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.