Final Chapter: In the Snow (part 1)

—31st Day, 12th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar — Royal Capital

Parnam

There were eight days in this world's week. With four weeks in a month, that

meant each month had 32 days. There were twelve months in a year, so the year

ended on the 384th day.

The third through fifth months were spring, the sixth through eighth were

summer, the ninth through eleventh were fall, and the twelfth through the second of

the next year were winter, the same as Japan.

Today was the 31st day of the twelfth month. In Earth's calendar, this would be

New Year's Eve, but in this world's calendar, it was just another day at the end of the

year.

In this country, New Year's Eve and Day were generally celebrated quietly with

one's friends and family. Normally, the castle wasn't all that busy (the political year

began on the first day of the fourth month), aside from priests who carried out the

New Year's ceremony, but right now the great hall in Parnam Castle was in a state of

pandemonium.

"Aisha, carry that set over to the right," Liscia ordered.

"Understood, prin... Lady Liscia."

Following Liscia's directions, Aisha picked up a stage set that would normally

have taken multiple adults to lift and easily slung it over her shoulder. Aisha could

always be counted on to do the heavy lifting... Oh!

"Carla, Hal," I directed. "Line up those two pillar props over here."

"Understood, master."

"Right, right," Hal said. "...Sigh."

With my directions, Carla and Halbert, a vanguard commander from the National

Defense Force, were affixing (fake) marble pillar-like objects that looked like they

belonged in the Parthenon to the floor. From there, Liscia and I kept giving orders to

my vassals (and betrothed), following the plans in my hands.

"Still, to think you'd not only use the National Defense Force, but also a future

queen to do hard labor for you..." Ludwin said with a wry smile.

Behind us, Ludwin, the Captain of the Royal Guard, and his second in command,

Kaede, were finalizing the details of their plan for on-site security.

"It would be unthinkable in any other country, you know," said Kaede. "Also, Hal,

work faster. Chop chop."

"I am, Kaede!"

I waved my hand dismissively at Ludwin. "Now, now, Aisha said she wanted to

help herself. Besides, it's just a fact that there's no one in this castle stronger than

Aisha."

If we'd had earth mages (for gravitational control), this would have been easy,

but they had all been sent out to lay roads in the newly absorbed Principality of

Amidonia. We didn't have cranes for indoor use, meaning we had to rely on human

labor for all of this, and I couldn't see a reason to let Aisha's muscles go to waste.

Liscia let out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly... If you had just said something

sooner, we wouldn't be dealing with this tight schedule..."

"It's not like I could have," I said. "I mean, I only came up with this idea a week

ago."

"It's pretty incredible that everyone said, 'Let's do it!' to something you came up

with on the spur of the moment, though."

W-Well, lately, it did feel like my brakes were starting to break down.

With Roroa and Colbert joining us, there was more funding at my disposal, and

Genia the Overscientist was merrily giving birth to new inventions. Also, because of

the many new policies we had instituted, the people of Friedonia themselves had

developed a fondness for the strange and were overflowing with curiosity. It was

like the Japanese craftsman spirit, or something like, "No matter how meaningless,

when you master a thing, it becomes an art." That was how an idle thought that had

come out of my mouth one week ago...

"Oh, hey, it's almost the end of the year. If it's the end of the year, its time for the

Kouhaku Year-end Song Festival."

...had ended up being implemented like this.

The first one to hear me, Roroa, had said, "What, what?! Tell me more about that

wonderful name that sounds like profit!"

So I ended up having to explain Kouhaku, the Red and White Song Battle, to her.

When I did, Juna, who was also listening, said, "A festival of songs, is it? That

sounds like an opportunity to put our talents to work," and was uncharacteristically

proactive about it.

Then Pamille and Nanna, as well as other loreleis, and the general who had

become a singer, Margarita, had gotten highly enthusiastic about the idea, and after

some point it had gone so far that I couldn't say, "Nope, we're not doing it after all!"

anymore.

Between loreleis from the singing cafe Lorelei, which had at some point turned

into something like a production company, and participants from the Nodo Jiman

amateur singing contest program we ran in Van gathering, it had turned into a fairly

large-scale event. That was when the sudden rush to get things ready had begun.

Well, having everyone work together to create something was fun in a culture

festival sort of way, but it meant my workload had gone up just that much more...

The hard part was going to be the "White" part of Kouhaku's red and white.

The Red Team (female singers), led by Juna, had variety and flair, but the male

singers just didn't leave as much of an impact. The vast majority had come up

through Nodo Jiman, and they all sung this world's folk songs. If there were no male

idols participating in Kouhaku, and it were all enka singers, that wouldn't be very

stylish, now would it?

Because of that, I had decided on a big experimental deployment of my male idol

response to the female loreleis—the singing knights, orpheuses—which I had been

developing for some time.

"Now, my orpheuses, gather!" I called.

"""Yes, sir!"""

When I called out to them, three young men who were discussing something off

in the corner came over to me. One of them, the tall, silver-haired, twenty-something

man, saluted me and said, "The orpheus unit Yaiba is ready and awaiting your

commands."

He was a human from Van and the leader of Yaiba, Axe Steiner. He was an

attractive man with striking, cool eyes, but his overly formal speech that was

characteristic of young men from Amidonia gave him a strait-laced image.

When he saw the way Axe was acting, the comparatively easygoing young man

with tiger-stripped hair laughed wryly. "Sheesh, our leader's such a stiff. Am I right,

Kukri?"

"I think you're a little too laid back, Kotetsu," Kukri agreed.

The frivolous and superficial looking young tiger beastman was Kotetsu Burai. He

was a fiery man with distinctive yellow and black stripes; athletic; and his sharp

dance moves made him stand out even in this group.

The one he had turned to for agreement was a middle school aged pretty boy (?),

Kukri Carol. I think you'll have realized this from his surname, but Kukri was a

kobito and Pamille Carol's big twin brother. He was clearly filling out the shota

position in the unit, but he was still the eldest of the three.

...Man, the kobito race were scary.

Well, anyway, these were the three members of Friedonia's first idol unit, Yaiba.

The name had come from the fact that all three of them had names that sounded

kind of like bladed weapons. I hadn't had much time to come up with a name, after

all.

Incidentally, I'd considered including Hal, who also had a weapon-like name, in

their members, but he had firmly refused. According to Kaede, "Hal can control his

pitch, but he's tone deaf, you know."

That wasn't important now, though. I clapped my hands. "I want the members of

Yaiba to start rehearsing as soon as the set is ready."

"Yes, sir!" Steiner announced. "Are you certain you want us to go first, sir?"

"I want to test that the stage is strong enough," I said. "You're the only act during

the song battle that will have multiple members singing and dancing. If you guys are

fine, it should be safe for everyone else, too."

"Yes, sir! Understood!"

When Axe, who was as stiff and formal as ever, headed toward the finished stage,

the remaining two smiled wryly and followed after him.

"Good grief," Kotetsu said. "Why's our leader gotta be such a square?"

"It's because he's nervous, isn't it?" said Kukri. "Though I'm sure his personality

has something to do with it, too."

"Hey, you two! Look alive!" someone yelled as they were dragging their feet

toward the stage.

""Eek!"" they shouted, jumping a little.

When the two hesitantly turned around, they found a frowning Margarita

standing there in a deep red dress. It was a showy color, but that only made her

three times more intense.

Margarita looked the two of them up and down then raised her voice. "You are

the face of Friedonia! Stand up straight and get your acts together!"

""Y-Yes'm!""

"If you get it, then get going! On the double!"

""R-Roger!""

Margarita had risen to become a general in Amidonia's patriarchal society. When

she tore into them, those two responded with the same stiff formality as Axe and ran

off toward the stage. They were like new recruits being chewed out by a drill

instructor.

Then Margarita noticed me and hurriedly bowed her head. "Wh-Why, Your

Majesty, I've let you see something most embarrassing there."

"Oh, I don't mind," I said. "They're a bunch of strong personalities, so having you

take charge helps. Still... that outfit really is something."

"This is, well... I snuck out during the costume fitting..."

"You snuck out?" I repeated.

"Oh, there ya are. Runnin' out durin' a fittin'? That's just not right, Margie."

"P-Princess?!" Margarita yelped.

"'Margie'?" I repeated.

I turned to look because Margarita had let out a scream, and there was Roroa

rushing over to us.

She reached us and smoothly wrapped herself around my arm. "Darlin', I've been

workin' hard, too. Praise me, praise me." She rubbed her face up against my

shoulder.

Her adorable little animal-like gestures felt somewhat calculated, but... still, she

sure was cute. The fact of the matter was, without Roroa's financial cooperation, this

plan wouldn't have been possible.

I petted her on the head. "You've been a big help. Thanks, Roroa."

"Mwuhuhuh!" she giggled.

"Come on, Roroa," said Liscia sternly. "You've gotten your praise, and you're

satisfied, right? We're working here, so it's time for you to let go."

Liscia grabbed Roroa up by the scruff of the neck like she might do to a cat and

pulled her off me. Roroa got into it and even threw in a playful meow.

"Wait, I didn't have time to be doin' this," Roroa added, interrupting herself. "I'm

gonna take Margie back with me. We're still in the middle of her costume fittin', after

all."

"Costume? You mean this red dress?" I asked.

Roroa gave me a bold laugh. "Look forward to it. It's gonna knock your socks off

durin' the main event."

"I don't like it, princess!" Margarita protested. "Not that. Spare me that, at least!"

"I already put in the order, so give up and just accept it," Roroa smirked.

"Nooo! Not eighteen meters!"

Margarita was dragged off by Roroa, looking more frantic than I'd ever seen her

before. Margarita could scare your average man senseless, but she couldn't stand up

to Roroa, the former princess of Amidonia. I didn't really get the balance of power

between the former Amidonians.