Matchmaking Dance Party Plan
Everybody started getting on board the matchmaking dance party. Let’s nail it at once and for all here.
“Well then, let’s do it!”
“Eh? Do it? How?”
“Well, it is simple. Before that, are the castle’s servants participating in the commoner’s harvest festival?”
“I think they will take turns going”
“Well then, I will feel bad for the servants if they can no longer participate in the harvest festival, so we shall hold it on a date after the harvest festival is over. We will invite the high-ranking nobles on the first day, and we will invite the low-ranking nobles on the second day”
“Because it is a dance party, we will provide alcohol and food. We will have those who wish to participate pay an entrance fee alongside their participation notice. For example, something like 1 gold coin for the high-ranking nobles and 5 large silver coins for the low-ranking nobles will probably be appropriate”
“They will wear a ribbon on their chest on the very day, for example, something like purple for the Royal Family, blue for the Duke household, green for the Marquis household, and yellow for the Margrave household. And then, the married men will have a white frame on their ribbon. And then, at the venue, we will make it a standing group meal, constantly play music, and make it so that they can dance”
“And then, while having the group meal, they will search for a counterpart. If they find somebody who is their type, they can speak to them, and they will introduce themselves to each other. And then, if they are fond of each other after talking, they will dance or have a drink together or something. What do you think?”
“Tsukuyomi-sama. Will the woman be the one to speak to the man? For me, it is a bit……”
“Ria. Is it embarassing to be the one to speak to a man?”
“Yes. It is embarassing”
“You don’t have to force yourself to speak to them. In that situation, you can just keep staring at the other party. Being stared at fixedly is something rather noticeable. If you get ignored even if they notice, you can just think of it as ‘it was not fated’ and find somebody else again”
“But, you know, there are also some men who are not used to such things or instances where you cannot get them to notice because they are thick-headed to begin with. Rather than getting frustrated that the guy you were eyeing got stolen because you kept quiet and waited, I think it is better to pluck up your courage and speak to him on your own though”
“I see”
“Things like these are all about experience. Your embarrassment will probably end up winning out in the beginning. But if you experience the dance party over and over again, you might be able to become proactive. Thinking, ‘it can’t carry on like this!'”
“Yeah. I am starting to somewhat look forward to it”
“This will create new married couples, and it is connected to increasing the number of children, so if we can have it pushed forward as a national policy, I think the results will benefit the country”
“That is exactly the case huh”
“Eeh, if we try it and it is well received by everybody, we can probably hold it periodically, such as once every 4 months or once every 2 months”
“I think we should most certainly do it!”
“However, there is just one thing I am worried about”
“My! What is it?”
“If we hold such a party. I can go as far as to say there will ‘definitely’ be bad guys who will join in”
“For example, they participate just because they want to go out with a woman even though they have no intention of getting married. Or, if we consider something even worse, something like thinking about marrying tons of wives, making them give birth to lots of children, and selling them off as slaves”
“I think it will become a rumour and end up being found out by the world right away if they are a noble and they do something like that though”
“But, is that not simply Okaa-sama not knowing because Okaa-sama went to the Moon Palace right after coming of age? Stellaria, Ria, Mira. Have you ever heard stories of such horrible nobles?”
“Er-, erm……I, have heard of it before”
“My! Ria. What story about whom?”
“It is about Viscount Syringa Perrine, the Feudal Lord next to my House, Marquis House Richter; I heard rumours that he is making the daughters of merchants his bride one after another and selling the daughters they made to slavers”
“D-, doing something like that……the other party didn’t come out to the public because they are not a noble huh”
“Okaa-sama. Speaking of which, I heard from Stellaria when I found Mimosa and others, but it seems there are also instances of selling their children as slaves in order to reduce their expenses in this country. In the first place, what kind of system is slavery?”
“Eeh, slaves have their rights sold for money, but depending on how you think about it, it is also a way to be able to get a job for life. They are given clothing, lodging, food, and a job if they become a slave when they wouldn’t be able to have a proper meal in a poor family and would lose their life at that rate after all. Besides, there are people who become free by paying their bond on their own if they are competent, and there are also instances where they are bought for their talent and got adopted, you know”
“I see; it is not that it is all bad either then huh. Well then, how much are they roughly being sold for?”
“1 to 3 large gold coins for girls. For boys, first of all, it doesn’t look like there are any, but 1 platinum coin seems to be the market price”
“How cheap huh. I suppose their reasoning is that they are taking over and giving them clothing, food, and lodging……so what is the difference between the girl’s price?”
“It seems to be decided based on their looks”
“Haa……I see huh. But I cannot imagine that they are buying slaves simply for the sake of making them work huh”
“Well then, what would it be for?”
“Like that Viscount Perrine. I guess they are probably using women as playthings. And if they make a child, they will sell them off because they are a hindrance. I guess that is probably how it is”
“D-, doing something so horrible……”
“Yeah. It is unforgivable huh. But such men exist in every world, you know. Because that is the instinct of a male animal”
“Instinct of an animal? What would that be?”
“It happens often with animals that live in a group; a powerful male subdues many females, and they get along in a group. The male demonstrates its strength and tries to leave its own descendants. The females, too, want the children of a powerful male”
“That is the instinct of an animal, but occasionally, there are male humans whose instincts are stronger than their rationality despite being humans, which are animals with rationality. They are a bothersome existence for human women”
“Aah, I understand that very well. I believe there are quite a few individuals who, even if they do not go as far as to sell them as slaves, their treatment of women is crass despite marrying tons of wives……”
“In the case of animals, they might still be better since they properly raise their children in a group. In the case of humans, there are those who simply want to demonstrate their strength, or those who are just filled with lust after all”
“That’s why I want to make sure we don’t allow such people into the matchmaking dance party”
“Let’s try talking about it with Ojii-sama during lunch, including these things we are talking about”
I tried proposing the dance party to the King while having lunch. As expected, since they are unfamiliar with the word ‘mixer’ in this world, I decided to call it a matchmaking dance party.
“Tsukuyomi really does possess incredible knowledge huh. This system benefits everybody. That goes for us, the hosts, as well. We will profit from collecting the entrance fee and whatnot as well after all. Additionally, if the number of people who can get married increases, the number of children will subsequently increase, and if the population increases, our tax revenue will also increase”
“Chichiue, let’s immediately, send invitations to all the Feudal Lords”
“Before that, there is one thing to discuss about”
“Umu. What is it?”
I tried asking if there is any effective countermeasure to eliminate the problematic individuals, using the story we heard from Ria as an example.
“Tha-, that sure is a horrible story huh. But, it is a plausible one. Furthermore, regarding that Viscount Perrine, he probably didn’t make all of them his brides. Despite saying he’ll make them his brides, aren’t they actually his mistresses? He’ll end up being able to weasel his way out if he insists they’re his mistresses or servants after all”
“How about making it so that we give severe punishment if it is discovered that a noble abandoned or sold the children of their wives, mistresses, or servants as slaves in the country’s laws?”
“Umu. Well, there will probably be no end to those who will search for a loophole nevertheless, but I suppose it’s better than nothing huh”
“Wait, Otou-sama. If we make such a law, won’t they kill and hide the unneeded children, and lie that they died from illness and try to weasel their way out”
“That is also true huh”
“On Earth, in cases where a person died somewhere other than a hospital, we always investigate the cause of death with the suspicion of murder. In the case where they had been killed, we will find the culprit and sentence them. But we cannot ask for that much in this world huh”
“Umu. As I thought, it will end up just being for show, but it is probably better to at least make it so that we sentence them severely if we discover it”
“Yes. Also, for married people who wish to participate in response to the invitation, we will have a rigorous inspection of their House’s family structure and financial situation. If we add that, those with dubious ideas will probably give up on participating, won’t they?”
“Aah, that’s a good idea. Let’s definitely add that paragraph”
“Well then, we shall proceed in that direction. Is there anything else?”
“Oji-sama, it might be a good idea to select the low-ranking nobles carefully and bring in big merchants as well”
“Ooh, you’re right; there are actually many daughters of low-ranking nobles who marry into merchant households as well after all”
“However, when it comes to merchants, since there is also the story just now, I think it is better to restrict it to just men”
“Tsukuyomi, you pay attention to even something like that huh. You really are capable. So much so that I would like you to be the Chancellor of this country”
“It is an honour to receive your compliments”
I heard this somewhere before, didn’t I?
A few days later, it’s the afternoon swordsmanship training time. As always, I received training from Stellaria.
I’m gradually getting taller and have gotten to about 120cm. I’ve gotten physically stronger, and I think my movements have also gotten better. I also recently started practice-swinging a training sword instead of a wooden sword.
Forlan also started putting in all his effort to not lag behind, trying to catch up to me. He occasionally has sparring training with me as well. He, too, is growing.
As we’re chatting while wiping off our sweat after the training is over,
“Tsukuyomi-sama!”
“Yes?”
“It seems a dance party for those who wish to get married will be held on Tsukuyomi-sama’s proposal huh”
“Eeh, did the invitation already arrive?”
“Eeh, it arrived. What kind of a party is this?”
I explained the concept and the party’s content in detail.
“That is wonderful huh. We might encounter someone as well huh!”
“That’s right. Please do find a good partner, alright”
“Ah! We have to get a dress made huh!”
“If it’s that, then participating in your knight’s outfit is also an option, you know”
“Eh? In the knight’s outfit! Why?”
“It is not that this applies to everybody, but there are those with mannish personalities amongst the knights, aren’t there. I am thinking that maybe men who say that they like their knight’s appearance might match those people better. That’s why we will have them fall in love with their knight’s outfit appearance”
“Of course, I think there are plenty of those who are maidens, even though they are knights, so as expected, it is probably better for those people to participate in dresses”
“Tsukuyomi-sama sure understands a woman’s heart well huh!”
“In any case, please speak to the individual you are interested in without hesitating, alright”
“Yes! I will do my best!”
“Will Stellaria-sama be participating?”
“Eh? I will not be participating”
“Thank goodness! If Stellaria-sama participates, every man in the venue will end up going to where Stellaria-sama is”
“Th-, there is no way something like that will happen, right!”
“No. It will definitely happen! I mean, even now, I cannot forget the beautiful Stellaria-sama who wore the dress gifted by Tsukuyomi-sama”
“Really. We are all always talking about it”
“N-, no way……”
Uーn. This is a conversation I can’t stick my head into. No matter what.
At night. I got into bed and talked to Okaa-san.
“Okaa-sama. About the dance party, I guess Mira and Ria will probably be participating. But I wonder what will Nina do?”
“I think Nina will not be participating”
“As I thought, it is because she is not a noble huh. I wonder if Nina will never be able to get married?”
“It will probably be difficult at this rate huh. As long as nobody introduces a commoner to her”
“I wonder if it is painful for Nina?”
“Actually, I talked to Nina today. It seems Nina doesn’t want to get married, you know”
“I see. Why is that so?”
“It seems she does not know how to raise a child because she was not raised by her parents”
“I see……what a difficult problem huh. I wonder what else Nina likes?”
“Please try asking her next time, Tsukuyomi”
“Understood”
“Also, it seems Stellaria will not be participating either”
“I would think so for her huh”
“I wonder why? I wonder if she is still not confident?”
“No, it is because she adores you, you know”
“Me? I wonder if she is serious?”
“Eeh, she is serious……but, that goes for me too”
“Okaa-sama……”
While having mixed feelings, I was hugged tightly by Okaa-san.
