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Bonus Short Stories
Encouragement for a Hard Worker
“...How does it look?”
Inside Prime Minister Hakuya’s work room, the girl from Malmkhitan, Yuriga Haan, was standing in front of her teacher, Hakuya. He looked at the piece of paper she had handed him, then sighed.
“With your current grades...” Hakuya said, returning Yuriga’s test paper to her. “It’ll be difficult for you to get into the same class at the academy as Little Sister and Sir Ichiha.”
“I... see.”
With the academy’s entrance examination, which would determine their class assignments, fast approaching, Yuriga was gauging her placement with a mock exam that Hakuya had put together. Because classes at the academy were divided by their results, Tomoe and Ichiha were seen as shoo-ins for the class for students with excellent grades. For Yuriga, though, it was uncertain whether or not she would be able to get into that class with them.
“There’s really no need to strain yourself to get into the same class, is there? You’ll be together at the castle either way, so you’ll only be separated during class time.”
“I-It’s not like I don’t want to be separated from them!” Yuriga turned her head to the side peevishly. “...Sir. I just can’t accept Tomoe and Ichiha getting ahead of me.”
“Is that so?” He could sort of tell that Yuriga was putting up a strong front from her tone, but he knew she would stubbornly deny it if he pointed that out, so Hakuya decided to let it slide. “But if you want to raise your grades any more than this in such a short time... it’s going to be a lot of trouble, you know?”
“I am prepared for that.”
“...Very well. Let’s increase the amount of studying you’ll do,” Hakuya said, as he plopped his hand down on top of Yuriga’s head. “But you mustn’t push yourself too hard. If you ruin your health, Little Sister will be sad.”
“I-I don’t really care how Tomoe feels about it, but... Okay,” Yuriga responded, sounding a little like a tsundere.
After that, Yuriga studied like mad, even late into the night—to the point where Tomoe and Ichiha were worried she was straining herself too much.
Yuriga was once again sitting at her desk studying away, when a sudden knock came at the door, breaking her concentration.
“Y-Yes?” Yuriga called out, slightly shocked. “Come in.”
The door opened, and Souma and Liscia came in.
“Sir Souma? And Lady Liscia, too? What brings you here so late at night?”
“Well, Hakuya tells us you’ve been studying hard,” Souma responded to the suspicious Yuriga with a smile. “That’s why I’ve fixed you a late-night snack. You know, to help encourage you. But I felt like a man shouldn’t be visiting a girl’s room late at night, even if she is just a child, so I had Liscia come, too.”
Souma showed her a tray with a rice ball on it. That must be the midnight snack, Yuriga thought.
Standing next to him, Liscia let out an exasperated sigh. “Souma always worries about the strangest things.”
“I mean, Fuuga entrusted us with caring for her. I’d be in real trouble if any untoward rumors started going around.”
“Well, sure, but...”
“Um... Thank you for your consideration, Sir Souma,” Yuriga cut in. It was going to be a bother for her if they started having a marital spat in her doorway, after all. Liscia shut her mouth and Souma smiled, bringing the tray over to Yuriga’s desk and leaving it there.
“This takes me back,” Souma commented. “When I was studying at night, my grandma would bring me snacks, too. It feels a bit different from dinner, doesn’t it?”
“You studied at night, too, Sir Souma?”
“Yeah. Because this world’s only source of stable light is lightmoss, studying at night isn’t all that common, but in my world, it was bright even in the dead of night. Besides, the year before being summoned here I had entrance exams, too... That’s why, well, even if this is all I can do, I wanted to say, ‘Keep it up,’ Yuriga.”
“...Right. Thank you.”
Once Yuriga thanked them, Souma and Liscia left the room.
When they came out of the room, Tomoe was standing next to the door.
Patting Tomoe on the head, Souma said, “I gave her the rice ball you made.”
“Thank you, Big Brother.”
Tomoe had wanted to do something for Yuriga who was working so hard, and she turned to Souma and the others for advice. Making this late-night snack was Souma’s suggestion.
And so, she made the rice ball. If Yuriga knew it was Tomoe who made it, she might be too stubborn to accept it, so Souma and Liscia, the king and queen, gave it to her instead; that way she couldn’t refuse.
I want us to be in the same class, too, Yuriga, Tomoe thought as she looked at the closed door.
Those Who are Nameless Have Stories, Too
In a dark room, inside a building, within the Royal Academy, a number of people were gathered.
“Everyone, tomorrow is the day that he will grace our academy with his presence.”
“President! Has the day come at last?!” one of the individuals asked excitedly.
The young man in glasses whom they had called “president” gave a big nod and replied, “Yes, our Monster Research Society is about to make a giant leap!”
These were the students enrolled in the Monster Research Society, MonSoc for short.
As the name would indicate, this was a campus group dedicated to the research of monsters, but because of how creepy their subject of choice was, they were often looked at with disdain by other students. In the caste structure of this school, it was fair to say that they were at the very bottom. However, with the publication of one book in the royal capital, that had begun to change greatly of late.
Hakuya, the prime minister of this country, had worked with Ichiha Chima, an exchange student from the Duchy of Chima in the Union of Eastern Nations, to make major waves in the field of monster research. Their result: The Monster Encyclopedia. Before now, the research of monsters had been taboo. But because of the direct connections to national defense and the economy, this book, which included drawings by Ichiha that even a layman could understand, became an overnight bestseller (but not really, because it was mostly being lent out, not sold).
With the importance of monster research having become widely known thanks to the Monster Encyclopedia, MonSoc had seen its own existence reevaluated. The fact that this club, which had only been joined by nerdy guys before, now had female members, was one sign of that... Incidentally, those female members watched the president and the other excitable guys with exasperation.
“Tomorrow is the entrance ceremony, and they say that our god, Sir Ichiha, will be there! We must invite him into our society, no matter what it takes!”
“But President, the competition between clubs and societies for new students is intensifying. How can an indoorsy group like us compete?”
Ever since Souma took the throne, the knightly and noble classes had changed their values, upsetting the basis of authority at the academy that had existed up until that point as demand grew for personnel who were specialized in one particular art. This applied to the clubs and societies as well, and was exactly why female students had joined MonSoc.
“...Yes. That certainly is a problem,” the president said, crossing his arms and groaning.
One girl who had been watching them up until this point raised her hand. “President, if I were to talk to him, I think I could manage it.”
The president adjusted his glasses and asked, “What do you mean to do, Sara?”
“There are some kids from my house who are on the athletics teams. With their help, I believe it would be easy to secure one new student.”
The female student known as Sara was the daughter of a noble family of middling importance in this country. Based on her blonde hair, slightly gaudy clothes, and her lineage, it was honestly a mystery what she was doing in this club.
“Hmm, but are you certain? I’m sure the athletics clubs want new members, too,” the president said, concern rising in his voice. “Is it all right for their members to support us? Besides which, relying on influence like that is frowned upon at the academy now. Won’t this be trouble for you?”
“The athletics clubs want people who are actually athletic,” Sara replied, waving her hand. “He may be highly capable, but like the rest of you, Ichiha’s not that good at physical exercise, right?”
“Yes, most likely.”
“In that case, the athletics clubs shouldn’t want him. If I let them know I’ll be borrowing their members in advance, I think it should be fine.” Sara stood up. “That being the case, President, I’d like to go negotiate immediately, so please come with me.”
“N-Now? I’m, um, not emotionally prepared for this...”
“You want to bring Ichiha into the club, no matter what, right?”
“...Yes, okay. Let’s go.”
And so, the two of them left the room. As they were walking down the hall together, the president tried talking to Sara, “You know, I’m quite happy to see a talented person like you joining MonSoc.”
“No, no. I joined for my own benefit, so don’t worry about it.”
“Your own benefit? Are you aiming for Sir Ichiha, perhaps?” the president suggested.
“Ahaha. I may come from a noble family, but I’m not about to do something as above my station as going after a VIP from another country,” Sara said, wiping the corner of her eye. “Though, I do have instructions from the family to stake my claim on any gentleman I find interesting.”
The president crossed his arms and groaned. “Hmm. I wonder if anyone has been up to your standards.”
“...Yes. Well,” Sara said with a suppressed chuckle. “Have no worries, I’m marking my territory now.”
Those without names have their own stories, too.
Roroa and Mini Roroa
“Squeee! Lady Roroa! You’re Lady Roroa, aren’t ya?!”
“Wh-What, why’re you shoutin’ all of a sudden?”
It was the day Tomoe had brought her friends to the castle. When Lucy saw the object of her admiration, Roroa, she started bursting with excitement, and immediately took Roroa’s hand.
“I’m a big fan! Let me shake your hand!”
Then, without waiting for a response, she began vigorously shaking Roroa’s hand. There were a number of things that happened afterwards, but once it had all settled down, Souma and his five queens, and Tomoe and her four friends, all had tea together in one big group of eleven.
Naturally, Lucy sneakily grabbed a seat next to Roroa.
“Ohhh, Big Sister Roroa.”
The way Lucy was fawning over her put an uncharacteristically troubled look on Roroa’s face.
“Nobody’s ever called me Big Sister before. It feels kinda funny.”
“Then how about Big-Sister-in-Law Roroa?”
“Who’re you plannin’ on marryin’?! Neither me or Darlin’ have a little brother, y’know?”
“Well, how about Momma Roroa?”
“You’re gonna marry my kid?! How big an age gap is that gonna be?!”
“I figure I’ve got a pretty wide strike zone.”
“I don’t care! I’m not givin’ my kid to just anybody!”
“I’m not just anybody. My family runs The Cat’s Tree.”
“I know that much!”
“Oh, yeah, come to think of it, you have an older brother, right?”
“Huh? Well... Yeah, I do.”
“If I were to get hitched with him, maybe I couldn’t be your little-sister-in-law, but you’d be mine, huh? Lady Roroa as my little sister... I could go for that, too.”
“No, you couldn’t! Nuh-uh... Maybe I oughta take this girl down, here and now, for my big brother and big-sister-in-law’s peace of mind?”
“I’m just kiddin’ about all of this. I’d really rather you be my Big Sister.”
“Urgh... After all this back and forth, I’m thinkin’ maybe I’m ready to just accept that.”
“If it means you’ll let me call you Big Sister, I don’t mind bein’ your little brother!”
“You’re gettin’ a sex change?! Do you really need to go that far?!”
“Hey, now, ya never know. I know how I look, but maybe I’m actually a boy in girls’ clothin’.”
“A cross-dressin’ boy?! Those exist?!”
“The opposite does, too, y’know? Ichiha has a cute face, doesn’t he?”
“Ichiha’s a cross-dressin’ girl?! You know... I’d buy it.”
“Hold on, you two!” He hadn’t been able to get a word in edgewise up until now, but when they started calling him a cross-dressing girl, Ichiha finally couldn’t take anymore and spoke up. “Who are you calling a cross-dressing girl?! I’m a boy!”
“Oh, but Ichiha would look good in some of my clothes...” Tomoe muttered.
“Even you, Tomoe?!”
Being that she was someone who he got along with, Ichiha became visibly depressed. When she saw that, Roroa gave Lucy a light poke in the head. “Hey, your joke went and got Ichiha real sad.”
“Nyahaha! Soooo-ryyyy.”
“Are ya really? I dunno, I’m not convinced.”
“I am, okaaaay? My regret runs higher than the mountain fold, and deeper than the valley fold.”
“Origami folds?! That’s some paper-thin regret!”
“I’m just tryin’ to paper things over here.”
“See, you’re not really that sorry at all!”
“Jeez, Big Sister Roroa, you’re so needy.”
“Me?! I’m the bad one here?!”
“...You two really are in sync,” Liscia cut-in with an exasperated sigh. Everyone nodded in agreement.
“If you told me she was Roroa’s sister, I would believe it,” Aisha said. And Souma followed up with, “She’s like a mini Roroa.”
Roroa’s eyes widened in surprise. Then, slamming her hands down on the table as she stood up, she jabbed a finger in Lucy’s direction. “Huh? I’m like this?”
“You didn’t realize? Well, I do find that part of you annoyingly cute, you know?” Souma said.
“Drop the annoyin’ bit! I thought I was the lovable type!”
As Roroa was reeling in plain shock, Lucy moved up right next to her. “I love ya. I even keep a tiny shrine to Lady Roroa on the shop’s premises.”
“That’s some overbearin’ love! It’s already turnin’ into a religion!”
“Oh, is Lady Roroa a cute goddess?”
““““““““““She’s a queen!”””””””””” everyone there retorted in unison.
Incidentally, because this exchange was so funny, Souma would later decide to start this world’s first comedy program featuring Roroa and Lucy, but... that’s another story.
In Velza’s Room
Velza had a room in a girls’ dormitory on the grounds of the Royal Academy.
“So you’ve been living in the dorm, huh, Vel?” Tomoe asked.
“Yes. My family home in the God-Protected Forest is quite far from here, after all.”
Today, Velza had invited three of her friends: Tomoe, Yuriga, and Lucy, to come and visit her room. This was because, when they found out Velza lived in the dorm, Tomoe and the others had said they’d like to see her room there. Incidentally, because there was a strict “no boys allowed” policy in the girls’ dorm, Ichiha had been unable to come.
Lucy chuckled. “Well, knowin’ how pretty Ichiha is, if we tried dressin’ him up in girls clothes, I’d bet he could’ve gotten in, wouldn’t you?”
“Ahh, that’s for sure. I think he’d make a real beauty.”
“...Give the poor kid a break.”
Tomoe ended up agreeing despite herself, but Yuriga played the straight man role.
Looking around the room, Lucy said, “Still, it’s more normal than I’d’ve expected.”
“So, what kind of room were you imagining?”
“Weeeellll.” Lucy snickered. “Seein’ as you’re a dark elf, Velie, and they’re famous for bein’ incredible archers and all, I was expectin’ to see a bow and arrow, along with heads from all the animals ya hunted.”
“Honestly. This isn’t the officers’ academy. There are rules banning weapons here, so I left my favorite bow and quiver at home.”
“...So ya do have them then.” Lucy smiled wryly at the matter-of-fact way Velza mentioned it.
Now it was Tomoe’s turn to ask a question, “I don’t see a kitchen. How do you eat?”
“In the cafeteria. Meals are prepared for students who live in the dorms.”
“Hmm. The same as Ichiha and me then, huh?” said Yuriga.
Since they lived in Parnam Castle, it was common for them to eat at the cafeteria there. Because they were foreign guests, they could have asked for room service, but it was boring eating alone, so they went to the cafeteria. Tomoe and her family occasionally joined them, so dinner could get quite lively there.
“Hey, that sounds like it could end up bein’ fun, too,” said Lucy, who had decided to lie down on Vela’s bed at some point. Out of everyone present, she was the one living the most normal life.
“Isn’t it easier being able to commute from home every day?” Velza asked.
“No, no,” Lucy replied, waving her hand at the idea. “If I’m at home, I get dragged into helpin’ at the shop, and that means havin’ to be the lovable poster girl for all our customers, y’know? ...Well, I do get an allowance for doin’ it, so I don’t really mind.”
“Well, aren’t you crafty?” Yuriga shrugged.
“You wanna try workin’, too, Yurie? I think ya’d be popular.”
“...Training for club is too much already. I can’t do work on top of that,” she replied with a serious look on her face. Members of the Mage Soccer Club were often subjected to harsh training.
“Oh, uh, sorry.” Lucy backed down.
Tomoe clapped her hands and said, “But it’s great being able to earn money for yourself. I think it’d be lovely if I could give Big Brother and my big sisters birthday presents with money that I earned myself.”
“If you started working, a third of the customers at the shop would be your bodyguards.”
“Ohh, you’ve got a point there, Yuriga.”
Tomoe smiled wryly as she imagined the faces of the guards who were always so concerned for her. They wouldn’t just be watching from the shadows, there would likely be plainclothes bodyguards mixed in with the customers, too.
“If they’re payin’ customers, I’m more than happy to welcome her bodyguards.”
“You really are a crafty one,” Yuriga retorted again with a shrug.
Velza quietly raised her hand. “In that case, I would like to try working. It seems the Cooking Society doesn’t meet every day.”
“Do you mean it? We’d be thrilled to have ya, Velie,” Lucy said gleefully and hugged Velza’s arm. “We can be the poster girls for The Cat’s Tree. We’ll take the world by storm.”
“I don’t really want to take the world by storm... just make money.”
“Is there something you want?” Tomeo asked.
“I want to give a present to the people who’ve taken care of me, too,” Velza responded shyly.
Who was she imagining? The way her cheeks flushed and she smiled a little made the other three curious.
“A present? Who for? Who for?”
“Could this be for the person you were saying you wanted to serve?”
“I’m not lettin’ go of this arm until you tell us.”
“I-It’s a secret.”
As the three pressed in closer, Velza turned her head to the side. They kept at it until Velza could take no more and exploded, and the girls’ talk continued from there.
Making Goods for the Ghost Festival
“Your Majesty, I have come at your behest,” Sebastian said with a reverent bow upon arriving.
I had called Roroa and Sebastian to the governmental affairs office today. In putting on the Ghost Festival, I was going to be leaning on Roroa’s company, which Sebastian was the public face of, so I needed to talk to the two of them quickly.
“I want to create some things that will make it easy for ordinary people to dress up for the Ghost Festival.” I laid a piece of paper out on the desk where it was easy for them to see. It was a simple sketch of a hairband with cat ears on it. “I’d like for your company to develop and mass-produce items like this one, which lets people dress up with just one part of their body.”
I was thinking of something like the mouse ears sold at a certain “land of dreams” in order to help guests enjoy the park. (Or was it to subject them to peer pressure from their fellow guests?)
“We don’t have much time before the event, but could I ask you to take care of it?”
“Let’s see...” said Sebastian, who looked like the sort of gentleman who should be drinking Earl Grey tea and stroking his mustache. “If we can gain the cooperation of companies with the right connections, mass-producing simple things should be possible. Though, that assumes we have decided on what will be produced from the start.”
That meant we wouldn’t make it in time if we started by just rattling off ideas. That was within the realm of expectations.
“I want to narrow down the number of items, and decide what we are going to do here. I plan to put a lot of detail into the loreleis’ outfits, but for the people’s costumes, cheap, simple, and plentiful is what we want.”
Besides, there would be a sense of taboo around dressing up in any monster costume that was too involved. I had talked this over with Bishop Souji and the higher-ups of the other state religions, but it was the first time we were doing this, so I needed to carefully watch the people’s reactions.
“I’ll be having the loreleis wear demon-like costumes, but we’ll need other ghost costumes, too.”
“Ghosts, huh...? I can’t think of any.” Roroa crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side.
...Oh, right. This world doesn’t have a lot of different ideas of what ghosts are like. There was just the traditional ghost, and the will o’ wisp. Because zombies and skeletons actually existed, they were categorized as monsters instead. The flame pierrots I had invented had been treated like a new kind of monster, too. It had to be the fact that you couldn’t see them that gave ghosts and youkai their flavor.
“So, I was thinking I’d fill in the gap with ghosts from my world. Using the ones that can be made the cutest... For a start, there’s this.” I showed them a cutesy drawing of a ghost I’d drawn from memory.
“Darlin’, what’s this?”
“It’s a jiangshi. They’re a type of ghost from my world.”
“What kind of youkai is it?”
“It’s a reanimated corpse... I guess. Some sort of mage puts a talisman on them, and then is able to control them freely... Basically, it’s like a remote control zombie. This one’s foreign to me, too, so I couldn’t go into detail about the origins of it and whatnot.”
“Hmm... Is there anythin’ a bit more distinctive about it?” Roroa asked.
“Well...” I wracked my brain. “Because of rigor mortis, they can’t bend their arms and legs, so they hop along like this, with their arms outstretched.”
I stood up and imitated the child jiangshi from an old movie my grandpa had, doing the jiangshi jump in time with a children’s song about pigeons. That caught Roroa’s attention, and her eyes sparkled.
“What’s that all about?! It’s an awfully cheerful ghost.”
“No, scary jiangshi are properly scary, though...”
Hrm... I feel like I’m not communicating this right. The only image I had of jiangshi was that movie, and I lacked the information to correct it. Maybe this was what it was like when foreigners got the wrong idea about samurai.
“Got anythin’ else?”
“Well, there’s this one ghost that’s a giant single eye that says, ‘You damn lolicons’...”
That was how I ended up explaining the ghosts of my old world to Roroa. Because my tastes were a tad eccentric, I may have gotten riled up and given her some wrong information, too. The result of all this was some simple costumes for the jiangshi, tengu, wolf man, wolf woman, among others. But in addition to those costumes, Roroa’s company also sold an encyclopedia of Earth’s youkai, which was well-received. That caused a ghost story boom in the castle, and...
“Souma! Would you stop trying to turn the royal capital into a den of demons?!”
In the end, I ended up getting another lecture from Liscia.
The Ghost Festival (The Republic Team’s Perspective)
“Ookyakya! This is getting exciting!” Kuu was enjoying himself as he looked around at all the hustle and bustle of the festival.
The trio of Kuu, Taru, and Leporina had come to the first Parnaam Ghost Festival, which was being sponsored by Souma, as regular attendees. Leporina, who was wearing a short black dress with bat wings growing out of the back of it spun around in front of Kuu.
“Hey, hey, Master Kuu, does this suit me?”
She was wearing a devil girl costume. The thin dress accentuated her figure, making Kuu avert his eyes awkwardly.
“W-Well... I guess it’s okay?” Thump! “Ow!”
He turned around in the direction of the blow to his head, and there, wearing a pointy witch’s hat and black cape, looking a little dissatisfied, was Taru.
“Wh-What’s the big idea, Taru?!”
“You don’t understand how women feel, Master Kuu. You have to look at her properly.”
“You can say that all you want, but Leporina’s...”
“Not just your bodyguard anymore?” Taru asked him with unswerving eyes. Kuu was speechless.
A little before Souma’s wedding ceremony, Kuu had gotten engaged to his childhood friends Taru and Leporina. Basically, that meant that this Ghost Festival was his first festival date with his two fiancĂ©es. Up until now, because of his feelings for Taru, even if he noticed his own affection for Leporina, he had done his best not to look at her as a woman. But now that he had accepted her as a fiancĂ©e with Taru’s blessing, he had to see her as a woman.
I tried to ignore her all this time... Can you blame me for being confused?
Leporina smiled, as if she could see right through what Kuu was thinking. “I get it, Master Kuu. You’re feeling shy, right?”
“D-Don’t be stupid. Why would I feel that way towards you...?”
“Hee hee, you can look more, you know? I dressed up to get you to compliment me, after all,” Leporina said, striking a pose.
“Oh, yeah? Bring it on! In that case, I’m gonna look!”
Kuu stared hard at Leporina. She had the beauty of a model, with her arms and legs being long and slender, but the rest of her body sticking out in all the right places...
“Take that!”
“Ow! Again, Taru?!”
Taking another smack upside the head, Kuu’s eyes watered a little as he protested the abuse, but Taru held her staff tight as she looked away peevishly.
“When you only look at Leporina... it kind of makes me mad.”
“Isn’t that kind of unreasonable?!”
“...I dressed up today, too.”
“You dressed up, huh?” Kuu said as he rubbed his head. “Yeah, I think you look cute, too, of course. You usually dress like a boy, but today you’re dressed up as a girl, even if it’s as a witch. There’s no way you wouldn’t look cute.”
There was a moment of surprise, then, “...Thanks.”
Taru remained expressionless, but there was something not unpleasant about her expression as she thanked him. When she saw the look on Taru’s face, Leprina’s cheeks puffed up with dissatisfaction.
“Murgh... How is it you can be so forthcoming with praise for Taru? You didn’t even hesitate.”
Kuu let out his trademark monkey-like laugh. “Hey, I’ve been trying to woo her for way longer. How could I be embarrassed about it now?”
“Whaaaa, is that how it works?”
“Yeah. Complimenting you, on the other hand... I feel like you’re going to give me a smug look, so it feels complicated doing it.”
“Wait, what does that mean?!”
“...I kind of get where you’re coming from.”
“Even you, Taru?!”
The unexpected betrayal from Taru left Leporina the one on the verge of tears this time. But seeing Leporina with tears in her eyes, Kuu and Taru both agreed that it was kind of unfair how cute she looked.
They looked at one another, then each offered a hand to Leporina.
“Come on, don’t mope forever. Let’s go, Leporina.”
“We don’t get to have a festival every day. We’ve got to enjoy it.”
Looking at the hands she’d been offered, Leporina wiped her tears and smiled.
“Okay! I wouldn’t want you leaving me behind, after all!”
With that said, she grasped both their hands firmly.
The relationship between the three childhood friends seemed unchanged, and yet maybe a little different... Well, that was about how it was.