“Sure, you’ve got it. In regards to the God-Protected Forest, there are already laws restricting entrance, so I can’t issue a new ban, but I’ll see to it that food aid reaches the people in the vicinity at once. If, even after that, there are still those trying to enter the God-Protected Forest, we will recognize them as poachers and prosecute them.”
“Thank you. You have my gratitude.”
With those words, in place of bowing, Aisha brought her hand to her chest and closed her eyes. I wasn’t sure if that was a gesture of gratitude or just a pose showing relief at accomplishing her task.
“Still, Aisha, poaching is an unspeakable crime, but if we think about the future, would it not be wise to consider trade with those outside the forest? Aren’t there things in the outside world that draw your interest?” I asked.
“Well, yes, but… We have no likely trade goods.”
“Hmm… What about lumber? Don’t you have some from periodic thinning?”
Living in a forest, they must have had more wood than they knew what to do with. In the outside world, on the other hand, demand for it was high. It ought to make a decent trade good… That was what I thought, but…
“Periodic thinning… What might that be?” Aisha asked with a serious look on her face, and I couldn’t help but be dumbstruck for a moment.
Huh? Don’t tell me they don’t do periodic forest thinning in this world?
“I’m referring to the periodic felling of a set number of trees in order to maintain the forest…”
As I said this, I glanced to Liscia, Marx and Ludwin, but all of them shook their heads. Apparently, this was the first they’d ever heard of it. It was the same with Aisha.
“To protect the forest… you cut down trees?”
“Of course. If you leave trees alone, they just keep getting bigger, and their leaves and branches spread out. If they block out the sunlight, young trees can’t grow. Besides, if they’re growing too densely, it impacts their lifespan, so you end up with with nothing but old trees that are thin and weak, like beansprouts. That sort of beansprout forest is easily be destroyed by snow and wind. On top of that, if the sun doesn’t reach the undergrowth, it all dries up. That causes the land to lose its ability to hold water, which can be a cause of landslides. This is all common knowledge… right?”
Looking around me, it was like seeing a collection of bobbleheads that could only shake their heads left and right.
Aisha suddenly prostrated herself before me. “King Souma… no, Your Majesty!”
“Wh-What?!”
“I humbly beg your forgiveness for my earlier rudeness!”
“Uh, I didn’t even care, but… Wait, is it okay for you to lower your head like that?”
“I do not mind! Because, from this very moment, I pledge to serve you loyally for the rest of my life!”
Whoa, whoa, hold on. What’s going on here…?
“Use my life however you will! My body, my heart, my chastity, I offer to you! If you tell me to fight, I will fight! If you tell me to love you, I will love you! If you tell me to become your concubine or slave, I will do it! If you tell me to die, I will die!”
“Where did this crazy loyalty come from?! What happened in the last few minutes?!”
“However, before you order me to die, I ask you heed my final request!”
“Huh? You’re ignoring me?! You’re totally ignoring me?!”
“Please, as soon as possible, come to the God-Protected Forest!” Then she slammed her head firmly against the floor once more.
At this point, even Liscia was thoroughly taken aback.
…That self-harming kowtow is practically a threat…
“Okay, let’s hear your story,” I said. “Basically, you want to bring me to the God-Protected Forest, right?”
“That is precisely it! And, at the God-Protected Forest, please teach us this ‘periodic thinning’! In recent years, the God-Protected Forest has been facing exactly the issues you just spoke of, sire! Where the trees are dense, they become thin and weak, young trees don’t grow, the water is muddy, and when wind or heavy storms come through, they strip the land bare. With your words, I have at last learned the cause!”
“The God-Protected Forest has a history stretching back thousands of years, doesn’t it? Nobody noticed this before?” I asked, only for Liscia and Aisha to ashamedly nod.
“The trees in the God-Protected Forest are long-lived to begin with,” Aisha said. “That is why, up until now when they’re reaching the end of their life cycle, nobody noticed…”
“That’s right…” Liscia said. “This isn’t just their problem. We don’t do periodic thinning in Elfrieden’s mountains either, so the situation may be the same everywhere.”
“Well, anywhere they don’t rely too heavily on the forest should be fine. When the old trees fall, new ones grow in anyway. Even if a natural disaster wipes out a beansprout forest, it will recover in ten years or so. Nature works in cycles like that, after all.”
“Wouldn’t that be devastating to the dark elves of the God-Protected Forest?” Liscia asked.
…I’ll bet it probably would. They live in the forest itself, after all. If the forest disappears, we’ll have ourselves an instant set of refugees. I don’t need any more refugees, so I’d better act quickly.
“I understand. Let’s head to the God-Protected Forest at some point in the near future.”
“Ohhhh! Thank you, sire!” Aisha cried.
“However, when I come, you’ll have to permit the entry of a certain number of people. It looks like forestry management is going to be a task for the entire country. I’ll take this opportunity to hold some classes on how to establish the forest industry.”
“As you wish, sire,” she said.
“Good. Ludwin.”
“Sir.”
“It sounds like she wants to serve me, so I’d like you to see what Aisha is capable of. We know her martial prowess as an individual, but whether she can become a general and lead troops remains an open question. If she has the potential, I will make her the general of an army. If not, I will hire her as my personal bodyguard.”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
Much later, after testing her, Ludwin would tell me, “She does have potential as a general. However, her ability as an individual fighter is greater, and it would be a waste to use her as a general.” She was the convenient Lu Bu type, apparently, the kind of fighter who could act as a general, but could also be sent in alone to wreak havoc. From then on, I would keep Aisha at my side as a bodyguard.
That was the end of Aisha’s turn, but things had gotten pretty intense with the very first person. I’d just been planning to hand out awards quickly then call out to anyone who looked useful…
Please, tell me the other four don’t all come with so much baggage, right?
“Next, Sir Hakuya Kwonmin, step forward,” Marx said.
“Yes, sir.” With his name having been called, the black-robed young man leisurely strolled forward.
He was a young man of around twenty wearing a distinctive outfit that looked like he had combined a pastor’s cassock and a kannushi’s traditional kimono and then dyed the resulting outfit black. His shoulder-length black hair looked unkempt. He was pale and slender, looking like more of an indoors-y type. He acted listless, but his sleepy eyes were fixed on me.
“This man, though his recommendation came from another, has demonstrated the gift of wisdom!” Marx announced. “He has memorized the laws of this country, and his knowledge and memory are believed to be without peer in this nation!”