How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 8 (Premium)

by Dojyomaru

  These soldiers were a mixed unit made up of the Kingdom of Lastania’s regular forces, the refugee volunteer soldiers, and the Kingdom of Friedonia’s Dratroopers. For this group of combat specialists, slaying monsters that didn’t fly and weren’t particularly more powerful than lizardmen was no different from going hunting.

  Inside that group, Captain Lauren shouted to encourage her troops as she knocked away a small monster with the large shield she was holding.

  “While Sir Halbert is keeping the flying monsters at bay, we will carve a path! There is no need to chase monsters that flee! Protecting the rear unit is our top priority!”

  Lauren’s heavy equipment was ill-suited to moving quickly, but well-suited to settling in and holding a single position. Lauren bashed the monsters that came at her with her shield, cut them down with her sword, and was defending the place where she now stood.

  Once the weak monsters realized she was not an enemy who would be easily defeated, they immediately started to move away.

  As Jirukoma raced over, kukris in hand, he let out a gasp of admiration despite himself.

  “Splendidly done, Madam Lauren. I raced over because you seemed surrounded, but it seems my concern was unwarranted.”

  “I am a professional soldier after all. This is nothing to me.” Lauren smiled proudly...and then wryly. “Well, even though I feel that way as the captain of the soldiers, I’m a little embarrassed as a woman that I’m able to fight monsters so easily. I wish I could be a gentle, graceful woman like the princess too, but it’s beyond me...” She laughed weakly.

  Jirukoma was a little confused. “What could be wrong with being a strong woman? In my tribe, strength and toughness are seen as virtues in a woman. They can give birth to stronger children that way after all.”

  “Ch-Children?!” Lauren’s cheeks went red. “Um... Do you like strong women, Sir Jirukoma?”

  “Hm? I suppose I do. My sister was a tomboy after all. I think I do like them.”

  “Y-You do?!” Lauren wore a brilliant smile for just a moment, then gripped her shield tightly as if getting her mind back on task. Then she used the sword in her right hand to point forward. “Now then, Sir Jirukoma. I want to ensure safety over the widest area possible, so I would like to ask you remove the monsters from this area. Leave defending this place to me.”

  “No, but...”

  “I’ll be fine! I am a strong woman!” Lauren pounded her puffed up-chest.

  With an expression that looked dumbfounded by her sudden declaration, Jirukoma nodded. “R-Right... I understand. But make sure you don’t do anything reckless.”

  “Right. You be careful too, Sir Jirukoma!”

  Lauren him go as Jirukoma took off at a run.

  While he raced around cutting down emaciated, goblin-like monsters with his two kukris, he ran into Kuu, who had an awkward look on his face.

  Kuu swung around his cudgel, crushing lizard-like monsters that raced around, then stood back-to-back with Jirukoma and asked him, “Buddy...you wouldn’t happen to be dense, would you?”

  “Dense? What are you talking about?”

  Catching the blank look on Jirukoma’s face, Kuu shook his head in exasperation. “I’m talking about you taking responsibility.”

  “Responsibility? Um, what do you mean?”

  “I wonder. Try thinking for yourself!”

  As Kuu said that, he was confronted with a monster coming in at high speed. It was larger than the other monsters, shaped like an ostrich with a goat’s head, and it had its head down and was charging him in as if it was trying to gore him with its two horns.

  Kuu put his cudgel behind him, then rushed toward the monster.

  “Sir Kuu?!” Jirukoma cried out despite himself, but Kuu performed a slide right in front of the monster, then used his momentum to kick out the monster’s left leg, which was bearing its weight.

  “Down you go.”

  There was a snapping sound. With the combination of the creature’s own momentum going forward, Kuu’s power coming at it, and the creature’s weight acting together, the monster’s left leg snapped. With only one leg left that it could still use, it rammed into the ground with all its inertia.

  Kuu let out a laugh as he watched it. “Ookyakya! Like I thought, your leg was wide open!”

  Whoosh... Thock!

  An arrow flew in, planting itself into the goat-headed monster’s throat as it writhed on the ground. That finished it off, and it ceased to move.

  The person with a bow rushed over to Kuu. “Young Masteeer, don’t scare me like that!” Leporina begged with a tired look on her face. “Our mission is to remove monsters from the mission area. There’s no need to charge in, so show some restraint!”

  “Ookyakya! I’m fine, so there’s no problem!” Kuu tapped his cudgel on his shoulder, smiling unabashedly.

  While Leporina frowned over Kuu’s lack of repentance, she saw the second group begin heading out from the city gate out of the corner of her eye. The second group, unlike the first, numbered over 2,000, and in place of weapons they were carrying large logs, pieces of firewood, basically any lumber they could lay hands on.

  Leporina tugged on the Kuu’s outfit. “Look, Young Master. The second group has come out, so we need to go and guard them.”

  “Whoops, you’re right. If I play around too much, Bro will get mad.”

  “I would like to give you a proper scolding myself, but...perhaps it would be better if I arranged some lecture time together with Taru.”

  “Y-You don’t have to bring Taru into this, okay?!” There was panic in Kuu’s voice.

  He thought nothing of being scolded by Souma or his father Gouran, but an extended lecture from the girl he liked was something he wanted to avoid.

  Kuu clapped his hands as if trying to dodge the subject, then urged Leporina to go on. “Look, we’re supposed to be defending them, right? Let’s get a move on.”

  “Honestly...”

  Leporina shrugged and took off after Kuu as he ran.

  The one leading the second unit, which Kuu and Leporina were headed to, was Kaede.

  “Hurry,” she ordered. “We have to finish before the monsters come back, you know.”

  This second unit was the soldiers conscripted by the Kingdom of Lastania. They had minimal equipment, using carts and their own arms to carry logs, firewood, and straw bales. In short, they were a supply unit. Kuu, Jirukoma, and the others had swept the monsters out of this area to secure their safety.

  As the supply unit reached the point Lauren was defending, at the midpoint between the walls of Lasta and the forest where the lizardmen lurked, they unloaded the lumber they were carrying. Then the soldiers made a pyramid with the logs they brought, filled the inside with firewood, and stuffed in straw.

  What they were building was a giant bonfire, with a height of maybe five meters. This same construction process was repeated in several places simultaneously.

  Kaede was using her earth elemental magic (gravity manipulation) to make the logs ignore gravity, allowing the assembly to proceed more efficiently.

  In the middle of all that, Lauren ran over to her. “Madam Kaede. We were able to drive off most of the monsters, so let us help too.”

  Kaede shook her head. “No, Madam Lauren, please remain on watch in the nearby area. We can’t be sure the monsters that followed Hal and Ruby won’t come back. Please stay extra cautious so we can keep the workers safe from monster attacks.”

  “Y-Yes, ma’am! Understood!” Lauren gave her a salute and then returned to her position.

  The second unit under command of Kaede continued their work under the protection of the first unit led by Lauren, and in a little over an hour, there were about ten bonfires set up.

  Right around that time, a massive shadow appeared in the western sky. That shadow with its big wings spread out was Halbert and Ruby, returning after their duties were complete.

  Even though seeing they were well made her feel a sense of relief, Kaede’
s face remained stern as she gave orders. “We can’t overstay our welcome. If you’ve finished building, set the fires, and return inside the walls!”

  “Yes, ma’am! Setting the fires!”

  The newly built bonfires were all set alight at once.

  The straw burned quickly, and the smoke turned orange as the light of the fire began to rise.

  With the bonfires burning behind them, the second unit hurried inside the walls, followed by the soldiers of the first unit slowly withdrawing while fending off monster attacks.

  “I hope the plan goes well...” Lauren, who was in the rear guard, said, sounding concerned.

  Kaede chuckled. “We’ve done all we can. Now, we just have to pray it works out.”

  ◇　◇　◇

  Gwah! Grrr!

  Having lost many of their kind in the battle yesterday, the lizardmen were now lurking in the dark forest. They were all looking up at the sky.

  A red line raced across their vision.

  For a while now, several red lights had been flying through the sky.

  What are those things? they wondered as they watched.

  Things fell to the ground in pieces. When they approached, it was charred monsters.

  The lizardmen turned their snouts toward the sizzling remains of the monsters.

  The cooked meat gave off a savory smell.

  The starving lizardmen wanted that smell. However, they stopped short. Before, when they had eaten similar monsters, many of their kind had experienced stomach cramps, and more than ten of them had died.

  Whether that was due to the monsters’ meat being poisonous, because of diseases they carried, or the result of parasites...they didn’t know. The lizardmen had no way to know, and they lacked the intelligence to attempt to find out.

  The information that “eating the mixed-up monsters can result in death” was all that had been entered into the lizardmen’s not particularly large brains. That was why, even though they were starving, they made no attempt to eat the mixed-up monsters.

  But then...

  Kshaaaa! ...Chomp!

  One of the lizardmen started eating the charred monsters.

  It acted as though they tasted good, eating several of them.

  The pack of lizardmen watched that individual cautiously.

  It was eating the mixed-up monsters, but not only was it not dying, it didn’t even seem to be getting stomach pain.

  Why?

  Looking at it, the individual was eating well-cooked meat, and avoiding undercooked portions.

  Seeing that, the data in the lizardmen’s brains that said, “Eating the mixed-up monsters can result in death” was overwritten to say, “Eating the mixed-up monsters raw can result in death, but if they are well-cooked, they can be eaten.”

  In the next instant, the lizardmen swarmed around the roasted monster meat. Due in part to their hunger, they tore into the meat with reckless abandon.

  Even the lizardmen who hadn’t witnessed the original individual witnessed those who had seen it, learned the same information, and a battle over the cooked meat began.

  Eventually, that information spread through the whole pack.

  However, there was far too little meat for 800 lizardmen. The well-cooked meat vanished in no time flat, leaving only the undercooked meat.

  While they were wondering what to do, a light appeared near the outside of the forest.

  Looking at it, there was a place with fire burning brightly.

  If I use those flames, I can cook this undercooked meat! The lizardmen who thought that took the undercooked meat and approached the fire, then threw it in. They ate it when it was cooked.

  In the pack, there were some who could breathe fire themselves, and those individuals cooked and ate by themselves.

  However, there was a limit to the undercooked meat too.

  I want more.

  Looking around, they noticed that...there was plenty of “raw meat” feeding on their kind’s corpses.

  The lizardmen began to hunt.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “It’s incredible to see, isn’t it?” I asked.

  “Yeah...” Julius murmured.

  It was around ten in the morning, with the sun was fully risen, and shining brilliantly.

  I was with Julius, standing on the wall, watching the scene unfold beneath us in awe.

  We watched the lizardmen surround the bonfires, cooking the meat of monsters they had hunted. It was like a banquet for primitives.

  The lizardmen were a threat to us, but this was like watching a scene from ancient times, and it put me into a strange, indescribable frame of mind.

  Aisha, who could see well at a long distance, pointed and explained. “Over in that corner, a group centered around a fire-breathing lizardman is starting to form, sire.”

  Because we had taught them to cook before eating, there was now a major shift in the balance of power happening within the lizardman pack.

  Naden and Ruby were dropping in kindling and straw from the air to make sure the fires didn’t go out, but not that many could gather around the bonfires, and the inevitable result was that the strongest individuals monopolized them. With that happening, those that could breathe fire for themselves were at an advantage.

  The lizardmen who couldn’t get near the bonfires were apparently hunting an extra share of monster meat for the ones that could breathe fire in order to have those cook meat for them. It was a very simple contract based on a mutually beneficial relationship. There was a clear hierarchy forming between the lizardmen.

  “It’s like watching a microcosm of society, you know,” I said, and Julius nodded.

  “I couldn’t agree more. I never would have dreamed the day would come when I’d see society reflected in the actions of monsters.”

  “If we gave them another thousand years, don’t you think they could achieve something resembling civilization?” I asked.

  “Possibly, but...we can’t afford to wait a thousand years.”

  “True enough.”

  The relationship between mankind and monsters was one of kill-or-be-killed.

  Because it was impossible to converse with them, if we didn’t defeat them, they would bring harm to those we cared about. It might be cruel, but there were people and things we needed to protect.

  Julius stood on the edge of the city walls, then gave the order to the eagerly waiting soldiers.

  “The number of monsters is down! Now, wipe out the lizardmen!”

  At Julius’s command, the north and south gates swung open.

  ◇　◇　◇

  “North and south forces, begin the attack!” he ordered.

  To deal with the lizardman gathered in the west, Julius sent 1,000 troops out of the north and south gates, which then circled around to northwest and southwest of the pack.

  “We will go on foot to circle around behind the enemy!” Jirukoma called.

  “We will attack from the south side! Men, don’t be late!” Lauren shouted.

  The one leading the northern force was Jirukoma, and the commander of the southern force was Lauren.

  Partially because the lizardmen were distracted by eating, they let these two forces approach them easily.

  Kaede, who was watching from the walls, raised her right hand. “Now, light the signal!”

  At Kaede’s command, a smoke signal went up from the west gate.

  When Jirukoma and Lauren saw it, their forces attacked the lizardman pack from the northwest and southwest. With a force of 2,000 attacking them in a V formation, the surprised lizardmen were pushed toward Lasta in the east.

  When she saw that, Kaede poked her head out over the inside edge of the city wall, and said to the person down below, “The time is ripe! We’re counting on you, Sir Julius!”

  “Understood!”

  Moving away from the wall, Julius, who was riding on a white horse, drew his sword and held it aloft.

  The 1,000 soldiers around him were mostly elites, including
Lastanian regulars and the Dratroopers. The troops were waiting for the order to set out to come at any moment, and Julius announced to them, “The fate of this country hangs on this battle! Eliminate the lizardmen, for the sake of the families huddling in fear behind these walls!”

  “““Yeahhhhhhh!”””

  While listening to his men shout, Julius gave the order to the gates.

  “Open the gates!”

  The west gate opened, and 1,000 troops led by Julius leapt out.

  The soldiers kept going with that momentum to plow straight into the confused pack of lizardmen.

  “My life for Lastania!”

  “Die already, you damn lizard!”

  As if venting their grudges over the battle on the walls, they made a bloody mess of every lizardman they came across. Julius rode around swinging his sword too, lopping the heads off one lizardman after another. There was a trail of lizardman blood left behind where he had passed.

  At the end of that line, Julius pointed his sword to the west and gave the order, “Keep going, and push until we’ve finished them!”

  ◇　◇　◇

  “He’s doing a brilliant job commanding them, huh?” I commented.

  The west gate opened, and the 1,000 troops coming out of it were attacking the lizardmen who had been pushed east. Under attack from three sides, the lizardmen were in a state of terror.

  Hal and I were watching the scene unfold from up in the air on Ruby and Naden’s backs.

  The forces led by Julius had just surrounded the lizardmen in a triangle formation. He didn’t close the encirclement, however, leaving a slight escape route to the west, between Jirukoma’s and Lauren’s units. If he closed all avenues of escape, the enemy would focus on his forces, but if there was even a narrow way out, the lizardmen would be distracted by it.

  As the lizardmen turned their attention to the west, Julius’s forces moved to crush the pack from the east.

  Somehow, it reminded me of a pastry bag.

  “In my world’s military tactics, this would be an example of, ‘In order to capture, one must let loose,’ but you wouldn’t get that reference. Let’s call it the Pastry Bag Strategy instead.”

  “No, no, a name that makes you want to use it is no good,” Naden said, poking fun at me with her telepathy.