“Wait, Lorelei has branch stores now?!” Souma exclaimed.
“Why are you sounding surprised, sire?!”
“Well, I left the auditions entirely up to Juna, after all…”
“By the way, I’m told the one in Lagoon City is their headquarters,” said Aisha.
“What, Parnam’s was a branch store?!”
When Souma dropped that last line, one of the viewers in Van let out a chuckle, then hurriedly covered his mouth. If anyone took fault with him for laughing while watching the broadcast, he could be lynched by the rest of the viewers. Because of that, Van’s plaza had a strange air of tension hanging over it.
Without so much as an inkling of what was going on, Souma continued hosting.
“Now then, let’s get this show on the road. Our first lorelei has the body of a child and the spirit of an adult. She’s a legal loli from the kobito race, Pamille Carol.”
“Madam Pamille’s greatest pleasure is taking an afternoon nap,” added Aisha. “However, recently, we’ve had such pleasantly sunny days that she’s been sleeping through until morning, and then sleeping in on top of that…Um, sire? Is this information really necessary?”
“Now, let’s hear her sing,” said Souma. “Here is Pamille Carol.”
When Souma said that, the lights dimmed and a relaxed tune began to play.
The next thing to appear on the projection was a balcony in an atrium. There, wrapped in a frilly dress, was a girl who looked for all appearances to be around twelve years old. This was Pamille Carol. Pamille clasped her hands in front of her chest, then began to sing with a voice that, as befitted her appearance, was as adorable as a ringing bell.
There was a cute girl singing a cute song. When they saw that scene, the people of Amidonia thought she was cute. However, rather than debate the quality of the song, they were simply at a loss for what to make of it. What to make of the fact that the Jewel Voice Broadcast was being used to show a little girl singing, that is.
“Who is that girl? She’s absolutely adorable.”
“Well, yeah, sure, she’s cute, but… is it really okay to use the Jewel Voice Broadcast for this?”
“Don’t ask me. It’s not like I know.”
“Lord Gaius barely ever used it, you know.”
“Maybe this is normal in Elfrieden?”
Conversations like this one were springing up all over. Was this the difference between Amidonia and Elfrieden? Were broadcasts like this what defined the Elfrieden Kingdom? they asked. The people of Van, under occupation by the soldiers of the Elfrieden Kingdom, were strongly impacted by what they saw.
“I see… Is this place part of Elfrieden now, then?” one of the viewers in Van whispered.
That off-handed comment seeped into the crowd, like water poured into a vast dry plain.
“Has Van become part of the Elfrieden Kingdom?”
“Well, we are under occupation, after all.”
“So, then, this isn’t part of the Principality of Amidonia anymore?”
“Well, then does that means it’s okay to broadcast this sort of video?”
Even as the people of Van reacted with confusion, the broadcast continued. When Pamille finished singing the song with lots of charm, Souma and Aisha came back on screen.
“That was Pamille Carol,” said Souma. “My, isn’t music a wonderful thing?”
“Why is it, do you suppose?” Aisha asked. “Hearing it made me think, ‘That can’t possibly be music.’”
“Now for a change of tune, we’ll have an energetic song sung by this person here,” said Souma. “Having trained her singing voice in a fishing village with nothing but men, the power of her voice is incredible. She’s a simple and innocent cat-eared girl from the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago. Nanna Kamizuki.”
“Madam Nanna’s favorite fish is the giant spearfish, and her dream is to eat one whole someday, but because they’re worried she’ll snack on the day’s catch, the fishermen won’t let her on the ocean-going ships…” Aisha began. “Um, again, was this information really necessary?”
“Now then, let’s hear her sing,” Souma announced. “Here’s Nanna Kamizuki!”
“…You’re just ignoring me, aren’t you.”
The next person to appear on screen wore a lightly punk outfit. She was the energetic cat-eared girl, Nanna Kamizuki. Her sleeveless top and short pants left her healthy arms and legs exposed, while the way her bellybutton would occasionally peek out helped accentuate the appeal of the cuteness she had not lost even with her androgynous appearance.
Then, as Nanna started to sing, she leapt off the balcony.
“Wha?!” someone in the crowd shouted.
“H-Hey…”
The viewing masses gulped when they saw that scene. It must not have been in the program plan.
They could see the staff were rushing to move the fixed jewel. They could still hear her singing, so they knew she must be all right, but Nanna didn’t appear on screen again for a little while. When she finally reappeared, Nanna was having a great time dancing by the stairs on the floor below. Even as the crowd sighed in relief, they were gradually being drawn into the rhythm of her song and dance.
“You go, girl! Keep it up!”
“The song’s nice, too. It really cheers you up.”
With this being the second time, perhaps they were getting used to it, because voices like that could be heard even from the tense crowd in Van. There was a cute girl enjoying herself singing and dancing. No man wouldn’t enjoy watching that. And, surprisingly, it had an even stronger impact on the women of Amidonia than it did the men.
What drew the women’s attention was Nanna’s fashion.
“Isn’t she cold dressed like that?”
“She’s indoors, so it’s probably fine.”
“But, if she dresses like that… won’t they get upset with her because it distracts and seduces men?”
Amidonia was, more than anything, a militaristic country. Men were expected to be strong first and foremost, while women were there to support them, and the greatest virtue sought from them was modesty.
As a result, in the Principality of Amidonia, except on special occasions, public opinion would not allow women to dress up. This stemmed from the idea that it would be a problem if they tempted men, making them become weak. To say nothing of the fact that if they wore an outfit that showed so much flesh (even an outfit that showed the shoulders or thighs was seen as showing too much here) in a public place, they ran the risk of being arrested for offending public morals.
“Do they not get angry about that in the kingdom?” one woman wondered.
“Well, it is another country. Their king seems gentle, too.”
“…I’m so jealous.”
In the minds of the women who wanted to dress up and be pretty, borders and race did not exist.
Pamille’s frilly dress had been cute, and they admired the more liberal outfit that Nanna was wearing now, too. If they could do it, they wanted to try wearing those outfits and dancing. The outfits those two wore began to kindle a fire in the hearts of the women living in the principality. Especially for the women in Van.
“This isn’t Amidonia anymore, right?” one woman asked.
“Then, can we dress up if we want to?”
“I guess? All the soldiers who would have gotten mad have left now.”
And, well, they even started saying things like that.
By the time Nanna’s energetic song came to an end, the people of Van gave a round of applause. None of them cared if Souma was just trying to buy their loyalty anymore.