by Dojyomaru
“Wh-Whaaaaat?!” Aisha started to look at us with eyes that seemed to plead, “Tell me she’s lying, Your Majesty, Princess.”
Liscia and I smiled, then both raised our arms in front of us in an X.
After all, I agreed with Juna 100%.
“Poncho’s clearly been stealing everyone’s attention from her,” Liscia said.
“Where did that dignified Aisha go, I wonder?” Juna asked.
“Wahhh! It’s the forest’s fault for not having so many different types of food!” Aisha wailed.
“Besides, what do you think you’re doing trying to seduce a guy who’s already betrothed...?” I added.
“““Huh?””” All three stared at me blankly.
Did I say something strange?
“Um... Souma? In this country, polygamy is tolerated, so long as you have the wealth to support multiple wives, you realize?” Liscia said.
Juna nodded. “It works the other way around, too. Polyandrous arrangements are possible for powerful women, as well. It’s uncommon, though.”
“If men were limited to one wife, the house could die out if something went wrong, after all,” Aisha agreed.
Liscia, Juna, and Aisha told me this with straight faces.
Are they serious...? Ah, no, I guess they probably are serious.
This world’s society still hadn’t gotten out of the Dark Ages. They didn’t have a stable birth rate, and their hygiene and medical knowledge were underdeveloped. On top of that, they were living in these troubled times, so there were probably few people living to the average life expectancy. Furthermore, in a Middle Ages-type society, where the “house” is an important concept, provided you have the wealth to support them, the more potential heirs the better. That was probably the reason why they allowed polygamy. Even I could understand that.
“But Liscia’s mother is the only queen I’ve met...” I objected.
If it was a polygamous system, wouldn’t Liscia’s father, the king, have had more wives? I mean, I was getting hassled by Hakuya to hurry up and produce an heir, too.
“Oh, actually, my mother was the one who held the royal authority,” Liscia explained. “She’s the daughter of the man who was king before my father, you see.”
“Hold on, that king married into the family?!” I burst out.
“Yes. After they married, she left ruling the country to him, though. That’s why my father could never have slighted my mother by taking another woman as his queen. ...I can’t say for sure that he doesn’t have any bastards, though.”
“Huh? Was it okay for me to take the throne when he abdicated it to me?” I wondered.
“There’s no issue. Father was the one who stood out, but he couldn’t have abdicated without Mother’s consent.”
In other words, that abdication hadn’t been an arbitrary decision by the king, but something he had had the queen’s understanding for as well, huh?
“Besides, I was the only one with the right of succession, and I would have had to take a husband anyway, so it’s not that big a difference, really,” Liscia added. “It’s just a matter of whether I hold the royal authority or my partner does.”
“...Well, couldn’t you have been the ruler then, instead, Liscia?” I asked.
“You’d have needed to seek my approval for each and every one of your reforms, you know? Wouldn’t that be a pain?”
“Well... Yes.”
Now, Liscia wasn’t pigheaded in any way, but if I had needed her approval for every little thing, my reforms would have been going much slower. Besides, if the person with ultimate deciding power and the person driving the reformation were separate people, there would be no guarantee that the members of a counter-reformation faction wouldn’t try to get between the two and stir up unneeded trouble.
“Your father made a brave decision by transferring everything to me at once, huh...” I said.
“You’re right... I’m sincerely able to see how impressive that was now.”
Though, it did mean the burden had been shifted to us.
We both sighed in unison.
“So, if you wanted it, Souma, a polygamous relationship is... possible,” Liscia said.
“You’d be okay with that, Liscia?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t be happy about it, but if it keeps you on the throne...”
“That’s being way too understanding...” I murmured.
“I’ll tolerate up to eight, myself included.”
“That’s a lot! I couldn’t take responsibility for that many!”
Now, when she told me I could have a harem, it’s not like the idea wasn’t appealing, but... I dunno, I could only imagine it being a lot of work. I wasn’t the type that could bear to disagree strongly with women, and I could tell that the more of them there were, the more constrained I’d feel.
“By the way, why did you choose that number?” I asked.
“I can have you all to myself for one day a week,” she said.
The weeks in this world were eight days. Incidentally, there were four weeks in a month, making each of them 32 days. There were twelve months in a year, so this world had a 384-day year.
Wait, that’s why?! I realized, registering what she had said.
When she said that, Juna and Aisha started whispering about something.
“If there were eight of us, do you think we would only get it once a week?”
“It doesn’t have to be that way, I’d think? If you and another wife each invited the other on your days...”
“I see. It’s not necessarily just once a week! You’re brilliant, Madam Juna.”
“...But wouldn’t you want to have him to yourself?”
“Ooh, there’s a conundrum.”
No, no, Aisha, Juna, why are you getting so into talking about this?!
Having them at the same time... I can’t say I wouldn’t be into that, but I’d have to become king for that. I was torn between my realistic personality, which wanted to avoid the hard work involved if I took the throne, and my desire to pursue that masculine ideal.
Just then, as I was starting to feel incredibly awkward...
“No, you can’t do that! Absolutely not, Hal!”
“Why won’t you understand?!”
At a table far away from ours, a young couple in military outfits were having an argument.
The man was a tall human with distinctive red hair. He looked like he was over 190 centimeters tall. He was broad-shouldered, and even through his uniform, I could tell he had a solid build.
The girl, on the other hand, had blonde hair in a short bob, with two triangular ears up top, and was a little on the petite side.
Is that girl a mystic wolf, I wonder?
“That girl’s a mystic fox,” Liscia told me, but I couldn’t tell the difference. “You can tell by their tails. She has a fox tail, see?”
“They’re both canines, so can’t we just lump them both together as mystic dogs?” I asked.
“If you say that, you’ll get both the mystic wolves and the mystic foxes angry. Kobolds are mystic dogs, so it would be like lumping humans together with apes.”
“...Tell me about all these things I shouldn’t say to certain races later, please.”
That’s another world for you. You never know when you’ll step on a landmine like that, I thought.
As I was thinking that, the mystic fox girl was pleading. “I’m begging you, Hal. You can’t go to the Carmine Duchy right now! Army General Duke Georg Carmine is hostile to the new king. There could be a civil war!”
“That’s exactly why I’m going. If there’s going to be fighting, that’s a chance for me to get promoted, isn’t it?” The one called Hal, who seemed to be a young man of about 18, gave her a dauntless smile.
The mystic fox girl, on the other hand, wore an expression clouded with anxiety. “Hal, the way you think about war is too simple. Your father called you back home because he was worried about you being like that!”
“It’s non
e of my old man’s business! He’s served under Duke Carmine for years, but now that things don’t look so good, he’s hiding in the capital, the coward! I don’t need to listen to him!”
“Your father understands what’s happening. Duke Carmine is rebelling without just cause.”
The two kept quarreling.
As she was watching them, Liscia clapped her hands together in recognition. “I thought I recognized him! The man is Officer Halbert Magna.”
“Is he someone you know?” I asked.
“He’s the eldest son of a distinguished family in the army clique. Since his academy days, his combat abilities have put him well above the rest of his peers. He entered the land forces after graduating, but... I guess he’s returned home since then.”
“He sounds surprisingly well known,” I mused. “Well, how about the girl, then?”
“I don’t know... I’ve never seen her in the army...”
“That girl is Kaede Foxia,” Juna answered on Liscia’s behalf.
Huh? Why does she know? I wondered.
“Because she’s a regular here,” Juna said without my asking. “If I recall, she mentioned she’s a mage serving in the Forbidden Army.”
“If she’s in the Forbidden Army, is she an earth-type mage, then?” I asked.
This world’s magic could be divided into six elements: fire, water, earth, wind, light, and dark.
Fire, water, wind, and earth manipulated their respective elements for attack spells, while light was generally healing-type magic. Dark was unique in that it didn’t, strictly speaking, manipulate darkness. All the unique spells that didn’t fall under the previous five elements were lumped together under the “dark-type” categorization.
In terms of magic type, my Living Poltergeists would have been dark.
Every person in this world was aligned with one of these elements, and they could use magic to some degree. As you would know from Liscia and Aisha’s training, people could imbue their weapons or attacks with magic of their element, as well.
Those who could cause greater magical effects than ordinary people were called mages. Mages could manipulate flames, cause whirlwinds, form craters in the ground, and sink battleships with their incredible powers.
When mages joined the military, their type determined where they were sent. Fire users went to the army, wind users to the air force, water users to the navy, and earth and dark users (not that there were many of the latter) went to the Forbidden Army, while light users were distributed equally and played a similar role to combat medics.
Honestly, I was opposed to this inflexible way of distributing them, but the army, navy and air force were under the control of the Three Dukedoms, so I couldn’t mess around with them.
Someday, I want to reform that system.
While I was thinking about all that, Kaede and Halbert kept arguing.
“Duke Carmine would never lose to that inexperienced king!”
“Duke Carmine’s been acting strange lately! If we start fighting amongst ourselves, only our neighbors stand to benefit! Amidonia wants to reclaim the lands they lost to Elfrieden two kings ago. And as for the Turgis Republic, with more than half their territory frozen, they want fertile land and a warm water port. If there’s a civil war, they’re sure to intervene. Duke Carmine must know that...”
Huh, it sounds like Kaede has a good understanding of the situation in the neighboring countries.
The country to the west of this one on the world map, the Principality of Amidonia, had seen roughly half of their territory stolen from them under the expansionist policies of Liscia’s grandfather. That was close to 50 years ago, but they were still eyeing this country for any opportunity to regain their lost land. For this country, it was clearly an enemy state.
To the south of Amidonia, on the southern edge of this continent, was the Turgis Republic, which, like Kaede said, was a frigid land that was mostly frozen.
When you looked at this world’s map, the further south you went, the lower the temperature dropped. I didn’t know whether that was because (speaking from a Japanese person’s perspective) this continent was in the southern hemisphere, or if their concept of north and south was reversed, or even if it was because of some mysterious magical effect, but the further south you went in Elfrieden, the colder it got, and the further north, the warmer it got.
Because of the kind of country they were, “Go north” was a national policy for the Turgis Republic.
However, of the countries they bordered, the Gran Chaos Empire was massive, so they could ill afford a conflict with them, while the mercenary state of Zem was their ally, meaning they couldn’t invade there, either. That narrowed their potential targets for northward expansion to Amidonia or Elfrieden.
In other words, both Amidonia and Turgis were like ravenous wolves, ready to pounce on this country at the soonest opportunity.
“What is Duke Carmine thinking when the neighboring countries have designs on our territory?”
“...This is Duke Carmine you’re talking about. I’m sure he has a plan.”
“Aren’t you going to think for yourself, Hal?!”
“The fact of the matter is, many nobles have given up on the king and they’ve gone to serve under Duke Carmine, haven’t they? His failure to keep them here is proof of the king’s ineptitude.”
“I don’t know if the new king is competent or not, but up to this point, I’ve seen no misrule under him! Besides, most of those nobles gathering under Duke Carmine are those who’ve lost rights under the new king’s finance reforms, or who were investigated for corruption and are discontented over having their assets seized, you realize?! Even if you restored their rights, do you really think that would make this country a better place?!”
When Kaede pressed him on it like that, Halbert’s gaze wandered. “I’m sure Duke Carmine is thinking this all through.”
“There you go, talking about Duke Carmine, again. Don’t you have an opinion of your own, Hal?”
“J-Just shut up, okay! What, Kaede, do you think you can see the future?! Well, I can!”
“I can!” Halbert lashed out defiantly, but Kaede answered him firmly. “I can see what’s coming! That man scares me. I’m sure that the new king will...”
“Okay, and stop,” I cut Kaede off, inserting myself between the two of them.
Both of their eyes went wide at the sudden intrusion.
I ignored Halbert’s surprised “Wh-Who do you think you are, buddy?!” with a smile to the Kaede who was sitting there with her mouth agape.
“If you keep running your mouth, I’ll use my authority to have you arrested, you know?” I said.
“You’re...!” Kaede seemed to have immediately realized who I was.
“Yes I am, so keep quiet, okay?” I said. “Honestly, I don’t know how much you understand, but if you talk so confidently about it in a place like this, it could harm the country.”
“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “But... what are you doing here...? You’re not here to seize Hal for his rebelliousness, I hope?! It’s not like that! Hal’s just a little weak in the head, he would never rebel...”
Kaede completely misunderstood what I was doing and started to make excuses. Who knows where the analytic ability she’d displayed earlier went, but she was desperately trying to defend Halbert.
“No, I don’t care what one single soldier thinks,” I said.
“Th-Then why are you here?” she stammered.
“Because I was suddenly given time off,” I explained. “I was just checking out Juna’s place.”
“I-I see...” Kaede was clearly relieved.
Halbert, on the other hand, had been glaring at me this whole time. “You punk, who do you think you are, butting into our conversation and then threatening Kaede?”
“U-Um, Hal? He wasn’t threatening me, you see...”
“Shut up! You be quiet, Kaede!”
“Yipe!”
When Halbert slammed his hands on the tabl
e and stood up, it frightened Kaede.
“...What good is frightening her yourself going to do?” I asked.
“I said, shut up!” He reached out, trying to grab me by the collar, when...
“Urkh!”
...he stopped halfway. In an instant, Halbert was surrounded by the three women who were with me.
Normally, being surrounded by three beauties would be a fantastic situation to be in, but... I wasn’t jealous of his position in the least. After all, Liscia had drawn the rapier from her side and was pointing the tip of it at Halbert’s neck, Aisha (who had left her great sword behind because it was too bulky) was holding his face in a claw hold, and Juna, still smiling, had a fruit knife pressed against his back.
Whoa... Their power levels are way too high...
“Wait, even you, Juna?” I asked, surprised.
“Violence is strictly prohibited in this establishment,” she said with a grin.
“Uh, sure...”
Having found himself in that situation, even the assertive Halbert was sweating. He couldn’t move an inch, so he glared at me in frustration through the gap between Aisha’s fingers. “You punk... That was dirty! If you’re a man, how can you hide behind a bunch of women?!”
“Complain all you like, but it’s kind of their job to protect me,” I said. “Actually, if I were to stand on the front line without bodyguards, I think that would be a bigger problem.”
When I said that, the girls nodded in agreement.
“If you understand that, I wish you wouldn’t stick your neck into trouble like this,” Liscia scolded me.
Uh, sure, sorry, I’ll be more careful.
Halbert’s irritated gaze stabbed into me. “...You punk, just who are you?”
“Hm... Allow me to respond with that great line from a samurai period drama. ‘Halbert, have you forgotten my face?’”
“Huh?”
“Why do you suddenly sound so full of yourself?” Liscia slapped me upside the head.
Aw, come on, I’ve always wanted to say it.
Then Aisha raised her voice and spoke on my behalf. “On your knees! Who do you take this man for?!”