“Is she not used to the speaking the language of this continent, maybe?” I asked.
Juna rushed to cover for her. “That’s exactly it. It seems she immigrated to Elfrieden from the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago and has been living with a group of hardy fishermen in a seaside village ever since. So, if she acts a little rude at times, please forgive her.”
I see… So she’s an immigrant from the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, huh?
Many of the countries on this continent used a common language in addition to their national languages, but there were isolationist countries too, like the ones in the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago, which only used their national language.
“I understand her situation, but… can she sing like that?” I asked.
“Have no worries on that front,” Juna assured me. “She’s been singing sea shanties while out fishing, so she has a powerful voice, one that’s both feminine and masculine, and if you give her a cool song to sing, she can easily outdo me. I believe she’s a good match for those ‘anisongs’ you taught me, sire.”
“Oh… Can she sing something?” I asked wistfully.
“Yes,” said Juna. “As a test, I taught her one. Nanna, could you sing for us?”
“Sure! ♪ Just leave it to Nanna.”
At Juna’s request, Nanna enthusiastically burst out singing. The song was the opening to a mecha anime sung by a female vocalist. Setting aside the choice of song, the stirring melody was a good match for Nanna’s voice.
“By the way, Liscia, do you understand what the lyrics mean?” I asked.
“I don’t,” she said. “It’s like listening to a song in a language I don’t understand. But I can tell that it’s a cool song.”
“Well, as long as that comes across, it’s fine… I guess?” I said.
I can have Juna come up with lyrics for it in this world’s language later, I guess.
When she finished the song, Nanna looked to me with a broad smile. “Your Majesty! ♪ How was I?”
“…Yeah,” I said. “You were amazing.”
“Glad to hear it! ♪”
Nanna waved her hand as if to say, “My turn’s over now, right?” and then quickly went back to her position.
She’s a unique girl… She isn’t timid, she’s not like anything they’ll have seen, and the way she moves in broad motions is bound to look impressive on screen. She might just be the most suited to being an idol of everyone here.
With the introductions now finished, I thanked Juna. “You’ve brought in a good group of people. Thank you.”
“You’re too kind,” she said.
“Okay, all the actors have gathered now,” I went on. “With these three, as well as Juna who can handle the soft, mature songs, we’re going to create Elfrieden’s first entertainment program. We won’t just be broadcasting to Elfrieden, though, we’ll broadcast to the Principality of Amidonia, too.”
“To Amidonia, too?” Liscia asked.
In response to the questioning look on Liscia’s face, I nodded. “Yeah. I mean, we did manage to get our hands on Amidonia’s jewel, after all.”
Of all the things that had fallen into our hands when we’d taken Van, the one that had pleased me the most had been a jewel for the Jewel Voice Broadcast. This was the only broadcast jewel Amidonia had, and it could be used to deliver a signal to every receiver in this country.
The broadcast jewels were apparently artifacts from an ancient civilization. While they still couldn’t be manufactured, there were a good number of them out there. With the exception of the small countries, like the ones that made up the Union of Eastern Nations, and the self-ruling territory of the wise dragons in the Star Dragon Mountain Range, most countries had them.
However, fundamentally, you couldn’t receive transmissions from another country. Of course, that made sense, otherwise information intended for a domestic audience would leak outside the country’s borders. Although technically, if you changed the wavelength settings on the receiver or jewel, it was possible, so maybe it was a little like radio frequency in that way.
In other words, now that we had obtained Amidonia’s only jewel, that meant that we had a monopoly on broadcasting rights to every receiver in Amidonia.
If we used a jewel brought from Elfrieden, too, we would be able to simulcast Elfrieden’s first entertainment program in two countries. What sort of changes would this broadcast bring to Amidonia? Or would it have no effect at all?
We would have to wait until the actual broadcast to find out.
The capital of the principality, Van, lacked a fountain plaza with viewing equipment for the Jewel Voice Broadcast like the one in the royal capital Parnam.
The receiver was on the edge of Van, in an open field that was a plaza in name only. That was because, in this country, the Jewel Voice Broadcast was only used once at the beginning of each year when the Prince would say, “We must never forget our resentment towards Elfrieden. The retaking of our stolen lands is a national priority,” or something like that, stating the general direction of the country.
Because those who failed to attend the broadcast at the opening of the year could be charged with the crime of disrespecting the state, even if they were sick, even if they were old and bedridden, everyone needed to view that broadcast even if it meant they had to be strapped to a chair and carried there. And so, today, the young king of Elfrieden who had captured Van said he would be using the Jewel Voice Broadcast.
Most of the people, having undergone decades of indoctrination, did not have a favorable impression of the kingdom. However, now, many of those same people were gathered in the field to watch the broadcast. They likely believed that if they didn’t watch, they would be charged with a crime, as years of custom had dictated. There were even some who tried to carry in their sick, only to be told by the guards, “Don’t push yourselves so hard,” and be turned away.
In the evening light, with the sun low on the horizon, the gathered people of Van wore expressions half of apprehension and half of indignation. Because those of the knighthood and nobility had all pulled out of Van, only the general populace who had nowhere else to go remained.
Here and there throughout the crowd, the masses could be heard whispering to one another about their worries for what was to come.
“Damn the King of Elfrieden… What does he plan to do, making us all gather here?”
“I caught a glimpse of him when he was entering the castle, but he didn’t look very strong…”
“Don’t be deceived by appearances. This is the man who made Prince Gaius dance in the palm of his hand.”
“He’s using the Jewel Voice Broadcast, right? What the hell does he want to say to us?”
With no proper information to go off of, their speculation took increasingly wild turns.
“No… Don’t tell me he’s planning to conquer all of Amidonia, so all of us men will be conscripted and sent to the front lines…”
“No! Without me here as the breadwinner, what’ll my family do?!”
“We’re an occupied people. We can’t be surprised if that’s what happens.”
“No, that’s not even the worst thing that could happen. He might demand we hand over our women and children as slaves. Or that we hand over every beautiful woman in this domain.”
“I’ve heard strong guys tend to have strong urges like that, after all.”
“Seriously? I shoulda hid my wife before coming here.”
“You dolt. Nobody’s ever gonna want your wife.”
“What’d you say?!…Ah! Hey, it’s starting.”