Prologue: The Running King

—20th Day, 11th month, 1546th year, Continental Calendar — Royal

Capital Parnam

The temperature had gotten just a little chilly on this clear day in a

temperate autumn.

Fall is said to be the season for eating, for reading, and for art; but for

me, right now, fall was the season for sports.

"Come on, three more laps! Lift those legs more! Focus on your leg

biceps!" Owen bellowed.

"Urgh..." I groaned.

I had been running laps around the castle guards' training grounds for

more than half an hour while my advisor and educator, Owen Jabana,

shouted at me with his throaty voice. For some people that might not seem

like much, but for an indoorsy guy like me, it was pretty tough. If I had

been taking it at my own gentle pace, it would have been easy, but as I

stumbled along, I was subjected to Owen's overbearing encouragement.

"Gahaha! Muscles will never betray your hard work!" he hollered.

"They say a healthy mind resides in a healthy body! Surely healthy politics

reside in the body of a healthy ruler, too! Now, test your limits! Torment

your calf muscles!"

"I-I'm not into... tormenting myself..." I managed.

Ever since I had put Owen in charge of my education, he had taken to

dragging me out to the training grounds whenever there was time. Then I

would be subjected to a training menu of running, practice swings, mock

battles with Owen, and more. The goal was to train me up to the same level

as a lance corporal, apparently.

With the running finished, I collapsed and lay with my back on the

ground.

"A-Are you all right? Sire?" Aisha sounded concerned as she offered me

a towel.

"I-I seriously think... I'm gonna die." When I said that as I accepted the

towel and wiped the sweat off, Owen laughed it off.

"I have a firm grasp of when it would become dangerous, so you'll be

fine. I've learned how to work off your excess energy these past few days.

You should be good to run another ten minutes."

"Have some mercy already... I've got duties to attend to after this," I

muttered.

"You won't be moving then, so how about you rest your body while you

do your administrative work?"

"I'm asking you to give me a break because I'll get sleepy if I do that!" I

snapped.

Admittedly, even if my main body fell asleep, the portions of my

consciousness that were partitioned into my living poltergeists would

remain awake, so it would only be a loss of one man's worth of work

power; but this still really wore me out.

"Um, sire? If this is so hard on you, perhaps you shouldn't push

yourself..." Aisha said, concerned.

However...

"Physical training is important," Liscia said flatly. She had arrived at

some point. "We need Souma to stay healthy. Besides, Souma doesn't mind

it as much as he lets on."

"What? Is that true?" Aisha asked.

"Souma lived with his grandfather in his old world, right?" Liscia asked.

"I'd say the reason he doesn't give up, even with all his whining, is that Sir

Owen reminds him of his grandfather, don't you think?"

"...Well, that may be part of it," I admitted.

When I saw the cheerful old man, I couldn't help myself... you know.

My grandpa wasn't a muscle-bound macho man like Owen, but it was true

that this reminded me of old times.

"So, did you come here to see me about something, Liscia?" I asked.

"Oh, right," she said. "Hakuya was looking for you. He said something

about an important report."

"I see..." I said. "You heard her, Owen. You'll have to let me off now."

Owen shrugged his shoulders in resignation. "Very well, then we'll

continue once you've finished listening to that important report."

"You're planning to keep going, huh...?" I found the energetic old man's

eagerness a little exhausting.

When I went back to the governmental affairs office, Hakuya was

waiting for me with a composed look on his face.

"Is the report about the clandestine operation we discussed?" I asked.

Hakuya bowed politely. "Yes. The work is proceeding apace. It's going

smoothly... I suppose you could say."

"Hm? Is there something bothering you about it?" I asked. I felt like

there was something off about the way he'd said that.

Hakuya took on a pensive look. "I find it has been going a little too

smoothly. I feel as though there's a hand other than ours at work. If there is,

it's possible to imagine a situation where the result turns into something we

didn't expect."

"I'd like to avoid any surprises, but... it's too late to stop now," I said.

"Indeed."

No matter how much my clever vassal and I schemed, the situation

never went quite as we envisioned. In the earlier war, unforeseen

happenings had been guaranteed to come up. That was why we always had

to be prepared. So that, no matter what result awaited us, we could react.

"We can't make changes to the plan," I said. "Move forward cautiously

while keeping a careful eye on the situation."

"Understood." Hakuya bowed.

I stretched my arms wide. "Well, then... guess I'll get back to the

training grounds. If I take too long, Owen won't let me hear the end of it."

"For all your complaining, you're still going back for more, I see."

Hakuya rolled his eyes.

I laughed wryly and said, "Well, I guess you could say I'm preparing for

any unforeseen happenings."