from me.
Having finished making us tea, Lady Elisha stood in waiting behind Sir Albert. It
seemed she intended to stick to the role of server.
...When I thought about it, I hadn't spoken much with Lady Elisha, had I? She was
my mother-in-law to be, but she was a woman of few words, always just standing at
Sir Albert's side with a warm smile. From what Liscia had told me, she had always
been a quiet person who never said much.
While I was thinking that, Sir Albert opened his mouth to speak.
"I am glad that you have come here today," Sir Albert greeted me and then smiled
gently. "I would also like to congratulate you on your victory in the war with the
Principality of Amidonia and subsequent annexation of the principality. It has only
been half a year since I passed you the crown, and yet your deeds are great. I believe,
with your accomplishments, you needn't be embarrassed if people call you 'Souma
the Great.'"
"No... It was only possible with Liscia and everyone else's help." I took a sip of tea
and looked Sir Albert straight in the face. "Finally, we're able to meet."
"I am sorry for making you wait so long," the former king said and bowed his
head to me.
I had sought to meet with Sir Albert a number of times before today: when I
hadn't known anything, when I'd wanted to have him convince the three dukes to
cooperate, and when I'd requested his help in convincing Castor not to rebel against
the sudden change of power. Then, once I'd understood everything, I had asked for
an audience a number of times to seek an explanation.
However, each time I'd asked, he'd said:
In the earlier instances, "This country is yours now. It is not my place to do
anything."
In the later instances, "I will reveal everything to you soon. Please, wait until
then."
And that was all I could get out of him.
Once he'd started saying, "I will tell you soon," all I could do was wait for him to
do so. Because, if I pressed him, there would be no way to be sure he was telling me
the truth.
At last, today, I was here because he'd said he would tell me everything.
"You're going to tell me everything, right?" I asked.
"If that is what you wish," Albert said.
"I think it's time you finally cleared some things up for me. Like what you were
thinking."
He'd said he would tell me everything. I figured I might as well go down the list.
"I have three things I want to ask you. The first is about when you ceded the
throne to me. At that point, when I had just been summoned to this world, we were
meeting for the first time. Yet, just from hearing my plan to enrich the country and
strengthen the military, you turned over the throne to me. With a betrothal to Liscia
as a nice bonus. That did give me the freedom to move, but... it was also unnatural.
Why were you able to give your crown to some kid from another world whom you
had only just met so easily?"
Sir Albert listened to me in silence. It seemed he meant to answer only once he
had heard everything I had to say. In that case, I might as well ask him everything I
had to ask at once.
"The second concerns Georg's devotion. Our former General of the Army, Georg
Carmine, took all of the blame on himself while committing suicide and taking all of
those who might become my enemies with him. Looking at the result, and even
considering the letters Liscia sent to try to convince him, I have to think that Georg
had prepared this plan in advance. That's bizarre, too. I only met Georg once at the
very end. He put his life on the line for this plan, so he shouldn't have been able to do
it without trust in and loyalty to me."
Albert was silent.
"Georg and I weren't even passingly acquainted. There was no way he could feel
loyalty toward someone he'd never even met. Well, who was his loyalty toward,
then? I can only think... it would be you, the former king."
I had tried to verify that when I'd met Georg. But: "When the proper time comes, I
am sure that person will tell you themselves" was all that the man would say. Today
must have been that proper time he was talking about.
"Lastly, why did you refuse to meet me up until today? If you were waiting for
everything to be settled, you could have done that after the victory of Amidonia or
the annexation. Why did I have to wait until today for an opportunity to meet you? I
want to hear that, too."
"...Is that everything?" Albert asked.
"More or less," I said. "Let me ask about the finer details as I listen to your
explanation."
"I understand." Nodding, Sir Albert began to speak at a relaxed pace. "First, I want
to say, there is one thing that connects all three of those points you raise."
"One thing?"
"Before I explain that, I want to answer your three questions. It was because we
were coming to a decision. On whether we should answer you or not. We thought it
might be best to continue telling you nothing..."
I was silent.
"However, my heart is not so strong that I can keep the sins I've committed
locked away inside it," he added.
The sins he'd committed? What was he talking about?
"Sir Souma... Have you ever wished you could live your life over once more?"
Albert suddenly asked me.
I answered him, somewhat suspicious. "...All the time."
A lot had happened since I'd been handed the throne. I had carried out disaster
relief, and experienced war. I couldn't help but think... hadn't there been another
way? A better way? Couldn't I have saved more lives? Even when it came to those I
fought as enemies and cut down, I sometimes thought that, maybe, we could have
come to an understanding. Even though I knew it wasn't reasonable to think that.
"But why do you ask?" I went on.
"What I am about to tell you is the story of a certain world, a certain country, and
a certain foolish king," Albert said.
With that introduction, Sir Albert began to smoothly relate this tale.
◇ ◇ ◇
In a certain country, there was a king.
The king was not wise, but nor was he a fool. He did not govern well, but he did
not govern poorly, either. That was the mediocre sort of king he was.
In a time when the world was stable and the country was already set up for
success, he would have been called a good king without faults. However, in his time,
the Demon Lord's Domain appeared, and the threat of monsters threw the world
into chaos.
The fires of war might not have spread to his country yet, but there was a food
crisis and the economy was slowly inching toward collapse. The mediocre king could
do nothing effective to deal with these issues.
Then, one day, there was a request from the great land in the west to carry out
the hero summoning told of in this king's kingdom. It was worded as a request, but
he had virtually no option to refuse it. So the mediocre king carried out the hero
summoning as requested.
That ritual succeeded when no one thought it would, bringing a young man from
another world to the kingdom. The king struggled with the question of whether to
turn the young man over to the great country in the west. This was because, if he lost
this boy, he would be letting go of his key to negotiations with the great nation in the
west.
The young man who was summoned told the struggling king this:
"If you mean to fight the demons, you should enrich the country and strengthen
the military."
...This story sounded familiar.
However, the developments from here on differed from the story I knew.
Hearing what the young man had to say, the king sensed the man had gifts he
himself did not, and decided to appoint him to the post of prime minister. The young
man responded to his expectations and worked desperately, carrying out various
reforms. Thanks to that, the kingdom began to show signs of recovering from its
food crisis and financial difficulties.
However, there were those who found the young man a nuisance.
It was the nobles of that country. Those without very good reputations
themselves.
They had been angry when a youth they had never heard of before was chosen as
the prime minister, but they were even more incensed when he began his reforms.
The young man had rooted out corruption to find the funding he needed, carrying
out reforms that cut into the wealth of the upper class.
They visited the king many times, trying to persuade him he was harming the
country and should be removed from power.
However, the young man had an ally. The general of that country's army.
The sober and honest General of the Army was able to accurately judge the young
man's talents and became his backer. However, the nobles of ill-repute were not
amused by this development, only intensifying their slander against him.
Hearing their libelous words day in and day out, the king gradually became
stricken with uncertainty.
It was true that the young man was gifted, but he had far too many enemies. The
country might be split if things were left as they were.
With that in mind, the king made a decision that, in retrospect, he never should
have.
The young man was removed from his post as prime minister.
Having been dismissed, the young man went to stay with the General of the Army
at his castle. The king felt sorry for the young man, but this was to prevent the
splitting of the country. Ultimately, it would be saving the young man's life. That was
how the king convinced himself.
However, that was not the end of it all.
The nobles of ill-repute were more persistent than the king had thought. No, if
anything, considering their secret ties, it was best to read it as them not being able to
leave the young man be. That year, the neighboring state which had a long-running
enmity with the kingdom began deploying its forces along the border.
The General of the Army dispatched the troops under his command in the Army
to intercept them, confronting those forces.
That was when it happened.
As if they had been waiting for this moment, the nobles' forces rose up, attacking
the city where the General of the Army's castle was. When you consider the timing of
it all, the nobles had probably been collaborating with the neighboring country.
Because the General of the Army's land had once been the territory of the
neighboring country, it had been easy for them to concoct the scheme. Then, the
neighboring country moved to snuff out the young man who had the potential to
become a serious threat to them.
The city containing the General of the Army's castle was well-fortified, but the
Army had been mostly dispatched to the border, leaving less than 500 troops in the
garrison. The opposing force led by the nobles numbered 10,000.
The General of the Army remained in the city, and he managed a diligent defense,
but... greatly outnumbered, the General of the Army was eventually struck down.
The city burned, and the young man disappeared like ashes among those flames.
It was only a few days after the nobles had raised their troops, and the king was
unable to do anything.
The Army, having lost their commander, was unable to maintain the battle line
against the forces of the neighboring country and fled in defeat. The forces of the
neighboring country joined up with the nobles, and together they used their
momentum to advance on the royal capital.
The king hurriedly tried to bring together an armed force to meet them in battle,
but... he couldn't. In the end, he had left the young man and the General of the Army
to die.
The soldiers of the Army rebelled against him and returned to their own lands,
the units of the Air Force were few in number, and the Navy was far from the capital
and preoccupied with defending their own domain.
His last resort was to recruit volunteer soldiers from among the common folk,
but even that had failed.
The young man's reforms had angered the nobility, but they had saved the
people. To the people, the young man had been a savior who had come to them in
their time of need, and they felt no kinship with the king who had stripped him of his
post. Ultimately, like the young man before him, the king found himself encircled by
an enemy that hopelessly outnumbered him. In time, he would be killed just like the
young man. If there was one difference between them, it was that he lacked the
General of the Army who had been willing to lay down his life.
At this point... what he faced could only be called karmic retribution.
He had brought it upon himself by believing the slanderous lies of those who
would become his enemies, and stepping on those who truly cared for the country.
◇ ◇ ◇
As I listened to Sir Albert's story, I was at a loss for words.
He spoke of another present. When I had been summoned to this world, not
knowing what the Empire truly wanted, I had talked about enriching the country
and strengthening the army because I hadn't wanted to be turned over to them
before I'd known better. I'd thought I would be made to implement my ideas as one
bureaucrat among many, and that I would be able to find the money to pay the war
subsidies the Empire was requesting. However, because Sir Albert had given me the
throne, I had ended up manning the helm of this country.
What would have happened if he hadn't given me the throne back then?
If I had been operating not as the king, but as the prime minister... the future
might have turned out exactly the way Sir Albert had described. The world Sir Albert
spoke of gave me considerable room for thought, and it was so realistic that I
couldn't imagine it was a fabrication. I thought it was a fairly accurate simulation.
But in that case, there were things I didn't understand. It was rude to say it like
this, but Sir Albert didn't seem like the kind of person who had that degree of
foresight to me. I couldn't see him simulating things so accurately.
"You speak as if you've seen it yourself," I said.
"Because I did see it myself," Albert said. "No... Rather, I was shown it."
"You were shown it?" I asked.
"Indeed. By my wife's ability."
His wife's ability? I looked at Elisha despite myself, and she returned the look
with a broad smile.
"Did you know that my wife is a user of dark-type magic, just like you are?"
Albert asked.
"I had heard that, yes. Though even Liscia didn't seem to know the details."
"This is something known only to a select few, so I ask you not to speak of it to
anyone else," said Albert. "My wife's ability is to transfer memories into the past."
Sir Albert moved on to continue his story.
◇ ◇ ◇
The king who was about to have everything taken from him by the nobles was
gripped with a deep sense of regret.
Why had he dismissed the young man?
Why had he not valued him more?
If he had not been shaken by the nobles slanderous lies, if he had instead taken
the hands of the young man and the General of the Army, if he had continued with
reforming the country, at the very least, he would not be in the difficulty in which he
now found himself.
Were he truly rotten, this is where he might have raged, "This is all the
summoned young man's fault" or "If not for him, it would never have been like this,"
ignoring his own responsibility. However, this king might have been foolish and
weak, but he was generally soft on others, so the idea never occurred to him.
What he did think was that he had needed to value the young man more.
If, at the very beginning, rather than prime minister, he had just made the young
man king to begin with...
If he had, surely he would have reigned over this country far better than the king
himself could.
If that had happened... then his daughter...
The king sunk into despair.
Having lost hope in that king, the queen said: "You have failed. Our fate is already
sealed. However, if we use my ability, we can tell our past selves about this failure."
The queen had a mysterious ability. It allowed her to transfer a person's
experiences to their past self.
The past self who received them would experience them as if for themselves, and
it would feel as if time had been wound back for them. It was using this power that
the queen had survived the bloody war of succession. (Or to be more precise, she
had repeatedly sent back her memories moments before her death, then avoided the
danger.)
After explaining this, the queen had apologized to the king. It turned out that she
had used this power to choose her husband, too.
It seemed no matter how fierce of a warrior she had taken as her husband, no
matter how wise a sage, the kingdom was destined to be destroyed. Invasions by
foreign enemies, attacks by monsters, plots by the nobility, uprisings by the
people— while the reasons differed, the result was always that the royal capital was
engulfed in flames.
This king who people thought was mediocre had been the only one who, while he
hadn't uplifted the country, had managed to extend its life. It seems this king was the
only one whose child the queen had given birth to.
"Even if I use this power, we cannot change our present," Elisha had explained to
him. "However, we can lead our past selves to a future different from this one. Dear...
if our lives are to end here anyway, would you like to try creating a future like that?"
When the queen told him this, the king came to a resolution. That he would send
word of this failure into the past. Then he would have his past self leave the throne
to the young man.
It may only have been to satisfy himself. But it felt like it might offer him some
atonement for the things that had been lost due to his failure, so the king entrusted
everything to his past self.
The king and queen transferred their memories to their past selves.
Those memories had come back to him as he'd listened to the young man speak
about enriching the country and strengthening the army.
◇ ◇ ◇
"To put it simply, I am the king who inherited those memories," Albert finished.
While I listened to Sir Albert's story, I was in a state of confusion. Was this a time
slip...? No, a time leap?
He'd said it was dark-type magic, but it could even do stuff like that? Oh, but all
that was inherited were the memories, so it wasn't as if the person's consciousness
returned to the past.
If those memories were truly being transferred into the past, that should have
created a time paradox. Because the Sir Albert sending the memories had no
memory of having them sent to him.
In that case, could it be that Elisha's power was one that let her intervene in an
alternate dimension that was highly similar to her own? Less like the "Life Do-Over
Machine" and more like the "What-If Phone Box," huh? To put it simply, that would
mean this world wasn't the past of the sending world, it was an alternate dimension.
Though, even if I brought this up, I doubted the two of them would understand.
They probably didn't have a concept of other dimensions to begin with, and I
couldn't exactly say I understood it that well myself.
Aw, geez, this place wasn't just a simple world of swords and sorcery? I thought.
While I was busy being confused, Sir Albert took a sip of his tea and sighed.
"Honestly... it must have been hard on the one who sent me the memories, but it's
not easy being the one to receive them. From my perspective, I feel like I've lived a
life in which I made you my prime minister, acted like a fool, and then turned back
time. If I hadn't heard Elisha's explanation on the other side, I would have thought
time had just turned back. I, myself, haven't done anything, but the guilt I feel toward
you won't go away. I apologize on behalf of the former me. I'm terribly sorry." Sir
Albert bowed his head deeply.
"No, apologizing to me doesn't help... I mean, I have no recollection of any of it..."
"I know that... This is only for my own self-satisfaction. I want to apologize.
Please, let me apologize."
"...Well, if that's how it is..."
If he said he wanted to apologize, the best thing to do was probably to let him.
The situation was well beyond my understanding, so I couldn't put myself in his
shoes.
Sir Albert looked me straight in the eyes and said, "And so, to keep things from
turning out the way they did in my memories, I ceded the throne to you. I believe
this should answer your first and third questions."
"...I'd have to agree with you," I said.
The answer to my first question, "Why did you give your throne to some kid you
just met?" was that, actually (though, this wasn't correct, strictly speaking), it wasn't
the first time we had met.
The answer to the third, "Why did it take so long for you to meet with me?" was
likely that he hadn't been sure whether or not to reveal the existence of this ability.
It might have been because he'd wanted to see for certain that we had reached a
different future from the prior world first.
That left my second question. The issue of Georg's loyalty...
"Don't tell me you told Georg about all this?!" I cried.
"...I am weak," said the former king. "I wasn't strong enough to carry this burden
alone."
Sir Albert looked out the window. It had started to cloud over a bit. It might start
snowing.
"I couldn't believe that, with my power alone, I would be able to call forth a
different future. I told everything to the one man in this country I could trust, Georg
Carmine, and asked for his help. That was why he came up with a plot to
exterminate the corrupt nobles who had become your enemies in that time. It was
our fault that Castor grew suspicious of you. However, because the plan was already
in motion, we couldn't reveal it, and I apologize for the undue suffering that put you
through."
That had been... Georg's reason for the staged treason, then. To have all of my
potential opponents taken down in one fell swoop, and for him to fall alongside
them. That plan had coincided with the one Hakuya and I had been working on to
keep Amidonia under control, which had turned it into a grand stage none of us had
expected. It looked like Roroa had been planning her own script of events, too, so it
had become a grand stage with many playwrights.
Those who'd thought they would be making others dance had been forced to
dance themselves, and though we'd felt like we were cutting our own paths, we had
actually just been walking atop the rails someone else had laid for us.
"I dunno what to say... It makes me lose confidence in myself," I admitted.
"There's no need for that," Albert said. "The fact of the matter is, you managed to
reach a different future, no? You annexed Amidonia, and you rebuilt this kingdom
which was nearing its end into the Kingdom of Friedonia. I can say with confidence
that I was not wrong to give the throne to you."
"I'm glad to hear you say that and all, but... in the end, where do you think the
future changed?" I asked.
"The very beginning, no doubt. Because, this time, from the very start, you had
Liscia by your side."
"Liscia?" I asked.
It was true, Liscia had been supporting me from the very beginning, but why was
her name coming up now?
Here, Sir Albert put on a slightly sad expression. "Liscia was at your side in the
future where I made you my prime minister, too. She was serving as Georg's
secretary, so the two of you met through him. In that world, just in this one, Liscia
recognized your true talent and fell in love with you. Even when I dismissed you
from your post, she came to appeal directly to me to reinstate you. However... that
time, I didn't heed Liscia's advice. Disappointed, Liscia returned to Randel where
you were. To Castle Randel, which the nobles burned to ash. I'm sure she spent her
last moments... together with you..."
Liscia... had died at my side, huh. Now that he mentioned it, he did say that the
king of that world had "lost everything." That had included his own daughter, then.
"What about the other comrades that I've recruited?" I asked.
"They were never there to begin with. In that world, you never used the Jewel
Voice Broadcast. I listened to the voices of those who valued tradition, and I never
allowed you to use it. That was why you never gathered personnel, or did the sort of
productions that you do now."
Working without the Jewel Voice Broadcast, huh... That would have been hard.
Now that I thought back, most of the current members of my staff had been gathered
through the the Jewel Voice Broadcast. Without the Jewel Voice Broadcast, I
wouldn't have met Aisha, Hakuya, Tomoe, or Poncho. Also, if I had just been the
prime minister, I doubted Excel would have dispatched Juna, and I wouldn't have
met Ludwin, Halbert, or Kaede through the military, either.
That being the case, the Jewel Voice Broadcast was starting to feel like the
turning point.
And the strongest thing pushing me to use the Jewel Voice Broadcast had been
Liscia, who'd given legitimacy to the royal title I'd been given. Without that, I might
not have been able to shut up the people who were against me using the Jewel Voice
Broadcast. When I thought of it that way...
"...Well, damn. Liscia's starting to feel like my goddess of victory."
"I want you to take good care of her," Albert told me.
"Of course."
She was a goddess who had never abandoned me, no matter how adverse the
situation. If I didn't treasure her, I was probably in for some serious karmic
retribution.
Sir Albert rose from his seat. "Well, I have told you all I know. Now, my role truly
has been played out to the end. The rest... I leave to you and the others."
With that said, Sir Albert stood next to Lady Elisha, hugging her around the
shoulder.
"I think we will leave the castle, and live quietly in my old domain in the
mountains."
I inhaled sharply in surprise. "Why?!"
"If the old king stays too long, people will begin to get bad ideas," Albert said.
"Now that I have seen the changing future, I will withdraw. This is another thing I
had decided on from the very beginning."
Here, he wore not the face of an unreliable king, but the eyes of a loving father
watching over his children. Those eyes... was he directing them at me?
"You've already made up your minds, I see," I said slowly.
"I can trust you with both Liscia and this country," said Albert. "Elisha and I both
believe that. I ask you to do this for me, my son."
"My son." When he called me that, I rose from my seat and pounded one fist on
my chest.
"You have my word. Father, Mother, thank you for everything."
I bowed my head deeply to Sir Albert and Lady Elisha. Sir Albert nodded when he
saw that, while Lady Elisha continued watching with a smile until the end. I bowed
one more time, and turned to grasp the handle on the door to leave... then stopped.
"I have just one last thing to ask."
"What?" said Albert.
"In the world where I became the prime minister, were our bodies ever found?"
"...No. As I told you, they were reduced to ash. Nothing was ever found."
I see. They'd never found the bodies, huh. Well, then...
"In that case, Liscia and I might have still been alive."
"What?!"
I smiled as Sir Albert's eyes opened wide in surprise. "If I were alone, I might
have died. But Liscia was there, too, right? If the me from that world cared for Liscia
as much as I do here, he would never have let her die. When danger closed in on
them, I'm sure he would have taken Liscia and fled, not caring what people would
say about them. It's possible they were struck down by enemy soldiers in the
attempt, but in that case, there would have been bodies. If you're telling me there
were none, I'd say that means they got away."
Perhaps Georg had been using himself as a decoy to buy them time. Though this
was probably on the same level as believing in the theory that Yoshitsune had
survived. But, what did it matter? If it would help my father-in-law to assuage his
guilt even a little.
"...Thank you, son-in-law."
I heard those quiet words behind me as I turned to leave the room.
"What are you doing here?"
I was on the terrace of the governmental affairs office, looking out on the castle
town at night, when Liscia came out with a blanket.
"I'm surprised you knew to find me here," I said.
"Hakuya told me where you were," she said. "Everyone's in a frenzy trying to get
things together for the singing contest, you know?"
"...Sorry. Let me stay here a little longer."
"Geez... In that case, try wearing something a little warmer," Liscia said, then
threw the blanket she was carrying over me, sliding underneath it herself, too. The
warmth of her body touching mine felt very comforting. "Whew... It sure is cold out
at this time of night."
"Well, yeah, it's winter."
"Ah! It's snowing!" she cried.
"Whoa. You're right." I noticed there were snowflakes falling here and there.
Even though I could still see the moon off in the distant sky.
It started as powder snow, but gradually gave way to larger snowflakes.
The lights of the town and snow on a moonlit night. It was like a scene out of
fantasy.
"It's pretty," Liscia murmured, standing next to me.
"...Well, damn. Liscia's starting to feel like my goddess of victory."
The words I had said then came back to me.
When I looked at Liscia, staring entranced up into the snowy sky, I couldn't just
stay put any longer. I got out from under the blanket, then hugged Liscia, blanket
and all.
"Wha, Souma?!" Liscia cried out in surprise. I didn't let that stop me from holding
her all the tighter.
"...The truth is..."
It was cold out, but for some reason my entire body felt hot. I could see my
breath, but my face was burning. I might even have been crying.
"The truth is, this is something... I really ought to have told you before Aisha,
before Juna, and before Roroa..."
She was silent, questioningly.
"Liscia... I love you. Please, marry me."
Liscia was dumbstruck by my sudden proposal.
"...It sure took you long enough to say it," Liscia said, then gave me a shy smile
that made me feel ticklish. Then, gently pushing me away, she put her hands on my
chest and stood on her tip toes. As the blanket fluttered to the ground, Liscia's face
slowly approached mine. "I love you, too, Souma. I hope we can be together
forever..."
Our lips intertwined.
The clock passed midnight, and it became the 32nd day of the 12th month, New
Year's Eve.
We stayed that way for a while, listening to the approaching footsteps of a new
year.