by Dojyomaru
And that brings us to the present.
If I had immediately accepted the publication request back then... I’m sure I’d be in a different situation now. I’m a slow writer, and there were a few times I pulled down something I wrote, thinking, “This isn’t it,” and then reworked it.
If I’d started my career as a professional author with no confidence or stock of material... The thought scares me. Probably I wouldn’t have had as much leeway, and would have had even less freedom to write the story the way I want. In my case, there was the risk that after messing up once, my will might have broken.
Writers are self-employed and responsible for themselves. If there are any aspiring authors out there reading this, I want you to remember that this sort of choice is an option.
It’s okay. Overlap will wait. (This is important, so I said it twice.)
Now then, I’ll wrap things up here for this time.
Now, I give my thanks to Fuyuyuki, with apologies for requesting four new character designs this time, to Satoshi Ueda, whose rough drafts for the manga I’ve been enjoying reading, and to my editor, the designers, the proofreaders, and everyone who now holds this book in their hands.
This has been Dojyomaru.
After this, we have stories that take place after the return from the republic. Please, stay with us to the end.
After Returning to the Country Arc – 1: The Weather Girl
“In regards to the medical alliance that was recently signed with the Republic...”
“Mom, it looks like that program’s about to start,” a child said.
“Yes, it is,” his mother agreed. “It really is a life saver.”
That mother and child had come to the fountain plaza to watch the Jewel Voice Broadcast. Recently, during the evening news program broadcast in the Kingdom of Friedonia, there was one segment that had become especially popular.
The beautiful half-elf news broadcaster, Chris Tachyon, turned towards the viewers. “Now, we bring you tomorrow’s weather. Nadeeen.”
A cheery melody and song started to play.
What will tomorrow’s weather be?
Rain, my whiskers are telling me.
Later, the skies will clear at last.
Here’s the Friedonia Weather Forecast!
A girl in a black one-piece dress which looked like it had scales embedded in it made her entrance, singing as she came in.
This girl with an adorable face had long, black hair and looked to be about fourteen. There was a black lizard tail growing out of her rump, and her head bore antlers more magnificent than those of the sea serpent race.
Her name was Naden Delal.
This dragon had recently come from the Star Dragon Mountain Range to the Kingdom of Friedonia in order to marry Souma.
Even though she was a dragon, she wasn’t the usual Western-style dragon, but an Oriental-style ryuu. Her true form was large and serpentine, and when she had first descended on the castle in that ryuu form, the people of the castle town had panicked as if a monster was suddenly attacking. The panic had died down once the castle announced her identity, though.
Naden bowed her head to the citizens who were watching the broadcast. “Good evening. I’m Naden, here with tomorrow’s weather.”
Then she raised her head, looked in Chris’s direction, and tilted her head a bit.
“Hey, I think this every time, but is there any reason for me to sing as I come on?”
“Because every weather program needs a song... is what His Majesty Souma believes,” Chris responded with a business smile.
“I-I see...” Naden had no choice but to accept that answer.
The people watched with relaxed expressions on their faces as this exchange occurred.
When it was first announced that Souma was bringing back a dragon fiancée from the Star Dragon Mountain Range, the people had been abuzz that he might be the second coming of the original King of Elfrieden.
The first king had been summoned as a hero like Souma, then built the precursor to the Kingdom of Friedonia, the multi-racial Elfrieden Kingdom, and taken a dragon as his wife despite not being from the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom. He was seen as a great hero by the people of this country.
However, Souma was very different from that hero, his reign being plain and steady.
The girl who became his fiancée, Naden, gave less of the impression of a god-beast and more of an innocent girl, so the people’s passion had gradually faded.
Even so, it wasn’t that she was unpopular with the people. She actually had a deep-rooted popularity with the elderly population. They looked at her not as a future queen, but as they might look at a daughter or granddaughter.
Naden was enjoying life in Parnam in her own way, too.
Her position made her the second secondary queen, so she wasn’t confined to the castle, and often went down to the castle town to walk around and buy things to eat. Normally, they would have had to worry about her being abducted, but as a ryuu, there were no ropes that could bind her, so she was free to do as she pleased inside Parnam.
It was Souma’s intention that Naden, who was unrestrained and similar to the independent women of Souma’s old world, not be made to feel suffocated within the capital.
However, when she helped a lost child find his friends, played with them while she was at it, and then came back to the castle covered in mud, she did get an earful from Princess Liscia.
For Naden and dragons like her, most of their accomplishments were made on the battlefield. That she could act as freely as she did was proof of just how peaceful the kingdom had become.
That was something to be welcomed, but it was boring to have nothing to do until a crisis came. That, and she wanted Souma to rely on her for something other than riding on her back, too.
“Hey, Souma. Is there something I can do?” Naden had tried asking.
“Oh, good timing. There’s actually something I wanted you to do.”
And the job Souma had prepared for her was this position as a “weather girl.”
A ryuu’s whiskers were sensitive to the air currents, and it was said that just a slight gust of wind was enough for them to know the weather in that area for the next week. He had apparently been planning to put that to use and make a weather forecast.
The Jewel Voice Broadcast could only be seen with video in the large towns and cities where receiver equipment was set up, but even remote villages in the countryside could receive something like radio. Basically, broadcasting a weather forecast on the Jewel Voice Broadcast would communicate the weather to every person in the country.
“So, there you have it,” he had explained. “Can you do it, Naden?”
“Roger that. I’m on it.”
Thus, Naden was now this world’s first weathercaster.
And so, once again today, Naden was reporting tomorrow’s weather to the entire kingdom.
“Umm... For tomorrow’s weather, we expect there will be not a cloud in the sky, and it will be a generally feel-good kind of day. It should be a good day for doing laundry. In the Amidonia Region in the west of the country and around Altomura in the south there may be scattered showers along the mountains in the evening, so be sure to take the wash in early. Also, in the northeast, the skies over Lagoon City will clear tomorrow, but there is the possububbly... of thundershowers, so be careful.
Ah, she flubbed her line!
Naden tried to carry on as if she hadn’t misspoken, but the viewers smiled. They never tired of seeing this adorable queen-to-be.
Though she tripped over her words, Naden’s forecasts had a reputation for accuracy.
Those in the farming and fishing industries were particularly grateful for her storm warnings. If a storm came, the produce they had worked so hard to grow might be blown down by the winds, and the seas might become so wild that going out in a boat would be a disaster that put their lives at risk. However, if the arrival of storms could be predicted in advance, it was possible to prepare fo
r them.
For farmers, they could harvest their produce, or reinforce the plants so they wouldn’t be knocked over.
For fishermen, they could dry-dock the boats, and ensure they weren’t swept away by the waves.
This had led to an increase in the country’s food production.
There were even rumors that some fishing villages had already begun to worship Naden as a goddess that guaranteed good catches. Eventually this might be tied to Urup’s sea god worship, and she would then become Ryuujin, the dragon god of the sea. For now, though, Naden was only a weather girl.
Now, how was Naden’s weather forecast produced?
Let us take a glimpse at the production process.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Souma! Wake up!”
“Gwuh! Wh-What?!”
Suddenly, there was an impact on top of my stomach. I had been deep asleep until moments ago, so I was panicking, unable to process the situation when I saw Naden sitting on top of my belly. It seemed the impact had been Naden body-slamming me.
I glanced around with my head still fuzzy. This was... Right, the governmental affairs office.
Upon my return from the Republic of Turgis, Hakuya had given me a mountain of work that had piled up, so I’d been working through it until late at night. I’d gone to sleep in the simple bed in the office.
Even while in the Republic of Turgis, I had kept using my magic, Living Poltergeists, to move Factory Arm #1 and do paperwork, but no matter how much I did, more work for the king kept pouring in. Honestly... Here I was, finally back in the country, but I couldn’t even go visit Liscia who was resting in the former king Sir Albert’s domain.
That being the case, I was now very sleepy, and I didn’t want to wake up yet, but Naden wasn’t going to allow that. Turning sideways to form a cross with the bed in which I was sleeping, Naden stretched out and rolled back and forth on top of my stomach.
“Soumaaa, wake uuup.”
“Sorry, Pa*rasche,” I murmured. “I’m exhausted. I’m so very sleepy.”
“Who is Pat**sche supposed to be? Get up already.”
Like an elementary schooler trying to wake her father up on a Sunday, Naden shook her body back and forth. In this state, I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I reluctantly decided to get up.
Once I had sat up, I shot Naden a somewhat resentful look. “I was up late working last night. Let me sleep a little longer.”
“What are you talking about? If you don’t get up, I can’t do my job, you know?” Naden got off the bed and put a hand on her hip.
“Job?”
“I have to predict the weather, right?”
“...Oh, geez. Fine, I get it.”
It was an important job, after all, so I gave in and got out of bed.
Production of a weather forecast program.
When we began producing broadcast programs for this world, I had wondered if there was a way to make one a reality. In my old world, it was a given that there would be a weather forecast during news programs, so I had never felt all that grateful that it was there. However, having come to this world where people lived without a weather forecast brought me to the painful realization that it had been an incredible thing all along.
If they knew the future weather, people could be more active.
When was it time to do laundry? When was it time to sow seeds? When was it time to go out fishing? When was it time to fix the house in preparation for a storm? By knowing the weather that would come in the future, it was possible to prepare in advance for these things. It would make people’s lives more efficient.
Now, the perfect person to make such a weather forecast had come to be with me.
In her ryuu form, Naden’s two long whiskers were very perceptive sensory organs, and just a slight breeze across them would tell her the weather in that place for the next week. That was why I was having Naden fly around the kingdom every few days and investigate what the weather would be like in each area.
In addition to Naden, there were people who had lived in those regions for generations who could predict the larger changes in the weather. It was okay even if it was just something like, “If there’s clouds around that mountain, there will be a passing shower the next day.” We had them send that sort of information to us by messenger kui, and kept statistics in the capital.
By using Naden’s weather forecast as the backbone, and the reports of the people who could tell the weather in all of those different places to flesh things out, we were able to put together a reasonably precise weather forecast.
It was popular with the people, who said she was pretty accurate.
“La, la, la!” Naden sang.
If I were to raise just one complaint, it was that every time she flew around the country, Naden dragged me along with her.
I was riding on Naden’s back as she sang to herself and swam through the sky, my head nodding unconsciously as I was hit by waves of drowsiness.
Those who had a contract with a dragon were protected by her magic, so I wasn’t affected by wind pressure or gravity, and I wouldn’t fall off. That meant it was very comfortable, which only made me more sleepy. It was like how sitting on the train as it swayed made you feel awfully sleepy.
Naden, for her part, felt good having me ride on her back when she flew. By having her contractor on her back, she had explained before, “It feels like it scratches an itch, or like something is where it belongs.”
It was a sense that was hard for a human to understand, but those were the sort of creatures that dragons were.
That was why I was being dragged along for this. That was also why Naden was singing so cheerfully.
In her ryuu form, Naden didn’t speak, she communicated using something like telepathy, so I could hear her singing right in my brain. Naden was surprisingly good at singing, and it was relaxing to listen to, which only made me even sleepier.
“And we’re here,” Naden said. “Hey, Souma. We’re over Lagoon City now.”
“...Huh? ...Oh, yeah.”
“Hold on, were you sleeping when we’re having such a nice skywalk?” Naden asked, sounding miffed.
Even with her ryuu face, I could tell she was puffing up her cheeks.
“It feels so comfortable on your back, I can’t help myself.”
“Grrr, when you say it that way, it doesn’t feel so bad...”
I pulled a stack of paper, an inkwell, and a feather pen out of the bag hanging from my shoulder. “Now, that aside, let’s get to work.”
Naden still had a somewhat dissatisfied look on her face, but she must have shifted into work mode, because she was letting her two whiskers drift in the wind. Then...
“Lagoon City will be sunny today. All day tomorrow, too. It will be clear the day after, as well, but will cloud over in the evening. Three days from now, it looks like we’ll see light showers starting in the morning. Those will last all day.”
Naden was putting together a weather forecast for this area.
I wrote it down word for word, being sure not to miss a thing.
“Four days from now it will be cloudy, and five days from now it will also be cloudy, but will clear up in the afternoon. Six days from now it will be clear all day. Seven days from now, again, it will be clear all day.”
We knew the weather for up to seven days from now, which was to say a total of eight days.
In this world, a week was eight days, so we had our weekly weather forecast for this region done.
Putting away what I had written, I let out a sigh of admiration. “Your whiskers sure are convenient, Naden.”
“Hee hee! You can praise me more, you know?”
“Hey, you’re number one! Now, if we just knew the temperature for the next week, it’d be perfect.”
“That’s expecting too much!”
I tried teasing her, and Naden got mad. Expecting too much, huh... No doubt about that.
It was good fortune that Naden had come to be my fiancée. Not just for me
, but for the whole country. If I forgot that, I was going to be punished for it.
I stroked Naden’s back. “I’m grateful. Thank you for coming to be with me, Naden.”
“Ohh... When you’re so straight with me, it makes me feel shy. Eheheh...”
“It’s how I really feel. Now, on to the next place.”
“Roger that! I’ll carry you anywhere, Souma.”
“Oh? Then the Republic of Turgis...”
“I hate the cold!”
While having those sorts of inconsequential conversations, we flew all around the country.
◇ ◇ ◇
...And, well, that was roughly how the weather forecast was produced. Today, Naden was relaying that weather forecast to the people watching or listening to the Jewel Voice Broadcast.
“This is Naden. I will now report on tomorrow’s weather.”
After Returning to the Country Arc – 2: Kuu’s Stay in the Kingdom
— In the middle of the 7th month, 1547th year, Continental Calendar —
The roofs of the houses in the residential quarter of Parnam were uniformly orange.
If you looked down from Parnam Castle to see the center of the city, the castle walls that surrounded the city, and the small mountain near the city, it would look like a vast sea of orange.
There was a shadowy figure bouncing along on top of those orange roofs.
The figure was running as it bounded from roof to roof, but then stopped on top of one roof to wipe its sweat. It was around the time that the sun was high in the sky.
Summer had begun in earnest at this point, and the kingdom was now seeing hot day after hot day.
“Man, it’s hot,” grumbled the figure. “It’d never get this hot in the republic.”
It was the guest from the republic, Kuu Taisei.
It had already been two months since King Souma of Friedonia had formed a medical alliance with Turgish Head of State Gouran, and Empress Maria of the Gran Chaos Empire.
In order to see how Souma reigned and learn from it, Kuu had come to reside in Friedonia with his attendant Leporina and his childhood friend Taru.