She seemed furious, but up close, I could see tears in Liscia’s eyes.

“Oh, um... sorry...”

“No, not ‘sorry’! You almost gave me a heart attack. If anything were to happen to you... what would I... what would all of us do...?”

When I heard Liscia’s voice gradually breaking with emotion, I could feel how much she had been worried for my safety. The mixture of happiness and guilt made my chest hurt.

“No, really, I’m sorry!” I said. “Someone I know was getting attacked, so I moved without thinking...”

“Hey, you!”

I was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged in the opposite direction. When I turned around, Juno was glaring at me with a super suspicious look in her eyes.

“You called me Juno, didn’t you?” she snapped. “Why do you know my name?”

“No... That’s, um...”

“Hold it, So— Kazuya.” Liscia glared at me, looking upset for a different reason from before. “Who is this girl?”

She’d almost called me Souma for a second there, but with Juno right beside us, she’d switched to my undercover name.

Yeah, that had been a nice bit of quick thinking. Now, I just wanted her to not glare at me quite so hard.

I was sandwiched between two cute girls, both of them glaring at me. Some people might be jealous of this situation, but unfortunately, I was not equipped with the right fetishes to appreciate it fully.

This situation... How exactly am I going to explain it? I wondered.

Or rather, where was I even to start? Should I start by outing myself as the person inside Little Musashibo (or, more precisely, remotely controlling him)?

Juno’s glance shifted to Liscia. Something must have caught her attention, because she was inspecting her closely. “Hey, I feel like I’ve met you somewhere before, too.”

“Huh?” Liscia asked. “Ah!”

Liscia pulled hard on my arm, then whispered in my ear, “This girl, she’s the one who was at that banquet, right?”

Huh? Oh! Now that I thought about it, Liscia had met Juno, hadn’t she? Liscia had recognized Juno, but judging by Juno’s reaction, she didn’t realize who Liscia was. Probably because Liscia was lightly disguised right now.

Juno put her hands on her hips, making an angry face. “What’re you two whispering about? Seems suspicious.”

“No, it’s nothing suspicious at all, really...” I said.

When Juno stared at me with her unyielding eyes, it was kind of awkward to be there. That was when Carla and Owen, who had finished wiping out the brigands, returned.

“What were you doing, master?!” Carla yelled. “Going to the front yourself like that?!”

“Gahaha!” Owen laughed. “I saw that. The sword techniques I taught you came in handy, didn’t they?”

Seeing this as my chance to break out of the current atmosphere, I slipped out from the middle of the Liscia-Juno sandwich and rushed over to the two of them.

“Ah! Hey! I want a proper explanation!” Juno called after me.

Ignoring Juno’s complaints, I asked Carla and Owen, “Good work, you two. So, who were those guys, anyway?”

“From what I was able to gather, it seems it was a slave trader and men in his employ,” said Carla.

“A slave trader?” I repeated.

“You nationalized the slave trade recently, master,” she explained. “I hear that you made the qualification exams more rigorous, too. That drove slave traders from other nations out of the country, and slavers from our own country who’ve failed to qualify have been leaving for other countries, too. These were a group of slavers who failed the qualification exam.”

I had turned slave traders into public servants just the other day. I couldn’t abolish the system of slavery yet, but to make it something that existed in name only, I was working to make it so slaves went from being treated as objects to being treated as laborers and people. In order to accomplish that, I’d made it so that slavers who treated their slaves like objects and abused them would fail the qualification exam.

“But why would people like that attack the refugees?” I asked.

“In order to fund their flight abroad, they meant to abduct women and children who looked like they would fetch a good price, no doubt,” said Carla. “Because the refugees aren’t people of this country, they must have thought the officials wouldn’t act proactively to protect them.”

“As if we wouldn’t!” I shouted.

“I-I’m not the one you need to be telling that,” Carla said with a troubled look on her face, snapping me back to my senses. True, that wasn’t something for me to say to Carla.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry for losing my composure there.”

“No...”

“Carla, I’m sorry, but could you fly back to the castle and report what happened here to Hakuya?” I asked. “I’m sure he’ll send out notice to those who need to know and think about the necessary measures right away.”

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

No sooner than she had said that, Carla spread her wings wide and rose into the air, flying toward the castle at top speed. In that instant, I caught a glimpse of her garter belt, so I hurriedly looked away.

No, I didn’t see anything more important. So, please, Liscia, don’t look at me like that.

Then, at almost exactly the same time as Carla took off, Hilde returned. “We finished treating the wounded. They weren’t minor wounds, but it’s probably due to that priest’s quick work. Their lives aren’t in danger. The wounds have already been closed up with magic.”

“I see... That’s good...”

“But what are you going to do?” Hilde asked. “It looks like a crowd has gathered here.”

When I looked around, there were refugees who had begun to gather when they’d heard the commotion. We had managed to keep a low profile so far, so I didn’t want to stand out now. I called Owen and Liscia over.

“Let’s let the adventurers hand these guys over to the authorities. We’ll go and meet with the chief of the village as planned.”

“Understood, sire,” said Owen.

“You don’t want to do anything about Juno?” Liscia asked.

“I don’t see any good way to explain this situation. Besides, it’d probably be bad to have it come out that the king was the one inside Little Musashibo all along.”

“True, if people found out the king was playing with dolls, that’s not exactly dignified.” Liscia nodded to herself, seemingly satisfied.

We then got out of there in a hurry.

“Ah, hey! Wait!” Juno yelled after me when she noticed, but I wasn’t about to wait.

So long, pops!

No, wait, she was the thief here.

Leaving the cleanup to Juno and her party, we headed into the center of the refugee camp to accomplish our original goal of meeting with the chief. After following our guide for some time, eventually we were led into a large tent that resembled a Mongolian ger or yurt.

When we entered the tent there was one large human male, sitting cross-legged with both hands on the ground, bowing his head to us. It was a pose I’d often seen vassals take toward their lords in period dramas.

The large man, who looked to be around thirty, wore, if I were to describe it simply, garb that looked to me like Native American clothing or something similar. He had a tanned, muscular physique, and though it was already quite cold, his leather clothes were sleeveless. He wore magical-looking paint on his face.

Behind him there was a girl wearing similar attire who was sitting in the same pose. Her age probably wasn’t that different from Liscia or Roroa’s. She was a cute girl with dark brown hair and a rustic simplicity to her. There was a resemblance in their faces, so these two might be siblings.

“I thank you for coming, Great King of Friedonia,” said the man.

“Please, could you not call me Great King, or anything like that?” I said. “I don’t really like that sort of stuff.”

I sat down in front of the big man. Not on a chair, but directly on the carpet that had been rolled out. It was a familiar thing for a Japanese person to do.

From the feel of it, I could tell there were probably wooden boards beneath the carpet. It didn’t seem to have been rolled out directly on the dirt.

Liscia sat next to me, while Owen, Hilde, and Carla, who had already returned, sat behind us waiting.

The big man said, “I see...” a pensive look on his face. “Then what am I to call you?”

“King Souma... Your Majesty... call me whatever you want.”

“Understood, King Souma. I am Jirukoma. I am the chief of this refugee village. I hear that you just helped some of our people here, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Jirukoma bowed his head deeply.

“I am Souma Kazuya, the one acting as the king of this country,” I said. “The ones who helped them were the adventurers we dispatched here. If you want to thank someone, thank them.”

“No, the adventurers are here because of your support,” said Jirukoma. “I thank you for that, and the supplies you have given us.”

“I’ll accept your thanks. But, you know, I didn’t come here today so you could thank me, right?”

Jirukoma’s expression stiffened. He had to know what I was here for. After all, he had already spoken many times with the emissaries I’d sent to discuss this matter.

“I’ve come to push you to make a decision,” I said. “You’ve listened to the counsel of my emissaries, right? Now that I’ve come in person, today is the day you must finally make your decision. Which will you choose?”

“That’s...!”

“Stop, Komain,” the man said.

“But, Brother!”

The girl tried to rise, but Jirukoma motioned for her to stop.

This girl’s name was Komain, huh? They were apparently siblings, just like I had thought.

Jirukoma told her, “Our words will decide the fate of everyone in this village. We cannot be quick to anger.”

“...I understand.” Komain sat back down.

For a moment, Owen and Carla behind me had tensed themselves for a fight, but Komain had laid down her arms, so to speak, and so they’d calmed down, too.

A heavy air fell over us all.

Perhaps out of concern for that, Liscia spoke up. “Souma, I’d like you to explain the situation...”

“Right... I want this whole refugee problem solved already,” I said. “Because no good will come, either for our country or for the people living here, from leaving things the way they are. That’s why I’ve forced the refugees to make a decision.”

“A decision?” he asked.

I gave a heavy nod, then said it clearly. “They can abandon their longing for home and become people of this country, or they can leave.”

For the refugees who’d lost their homes to the appearance of the Demon Lord’s Domain, their true wish was to return to their homelands and take back the lives they once had.

However, in the current situation, there was no indication of when or if that would be possible.

The major incursion that had been launched into the Demon Lord’s Domain had ended in failure, instilling a fear of the Demon Lord’s Domain into the forces of mankind.

Even the largest nation on the side of mankind, the Gran Chaos Empire, was unenthusiastic about the idea of another invasion. The nations were focused solely on keeping the Demon Lord’s Domain from expanding any further.

Even if, at some point in the future, something was going to change this situation for the better, it wasn’t going to be in the next few days. It wouldn’t be in the next few months, either. Even with years, it still might be difficult.

That being the case, what should the refugees do in response? Continue to pray for their return, swearing allegiance to no country while they stay in a foreign land?

...That was no good. That sort of warped arrangement was sure to cause trouble later.

“The former king turned a blind eye to their presence,” I said. “I’ve had a mountain of other problems to deal with, so I’ve carried on that way until today. I’ve even provided some support, though only a little.”

Jirukoma said nothing.

“But now, with solutions to all of the other problems worked out, I have to tackle this one. We can’t simply provide support forever, and you remaining here illegally is a problem. We’ve turned a blind eye until now, but hunting and foraging without a license is against the law. If we tolerate these illegal acts, it is guaranteed to stoke resentment from the people of this country.”

Because they didn’t belong to this country.

For now, there was still an air of sympathy for them because they had lost their countries when the Demon Lord’s Domain had appeared. However, air was air. You could never tell when the winds might shift.

They had no prospect of returning home. If we supported non-citizens indefinitely, and continued to overlook their illegal behavior, it wouldn’t be long before the people’s resentment boiled over. In the worst case, there could be clashes between the people and the refugees.

“That’s why I’ve pressed the people here to make a decision,” I said. “They can give up on returning to their homelands and become people of this country, or they can choose not to give up on returning and leave this country as people of a foreign land. I’m here today to have them make that choice.”

“But, Souma, that’s...”

Liscia had a pained look on her face, but I shook my head silently.

“You may think it cruel, but it’s necessary.”

In the world I’d come from, there was a book that likened a commonwealth to a monster and its people to countless scales covering it. On the cover of that book, the monster was depicted as a person larger than a mountain.

“A country is... ultimately, something like a giant person,” I said. “And people are mirrors that reflect one another. If someone loves you, you can love them back, and you’ll want to protect them no matter what. If they’re indifferent, you will be indifferent to them. And unless you’re a saint, you can’t love someone who hates you.”

“Countries are the same... is what you want to say,” Jirukoma said gravely.

I nodded.

I could clearly see that, if things continued as they were, the people would be dissatisfied. That was why I needed to move to assimilate them while people were still sympathetic. This was a multiracial state. Compared to a state dominated by one race, the ground for accepting them was relatively fertile. However, that was dependent on the refugees being able to accept becoming members of a multiracial state.

I’d spoken about this when I’d pointed out the flaw in the Mankind Declaration, but when ethnic nationalism grows too strong, it can be the cause of civil war.

“If you, Sir Jirukoma, and your people stubbornly cling to the idea of returning to your homelands, and say you cannot identify with this country, then I... will be forced to exile you.”

Jirukoma ground his back teeth. “All we want is to return to our homeland.”

“I understand that feeling,” I said. “I don’t care if you hold onto that feeling in your own heart. If the situation changes for the better, allowing you to return, I won’t mind if you do so. However, at least while you’re in this country, I need you to have a sense that you are a member of this country. If you can’t do that, there’s no way I can let you stay here.”

Jirukoma was at a loss for words.

Komain, who had remained quiet up until this point, stood up. “What... would you know?”

“Stop, Komain!” Jirukoma ordered.

“No, Brother, I will speak my mind! You are the king of this land, are you not?! You have your own country! The pain of losing your country is something that you could never—”

“I do understand!” I cut in.

Komain was shouting in rage, but I looked her straight in the eye and spoke calmly.

“You must have heard that I was summoned here from another world. It was a one-way ticket. Unlike you people, who have at least some hope, I have no way of ever getting back. That’s why I can understand the pain of losing your homeland.”

“Urgh...” Komain couldn’t find the words to say.

Liscia lowered her face. Being the serious sort she was, Liscia was probably feeling guilty that it was her father, even if he’d done it at the request of the Empire, who had torn me away from my homeland.

“That longing for home... It’s hard to wipe it away, I know,” I said. “The land of our birth is special for every person. It’s when we lose something we’ve taken for granted that we’re first forced to see how precious it was. It’s easy to say that this is a story that’s played out over and over, but it’s not so easy to accept it logically like that.”

“Souma...” Liscia said, her heart clearly aching.

I placed my hand over hers. Liscia’s eyes opened wide with surprise. I gave Liscia a slight smile in order to reassure her.

“But... in my case, I had Liscia and the others. I had people who would be at my side and support me. I had people who were thinking about me. I worked desperately on behalf of this country in order to respond to their feelings. While I was doing that, at some point, I began to think of this country as my own. To the point where I was able to think that, if I lost this country, I would probably be just as sad as I was when I lost my homeland.”

Ultimately, a homeland was a connection. It was a connection between the land and the people who lived there. If anything could fill the hole left by losing it, it would have to be another connection.

Komain sat down, her strength gone, and hung her head. It wasn’t something she would be able to accept immediately. But they couldn’t move forward by staying still.

“That’s why I want to do for you what Liscia and the others did for me,” I said gently. “If you are willing to love this country and become members of it, this country will accept you.”

“To be specific... how will it accept us?” Jirukoma’s eyes grew more stern, probing me to find my true intent. “I know it is incredibly rude to ask you this when you have offered to accept us. However, we have seen and heard many harsh realities on our way here. There were countries that claimed to accept refugees, then put them to work doing hard labor in the mines for little pay. There were countries that sent them to fight as soldiers on the front line in the battle against the Demon Lord’s Domain. The ways they were treated were many and varied.”

“I’ve heard that, yeah...” I said. “I can only see those as stupid plans, though.”

“Are they stupid plans?” Jirukoma asked.

“Yeah. First off, sending them to the front lines is the stupidest plan of all. National defense is the basis of any state. If they’re entrusting that to foreigners, eventually they’re going to end up facing a serious national crisis.”

There had been many examples of this in Earth’s history. For instance, the Western Roman Empire during the Migration Period had tried to use the Germanic peoples who had settled peacefully in the empire to deal with the Germanic invaders, and they’d centered their forces around German mercenaries. As a result, their armies had become Germanicized, and they’d been destroyed by the Germanic mercenary commander Odoacer.

Also, in the Chinese Tang dynasty, giving power to An Lushan, who had been of Sogdian and Göktürk origins, had led to a rebellion which had shortened the life of the country.

“Treating them like slaves is an equally stupid plan,” I said. “That will only stoke animosity from the refugees. What will they do if the resentful refugees plot a rebellion or terrorist attacks? They’re only cultivating the seeds of a disaster inside their own country.”

“Then... what about the policy taken by the Gran Chaos Empire?” Jirukoma asked me, looking me straight in the eye as he did.

I scratched my head. “It’s very like Madam Maria to adopt that sort of policy.”

The Empire had received a considerable number of refugees, too. The Empire had provided them with uncultivated land within their country, following a policy of recognizing the refugees as temporary residents if they worked to cultivate it. In other words, they’d created refugee villages, allowing them to manage themselves. If they were able to sustain themselves, it didn’t hurt the Empire’s coffers any, and if they were able to return north at some later date, they would leave behind all of the land they had cultivated. Either way, the Empire couldn’t lose.

Well, that was probably how Maria had sold it to the people around her. This was a woman so gentle she had been called a saint. In her heart, she’d probably done it because she’d felt sorry for the refugees. By making them be self-sufficient, she had made it possible for them to remain inside the Empire while not giving up on their desire to return home. Even if they couldn’t return home, because their territory was inside the Empire, she probably thought they would naturally assimilate with the people of the Empire.

It was the opposite approach to what I was doing now, making the refugees give up on their desire to return home and forcing them to assimilate.

But...

“Sorry, but... that’s a policy our kingdom can’t adopt.”

“Why not?” Jirukoma asked.

“It’s dangerous.”

If they gave them uncultivated land and had them develop it, sure, that didn’t hurt the Empire’s coffers. For as long as the Empire’s power didn’t wane, the refugees would obey them and would likely feel indebted to them, too. If that lasted for a hundred years, they could be expected to gradually assimilate with the local population.

However, there was no telling when times would change.

It was the nature of our world that power we held today could be lost tomorrow. If the worst were to happen, and something caused the Empire’s authority to weaken, what would the refugees do in response?

“It’s land that they cultivated by the sweat of their own brows,” I said. “Might they not feel like it was their own? That’s not an issue with the generation that longs to return home. They likely would feel a stronger attachment to their homeland than to the land they’ve cultivated. However, what of the next generation? The generation that was born there and has never known their homeland? Would they be able to accept the fact that the land their fathers sweated to open up to development was merely on loan to them from the Empire? Wouldn’t they think of it as their own land?”

In Earth’s history, there had been the case of the Serbians. When the Kingdom of Serbia had been destroyed by the Ottoman Empire, many Serbs had fled to the Hapsburg Empire (the Austro-Hungarian Empire). The Hapsburg Empire had actively welcomed the Serbs. They had them develop land near the front lines with the Ottomans, using them as colonist soldiers to defend those front lines. The Serbs had developed the frontier while fighting the Ottomans. That harsh environment had bred a strong desire for self-rule in the Serbs, developing a fertile ground for ethnic nationalism.

In time, the nationalistic concept of Greater Serbia had emerged, causing the incident in Sarajevo which had triggered the First World War, and ultimately destroyed the Hapsburg Empire.

Furthermore, Serbian policies centered around Serbian nationalism had provoked the rise of nationalism in other ethnic groups. Their conflict with Croatian nationalism, in particular, had been gruesome with massacres on both sides.

The refugees were a multiracial group, but they would likely develop a sense of common identity through shared joy and sorrow. That common identity could take on a nationalistic face that separated the refugees from others. The Gran Chaos Empire had taken in the sparks that could possibly set off that sort of gruesome situation in the future.

Jirukoma furrowed his brow. “Do you believe the Empire’s policy is mistaken?”

“No... I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. “It’s a difference in our ways of thinking. Madam Maria chose her policy because she believes it’s the best. I can’t choose it because I fear it’s the worst. That’s all there is to it.”

I had noticed this with the Mankind Declaration: the Empire had a tendency to choose policies with a high return even if they also carried a high risk hidden inside them. Meanwhile, our kingdom was focused less on returns and more on risk management in the policies we chose.

Neither approach was inherently better. It was a question of which was more suited to the era we lived in, and that was something we would only learn after the fact.

“Then, Your Majesty, what do you mean to do with us?” asked Jirukoma. “You want us to give up on returning to our homes and become people of this country, and to get out if we won’t. You won’t make us cultivate the land, won’t conscript or enslave us... What exactly is it you intend to do with us?!”

Jirukoma raised his voice for the first time. Even Komain, who had been waiting for that outburst, shuddered when he did.

Jirukoma carried the fates of all the refugees here on his shoulders. This intensity was something lent to him by the weight of his burden. However, I bore a heavy burden of my own, too.

“...Owen.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Fetch me the thing we discussed.”

“Understood.”

I had Owen go and get a long tube for me. It was about twice as thick as the sort of tube you would put a diploma in, and more than five times as long. Inside was a large piece of paper rolled into a cylinder. I unfurled that paper in front of everyone. When they saw what was drawn on that paper, Jirukoma and Komain’s eyes went wide.

“Is that... a city?” Jirukoma asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “The new city being built on the coast. Its name is Venetinova.”

I showed them a map of the new city, Venetinova, that I’d had constructed as a strategic point for transportation and commerce in order to speed up distribution.

“This is a city that I built at the same time as I rolled out a transportation network when I first came to this kingdom, but it only just recently became ready for people to live in,” I said. “We’ve still only created the residential district, the commercial district, and the port of commerce so far. From here on, there will be more institutions being added, and I plan to develop it as a city at the leading edge of culture. Also, we’re going to be putting out a call for residents soon.”

I looked at Jirukoma and Komain and said, “I am thinking of including the refugees in that group of residents.”

My words made Jirukoma and Komain gulp.

“If you will give up on returning to your homeland and become people of this country, I will prepare residences for you,” I said. “This being a new city, there will be lots of work available. Everything from physical labor like the transportation industry to employees in the stores. For a while, I’ll continue to provide financial support, too. If you become members of this country and work honestly like the mystic wolves, I am prepared to give you a place where you won’t starve and you won’t freeze.”

“That’s...”

Jirukoma and Komain’s expressions trembled.

It’s weird for me to say this myself, but I wonder how I look through Jirukoma and Komain’s eyes right now. Am I a savior reaching out to them in their time of need... or a devil, tricking them with sweet words?

Jirukoma and Komain opened their mouths at practically the same time.

“Can you really offer us something so wonderful?!” Jirukoma burst out.

“What you’re offering us is horrible!” Komain screamed.

Jirukoma and Komain turned to look at one another. The two of them seemed more surprised than anyone that, although they had spoken at the same time, their opinions were total opposites.

“Wh-What are you saying, Brother?! It’s the same as if he were saying, ‘Here’s some tasty bait, now wag your tails for me’!”

“Komain,” said Jirukoma. “His Majesty is offering us a foundation to support our lifestyles. Without the need to cultivate the land ourselves like in the Gran Chaos Empire.”

“Even so, how can he demand we give up on going home?! Doesn’t it frustrate you?!”

“If we can set aside that frustration, he’s saying he’ll keep us from starving or freezing. Don’t you understand how important that is for refugees?”

The siblings had two completely opposite views of my offer. ...That was probably just the way it was.

“It’s little surprise that the two of you don’t agree,” I said. “I myself think that this proposal could be considered very sweet or very cruel. There’s no guarantee that two people looking at the same thing will necessarily come to the same opinion. Whether someone will think it is kind or unkind will depend on how that person looks at and feels about things.”

They were both silent.

I took a deep breath, then put my hand down on the map. “This is the best that I can do for you now. Now, all I can do is hope you’ll take the hand I’ve extended you. From here, it’s up to you to decide.”

When I said that, Jirukoma groaned in distress. “There are those in this village who will remain intent on returning home.”

“You mean... like your little sister?” I asked.

“No! Komain is flexible! She only objected earlier to represent the people living in this village who cannot give up on their feeling for their homelands!”

“B-Brother...”

“I am sure that is true,” said Jirukoma. “The reason you said it was horrible was out of consideration for the ones who you know feel that way. Because you... are a girl who understands the pain of others.”

“Urgh...” Komain fell silent. Had he hit the nail on the head?

Jirukoma sat up straight and bowed his head low. “We are deeply grateful for your kindness, sire. This is not something I can decide on my own, so I would like to gather others from the village to discuss it.”

“I believe I told you I came here to push you to make a decision, did I not?” I asked.

“I know. However, I want to persuade as many as possible to take the hand you’ve kindly extended, sire. Even if... that should mean splitting up the refugees.”

I was silent.

Splitting up the refugees. In other words, any of those who couldn’t accept it would have to be chased out.

Was this the best I could do for now? If I rushed them too much, no good would come of it.

“But there isn’t much time,” I said. “Even if I can push back the search for residents, I can’t push back the changing of the season, you know. Winter has already started.”

A season with a lack of preparation would mean freezing to death. Children and the elderly, the ones with the least ability to resist, would be the first to die. If possible, I wanted them to make their decision at a point where they could be fully moved in before it got too deep into winter.

Jirukoma bowed his head deeply once again. “Yes, sir! I am well aware.”

“Well, that’s fine, then.”

The rest was up to them. No matter what their decision, I would have to take the appropriate response to it.

If possible, I didn’t want to have to show my cold-hearted side...

It happened just when it was starting to feel like talks were done for today.

That was when a man in a white coat rudely barged into the tent.

He was a human male with sharp eyes who looked to be in his mid-to-late-twenties. What was distinctive about him was his unkempt hair that, despite his seemingly young age, was stark white all the way to the root.

“I heard Hilde was here,” the man said sharply.

Carla and Owen warily reached for their sword hilts.

The man paid them no heed. When he spotted Hilde, he brusquely walked over to her.

Hilde rose, glaring straight into the man’s face. “Brad! How dare you push off teaching lectures onto me!”

This white haired man’s name was Brad Joker. Together with Hilde, he was the other doctor who was supporting this country’s medical revolution.

Brad paid no mind to Hilde’s complaints, suddenly grabbing her by the arm.

“Wait, what are you doing?!” Hilde shouted. “That’s not how you treat a woman properly.”

“If you want to complain, I’ll hear it later,” he snapped. “Sorry... But I need you to lend me a hand.”

Maybe she sensed something from the earnestness in Brad’s eyes, because Hilde now had a serious look on her face. “Did something happen?”

Brad released the arm he was holding, then nodded quietly. “Yeah. We have an emergency case.”

Brad Joker was the Traitor Doctor.

On a continent where almost everyone in the medical profession was a practitioner of light magic (recovery magic which worked by activating the systems of the body), he was this country’s sole surgeon. He attempted to treat serious illnesses without relying on magic, using only medical examinations and surgery.

“Even without clinging to the gods, people can heal one another with their own power.” That was Brad’s personal view.

On this continent, people had a tendency to see light magic as “the blessing of the gods,” especially in Lunarian Orthodoxy, where it was seen as sacred. That made it a pretty dangerous opinion to hold.

Brad had wandered across many battlefields in many different countries. He would take custody of the remains of unknown soldiers who died in combat, dissecting their bodies to study the structures of the different races’ bodies. He developed his own independent field of surgical treatment which used anesthesia and operations.

He had also approached the knowledge of the three-eyed race without prejudice and absorbed it. He knew a lot about the existence of microorganisms and the effects of antibiotics, and he applied those techniques to his work.

His skills were such that it would be fair to call them godly. (Though, for the god-hating Brad, it would come across as sarcastic.) The biggest factor in this was that he had been able to cure malignant tumors, which had been untreatable using light magic, by removing them with surgery.

“Light is not the only thing that can cure people. The dark can comfort, too.”

It sounded like he had a case of middle school syndrome when he said it like that, but I could sympathize. I’d requested his assistance, but it hadn’t been easy to convince him.

By which I mean...

“I sought this power (surgery) so that I could save the poor who couldn’t afford treatment and the people in remote areas where there are no light mages. I have no interest in money, power, or the like.”

...was what he had said to me.

Now, as for how I got him to cooperate, I hooked... erm, negotiated with him... using not money, or power, but things.

To be precise, in order to make it so everyone in the kingdom had easy access to medical care, I created a national system of health insurance like the one in my world and promised to have the finest blacksmith in the country forge a scalpel, suturing needles, and a full set of medical equipment for him. Then, by arranging a system where he would be a collaborator, not a vassal, he finally agreed to cooperate.

Up until now, I’d had him working with Hilde to guide this country’s system of medicine forward.

His corpse collecting and dissections had offended a lot of people, so he was seen as a total heretic in the medical world. The hardest part of hiring him had been getting rid of that prejudice against him. The way he acted, I couldn’t count on him to defend himself, after all.

Having no other choice, I’d had him examine an important executive who was well connected in this country and was suffering from illness. By having him treat a sickness that was believed to be untreatable, I had made that executive recognize his skills.

Once people know something is effective, their views change quickly. The number of medical practitioners seeking to learn surgery had begun to increase, too. That being the case, by putting the important executive he had helped to make a full recovery in charge, we were now training new surgeons in this country.

As for me, I was currently rushing to rework the laws and issue surgical licenses so that fake surgeons who lacked the necessary skills wouldn’t appear. At first, I would only require licenses for surgery. Eventually, I intended to make treatment with light magic and everything related to pharmacology require licenses, too.

Anyway, let’s get back to the story.

When she heard about the emergency case, Hilde’s expression turned serious as if someone had flipped a switch. “Tell me about the patient.”

She totally had the face of a doctor now. That was a professional for you.

Brad explained the situation to Hilde plainly. “It’s a pregnant woman from this village. Her water has already broken. The baby could be born at any moment, but the position of the fetus is bad. It’s lying with its back against the exit to the mother’s womb.”

“Transverse lie, huh... That’s unusual and dangerous...”

I didn’t understand what they were saying, but I gathered it was going to be a difficult birth.

“The midwife has already given up, it seems,” said Brad.

“Well, no surprise there,” said Hilde. “It will get caught on the pelvic bone. Normally, the mother or the child... one of them would have to be sacrificed here. In order to save both...”

“Yeah... A surgical incision is probably the only option.”

Surgical incision... Oh, a Cesarean section! But Hilde was looking at him dubiously.

“Can you do that? I’ve heard that the survival rate for mothers who have their womb opened is less than twenty percent, you know?”

“There’s one very clear reason why that survival rate is so low.”

“Oh... And what would that be?”

“Neither you nor I performed the procedure,” Brad said, as if it were obvious.

When he spoke with such confidence, it made Hilde furrow her brow. “You say the most incredible things as if they were nothing...”

“It’s a matter of fact,” he said. “To be more precise, it’s because they lack my skills and the three-eyed’s knowledge of infectious disease. Their process is only cut open the belly, take out the fetus, close up the wound, then heal it with light magic. They don’t have anesthetic, so the pregnant mother suffers. Their incision and suturing technique is underdeveloped, so even if they use light magic, the wound doesn’t close up properly and the patient dies of blood loss. They don’t have three-eyed antibiotics, so it’s easy for the patient to develop an infectious disease after the procedure. That’s why the survival rate is low.”

Brad extended a hand to Hilde.

“Even by myself, I can bring the rate of success up to eighty percent. However, if you’re at my side doing hygiene management, we can bring that incredibly close to one hundred percent.”

“Geez, that doesn’t leave me with much choice, does it?” Hilde scratched the back of her head before taking Brad’s hand. “Before a doctor, all patients are equal. That’s why doctors don’t get to be picky about who they treat.”

“Thank you. Having you there is as good as having a hundred of anyone else.”

Hilde turned to face the rest of us. “Your Majesty! Refugee boss! It’s just like you heard. Sorry, but we’ll be wanting to borrow your underlings for this.”

“Sure, of course you can,” I said.

“Of course,” said Jirukoma. “We are a family. It’s a chief’s duty to defend the family.”

“Thanks,” said Hilde. “Dragonewt girl!”

“M-Me?!” Carla jumped a little when she was called.

“Go to the medical laboratory in the capital, as quickly as you can. Bring back equipment and medical supplies for us. If you ask for my black bag, the researchers there will know what you mean. You can just bring the whole bag.”

“I-I understand!” Carla hurried out of the tent.

Next, Hilde looked to Jirukoma. “Refugee boss, I want to borrow this tent. It’s best to move her to the most hygienic place we can manage.”

“I don’t mind,” said Jirukoma. “Use whatever you want.”

“Also, we’ll be searching for someone with the same blood as the mother, so gather the refugees around.”

“Understood.”

I learned this later, but this world also had A, B, and O (though their naming scheme was different) blood types. Mysteriously, even across races, if the blood types matched, they could almost always be used for blood transfusions. I said “almost always” because there were some blood types that couldn’t accept transfusions regardless of the blood type used. Maybe that could be because there was Rh positive and negative blood types in this world, too.

“Next, you know something about hygiene, right, sire?” asked Hilde. “Explain it to the boss here and his people. I want the environment we work in to be as good as possible. Also, boil a lot of water for us. We’ll want to disinfect our tools.”

“Got it! Liscia, Owen, let’s do this!”

“Okay!” said Liscia.

“Understood!” agreed Owen.

“L-Let me help, too!” Komain broke in.

Komain followed us around, setting up things inside the tent and helping boil a lot of water. With no regard for our respective positions, each of us worked hard to do what we could.

Those who could do something did it.

In a way, I felt like we were embodying the current state of this country.

Once the preparations were finished, there was nothing left for us to do.

Inside the tent, Brad and Hilde must have been performing the procedure now. I could hear the mother’s ragged breathing from inside. All we could do was wait outside the tent for the procedure to finish.

Liscia, who was watching the door, spoke in a voice filled with concern. “I heard they’re splitting open the mother’s belly. Is she going to be okay?”

“If that’s all you heard, it does sounds like a bizarre crime of some kind, doesn’t it?” I said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

I put a hand on top of Liscia’s head.

“Cesarean sections are a method that is commonly used for difficult births in the world I came from, and the rate of women dying in childbirth is pretty low. The vast majority of people there don’t even think about the fact that a pregnant woman might die when she gives birth. They just assume the child will be born fine.”

“The world you came from is as amazing as ever, Souma.”

“Yeah, kinda,” I said. “Also... those two can do something similar to my country’s medicine. Well, my world lacks light magic, so it’s not easy to do a straight comparison.” I turned to Jirukoma, who was standing beside me. “What about the mother’s husband?”

“We don’t know if he’s dead or alive,” he said. “It seems they were separated while escaping from the north, you see. Still, she said she was determined to give birth to the child in her womb and they would wait for the father together.”

“I see...”

Mothers are strong. It seemed that was true in any world.

“For the people of this village, the child inside her was hope,” said Jirukoma. “It gave us a sense that we wouldn’t only be losing things. That’s why we had all decided that the entire village would raise the child together, with love.”

“I see... Hey, Jirukoma.” I turned to face him. “I know how capable Brad and Hilde are. That’s why I’m confident both mother and child will survive. With that in mind, I want to say something.”

“...What is it?”

“That child is being born into this country. This country is where it will grow up. It will call this country its homeland, having never known the land of its forefathers.”

Jirukoma closed his eyes and was silent. It seemed he understood what I was trying to say.

“You said you would raise it as the child of the entire village, with love, right? Well, there’s no need to force a child who knows nothing to inherit your sorrow. You can decide for yourselves whether to stay in this country or to leave. However, it’s a little much to force a child who has the option of taking this land as its homeland to live as one of the people of a ruined land.”

“You need say no more,” he said quietly.

“Brother...”

Jirukoma placed a reassuring hand on the worried Komain’s shoulder. “I have made up my mind. I will entrust the role of chief to Komain.”

“Wh-What are you saying, Brother?!” she cried.

“What are you planning to do?” I asked.

Jirukoma let out a sad sigh. “To be frank, the people of this village are tired from wandering. If these exhausted people can call this land their home, I think that is a wonderful thing. However, there are a handful of hardliners who can’t give up on returning to their homelands and are currently trying to drive the people on.” Jirukoma turned to the northern sky. “I think I will take those few hardliners and attempt to return to the north. We will volunteer to go to a country seeking soldiers and wait on the front lines for the time to come to reclaim our homeland.”

“Brother!” Komain grabbed her brother’s arms tightly, like she was trying to hold him in place. “This village needs you, Brother! I’m the one who said the king’s proposal is cruel! I’ll take on that job!”

“You can’t,” he said. “The reason you felt His Majesty’s proposal was cruel was because you care for the people of the village, right? With a heart like that, you will be a better community organizer than I am.”

“But didn’t you say that the king’s proposal was wonderful?!” she cried.

“I am simply better at masking my true feelings than you are.” Jirukoma softly brushed Komain’s hands away. “In my heart, I can’t give up on returning to our homeland. However, I have been entrusted with being the chief of this village. That is why I’ve put a lid on those feelings, bottling them up deep inside my chest.”

“Brother...”

“However, there is no longer any need for that. His Majesty has said that if the people of the village will love this country, this country is prepared to accept them. The people have reached a land where they can find peace and safety. That means my job is already done. I can set these feelings free now.”

Komain was crying, but Jirukoma smiled for her. That expression was one already filled with resolve.

Geez...

I said, “Don’t make your little sister cry, you damned fool.”

“I have no response to that,” he said. “Please, take care of Komain and the others for me.”

“About all I’m good for is handling the paperwork,” I admitted. “If anything can truly protect them, it’s the country itself.”

“Then, please, make it so that this country stands the test of time. So that no one can destroy it.”

“...I’ll try.”

That was when we heard a weak cry from inside the tent.

While I was wondering what it was, Liscia shouted out, “It’s been born!”

“Ohh! So that was a baby’s cry, huh?” I asked. “I’ve always thought it would be louder, more shrill...”

The child was born safely. Now, it’s just a matter of the mother...

We looked at the entrance to the tent, praying for the mother’s well-being.

◇　◇　◇

—One week later.

“So cuuuute,” Liscia said.

“I-It’s so soft...” Komain murmured.

“Liscia, l-let me hold it, too,” Carla pleaded.

The baby with pointed ears was sleeping in its mother’s arms, and Liscia, Komain, and Carla were taking turns holding it.

That day, one week ago, we had heard from Brad that the procedure was a success, but we hadn’t been able to meet them on the day it’d happened. That was why we’d been eager to see how they were doing, and so we’d come to visit with the same group as back then.

I wanted to see the baby up close, too, but the three of them were hogging it to themselves and I couldn’t find anywhere to slip in. W-Was this what a maternal nature was like...?

“Ahh, my companions seem to be making a scene,” I said. “Sorry about that.”

The child’s mother smiled. “No, we’re lucky to have the princess and the others adore my child like this.”

The mother was a calm, cat-eared beastman. I was relieved to see her so healthy. Her recovery didn’t seem to be going badly, either.

The mother held the baby’s hand. “We truly are fortunate. I mean, we even have Your Majesty concerned for us.”

We had revealed our identities to the mother. My face and Liscia’s were both widely known, so it seemed futile to try and keep it a secret. At first, the mother had been terrified (almost like after Master Koumon takes out his seal), but now, she had largely gotten used to us.

“Well, I agree with you that the child is lucky,” I said. “Incredibly lucky, in fact. After all, it was born when not just one, but both of the greatest doctors in this country were here together.”

“That’s true,” she said. “They didn’t only save my child, they saved me, too.”

It was pure coincidence that Hilde had visited the village that day. Because she had met us by chance in the former slums, because we happened to have business in the refugee village, and because Hilde decided to tag along, the two great doctors had both been present. If the child had been born a day sooner or a day later, she wouldn’t have been able to receive the care of these great doctors. When I thought of it that way, this child had even saved its mother’s life.

“Almost like a god of fuku...” I murmured.

“Fuku...?” she asked.

“It’s a word from my world. It means good fortune, or happiness.”

“Happiness... Um, Your Majesty?” The mother rushed over to me. “That name, Fuku. Could you give it to this child?”

“Hm? You’re not asking if you can give it that name, but for me to give it that name?” I asked.

Liscia was holding the child. She explained, “In this world, when a person of high status or a great person gives you your name, it is believed you will receive some of their momentum. So, please, give the child that name.”

Well, I guess I had no problem with that.

“It’s a boy, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, his name will be Fuku, then. Raise him to be healthy.”