by Dojyomaru
In the cities and farming villages outside of Van, what caught the people’s attention was not the death of Gaius VIII, or Souma’s righteous cause, it was the fact that those areas which had become a territory of the kingdom of Elfrieden would receive the same support as cities within the kingdom.
Of course, the people of Amidonia scarcely believed these words. After all, they were the words of the enemy king. Everyone thought he was simply trying to buy their loyalty.
...However, it was also true that Souma’s words deeply ate into the hearts of the Amidonian people, who were currently struggling through an even deeper food crisis than the one in the kingdom. The harsher their current situation, the more deeply the words ate into them.
◇ ◇ ◇
“...And so, at present, medicine in our country is...”
It had been about ten minutes or so since the beginning of Chris’s informational program.
The section she was reading out now was the last piece of information to be disseminated. Once this information program was over, the music program would begin at last.
As she stood at my side, visibly anxious, Aisha grabbed my arm. Today, Aisha wasn’t dressed in her usual light armor; instead, she wore a cocktail dress. I myself was wearing a tuxedo.
Aisha turned to me with a look in her eyes like an abandoned puppy dog. “Wh-What do I do, sire? I can’t stop shaking.”
“Just calm down, okay?” I said. “This is your second time on the broadcast, isn’t it?”
“Last time, I was all right because I just had to eat...”
It had been decided that I would be the host for the music program with Aisha as my assistant.
I, of course, hadn’t planned on being the host of a music program, but Poncho, who I had intended to push the job off onto, was busy with distributing food, and Hakuya had refused because it didn’t suit him.
It was my first time, too, so if my partner Aisha was going to be petrified with stage fright, that was a problem.
“Where did the bravado you show on the battlefield go?” I asked.
When I said that in an exasperated tone, Aisha groaned pathetically and her shoulders slumped. “I am confident that no one is a match for me in martial arts. However, at a showy event like this, I have no such confidence. There are a lot of people out there who are prettier that I am, you know. The princess and Madam Juna are both slender and fair-skinned, like lovely young maidens. Meanwhile my skin is dark, and I have some muscle on me, too...”
“Really?” I asked. “I think you’ve got a nice healthy look.”
Even if she did have some muscle, she wasn’t ripped like a body builder. In fact, she had such a shapely body that I had to wonder how she managed to swing around that giant sword with so little muscle. On top of that, she was tall enough to be a model, and, though it was hard to tell when she was wearing armor, her above-average figure was good enough that Liscia was the one more likely to be jealous.
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re pretty, Aisha.”
“I-I am?!”
The compliment had Aisha ecstatic. However, she quickly came back to her senses.
“B-But, really, Madam Juna or the princess would make a better host...”
“Juna is one of the singers, so she’d have to run all over the place if we made her be the host, too,” I said. “As for making Liscia my assistant... I thought it would be best not to do that this time.”
“Hm? Why is that?” she asked.
“Oh. There’s a little thing I’m worried about now that I’ve ended up being the host,” I said. “To be brutally honest, I chose you less because I think you’ll be a good assistant and more because I’m counting on your skills as my bodyguard. If anything happens, you’ll be able to protect me if you’re at my side, right?”
“Of course I will, but... Huh?! Is something dangerous going to be happening?!” she asked.
Aisha seemed concerned, so I put a hand on her forehead and laughed.
“It’ll be fine, in all likelihood. But, as pathetic as it is for me to have to ask this as a man, will you protect me if something happens?”
“Your Majesty... Yes! Even if it should cost me my life, I will mmmph.”
I hurriedly covered Aisha’s mouth. “You’re being too loud. We’re broadcasting now.”
“Mmph... I-I’m sorry.”
...At times like this, she really might have been a disappointing dark elf.
“...is what they said. That is all for News Elfrieden. Now then, after this program, we will be broadcasting Elfrieden’s first entertainment program. If you have no prior engagements or are not otherwise in a hurry, I hope you will continue watching this broadcast.”
Whoa, it looks like Chris’s program is finished, I thought. Okay, now it’s our turn.
The set for the music program wasn’t here: it was an atrium that had most likely been used to hold balls. We had lined up tables in there, bringing in some of the soldiers to sit at them and listen, in the style of the Japan Cable Awards. That was because having an audience makes a huge difference to the level of excitement.
I took my assistant by the hand. “Come on, let’s go, Aisha.”
“Sire, I will follow you anywhere!”
◇ ◇ ◇
With Chris Tachyon’s information program finished, there was a short break. Then the receiver in Van’s plaza showed a young man and woman. They were a young man in a black tuxedo and a dark elf girl wearing an extravagant red party dress. While the young man was confident, the girl seemed a little tense.
Then a person in the crowd said, “Hey, wait, isn’t that guy Elfrieden’s king, Souma?”
When people around the man heard him, those who had seen the Elfrieden Kingdom’s army march in through the city gates cried out one after another, “Yeah! I saw him when they came in through the gate,” “That’s Elfrieden’s King Souma,” “There’s no doubt about it,” confirming the first man’s suspicions.
With no way of knowing what they were saying about him, Souma wore a relaxed expression as he held an object that was twenty centimeters or so long with a rounded end (no doubt intended to be a mic, but since the Jewel Voice Broadcast was picking up the sound, it was really just a prop) up to his mouth and greeted them all with a “Hello.”
“Songs change with the times and the times change with songs,” he said. “These are the songs we want to see handed down across the ages.”
“Wh-What, where did that line come from?! You didn’t say that during rehearsal, did you?!” the dark elf girl exclaimed.
It seemed that his last line had been ad-libbed, as the girl was now confused.
“I will be your host for this program, Souma Kazuya.”
“I-I am Aisha Udgard!”
“Come on now, Aisha, your expression is looking stiff,” said the king. “Smile, smile.”
“Wh-What about you, sire? Why are you speaking so politely?!” she exclaimed.
“Well, I’m the host, y’know,” he said. “Even if I’m the king, I can’t go acting too self-important.”
“You say that, but you’re already back to talking like normal!”
“Whoops, pardon me.”
Souma was throwing in a bit of playful humor while Aisha could only react to him.
The people of the Elfrieden Kingdom looked on at their banter with smiles. However, the people of the Principality of Amidonia wore looks of bewilderment.
The rumors about King Souma said he was a man who had made a fool of the great warrior Gaius VIII using his strategic ingenuity, then struck him down in a display of his own valor. The king of the rumors, blessed with both wisdom and martial ability, simply didn’t mesh with the young man poking fun at and playing around with the dark elf girl in this broadcast.
In actual fact, his strategy had been put together with help from Hakuya, while the ones to strike down Gaius VIII had been a late-arriving unit of archers, but the people had no way of knowing these things.
“Did our pri
nce lose to these people?” one of the members of the crowd wondered.
“I know—this must all be an act to make us drop our guards!”
“What for? Van’s already fallen, you know?”
“Well, it’s so they can... Yeah, what is it for?”
While the people of Van reacted with confusion, Souma continued hosting the program.
“Now then, this broadcast is Elfrieden’s first music program. For this broadcast, we’ve gathered girls with different types of voices. Each of these three is wonderfully gifted, truly, deserving to be called ‘lorelei.’”
The moment Souma spoke those words, this world’s equivalent to an idol, the concept of a “lorelei,” was born.
“I hope this will be a program that helps to soothe the hearts of those exhausted by their daily toil,” said the king. “Please, listen to these loreleis’ songs and enjoy them to the very end.”
“Er... There are just three here today, but we will always be looking for those who take pride in their singing voice in the Elfrieden Kingdom,” said Aisha. “M-Meninwimin...”
“You’re slurring it, Aisha.”
“P-Please, be quiet,” said Aisha. “Um... Men and women of all ages, self-nominated or nominated by another, all are welcome to apply.”
“Yeah, I’d like to have male singers on here, too,” said Souma. “Though, for the guys, it’d be weird to call them loreleis. Well, what’ll we call them, then? Mermen, or something?”
“Then they would just be ordinary sea monsters,” said Aisha. “Can’t you choose something from outside the sea? Ah! Erm... To those of you proud of your singing, or who just like to sing, I’m told you should go to the Lorelei singing cafe in your nearest city to audition.”
“Wait, Lorelei has branch stores now?!” Souma exclaimed.
“Why are you sounding surprised, sire?!”
“Well, I left the auditions entirely up to Juna, after all...”
“By the way, I’m told the one in Lagoon City is their headquarters,” said Aisha.
“What, Parnam’s was a branch store?!”
When Souma dropped that last line, one of the viewers in Van let out a chuckle, then hurriedly covered his mouth. If anyone took fault with him for laughing while watching the broadcast, he could be lynched by the rest of the viewers. Because of that, Van’s plaza had a strange air of tension hanging over it.
Without so much as an inkling of what was going on, Souma continued hosting.
“Now then, let’s get this show on the road. Our first lorelei has the body of a child and the spirit of an adult. She’s a legal loli from the kobito race, Pamille Carol.”
“Madam Pamille’s greatest pleasure is taking an afternoon nap,” added Aisha. “However, recently, we’ve had such pleasantly sunny days that she’s been sleeping through until morning, and then sleeping in on top of that. ...Um, sire? Is this information really necessary?”
“Now, let’s hear her sing,” said Souma. “Here is Pamille Carol.”
When Souma said that, the lights dimmed and a relaxed tune began to play.
The next thing to appear on the projection was a balcony in an atrium. There, wrapped in a frilly dress, was a girl who looked for all appearances to be around twelve years old. This was Pamille Carol. Pamille clasped her hands in front of her chest, then began to sing with a voice that, as befitted her appearance, was as adorable as a ringing bell.
There was a cute girl singing a cute song. When they saw that scene, the people of Amidonia thought she was cute. However, rather than debate the quality of the song, they were simply at a loss for what to make of it. What to make of the fact that the Jewel Voice Broadcast was being used to show a little girl singing, that is.
“Who is that girl? She’s absolutely adorable.”
“Well, yeah, sure, she’s cute, but... is it really okay to use the Jewel Voice Broadcast for this?”
“Don’t ask me. It’s not like I know.”
“Lord Gaius barely ever used it, you know.”
“Maybe this is normal in Elfrieden?”
Conversations like this one were springing up all over. Was this the difference between Amidonia and Elfrieden? Were broadcasts like this what defined the Elfrieden Kingdom? they asked. The people of Van, under occupation by the soldiers of the Elfrieden Kingdom, were strongly impacted by what they saw.
“I see... Is this place part of Elfrieden now, then?” one of the viewers in Van whispered.
That off-handed comment seeped into the crowd, like water poured into a vast dry plain.
“Has Van become part of the Elfrieden Kingdom?”
“Well, we are under occupation, after all.”
“So, then, this isn’t part of the Principality of Amidonia anymore?”
“Well, then does that means it’s okay to broadcast this sort of video?”
Even as the people of Van reacted with confusion, the broadcast continued. When Pamille finished singing the song with lots of charm, Souma and Aisha came back on screen.
“That was Pamille Carol,” said Souma. “My, isn’t music a wonderful thing?”
“Why is it, do you suppose?” Aisha asked. “Hearing it made me think, ‘That can’t possibly be music.’”
“Now for a change of tune, we’ll have an energetic song sung by this person here,” said Souma. “Having trained her singing voice in a fishing village with nothing but men, the power of her voice is incredible. She’s a simple and innocent cat-eared girl from the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago. Nanna Kamizuki.”
“Madam Nanna’s favorite fish is the giant spearfish, and her dream is to eat one whole someday, but because they’re worried she’ll snack on the day’s catch, the fishermen won’t let her on the ocean-going ships...” Aisha began. “Um, again, was this information really necessary?”
“Now then, let’s hear her sing,” Souma announced. “Here’s Nanna Kamizuki!”
“...You’re just ignoring me, aren’t you.”
The next person to appear on screen wore a lightly punk outfit. She was the energetic cat-eared girl, Nanna Kamizuki. Her sleeveless top and short pants left her healthy arms and legs exposed, while the way her bellybutton would occasionally peek out helped accentuate the appeal of the cuteness she had not lost even with her androgynous appearance.
Then, as Nanna started to sing, she leapt off the balcony.
“Wha?!” someone in the crowd shouted.
“H-Hey...”
The viewing masses gulped when they saw that scene. It must not have been in the program plan.
They could see the staff were rushing to move the fixed jewel. They could still hear her singing, so they knew she must be all right, but Nanna didn’t appear on screen again for a little while. When she finally reappeared, Nanna was having a great time dancing by the stairs on the floor below. Even as the crowd sighed in relief, they were gradually being drawn into the rhythm of her song and dance.
“You go, girl! Keep it up!”
“The song’s nice, too. It really cheers you up.”
With this being the second time, perhaps they were getting used to it, because voices like that could be heard even from the tense crowd in Van. There was a cute girl enjoying herself singing and dancing. No man wouldn’t enjoy watching that. And, surprisingly, it had an even stronger impact on the women of Amidonia than it did the men.
What drew the women’s attention was Nanna’s fashion.
“Isn’t she cold dressed like that?”
“She’s indoors, so it’s probably fine.”
“But, if she dresses like that... won’t they get upset with her because it distracts and seduces men?”
Amidonia was, more than anything, a militaristic country. Men were expected to be strong first and foremost, while women were there to support them, and the greatest virtue sought from them was modesty.
As a result, in the Principality of Amidonia, except on special occasions, public opinion would not allow women to dress up. This stemmed from the idea tha
t it would be a problem if they tempted men, making them become weak. To say nothing of the fact that if they wore an outfit that showed so much flesh (even an outfit that showed the shoulders or thighs was seen as showing too much here) in a public place, they ran the risk of being arrested for offending public morals.
“Do they not get angry about that in the kingdom?” one woman wondered.
“Well, it is another country. Their king seems gentle, too.”
“...I’m so jealous.”
In the minds of the women who wanted to dress up and be pretty, borders and race did not exist.
Pamille’s frilly dress had been cute, and they admired the more liberal outfit that Nanna was wearing now, too. If they could do it, they wanted to try wearing those outfits and dancing. The outfits those two wore began to kindle a fire in the hearts of the women living in the principality. Especially for the women in Van.
“This isn’t Amidonia anymore, right?” one woman asked.
“Then, can we dress up if we want to?”
“I guess? All the soldiers who would have gotten mad have left now.”
And, well, they even started saying things like that.
By the time Nanna’s energetic song came to an end, the people of Van gave a round of applause. None of them cared if Souma was just trying to buy their loyalty anymore.
When Nanna finished singing, the video cut out for a while. The jewel must be being moved back to its original position. When the screen came back up, it showed Souma and Aisha with wry smiles on their faces.
“...We were underestimating just how much energy Nanna has,” Souma said.
“...Indeed,” Aisha agreed.
“To think she’d go out of frame on a fixed-camera... Nanna, what a terrifying girl!”