ACT 3
“It’s morning, Father.”
“Please wake up, Big Brother.”
Two voices — one dignified like the ringing of a bell and the other soft like silk — roused Yuuto from his slumber.
There was a clattering, like someone was moving something heavy. In the next instant, sunlight pierced his eyelids. Someone had removed the boards in front of the windows.
Glass did not yet exist in this world, so windows were covered with wood and branches.
“Oh, good morning, you two,” Yuuto said, opening his eyes.
Two angels, their gold and silver hair respectively glistening in the light of the sun, popped into his field of view.
For a moment Yuuto let himself enjoy believing he’d awakened in Valhalla, the heavenly plane where heroes went after death. It helped to soothe the slight disappointment he also felt upon seeing them. Waking up in his room in modern day Japan to find it was all a dream was never going to happen, after all.
The silver-haired girl, Sigrun, took a knee on the spot and offered her greeting. “Good morning, Father.”
The golden-haired girl, Felicia, set a tray with bread, soup, and milk on the bedside table and flashed Yuuto a broad smile. “Good morning, Big Brother. Your breakfast is waiting.”
The aroma of freshly baked bread tickled Yuuto’s nostrils. Enticed by that scent, the dazed Yuuto finally lifted his head.
“Whew, I haven’t slept that soundly in a long time.”
Sitting himself up on the edge of the bed, Yuuto gave a long stretch. Naturally, as the mattresses in this world had no firmness to them, they weren’t exactly high-quality. He couldn’t exactly praise beds here for being comfortable to sleep on, but even so, this was his own room, and here was the one place where he could truly relax. In a matter of one night, his exhaustion had been swept away and his body felt lighter.
“I trust you slept well,” Felicia said.
“Yeah, I’m overflowing with energy.”
“Yes... I can see that.”
For some reason, her eyes were not on Yuuto’s face, but on another part of his body. Yuuto was, after all, a boy in the midst of puberty, and it was the morning.
“Tee hee hee, if I may, shall I quell that energy for you?” Felicia gave Yuuto an alluring smile, then thrust one hand onto Yuuto’s bed, using the other to brush the hair from his face, bringing hers closer.
Yuuto began to tremble, flustered, and shook his head vigorously side-to-side. “N-no, like I always tell you, that won’t be necessary.”
“I don’t believe that’s what your body is saying.”
“It’s just a physiological phenomenon!”
It was a little more than just that, if he was going to be honest. It was just that he couldn’t exactly say something like that out loud.
Felicia licked her lips seductively. “Tee hee, well, shall we make that the focus of your morning studies, I wonder...”
“Your teasing of our sovereign borders on treason, Felicia, and I cannot abide it. You are upsetting Father. Shall I cut you down here and now?” Sigrun, who had been quiet up until that point, placed a hand on the sword at her hip, giving off a menacing air.
Having recoiled at Felicia’s aggressive advances, Yuuto secretly applauded Sigrun’s reliable interference.
“Listen, Run,” Felicia said. “Caring for Big Brother’s health is a part of my professional duties as adjutant. For a man, there are some things that, if he does not release them, could be damaging to his health.”
“What, is that true?”
“Indeed. And not only that, but from antiquity, there are kings who have been driven mad at the behest of a woman. It would be dangerous for Big Brother, our sovereign patriarch, to not be shown the ropes in advance lest he be seduced by the wiles of a wicked woman.”
“Hmph, I see,” Sigrun pondered. “That does sound rather logical. Father, though my body be meager, please feel free to make use of it, as well.”
Seeing how easily coaxed and convinced to switch sides Sigrun was, Yuuto instinctively gazed up at the ceiling. He then chanced a glance in Felicia’s direction, and she gave him a smug, self-satisfied grin quickly, so Sigrun wouldn’t notice.
No matter how one looked at it, Felicia was definitely the wicked woman in this situation.
Rumble.
Yuuto’s empty stomach let out an unrestrained cry. He had been too exhausted to eat dinner, so it was only to be expected. However, it was also an unparalleled opportunity for a counterattack.
“R-right now, hunger is more important than lust! Let’s eat, let’s eat!” Yuuto cried.
“True, one cannot fight on an empty stomach,” Sigrun agreed.
Once again, Sigrun quickly flipped back from Felicia to Yuuto’s side. Apparently she herself wasn’t aware of her switching allegiances, though.
During wartime, the most important thing was military logistics — namely, the security of food supplies. As the Strongest Silver Wolf Mánagarmr, there was no reason Sigrun wouldn’t know that. She treated satisfying the stomach as a top military priority.
“Oh... my... that’s too bad,” Felicia teased. “When you feel that embrace of a woman, there are a wide variety of things that can be overlooked or forgotten...” Her words trailed off into a flirtatious whisper.
“I-I’m saved...” Breathing a sigh of relief, Yuuto turned his attention to breakfast.
The bread and soup were served upon silver dishware. Yuuto felt sorry for the commoners out in the town, who were relegated to earthenware that they had made themselves, but he also understood that a sovereign who lived too modest an existence would leave a bad impression. Besides, more than anything he was averse to the earthenware, fearing that it would cause him stomachaches again.
“Father, please pardon the rudeness.” Sigrun brought her nose close to the bread and soup on the stand, sniffing it. After giving a nod, she took a bite of the bread and a sip of the soup.
Of course she wasn’t teasing Yuuto by eating before him. This was essential, as it was a food-tasting to check for poison.
The truth was that, even though this wasn’t a job Yuuto had asked Sigrun to do, she did have a nose with an unbelievable gift for detecting poisons. She had detected poison hidden in his food twice now. In both instances, her superior instinct had alerted her to not allow anyone to eat the food.
“It is safe,” Sigrun said. “Please, go ahead.”
“Right. Thank you, as always.”
Even as he gave his thanks, Yuuto couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Day after day, he had to be on alert to the threat of death by poisoning. Being sovereign was a fateful job.
“All right, itadakimasu.”
His breakfast having been confirmed safe, Yuuto placed his hands together, then reached for the bread. Even though Yggdrasil had no such pre-meal custom, it was hard to get rid of a habit that had been ingrained on his mind over years of practice.
The bread looked somewhat like melon bread from back home. The heat still wafted off of the freshly baked bread as Yuuto lifted it to his lips and opened his mouth wide. This was technically an indirect kiss with Sigrun, but after a year of this, Yuuto had long since gotten used to it. If he let it bother him every time, he would never eat.
“Mm, this is delicious!” he declared. “There’s a world of difference between this and what I had when I first arrived. I guess being a cheater has its benefits.”
Yuuto kept on muttering to himself, satisfied, as he took in the fresh aroma and soft texture of the dough.
In order to make bread, one first had to grind wheat into wheat flour. When Yuuto had first come to this world, the milling method had been a primitive one, consisting of setting the wheat on a flat stone, then intently grinding and mashing it with a long, slender, round stone.
However, with this method, wheat husks and bits of stone inevitably ended up mixed in with the flour. As a result, bread made with that wheat flour inevitably had a hard or sand-like consistency to it, a most unpleasant experience.
“Thanks to your efforts, Big Brother, the bread as of late has been rather delicious.” Felicia smiled happily.
Sigrun gave a deep nod.
Naturally, anyone would prefer to have the food they ate daily be as delicious as possible. Yuuto certainly felt that way.
Having been long accustomed to modern bread, Yuuto had not been able to stand the gravelly bread initially served to him, and so he’d used the internet to research millstones, and had read a number of ebooks on the subject. He had then been able to able to establish a new method for the people of Yggdrasil, called a rotary quern, where two circular stone disks were stacked atop one another with a piece of wood rotating the top disk.
Incidentally, the rotary quern had first been historically documented around 600 BCE, so it was still an advanced technology several centuries ahead of Yggdrasil.
“Oh yeah, the bread just reminded me. How are things going with the water wheel?” Yuuto asked, having suddenly remembered.
He had been put off by the fact that he was the only one eating such delicious bread. But there was a hard limit on what they could make using only manual labor. So he had once again found an ebook on the subject and, through trial and error, they had constructed a small water mill.
This had been surprisingly convenient, and so they now had five up and running. Still, it was the handiwork of amateurs. It had been a year since they had built it. He wouldn’t be surprised if something were to go wrong with it.
“It is currently operational with no issues,” Felicia told him.
“I see. That’s good news.” Nodding, Yuuto drank his milk in one gulp. It had a freshly squeezed, rich flavor to it, infinitely more delicious than the milk for sale in his home of modern-day Japan.
In this regard alone, people here lived lives of far more luxury than modern-day Japanese people. Even so, Yuuto couldn’t help but feel an insatiable dissatisfaction. Though he had spent two years in this other world, Yuuto was still Japanese.
He understood that it was rare because of the climate and the soil here. But still...
“I really want some rice,” he sighed.
Ever since he’d arrived, Yuuto had kept craving the taste of white rice.
“...Thus, the first Divine Emperor Wotan unified all of Yggdrasil, founding the sacred empire of Ásgarðr and proclaiming Glaðsheimr its capital. This was 204 years ago.” Felicia’s sonorous voice rung out through the patriarch’s office chamber.
In Yuuto’s eyes, Felicia was not only competent as an adjutant, a bodyguard, a sister, a friend, and a benefactor, but also a capable teacher.
Upon his initial arrival in this world, Felicia had been the only one able to communicate with Yuuto, by utilizing the galldr “Connections.”
Working as a priestess at the time he arrived, she had often visited the palace’s shrine and taught him the language of this land.
Humans are often capable of showing a previously unthinkable strength when they are pushed into corner. Within three months of his arrival, Yuuto had gained the ability to communicate on a basic level with people other than Felicia. Now, two years later, he could converse with almost no difficulty, but since he had become sovereign, there were numerous other things he needed to know. That was why mornings were set aside for lessons, when Felicia would lecture him about Yggdrasil.
Today’s lecture seemed to be about history.
“It really is full of names and titles from popular Norse myths,” Yuuto said. “I guess this world really does have a connection to the one that I came from...”
“Big Brother, is there something on your mind?” Felicia asked.
“No, it’s nothing. I’m just mumbling to myself. Please continue.”
“Very well. Emperor Wotan created a unified method of measuring length, size, and weight, or in other words, a system of measurements. He also unified the numbering system, decided on the Nordic language as the common tongue, and standardized a variety of other things. In order to encourage trade between all of the regions, he took great pains to establish trade routes along roads and waterways. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the policies Emperor Wotan put in place still live and breathe in the lives we are able to lead at present.”
“Wow, he was a pretty wise ruler.” Yuuto breathed in astonishment.
200 years later, and the things he did are still impacting us today. That’s impressive, Yuuto thought with genuine admiration.
“Indeed, he was a grand emperor with a unique ability to get things done. It was just that Emperor Wotan was a bit too forceful, and made far too many changes in one area.”
“Meaning?” Yuuto asked.
“Emperor Wotan’s most drastic reform was actually the clan system. At that time, succession was determined by blood and heredity, and he forbid the old ways in order to foster succession based on skill and ability.”
“It sounds like a good idea to me.” Yuuto tilted his head, unable to grasp what could be the problem.
No matter how great the parent, it would be no guarantee of the competency of the child. Though in some cases, the apple wouldn’t fall far from the tree, in others, a meager man could give birth to a mighty king. In that case, Yuuto thought, allowing people with greater skill to become leaders over people succeeding by heredity was more efficient.
“Naturally, there was no shortage of lords overseeing territories passed down through generations who resented this,” Felicia explained. “And there were many who opposed his other radical policies.”
“I see. So he had invited the ire of those who had a vested interest in things staying as they were.”
Yuuto’s hand instinctively shot into his pocket. Machiavelli’s The Prince, which he had read time and time again, sprang to mind. Machiavelli had stated that being hated and scorned were unavoidable for a monarch. He’d said that stealing one’s social position, wealth, or wife invited a particularly strong brand of resentment, so one would do well to be careful.
Yuuto was also someone who was introducing new methods and ideas into the world. This lesson wasn’t irrelevant to him.
“In addition, his policy also only allowed for hereditary succession within the house of the Divine Emperor,” she said. “In other words, he was trying to weaken the power of the feudal lords, while at the same time trying to strengthen the position and authority of the Divine Emperor. It likely meant that as the ages went by, he would strip more and more of the power to fight against the emperor away.”
“Wow, that’s practically cheating,” Yuuto remarked wearily. “Of course they would rebel against him.”
Just as the proverb about he who takes the first step said: a leader who wouldn’t take initiative and lead by example couldn’t expect those under him to agree to follow suit.
“Even so, people who had lived in deep fear of Emperor Wotan’s great power were quiet during his reign. Once the next emperor, Sigi, took the throne, the empire rapidly fell into disorder,” Felicia said.
“Guess it’s only to be expected.”
“During the reign of Emperor Sigi, because Emperor Wotan had called for succession via power over succession via heredity, many people took those words to heart. Violent conflicts broke out in every region, leaving only the powerful in their wake.”
Yuuto nodded. “I see. So with things going that way, they must have moved toward the system of nominating sovereigns from among the strongest child subordinates.”
“Yes, well, the past system of hereditary succession had fallen apart. But if they had actual power, a biological heir could still succeed the throne.”
“Still, that’s only if one’s power is recognized by others, right?”
“Indeed. If they lacked true strength, no matter how beloved they were by their parents, the other child subordinates would not recognize them as a sovereign successor.”
“I see.” Yuuto reflected on this.
Yuuto’s predecessor did have one son by blood, but he was over thirty with no power or prospects. The man had resigned himself with a low position that meant he could not even sit at the foot of the leaders’ table. If things had been as they originally were, he would have been king, reigning over tens of thousands of people.
On the other hand, despite their youth, Felicia and Sigrun had both been welcomed into positions of power and garnered much respect.
If the child of an outcast or criminal had strength and power, then he could be accepted as a leader, while the birth child of a sovereign who lacked power could be taken lightly. That was a fundamental law here on Yggdrasil. Yuuto thought it was harsh, but also exceedingly rational.
Once the former power structure had come down, it had been only a matter of time before those who’d climbed the ranks based on actual ability would band together and form a new power structure.
Felicia continued. “In this way, the overall might of the sacred empire of Ásgarðr began to weaken, but as Emperor Wotan expected, the authority of its central state grew,” Felicia said. “For the leader of a clan with no established political backing to be able to reign as leader over a large area, they would need some sort of moral justification, such as being a representative of the heavens. Of the Divine Emperor”
“Hm, like the shogun and the emperor of the Warring States Period.”
“Huh?” Felicia, who had continued her lecture undisturbed until that moment, tilted her head. No matter how intelligent she was, there was no way she would have knowledge of the history of Yuuto’s world.
Yuuto waved his hand with a wry smile. “Basically, it’s a position easily used for political ends. One can be appointed to an appropriate position and have their claims legitimized, without having to muddy things up with useless battle and arbitration.”
The Warring States Period was a time in history that would be enticing to any boy, and so Yuuto had researched it thoroughly. Mainly due to the influence of a certain strategy video game series.
Felicia’s eyes widened, slightly surprised at her student’s words, then her face broke into a smile, satisfied with his superior knowledge. “I should expect no less, Big Brother. It is just as you have deduced.”
“Welcome, welcome! you’ll find nothing but good quality products here.”
“How about it, young lady? A comb made in Ásgarðr.”
“Ahh, you have a good eye. This here is a blade forged by the finest and most famous craftsman in Vanaheimr.”
Yuuto and Felicia had reached a good stopping point and decided to take a break walking around the palace, when they’d heard a din coming from the courtyard and noticed the crowds of people.
There was a bazaar going on, with traders and merchants trying to sell their wares. They made their living by buying products in one territory and selling them in another, further away territory. It was a dangerous line of work, one where a person might be attacked by bandits or run out of food midway through the journey, and yet, many would take it up in pursuit of wealth.
“It seems rather lively.” Seated next to Yuuto, Felicia nodded in satisfaction.
The venue fee charged to the merchants was an important source of income for the Wolf Clan. The people who inhabited the palace were comparatively more well-off than the commoners who lived in town, so the palace was an ideal place to set up and sell their wares.
In a courtyard roughly the size of a school sports field, there were tents set up under the eaves, with a wide variety of wares ranging from food and clothing to arms and jewelry, to even livestock.
For a town like this in a prime position for transportation, merchandise was in abundance. If one had the money, they could acquire just about anything.
That included... people.
“Our product today is this mother-daughter pair,” one merchant called. “What do you think? The mother is beautiful, isn’t she? Not only that, but she has that beautiful, almost translucent light skin characteristic of the northern territories! And her build tells us she has been well-cared for. Please have a look at the daughter, as well. Her looks resemble her mother, doesn’t it? I bet that someday, her beauty will surpass her mother’s. Keh heh heh!”
The merchant was a man with a sturdy build, his head wrapped with a white piece of fabric. He gestured toward the mother and daughter, who were embracing one another, with a vulgar grin.
Though both mother and daughter quaked with looks of fear in their eyes, they held each other closer, asserting to the world that they would not be torn apart. From the looks of it, the daughter was scarcely ten years old.
“To think, even a child that young...” Yuuto furrowed his brow.
In other words, this was slave trading. It wasn’t something that only happened on Yggdrasil. It had been a trade executed in public all throughout the world until the modern age. Those people were the last remnants of war-torn countries, bought and sold by merchants after their lands had been invaded by other clans.
“Sold.” Yuuto thrust up his hand, causing a stir as he broke through the crowd.
On Yggdrasil, people with black hair were exceedingly rare. So the merchant quickly realized just who Yuuto was.
“Ohh, our Lord Sovereign Patriarch! Thank you very much! Then regarding the payment...”
“Felicia.”
“Yes. This should be more than enough, right?” Felicia quickly produced three gold nuggets the size of pebbles from a leather pouch and placed them in the merchant’s hand. This was enough to pay for two human beings.
Trying to suppress his resentment with this situation, Yuuto approached the mother and daughter, squatting down so he could be eye-level with the young girl. Her body quaked, and she hid behind her mother. Those movements alone told him that she had endured some terrifying experiences.
It wasn’t like this merchant was especially cruel or evil. It was just that these merchants didn’t see the slaves as the same level of human as themselves.
The grand philosopher Aristotle in Ancient Greece had affirmed the legality of the sale of humans, without the slightest qualm. The morality in this era was similar to that one.
“It’s going to be all right now.” Yuuto gave the gentlest smile he could offer as he spoke, glancing around quickly. He quickly found who he was looking for. “Hey, you there, guard! Take these two to the grand chamberlain! And be sure that you treat them with respect.”
“Sir!”
To the palace guards, Yuuto was greater than the clouds in the sky. Suddenly being called upon by him made them aware that they were being watched, and they would subsequently snap to attention.
As he watched the mother and daughter disappear into the palace, Yuuto wore a sour expression. The act of buying humans had roused feelings of visceral disgust from within him.
As sovereign, forbidding slavery within the Wolf Clan’s territory wasn’t outside the realm of his power. However, even if he did so, the merchants would just sell the slaves elsewhere. He couldn’t save everyone. As a weak nation reliant on trade, Yuuto also wanted to avoid baiting the ire of the merchants.
In that case, purchasing them was the only means he had available to allow the slaves to lead lives where they could be treated like normal humans. Since the slaves Yuuto purchased were seen as property of the sovereign, no one dared to persecute or oppress them. They were all able to work comfortably within the palace without fear. Every one of them uniformly expressed their gratitude to Yuuto.
Still, it always left a lingering unpleasant feeling that tormented Yuuto’s heart and mind.
There was no way he could rescue every slave. He could only save those within his reach. He couldn’t even defend his actions against those who might call them hypocritical.
“It’s just a drop in the bucket.” Yuuto clenched his fist tight. He couldn’t help but feel anger at how minuscule his ability to help really was.
“Where are you looking?! Don’t look at the enemy’s sword. Look at their whole form! Next!” Sigrun’s dignified voice echoed around them as they approached the castle gates.
When he looked over, Yuuto saw that Sigrun was giving the palace guards combat training. Her platinum blonde locks fluttered sweetly about her.
“Your step-in is too shallow. Tighten up your guard on the sides. Next!”
One after another, Sigrun would have them launch an attack at her with wooden swords, then deflect their attacks with ease.
Yuuto picked up on a sternness in her voice that made him tremble. Since she was usually so meek and docile in her interactions with Yuuto, it was refreshing, and a bit nostalgic, to see the brusque, coarse manner with which she reprimanded and pushed the soldiers she was training. This, after all, was the manner in which she had trained Yuuto when he had first arrived in this world.
“As always, she’s so strong it’s like cheating.” Yuuto said, letting out a long sigh of wonder.
The guards training with Sigrun were most certainly not weak. They were far from perfect, but it was clear that they could be trusted with the protection of the palace. All of them were undoubtedly skilled. And yet, Sigrun dealt with them as skillfully as if she were dealing with babies.
“She truly is,” Felicia mused. “Even when I have battled against her, I could scarcely last 10 rounds.”
“Even you, Felicia...?”
As they observed the mock battles, Yuuto found himself dumbfounded. Felicia herself was one of the Wolf Clan’s greatest technicians with a sword. Considering that even she couldn’t hold her own in a fight against Sigrun, it made all the more clear the fact that Sigrun’s fighting skill was incomparable to any other.
“It would seem that while my abilities granted from the Expressionless Servant Skírnir are multi-faceted, they cannot stand against an opponent who specializes in a particular field.” Felicia heaved a melancholic sigh, placing a hand on her cheek.
She was a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. She likely felt some sort of complex regarding that subject. In spite of what she was saying to Yuuto, Felicia’s abilities made up for a lack of proficiency through their versatility.
“What’s the matter?! Is that all you got?!” Sigrun shouted. “Are those magnificent muscles just for show?!”
The difference in average physical prowess between men and women in Yggdrasil was a hard fact. On top of that, the guard battling Sigrun was in good shape, his arms twice as thick as hers.
And yet, though her opponent put all of his might into the attack, Sigrun effortlessly deflected it. She was certainly no mere human.
On the other hand, she doesn’t seem like a monster, either, Yuuto thought.
Back in the world Yuuto had come from, there were a small number of athletes who ranked among the best of the best that described a certain state as being in the zone, which was a state of concentration in which they exhibited strength and skill normally thought impossible.
A famous baseball player once known as the God of Batting had explained that it was as if the ball had stopped.
A pitcher with a record number of strikeouts had once described it as being as if the boundaries of the strike zone had been illuminated for him. Just by pitching to those areas, he could strike a batter out.
A soccer player had once said that, at times, it was as if he could see the playing field from a bird’s eye view.
From what Yuuto had witnessed, while there were exceptions, this was generally what the Einherjars’ powers were like. Even though their powers were said to come from a divine blessing, it wasn’t a case of having such superhuman strength that one Einherjar could slaughter one or two hundred soldiers like some video game. It was just that they were always in the zone.
“Father?!” Though she was in the throes of battle, Sigrun whirled around.
Her opponent’s wooden sword couldn’t be stopped so easily. Fearing the worst, Yuuto drew in a deep breath.
As previously stated, Einherjar were not invincible. Especially considering that Sigrun’s Devourer of the Moon Hati did not grant her body any additional toughness or resistance to injury. Being hit on the head by a wooden sword with such force was not something one would easily recover from.
THUNK!
However, the sound that reverberated upon impact was not the normal dull sound of hitting a human, but rather a stiff, dry sound.
“...You monster,” Yuuto growled. “Do you have eyes in the back of your head? You really are a cheater.”
Yuuto shook his head in bemusement, heaving a sigh of relief. Even though she had looked away, Sigrun’s wooden sword still successfully intercepted her opponent’s attack.
It definitely made Yuuto realize that her second name, The Strongest Silver Wolf Mánagarmr, was not an exaggeration. Though Sigrun was young, it seemed she had clearly reached the stage of mastery where she need not rely on her eyes to see.
“Mm-hm, that was a good attack,” she added. “All right, let’s take a short break!”
“Thank you very much! Mother!” The soldiers responded in unison without missing a beat.
They also bowed their heads rapidly, out of adherence to Sigrun’s typically strict method of instruction. It was odd to see them referring to Sigrun as “Mother” despite her young age.
If the sovereign patriarch’s Chalice were given freely to just anyone, it would be taken lightly, and the chain of command would become convoluted. So Yuuto had given his Chalice only to those in the Wolf Clan in the upper echelons of leadership, and those aspiring toward those positions, resulting in fewer than fifty people having received his Chalice.
Anyone outside of that group had accepted the Child Chalice of one of those leaders, and thus that led to the creation of numerous factions, in which they would serve the clan as a whole under the direct management of that leader.
It wasn’t just Sigrun; the second-in-command, Jurgen, as well as Felicia, were Yuuto’s subordinates while also being bosses of their own factions.
In general, a faction tended to share certain characteristics with its boss. Sigrun’s faction comprised many of the Wolf Clan’s fiercest warriors, while Felicia’s contained a great number of civil officials.
“Hey there, good work with the training,” Yuuto told Sigrun as he approached. “As expected, you’re as strong as ever.”
Sigrun then turned to Yuuto and, a broad grin stretching across her face, rushed over to him immediately.
“Hello again, Father! Are you done with your lessons?”
Her change was so instant and so drastic that no one would suspect that she had been the demon trainer mere moments ago.
“Only about halfway done,” Yuuto said. But forget about that — you were amazing earlier. Stopping that attack without looking and all. That must be part of the power granted by the Devourer of the Moon Hati, right?”
“Oh, yes. I can tell by the sound of the blade slicing through the wind...”
“Ahh, that makes sense. A d— I mean, a wolf’s sense of hearing is leaps and bounds over that of a human.”
He quickly covered for the fact that he’d started to refer to her as a dog. Somehow, lately, Yuuto had come to notice more and more of Sigrun’s dog-like attributes.
“Still, Run, I really am envious of your various abilities,” he added.
“Th-that is not true! Compared to you, Father, I am nothing...”
“No, don’t put yourself down like that. You truly are amazing.” Yuuto folded his arms, nodding repeatedly in affirmation.
The desire to become strong was a fundamental, primitive desire for any man. A man couldn’t help but yearn for such preeminent physical abilities.
When he had first arrived here, Yuuto had gotten food poisoning about once a week. While his body had now gotten used to the food, back then it was bad enough that he even developed an aversion to putting food to his mouth. One could not survive without eating, so it had been a hellish time for him. If he’d had her strength, he was sure it would have all gone much smoother.
“My powers are of no use outside of battle,” Sigrun told him. “They would also be nothing when matched with 100 soldiers. My power is nothing when compared to the ability you have to lead tens of thousands of people, Father.”
“Huh, wait, didn’t you tell me in the past that I would never amount to anything?” he added.
“Ungh, wh-what happened back then was the greatest embarrassment of my life...” Sigrun’s expression clouded over with displeasure, looking bewildered.
Things really were different now. There was a time she had been a little mean, and but now she couldn’t help but treat him with the utmost respect.
Back then, she hadn’t been the only one who had felt that Yuuto was completely useless. The majority of the people in the Wolf Clan had looked down upon Yuuto with disdain.
When he’d first arrived in his strange clothing, there had been those who’d thought he might be an emissary of the heavens, but after more than a month of what those same individuals had presumed to be feigned weakness, they’d decided that they had in fact been mistaken.
He hadn’t been able to speak their language, hadn’t been able to do manual labor, and he hadn’t even been able to manage simple tasks that a child with no sense of the world could handle. He had also quickly tired, or else his stomach would get ill and he would need to lie down.
Yuuto cast a glance over to the adjutant standing at his side.
“Hm? What is the matter, Big Brother?” Felicia tilted her head, quizzically.
Back in those early days, she had been the only one to show Yuuto such kindness and familiarity. No, wait, there had been one other person. Felicia’s real older brother, a man who had been a peerless and true friend to Yuuto. He had been strong, clever, and popular. He was the one upon whom the Wolf Clan had pinned their greatest hopes.
But he was no longer here.
“No, it’s nothing.” Yuuto gave a slight shake of his head.
He had no right to speak of that man. Nor did he have the courage to do so. In the same way that Felicia felt indebted to Yuuto, Yuuto felt indebted to Felicia.
The reason was because it was Yuuto who had stolen away Felicia’s one and only flesh and blood relative.
“Regarding the experimental introduction of that Norfolk system that you proposed, Big Brother, development of the four test crops seems to be continuing with no issues,” Felicia said.
As the sovereign patriarch, spending his days looking over information, approving requests, and addressing unresolved issues was a part of Yuuto’s daily work.
Every day, from midday onward, Yuuto found himself completely swamped. Having been away for over a month now, a mountain of work was now waiting for him.
“At least it seems like we’ve had a strong start,” he said.
Considering that most of the Wolf Clan’s territory was mountainous or hilly terrain, it wasn’t well suited to growing crops. However, naturally, the people couldn’t survive without food to eat.
So while considering how to increase their crop output, the first thing that had come to Yuuto’s mind was something he had seen in his textbook at school about semiannual crops, or having two crops a year. By having two different crops each year on the same piece of farmland, one could increase crop productivity.
But that was an amateur mindset. Upon further research, Yuuto had learned that growing two crops a year was a huge drain on the land, so while it was fine for a temporary solution, he understood that it would quickly rob the ground of all its nutrients and make it barren. It was obvious that within five to ten years of repeated use, the land would be tapped out.
While researching growing two crops a year, he’d learned about the Norfolk four-course system, a method of dividing a piece of farmland into four parts, such as into barley, clover, wheat, and turnips in turn, then cycling through the four crops throughout the year.
There were also concerns about the land on Yggdrasil drying up, so presently, they could only harvest every other year to guard against such an outcome.
But with the Norfolk system, by planting clovers, a crop from the pea family that could restore the land that had lain fallow up to that point, and by planting a root crop like turnips that could become feed for livestock, they could improve agricultural production and restore nutrients to the earth at the same time. Moreover, it would surely increase livestock food output, as well.
“Well, it’ll take several years before we’ll know how truly effective it is,” Yuuto said, heaving a sigh.
Considering how innovative it was, it wasn’t something that could be fully implemented immediately. After all, Yuuto’s only experience with the system was from reading about it. He’d discovered that there was a lot of knowledge in the world that could only be gained through actual execution.
For example, Yuuto understood the primitive idea of starting a fire by pressing a wooden pole in the space between two wooden boards and rotating it rapidly, but he still couldn’t get the hang of actually doing it. Just knowing something was very different from putting it into practice.
Though he had closely followed what was written in the books, if they implemented the system on a wider scale and it failed, it was likely that some people might die of starvation. So they were still only trying it out on a small plot of land.
The trade-off was that they could only harvest once a year for now. So each cycle would take a total of four years. It was a reform that was taking a painfully long time to implement.
“Next,” said Felicia. “This paper, which you have introduced, Big Brother, has become increasingly popular, and many have requested increased production.”
“You say I introduced it, but really, the paper and the Norfolk system aren’t things I thought of — and the methods for both I acquired through cheating.”
“But you must also acknowledge that, thanks to those ideas, a great burden has been lifted from many of our citizens. It truly is commendable.”
“That’s true,” he said. “It’s good that our people have enough to eat.”
When Yuuto had first come to this world, he’d experienced many times how it felt to go hungry, and that feeling of hunger had created irritability in him.
While the written word had existed on Yggdrasil, “paper” itself had not existed yet. Words etched into clay tablets and wood blocks were the primary methods of transferring information.
Being from modern-day Japan, the first thing that had popped into Yuuto’s head was the word “papyrus” that he had seen in a textbook. Naturally, he’d looked it up online and found something about creating paper from weeds.
It’d seemed so simple that even a layperson could handle it, so Yuuto had attempted to make some, and though the final product had been so low-quality that no modern-day person would consider it worthy of sale, it actually flew off the shelves of the merchants’ stalls.
Weeds sprouted plentifully in the region. And the production of paper took no more time than growing crops would. Using the paper as another revenue stream was another point in its favor.
With the profits from the paper, he would purchase all of the wheat the merchants had to offer, then grind it down in the water mills they had discussed at that morning’s breakfast, then sell the resulting flour for even more profits. Through this chain of economic strategies, the Wolf Clan’s food and financial situations had improved drastically.
Saving the people from starvation with a consistent income, improving the standard of living, and chasing away foreign invaders netted him the support of the people. Thus, the peoples’ enthusiastic reactions at the previous day’s victory parade weren’t out of place.
“Well, what would you like to do? Shall we increase output?” Felicia asked.
“No, we’d better not. For the present at least, we should stay the course.”
“Understood. Well then, I shall do as you have asked.”
“In all honesty, I do want to teach the townspeople how to use paper.” Yuuto couldn’t shake his feelings of guilt over the people living in the palace monopolizing the increased profits. He often toyed with the thought that maybe teaching the townspeople how to use paper would also bring them increased prosperity.
But paper was simple enough to make that even an average middle school student like Yuuto could make it by just looking up information online. It didn’t require any highly specialized skills or anything. If he taught the townspeople, it was something that could easily spread to the outside world. And then others would begin producing it, and the Wolf Clan would no longer have the market cornered.
The implication was that they would regress back to the days of poverty, in which food would be scarce. Who would travel long distances and pay large amounts of money for something they could make themselves back home?
As the sovereign, he had to avoid such a situation at all costs.
A guard rushed into the office suddenly, stood at attention, and announced, “Pardon the interruption! We have received a correspondence from the Horn Clan!”
The previous system had required one to go through numerous guards before reaching the sovereign himself, but Yuuto had found this to be the height of ridiculousness, and so, pending only a check to ensure the visitor carried no weapons, they could now immediately proceed to the sovereign.
This had stirred up plenty of complaints from the elders about authority and dignity and the like. It often caused Yuuto to reflect on the fact that change was difficult.
“My, that was fast.” Her eyes wide with suspicion, Felicia accepted the flat clay clump from the guard.
Yuuto had sent a correspondence five days earlier, after the fighting had ended. When sending only a letter and requesting only a letter in return, the travel time took only a matter of hours, but taking one’s time with a letter and its response was a custom of not only the elders, but of the general populace of Yggdrasil.
But for Yuuto, the speed of information was the difference between life and death. It made him think of what Sun Tzu had said about the influence of speed on warfare: the difference of only a few hours could impact the tides of battle. In times such as these, Yuuto wanted to have no regrets.
“Well, then...” Felicia picked up the wooden hammer lying on top of Yuuto’s desk and brought it down upon the clay tablet. She smashed the simple clay tablet, adorned only with a seal likely belonging to the Horn Clan, and from within came a second clay tablet with text etched into it.
Important correspondences such as this were sealed in this way: the letter itself was baked into a second, plain clay tablet in an effort to conceal it from the eyes of others.
“Let’s see. ‘Inform the sovereign Lord Yuuto of the Wolf Clan. I am Rasmas, of the Horn Clan.’” Holding the clay tablet, Felicia read the introduction.
This form of starting a letter with “Inform__, I am __,” was a very formal, traditional form of letter-writing on Yggdrasil.
As the literacy rate on Yggdrasil was lower than one percent, it was common to have letters and reading handled for one by a secretary, who was professionally trained for reading and writing. Therefore, “Inform __” was actually a directive to the secretary reading the letter.
“‘Several members of our upper echelons, myself included, will be in attendance at the Chalice Ceremony. We expect to arrive within seven days. We trust that you are treating our leader hospitably.’ It’s dated three days ago.”
The content was fairly concise, yet the clay tablet was as big as Yuuto’s hand. Sealing the correspondence made it even bulkier. When compared to paper, it really was a troublesome material.
“Treating her hospitably, eh?” Yuuto said. “Speaking of which, is she doing well? She’s not feeling unwell or anything, is she?”
“Indeed, she is exceedingly well. I am told that she ate all of her breakfast this morning.”
“I see. If she’s eating normally, then I am sure she’s fine.” Yuuto heaved a sigh of relief.
Though she had consented to become a little sister subordinate, it was still only a verbal contract. Naturally, he couldn’t let her roam free, so she was currently confined to one corner of the palace.
Though she would soon become a little sister subordinate, she was still sovereign of the neighboring nation, the Horn Clan. It wouldn’t do to treat her poorly, either.
Upon reaching the palace, they had untied her rope restraints, and granted her a room of her own in which to relax. Still, it wasn’t unthinkable that she might have a sudden change of heart; she might think herself a hindrance to her own clan and attempt suicide. Yuuto found himself fearful of the potential predicament that might result. And on a personal level, Yuuto couldn’t stomach the thought of a girl of such a tender age dying, either.
“Be sure to treat her hospitably, as the letter states,” he ordered. “But also, be careful so that she does not run away on us.”
“Tee hee.”
“What is it, Felicia? Have I said something funny?”
“No, I was just thinking how reliable you’ve become when compared to how you were two years ago.”
“...You really don’t need to flatter me.”
“But you’ve already done so much for us. Ever since you arrived here, Big Brother, we of the Wolf Clan have seen no end to the improvements in our clan. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart that it was you who became our leader.” Felicia gazed at Yuuto with an impassioned expression.
Looking into her eyes, Yuuto could not sense a hint of falsehood. His face immediately became red. While Yuuto had become used to words of praise by that point, and he was used to teasing from Felicia, being met with such a sincere gaze was downright unfair. He couldn’t bear to look up at her.
“Hee hee!” she giggled. “You know, the adorable way you react is yet another facet of your charm, Big Brother.”
Yuuto might have felt pride in how much he had grown in the past two years, but he felt that no matter how many decades he spent here, he would never get used to Felicia.
The second Yuuto opened the door, he was assaulted by a curt snarl.
“What do you want?” The Horn Clan leader didn’t even attempt to hide her disdain.
Within these palace walls, she was the only one who would dare take such a tone with him. In all honesty, Yuuto hated the constant formality showered upon him, as he didn’t feel he deserved it, and thus he found some comfort in her brusque manner.
“Am I not allowed to come see my future little sister subordinate?” he asked.
“No.”
“Well, that’s a shame.” A wry grin instinctively seized Yuuto’s lips.
After inquiring about Linea’s condition, he’d wanted to check on her with his own eyes, but she didn’t seem to be in good spirits.
“Is something not to your liking? Is there anything you need?” he asked.
Though she was a prisoner of war, Linea was also a vital guest to the Wolf Clan. In the interest of building better relations, it was important to ensure that they accommodated her as much as possible. In reality, the one who would arrange such things was Felicia, who was silently taking notes behind him.
The room that they had confined Linea to was actually a guest room at one corner of the palace. At a glance, the room had been meticulously cleaned and the furniture chosen and arranged with care. The basket on the table overflowed with a variety of fruits.
Linea popped one grape after another into her mouth, chewing them as she spoke. “There is nothing that I lack. But there are certain inconveniences.”
“Hmm, well, I’ll see to it those inconveniences are handled straight away.”
“Good, so that means you’ll get out of my room. And could you get rid of that guard by the door for me?”
“That’s a difficult request,” Yuuto laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
Until the Chalice Ceremony to make her a member of the Wolf Clan was complete, he simply couldn’t allow her to roam free. He knew that was true, but he could tell that having someone remain at the entrance the whole time, checking in on her occasionally, wasn’t very comfortable for her.
“No, wait, I know. Could you at least switch the guards out with female servants?” she asked, the idea apparently suddenly occurring to her.
Considering she’d been monitored this whole time by members of the opposite sex, it was natural to think she might feel more at ease with someone of the same sex monitoring her instead.
Yuuto glanced over at Felicia, and she gave him a nod.
“That should be possible,” she said. “Naturally, palace guards will still need to be stationed somewhere nearby.”
Yuuto nodded back. “Right, then make it so.”
“Understood.”
“...Is that the fabled paper?” Linea mumbled absently, looking at the memo pad Felicia was holding.
Within the palace, the use of paper was already so widespread that even minor notations such as these were being recorded on it, but it still remained a curiosity to people from other nations.
“Yes, it’s a rather handy tool. I’m very grateful to Big Brother for it.” Felicia smiled, her pen made out of reed — something else Yuuto had learned to make from the internet — darting across the page.
The clay tablets and wood blocks that had been in use up to two years ago had been heavy and unwieldy, and would have been a nightmare to lug around.
“Lord Yuuto, you and I are so close in age, and yet you truly are impressive,” Linea said.
“What’s this all of a sudden?” Yuuto asked cautiously. Her attitude up to that point had been so hostile that he suspected ulterior motives in her sudden change.
Linea gave him a wry smile. “Maybe in the end, I wasn’t a suitable sovereign, after all. Experiencing defeat after defeat in battles where I was on the offensive, leading to my being taken prisoner... heh heh... With that reception yesterday, it made me think that you really are something.”
“What exactly are you after?” Yuuto was used to flattery from his own subordinates, but to have an enemy leader even begin to compliment him, it seemed to come out of left field. It was natural for him to suspect she might be plotting something.
“Ha ha! I just spoke what came to mind without thinking. I guess I was just feeling jealous of you.”
As she stared intently at Yuuto, Linea’s eyes brimmed with the maddening pangs of jealousy and envy.
Perhaps her youth itself brought its own brand of hardship.
Even though there wasn’t that much of an age difference between them, to see someone else so admired and respected by others, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to have such complicated feelings.
Yuuto started to speak, then quieted himself. He knew that forced sympathy would only cause her more pain. There were no words the victor could offer the loser, as it were.
Even though the sun was on the verge of setting, a hot blast of air burned his cheeks.
This area was the deepest part of the palace, where only a small number of the Wolf Clan’s members were allowed to go. The corridor Felicia and Yuuto were walking down was essentially a straight corridor, situated past a guard post with ten guards jammed into the entrance, and another two guards stationed in front of the workshop at the end of the hall. The stationing of guards was so tight, not even a mouse could hope to slip through.
On seeing Yuuto’s face, the guards immediately snapped to attention. “Oh, good to see you Lord Patriarch! Please, come in!”
Several beads of sweat dripped down Yuuto’s face. The area around the workshop was unbelievably hot. The air itself seemed to be burning, making the area feel no different from a sauna.
“Good work.” With those sincere words of appreciation, Yuuto entered the workshop.
Two men stood at the center of a dim room the size of a classroom, working around a clay, bucket-shaped kiln. A dazzling orange light blazed forth from the upper half of the kiln.
“All right, keep at it now. Oh, huh? Yu-Yuuto?!”
The girl standing off to the side, staring at the kiln, noticed Yuuto and her eyes grew wide. Her willful, upturned eyes and frizzy, short hair gave her a lively air.
“Yo, long time no see, Ingrid,” he said. “You really shouldn’t be that surprised to see me.”
“Oh, l-long time no see. Y-yeah, I guess I did hear that you’d come back or something.” Ingrid responded to Yuuto’s greeting by scratching her cheek and giving an indifferent response.
He got the feeling she was covering up how she really felt. Since this was par for the course with her, Yuuto took no offense and spoke, shrugging his shoulders. “What the heck? You’re acting so cold. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Shut up. I’ve been down here firing the kiln since yesterday. S-so I don’t have time to worry about the likes of you. And, hey! No one said you guys could take a break! Keep going!” Glancing over at the kiln mid-conversation, Ingrid gave her workers a tongue-lashing without a hint of leniency.
Younger than the men working the kiln, it might seem as if she had been relegated to menial tasks, but in reality, this girl of only sixteen was actually the Wolf Clan’s eighth highest ranked member, and the head of the workshop Mótsognir.
Like Sigrun and Felicia, Ingrid was also an Einherjar, in possession of the rune of Ívaldi, the Birther of Blades, and the Wolf Clan had come to rely on her superior blacksmithing abilities.
On first glance, she seemed moody and curt, but...
“Agh, I told you not to get so worked up,” she told one of her subordinates. “Do that, and you’ll burn yourself. Just calm down already.”
Yuuto knew well that she was actually a very kind girl. She was just prone to act in misleading ways contrary to her feelings, what one might call a devil who’d fallen from heaven.
Thinking back on something that had happened two years earlier, Yuuto’s face spontaneously broke into a smile. When he had only recently arrived in this world, she had rebuked or scolded him one minute, then worried over him the next.
With the rotary quern and water mill, if Ingrid hadn’t lent Yuuto her talents, he would have been unable to build them alone. Because of that, she was, like Yuuto’s adjutant Felicia, an irreplaceable right-hand assistant.
Glancing at the workers who were putting everything they had into what they were doing, Yuuto said, feeling a little guilty, “I’m sorry, if you guys are busy, maybe I should come back another time?”
“D-don’t worry about it. Th-though I’m not exactly free at the moment. But since you’ve come after such a long absence, take your time.” Ingrid gave a dramatic jerk of her chin, indicating a nearby chair.
Yuuto took a step forward, realizing that it wouldn’t do to just stand around, but then he noticed the sullen look on Felicia’s face.
Trying to steady her voice, Felicia offered Ingrid some frank advice. “Lady Ingrid, about that tone you’re always using with Big Brother, it...”
Ingrid let out a moan and screwed up her face. “Ahh, I see. Well, in the past, this guy — no, wait, that’s not it, uh, F-F-F-Father? Well, he knows that it’s just a habit that I can’t get rid of... I-I-I-I’m sorry, F-F-Faaagh!”
“Heh heh!” Yuuto inadvertently burst out laughing at Ingrid. Up until to that point, she had been acting with such vigor, and now she was biting her tongue.
“Ahh! D-Don’t laugh! No, I mean, please do not laugh at me!” Ingrid pleaded, with slightly teary eyes.
She had once been a fairly shy person, but her embarrassment now was worse than it ever had been before. Her face was a brighter red than the inside of the kiln.
Yuuto waved off Ingrid’s embarrassment. “I told you to act like you normally do. Having you speak formally to me feels so cold, Ingrid.”
“I-I guess you’re right. Doing things the way we always have is best!” Ingrid’s expression instantly changed and she nodded in satisfaction, as if the suggestion had been hers all along.
“A-ahem!” Felicia cleared her throat, seemingly on purpose. Apparently, she wasn’t pleased. “Big Brother, Lady Ingrid. I understand that the two of you are close, but it is vexing that you cannot manage to separate public and private behaviors.”
“W-we are not close!” Ingrid declared.
Her sudden denial hurt Yuuto’s feelings a bit. But he understood that it was a reflex, a denial that she couldn’t help but give.
Yuuto let the words slide, saying, “Well, you see, that isn’t what I want, either...”
“This is one area where I cannot just allow you to do as you please, Big Brother,” Felicia said apologetically. “Lady Ingrid is in a position of high standing, and there are many people around, as well.”
She glanced over and met the eyes of the other workers. It wasn’t possible to guarantee that the workers wouldn’t let word spread that Ingrid acted so casually around Yuuto. Being friendly in speech and manner was fine, but discipline and order were important to an organization such as theirs. For someone who should be an example to the group to infringe upon that order, and for those under them to suddenly follow suit, would certainly impact the organization’s ability to regulate itself.
“Aunt Felicia is right,” Ingrid said reluctantly. “I’ll try to... no, I will be careful from now on. Please forgive me, Father.”
Ingrid’s expression stiffened and she tightened her posture, turning to Yuuto and bowing her head.
Seeing her like that made Yuuto aware of the distance between them. Felicia’s admonition reminded him of another piece of advice from The Prince, about the value of a dignified manner for a leader. He understood that it was the way things had to be, but still, he and Ingrid had a bond forged through hours of trial and error, drenched in sweat. Yuuto could do nothing but bite his lip at the loneliness drilling its way into his heart.
“Oh, but, when it’s just the two of you, you can call each other by name and behave however you see fit,” Felicia said, suddenly choosing that moment.
Instinctively glancing back at Felicia, Yuuto saw her give him a mischievous wink. Felicia often found herself going soft when it came to Yuuto.
“Please just be sure to keep a clear distinction between public and private mannerisms, all right?” she added. She didn’t forget to add a wag of her index finger and a serious expression in for good measure.
Yuuto’s face illuminated with joy as a smile worked its way across his face. “Right! Got it. I’ll be careful! All right then, Ingrid, when it’s just the two of us alone, we’ll do as we’ve always done!”
“A-a-a-alone?! W-w-w-w-what’re you saying all of a sudden?!” Ingrid stammered, with such consternation that it was embarrassing to watch.
Her manner of speaking had also returned to its former casual state.
“Hey now, don’t make it sound weird,” Yuuto said. “I just meant, when we get together next, let’s make something again. Things are busy now, but I should have some free time soon.”
“Ah, I-I guess that’s how it goes. Well, all right. Yeah. Uhhm, ah!” Even though Ingrid looked dejected for a moment, that look was quickly replaced with a broad smile as she nodded vigorously.
Ingrid followed that with another, heavy sigh. “It’s really hard for me to talk with people. I’m much more comfortable working with my hands and making things.”
“You’ve got the heart of a serious craftsman after all,” Yuuto agreed.
There were those who were bad at talking to others and spent all of their energy on making things. For instance, Yuuto had heard that many novelists, whose entire profession was built around words, commonly found themselves unable to converse when face-to-face with others.
On the other hand, he felt kind of sorry for a girl of Ingrid’s age feeling that way. He thought perhaps that rather than just him always meeting with her alone, perhaps it would be good to persuade her to interact with others, as well.
As he was giving it thought, Felicia pressed her hand over her lips, a giggle escaping as she broke into an amused smile. “Big Brother, you’re as naughty as ever...”
“Agh! Geez! Why did you two even come here! I’m busy! Quit interrupting my work!” Ingrid yelled, flustered. Her face had once again turned as red as a tomato.
“Wha?! Well, earlier, you told us to take our time,” Yuuto protested.
“Shut up! I have no memory of saying something like that! If you have no business here, then leave!” Ingrid began hastily pushing Yuuto’s back, then began to lock the pair out of the workshop.
Forget formality, she had switched from speaking casually to barking orders. Yet Felicia, who should have been bothered by it, was pounding the wall, her body racked with laughter.
“Thank you for your hard work today, as always.”
“Yeah, thank you too, Felicia.” The two of them had since returned to Yuuto’s bedroom.
“Well then, I’ll be back in the morning to rouse you once more. Good night, Big Brother.” With an elegant bow, Felicia left the room.
As soon as Yuuto closed the large, wooden door, he fell back several steps and flopped down onto his bed.
“Whew, I’m exhausted.”
The second Yuuto landed on his bed, waves of fatigue seized his body, and he released all the air in his lungs with a long sigh.
The room was dimly lit by the orange glow of a solitary lamp. This world still lacked candles, but they had earthenware lamps with wicks made from strands of wood and cotton. With such dim lighting, he could scarcely make out what was in his room.
“Maybe it’s those of us from modern-day Japan who are strange for wanting to work through the depths of night.”
Saying that, Yuuto took the solar battery, which had been charging on the windowsill, and attached it to his smartphone.
On Yggdrasil, rising before the sun and having dinner followed by going to bed shortly after the sun went down was the norm. It was probably safe to say that that was how most humans had lived their lives until the modern era. Looking at it from a historical perspective, until the advent of lighting in the 19th century, this was likely how everyone had conducted themselves.
Even though Yuuto’s official business had concluded for the day, he still had work to do. Or rather, only when no one else was around could he indulge in the unique advantages of a modern man.
“I guess it should be enough now.” Yuuto turned on the power to his smartphone, the phone manufacturer’s logo appearing on screen after some time.
Poking around online, occasionally buying e-books, seeking knowledge that might be useful in this world — these had all become a part of Yuuto’s nightly routine.
To be fair, it wasn’t as if Yuuto didn’t have reservations about bringing knowledge from the 21st century into this world. He was tormented by worries like, “What if that knowledge only made a bigger mess of things,” or “Was it even acceptable for him to introduce such knowledge?”
But if Yuuto hadn’t put such knowledge to use, the Wolf Clan might have been completely erased from existence by now. On top of that, the images of children crying from hunger that had greeted Yuuto when he first arrived, as well as images of the corpses of those who had looked out for him, still remained seared into his memories.
He knew what needed to be done, but he was having a hard time convincing himself. Having the knowledge and ability to change things, but doing nothing, seemed infinitely more sinful. Thus, Yuuto continued to defy his instincts.
He thought back to the cold way he had treated Mitsuki in elementary school, having been unable to stand the teasing from his friends. It was a dark and shameful part of his past. He didn’t want to do something he’d spend the rest of his life regretting like that again.
And more than anything else, he didn’t want to fall into the trap of becoming like that man.
“Anyway, I guess I should go back to what I was reading before the battle started,” he said aloud.
The moment his home screen appeared, Yuuto tapped on the icon for “Hindle,” his e-book reader, and from the covers lined up before him, selected a book on the topic of the history of economics.
On Yggdrasil, bartering was the primary method of doing business. Trading or bartering was fine if both parties gained something of equal value, but if the transaction favored one side over the other, it became difficult to continue doing business. And finding someone who wanted to trade for what you had was also difficult. He couldn’t help but think of it as highly ineffective.
Gold and silver could be used as substitutes for trade, but they came with their own burdensome balancing act. They also couldn’t prevent people from using tricks to fraudulently sway the value of currency.
In that moment, Yuuto had an idea — using paper money as a common method of financial exchange. They had already made paper, after all, and if it improved the smoothness of their business transactions, it could provide a jolt to their overall commerce, thus bolstering the Wolf Clan’s overall national prowess.
However, things were never that simple.
“Mnnn, I don’t really think I’ll be able to put this into practice,” he murmured.
As he continued reading, Yuuto realized his own superficiality. Just circulating paper money with an amount written on it wasn’t as simple as it sounded. First of all, they would need the printing technology to duplicate the same thing over and over. The function of the product would depend heavily on whether or not they could prepare similarly valued precious metals and whether or not they could gain the confidence of governments.
According to this book, the first appearance of paper money in history had been in eleventh century China, during the Song Dynasty. The book also said that if they flooded the market with too much currency, the value would drop rapidly, causing inflation, and the value of products would also collapse, signaling the end of an economy.
“If the society in question hasn’t matured enough yet, then this might cause them further chaos,” he sighed. “I had hoped this would be a good idea, though.”
Yuuto lifted his face from the screen, gazing up at the ceiling, at a loss.
That’s it! An idea flickered into his mind, but he realized that this too might not be doable once he actually researched it.
“Provided it doesn’t require too much startup capital, it may really be a good idea. Well, but, we could probably use it to mint coins? ...Oh, I’ll have to finish this later.”
The battery gauge indicated in the top left corner had changed to red, and so Yuuto pressed a button to return to the home screen.
The liquid crystal display used up the most battery power. Especially Yuuto’s fairly large five-inch screen. With the battery power supplied by the solar battery, he could get in at most 30-40 minutes of continuous reading.
“Well, before bed, I guess I should at least call, so I can hear her voice.”
He switched his cellular data on (keeping the cellular data on drained the battery much faster, so he kept it off as a default setting), and called his childhood friend.
Yuuto’s room was in the northeastern part of the palace. The previous sovereign patriarch’s room had been in the center of the palace, but Yuuto had protested and had them move his room. Since this room was the closest to the sacred tower, his phone could connect as long as the moon was at least half full.
“Hello!” A bouncy voice resonated from the speaker after the phone rang only once.
Yuuto’s lips broke into a smile at the realization that she had been anticipating his call. “Hello. Good evening, Mitsuki. It’s me.”
“Yeah, good evening, Yuu-kun. You must be tired after all the work you had to do.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired.”
He hardly had any battery power left. He wouldn’t be able to have much of a conversation with her. This would be a secret tryst that only lasted a matter of minutes.
Considering all the important things he used his phone for, perhaps he should learn to be more efficient with scanning the e-books for information. But this was the only stretch of time where Yuuto truly began to feel his heart heal.
“Good night, Mitsuki,” he said.
And so, Yuuto managed to pass another day as the sovereign unscathed.
Well, i unfortunately dont have a facebook account. I have promoted to friends though