by Dojyomaru
Prologue: On a Moonlit Terrace
Night, 3rd day, 10th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar — Royal Capital Parnam.
The moon shone brightly in the mostly-clear sky.
It was a night so quiet that it was hard to believe that only a few days ago, this country, the Elfrieden Kingdom, had fought a major battle with the neighboring Principality of Amidonia.
As the victors in the recent series of engagements, there had been a raucous celebration when news of their triumph had reached Parnam, but now that some days had passed, things had settled down considerably.
The young King of Elfrieden (though he was as yet uncrowned, so he was only king provisionally), Souma Kazuya, had declared the war over with the occupation of the capital of the principality, Van, and the area surrounding it. Now they were waiting for negotiations to begin.
The people were waiting with bated breath to see how the negotiations would play out.
It was a quiet night in Parnam.
Parnam Castle was without its master because Souma and the others had left for Van. The former king Albert and his wife Elisha were enjoying tea in the moonlight on the terrace attached to their bedroom.
“...It is most quiet tonight,” said Albert.
“Hee hee. Yes, it is,” said his wife.
As they drank their tea, the two of them wore relaxed smiles.
“Without Liscia and our son-in-law here, it feels like the fire in this castle has died out,” said Albert. “Even though it was normal for it to be like this not so long ago.”
“Things have been so lively since you ceded the throne to our son-in-law,” Elisha agreed. “The ministers, the bureaucrats, the castle guards, and even the maids have all been working busily.”
When Elisha said that, Albert said “Indeed...” with a nod.
He went on, “Of all of them, the one who’s worked the hardest has been our son-in-law, though. I never realized there were so many things a king should do, so many things a king could accomplish... It does me no credit as the former king to say this, but I believe I was not wrong to abdicate.”
Albert had suddenly abdicated in favor of the more worthy Souma.
There had been resistance to the sudden change at first, but the steady success of Souma’s policies had gradually won people over, and so had his engagement to Albert’s daughter, Princess Liscia, who worked to support him.
A few days ago, Souma had also defeated his enemy at home, the three dukes, and his enemy abroad, the Principality of Amidonia, and so gained the full recognition of the people as their king.
“Everyone must have been surprised by my eye for talent,” Albert said with a jolly laugh.
Now that they had accepted Souma, the people were beginning to see Albert, who had been an average king, for better and for worse, in a more positive light. “The former king achieved nothing of note himself, but in the end, rather than cling to power, he made the brave decision to turn the reins over to someone more capable” was what they had started saying.
After having a good laugh, Albert looked down into his teacup. The face reflected back at him in his tea seemed slightly tired and wore a lonely smile that seemed gloomy somehow.
“Do you think... we’ve managed to change things?” Albert asked.
In response to his words of uncertainty, Elisha lowered her eyes. “It should be fine. Unlike ‘that time,’ this time ‘that girl’ is with him from the beginning.” Elisha spoke in a calming tone. “If the two of them are together, I think they can lead us to a different outcome from ‘that time.’ Besides, those two aren’t alone now. Things are even more lively now than they were ‘that time.’”
“Ho ho ho...” chuckled Albert. “I suppose they are. We have ourselves another daughter now, after all.”
Albert grinned broadly, remembering the mystic wolf girl they had adopted. The smile proved contagious, and soon Elisha was beaming as well.
“She’s just the cutest little thing,” Elisha said. “With her fluffy little ears and tail.”
“By the time Liscia reached that age, she was already a tomboy,” said Albert. “That was cute in its own way, but having a meek girl is nice, too.”
“It really is,” said Elisha. “The way she hesitantly calls me ‘Mother’ is just adorable. Oh, I hope Tomoe comes home soon.”
Having been recognized for her unique gift, despite being a refugee, the mystic wolf girl Tomoe had been adopted by Albert and Elisha in order to protect her. The two of them now showered her with love as if she were their real daughter.
“I’ll have to tell our son-in-law to make sure no strange men are lurking around her,” said Albert firmly.
“It’s not uncommon for royal and noble families to adopt children to use in political marriages, but I wouldn’t want that to happen to Tomoe,” Elisha agreed.
“Certainly not,” said Albert.
...If Liscia had been there to hear, she would have indignantly cried, “That didn’t seem to matter to you when you agreed to marry me off without my consent!”
For the rest of the night, the two of them had a lively conversation on the topic of just how adorable Tomoe was.
◇ ◇ ◇
““Achoo!””
Meanwhile, in the castle in Van, Liscia and Tomoe sneezed at precisely the same time. The two of them turned to look at one another, both tilting their heads to the side a little, questioningly.
Do you think someone is talking about us? they both wondered.
Chapter 1: Project Lorelei
5th day, 10th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar — Princely Capital Van.
Several days had passed since the opening of hostilities with the Principality of Amidonia.
In the war room of the castle in the now-occupied Van, five people had gathered. They were: Liscia, Royal Guard Captain Ludwin, Acting General of the Army Glaive, Prime Minister Hakuya, who had returned after finishing up his work in Red Dragon City, and me. We were standing around a table with a big map of the area spread out over it.
When you looked at it on the map, you could see that we had only occupied the capital city, Van, and a small area around it, shifting the border only ever-so-slightly to the northwest. Everything beyond that was still Amidonian territory.
I asked Ludwin, “Is there any sign of a counteroffensive from the Amidonian side?”
“No, they aren’t making any obvious moves.” Ludwin laid out little pawns surrounding Van to represent the cities of the principality. He was indicating how the forces of the principality were currently deployed. “As you can see, they have focused entirely on hardening their defenses in the cities around Van. Most likely, they are severely exhausted from the battle the other day. They’ve given up on retaking the city themselves, and...”
“They’re waiting for the Imperial Army to arrive, huh?” I finished.
The Gran Chaos Empire. It was the largest realm on this continent, excluding the Demon Lord’s Domain. We expected they would be coming to intervene in the conflict as a mediator, at the request of Amidonia.
I asked Hakuya, “For reference, what’s the difference in strength between our kingdom and the Empire?”
“The Empire is superior to us in terms of national power, population, troops, technology, and wealth,” he replied. “If you were only asking about the number of troops, we are outnumbered five-to-one. If you factor in equipment and other things that have an effect on our war potential, their advantage is double that.”
“More than ten times as much power as us, huh... We’re no match for them right now.”
If we wanted to deal with the Empire on equal terms, we nee
ded to get stronger. We had been able to get by with the things we’d already had up until now, but from here on, we were going to need to create new things.
“It’s unfortunate,” Glaive said, his voice full of regret and his shoulders slumping. “The way things stand, we would have been able to seize the rest of Amidonia.”
However, I felt differently.
“Yeah? We don’t really want it,” I said, sitting down in a chair, resting my elbows on the table and my cheeks on the palms of my hands. “Their mineral resources are appealing, but the country is way too poor. We just got out of a food crisis ourselves. While providing for this city and the area around it is one thing, we can’t afford to feed all of Amidonia. And if we only seized the profitable mines, we would inspire them to hate us more.”
“When you say it like that...” Glaive said, “there really isn’t much appeal to it.”
“I know, right?”
Well, it would all be the same once the Empire put in an appearance. No matter how hard we worked and how much land we seized, when the Empire came, we would be forced to return it. That applied to Van, too.
“Besides, the Amidonians are a vengeful people,” I said. “It looks like they’ve been indoctrinated for generations. If we tried to maintain the occupation, I doubt we could establish stable rule here.”
“You’re right,” said Liscia. “With just Van, we’re fine for now because we have a massive force here, but if you were to try to install a magistrate, I doubt the people would obey him.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah. That’s why I want to ‘tame’ their resentment.”
“You want to tame it?” Liscia asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve already called in the perfect person for the job.”
There was a knock at the door to the war room. When I said “Come in,” the door opened and a blue-haired beauty entered with a bow and a “Pardon me.”
“I am Juna Doma, serving under Navy Admiral Excel,” she added. “I have come at your command.” Then she stood before me and greeted me not with a salute, but with an elegant bow.
Today she wasn’t in the usual outfit she wore as a songstress of the singing cafe, Lorelei, but in the dignified white uniform of the Navy.
“Thank you for coming,” I said. “I see you look stunning in uniform, too.”
“I’m deeply embarrassed to let you see me dressed like this, Your Majesty,” said Juna.
“You shouldn’t be,” I said. “I think you cut a dashing and beautiful figure like that...”
“...Soumaaaa?” Liscia butted in, trying to stop us from bantering. “We’re in a meeting now. Could you save the flirting for later?”
Liscia had a smile on her face, but the words had a strange intensity behind them. She was starting to give off an extraordinarily unsettling vibe, so I decided it was about time to move the discussion along. I mean, it wasn’t as if I’d called Juna all the way from the southern border just so I could banter with her like this.
The mature Juna was watching Liscia and me with a smile. Anyway, moving on.
“Ahem.” I cleared my throat. “There is one reason why I have called Juna here. That would be...”
“...because you like that she’s easy on the eyes?” Liscia finished.
“...Come on, don’t be like that,” I said. “You know that’s not the reason.”
“Hmph.” Liscia turned her head to the side peevishly.
I thought it was cute when she did girly things like that, but... as Liscia herself had just said, we were in a meeting. When I looked around, everyone else in the room besides Juna was wearing a strained smile. I decided I’d try to appease Liscia later, but for now, I needed to move along.
“Ahem... Let’s get back on track,” I said. “There is one reason why I have called Juna here. That is to put a plan I’ve been refining for quite some time into motion.”
“Plan?” Liscia asked, tilting her head to the side questioningly.
I answered her, brimming with confidence, “Yes. I call it Project Lorelei.”
By the time we moved from the war room to the audience chamber, there were already three girls waiting there, prostrated before the throne.
The girls were each of different races, appearances, and ages. One was a light elf with dark brown hair. One looked like an adorable elementary schooler. The last was a slender beastman girl with cat ears. All three could have fairly been called beauties.
When I seated myself on the throne, Juna saluted me with her hand at her chest. “I have brought the individuals you requested, Your Majesty.”
“There’s no need to make this formal,” I said. “At ease, all of you.”
When I said that, the three women rose to their feet, saying, “““It’s a pleasure to meet you””” in unison.
Yep, they’re full of energy and they’re in sync, I thought to myself. As I gave a satisfied nod, Liscia was standing at my side, looking at me with another “lovely smile” on her face.
“Heeeey, Souma?” she asked.
“Wh-What?”
“I hope you haven’t gotten so full of yourself now that you’ve captured Van that you’re planning to keep these girls by your side to wait on you hand and foot. Have you?”
Ah, yeah, her face is smiling, but she’s definitely not smiling in her heart, I thought to myself.
“You’ve got it all wrong!” I said quickly. “I called these girls here because they’re a vital part of my plan!”
“Hmm...” Liscia sounded dubious.
“It’s the truth, okay?” I said. “And, wait, didn’t you say you’d let me take up to eight wives?”
“Well, yes, I did,” said Liscia. “But, while I can tolerate it with someone I know, like Aisha, or if you’re forced to do it for diplomatic reasons, I’m not going to be happy if you abuse your power to round up some pretty faces for yourself.”
“I’m telling you, that’s not it, okay?” I said peevishly. “Remember when I was gathering personnel before?”
During my big recruitment event, Aisha and the other four had been hired with a great deal of fanfare, but I had hired a lot more people quietly, or had them added to a list of personnel being put together by the country.
For instance, those who were talented at arithmetic had been hired as bureaucrats, while one turtle man (estimated age: eight hundred years old) who’d said “I’ve been reading books for hundreds of years. I won’t lose to any young whipper-snapper when it comes to my knowledge of books,” had been appointed as the chief librarian in the new city that was under construction.
Furthermore, when those with the same gift had competed, I had still hired the ones who’d lost if I could be sure of their talent.
Aisha had been the winner of the Best in the Kingdom Martial Arts Tournament, but those who lost to Aisha had still been invited to join the forces that reported directly to me in the Forbidden Army if their skills were up to snuff. Though, my directly-controlled forces had been seen as a purely decorative force at the time, so few had taken me up on the offer...
Now, as for these girls gathered here, they might have lost to Juna in the Kingdom of Talent competition, where contestants had competed on talents like singing. And they might have lost to her in the Elfrieden Pretty Girl Grand Prix, where contestants had competed on beauty. But they had still demonstrated their beauty and singing ability in both of those tournaments.
“After the recruitment was finished, I had Juna scout these girls for me,” I explained. “Come on, I’ve told you about how I wanted to make entertainment programs for the Jewel Voice Broadcast before, haven’t I?”
“Oh, yeah... You did mention that,” Liscia said as if she’d suddenly remembered.
I continued on, relieved that she had now mellowed out a bit. “Now, when it comes to entertainment programs, I was thinking we’d start with a singing program. There’s no one who dislikes hearing a beautiful singing voice, after all. These girls are the candidates to become singers on that program.
From the day we scouted them up until today, they’ve been training to improve their singing and dancing at Lorelei, the singing cafe where Juna works.”
Though, really, the order of things had been mixed up a bit.
Honestly, I’d wanted to start with a program like Nodo Jiman, the amateur singing contest, to get the people used to the idea of a singing program, then have these girls debut as idols.
By the way, when I use the word “idol” here, I mean it in the sense of “A pretty woman who sings well.” The sort you would have seen a few decades ago in the Showa Era. If I tried to introduce a modern-style idol group to a country that didn’t even have the concept of an idol, they weren’t going to understand.
If I went with a single singer format, however, they would likely recognize it as an extension of the traveling minstrel, the busker on the street corner, or the songstress in a singing cafe or bar.
“I see, so that’s Project Lorelei, huh,” Liscia said. “But is that something you really ought to be doing now? When there’s trouble over the fact that we’re occupying Van?”
Liscia looked perplexed. She probably didn’t see the point in starting an entertainment program now, right after we had just seized the capital of Amidonia. However, she was wrong.
“This is precisely the time for it,” I said. “Now then, Juna, could you do the introductions?”
“Yes, sir,” Juna said with a bow, then began to introduce the girls.
She began with the one standing furthest to the right, the light elf girl who wore her hair up.
In this world, fair-skinned elves like her were called light elves, while brown-skinned elves like Aisha were called dark elves. In the country I came from, elves were usually imagined as blonde-haired, but now that I thought about it, I had seen elves with hair like hers in foreign films. She had pale skin and orange eyes. Judging by her appearance, she looked to be in her mid-twenties, perhaps. She held herself with a certain dignity, like a career woman.
“This is Chris Tachyon,” Juna said. “She’s a light elf, as you can see.”