Chapter 1: Let’s Make an Educational Program (Silvan’s Debut) (1)

10th day, 1st month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar — Royal Capital Parnam

It was a day when the festive mood of the New Year was beginning to settle

down.

The fountain plaza in Parnam where the Jewel Voice Broadcast could be watched

was still packed with people. That new king was apparently going to be broadcasting

yet another new program, so the people had gathered to see it. At this point, it was a

familiar sight in pretty much any city where the Jewel Voice Broadcast could be

watched. The people would gather every time a new program was planned like this;

the merchants would come with their carts, and it would turn into a festival-like

atmosphere.

Dece, Juno, and their adventuring party were there in that festive fountain plaza.

"Wow, it's as crowded as ever," Juno commented. "That's the capital for you."

That was the opinion the baby-faced, slender, female thief let slip out as she was

overwhelmed by all the people passing by. With the protection quest they had taken

from the guild complete, the party had decided to come see the Jewel Voice

Broadcast, since they were already in the area anyway.

The brawny brawler Augus was dragging the affable young priest Febral around

from stall to stall, so the only ones here were Juno, the hot-blooded and handsome

swordsman Dece, and the quiet, shapely mage Julia.

"These broadcast programs have already become one of the famous sights of this

country, after all," Dece told her. "The music programs are the best, you know. The

loreleis are cute, and when I consider the possibility of not being able to hear their

voices anymore, even though I'm an adventurer, I don't feel like I want to go to other

countries any— Ow!"

Dece had been rambling on about the topic, but Julia pinched his upper arm with

a smile.

Seeing that her leader just didn't understand the female heart, Juno shrugged her

shoulders with dismay. She started thinking that maybe she should be considerate

and disappear off somewhere for their sake... but then it happened.

The broadcast seemed to have started, and the people were all looking towards

the fountain, but what was displayed there was... some sort of roly-poly creature? All

the people of the kingdom were taken aback by this, but Juno had the loudest

reaction of all.

"Huh?! What's Mister Musashibo doing on there?!"

Yes. What was there to hide? The one appearing on screen was not a snowman,

or a kagami mochi, it was Little Musashibo. Little Musashibo turned to the screen

and waved his arms around.

"Hey, everyone. I'm Little Musashibo. Nice to meet you."

"""He talked?!"""

Hearing Little Musashibo's adorable, child-like voice, Juno, Dece, and Julia all

cried out in surprise at the same time. Little Musashibo, who had never said a word

no matter how much trouble they'd gotten into on a quest, was now onscreen and

talking. You couldn't blame them for their surprise.

"That voice... it sounds like a child's, or a woman's. Was the person inside him

female all along?!" Dece cried out in shock, but Juno immediately denied it.

"Nah, I've seen his hand once before, and he was just a normal guy, you know?"

"But that's a girlish voice, isn't it?"

"It's a kigurumi suit, so why can't it just be a different person inside?" Julia

suggested, in a relaxed tone.

Dece and Juno gulped, seeing the logic behind the comment. ""...Y-Yeah, of course

that's it.""

They had forgotten because of how human its gestures were, but the person in

question was a kigurumi suit. It was possible the suit had just been loaned out by the

castle.

With no idea of the confusion it was causing for Juno and the others, the Little

Musashibo on the broadcast declared in a loud voice, "Okay, Together With Big Sis is

starting now."

◇ ◇ ◇

At the same time — Parnam Castle's Great Hall

Right now, Little Musashibo was dancing to an easygoing melody right in front of

our eyes. Liscia, who was standing beside me and watching this from a spot that

wouldn't appear on the broadcast, stood there with her mouth hanging open, a blank

expression on her face. There was an awkward silence between us.

"Um... Could you maybe say something?" I asked hesitantly.

"I don't even know where to start... No, I mean, what is that even supposed to

be?"

"Little Musashibo."

"Yeah. That, I know. That's not what I meant. Why is it talking?"

"Well, because there's a person inside it, of course," I said. "Pamille Carol is

providing the voice."

"Pamille's inside that thing?!"

Yes, as a matter of fact, she was. We'd had no equipment for recording, so we

couldn't add the voice in post-processing, which meant the voice had to come from

inside Little Musashibo. I was controlling his movements, so it wasn't too heavy for

Pamille, but she had still complained it was hot and stuffy inside there.

"You have that kigurumi suit registered as an adventurer, don't you?" Liscia

demanded. "Is it okay having it appear on the Jewel Voice Broadcast? Wouldn't it be

bad if people found out it was connected to the royal family?"

Ohhh, yeah, if Juno and the others were watching, that might turn into a bit of a

headache.

"Well, it's a kigurumi suit, after all," I said. "'We saw this kigurumi in town and

thought it was cute, so the castle asked for a copy, and now we're using it as a

character in our program.' ...Wouldn't a story like that work?"

"Even if it does..." she muttered. "And wait, what is this program even supposed

to be about?"

"What, you ask? It's an educational program."

"Educational?"

"Oh, look, the main program's about to begin," I said, pointing.

◇ ◇ ◇

The easygoing song ended, and the new scene to be broadcast was set on a stage.

Up on the stage there was a backdrop of trees, grass, and stumps to show that it

was a forest. In the middle of that sparse forest, Little Musashibo was drawing

something on the ground with chalk. Looking closer, it was apparently numbers.

"Um... 1+1 is 2, 2+2 is 4... Hrm, this arithmetic stuff is hard."

Little Musashibo twisted his head around in confusion. The gesture was very

childish.

An older girl with blue hair wearing a boyish outfit including a hat and overalls

passed by. When the blue haired girl noticed Little Musashibo, she called out to him

in a cheerful voice.

"Hey, what's wrong, Little Musashibo? Why the troubled look on your

(expressionless) face?"

Little Musashibo looked up, walking over to the girl with slow, easy footsteps.

"Hello, Big Sister Juna."

At that point, the adult viewers noticed what was up. The big sister character was

the famous Prima Lorelei, Juna Doma.

Because Juna was mostly known for being so beautiful that even the girls wanted

her, they hadn't made the connection with her in this boyish outfit. Her tone of voice

was more direct, in keeping with the outfit. While this version of Juna had lost the

mature sexiness that made her seem older than she actually was, it brought out a

cuteness that was more like what you'd expect of a girl her age.

Little Musashibo turned to "Big Sister Juna" for help. "Big Sister Juna, arithmetic

is hard and I don't know what to do about it. I look at books, but there are just

numbers and symbols, and it's not interesting at all."

There were a large number of viewers who nodded in agreement.

It had been nine days earlier that Souma had encouraged the people to learn to

read, write, and do arithmetic, but those who lived a lifestyle where they didn't need

to do calculations had apparently thought, "Okay, reading and writing, maybe, but

what good is learning to do calculations for anyone who isn't a merchant?"

However, Juna giggled and gave a playful wink to Little Musashibo who was

voicing those viewers' opinions for them. "Oh my, don't you know that math can be

fun?"

"What? Really?" Little Musashibo asked doubtfully.

"It's true," she said with great confidence.

A fun, cheery melody began to play again from seemingly nowhere in particular.

Juna began singing along with it.

The song was "Fun Arithmetic." It was from Minna no Uta, or Songs for Everyone,

in the world Souma came from. This song, which was sung by Seiji Tanaka,

presented addition; subtraction; the fact that when you have a group of ten it moves

up to a new digit; and the fact that any number, no matter how large, disappears

when multiplied by zero; all in a comical fashion.

Juna and Little Musashibo sang this song, dancing happily in a circle together.

When they finished, Little Musashibo excitedly clapped his hands. "I feel like

arithmetic just got fun. If I study, will it be even more fun?"

"Of course," Juna assured him. "If you study hard, you'll be able to do even more

amazing things."

Then Juna sang a song for Little Musashibo about all the things he'd be able to do

if he studied his arithmetic. It had a fun melody and playful lyrics, but if you were

listening closely, it expressed a number of mathematical phenomena. It was exactly

the sort of song that belonged on an educational program.

The children who were watching the broadcast innocently imitated Juna and

Little Musashibo, singing the lyrics to themselves and dancing. The adults, on the

other hand, considered the meaning of the lyrics, nodding along with interest as they

figured it out.

In among them there was just one person, Juno, who was thinking about

something entirely different.

Did he just lend them his kigurumi suit? No... That can't be it. Juno was closely

scrutinizing Little Musashibo's movements. The way he moves, it's just like Mr. Little

Musashibo. But the voice I heard was a cute girl's voice. The hand I saw that time was a

man's hand. There's a different person inside, but he's moving the same... What does it

mean?

As she pondered deeply, something occurred to Juno.

Now that I think about it, wasn't there that one time I saw Mr. Little Musashibo

delivering a letter to the guild? After the receptionist saw it, she told us there was a

banquet being held at the castle. In other words, that letter was from the castle. This

broadcast is put together by the castle, too, from what I hear. Maybe Mr. Little

Musashibo is connected to the castle somehow?

Juno stared hard in the direction of Parnam Castle which was where the

broadcast was coming from.

...I'm curious. I want to look into it, but... I can't exactly go sneaking into the castle.

If they caught me, I'm sure I'd be punished. Hmm, isn't there any way I can look into it?