Prologue: The Beginning of the Enlightenment (part 1)

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!"