CH 395

The Bread-Cake Declaration

At last, the day of the entrance ceremony had come. The entrance ceremony was like all other Saint-Noel Academy events in that it was both a school event and a ritual. Mia walked into the church, which was full of students, sat in the first row, and closed her eyes. The ritual started after a while.  First, a song of praise to the Lord was sung. The next step was the Rite of Incense, which was a very important part of bringing new students into the school. It had to do with the students putting on blessed aromatic oils and, while inhaling their divine scent, committing to act in a way that met the standards of Saint-Noel Academy.

Rafina finally walked into the church, dressed in all white.  Its high-quality fabric was beautifully shown off by the lighting in the church, which also brought out the few spots of shiny skin that were showing.  Mia had mixed feelings about how she looked like an angel because it reminded her of a sculpture she had seen at Saint Mia Academy before.

Rafina took the torch from the priest and walked to the front of the church, where a huge silver chalice was sitting on a table for ceremonies.  Inside the bowl was the best-smelling oil, and she slowly brought the torch to it.  Then there was a loud crack and a burst of fire. Soon, the church was filled with a sweet smell.

Huh. I don’t really care, but I guess the premium fragrance oils should smell sweet. Makes sense.

As a young sweets fan with one foot in the door of the sugar cult, Mia thought that the quality of an aromatic oil and the sweetness of its fragrance were directly related. At this rate, she might start to worry that Rafina might try her for treason one day.  Anyway…

—

“Now then,” Rafina said when the rituals were done, “Mia-sama, the president of the student council, would like to greet our new students.”

Mia stood up and took a small breath when Rafina told her to. She stood at the front of the cathedral, and the smelly flame behind her lit up like a halo. She looked out over the huge room and watched her audience.  Take another, deeper breath.  After she had taken in enough sweet gas, she spoke in a soft voice.

“Greetings, everyone. I’m your student council president, Mia Luna Tearmoon.”

Surprisingly, her heartbeat was steady and her mind was calm.  She had thought and thought about this moment, and she had come to a certain decision.

Most likely, the kingdom won’t be able to keep all of its supplies to itself.

She had thought of a lot of possible reasons, but in the end, she just gave up.  Even if she lied about how many supplies they had and managed to trick both Sion and Rafina, she didn’t think she could keep the truth from the sneaky Serpents.  Also…

It would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

She had been turned down a lot in the past, so she couldn’t help but think about how the other person would feel if she turned down their request for help.  If she did that, she would be sure to have a bad night’s sleep and then feel sick all day.

Then I might as well assume right away that we’ll be sharing our food with other countries.

That meant the plan had to be changed.

“What I want to talk about today is the spirit of helping each other!”

She was going to make it everyone else’s problem instead of her own.

“In other words, helping each other out when we’re in trouble.  We who are in charge must take care of the people we are in charge of. When things are hard and our people need a lot of help, we must all work together to help them, no matter where we live or what borders we have.”

Even if she had to give up some of her stash, that was fine.  But by golly, she wasn’t doing it by herself! The main point she was trying to make was, ‘If a kingdom asks for help, the empire will help, but the rest of you should do what you can, too.’ But her plan didn’t end there.  Another goal was to make sure that she didn’t end up with the short end of the stick in a pinch.

“It is very important for nations to be able to help each other and be helped in return.”

She spoke with emotion and determination, but if you look past her words and focus on what she was trying to say, it comes down to this: ‘Sure, the empire will give you food during a famine, but if the empire gets into trouble in the future, you’d better help us out.’

Mia’s idea of what it meant to help each other in times of need was: ‘I’ll help you when you’re in trouble, so help me when I’m in trouble!’

When she realized she couldn’t keep all of her hoards to herself, she chose to make sure she wouldn’t be the only one to lose. If her cupboard had to go empty, so did everyone else’s. The most important part of this process was making this official in front of Rafina and a room full of young nobles from many different nations. Past Mia had made a lot of mistakes because she didn’t know any better.  Present Mia was very clear and explicit, so no one else could do the same.  fter what she had been through, she wasn’t going to let anyone use ignorance as an excuse.

“That’s the manner I want you to conduct yourselves. I hope very much that you will be the kind of people who…”

She stopped for a moment and looked around the room.

“…if you see a starving man and has no bread today, you will give him the cake you’ve been looking forward to eating tomorrow. We’d all rather have all the cake for ourselves, but you can’t let that want make you forget about the poor.”

She did not tell them to take the cake they were looking forward to eating and give it all to the person who was hungry. Since the same rule applied to her, too, and she wanted cake, Mia didn’t argue. She was only willing to settle as far as eating a little less and sharing what was left over. Not one more step. Also, if there was a strawberry on her piece of cake, you can bet that she would keep it.  Strawberries were not up for discussion.

Mia took a breath before going on.

“It is my belief that that a lot will happen on the continent in the coming years. Several countries will probably face hard times. On the other hand, we all attend Saint-Noel. We have all inhaled this wonderful smell. And we all share the same land. May we all remember that even when we’ve gone back to our own countries.”

Then she closed her eyes and seemed to pray. She was, in fact, praying.

If anyone up there is listening, please…  Let Cyril and Arshia figure out how to make cold-resistant wheat.  If they don’t, I’m afraid there won’t be enough food for everyone.

—

Mia’s speech that day would go down in history as the “Bread-Cake Declaration.” The words she said were very extraordinary because they seemed like cheap beer but had aged like good wine. When they were first said, they were definitely clichéd. Words that had lost their meaning and that everyone in the room knew and they had heard a million times before. “Help each other when we’re in trouble”?  “The spirit of helping each other”?  Who would really believe such clichés?  They were treated with the greatest respect, but behind every smile and bow was a snort or a snicker.

But as time went on, those words started to shine. Time wore away their old, worn-out surface, showing a golden center.

They shone because they were spoken by Mia Luna Tearmoon, who not only said them, but also lived by them. She was the first one to follow their rules, which set a strong standard for everyone who came after her.

They glowed because the food help sent by the Tearmoon Empire saved a lot of lives. Mia didn’t swat away the begging hands of those in need, just like she said she wouldn’t.  She didn’t leave anyone who was suffering alone, and she sent material help to every failing country. Then, other people started to do what she did.

At first, it was the countries where her friends lived. And finally, their neighbors. Eventually, it became a huge force that spread across the whole continent.  In the end, this huge stream of public sentiment became the basis for a certain system. Chloe Forkroad, a friend of Mia’s, would go on to be the driving force behind the creation of what people in the future would call the “Mianet.” This was a huge network of interconnected channels that worked as a mutual food-aid system for many countries. It was often credited with ending starvation deaths on the continent. The Golden Rule, which was proclaimed in the Bread-Cake Declaration and would be used by philosophers and educators of every era and place afterward, was the basis of the Mianet.

… Mia had, in the end, just stood up and talked about cakes for her speech at the entrance ceremony, but no one had said anything bad about it.

So, it all worked out well.