Prologue

Prologue: The Beginning of the Enlightenment

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!”

“My people, I call on you to study!” I shouted inside the castle’s Jewel Voice Room. “Let me present you with a metaphor. Imagine two people are about to fight with swords. In most cases, the stronger one will win, or the one with the better sword. Now, when two equally strong individuals fight with equally good swords, is the result simply down to luck?

“Nay, I say to you. The one who knows the sword better will win. Even if their levels of strength were the same, and their weapons identical, if a cook and a blacksmith fought with swords, I’m fairly sure the blacksmith would win. A blacksmith sees swords every day as part of their work, and would be well acquainted with their length and their reach.”

I tapped a finger on my temple.

“If you know more than other people, that, in and of itself, can be a weapon. A great general can fight a hundred battles and win them all because he knows war; knows his own forces; and he even knows the forces of his enemy. He avoids unwinnable battles, only choosing to fight the ones he can win. The reason a mediocre general will lose at the critical juncture is because he doesn’t know war, and he doesn’t know his own forces or that of his enemy. He fights needlessly for repeated victories and loses, unable to focus on only the most important ones.

“There was a strategist in the world I came from who said, ‘Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles,’ but... this is something that applies outside the domain of war, too.

“If they both deal in the same goods, but Merchant A prospers while Merchant B does not, it’s because Merchant A knows more about how to do business.

“Though they might use the same base materials, the reason a great craftsman’s works are many levels above an average craftsman’s is because he has a deep knowledge of the properties of those materials.

“Though you both grow the same thing, the produce that comes out of your neighbor’s field tastes better than what comes out of your own because the farmer next door has know-how about the proper way to raise that crop.

“Though you both cook the same thing, the reason a chef’s dish tastes better than your own is because a chef knows the good and bad traits of each ingredient, and has a deep knowledge of the ways to prepare them.

“The reason the superior hunter comes back with a kill every time he goes out is because he has a deep knowledge of the terrain, as well as the traits of the animals he hunts.

“In the world of entertainment, a famous actor is able to inspire emotion in people with each of his performances because he has a deep knowledge of people’s hearts.

“It’s the same for kings and nobles, too. The kings who have been called great were those who had a deep knowledge of how to rule a country well without facing resistance from their people. I, myself, still have a long way to go, but I am working hard to learn.”

I paused.

Yukichi Fukuzawa had said in An Encouragement of Learning, “The heavens do not create men who are above other men, nor do they create men that are beneath other men.” So why was it that, in the real world, there was such a gap between the rich and the poor?

He’d suggested that it was a question of learning. Those without learning could only do manual labor, thus their position in society would lower. Those with learning could do more difficult jobs, thus they would become more important.

I had thought it was a bit of an extreme argument, but as I’d read on, I’d found there were parts of it I could agree with.

I continued.

“The way to gain a deep knowledge of things is to learn about them. Learn from those with superior knowledge and skills. If you have knowledge and skills that are superior to those of others, then you should be the one to teach them. Those who ask to be taught must pay their respects to those who teach; and those who teach must show compassion to those who seek to learn from them. By learning from one another like this, we can give birth to even greater skills. I am confident that, no matter what your occupation, doing this will allow you to live a more prosperous life than you do now.”

Silently, I repeated: Those who ask to be taught must pay their respects to those who teach, and those who teach must show compassion to those who seek to learn from them... I had inserted that line to address the rights of both parties. As a statesman, I had to be careful that the ones doing the teaching weren’t doing so at a complete loss to themselves. Still, even if I tried to explain that to the people right now, they wouldn’t understand, so I had no desire to go in-depth about it.

“I want to raise the average standard of living for the people who live in this country,” I said. “That’s because doing so will increase this country’s ‘power.’ If you all become more wealthy, tax revenues will go up. With higher tax revenues, I should be able to divert some funds towards military equipment and the nurturing of new industries. The whole country will become prosperous and strong.

“To that end, I want you, the people, to study. I’d like you to start with reading and writing. If all you can do is read and write, that will let you communicate with people at a distance. After that, I want you to learn arithmetic. If you can do that, it vastly expands the range of subjects you can learn.”

I gave the signal, and Liscia came out from behind me and held up a piece of paper with the kanji for “Writing” written on it.

I pointed to that symbol and continued.

“I want every adult in this country to be able to read, write, and do arithmetic. We are currently working to open up education centers called training facilities in every major city, as well as simpler schools in each town. This ‘Writing’ mark will show which training facilities and schools have been approved by the state. During the day, they will only offer lessons for children, but at night, adults will be able to learn there as well. If you have the strength left to participate after work, I’d like you to come in and learn, even if it’s only a little bit at a time. By the way, this ‘Writing’ mark indicates that you can learn to read, write, and do arithmetic for free at the places that display it. We don’t intend to stop anyone from setting up their own private schools, so keep that in mind.”

I paused for a moment to catch my breath. Because I hadn’t been pacing myself as I’d emphatically tried to explain things, I was starting to get dizzy. But I couldn’t stop just yet. I hadn’t told them everything.

“...Also, I would like to address all of you who already can read, write, and do arithmetic. Please, don’t be satisfied with just that. Because we still know nothing.”

When I gave the signal, this time Roroa came forward, opening up a map of this world.

I pointed to it.

“As you are already aware, the Demon Lord’s Domain has appeared in the north of this continent. However, I must note, we know nothing about the Demon Lord’s Domain. There’s apparently a Demon Lord... or so people say, but no one has ever actually seen him. What is the Demon Lord’s Domain, anyway? There are monsters in the Demon Lord’s Domain, but there are also monsters in the dungeons. What’s the difference between the two? Is there one? How are the Demon Lord, the demons, and the monsters in the domain connected? Is it a hierarchical relationship? Or are they hostile to one another? ...We don’t know anything.

“Launching an invasion without that knowledge caused a great tragedy once in the past. If people had understood the difference in power, they wouldn’t have launched a reckless war and gotten so many people killed, I’m sure.”

I gestured for Liscia and Roroa to go back to standing behind me, then continued.

“This isn’t only true of the Demon Lord’s Domain. There are far too many things about this world that we don’t know. Magic is a good example. It’s part of our everyday lives, yet we know nothing about it. For starters, what is magic? Why can everyone use it seemingly naturally? There was no magic in the world I came from, so that’s a mystery to me. How can you produce fire out of thin air? Because there’s magicium? Well, what’s magicium, then? Is it a gas, a liquid, a solid? The three-eyed race can see bacteria and microorganisms that other races can’t see without a microscope, but even they can’t see any of this so-called magicium. How can we prove it exists?!”

I put emphasis into my words.

“As you can see, this world is full of mysteries. Don’t stop thinking just because those mysteries have always been there! Don’t believe things just because traditional stories say so! Don’t be led astray by those who hold a lot of influence! Don’t run away saying it’s the work of God, beyond human understanding! Don’t say that it must be the fault of demons! Doubt everything; study, let your opinion collide with those of others, and find the truth! Because a heart that seeks the truth is the mark of a sentient being!”

Finally, I wrapped up my speech.

“That is what I have set as our national policy. Thank you for listening.”

With those as my last words, the first Jewel Voice Broadcast of the new year came to an end.

Once I was certain that we were no longer broadcasting, I slumped down on the spot. “Whew, that was exhausting...”

“Good work,” Liscia said. “I think you came across pretty well, you know?”

“Sure did,” Roroa agreed. “You were actin’ like a real king. I’m fallin’ in love with ya all over again, darlin’!”

They might say that, but I was at my wit’s end. I had gotten used to hosting various programs, but putting on a kingly speech in front of the people still made me tense. In times of crisis, I didn’t have the luxury of thinking about it, so I could make speeches then, but it was exhausting having to wear my king persona in peacetime, too.

“Ugh, I’ve worked up a nasty sweat,” I said. “Sorry, could you get me a cup of water?”

“All right,” Liscia nodded. “Roroa, could you?”

“Aye, aye, sir.” Roroa gave a salute and then went to fetch the tray with a water jug and cups that had been left in the corner of the room. When I took a cup, Liscia poured some water for me.

Once I had finished gulping down the whole cup, I finally felt a little more relaxed. “Whew... That brought me back to life.”

“Hee hee,” Liscia laughed. “Do you think the people will understand the importance of reading, writing, and arithmetic now, maybe?” She was still holding the jug of water.

“Ha ha, it won’t be that simple,” I said. “Studying can be boring and tedious, after all. Just a little bit of encouragement like that isn’t going to keep them at it for long.”

“You mean making speeches about it isn’t going to help much?”

“If all I’m doing is talking at them, yeah,” I nodded. “But there are ways.”

“Ways?” she repeated.

“There are ways to have fun while learning naturally.”

A sudden knock came from the door. When I said “Come in,” Juna and Aisha, who was carrying some sort of large box, entered.

“We have come at your behest, Your Majesty,” Juna said formally.

“Also, the Jewel Voice Broadcast Production Department asked us to bring all of this to you, Your Majesty.”

When Aisha laid the box that looked as tall as she was down on the floor, there was a rattling from inside it.

Roroa looked at the box with curiosity. “Hey, darlin’, what’s in the box? It was rattlin’.”

“Oh, it’s probably the ‘equipment’ I asked them for.”

“Equipment? Are you going to wear it, Souma?” Liscia asked, a question mark floating over her head.

I didn’t go out onto the battlefield, both for practical reasons and because of my position, so when they’d heard the word “equipment” come out my mouth, everyone, not just Liscia, had looked at me dubiously.

I grinned back at them. “It’s not for me. Well, just you wait and see.”

“...When you have that look on your face, Souma, I just know you’re about to do something crazy.” Liscia looked at me with exasperation, and my other fiancées nodded in agreement.

“...You don’t have any faith in me, huh?” I asked.

“I may not have faith in you, but I do trust you,” Liscia said.

“Hm? What’s the difference?”

“Based on past experience, I know you’re going to make us all run around like crazy, so I have no faith in you on that account. But it feels like it will work out in the end, despite the headache, so I do trust you.”

“““I agree!””” The others all nodded and agreed with Liscia with straight faces.

Ha ha ha, they all understand me so well... Sigh...