「Good morning, sensei.」
「「Good morning.」」
「Yes. Good morning.」
At the class monitor’s command, all the students sat down in their chairs.
Knowing that today’s class monitor was the next queen-to-be, cold sweat filled Frea’s dress.
She had decided the overly laid-back Argusta wouldn’t work and redirected the complaints to Halfren instead.
But she had forgotten his irresponsible, work-dumping personality, 『Huh? The little princess went over there? Sounds fine to me』, and realized it was her own misjudgment.
She stomped her reinforced heel (magically strengthened, of course) onto his toes to vent her frustration.
「……Now then, today, at a suggestion from one of the students, we will learn about the Republic and the Empire. If there is anything you want to learn or any questions you have, please tell sensei.」
「「Yeees～」」
Though she had plenty of complaints about her superiors, hearing the children’s honest voices was truly healing.
Recently her superior had started sitting in the front row, but today he was all the way in the back, accompanied by his wife.
That alone signaled massive dissatisfaction, but considering someone might be targeting his life, she decided to stay silent.
「Today’s lesson will be a little longer, so please do your best, everyone.」
「「Yeees～」」
Yes. This healing time was finally coming to an end.
The rainy season was over. Starting tomorrow, her workplace would shift from the castle office back to the suburban standby post.
Tomorrow would mostly be spent cleaning and inspecting the newly completed first-phase construction of the standby post, but even so, she would be returning to what was called the front line.
She needed to steel herself.
「First, let’s talk about the Republic.」
But for today at least, Frea decided to forget about outdoor duties and simply enjoy being peacefully healed by the children.
-0-
From the perspective of the Kingdom of Univance, the great nation of the Selswin Republic lies to the northeast.
It is counted among the five great powers of this continent and is sometimes called the Eastern Selswin due to its location.
Its main industries are farming, fishing, and commerce.
This once mid-tier country grew dramatically thanks to its exceptional merchant luck. By dominating trade, it expanded its territory with few conflicts against neighbors.
The government is a voting system chosen by the citizens. The current head of state has held the position since being elected by the people twenty-eight years ago.
「Officially it is decided by vote, but the term is six years. Since the term before last, no one has run against the incumbent, so it has become effectively uncontested. However, due to his advanced age, it is said he will not run in the next election. Currently his two sons are campaigning to succeed him.」
Since Frea had announced ahead of time that today’s lesson would be about politics, the younger children were not participating.
The older ones, those turning thirteen or fourteen in the coming year, were the main group, along with about three who were old enough that age didn’t matter.
The two superiors were fine, but the next queen-to-be was very much involved.
「Does anyone know the names of the people currently competing to be the successor?」
Frea knew it was a difficult question.
If no one knew, Argusta would simply give the answer, that had become the established pattern for tough questions.
But today, someone who could answer was present in this room.
「Sensei. Yees～」
「……Yes, go ahead.」
「Usheltzen-sama and Hartzen-sama～」
「Correct. Very good.」
「Yes. Because the two of them are my mogo mogo mogo…」
Mid-sentence, the next queen-to-be was silenced by Noie’s hand.
In a prior agreement, if the princess seemed about to say something strange, she would be forcibly quieted.
The only issue had been who would do it.
Anyone else doing it would cause problems, but in this country there was only one person who could stop the captain, Noie, from acting.
In the end, the only solution was to have Noie do it, allowing her to be spoiled afterward.
(If that’s the case, why not just keep her out of today’s lesson?)
It’s only natural to feel dissatisfied, but the next queen-to-be, Camille, is a very serious student with perfect attendance, no tardiness, and no early dismissals.
Coming here and talking with children close to her age brings her pure joy.
(She usually lives like a caged baby bird in the mansion, after all.)
Frea, having experienced something similar herself, understood the frustration and repression of such a stifled life.
「Those two are currently competing to succeed him, which has caused a small power struggle inside the Republic.」
Returning to the lesson, Frea glanced at the girl.
The girl sweetly clinging to Noie… the “princess” whose father was the head of state of the Republic wore a pure, innocent smile like a wildflower, unlike Frea herself.
-0-
The first half of the lecture on the Republic came to an end.
The content was more or less the same as what I had managed to learn on my own.
But for some reason, I just couldn’t trust that witch.
While I was seriously worrying about what to do with the vanished Kandalni’s box, I finally realized something.
『How did that box come to this world in the first place?』
I asked Frea-san during work and got my answer.
“It was summoned.”
That old hag of a witch… next time I see her, I’m definitely making her cry.
My question itself was poorly worded, though.
Summoning formulas are technically banned, after all.
Asking 「Are you using it?」 would obviously get the reply 「No, I’m not.」.
In other words, the witch might have misunderstood my question as some kind of trap.
Or perhaps midway through she realized 「Oh, this kid knows nothing」 and started teasing me.
Just remembering it makes me furious.
To vent my anger, I pinched and stretched Camille’s soft, mochi-like cheeks, since she’s the Republic’s princess, and played with them.
Then Frea-san came charging over with a demonic look on her face.
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