…By the way, after this, by request of the merchant’s guild, these tournaments became a yearly event in the capital Parnam and attracted a large number of tourists.
Also, the Elfrieden Pretty Girl Grand Prix invited rumors that it was actually being held by the king to choose his mistresses. As a result, all of the nobles who wanted to tie their own lines to the royal family sent their relatives to participate, but that’s not relevant at the moment, so I’ll skip over it. Though, when Liscia heard the rumors, I did get some cold looks for it later…
The judging process had originally been planned to last for one day, but instead it lasted for three. Those with gifts that made me think, “This is what I’m looking for” were brought before me on the fourth day.
I was seated on the throne, with Liscia standing at my side. (Technically, while we were betrothed, the marriage hadn’t been held yet, so she wasn’t allowed to touch the queen’s throne.) One step down from us, Prime Minister Marx stood to the right of us, Captain of the Royal Guard Ludwin to the left.
By the way, we had hauled the jewel from the Jewel Voice Room into the throne room, so this scene was being broadcast around the kingdom.
Five young people were brought before us:
One had silver hair and elven ears, a girl who looked like a warrior with some muscle showing through her brown skin.
One wore a black robe which covered his whole body, a thin young man with a somehow listless look on his face.
One looked distinguished, but in a different way from Liscia, a beautiful blue-haired girl with a gentle air about her.
One had little fox ears sprouting from her head, a rustic-looking girl of around ten.
And, finally, one was a fat middle-aged man drenched in sweat.
“Your Majesty. The many gifted people of this country who came in response to your summons have been recorded in a ledger. These people here are those possessed of especially rare gifts.”
When Marx said this, the fat man prostrated himself before me, jumping to do so with the speed of a grasshopper. The blue-haired pretty girl did the same, her every move filled with grace, and the fox-eared little girl awkwardly followed suit. The black-robed young man watched them all sleepily, prostrating himself before me last.
The elf-eared girl remained standing. Everyone present was shocked.
“You are before the king. Will you not prostrate yourself?” Ludwin cautioned her in a quiet but forceful voice.
The elf-eared girl seemed not to care. More than that, she looked me in the eye and said this:
“I ask your forbearance, as this is the custom of my tribe. The warriors of my tribe do not lower their head before any but their master. And, for our women, to not lower your head before any but your husband is proof of your chastity.”
“Still…” Ludwin argued.
“I don’t mind.” I held up a hand to stop Ludwin from arguing with her. “We’re the ones asking them to help the country. There’s no need to be so uptight.”
“…As you wish, Your Majesty,” Ludwin said, backing down easily.
…He did that knowing what would happen, I’ll bet. He acted in a way that keeps people from taking us lightly, while still showing how tolerant the king is. He’s an impressive actor. In that case, I’ll have to live up to expectations and play the tolerant king.
I rose from the throne and turned to face them.
“Please, do not prostrate yourselves before me. It is I who am in the position of asking you for a favor. Do not stand on ceremony. Go ahead and be at ease.”
The four of them rose quietly. I looked to Marx, indicating that he should continue.
Marx nodded, beginning to read from some sort of scroll. “We will now announce the gifts held by these individuals and carry out the awarding of prizes! Madam Aisha Udgard, dark elf from the God-Protected Forest, step forward!”
“Yes, sir!”
This time, the elf-eared girl meekly obeyed.
She looked less than twenty years old, but I had heard dark elves remained youthful for a long time, so their appearance and age didn’t match. She had brown skin and an attractive silver ponytail. Wearing chest armor and gauntlets, she was dressed like a warrior. Her slender legs peeked out through the slit in her waist cloth. They were moderately muscular and looked quite healthy.
Dark elves, I thought. One of the minority races of Elfrieden, they are a race with a high-level of combat ability. Instead of cities, they reside in the God-Protected Forest and are granted autonomy as protectors of the forest. They have a strong sense of racial unity and reject outsiders… huh.
While acting like nothing was out of the ordinary, I manipulated the gloves I had left imbued with my consciousness in the other room to flip through the Elfrieden Children’s Encyclopedia (since it was aimed at children, the entries were short, which made it useful when looking up information quickly) to read the article on dark elves.
The dark elves in this country weren’t fallen elves that had lost the blessing of the gods, like you might see in a lot of fantasy settings. It seemed it was just that the pale-skinned blonde elves were called “light elves,” and the brown-skinned, silver-haired elves were called “dark elves” to distinguish between the two.
“This one has shown herself to be remarkably gifted with martial ability. She was the winner of the Best in the Kingdom Martial Arts Tournament. That achievement shows she truly is fit to be called the greatest in this kingdom, and for this, we praise her!” Marx declared.
Huh, so she’s the winner of that martial arts tournament. She must be pretty tough, then. There was just one thing that concerned me. “I put out a call for capable people who will help the kingdom, but will you help me when the time comes? I’ve read that dark elves are loyal only to their own kind.”
“…It is no longer an era where we can survive just by protecting our forests. If this country falls, the forest will be threatened. Some feel that we dark elves need to change. I am one of them,” Aisha said clearly.
“Well… That’s a rather liberal statement for one from such a conservative race,” I said.
“True, I am seen as a heretic. However, if we don’t do something… King Souma?”
“Yes?”
“I do not need the prize money. Instead, I ask you to allow me to address you directly.”
The hall was abuzz. Aisha was trying to make a direct appeal to the king. Even in Japan, there was a time when that would have been a capital crime. It seemed this country was no different.
Liscia and Ludwin’s hands went to their swords, but I motioned for them to stop.
“I will allow it. Say what you will.”
“Souma?! That’s not—!”
“She was ready to risk a lot to say this to me. As king, I should hear her out.”
“Thank you. I will speak, then.” Aisha puffed out her chest with pride and spoke. “Recently, there have been a large number of incursions into the God-Protected Forest by other races. They harvest mushrooms and other edible wild plants, hunting down the forest beasts. I understand that you have a food crisis; however, if you steal these things from us, we will be the ones who starve! We have had no choice but to take up arms against the intruders. Even now, there are clashes taking place throughout the forest. King Souma, please, crack down on the offenders!”
“I see…”
Basically, she wants me to forbid the people who are going without food from hunting or harvesting wild plants in the forest. When there’s a food crisis, if you go to an area where distribution is limited, the crisis is even deeper there. If there just so happens to be a forest with plentiful resources nearby, I guess they might enter it even in the face of dark elf attacks.