How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 2

by Dojyomaru

  Georg was dumbfounded like me at first, but soon his eyes took on a sharp glint, and he smiled like a carnivore that had found its prey. “I have seen your resolve, princess. However, I will have you show me that resolve on the battlefield.”

  “Count on it.”

  The two seemed to have come to an understanding. I couldn’t comprehend it myself, but it was probably just the way warriors communicated. The meeting had ended with everyone being taken aback by Liscia, but... Anyway, that was the end of the ultimatum to the three dukes.

  “Was that okay... cutting your hair like that?” I asked Liscia once the transmission to Georg and Castor had ended.

  Now that the ultimatum to the three dukes was over and done with, Aisha, who had come back from the dark elf village, as well as Hakuya, Poncho, and Tomoe, had come into the Jewel Voice Room. When they had all noticed the change in Liscia’s appearance, everyone’s eyes (except for Hakuya’s; he didn’t show much change in expression) went wide with surprise.

  Liscia played with the ends of her freshly-cut hair, blushing. “I did it to make my position clear. ...Does the new look not suit me?”

  “No, I think it suits you,” I said. “Right, guys?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “You cut a wonderfully gallant figure like that, Princess,” said Aisha.

  “I do think the short hair is quite fetching for you, too,” said Hakuya.

  “I-It really suits you, I think, yes,” said Poncho.

  “It’s cute, big sister,” said Tomoe.

  With all these people complimenting her, Liscia’s face flushed with embarrassment. (Though she didn’t seem to entirely mind the attention.)

  The atmosphere in the room had softened like that, when...

  “Sire...”

  ...the only one of the three dukes who was still connected, Excel, called out to me.

  “...My apologies, Duchess Walter,” I said.

  “No, I have already sworn my vassalage to you, sire. Please, just call me Excel.”

  “Excel, then. Sorry,” I said. “For not being able to convince Castor.”

  “There was nothing you could have done. He had made up his own mind.” Still, the corners of Excel’s mouth were drawn tight with frustration.

  They said this beautiful woman, who looked to only be in her mid-twenties, was, in fact, five hundred years old, that Castor was her son-in-law, and that her granddaughter was also with Castor. Her family were split between opposite sides of the conflict, so it was perfectly natural for her to think it regrettable.

  Oh, right. Speaking of Excel’s family...

  “Excel. Is she there with you?” I asked.

  Excel drew in her breath sharply. “...Yes. She is.”

  “You called, Your Majesty?” Another blue-haired beauty appeared, standing beside Excel on the screen. She had a face that anyone would fall in love with, impeccable style, and an air about her that seemed more mature than her age. Yes, she was the lorelei songstress whose popularity was surging across the Elfrieden Kingdom, Ms. Juna Doma herself.

  “Thank you, Juna,” I said. “Because we had you tying us to her, we didn’t have to fight with Excel.”

  “No. I only did as ordered,” she said. “Besides, I was investigating you and reporting back to Grandmother at one point. I beg your forgiveness for my rudeness then.”

  Yes, Juna had been a spy dispatched by Duchess Walter.

  With her foresight, Excel had known that if Liscia’s father, the former king Albert, had ceded the throne to me, something must have been going on, and so she had begun looking into it immediately.

  The spy she had chosen to dispatch for that was Juna, who was actually the commander of the Marine Corps.

  On top of that, Juna was apparently Excel’s granddaughter. One of Excel’s sons had married into the Doma family, who were a merchant family in Lagoon City with loreleis among their ancestors, and that was how Juna had been born. That beautiful face of hers came from Excel’s side of the family, it seemed.

  When Juna had used the Gift Proclamation event as an opportunity to make contact with me, it had been to investigate whether I had what it took to be king. Then, when she had deemed me fit to be king, she had reported those thoughts back to Excel, and finally chosen to reveal herself to us on her own.

  I’d been surprised when I’d first heard, but between the maturity that belied her young age and the swift movements she had displayed during the argument with Hal, it had made some things suddenly make a lot of sense, so I’d been able to accept it fairly quickly.

  After that, Juna had become the pipe connecting us to Excel. In other words, Excel had been the only one to swear loyalty to me before the ultimatum.

  However, in order to monitor Georg’s disquieting movements and to try to convince Castor up until the very last moment, we had concealed that fact, and, for a time, she had gone along with the other dukes.

  As Juna bowed apologetically, I said to her, “No. Because of you, we were able to coordinate with Excel. You took my side, so I have every reason to be grateful, and I have no intention of faulting you for what you did.”

  “It’s just like I told you that day,” she said. “‘I, too, am on your side.’”

  “...You did say that, didn’t you?”

  On that night when I couldn’t sleep, Juna had told me that and then sung for me until I fell asleep. Afterward, I had heard from Juna that Liscia had arranged the whole thing.

  Liscia was always looking after me. True to her words on that day, Juna had stayed on my side. Even Aisha, scatterbrained as she could be most of the time, could be counted on to defend me if it came to it.

  I was able to be the king because of all these people supporting me. And so I wanted to do right by them, too.

  “Hakuya, how are the preparations?” I looked over at him.

  Hakuya put his hands together and bowed. “All is as planned. Sir Ludwin and the 10,000 soldiers that make up the directly-controlled portion of the Forbidden Army can mobilize immediately.”

  “What movements have we seen from the Amidonian army?” I asked.

  “They already appear to have assembled on the border,” he said. “It is as we anticipated.”

  Having heard Hakuya’s report, I turned to everyone with a nod, thrusting my fist into the air. “Let’s go! Now it’s a battle against time! We’ll brush away the falling sparks and show Georg what he’s up against! Let him see the power that will support this country from here on!”

  “““Yes, sir!”””

  Everyone responded to my command. The time was ripe.

  I spoke. “Now, let the subjugation war begin.”

  ◇　◇　◇

  —30th Day, 9th Month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar.

  Souma, King of Elfrieden, had raised an army to subjugate Georg.

  A message bearing this information was delivered to the armies of the Duchy of Amidonia massed near the border.

  When Gaius VIII heard this report he said, “The time is come! Now, we shall achieve our long-held desire!”

  With that declaration, he finally led the 30,000 strong army of the principality to begin the invasion of Elfrieden.

  There were two routes into Elfrieden from Amidonia.

  One was the route passing through the Carmine Duchy in the northwest. It was an open plain, easy to traverse, but Gaius did not use this route.

  That was because this route was entirely blocked by the Carmine Duchy. Even if it was purely for appearances, Gaius had claimed that he was aiding both the king and Georg, so he needed to avoid any route that made it look like he was in league with Georg. Furthermore, the Carmine Duchy was where the king’s and Georg’s forces would collide, so if the principality’s army appeared there, there was the risk that the war would be stopped. The principality wanted the conflict between the king and Georg to last as long as possible.

  Because of that, the principality’s army chose to advance along the other route, the one that passed thro
ugh the mountainous region to the south. The Ursula Mountains stood along the southern half of the border between the Principality of Amidonia and the Elfrieden Kingdom. This route passed through the Goldoa Valley in the mountains.

  While the path was steep, once they crossed the valley, they would come to the city of Altomura. Fed by the mountain streams coming out of the Ursula Mountains, this was one of Elfrieden’s few grain-producing regions. What was more, it had also once been part of Amidonia.

  As he rode his horse among the 30,000 soldiers of the principality’s army, Gaius VII had a glint in his eye and a bold smile on his face.

  “Heh heh heh. Souma and Georg can fight as hard as they want. While they do, we will reclaim our lost lands.”

  As he passed through the shadows of the valley, Gaius VIII had no doubt that his dearest wish was about to be granted.

  Extra Story: The Story of a Certain Group of Adventurers 2

  It happened a few days before the ultimatum to the three dukes.

  I was in a dark room with Hakuya, poring over a big map of this country that was spread out across the table. There were pawns of various sizes, all shaped like upside-down “T”s, at various points on the map.

  At the point representing the royal capital, Parnam, there was a large pawn and a medium-sized pawn. In the central city of the Carmine Duchy, Randel, there were four large pawns. In the central city of the Vargas Duchy, Red Dragon City, there was a single pawn that was smaller than the others. These T-shaped pawns represented the forces positioned in each location.

  Hakuya was using a long stick to explain each of the pawns.

  “The large pawns represent a force of 10,000, the medium ones a force of 5,000, and the small ones a force of 100. In other words, the number of troops you can mobilize is 15,000, while Duke Carmine has gathered around 40,000. There were many deserters from the Army, such as Glaive Magna, but they seem to have made up their losses from that with the personal troops of the nobles who were engaged in corruption.”

  “So, no change to the numerical values, there, huh,” I said.

  “Correct. Furthermore, according to the information we received from Duchess Walter, Duke Vargas has done as he declared he would. He has not called up the Air Force. It seems he intends to go into battle with only 100 of his own troops.”

  “Hm... Still, if they’re Castor’s troops, they’re all wyvern cavalry, right?” I picked up one of the medium-sized pawns from beside the map and replaced the small pawn at Red Dragon City with it. “I’ve heard a single wyvern knight can do the work of 500 soldiers from the Army. If we’re looking at comparative power, we should think of them as being equivalent to 5,000 of our troops. Even if there are only 100 of them, we can’t afford to underestimate their power.”

  “I am awed by your astute powers of observation.” Hakuya bowed reverently. He made a big deal of it, but I knew he was probably just flattering me.

  “Please, stop. I take no joy in being able to point out how bad the situation is for us.”

  “I suppose not,” he said. “It appears as though the situation is still worsening, too...”

  With those words, Hakuya placed three large pawns on the southwest border with the Principality of Amidonia. These three large pawns represented the forces of Amidonia which were about to invade this country.

  “The armies of the Principality of Amidonia are prepared to advance through the valleys of the Ursula Mountains to invade,” he said.

  “Their total manpower was 50,000 or so, right?” I asked.

  The Principality of Amidonia was only half as powerful a nation as the Elfrieden Kingdom. Because of that, they could only maintain half the standing army. On top of that, the Principality of Amidonia shared borders with three other countries in addition to us, so they had to leave troops to defend against them.

  “Given their circumstances, 30,000 is a lot to be sending,” I said.

  “You can see how serious Gaius is just from that, I suppose,” he replied. “He is ready to win or die trying.”

  “That’s just going to mean problems for us,” I sighed. “...What will the principality do from here?”

  “They likely mean to occupy the southwestern city of Altomura,” he replied. “Once Altomura falls, they will sweep all opposition from the surrounding area and move to secure the grain-producing region. Once they have de facto control of this area, I expect they will declare it part of their domain.”

  Gaius was mobilizing his army with the resolve to win or die trying, but then he was just going to do the equivalent of burglarizing a building while it was on fire.

  “For all his resolve, he’s not doing much,” I said.

  “With the manpower Amidonia has, I believe this is the most they could accomplish,” Hakuya responded. “If they get too out of hand, the nobles who have been taking a wait-and-see approach to your conflict with Duke Carmine would likely gather to your side, after all.”

  “I see... What’s the strength of our border defense force?” I asked.

  Hakuya moved the medium-sized pawn that was in Parnam to the southwest border. “I have already dispatched 5,000 from the Forbidden Army to the area near the border.”

  “We’re sending a land force of 5,000 to face a force of 30,000 which will have air forces as well, huh...” I murmured.

  We were outnumbered by more than six-to-one. I had known this would be the case, but... I didn’t feel good about those numbers.

  “...How long can they hold out?” I asked.

  “Even if they shut themselves up in the fortress near the border, they would be doing well to last a day,” he responded. “The intent is only to buy time, so the commander has been ordered not to be reckless, and to carry out a staged retreat.”

  “That’s easier said than done... She can pull it off, though, I guess. But even if we assume the troops are fine with all this... what do you plan to do about the people living in the area?” I turned a harsh eye towards Hakuya.

  Unless they were expecting an ambush, armies would avoid the steep slopes and advance along roads across flat land. Those roads saw the daily coming and going of people, and people gathered at them to form towns and villages. There would be towns and villages at points along the route the armies of the principality would be advancing through to reach Altomura, as well.

  “We don’t have long before the armies of the principality strike,” I added. “Should we issue a royal order to encourage them to evacuate?”

  When I asked that, Hakuya shook his head silently. “Please, refrain. If we show we are aware of the principality’s intentions, their armies will be on alert. It could make all our preparations for naught.”

  “...You’re telling me to abandon them?”

  “I believe we have no other choice,” Hakuya said firmly, his eyes never wavering from my glare. “Now that you have made the decision to fight, sire, you must be aware that that means the blood of your people will be shed. As king, sometimes you must swallow your tears and be prepared to make sacrifices to save a greater number of people.”

  Hakuya said this with a serious look on his face. It might have sounded cold, but he was taking it upon himself to say the things he knew would hurt for me to hear. So that I couldn’t run away from making those choices.

  “...Yeah,” I said. “I get what you’re saying. That’s probably the more guaranteed, safer way. But... is it really the only option?”

  He said nothing.

  “On this occasion, I don’t mind if the method is a little bit rough, or dangerous,” I added.

  With a war coming, there was going to be some number of people sacrificed no matter what I did. Even so, if I didn’t work to lower those numbers to the absolute minimum, that wasn’t being safe, it was being negligent.

  “I’ll take whatever you’ve got,” I said in a strained voice. “Is there something, anything we could do?”

  Hakuya paused for a moment to think. Then... he let out a sigh, shrugging his shoulders in exasperation. “A
nd here I had thought you had been acting quite kingly of late, sire.”

  “I’ve still got a long way to go if I let compassion get the better of me, is that it?” I asked.

  “If you are aware of that, then very well. Good grief... It seems I have no choice.”

  For all his complaining, this was the closest I had seen to a smile on Hakuya’s face in some time. It seemed that even Hakuya had some reservations about abandoning the people along the highway to their fates.

  “I do have one idea,” he said. “However, this is a rather rough method...”

  The plan he proposed was definitely very rough. For the people along the highway, it was sure to be a real nuisance. Still... it was far better than abandoning them.

  “Let’s go with that plan,” I said. “There’s little time. Contact the adventurers’ guild at once.”

  “By your will.”

  ◇　◇　◇

  Unidentified monsters had appeared in the southeast of the Elfrieden Kingdom.

  The monsters were bipedal and humanoid, had patchwork, clown-like bodies, and their heads were on fire. These were monsters that had never been discovered before.

  From their appearance, the monsters came to be known as flame pierrots.

  Flame pierrots would appear in groups, attack a village, then use the flames on their heads to set houses aflame. While it wasn’t common for a new species of monster to appear like this, in a world where there were dungeons everywhere, it was far from unheard of. These flame pierrots had no doubt been born in some dungeon or another.

  Dealing with new monsters like these was mainly a job for adventurers. So, soon after reports of the flame pierrots came in, a quest was issued by the adventurers’ guild. “Protect the refugees displaced by flame pierrot attacks,” it said.

  This quest had been issued by a kingdom under the king’s own name. It seemed that the king’s first thought had been to evacuate people from the villages near where the flame pierrots were appearing. However, the current king, King Souma, and the General of the Army, Georg, were currently in a state of conflict, so he couldn’t afford to dispatch troops.