Chapter 2: Start From X (part 3)

I had worried about how many people would come, but the response was far

greater than I had anticipated. Not placing any limits on the type of gift and offering

a cash prize had probably helped.

Now the capital was packed so full of people, we'd had to place restrictions on

the number of people allowed access to the palace. The situation was so

overwhelming that the officials, including Marx, had been running around like mad

since morning.

It felt to me like way too many people had turned up, but apparently, since I had

put out such a wide call, the masses had rushed to the capital to see what kind of

people would catch the king's attention.

When people move, things move, too.

Merchants who sensed a business opportunity had gathered to set up shop, so

the castle town looked like there was a festival going on. It was an unexpected shot

in the arm for our economy, but, at the same time, it also meant more work for the

officials.

Now, as for the all-important recruitment drive, the response to that was

massive, as well.

A multitude of diverse gifts, some immediately useful, some of no apparent use at

all upon first glance, were on display at the judging station. There, five officials

judged whether the participants' gifts were unique. If they were acknowledged to be,

prize money was awarded, no matter what that gift was. Liscia and I were in a

separate room, reading the reports from the judges and picking out any people we

liked.

There really were a lot of applicants, but that also meant a considerable amount

of overlap in their gifts. The competition was particularly fierce for the "Gift of

Martial Ability," "Gift of Talent," and "Gift of Beauty," so they were deciding on a

number one for each category at another site.

At each of these sites, named "Best in the Kingdom Martial Arts Tournament,"

"Kingdom of Talent," and "Elfrieden Pretty Girl Grand Prix," spectators enjoyed

watching the proceedings.

...By the way, after this, by request of the merchant's guild, these tournaments

became a yearly event in the capital Parnam and attracted a large number of

tourists.

Also, the Elfrieden Pretty Girl Grand Prix invited rumors that it was actually

being held by the king to choose his mistresses. As a result, all of the nobles who

wanted to tie their own lines to the royal family sent their relatives to participate,

but that's not relevant at the moment, so I'll skip over it. Though, when Liscia heard

the rumors, I did get some cold looks for it later...

The judging process had originally been planned to last for one day, but instead it

lasted for three. Those with gifts that made me think, "This is what I'm looking for"

were brought before me on the fourth day.

I was seated on the throne, with Liscia standing at my side. (Technically, while

we were betrothed, the marriage hadn't been held yet, so she wasn't allowed to

touch the queen's throne.) One step down from us, Prime Minister Marx stood to the

right of us, Captain of the Royal Guard Ludwin to the left.

By the way, we had hauled the jewel from the Jewel Voice Room into the throne

room, so this scene was being broadcast around the kingdom.

Five young people were brought before us:

One had silver hair and elven ears, a girl who looked like a warrior with some

muscle showing through her brown skin.

One wore a black robe which covered his whole body, a thin young man with a

somehow listless look on his face.

One looked distinguished, but in a different way from Liscia, a beautiful bluehaired girl with a gentle air about her.

One had little fox ears sprouting from her head, a rustic-looking girl of around

ten.

And, finally, one was a fat middle-aged man drenched in sweat.

"Your Majesty. The many gifted people of this country who came in response to

your summons have been recorded in a ledger. These people here are those

possessed of especially rare gifts."

When Marx said this, the fat man prostrated himself before me, jumping to do so

with the speed of a grasshopper. The blue-haired pretty girl did the same, her every

move filled with grace, and the fox-eared little girl awkwardly followed suit. The

black-robed young man watched them all sleepily, prostrating himself before me

last.

The elf-eared girl remained standing. Everyone present was shocked.

"You are before the king. Will you not prostrate yourself?" Ludwin cautioned her

in a quiet but forceful voice.

The elf-eared girl seemed not to care. More than that, she looked me in the eye

and said this:

"I ask your forbearance, as this is the custom of my tribe. The warriors of my

tribe do not lower their head before any but their master. And, for our women, to

not lower your head before any but your husband is proof of your chastity."

"Still..." Ludwin argued.

"I don't mind." I held up a hand to stop Ludwin from arguing with her. "We're the

ones asking them to help the country. There's no need to be so uptight."

"...As you wish, Your Majesty," Ludwin said, backing down easily.

...He did that knowing what would happen, I'll bet. He acted in a way that keeps

people from taking us lightly, while still showing how tolerant the king is. He's an

impressive actor. In that case, I'll have to live up to expectations and play the tolerant

king.

I rose from the throne and turned to face them.

"Please, do not prostrate yourselves before me. It is I who am in the position of

asking you for a favor. Do not stand on ceremony. Go ahead and be at ease."

The four of them rose quietly. I looked to Marx, indicating that he should

continue.

Marx nodded, beginning to read from some sort of scroll. "We will now announce

the gifts held by these individuals and carry out the awarding of prizes! Madam

Aisha Udgard, dark elf from the God-Protected Forest, step forward!"

"Yes, sir!"

This time, the elf-eared girl meekly obeyed.

She looked less than twenty years old, but I had heard dark elves remained

youthful for a long time, so their appearance and age didn't match. She had brown

skin and an attractive silver ponytail. Wearing chest armor and gauntlets, she was

dressed like a warrior. Her slender legs peeked out through the slit in her waist

cloth. They were moderately muscular and looked quite healthy.

Dark elves, I thought. One of the minority races of Elfrieden, they are a race with a

high-level of combat ability. Instead of cities, they reside in the God-Protected Forest

and are granted autonomy as protectors of the forest. They have a strong sense of

racial unity and reject outsiders... huh.

While acting like nothing was out of the ordinary, I manipulated the gloves I had

left imbued with my consciousness in the other room to flip through the Elfrieden

Children's Encyclopedia (since it was aimed at children, the entries were short, which

made it useful when looking up information quickly) to read the article on dark

elves.

The dark elves in this country weren't fallen elves that had lost the blessing of the

gods, like you might see in a lot of fantasy settings. It seemed it was just that the

pale-skinned blonde elves were called "light elves," and the brown-skinned, silverhaired elves were called "dark elves" to distinguish between the two.

"This one has shown herself to be remarkably gifted with martial ability. She was

the winner of the Best in the Kingdom Martial Arts Tournament. That achievement

shows she truly is fit to be called the greatest in this kingdom, and for this, we praise

her!" Marx declared.

Huh, so she's the winner of that martial arts tournament. She must be pretty tough,

then. There was just one thing that concerned me. "I put out a call for capable people

who will help the kingdom, but will you help me when the time comes? I've read that

dark elves are loyal only to their own kind."

"...It is no longer an era where we can survive just by protecting our forests. If

this country falls, the forest will be threatened. Some feel that we dark elves need to

change. I am one of them," Aisha said clearly.

"Well... That's a rather liberal statement for one from such a conservative race," I

said.

"True, I am seen as a heretic. However, if we don't do something... King Souma?"

"Yes?"

"I do not need the prize money. Instead, I ask you to allow me to address you

directly."

The hall was abuzz. Aisha was trying to make a direct appeal to the king. Even in

Japan, there was a time when that would have been a capital crime. It seemed this

country was no different.

Liscia and Ludwin's hands went to their swords, but I motioned for them to stop.

"I will allow it. Say what you will."

"Souma?! That's not—!"

"She was ready to risk a lot to say this to me. As king, I should hear her out."

"Thank you. I will speak, then." Aisha puffed out her chest with pride and spoke.

"Recently, there have been a large number of incursions into the God-Protected

Forest by other races. They harvest mushrooms and other edible wild plants,

hunting down the forest beasts. I understand that you have a food crisis; however, if

you steal these things from us, we will be the ones who starve! We have had no

choice but to take up arms against the intruders. Even now, there are clashes taking

place throughout the forest. King Souma, please, crack down on the offenders!"

"I see..."

Basically, she wants me to forbid the people who are going without food from

hunting or harvesting wild plants in the forest. When there's a food crisis, if you go to

an area where distribution is limited, the crisis is even deeper there. If there just so

happens to be a forest with plentiful resources nearby, I guess they might enter it even

in the face of dark elf attacks.

"Sure, you've got it. In regards to the God-Protected Forest, there are already

laws restricting entrance, so I can't issue a new ban, but I'll see to it that food aid

reaches the people in the vicinity at once. If, even after that, there are still those

trying to enter the God-Protected Forest, we will recognize them as poachers and

prosecute them."

"Thank you. You have my gratitude."

With those words, in place of bowing, Aisha brought her hand to her chest and

closed her eyes. I wasn't sure if that was a gesture of gratitude or just a pose

showing relief at accomplishing her task.

"Still, Aisha, poaching is an unspeakable crime, but if we think about the future,

would it not be wise to consider trade with those outside the forest? Aren't there

things in the outside world that draw your interest?" I asked.

"Well, yes, but... We have no likely trade goods."

"Hmm... What about lumber? Don't you have some from periodic thinning?"

Living in a forest, they must have had more wood than they knew what to do

with. In the outside world, on the other hand, demand for it was high. It ought to

make a decent trade good... That was what I thought, but...

"Periodic thinning... What might that be?" Aisha asked with a serious look on her

face, and I couldn't help but be dumbstruck for a moment.

Huh? Don't tell me they don't do periodic forest thinning in this world?

"I'm referring to the periodic felling of a set number of trees in order to maintain

the forest..."

As I said this, I glanced to Liscia, Marx and Ludwin, but all of them shook their

heads. Apparently, this was the first they'd ever heard of it. It was the same with

Aisha.

"To protect the forest... you cut down trees?"

"Of course. If you leave trees alone, they just keep getting bigger, and their leaves

and branches spread out. If they block out the sunlight, young trees can't grow.

Besides, if they're growing too densely, it impacts their lifespan, so you end up with

with nothing but old trees that are thin and weak, like beansprouts. That sort of

beansprout forest is easily be destroyed by snow and wind. On top of that, if the sun

doesn't reach the undergrowth, it all dries up. That causes the land to lose its ability

to hold water, which can be a cause of landslides. This is all common knowledge...

right?"

Looking around me, it was like seeing a collection of bobbleheads that could only

shake their heads left and right.

Aisha suddenly prostrated herself before me. "King Souma... no, Your Majesty!"

"Wh-What?!"

"I humbly beg your forgiveness for my earlier rudeness!"

"Uh, I didn't even care, but... Wait, is it okay for you to lower your head like that?"

"I do not mind! Because, from this very moment, I pledge to serve you loyally for

the rest of my life!"

Whoa, whoa, hold on. What's going on here...?

"Use my life however you will! My body, my heart, my chastity, I offer to you! If

you tell me to fight, I will fight! If you tell me to love you, I will love you! If you tell

me to become your concubine or slave, I will do it! If you tell me to die, I will die!"

"Where did this crazy loyalty come from?! What happened in the last few

minutes?!"

"However, before you order me to die, I ask you heed my final request!"

"Huh? You're ignoring me?! You're totally ignoring me?!"

"Please, as soon as possible, come to the God-Protected Forest!" Then she

slammed her head firmly against the floor once more.

At this point, even Liscia was thoroughly taken aback.

...That self-harming kowtow is practically a threat...

"Okay, let's hear your story," I said. "Basically, you want to bring me to the GodProtected Forest, right?"

"That is precisely it! And, at the God-Protected Forest, please teach us this

'periodic thinning'! In recent years, the God-Protected Forest has been facing exactly

the issues you just spoke of, sire! Where the trees are dense, they become thin and

weak, young trees don't grow, the water is muddy, and when wind or heavy storms

come through, they strip the land bare. With your words, I have at last learned the

cause!"

"The God-Protected Forest has a history stretching back thousands of years,

doesn't it? Nobody noticed this before?" I asked, only for Liscia and Aisha to

ashamedly nod.

"The trees in the God-Protected Forest are long-lived to begin with," Aisha said.

"That is why, up until now when they're reaching the end of their life cycle, nobody

noticed..."

"That's right..." Liscia said. "This isn't just their problem. We don't do periodic

thinning in Elfrieden's mountains either, so the situation may be the same

everywhere."

"Well, anywhere they don't rely too heavily on the forest should be fine. When

the old trees fall, new ones grow in anyway. Even if a natural disaster wipes out a

beansprout forest, it will recover in ten years or so. Nature works in cycles like that,

after all."

"Wouldn't that be devastating to the dark elves of the God-Protected Forest?"

Liscia asked.

...I'll bet it probably would. They live in the forest itself, after all. If the forest

disappears, we'll have ourselves an instant set of refugees. I don't need any more

refugees, so I'd better act quickly.

"I understand. Let's head to the God-Protected Forest at some point in the near

future."

"Ohhhh! Thank you, sire!" Aisha cried.

"However, when I come, you'll have to permit the entry of a certain number of

people. It looks like forestry management is going to be a task for the entire country.

I'll take this opportunity to hold some classes on how to establish the forest

industry."

"As you wish, sire," she said.

"Good. Ludwin."

"Sir."

"It sounds like she wants to serve me, so I'd like you to see what Aisha is capable

of. We know her martial prowess as an individual, but whether she can become a

general and lead troops remains an open question. If she has the potential, I will

make her the general of an army. If not, I will hire her as my personal bodyguard."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

Much later, after testing her, Ludwin would tell me, "She does have potential as a

general. However, her ability as an individual fighter is greater, and it would be a

waste to use her as a general." She was the convenient Lu Bu type, apparently, the

kind of fighter who could act as a general, but could also be sent in alone to wreak

havoc. From then on, I would keep Aisha at my side as a bodyguard.

That was the end of Aisha's turn, but things had gotten pretty intense with the

very first person. I'd just been planning to hand out awards quickly then call out to

anyone who looked useful...