Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki Volume 5 - Prologue

Prologue: The Beginning of the Enlightennt

1st day, 1st month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar

This was the first ti that New Years Day had co since the Elfrieden Kingdom had absorbed the Principality of Amidonia and beco the United Kingdom of Elfrieden and Amidonia, or the Kingdom of Friedonia for short.

In the royal capital, Parnam, and the forr capital of the Principality, Van, as well as any other city that had a receiver for the Jewel Voice Broadcast set up in its plaza, there were still a large number of people gathered there. After all, today the young king would be using the Jewel Voice Broadcast to issue a New Years greeting to the people. The people had gathered in order to hear it.

It wasnt that Souma was doing anything to force the people to listen. But every ti he used the Jewel Voice Broadcast, he had kicked off an event to gather personnel; or taught them about new foods as a counterasure against the food crisis; or started up a music program... It was all so random, and the people were interested to see whether he might have sothing entertaining planned again. Also, when people gathered like this, the rchant stalls would co out to make a profit, and when the stalls were out more people would gather to see what all the fuss was... That feedback loop had gotten started, which was why even though Souma had only announced he would be making a New Years address, there were still so many people gathered.

One mother and her child were talking while they waited for the broadcast.

Is His Majesty going to do sothing again?

Yes, darling. I wonder what it will be.

The receiver mounted on the fountain began to project Soumas image.

Behind him were his fiances Princess Liscia and Princess Roroa, the latter being the forr Sovereign Princess of Amidonia, whose betrothal to Souma had been announced at the sa ti as the annexation of her country.

Liscia and Roroa both wore flawless smiles, waving for the people. The princesses of two nations that had once been enemies were on the sa screen, smiling. This reassured the people of Elfrieden and Amidonia about their newly united kingdom.

Eventually, the image of Souma began to speak. To my beloved people in both our united kingdoms of Elfrieden and Amidonia, I wish you a happy new year.

Souma, Liscia, and Roroa all bowed their heads in unison.

There was so murmuring about how the king had just bowed his head at the start of the new year, but when his face rose once more, Souma was wearing a teasing smile. This is a traditional New Years greeting in the world I ca from. Youve done a lot to help in the past year. I hope I can count on you again in this one. That is the sort of feeling its ant to express.

While the people of the kingdom were still taken aback, Souma pivoted into the main topic.

Now, I hear that in the Amidonia Region, it was customary for your ruler to announce the national policy for the coming year. Roroa suggested I do the sa, so... What the heck, Ill give it a shot. For now, the nations goal for this year will be...

A wave of tension rushed through the crowd listening to the broadcast in the Amidonia Region.

The people forrly of the Principality of Amidonia were all recalling Gaius VIIIs face when hed made his proclamations each new year. With a stern expression, he would swear revenge on Elfrieden, then set their goal as the reclamation of their stolen lands.

For the Amidonians, the announcent of policies on the first day of the new year had always been done in order to lift up their fighting spirits. They could hardly be blad for tensing in anticipation that there might be a war with so other country again.

Just where was this country headed? Were they going to invade so other place? To bring down the Empire and claim hegemony over the continent? Or to strike out against the Demon Lords Domain, and thus liberate the northern lands...?

The listening gulped in anticipation, and at last Souma spoke.

I think Im gonna go with, To make a better country.

A hush fell over the crowd.

My people, I call on you to study! I shouted inside the castles Jewel Voice Room. Let present you with a taphor. Imagine two people are about to fight with swords. In most cases, the stronger one will win, or the one with the better sword. Now, when two equally strong individuals fight with equally good swords, is the result simply down to luck?

Nay, I say to you. The one who knows the sword better will win. Even if their levels of strength were the sa, and their weapons identical, if a cook and a blacksmith fought with swords, Im fairly sure the blacksmith would win. A blacksmith sees swords every day as part of their work, and would be well acquainted with their length and their reach.

I tapped a finger on my temple.

If you know more than other people, that, in and of itself, can be a weapon. A great general can fight a hundred battles and win them all because he knows war; knows his own forces; and he even knows the forces of his enemy. He avoids unwinnable battles, only choosing to fight the ones he can win. The reason a diocre general will lose at the critical juncture is because he doesnt know war, and he doesnt know his own forces or that of his enemy. He fights needlessly for repeated victories and loses, unable to focus on only the most important ones.

There was a strategist in the world I ca from who said, Know thyself, know thy enemy, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles, but... this is sothing that applies outside the domain of war, too.

If they both deal in the sa goods, but rchant A prospers while rchant B does not, its because rchant A knows more about how to do business.

Though they might use the sa base materials, the reason a great craftsmans works are many levels above an average craftsmans is because he has a deep knowledge of the properties of those materials.

Though you both grow the sa thing, the produce that cos out of your neighbors field tastes better than what cos out of your own because the farr next door has know-how about the proper way to raise that crop.

Though you both cook the sa thing, the reason a chefs dish tastes better than your own is because a chef knows the good and bad traits of each ingredient, and has a deep knowledge of the ways to prepare them.

The reason the superior hunter cos back with a kill every ti he goes out is because he has a deep knowledge of the terrain, as well as the traits of the animals he hunts.

In the world of entertainnt, a famous actor is able to inspire emotion in people with each of his performances because he has a deep knowledge of peoples hearts.

Its the sa for kings and nobles, too. The kings who have been called great were those who had a deep knowledge of how to rule a country well without facing resistance from their people. I, myself, still have a long way to go, but I am working hard to learn.

I paused.

Yukichi Fukuzawa had said in An Encouragent of Learning, The heavens do not create n who are above other n, nor do they create n that are beneath other n. So why was it that, in the real world, there was such a gap between the rich and the poor?

Hed suggested that it was a question of learning. Those without learning could only do manual labor, thus their position in society would lower. Those with learning could do more difficult jobs, thus they would beco more important.

I had thought it was a bit of an extre argunt, but as Id read on, Id found there were parts of it I could agree with.

I continued.

The way to gain a deep knowledge of things is to learn about them. Learn from those with superior knowledge and skills. If you have knowledge and skills that are superior to those of others, then you should be the one to teach them. Those who ask to be taught must pay their respects to those who teach; and those who teach must show compassion to those who seek to learn from them. By learning from one another like this, we can give birth to even greater skills. I am confident that, no matter what your occupation, doing this will allow you to live a more prosperous life than you do now.

Silently, I repeated: Those who ask to be taught must pay their respects to those who teach, and those who teach must show compassion to those who seek to learn from them... I had inserted that line to address the rights of both parties. As a statesman, I had to be careful that the ones doing the teaching werent doing so at a complete loss to themselves. Still, even if I tried to explain that to the people right now, they wouldnt understand, so I had no desire to go in-depth about it.

I want to raise the average standard of living for the people who live in this country, I said. Thats because doing so will increase this countrys power. If you all beco more wealthy, tax revenues will go up. With higher tax revenues, I should be able to divert so funds towards military equipnt and the nurturing of new industries. The whole country will beco prosperous and strong.

To that end, I want you, the people, to study. Id like you to start with reading and writing. If all you can do is read and write, that will let you communicate with people at a distance. After that, I want you to learn arithtic. If you can do that, it vastly expands the range of subjects you can learn.