1st day, 1st month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar

This was the first time that New Year’s Day had come since the Elfrieden Kingdom had absorbed the Principality of Amidonia and become the United Kingdom of Elfrieden and Amidonia, or the Kingdom of Friedonia for short.

In the royal capital, Parnam, and the former capital of the Principality, Van, as well as any other city that had a receiver for the Jewel Voice Broadcast set up in its plaza, there were still a large number of people gathered there. After all, today the young king would be using the Jewel Voice Broadcast to issue a New Year’s greeting to the people. The people had gathered in order to hear it.

It wasn’t that Souma was doing anything to force the people to listen. But every time he used the Jewel Voice Broadcast, he had kicked off an event to gather personnel; or taught them about new foods as a countermeasure against the food crisis; or started up a music program… It was all so random, and the people were interested to see whether he might have something entertaining planned again. Also, when people gathered like this, the merchant stalls would come out to make a profit, and when the stalls were out more people would gather to see what all the fuss was… That feedback loop had gotten started, which was why even though Souma had only announced he would be making a New Year’s address, there were still so many people gathered.

One mother and her child were talking while they waited for the broadcast.

“Is His Majesty going to do something again?”

“Yes, darling. I wonder what it will be.”

The receiver mounted on the fountain began to project Souma’s image.

Behind him were his fiancées Princess Liscia and Princess Roroa, the latter being the former Sovereign Princess of Amidonia, whose betrothal to Souma had been announced at the same time as the annexation of her country.

Liscia and Roroa both wore flawless smiles, waving for the people. The princesses of two nations that had once been enemies were on the same screen, smiling. This reassured the people of Elfrieden and Amidonia about their newly united kingdom.

Eventually, the image of Souma began to speak. “To my beloved people in both our united kingdoms of Elfrieden and Amidonia, I wish you a happy new year.”

Souma, Liscia, and Roroa all bowed their heads in unison.

There was some murmuring about how the king had just bowed his head at the start of the new year, but when his face rose once more, Souma was wearing a teasing smile. “This is a traditional New Year’s greeting in the world I came from. ‘You’ve done a lot to help me in the past year. I hope I can count on you again in this one.’ That is the sort of feeling it’s meant to express.”

While the people of the kingdom were still taken aback, Souma pivoted into the main topic.

“Now, I hear that in the Amidonia Region, it was customary for your ruler to announce the national policy for the coming year. Roroa suggested I do the same, so… What the heck, I’ll give it a shot. For now, the nation’s goal for this year will be…”

A wave of tension rushed through the crowd listening to the broadcast in the Amidonia Region.

The people formerly of the Principality of Amidonia were all recalling Gaius VIII’s face when he’d made his proclamations each new year. With a stern expression, he would swear revenge on Elfrieden, then set their goal as the reclamation of their stolen lands.

For the Amidonians, the announcement of policies on the first day of the new year had always been done in order to lift up their fighting spirits. They could hardly be blamed for tensing in anticipation that there might be a war with some other country again.

Just where was this country headed? Were they going to invade some other place? To bring down the Empire and claim hegemony over the continent? Or to strike out against the Demon Lord’s Domain, and thus liberate the northern lands…?

The listening gulped in anticipation, and at last Souma spoke.

“I think I’m gonna go with, ‘To make a better country.’”

A hush fell over the crowd.

That’s way too vague! Everyone in the audience had that same thought. It seemed Souma had expected they would, because he laughed.

“I think that may be a little too vague, but it’s very important. First, there’s the matter of how to define a ‘good country.’ It may actually be easier to start by thinking about what a ‘bad country’ is like.”

Souma made a fist with one hand, raising one finger after another as he explained.

“First, a country where people go hungry. Second, a country where people freeze. You could rephrase those two as a country where people suffer in poverty, maybe. People starve or freeze to death because they can’t buy food, and they’re unable to acquire a place to live or clothes to wear. I think it goes without saying that a country where either of those is allowed to happen is a bad one. In a country where people starve or freeze to death, there’s no way to bind the hearts of its people together.”

These were words that the people of both Elfrieden and Amidonia could agree with. Both of them had experience with food shortages. The people on the Amidonian side had felt it particularly keenly. They had averted their eyes from the problem because of their hatred for Elfrieden, but now that they had recovered thanks to the support they’d received from the kingdom, they felt a strong desire to never go back to the way things had been the year before.

“Third, a country with poor public order,” Souma continued. “For instance, even if a country has no lack of food and warmth, if there are thieves, bandits, and pirates running rampant, it’s probably not a place you’d want to live. That said, those sorts of lowlifes are generally born from the same cause I mentioned earlier: poverty. In the world I came from, there was a saying: ‘Only once we are clothed and fed can we afford to be polite.’ When it takes all you have just to stay alive, you lose the space in your heart that it takes to care for others.

“Fourth, a country that spends all its time at war. Even if they win every battle, a war is a burden on the national treasury, and people die in it. It’s even worse when you lose. If you earn the enmity of another country, there will be terrorism, and that leads to a worsening of public order. It robs you all of the things that are most important to you.

“Fifth, a country that, in contrast to the one in my fourth example, can’t protect itself. If the country neglects its ability to defend itself because the people don’t want to fight, other countries will take advantage. The result will be the same as for the fourth country. It would be even worse in our current times, since the Demon Lord’s Domain presents an unpredictable threat.”

While he said this, Souma extended his now-fully-opened hand towards the people.

“Even with that rough outline, I think you can see all five of these are bad countries. What, then, is a good country? Is it the opposite of these bad countries?”

Souma turned over his hand so that the back of it was facing them, then bent down his fingers as he spoke.

“An independent country where the people don’t starve, where they don’t shiver from the cold, where public order is maintained, where there aren’t excessive invasions of other countries, and where we will be all right even if another country or the Demon Lord’s Domain comes to attack us. I think that would probably be a ‘good country,’ and that’s a goal this country should work towards.”

Souma held his hand, which had been balled into a fist once more, out for the people to see.

“Even if these things, taken individually, each seem obvious, it’s quite difficult to accomplish all of them at once. Especially in this day and age, with the appearance of the Demon Lord’s Domain throwing everything into chaos. These are hard times to do the things that ought to be done. It will take many times more power to accomplish than it would in peacetime. In fact, it will take so much power that I feel like conquering the entire continent would be relatively simple in comparison.”

Here Souma paused, taking a deep breath.

“…So, all of that said, there’s something I would very much like you, the people of this country, to do.”

The crowd gulped again.

To gain the power he’d spoken of, what did he want them to do?

The first thing that came to mind was raising taxes. If taxation was heavier, the country’s income would rise, and they could spend more on the military. It might not be the wrong move, depending on the situation, but it would make life harder for the people.

The second thing that came to mind was conscription. This country already had professional soldiers, but the people were fearing that even civilians would have to undergo basic training for conscripts.

They were thinking that the “power” Souma had spoken of was “military power.” However, this was a mistake.

Souma said, “My people, I call on you to study!”

— One day in the 2nd month, 1547th year, Continental Calendar

On this day, the pride of the Kingdom of Friedonia, the Black-robed Prime Minister, AKA Hakuya Kwonmin, was holding a meeting with the Gran Chaos Empire’s Little Sister Princess and commander of the great armies, Jeanne Euphoria, over the Jewel Voice Broadcast using simple receivers. In negotiations between the Kingdom and Empire, any matters deemed not important enough for King Souma and Empress Maria to hold direct meetings over were generally handled by these two.

Today, the meeting began with an apology from Jeanne.

“Sir Hakuya, first, allow me to apologize for the delay in selecting the Empire’s ambassador to Friedonia.” She went on, “There is no one who seems especially fit for the post, you see. If we’re looking for someone trustworthy enough that we can reveal our secret pact to them, yet able to see the Kingdom as an equal partner in the alliance, it’s just not easy…”

“The general opinion is that our country is not fit to be called your equal, you’re saying?” Hakuya asked.

“If I’ve offended you, I apologize.”

“Not at all. It’s a matter of fact that there is a clear difference in strength between our country and the Empire, after all.”

“It goes without saying, both my sister and I are relying on the kingdom, Sir Souma, and yourself.” Jeanne smiled.

Hakuya gave a forced laugh. “I think that is clearly overestimating us.”

“Is it really? When it comes to our vassals… I think they’ve been prejudiced by coming from a country that’s swelled to be too large. Far too many of them have confused landmass with the power and dignity of a country.”

“Did you consider that they might not be entirely wrong?” Hakuya asked.

The more land a country had, the greater its population. Increases in land and population could be tied directly to gains in production capacity. The country’s production capacity was directly linked to its military prowess.

But Jeanne shook her head. “It’s far from correct. Do you think Sir Souma would say such a thing?”

“…He wouldn’t, no. The thing His Majesty seeks most is ‘people.’” With a slightly pensive look on his face, Hakuya continued. “Before, when I asked His Majesty, ‘What led you to make gathering personnel your first priority?’ he told me this: ‘The people are your moat, your stone walls, and your castle.’”

“‘The people are your moat, your stone walls, and your castle’… I see. It’s a good saying.” Jeanne gave an approving grunt.

Hakuya said, “Well, it’s not something His Majesty came up with himself. They were apparently the words of a military strategist in the world he came from.” He was spilling the beans about the source, but in his heart he could understand why Jeanne had grunted like she did.

Souma had also said this: “That was said by someone who actually existed in my world, a daimyou… That’s a word that means someone who was a capable military strategist and a feudal lord, just so you know. At around that time, the political thinker Machiavelli was saying the same sort of thing in a land far to the west. That in times of peace, it’s better to tear down walls, that is.

“Walls are only useful in peacetime when the people rise against you. If you rely on walls and rule with cruelty, the people will turn on you, and they will invite foreign powers into your land. So a prince is safer not to build walls but to win the people to his side instead, apparently. It’s interesting that there were people in the East and West saying roughly the same thing at the same time in history.”

Souma had laughed, but his words left a strong impression on Hakuya. It was very much the sort of thing that Souma, who took lessons from history to inform his policies, would say. Because Souma had learned from the words of the ancients, he had gathered a diverse group with many “gifts,” and that included Hakuya.

Jeanne nodded. “My sister said something similar, too. ‘The people are the foundation of the country.’”

“It seems we both serve good masters.”

“Though, in my case, she’s also a relative… I do think she’s a good master, though. Even if she can be a bit unreliable at times.”

When he saw the wry smile on Jeanne’s face, Hakuya recalled his own master who normally focused on efficiency, but never threw away his compassion for those close to him. He sometimes thought it inefficient, and it could be frustrating to deal with at times, but he strangely did not find himself wanting to make him abandon that compassion.

“I more or less feel the same way…” Hakuya said. “It’s our job to support them when that happens.”

“You’re right about that. Now, let’s get down to business.”

The negotiations started.

Jeanne began. “Now… I believe we were to discuss trading our wheat for your seasonings — soy sauce, miso, and the like. We have no issue with that. My sister is quite fond of that seasoning you call ‘soy sauce.’ It goes really well with fish dishes.”

“It goes well with meat dishes, too,” Hakuya said. “Let me teach you some simple recipes.”

“I’d be grateful for that. Now, you want wheat in exchange, but I was led to believe that your food crisis had been resolved, hadn’t it?”

“That is correct, but we still have some uncertainties about our surplus. We want to import food in case this year’s harvest is poor.”

“I understand…By the way, we would like to make those seasonings ourselves eventually. Could I ask you to dispatch some tradespeople?”

“The mystic wolves still have a monopoly on sales within the country, so… it would depend on what compensation you were offering,” Hakuya said.

“I can understand that. How about the method for mixing a special compost that increases crop productivity?”

“I believe that would do. I think I will run that by His Majesty and get permission.”

“Next… Following the example of the Kingdom’s Jewel Voice Broadcast, we tried producing programs here in the Empire, too.”

“Hmm… How did that work out for you?”

“The singing programs and such were mostly well-received, but I never would have thought the most popular one would be a program that follows what my sister did during the day. I have no idea what’s supposed to be interesting about that…”

“Well, they do call her a saint, after all,” said Hakuya. “I’m sure Madam Maria must be loved as much as the Prima Lorelei is in our nation.”

“For all that her personal life is a mess, she does have a pretty face, at least,” Jeanne conceded. “I’ll give my sister that.”

“I don’t know if it’s only her face… but her sister Madam Jeanne is beautiful, too, after all.”

“…I would never have expected such flattery to come from your mouth, Sir Hakuya.”

“Hm? I don’t flatter people at the negotiating table, you know,” Hakuya said.

“Ohh…”

“Hm?”

The middle of the 2nd month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar

“Ohh! Why Your Majesty, welcome and thank you for gracing us with your presence.”

When I passed through the door into the Jewel Voice Broadcast studio that we had set up in the castle, a well-built middle-aged nobleman welcomed me with an exaggerated flourish.

This was Moltov Juniro, the father of Ivan Juniro, who played Silvan, the Kingdom of Friedonia’s first tokusatsu hero.

“Hey, Moltov,” I said. “How are things going on the program?”

“Sire, we’ve been doing our best to follow the example you set.”

The truth was, the other day, partly because his son’s Silvan had become so popular, I had decided to go all the way and appoint Moltov as the director of broadcast program production. I’d done that because I wanted to be able to keep the programs in production even when I was busy.

Moltov, like his son Ivan, had an ability that made it so there was no need for special effects, so I’d decided that would make him a good pick for the position.

Moltov stroked his beard and said, “Well, this program-making business is deeper than you might think. There are things the people want to see, things that they don’t want to see, things that we want them to see, things that we don’t want them to see… It’s quite difficult to strike a proper balance.”

Moltov groaned in consternation.

I was relieved to see him taking his job so seriously. “Do you want to quit?”

“No! I appreciate the challenge!” Moltov responded with a lively smile.

Somehow, I felt that that was a better look for him than when he was trying to foist his daughter Siena off on me.

On that subject, Siena, who was now appearing alongside her brother Ivan as a supporting heroine (something similar to **ckle in St**nger), had said with a gentle smile, “I believe my father has found his purpose in life. There are a limited number of ways to rise in stature as a noble. You can distinguish yourself in the military or administration, or you can become a maternal relative of the Royal House. Those have always been the only ways, so he had been wholeheartedly pursuing them. However, Your Majesty, you taught my father something: the joy of creating a broadcast program to entertain the people. Thank you so much.”

Sigh… She was such a good daughter, I almost had to doubt she was actually a blood relative of that boisterous father and son.

Anyway, let’s get back on topic.

Like Siena had said, Moltov was enthusiastically working on creating broadcast programs.

I extended my hand to him. “I have great expectations, Moltov. If you keep developing your craft, I’m sure eventually I’ll be leaving a jewel in your care.”

“My word! You’d give me a jewel?!”

“Yeah. I’d want you to use it not for public broadcasts, but to open your own broadcasting station.”

In other words, making him a private broadcaster. If all we had was a public broadcaster, there were limits to the number of programs that could be produced, after all. In order to make such a thing happen, there would need to be further advances in technology, and the appropriate laws would need to be put in place, so it couldn’t happen right away. Still, it was best to start preparing for five, ten years from now.

Moltov gave a jolly laugh. “You’ll be giving me my own independent station, huh! The dreams are endless!”

“Yeah. So, work hard for it.”

“Leave it to me!” Moltov thumped his chest proudly. “By the way, sire, what were you doing here today?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I think Juna was supposed to be around here somewhere…”

“If you mean Ms. Juna Doma, she is currently shooting the educational program.” Moltov pointed towards the studio.

It just so happened, Juna was currently in the middle of a live broadcast for the educational program. The song she was currently singing and dancing to was a children’s song from the other world with a slightly Asian style. The way Juna looked as she danced with the strings wrapped around her sleeves fluttering was just like a celestial maiden. It made me want to pray, “Close the pathway through the clouds.”

Eventually the broadcast came to an end. Juna noticed me and rushed over, still in her stage outfit. “What’s going on, Your Majesty? I didn’t think you were planning to come here today, were you?”

“Well, no, I wasn’t, but… I had a favor I wanted to ask of you.”

“Of me?” Juna asked.

I nodded. “For about three days, starting tomorrow, I’m going to be away from the castle to meet with someone. I’d like to have you escort me.”

“I don’t mind, but… you’re leaving the capital unattended for three whole days?” Juna tilted her head to the side, looking slightly perplexed. “With all due respect, won’t the government’s work be impeded by your absence?”

“Oh, that should be fine. That thing I had Genia developing is complete now.”

The research institute in the former slums of Parnam, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Friedonia.

Ginger’s Training Facility, which had been opened with King Souma’s sponsorship as one means of securing talented personnel and making it so that slavery became a thing that existed in name only, now had a great many subjects which could be studied at it.

With more land being given to the facility, it had come to be called Ginger’s Vocational School. While retaining the elementary school, they had also established schools dedicated to various specialized subjects. If a field of study achieved results here, there would be schools dedicated to it established in other cities.

There were already a number of fields of study that had gone independent, and specialized schools for them were being built in other cities; but the schools of farming and medicine were still here. This was because the appropriate teachers were here: the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Poncho Panacotta, as well as doctors like Hilde Norg and Brad Joker. It also showed that Souma, who knew that, historically, the production of food and knowledge of medicine were directly linked to the maintenance and growth of the population, placed great importance on those fields.

Now, there were two man-and-woman pairs facing one another across the threshold at Ginger’s Vocational School’s main gate. The first pair consisted of a rotund man who was almost thirty years old, and an intellectual beauty who was elegant in everything including her appearance. The other pair consisted of a young man whose face was so gentle in appearance that he might be mistaken for a girl, and a beautiful raccoon girl who had an unyielding look in her eyes that left a lasting impression.

The strange thing was, the woman in each of these pairs was wearing a classical maid uniform with a long skirt.

The two who were about to enter the school grounds were the Minister of Forestry and Agriculture Poncho Panacotta, and Serina, the head maid of Parnam Castle who was also the personal attendant of Princess Liscia.

The two who were greeting them at the threshold were Ginger Camille, the principal of Ginger’s Vocational School, and Sandria, who served him as his secretary and maid.

Poncho and Ginger smiled and shook hands.

“Greetings, and thank you for coming, Sir Poncho.”

“S-Sir Ginger, it does my heart good to see that you are in such good health, yes.”

“Um… There’s no need to be so formal, you know? You’re older than me, and a minister, too.”

Poncho stuttered, “I–It’s a habit of mine. I just can’t seem to shake it, yes.”

“He is a timid man, you see. Please, give up on him,” Serina chimed in as Poncho was awkwardly trying to explain himself. “Honestly… Considering that he’s saved so many of this country’s people with his knowledge, I wish he would have gained at least a little more self-confidence.”

“Um, and you are?” Ginger asked.

“Pardon the lateness of my introduction. I am Serina, the head maid at the royal castle.” She gave an elegant bow.

“Th-Thank you kindly for that. I am Ginger, the principal of this school.”

When Serina bowed her head to him, Ginger panicked.

Seeing his reaction, Serina chuckled. “Now, Lord Ginger, you needn’t be so formal when addressing a mere maid like myself.”

“Th-That’s not…”

“My master has a weakness for attractive older ladies, you see,” Sandria chimed in.

Ginger was bewildered by what she said. “San?! What are you saying so suddenly?!”

“Nothing that is not a fact, I assure you. When you are in the presence of Lady Hilde, you are always so tense… Oh, pardon me, I hadn’t introduced myself yet.” Sandria lifted up the hem of her apron dress and curtsied. “Greetings. I am Lord Ginger’s secretary, maid, and pet slave, Sandria.”

“Hey, you’re making me sound way too bad! I only tasked you with being my secretary; you started doing the maid work on your own! Also, what do you mean, pet slave?!” Ginger protested, but Sandria pretended not to hear him, bowing deeply to Poncho.

“You must be Lord Poncho. I hear about you from time to time. It’s thanks to you that my fellow slaves didn’t starve when things were at their worst. On behalf of everyone, I would like to thank you.”

“N-No! You don’t need to do that, yes!” Poncho panicked when Sandria bowed to him.

Serina watched him with a slightly chilly look in her eyes. “Sir Poncho, even if she is one of those ‘underage girls’ you so like, please, don’t lose your head over a little praise.”

“I–I wish you wouldn’t go putting any weird labels on me, yes!”

“Oh? Is it not the truth, though? I know these things, you realize?” Serina smiled, but her eyes were not smiling. “Earlier, there was that dish you developed with His Majesty, the ‘toasted sandwich.’ You only served the dish to Lady Tomoe, did you not? Without bothering to invite me.”

“Is that why you’ve seemed so upset lately?!”

If one were to ask who was the biggest glutton in all of Parnam Castle, that would be Aisha, of course; but Serina would have to be the runner-up. But there was a slight difference in the nature of their gluttony.

Unlike Aisha, who would eat anything (especially sweets), the more of it the better… Serina didn’t demand quantity, but she had developed a taste for the junk food and B-grade cuisine that Souma and Poncho created.

Souma and Poncho had put together a lot of different dishes. To be precise, they were recreating dishes that had existed in Souma’s former world. Of those dishes, it was things like spaghetti and yakisoba buns, the sort of things you wouldn’t see in a fancy restaurant, that had captured Serina’s heart.

The thing was, Serina came from a distinguished family that had turned out many maids and butlers who went on to serve the royal family. Because of that, they had worked to instill cultured tastes in her from a young age, to ensure she would be presentable and wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of royalty. They’d paid close attention to her diet, and she had always been expected to eat good food, and to use the proper etiquette. Of course, that meant she’d never been allowed to just go out and buy food from a cart and eat it there. For Serina, having grown up in a house like that, Souma and Poncho’s dishes had made quite an impact on her.

There’s a staple food on top of another staple food!

When Serina had first came into contact with a spaghetti bun, that first bite had destroyed all established notions she had about food. How could such a vulgar dish be so delicious?

Ever since, Serina had made a habit of following Poncho around. That was because if she was at his side, she was treated to delicious samples. The dishes Poncho made were the one thing other than cute girls that caught Serina’s interest. Which was why, when she was unable to try them, she held a grudge.

Sensing her displeasure, Poncho hurriedly tried to explain himself. “I–It was still just an experimental dish, so there weren’t enough of them…”

“Knowing you are unused to going out in front of people, under the orders of His Majesty and the princess, I have worked with diligence and sincerity to assist you,” Serina said coldly. “Yet, you did not allow me to sample the dish. Could it be because I am already a grown woman?”

One day in the 3rd month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar

Hello, I’m the candidate to become Souma’s first primary queen, Liscia Elfrieden.

On this day with the end of winter drawing near, and the coming spring beginning to make itself felt, all of Souma’s fiancées were gathered in a certain room in Parnam Castle. I, Liscia was one of them. The rest were Aisha the kochiji, Juna the lorelei, and Roroa, the former princess of Amidonia.

There was no sign of Souma here, and even the maids who were always waiting in the corner of the room had been asked to leave today. On top of that… this room was weird. There was a blackboard, desks, and four desks and chairs. The desks were lined up in a row, making it look almost like one of the classrooms at the Officers’ Academy.

“Hey, Big Sister Cia?” Roroa asked. “What’d we all get called in here for today?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” I said. “If anyone here would know…”

I looked over at Juna. However, Juna only looked down and shook her head.

“I’m sorry. Lately, even I’m not sure what goes through that lady’s head.”

“If Madam Juna doesn’t know, then the rest of us don’t stand a chance of figuring it out.” Aisha rested her hands on the back of a chair, tilting her head to the side in puzzlement.

It was a fair assessment. That lady was completely unpredictable. Just what was she thinking this time?

Then the door to the room opened, and the one who had gathered us here arrived.

“I see everyone’s here.”

It was the blue-haired sea serpent beauty, Excel Walter.

In addition to being the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Force, she was a beautiful woman who looked to be around twenty-five. With her blue tresses, from which tiny horns sprouted, trailing behind her as she walked, she had always been a picturesque beauty. But this time, she was carrying something in her hands, too: two bundles that were as thick as dictionaries. One was wrapped in white, the other in black.

Excel left the bundles on the lectern, then pulled out and donned a pair of spectacles and a square academic cap. “Now then, let’s have you all take your seats.”

“U-Um… Grandmother?” Juna hesitantly raised her hand and asked.

“What is it?”

“Um… I thought you had good vision?”

“Oh, these spectacles? They’re just ordinary glass, not corrective lenses.”

“Then why are you wearing them?”

“It gets me in the mood.”

Her mood?! That was the issue?! Wait, what was she about to start?!

Lately, Liscia and the others had been acting weird. Liscia, Aisha, Juna, and Roroa… All of them had been acting a bit off.

If you were to ask me to put into words what exactly was off about it, I’d have had a hard time answering; but for some reason they turned pink whenever we met, turning and immediately walking off in the opposite direction as if they were embarrassed. It wasn’t like they were deliberately ignoring me, but it was a bit depressing to have them avoid me like that.

…Did I do something to offend them? I thought about that, but nothing came to mind.

Lately, we’d had nothing but peaceful days, and I didn’t think I’d done anything that would make them feel uneasy. I worried I might have done something unintentionally, so I decided to broach the issue with the four of them directly. When I did…

“I–It’s not your fault, Souma. Don’t worry,” Liscia assured me.

“Um… You could say I am embarrassed to look you in the eye, sire, or something like that,” Aisha said.

“I’m sorry,” Juna told me. “It’s absolutely an issue on our side. You don’t need to worry about it at all.”

“Well, let’s just say it’s a secret between us gals, and leave it at that, ’kay?” Roroa added.

…Those were the responses I got. Honestly, it didn’t make any sense.

Oh, right. And speaking of weird, there were other things about what they were doing and saying that was a little off.

The first happened in the morning, when I was sitting across from Roroa on a sofa in the governmental affairs office and we were having a budget meeting. When we finished talking about state industries, the conversation moved on to my personal businesses that Roroa’s company would be sponsoring. It was mainly about production on the tokusatsu program.

“So, about Overman Silvan, do you think you could raise the budget a little more?” I asked. “We can’t use the same monsters every time, and if we are going to reuse them, we need a little more variety…”

“…Uh-huh…”

Hm? Was she just nodding along? That was when I noticed that Roroa was staring at me, her mind clearly somewhere else.

“Roroa?”

“Huh?! Oh, yeah, I’m listenin’, I’m listenin’.”

…She was apparently not listening. What had her staring off into space like that?

“Is something on your mind?” I asked. “If there’s anything I can do to help, I will.”

“Nah, that’s not it, but… Sure. Let’s see if ya can play along.” Roroa moved over next to me, close enough that our shoulders were touching.

Hm… Does she want me to dote on her? I started to think.

Then Roroa looked me straight in the eye and said, “Hey… Big Brother Souma?”

“Whuh?!”

When she called me that with upturned eyes, my head shot back in surprise. Wh-What was this, out of nowhere?!

“Seriously, what’s going on, Roroa?!” I cried.

I was worried she’d come down with a fever or something, so I tried putting a hand on her forehead, but she didn’t seem especially feverish or anything.

Roroa started kicking her legs and swinging her arms around in frustration. “Aww… That’s not the reaction I was expectin’. You were sayin’ it made you happy the way I treat Big Sister Cia like a sister. So, I figured, you like li’l sisters, don’t ya?”

“Little sisters?” I asked, baffled. “What are you even talking about?”

And what did she mean, I’d said that? I had no recollection of saying that… Huh, no, wait, maybe I did. What was this weird feeling?

“Hmph! I don’t care anymore!” Roroa pouted and looked the other way.

I didn’t really get how, but I seemed to have upset her.

Hm, what should I do… I wondered, then plopped a hand down on Roroa’s head.

“You’re my precious fiancée, so I don’t want you turning into a little sister on me.”

“…Y’sure?” Roroa still had her head turned away from me, but she peeked back my way as she asked that.

I gave her a big nod to reassure her, then patted her on the head. “Of course. The way you were playing ‘little sister’ was cute, but I’d rather have you as my wife instead. Just having you by my side always cheers me up, after all.”

When I told her straight-up how I felt about her, Roroa’s face turned bright red. I must have embarrassed her. When I saw her reaction, I felt embarrassed, too.

“So, please, stop calling me Big Brother,” I said. “If you don’t…”

“Wh-What if I don’t?”

“It’d be like I was deliberately having my own fiancée call me ‘Big Brother,’” I said teasingly. “That’d feel kind of depraved.”

Roroa burst out laughing. “Ha ha! Maybe you’re right. Yeah, no more callin’ you Big Brother. I didn’t get the reaction I was hopin’ for, but I don’t feel bad ’bout how this went, either.”

When she said that, Roroa hugged my arm. It looked like she was in a better mood now.

Well, I did mean it when I said she was cute as a little sister, though…

When the adorable Roroa had called me Big Brother with upturned eyes, my heart had skipped a beat, after all. But I don’t want to go developing any weird fetishes, so I was really glad she’d stopped.

The Union of Eastern Nations, situated to the north of Friedonia, was an aggregation of small to medium-sized states.

This land had once been flooded with many small and medium-sized states, sometimes allying with, and at other times warring with, one another. It had been a disunited land. However, when the Demon Lord’s Domain had appeared over a decade ago and the threat it had posed began bearing down on them, the states had united to form the Union of Eastern Nations.

Each country within the Union ruled itself, but each country was also called upon to contribute soldiers commensurate to its national strength. In the case of small states, they were to contribute a tenth of their soldiers; and in the case of medium-sized states, three-tenths. With the soldiers they contributed, a force that transcended the borders between nations, the United Forces of the Eastern States (or the United Forces), was formed. If another country or the Demon Lord’s Domain tried to invade one of the countries of the Union, the United Forces would be dispatched to combat them.

In the northwestern edge of the Union, bordering both the Demon Lord’s Domain and the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom, was the Kingdom of Lastania.

That country was a small monarchy with a total population of around twenty thousand. It was a country so small that it felt like it might blow away in the wind, and it was situated next to both the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom and the Demon Lord’s Domain, so the people must have been trembling in fear, waiting for the fires of war that could come at any moment. Or so you might be thinking. However, the actual situation was slightly different.

It was true, they did have some uncertainties when it came to the Demon Lord’s Domain, but bordering on the Dragon Knight Kingdom was actually reassuring to them. Though Lastania belonged to the Union of Eastern Nations, they had a long-running alliance with the Dragon Knight Kingdom. Having formed contracts with the dragons of the Star Dragon Mountain Range, and possessing powerful dragon knights, the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom was a powerhouse that could stand up to the Gran Chaos Empire in a purely defensive war. However, they didn’t use that power to try to expand their borders. That had to do with their contract with the Star Dragon Mountain Range.

In the middle of the third month, 1,547th Year, Continental Calendar — Royal Capital Parnam

As the sun set and the curtain of night fell, three shadowy figures raced through the royal capital. The shadows seemed to avoid the light, proceeding down back streets not lit with lightmoss streetlamps. They could be seen turning and looking back again, and again, and again, as if they were being pursued by something. Then…

“Guh!”

““Urkh!””

One of the shadows tripped and fell. There was a kukri knife (a dagger with a curved blade) sticking out of his back.

Our pursuers are nearly upon us! Instantaneously realizing that it was dangerous to stay clumped together, the other two shadows split off left and right, going in different directions.

The presences following them all went after the one who had fled to the left. Though the one who went right felt sorry for his comrade, it relieved him that he would likely be able to get away. However…

“…?!”

The shadow came to a halt. There was a large man who gave off an imposing aura blocking his way.

The man’s appearance was bizarre and unsettling. He wore black-painted armor over his large, muscular body, and a mask based off of a sword tiger over his face. He was like some sort of monster.

“The Black Tiger of Parnam…” the shadow whispered despite himself. Lately, he had been the subject of rumors among the grass.

The grass said that there was a black tiger in the Kingdom of Friedonia, and no member of the grass who had seen him had returned alive. Now, you might wonder how anyone knew such a person existed if those who saw him never returned, but the tiger had handily cut down the grass while not laying a hand on a certain merchant who happened to see him do it. Based on the vague statements of that merchant combined with a member of the grass disappearing at exactly the time he said, rumors spread that there was such a being in the royal capital.

They also said this:

If a spy encountered the Black Tiger of Parnam, they should drop everything and flee. He wasn’t an enemy who could be bested in combat. Those rumors also always closed out with, “…well, if you can get away, that is.”

When the shadow met the rumored Black Tiger, he became certain that those rumors were the truth. He was just standing there, but the shadow could find no openings to strike. He had a posture almost like that of an old warrior who had defended the front lines for decades.

“Surrender,” the Black Tiger said. “My master is merciful. If you do not resist, I guarantee you will not be harmed.”

Perhaps because of his mask, the Black Tiger spoke with a muffled voice. He did not say this out of consideration for his enemy. It was pure formality; he was delivering an ultimatum.

However, the shadow he was pursuing smiled.

“Curse you, you *******,” the shadow said. “We do not beg for our lives.”

With that said, the shadow drew the two short swords at his hips and lunged at the Black Tiger.

The two swords closed in on the Black Tiger. However, the Black Tiger calmly drew the odachi hanging from his hip, and split the man clean in two with a diagonal slash. When he did…

“?!”

The moment after, the bisected man’s body was enveloped in flames. He must have intended from the beginning to die to silence himself, and to incinerate his body to eliminate the evidence.

Disgusted, the Black Tiger shook the blood from his tachi and returned it to its sheathe. There was a time when the Black Tiger would have thought it was a splendid display of loyalty. Now, however, he could no longer see it that way. If there was to be any meaning in dying for loyalty, it had to come from a master who would mourn your death. To die for a master who used and then cast aside his followers like this was to die in vain.

When he returned from his thoughts, the Black Tiger… Kagetora was surrounded by men in black masks. These were the elites who served directly under Souma, protecting Friedonia from the shadows: the clandestine operations unit, the Black Cats.

“Master Kagetora,” a Black Cat said.

“…What of the rest?” he asked.

“The same as this one.”

“I see…”

Kagetora thought for a moment, then gave an order to his Black Cats. “Handle the cleanup. I will report this to his majesty.”

“““Yes, sir!”””

Once Kagetora had watched the Black Cats scatter, he recalled the words the shadow had spoken.

“Curse you, you infidel.”

The shadow had spoken that last word under his breath, and Kagetora had only barely been able to hear it.

Infidel, huh. This… could be troublesome, Kagetora thought as he melded into the darkness.

Half an hour later — Governmental Affairs Office in Parnam Castle

It was a night in March, when the weather had started to warm considerably.

Today, like most days, I had Liscia helping as I did my paperwork. Something happened just as we were saying it was around dinnertime, so we ought to call it a day.

The glass door to the terrace flew open. When I turned in surprise, there was Kagetora, his black metallic armor stained with blood. It was a good thing we were the only ones in the room. If one of the maids who occasionally came in had seen this, she’d probably have fainted. No doubt he’d been aiming for a time when no one else would be here.

“Blood?!” Liscia tried to wipe the blood away with a cloth she had handy, but Kagetora held up a hand for her to stop.

“It’s not mine. Nothing for you to be concerned about, my princess.”

“Oh… I see.”

“Also… the odachi that Your Majesty presented me with has an incredible cutting edge.” Kagetora placed a hand on the odachi that he wore at his hip, then bowed his head to me.

Oh yeah. I had given the odachi we’d developed while researching Nine-Headed Dragon katanas to Kagetora, hadn’t I? I’d created it for improved sharpness and range of slashing attacks, but its length had ended up working against it. Unless a person was tall, they would have trouble using it well. (It was hard to draw it from its sheath, among other issues.) For someone as tall as Kagetora, I’d figured that would be no issue, so I’d given it to him. It was good to hear it was serving him well.

“Well, as long as you’re okay, that’s good enough for me,” I said, half in exasperation.

I heard a slight chuckle from beneath his mask.

“…What? Did I say something strange?” I asked.

He chuckled again. “I was just thinking I’ve been blessed with a good master.”

“Hm? Are you being sarcastic with me?”

“No, I meant that sincerely.”

Maybe it had touched on something he was thinking about, because Kagetora sounded pleased when he said that. I wasn’t entirely satisfied, but… Well, it wasn’t important right now. There was no way that the head of the elite clandestine operations unit, the Black Cats, was here to engage me in idle banter.

“So, do you have something to report?” I asked.

“Yes, sir. The grass has grown more active of late.”

The grass… Spies, huh. In other words, there were spies from another nation operating in the castle town.

“Is it the Gran Chaos Empire?” I asked.

“If it were the Empire, we wouldn’t have such trouble with them. We have some ‘connections’ with them, and we would come to terms before we came to killing one another.”

“Connections…? You make deals with them?”

“We frequently trade intelligence about other countries.”

“I suppose the darkness has its own rules…”

This was an area where I was best to keep my mouth shut and let him do his thing.

“So, these spies we have running around, what country are they from?” I asked.

“They’ve destroyed the evidence, so we have no proof, but… most likely, the Orthodox Papal State.”

“…The Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria, huh,” I muttered.

The Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria. It was a theocracy ruled by the Lunarian Orthodox pope. The most recent thing I’d heard about them was that they’d incited their believers in Amidonia to revolt, then tried to intervene.

“But we’re not openly hostile to the Orthodox Papal State, are we?” I asked.

“Spies do not exist solely to be dispatched to hostile countries. Even if it’s a country you want to establish friendly ties with, spies might be dispatched to gather intelligence and lay the groundwork for negotiations.”

“Hm… Well, if they’re becoming more active, that means…”

“It is likely that they may make some move in the near future.”

“That’s troublesome…”

I recalled some things that Roroa had said when I’d first met her.

“Because that country hates the Star Dragon Mountain Range and the Gran Chaos Empire, that’s why.”

“In Lunarian Orthodoxy, the pope is the only one who can recognize someone as a saint. In fact, there’s a woman in Lunarian Orthodoxy who’s called a saint. That’s why the Orthodox Papal State of Lunaria sees Madam Maria as an unforgivable villain who’s misrepresentin’ herself as one.”

“That’s why, now that Elfrieden’s grown bigger by absorbin’ Amidonia, the Orthodox Papal State won’t be leavin’ you alone. Somewhere, somehow, they’ll try to make contact. Could be they’ll offer you some made up title like ‘Holy King’ and try to drag you into their conflict with the Empire.”

If it was like Roroa said… this was going to be another hassle.

Late in the 3rd month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar — Holy Capital Yumuen

A member of the court of inquiry spoke up. “We’ve had enough of this, Bishop Lester.”

On this day, in Yumuen, the holy capital of the Orthodox Papal State, in the main church that was the center of the Orthodox faith, an inquiry was being held for a certain man.

The man who stood in the dark room surrounded by the members of the court of inquiry was Souji Lester. He was a bishop.

For those involved with Lunarian Orthodoxy, standing in front of the members of a court of inquiry was the same as being before a judge with the power to declare innocence or guilt. If he were excommunicated here, he would lose all of the protections and rights that this country provided to him. In this country, to cease being a member of the faith was to put yourself in a position where you could be killed and no one would complain.

However, despite being the one under judgment, Souji didn’t seem the least bit tense. In fact, he wore a bold smile, even seeming to enjoy his current situation. In response to his attitude, a member of the court of inquiry presented a complaint.

“Do you understand the graveness of your situation in being summoned here?” the member said in an intimidating tone.

However, Souji’s bold smile was unbroken. “Yes. This is a place to judge whether a member of the faith will be excommunicated or not. If they had done wrong, anyone would tremble in fear of this place. However, I have nothing to be ashamed of, and so I am at peace.” The man spoke politely, but his attitude seemed mocking.

“How dare you…” With a look on his face like he had bitten into something unpleasant, the member of the court looked through the documents he had in his hands. “Your misdeeds are unpardonable. Lady Lunaria said that, ‘If those of the clergy do not live in honorable poverty, the believers will not listen to them.’ However, you seem to do the opposite.”

“What? Do I not look poor to you?” Souji said, spreading his priestly robes out for them to see. His robe was cut off at the sleeves and below the knee, making it look like a samue. “I wear these shoddy clothes and live in a dilapidated shack on the outskirts of the city. If that’s not living in honorable poverty, what is? If anything, all of you here are wearing finer clothes and living in better houses than I am, no?”

“…However, we’ve heard of you receiving substantial donations from the followers,” the member of the court of inquiry pressed.

Souji shrugged. “Surely I have no reason to refuse what is offered to me.”

“How dare you say that! What do you take the believers’ offerings for?”

“If I were using their donations to fatten myself, indeed, that would be a sin,” said Souji. “But just look at these abs. I’ve got a perfect six-pack.” Souji pulled off his top to show off his abs.

When he showed off his body, which it was hard to believe belonged to a clergyman, and started shadow boxing, the members of the court were struck dumb for a moment, but they quickly turned bright red and got angry with him.

“That’s not what we’re talking about!” one of the members shouted, slamming his hands down on the table, but Souji seemed completely unconcerned.

“I’ll bet. I mean, we’ve got a pretty fat cardinal, too.”

When Souji glared at them a little, the members of the court found themselves at a momentary loss for words.

In mentioning the fat cardinal, he’d most likely meant Cardinal Gold. His pudgy body was inexcusable for a clergyman. In fact, the court of inquiry were already aware that most of the donations Souji collected were going to Cardinal Gold. In other words, Souji was implying that they shouldn’t squeeze him, but the cardinal instead.

However, in Orthodoxy, the cardinals were next only to the pope in rank. He was out of the court’s reach. If they were going to censure him, it would take the pope himself or a unanimous decision by the rest of the cardinals to do it. The pope could also be removed by a unanimous decision of the cardinals, so neither wanted to set a precedent for their own removal. That was how Cardinal Gold continued to manage to hold on to his position, despite being unpopular.

The court of inquiry wanted to squeeze Souji, who was connected to Cardinal Gold, in order to push the pope into censuring the cardinal, but Souji was under the cardinal’s protection. If they tried to force an unreasonable judgment against Souji here, the members of the court could find themselves censured by Cardinal Gold for overstepping their authority. Because of that, there had always been zero chance of Souji being excommunicated over the issue of donations here. That was why his composure hadn’t failed him.

The court of inquiry decided to change tack. “Outside of that, we’ve received reports that you travel from pub to pub every night.”

“Is it a sin to drink? I thought wine was sacred.”

“There are still limits.”

“Well, sorry,” said Souji. “A lot of the folks who come to hear me preach are drunkards. They ask me to come to the bar, not the church, so it just works out that I end up drinking too much.”

Incidentally, when Souji performed his pub sermons, he did it at parties…

“Lady Lunaria once said, ‘Live for today and be grateful for it.’ Cheers!”

…and all he did was quote some scripture as part of the toast. He was a big hit with the lazy believers because (they selfishly assumed that) it was just as virtuous for them to listen to him there as it would be for them to go to the church and listen to a priest’s boring sermons on the day of rest.

The court of inquiry seemed irritated, so they changed their angle of attack again. “That’s not all! I’ve heard you have a prostitute that frequently visits your house! Shouldn’t you be ashamed of that, as a member of the clergy?!”

“Oh my,” said Souji. “Do you mean to say that women are impure in some way? In that case, all of you here, where were you born into this world from? Surely you don’t mean to tell me you grew out of the fields? If you did, you could never eat vegetables, could you? You’d be eating your brothers and sisters.”

“Quit rambling on with your meaningless sophistry! The one we must truly love and respect is Lady Lunaria. That is why, even after going through the proper procedures to get married, the pious believers still feel a sense of guilt towards Lady Lunaria. It is inexcusable that you would be seeing a prostitute!”

The members of the court had completely snapped, but Souji cackled. “I don’t know about that. Our lady Lunaria said this: ‘Believers are to be honest with others.’ It’s only natural for us, as living beings, to want to embrace women. That’s because Lady Lunaria created us this way. Between those who, despite having taken the vows of marriage, hide their position in the clergy and sneak off to visit prostitutes, and I, who openly invite them to come visit me, I wonder which of us is being more honest!”

Souji declared it so proudly that the members of the court were at a loss for words. It was an empty argument if they stopped to think about it, but Souji said such stupid things with a seriousness that was so exasperating that the members of the court couldn’t say a word.

From there, Souji took advantage of the court’s silence to expound at length and with great passion on the beauty of the female form (especially their breasts). With the utter pointlessness of everything he had to say, he had already destroyed the atmosphere of the inquiry.

“…That’s enough,” one member of the court of inquiry snapped at last. “Be more careful of your actions in future.”

In the end, the court was dismissed without being able to do anything to Souji.

When he left the room, Souji was walking through the corridor humming to himself when he passed a young nun. She was an eye-wateringly beautiful girl with her silver hair tied back in two tails.

That outfit… It’s one of the young saints in training, huh? Souji thought as he looked at the girl.

He wasn’t looking at her in a particularly strange way. Souji was into voluptuous older girls, so the pretty girl in front of him didn’t arouse his appetite in the least, and he was only looking at her out of innocent curiosity.

However, the silver-haired girl, who was walking expressionlessly, as if she had almost no emotion, furrowed her brow slightly when she saw Souji. Then, as they passed each other, she turned her head away so she wouldn’t have to look at him and walked off at a brisker pace.

When he saw her do that, Souji scratched the back of his head and smiled wryly. “…Good grief. Looks like someone hates me, huh.”

This man, Souji. Despite his slovenly personality, he was strangely popular with men of all ages and old women. On the other hand, young girls hated him with a passion.

Well, I guess it’s too much to expect a young thing like her to appreciate this old man’s overflowing adult charm, Souji thought, making excuses for himself as he stroked his stubble-covered chin.

1st day, 4th month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar

It was the day after the Lunarian Orthodoxy’s Spring Announcement Festival was held.

The Spring Announcement Festival yesterday had been pretty lively, so the castle town would be busily cleaning up after it today. I was spending the day in the governmental affairs office, staring down a single piece of paper.

Liscia, who had just come into the room, looked suspiciously at me and asked, “Is something the matter, Souma?”

“Hmm? Oh, I was looking at this.” I showed Liscia the piece of paper I had been staring at.

The piece of paper had three characters, or symbols, something that I couldn’t make sense of, lined up on it. Starting from the left there was “an arrow-like triangle pointing to the left, combined with a square;” “two vertical lines and something made with a vertical line with five horizontal lines crossing it;” and “an umbrella-shaped symbol.”

Liscia looked sideways at the piece of paper I’d given her. “What’s this?”

“It’s apparently a portion of the Lunalith oracle that Merula saw.”

Merula Merlin had come along with Souji Lester, the bishop we’d invited as a countermeasure against the Lunarian Orthodoxy. Her research primarily focused on spirits and magic, and her long years of research had produced an incredible wealth of knowledge, so I had welcomed her with open arms.

Now Merula was at Genia the overscientist’s laboratory where there was all sorts of equipment available.

It seemed curse ore, which absorbed magic, was a very interesting subject of research for Merula. She and Genia were spending day after day together, engrossed in their research.

What sort of chemical reaction would the meeting of overscientist and magic researcher have on this country? I was kind of looking forward to it, and kind of worried…

Something had happened the first time I’d met Merula.

The oracle she’d said had appeared on the Lunalith came up in conversation, and when I asked her for details, Merula shook her head in disappointment.

“They call it an oracle, so I think what appeared was text; but it wasn’t in a writing system from any country in this world, so I couldn’t figure out what it said. If I’d had a little more time, I might have at least been able to figure out if they were phonographs or ideographs, but…”

It seemed she hadn’t had the time to properly commit it to memory. Her life had been in danger, so I could hardly blame her for that.

When I asked her if there was anything she remembered, no matter how minor, she’d said, “It really is just a small fraction, but I recall… it went like this…”

And then she’d written these three incomprehensible characters or symbols onto a piece of paper. Merula’s memories were vague, so these probably were exactly as she’d seen them.

In the end, the only thing we knew was that these sorts of incomprehensible characters or symbols had appeared as an oracle.

Liscia seemed to realize something and said, “Ah…! If the writing isn’t from this world, could it be from yours?”

“Yeah,” I said. “That was something I suspected, too, but I’ve got absolutely no idea what they are…”

I couldn’t claim familiarity with every writing system on Earth, obviously, but I could at least say that in more than a decade of living in Japan, I had no recollection of seeing this kind of writing (?) before. The one in the middle might look a bit like the kanji for “pray” or “samurai” if you looked at it the right way, but as for what the arrow-like one that came before it, and the umbrella-like one that came after it were… I had no idea.

I gave up and put the piece of paper away inside the governmental affairs office’s desk. “Well, even if I could read just three characters of it, it wouldn’t do me any good. I can’t neglect my duties just because I’m curious about it, after all. Let’s forget about it for now.”

And so, Liscia and I got started on my paperwork for the day, but… I had one of the consciousnesses I had split off thinking about it.

Events sometimes took place outside the Kingdom of Friedonia. If something bothered me, when it was a domestic matter, I could bring on new people, assign personnel to the issue, and assign a budget to get it investigated. I had my position as king, after all.

However, when it was in another country, I couldn’t investigate.

If it was something the relevant country had already investigated, it was possible I might acquire the information through diplomacy or espionage. However, if they hadn’t investigated it yet, I had no means of acquiring information about that matter. Because it was another country, I couldn’t dispatch a team to investigate, either.

What if, included in that information this country couldn’t get its hands on, there was something that could decide the fate of our own nation? What if we found out about it too late? Whenever I thought about that, I felt unable to sit still.

The world was not complete with just one country. Especially if I was staying inside the castle, it was only natural that there would be things I couldn’t find out that way. I still… had so much to learn about this world.

I need to learn more. Much more, about many different countries…

While swamped with government work, that was what I thought about.

It was a mysterious space.

It was as if I were in an abyss where no light seemed to reach; or perhaps I had been thrown out into deep space, in a place where I was unable to tell up from down.

I was floating in the middle of that space.

I could breathe properly. But my thinking felt hazy somehow.

Oh… This is probably a dream. I’m in a dream world.

Sometimes while dreaming, I would realize it was a dream.

When I was sleeping at something like a kotatsu, where it was hard to fall fully asleep, I would realize it was a dream and think that I needed to wake up quickly, see a dream of waking up, realize I was dreaming again, dream of waking up… and it went on like that. That was close to how I felt right now.

While I was drifting along in that dozing state, a light suddenly appeared before me.

The light gradually grew larger, eventually reaching many tens of times my own size. The light that grew to a massive size eventually began to form into something. As it took form, the once strong light gradually weakened. And then…

What appeared before my eyes was one massive silver dragon.

Its sense of presence was overwhelming. It had curled horns like a goat. Claws and fangs that looked like they could rend steel. Powerful wings spread wide. Its body was covered with a smooth silver fur, and its blue eyes seemed gentle somehow. It was a dragon that was masculine, and yet felt motherly.

I had been told that wyverns and dragons were completely different before, but… now I could understand. This creature was so dazzlingly divine that it felt absurd to compare it to a wyvern.

“Could it be that you’re… Mother Dragon?” I asked.

It was a hunch. I had heard of this before. They said there were sentient dragons living in the Star Dragon Mountain Range, and they were ruled by a beautifully massive white dragon. The dragon before my eyes was so beautiful I would have described her as a silver dragon, not a white one, but she fit the image of Mother Dragon perfectly.

Mother Dragon neither confirmed nor denied, but her unswerving eyes that stared into mine told me the answer was “yes.”

Then Mother Dragon stretched that long neck of hers. Even just her head on its own was incredibly big, and if she had felt like it, she could easily have swallowed me whole right there. I panicked a little, but my body didn’t move, as if it was sewn in place.

Fortunately, Mother Dragon’s head didn’t open its mouth as it approached, and her large nose just came up close to my chase. Then she gently inhaled through her nostrils. We stayed like that for a short while, and then Mother Dragon slowly pulled her head away from me.

“You who have a familiar smell,” she spoke.

Huh?! I thought, shocked.

I heard a voice. It had the tone of a gentle elderly woman. Was this Mother Dragon’s voice, maybe? I thought that it might be, but she hadn’t opened her mouth.

“You who have a familiar smell.”

I’d heard it again. Yes, I definitely felt like it was coming from Mother Dragon’s direction.

“This… voice that seems to be speaking directly to my brain, is it yours?” I asked.

Mother Dragon looked as if she had nodded. “This is the only way we can talk when in dragon form.”

“That’s interesting…”

What a mysterious ability it was. I didn’t know if it was communication magic or perhaps telepathy, but, well, this was a dream, so anything worked, I guess. But still… having a conversation with Mother Dragon in my dream was like something out of an old fantasy movie.

“…Could it be that you’re showing me this dream?” I asked.

“No,” she spoke. “This is a dream, yet it is not a dream. By synchronizing our consciousnesses, I gave birth to a pseudo-dream, and thus was able to create a space for us to talk like this.”

Mother Dragon explained all that as if this were all very natural.

Synchronization of consciousness, pseudo-dreams… The scenery was like something out of a fantasy movie, but the vocabulary coming up was awfully systematic. It was almost like she was familiar with science fiction.

I had heard there were intelligent dragons in the Star Dragon Mountain Range, and I had assumed that intelligence was just enough that they could speak like humans, but maybe their intelligence far transcended that of the races of mankind. If that was the case, what an unfathomable country they were.

“…So, Madam Mother Dragon, why is it that you’ve arranged for us to meet this way?” I addressed her as I would a queen, doing my best to feign composure.

Even though I’d asked just to see what she’d say… I had some idea why she had contacted me.

It had to be the Mechadra, the thing which Genia had gone and made out of the bones we’d excavated. If the Star Dragon Mountain Range got angry at us, saying, Don’t play with the remains of our kind, our country would have no choice but to offer an earnest apology. Meeting a real dragon for the first time, I was able to reaffirm one thing for myself: We had to be sure we never made enemies of them.

It was said that the monster that a dragon’s remains could turn into, a skull dragon, was able to destroy an entire country, wasn’t it? That probably meant that dragons had that much potential to begin with. It helped me to understand why even at the height of their power, the Empire hadn’t been able to lay a hand or a foot on the Star Dragon Mountain Range. Or rather, it was reckless that they’d ever decided to pick a fight with beings like this in the first place.

While I was feeling a cold sweat running down my back, Mother Dragon seemed to be smiling slightly.

“I have nothing to say about that.”

“Huh?!” Did she read my mind?!

“I told you, this is a place created by the synchronization of your mind and my own. Even without speaking, you should be able to hear my voice.”

“…” …So we can communicate just by thinking, is that it?

When I chose to think what I wanted to say, without putting it into words, Mother Dragon nodded.

Well, damn. We weren’t just having a heart-to-heart; what was in our heads was open to the other party.

There could be no fairer place to negotiate, but it meant that I couldn’t lie to her, either. No, maybe as great as Mother Dragon was, she was good enough to tell lies in her own heart? When I thought that, Mother Dragon shook her head.

“Even I cannot do that. No creature can lie in their heart.”

“Is that right?” I asked.

“Yes. Also, you don’t need to say things out loud, you know?”

“No… I find it a bit unsettling, so please let me speak out loud.”

This was a space where nothing could be hidden. I decided to ask her about it straight out.

“So, about the Mechadra… you were saying you had nothing to say about it?”

“I have no intention of telling you what you can and can’t do with remains when the soul has already departed, and, on a physical level, the bone had been replaced by stone.”

“…Even if they were the bones of one of your kind?”

“You people put the fossilized remains of your own ancestors on display, too,” she said. “I can’t say I have no reservations about it, but it is unavoidable. All living beings eventually die, and then rot away. Animals, plants, humans, and dragons alike, we all return to the soil in the end. In that case, are we to lament that as we tread the earth, we kick those who were once our brethren?”

I was surprised. Even though she was an object of worship, Mother Dragon spoke in realistic terms. Also, if her mention of returning to the soil was in reference to being broken down by microbes, I really couldn’t afford to underestimate the dragons’ knowledge.

“If it’s not about issues with the Mechadra, why have you set up this meeting?” I asked.

Mother Dragon narrowed he eyes a little. “You who have a familiar smell, King of Elfrieden and Amidonia, Sir Souma Kazuya. I would like for you to come visit the Star Dragon Mountain Range.”

“The Star Dragon Mountain Range?” I asked.

Mother Dragon nodded quietly. “In the near future, we will hold a ceremony for the young dragons of the Star Dragon Mountain Range to form ‘riding contracts’ with the knights of the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom. I would like for you to participate in that ceremony.”

“Huh?”

I was going to participate in the dragon knights’ ceremony?…Wait, didn’t the Star Dragon Mountain Range have no diplomatic relations with anyone outside of the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom? When I tried to ask for more details, Mother Dragon’s body began to shine like when she had first appeared. It was so bright, I squinted my eyes.

Just before her form vanished, Mother Dragon left me with these words:

There is something I wish to entrust you with.

When I opened my eyes, I was on a bed in a dark room.

I looked around with my mind still hazy. It was probably still night. It was dark, but the moonlight streaming in through the window allowed me to make out the inside of this neat and tidy Western-style room.

This is… Oh, right. I’m in Liscia’s room.

Last night… or rather, every night lately, unless I was especially busy with work… I’d gone to sleep and woken up in Liscia’s room. Of course… well… that was so we could do a lot of fooling around.

When I looked next to me, as expected, I found Liscia’s sleeping face. It was hectic the next morning if we did it in the governmental affairs office, and when it came to my room, half of it was my doll-making workshop, and the other half was where we spent time as a family, which made it awkward; so, as a result, we were using Liscia’s room every night.

“Nngh…” Liscia, who had been lying on her back next to me, asleep and naked, seemed to lift her head up, but then rolled onto her side. Then, slowly opening her eyes, she rubbed the sleep from them and looked at me. “Mmm… Souma?”

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“…No. It’s fine. What’s up?”

“Oh… I just had a kind of incredible dream…”

“A dream?”

That was when it happened.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

Suddenly, there was a sound like that. It was a mysterious sound, almost like a siren, or perhaps the howling of some creature. We could hear it from a considerable distance, so it must have been at a very high volume, but it didn’t make our ears ring at all. It wasn’t going to wake those who were asleep, probably. I had never heard it myself before, but I imagined it was like the singing of whales.

I put on my shirt, and pulled on a pair of pants, then got out of bed and went over to stand by the window. When I did, I saw a large shadow in the sky flying away to the northwest.

“How unusual,” said Liscia. “That’s Mother Dragon on one of her sightseeing flights.”

Liscia stood next to me, naked except for the blanket wrapped around her.

“Sightseeing flights?” I asked.

“It’s my first time seeing it myself. On rare occasions, there are times when Mother Dragon flies around the continent. She doesn’t do anything in particular, but the Mother Dragon worshipers say that good fortune comes to those who see her out on her sightseeing flights.”

“Good fortune… huh.”

Thank you for purchasing the fifth volume of Realist Hero.

This is Dojyomaru. Because of the generation I come from, Zyuranger is the sentai hero team that I’m most attached to. I wanted a Zyusouken…

Now then, in the web version, this was where the title changed to How a Realist Hero Redeveloped the Kingdom and a new chapter began. From here on, the number of supporting characters in the cast fills out, the number of stories focused on supporting characters increases, and the story turns into an ensemble cast piece. There are an awful lot of characters, and I’m sure I will be causing Fuyu a lot of trouble to come up with designs for all of them, but I hope to continue working together in the future.

It was right just around this point in writing the web novel that illustrator Mizuka Sasa sent a drawing to support me, and I received an incredible map from a person called Tofu-chan-san. It made me aware that all sorts of people were reading my work. There are people who point out typos, missing words, and inconsistencies, too. I’m grateful to everyone.

Now then, a teaser for the next book.

Souma departs for the Star Dragon Mountain Range, but then it turns into a tale of boy-meets-girl that’s unusual for this story. That black girl will be making an appearance, too.

…What am I going to do about the Ensemble Arc? I’ll need to think of a good way to work it in.

Now, I give my thanks to Fuyuyuki for the wonderful illustrations, my editor, the designers, the proofreaders, and everyone who now holds this book in their hands.

This has been Dojyomaru.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 5

by Dojyomaru

Translated by Sean McCann

Edited by Emily Sorensen

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2017 Dojyomaru

Illustrations by Fuyuyuki

All rights reserved.

Original Japanese edition published in 2017 by OVERLAP, Inc.

This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo

English translation © 2018 J-Novel Club LLC

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.

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Ebook edition 1.0: February 2018