Petty Trickery Runs in the Family

When the new city of Venetinova was being built in the 1546th year of

the Continental Calendar, Old Man Urup had told Souma the Legend of the

Sea God which warned of the dangers of a tsunami.

After his meeting with Souma, the city's plans were changed. Urup

moved to Venetinova, where he continued his job as a fisherman while also

working as a storyteller on the side, telling people the legends and what to

do in the event of a tsunami.

As the years went by, the harsh labor of fishing pushed Urup's stamina

to its limits. Eventually, he came to leave that work to his children and

grandchildren in order to focus on his work as a storyteller. He went around

to the daycare facilities—modeled after the one in Parnam Castle—and told

his tales to children. After doing this for some time, he had a thought one

day.

There must be legends warning about natural disasters in every region.

Ones not just about tsunamis, but about landslides in the mountains and

valleys, or flooding near the rivers on the flatlands. Near the forests, they

have dangerous beasts too. Do all of those legends...really have storytellers

of their own?

Because of knowledge from his former world, Souma had recognized

the value of Urup's Legend of the Sea God and placed a good deal of

importance on it. However, turning that around, up until he met Souma,

Urup hadn't known the value of the legend he'd been recounting. It was

possible that when his life came to an end, the legend might have been lost.

And if no one knew the legend when the day of calamity came, how many

lives would be lost?

I shudder to think of it. And I can't bear to see the legends our ancestors

went to all the trouble of leaving us just fade away, unnoticed...

At this point, Urup had a flash of inspiration.

Old as he was, it wouldn't be odd for him to keel over any day now.

That being the case, he'd devote his remaining time to gathering legends,

and becoming the teller of all of them. With this decision made, Urup acted

fast. He immediately drafted a letter to Souma explaining his thoughts. The

time spent learning to read and write after retiring from his life as a

fisherman was well worth it.

"To His Royal Highness, although I cannot resist the waves of time, nor

can I row out to sea any longer, I now take up this pen in hopes of carrying

out one last task." Souma laughed out loud as read the opening line of the

letter, not caring who saw. "Old Urup's going to become a folklorist, huh?

He's still got a lot of energy!"

Wiping away his tears as Liscia and the rest looked astonished, Souma

began writing a letter of approval on the spot, and promised to fund the

endeavor. Moreover, he also issued a certificate that said Urup's research

was sanctioned by the king and that people were to cooperate with him. He

even arranged for Juno, Dece, and other trustworthy adventurers to escort

the old man on his travels.

Later, this letter from Urup was later donated to the museum in the

capital and became one of its main exhibits. But that's another story...

"Hey, Old Man Urup. I brought a letter for you from the king."

"Oh, girlie! Hurry, hurry, and show it to me!"

After reading the reply sent along with Juno and the other adventurers,

Urup went to his family. They were reasonably concerned about his recent

tendency to do things that were dangerous at his age, but he wouldn't let

that slow him down.

"I'm off for now!" he announced, and departed on his journey.

"Okay, where to first, old man?" Juno asked.

Urup rubbed his mustache and said, "Disasters involving water are

scary, so first we'll go along the coast, then along the rivers, I suppose.

After that, it'll be the mountains. Once I've gathered legends from all over,

we'll have to return to Venetinova so I can compile them."

"That sounds incredibly time-consuming..."

"Of course. I intend to spend the rest of my life doing it."

With that, Urup began walking in high spirits.

Normally, escort jobs were from one village to the next. Juno and the

others would join him when it suited their plans. In the cases where it didn't

suit them, Urup would be accompanied by other trusted adventurers from

the guild who'd received a request from the kingdom.

There were those who were suspicious of Urup and his entourage asking

around about local legends, but seeing King Souma's written certificate

made them quickly change their attitudes and cooperate. People who saw

Urup's encounters spread stories about them that'd been exaggerated in

amusing ways. In later years, there was even a play called Old Urup's Tour

where he somewhat resembled a certain old retired ruler from the Mito

region.

Incidentally, the members who accompanied him in that play, like Suke

and Kaku in the original, were always members of Juno's party. (Even

though they weren't always the ones traveling with him...but that's getting

too far off-topic.)

This was how Urup traveled all around the country, investigating myths

and folk stories that remained as lessons from that region. Eventually, he

would return to Venetinova to compile them before setting out again to

investigate more legends. His edited compilations were submitted to the

country as a form of report, and Souma and Hakuya were satisfied with the

work he was doing.

One day, after this had been going on for some years...

Upon returning to Venetinova to compile the most recent batch of

stories, Urup received a summons from Lord Weist Garreau and was given

an order from Souma to appear at Parnam Castle. The next day, a wyvern

gondola arrived to take him to the capital, and in no time at all, Urup

became a man of the sky.

D-Did I do something to offend him? Was there something in my report

that the king or prime minister didn't like?

The gondola was a spacious one in the service of the royal family, but

Urup huddled in one corner of it. As he asked himself how it had come to

this, the gondola continued its journey. Before he knew it, they had landed

in the courtyard of Parnam Castle.

"You must be Master Urup. How good of you to come," the head maid,

Serina, politely greeted Urup as he hesitantly disembarked from the

gondola.

Although connected to King Souma, Urup was still a commoner. He was

flabbergasted at being welcomed like some kind of noble or minister.

Serina gestured to her right with the palm of her right hand. "Please,

come this way."

Urup followed her lead without a word. He was used to Souma and

some of the others at this point, but even the castle's halls looked so formal

to him that he was left feeling nervous. He walked until he was taken to a

room.

"Please wait in here for a moment," Serina said, bowing, then taking her

leave.

In addition to being decorated with paintings and other art, the room also

had two large, comfy, red sofas. This seemed to be a waiting chamber of

sorts.

"I-Is it okay if I sit down...?"

Urup, being a bit of a miser, hesitated to sit on something so opulent.

After struggling for some time, he heard a voice from the other side of the

door.

"Please wait in this room for a moment. His Majesty will be with you

shortly," they said.

The door cracked open, and he caught a glimpse of the dragonewt maid

Carla on the other side.

Then suddenly, a person barged into the room. They were a large,

bearded man who looked even more out of place in the castle than Urup

did.

Who's this guy? He looks like a bandit to me, Urup thought.

Their eyes met, and the big man said, "Hm? Were you called in by the

king too, old man?"

"I'm Urup, here from Venetinova. Who's asking?"

If the big man were to get violent in this room, he could snap the old

man in half. However, Urup puffed out his chest, not wanting to lose to him

in attitude, at least.

Seeing how Urup was acting, and sensing he'd scared the old man, the

big man scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

"The name's Gonzales. I'm the captain of the mountain rescue team. I

got a sudden call from the king today... You too, old man?"

"Yes...I did." Feeling the man wasn't any danger to him, Urup relaxed

his guard. "I heard about the mountain rescue team when I traveled around

villages in the mountains. His Majesty set them up to look out for and

rescue people who got lost. Many of the members are former mountain

bandits who left that life of crime, but they're trusted by people because

they know the mountains well and are willing to go anywhere to help

people."

"Heheh... You're making me blush here," Gonzales said, not seeming to

mind in the slightest. A smile made anyone seem a little more charming, but

he had the charm of a bear that was totally relaxed.

"You were called in too, right, old man? Have you heard anything?"

"No, I don't know the details yet either..."

As the two were talking, the door opened, and Souma entered the room

with Hakuya in tow.

"Old Man Urup, Gonzales. Sorry for calling you in on such short

notice," Souma said casually.

"Thank you for taking the trouble," Hakuya added, bowing his head.

"Y-Your Majesty!"

"The king... Oh, sorry."

In response to their king's sudden appearance, Urup hurriedly prostrated

himself, while Gonzales dropped to one knee in a way that he didn't seem

familiar with doing.

With a wry smile at both of their reactions, Souma said, "No, no. Don't

feel pressured to act formally. Come on, stand up, you two."

The two men rose to their feet, unsure what to make of this.

Souma smiled and told them, "Thank you both for coming. There's

something I really need both of you to help with."

Urup and Gonzales looked at one another.

After that, Urup and Gonzales were led to another room that was a little

dark due to a lack of windows.

In the center of the room, occupying most of the space, was a large

object they couldn't quite make out. Upon closer inspection, the two men

realized it was a scale model of the Kingdom of Friedonia. It depicted the

relative positions of the villages, towns, and cities, and even recreated the

heights of the mountains.

Urup and Gonzales gulped at the sight. The model's accuracy was

uncanny.

Having traversed the country investigating legends, Urup could tell how

accurate it was. Gonzales knew it too, as he'd traveled the mountains as part

of his rescue operations. Even detailed maps were a closely guarded secret,

so this elaborate model wasn't the sort of thing that common folk like them

would be allowed to see under normal circumstances.

"Wh-What is this...?"

"Just what it looks like. A scale model of this country," answered

Hakuya, who was already in the room.

Looking around, they saw that National Defense Force Commander-inChief Excel and Julius the White Strategist were also present.

This was the second war room in Parnam Castle, the place they'd

planned the relief of the Gran Chaos Empire not long ago.

Finally returning to his senses, dripping sweat, Gonzales said,

"So...why'd you go and show this to us? Isn't this a national secret?"

"Hee hee! Yes, it is. If you were to try to take it out of here, you'd be

disposed of in secret." Excel laughed with her mouth hidden behind her fan.

She was smiling, but this was no laughing matter for the two guests.

The invited men were dripping cold sweat. Why have they been called

here, and what in the world will happen to them?

"Excel. Please don't scare them," Souma chided, causing Excel to

playfully stick out her tongue.

It looked just like when her granddaughter Juna made the same gesture

after a bit of mischief.

"Good grief," Souma said, his shoulders slumping. Then, clapping his

hands together, he tried to get back on track. "Now then, as for why you're

both here, Hakuya tells me he wants to borrow some of your wisdom."

"Indeed," Hakuya said, stepping forward. "You are both in possession of

specialist knowledge. Sir Gonzales knows the mountains of this country

like the back of his hand. And while gathering legends about disasters

involving water, Sir Urup has learned enough he could fairly be called an

expert on flood control. I would like to have the two of you lend us your

knowledge for the sake of this country."

With that, Hakuya gave them an explanation of the situation this country

found itself in.

The only faction that could oppose the Great Tiger Empire of Haan was

the Maritime Alliance, and with the north stabilized, Fuuga was expected to

invade this country in the not too distant future. Most of the people of this

country were relieved that the threat of the Demon Lord's Domain was

gone, and a time of peace had come at last, so this revelation came as a rude

awakening to both of them.

"Th-That's what's happening?" Gonzales said, bewildered.

"It sure sounds rough..." Urup said, adding, "But now I'm even less sure

what you called us here for..."

Hakuya smiled a little as he placed his hand on the scale model.

"Think of the Great Tiger Kingdom's forces like water rushing toward

us. They move faster when moving from higher ground to lower, and they

lose momentum going in the opposite direction. If they're split up, they lose

their vigor, and if they join together, they gain it. Water and armies are the

same in that respect. Because places water can pass through easily are also

easily traversable by people."

Having said this, Hakuya looked at Urup and continued.

"Sir Urup. In your reports, you pointed out areas at risk of harm despite

not having legends, correct? That's because, based on the legends you've

gathered so far, you have an instinctive understanding of where water easily

accumulates. If we liken the invading force to water, then wouldn't you be

able to tell us where they'll move based on this scale model?"

"Well..." Urup trailed off, but as he did, he simulated the flow of water

over the scale model in front of him.

How will the water move if it comes across the northern border? he

thought. It will split at that mountain, then join up again in that basin. If it

takes that narrow path, it will reach a dead end, but down that other route,

it will be a smooth path to the capital.

"No, no..." Urup shook his head as he was running his mental

simulation. "It's true, I can tell how it would move on this scale model, but

the actual mountain roads aren't this simple. There must be roads you can't

represent with this."

Hakuya nodded. "Yes. Which is why I've also called Sir Gonzales."

"M-Me?" Gonzales pointed at himself with his index finger.

"Indeed." Hakuya nodded. "As captain of the mountain rescue team,

you've learned a great deal about the many mountains in this country.

Probably as much as the people who live in the area."

"Hrm... Well, I'm sure I've climbed more mountains than anyone in the

country." Gonzales scratched the back of his head.

Hakuya nodded again before continuing. "Sir Gonzales, you are highly

knowledgeable about the kind of hidden paths through the mountains that

Sir Urup pointed out as an issue, as well as the game trails that wild beasts

use. If we have your knowledge to make up for the shortcomings of this

scale model, then Sir Urup can likely work out an accurate path for the

invasion."

"I see. Hence why you called these two," Julius said, impressed, then

crossing his arms. "Fuuga will have no choice but to use a large army to

invade this country. The people here have a higher quality of life, and with

daily broadcasts to enlighten the population, it won't be as easy for them to

use propaganda as it was against the Empire. With no choice but to launch a

frontal invasion with a large army, the paths his forces are able to take will

be limited."

"And if we can narrow down the routes they might take, then preparing

countermeasures becomes easier," Excel said, closing her fan. "As Sir

Ichiha said earlier, we need to use delaying tactics. The places where water

would pool are the places where it's easiest to deploy a military force, so

they will be hard to defend, leading to their abandonment. But the places

where the water has to split are easy to defend, so we hold those key points

so the Great Tiger Empire can't deploy their forces there."

"Correct," Hakuya confirmed. "At the same time, if we utilize the

knowledge these two have, we can prevent the enemy from using routes we

aren't aware of to get around behind us."

Urup and Gonzales were still as confused as ever, but all the smart

people in the room seemed satisfied with this explanation.

Souma, who had been listening until this point, said, "I get what Hakuya

is thinking. Urup, Gonzales."

"Y-Yes, sire!"

"What is it?"

Bowing his head, Souma answered, "Please lend the country your

wisdom."

Seeing the king bow made the two panic even more. There was no

refusing at this point, or hesitating for that matter.

"R-Raise your head, sire! If this feeble old man can be of help, then I'll

do anything you ask of me!"

"Yeah, sire! I owe you one for helping me get out of the mountain bandit

business too. If what I know can be useful, then let me help you out!"

"Thanks, both of you." With their assistance secured, Souma raised his

head and smiled.

This was how Urup and Gonzales came to join the Kingdom of

Friedonia's second war room, and they began shoring up the defenses

against the coming invasion.

"Sir Prime Minister, there's a path on this mountain. It's not wide

enough for horses, but men could cross it on foot."

"Hmm. We could position troops as a precaution, or perhaps use it to

ambush their rear units," Hakuya said.

"This basin here is wide open, but on the western side, it slopes upward

toward the south. The water would pool here, but it would struggle to flow

south. If anything, it ought to drain out the eastern side."

"I see how it is. In that case, it's a place where the enemy's advance will

be uneven. Sir Julius?" Excel asked.

"You're probably right," Julius replied. "I thought we might have to

abandon this point if we couldn't defend it, but it might be better to put up a

hard defense here and blunt their advance."

"Hee hee! Yes, that's true. I think we could do some damage if a unit

charged in from the east."

The head of the mountain rescue team and a storyteller were joining

strategy meetings between the prime minister, strategist, and commanderin-chief, and their opinions held equal weight. Their debates continued day

and night, and their proposed delaying tactics grew more and more refined.

This situation was probably the "turtle with many snakes for tails that attack

regardless of the turtle's intentions" that Fuuga had feared.

And this sort of phenomenon was occurring in other places too.

Since its inception, the learning hub of the capital known as Ginger's

Vocational School has steadily grown in popularity. With the construction

of additional buildings to match its ever-growing scale, the name has since

changed to Ginger's College.

Today, many young women clad in white robes were gathered in one of

the lecture halls.

A woman standing at the front of the crowd asked, "Is everyone ready?"

"""Yes, Saint Mary."""

The response caused Mary to let out a troubled little laugh. "I've told

you I'm not a saint anymore, and all of you are former saint candidates

now, aren't you?"

They were the members of the Lunaria Girls' Choir, composed of former

saint candidates who'd fled the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State.

The choir girls showered Mary with looks of admiration as if she were

their big sister.

"No, Lady Mary, you were the one who saved us from the Orthodox

Papal State!"

"You are our savior!"

"No matter what anyone says, you will always be a saint to us!"

Hearing these words paired with their adoring gazes, Mary didn't know

how to respond.

"Ha ha ha! Why not just let 'em worship you if they want to? I don't see

the harm," came a voice in a very casual tone.

Mary glared at the speaker. "You say that as if it's so simple, Your

Holiness, Archbishop Souji..."

"Hey, hey, don't go glaring at me," Souji said, spreading his arms wide.

"This is undoubtedly the result of your own actions. I hear with Fuuga's

supporters currently holding sway in the Orthodox Papal State, there's a

rain of blood as they carry out constant purges in the name of hunting

heretics. If these girls had stayed in the country, they would've fallen victim

to the hunters. Those supporters want to cement the authority of Fuuga's

saint, so the existence of other candidates is nothing but a nuisance to

them."

"Fuuga's saint... You mean Anne, I suppose?"

Mary's expression clouded over. She'd extended her hand to Anne when

they were going to escape from the Orthodox Papal State but was refused.

Anne was one of those she'd failed to save. Or rather, if the girl chose this

for herself, perhaps it was wrong to think of it as failing to save her.

Anne... What are you thinking now? What do you feel when you see the

blood that flows at your feet? Does it not break your heart? As one who

wanted to live a life where you were needed by people, and is now used as a

prop to support another's authority...

As Mary was thinking this, Souji suddenly clasped his hands around her

temples and shook her head.

"W-Wait, what are you doing? Please stop," Mary protested, but Souji

just chuckled.

"Well, you know...you just had such a sour look on your face. I thought

I'd give it a bit of a stir."

"Don't shake me like that. Jeez, look what a mess you've made of my

hair."

Freeing herself from Souji's grasp, she puffed up her cheeks as she fixed

her disheveled hair.

Seeing her expression, Souji laughed and said, "Yeah, that's more like it!

Openly displaying your emotions suits you far better than a brooding

expression."

"Who asked you...?"

"If you look gloomy, it makes a whole lot of people uneasy," he said,

pointing behind her with a gesture of his chin.

Mary turned and saw the former saints looking at her with concern.

Why? she thought.

"See? It means you're a big, important saint to those girls now," Souji

affirmed. "Whether you recognize it or not, they respect and adore you. If

someone you love and respect looked like they were in pain, you'd get

worried too, wouldn't you?"

"That can't be right. I'm not that big of a deal..." Mary tried to act

humble, but the more than twenty-four pairs of eyes aimed in her direction

told her otherwise.

It was hard to be excessively humble in front of all of them. If they had

expectations of her, it was natural human compassion to not want to

disappoint them.

"I guess at some point...I did become that big of a deal."

"A degenerate priest like me managed to become archbishop, after all.

People change when the world or the environment they find themselves in

changes. The key thing is to think with your own head—stand on your own

feet—no matter where you find yourself. Whether going with the flow or

fighting against it, there's meaning in deciding your own path to take."

"Your Holiness..."

Think for yourself, huh?

If Anne chose to be a saint, just as Mary had chosen to free herself from

the chains being a saint imposed on her, then perhaps there was no reason to

worry herself over it. Perhaps Mary ought to recognize Anne's choice as

one of the few who knew the suffering it entailed. No matter how people of

the present, or the future, would view the path she was taking.

Mary's expression softened. "I have to hand it to you, Your Holiness.

You have a knack for leading stray lambs back to the path."

Hearing this compliment, Souji rubbed his smooth head and laughed.

"Ha ha ha! I've always been more of a mutton man than a lamb man, but

somehow I keep helping out lost little lambs. It's a crying shame."

"Oh, but a certain sloth bear is always being helped by lambs. If it

weren't for Miss Merula and me, the archbishop's office would quickly

become so cluttered there was nowhere to stand, and your prestige would

have long since fallen to the ground, Your Holiness."

"I see you've learned to hold your own, young lady..."

Having been specifically asked by King Souma to look after Souji, Mary

managed much of his daily life. Because Souji was the face of the

Kingdom's Lunarian Orthodoxy, the loss of his authority would have a

negative effect on all Lunarian Orthodox believers in the country. In the

process of strictly overseeing his activities, she'd formed a joint front with

Merula the high elf who lived rent-free in his house in exchange for

cleaning the place.

Merula had once been declared a witch by the Orthodox Papal State, and

Mary had been in a position that required her to condemn Merula, but now

they've bonded over the goal of reforming Souji. Thanks to the two of them

(and a change of mentality on his own part), he has been living a healthier

lifestyle.

In regards to this, Souma said, "You know, Kingdom Orthodoxy doesn't

forbid its men of the cloth from marrying, so take them both as your

wives," which Souji frowned at.

The former saint candidates smiled as they watched this exchange

between an archbishop and a saint, where it wasn't clear who had the upper

hand.

Suddenly, a low, gentlemanly voice echoed through the hall. "Ahh,

ahem. Are you both done?"

The source was a man with a walrus-like face wearing a tuxedo,

standing beside the college's president Ginger and his wife Sandria.

This was Morse, a member of the walrus race (composed of walrus

beastmen), one of the Five Races of the Snowy Plains in the Republic, and

also the representative of the Labor Songs Society. Following the success of

the East and West Real Song Battle, Morse had followed the path of music

and was now the conductor of the Lunaria Girls' Choir.

With a wry smile, Morse said, "It's about time we started the

experiment. Sir Ginger, is everything ready for us to begin?"

"Yes. The jewel that we borrowed from His Majesty is showing this

lecture hall now," Ginger said, gesturing to the jewel set up by the entrance.

"The feed is viewable not just in this country but in all the nations of the

Maritime Alliance. The experiment is for participants in each city to heal

the wounded through listening to this presentation of the Lunaria Girls'

Choir singing."

Lunarian Orthodoxy's secret art, Area Heal, involved the church's light

mages revitalizing a large number of ailing people all at once through song.

The recent Real Song Battle demonstrated that mental images were

important to the efficacy of magic, and that songs effectively gave the caster

the right visualization. That being the case, this experiment was to test

whether listening to hymns over the broadcast would have a buffing effect

on healing magic. Genia, Merula, and the other geniuses of the Kingdom

believed there was a good chance it would. Their view was that the effect

would likely be smaller than listening to the singers in person, but the

imagery of the song wouldn't be lessened by the broadcast.

If this hypothesis proved correct, each country of the Maritime Alliance

could use its broadcast channels to assist with healing the wounded on a

global scale whenever there was combat. Even if the other side noticed

these broadcasts, the Maritime Alliance could signal one another to change

their frequencies to prevent enemy use, so it was expected to be a major

advantage.

Once Ginger explained the experiment's intention, Sandria stepped

forward and said, "So, basically, your bantering has been visible to the

entire world. Might I suggest you keep the flirting confined to your own

home?"

"Uh, no, we haven't been flirting," Souji protested, but Mary turned her

face downward, blushing in embarrassment. The former saint candidates

squealed in glee at their reactions.

Then a clapping sound echoed through the room.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. It's rather uncouth to nose into other

people's love lives," Morse said in his deep, sonorous voice.

"Right!" the former saint candidates replied enthusiastically.

Souji seemed to want to say something, but couldn't because he

understood it would be stirring up a hornet's nest. Mary, on the other hand,

was covering her face and wishing there was a hole she could crawl into.

With a wry smile at their predicament, Morse raised his baton. "Now

then, everyone. Shall we begin?"

"""Yes."""

And so, the Area Heal broadcast experiment began.

The result was a success, as anticipated. Souma and the others were

delighted when they heard the report, and they ordered Ginger and his team

to continue experimenting.