After-Story Chapter 9: The Remus Royal Couple’s Stay in the (Former) Capital City (Part 4)- The Broadcast Revolution

That evening, Lombard and Yomi were receiving hospitality from the Juniro family at Van Castle.

“Since my father… is away at the moment, I must personally entertain our guests. However, I am quite unfamiliar with these matters, so I apologize for any discourtesy. Please enjoy your night here at Van Castle,” Ivan said, raising his glass at the dinner table.

Seated at the table were Ivan, Siena, Nanna, Lombard, and Yomi, with food and drink placed before each of them. The Van style of cuisine meant that Lily Root Dumplings were served as a side dish to the chicken sauté. Lombard raised his glass in response.

“Not at all. We have been thoroughly entertained since the moment we entered this castle.”

These words were sincere. Van Castle was once the residence of the Amidonian Duke, but it now served as the Juniro territory’s administrative office and a tourist spot. Being a crucial military stronghold, the castle was too large and inconvenient for a single noble family to live in, so the members of the Juniro family usually resided in a mansion below the castle. Tonight, they had made special arrangements for dinner and accommodation at the castle due to the presence of foreign dignitaries.

“That ‘ship’ display as well. This city truly surprises us.”

“Indeed. That sight was quite astonishing,” Lombard and Yomi said, exchanging wry smiles.

Immediately upon entering the castle, Lombard and his wife were once again baptized by this avant-garde city. In the large, open-air hall just inside the castle, a space where grand balls might once have been held, numerous flamboyant and bizarrely designed ships were on display.

There were ships modeled after dragons and ships modeled after celestial horses, each one original and seemingly vying with the others in extravagance. When Lombard asked about the line of ships, Ivan replied:

“These are called Fairy Ships; they are used for the memorial festival.” He explained that it was an event introduced by Souma, adopting a custom from his original world to console the fallen soldiers from the war between the Kingdom of Elfrieden and the Principality of Amidonia. On the day of the memorial service, people release dazzling, elaborate ships onto the river to mourn the dead and celebrate rowdily (the fact that Souma had proposed a quiet ‘floating of lanterns’ but Roroa had misunderstood, resulting in an event similar to the ‘Spirit Flowing’ custom in his world, was not shared).

The Fairy Ships used for this event had grown increasingly extravagant and technically sophisticated each year due to the avant-garde mindset of the current Van citizens. This naturally led to the opinion that it would be a waste to use them just once.

“So, we decided to store the most outstanding ships somewhere so they could be used annually. We thought, why not display them while they are stored and make them a landmark of the city? Since Van Castle was the only place large enough to display these quite sizable ships, this is where we exhibit them,” Ivan explained to Lombard and his wife.

In the sense of Souma’s original world, this was similar to permanently displaying the mikoshi (portable shrines) or dashi (festival floats) used in festivals to attract tourists. Indeed, a part of Van Castle now resembled a ship museum, and it seems that people travel from far away specifically to view these ships.

“There were even opinions that this castle itself, being a symbol of the Amidonian Ducal era, should be demolished now that peace has arrived, leaving only the city. However, His Majesty Souma decided to keep it, saying, ‘I think there would be backlash from the Amidonian people, and it’s a waste to destroy a historic building. Besides, we might be able to use it for location filming,'” Ivan said cheerfully, taking a sip of his wine. “Thanks to that, we can display the ships, and it’s a win-win for our family as well.”

“I see. Utilizing existing resources to the fullest… Lord Souma’s attitude is consistent.”

Lombard felt that Souma’s governing stance—to not hesitate to change things that don’t fit the times, but to thoroughly utilize anything that is usable, be it people, cities, or objects—was clearly manifest in this city.

Nanna, who was tearing into her chicken, let out a frustrated “Moo.” “This is nothing but difficult talk. If you keep talking, this great feast will get cold. This chicken is from the chicken farm Ivan gave me today!”

“Ah, um, Sister Nanna. Maybe you should read the room…” Siena, sitting next to her, worriedly tried to interject at Nanna’s usual innocent bluntness.

Lombard and Yomi paused, then chuckled at the sight of the sisters-in-law.

“Hmph, you are certainly right. We apologize for the discourtesy to this delicious meal.”

“This chicken is very tasty.”

Hearing their comments, Nanna beamed. “Of course, it is! It’s engagement chicken from the engagement chicken farm Ivan gave me!”

“Engagement chicken?”

“Engagement chicken?”

“Ah… actually…” Ivan began, launching into the story of his engagement to Nanna.

The rest of the dinner was spent in pleasant conversation. In that atmosphere, Lombard happened to mention something.

“You mentioned earlier that your father is away. Has he traveled somewhere?”

“Hm? Oh, my father, Moltov, is out filming in a nearby village.”

Lombard tilted his head at Ivan’s reply. “Filming… You were just filming in the city of Van earlier, too, weren’t you? If it’s being done elsewhere as well, does that mean two of those precious orbs have been entrusted to the Juniro territory?”

Recalling the large orb at the Honey-Bunny filming location, Lombard asked this, but Ivan shook his head.

“No, my father is filming with the ‘Mini-Orb.'”

“Um… the Mini-Orb… is that what Lord Souma announced? The method of filming broadcast programs that doesn’t rely on dungeon-produced orbs?” Yomi asked.

Ivan nodded. “Yes. It’s a new filming tool that utilizes Cursed Ore.”

—Flashback to a little earlier.

The location was the state office in Parnam Castle. That day, Liscia, who was sitting with Souma, was receiving a report from Mao about the Siren city of Halbert on the northern tip of the continent, the gate to the Northern Hemisphere, and the activities of the adventurers who had set out for the North. Mao sat opposite Souma, projecting her image from the magatama on the spirit altar.

However, this was a routine report, and the situation hadn’t changed much since the previous one. The Northern world was still largely unknown, and the only news available was essentially, “Investigation is currently underway.” Just as the atmosphere suggested they would chat briefly and then adjourn, Liscia suddenly brought up a question.

“Lady Mao, you project your image without using the simple receiving device, right? The simple receiving device projects onto water, but what are you projecting onto here?”

“Oh… Now that you mention it, I never thought deeply about it. I just assumed it could project into the air,” Souma confessed.

The familiarity of aerial projection from sci-fi movies had caused Souma to overlook the very question Liscia had raised. Mao, when asked, smiled softly and replied:

“The mechanism is the same. I project onto the moisture and dust in the atmosphere, or the nanomachine substance itself, using the power of nanomachines. In the context of this world, it is done through Maso.”

“I see. So, if you can fully utilize the functions of Maso, you can project images without a simple receiving device.”

“Yes. However, I believe it would be difficult for an individual, unless they are an entity like myself or Tiamat, to draw out the full capabilities of Maso, the omnipotent substance. Even the Dungeon Core, a more powerful omnipotent machine, is currently only being utilized for video recording by humans.”

“Hmm? Is the Dungeon Core like a high-performance version of Maso?” Souma asked, latching onto Mao’s words.

Mao nodded. “Yes, that is correct.”

“Then, does that mean Maso also has a function for filming?”

“It does,” Mao confirmed Souma’s words nonchalantly.

Souma blinked. “Seriously? Then we didn’t need to haul that huge Orb around to utilize broadcasting?”

“That is conditional on being able to utilize Maso sufficiently. Or, though it’s not certain, there may be individuals with magic that allows for filming based on their personal aptitude. In fact, you already have subordinates with a similar ability, do you not?”

“Eh, who are you talking about?”

“The people of the Juniro family. They call it illusion magic, but they are actually projecting sounds and light—such as explosions that are not physically happening—as video.”

“Ivan and his family!”

He had been led by the term “illusion magic,” but viewed differently, it certainly looked like projecting special effects onto the air. In short, Souma already possessed the key to the potential elimination of the Orb in broadcasting.

Souma sighed. “…That was a blind spot. Ah, so there is a way to film images without using the Orb?”

“If you are limiting this to what the people of this world can achieve… perhaps Cursed Ore?”

“Cursed Ore?”

“Yes. As you already know, it is a solidified mass of ‘nanomachines = Maso‘ that has ceased functioning. In short, it is a mass of the omnipotent substance Maso. People who are capable of utilizing the Dungeon Core as a filming tool would likely be able to use a mass of Cursed Ore as a filming tool as well.”

“…” “…”

Souma and Liscia were left speechless by Mao’s revelation.

“Souma… I feel like something that fundamentally shakes the world was just casually mentioned, didn’t it?” Liscia said.

Souma nodded heavily. “Yes. I don’t think you’re wrong. After all, several ways to misuse this just popped into my head.”

“Such as?”

“Sending Cursed Ore that’s been converted into a filming tool to various countries… for unauthorized surveillance.”

“You thought of something that underhanded?!”

“That’s the natural conclusion you arrive at when you think about things you wouldn’t want others to do to you!” Souma sighed, pressing his forehead. “The fear of misuse comes before the excitement of being able to increase the number of cameras.”

“What are you going to do? Are you going to keep this a secret?”

“…No. Eventually, someone might figure it out, and if they misuse it then, the damage would be enormous if we were caught flat-footed. It would be better to announce it to all nations and let everyone formulate countermeasures together. Although, I do also want to use it simply to increase the number of filming cameras.”

If they were prepared for potential misuse, they could prevent it. For example, checking any gifts sent from other countries to the Royal Castle for Cursed Ore. While items are already checked for hazardous materials, this would add a whole new category of Cursed Ore-using items to the checklist.

Afterward, Souma announced this fact to the heads of state at the summit. The representatives were certainly surprised, but the announcement demonstrated that the Kingdom of Friedonia had no intention of misusing the technology. Since the technology of filming without relying on the Orb was also appealing to other nations, a policy was decided to utilize the technology while establishing countermeasures.

With the understanding of all nations secured, Souma commissioned the super-scientist Gina to develop a small broadcast Orb utilizing Cursed Ore, called the ‘Mini-Orb.’ This instantly led to a massive activation of broadcast program production within the Kingdom.