How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

Apparently, relations were tense with the Gran Chaos Empire, the largest country on the continent, excluding the Demon Lord’s Domain. The Empire was the country which shared the longest border with the Demon Lord’s Domain. It was also the country that had directed the first invasion of the Demon Lord’s Domain. After their loss against the Demon Lord’s Domain, the Empire was apparently requesting war subsidies from other countries. To put it simply, they were requesting that countries who were far away from the Demon Lord’s Domain provide financial support to those which were close to it. Though these were “requests,” when they came from the most powerful country of all mankind, they were closer to an ultimatum. One of those requests had come to this kingdom, but under current circumstances, it would be difficult to pay.

Finally, the king talked about the “hero summoning,” which had brought me to this world.

Apparently, in the request for war subsidies that came from the Empire, there had been verbiage that had said, “If you are unable to pay, carry out the ritual of hero summoning which is passed down in your country, and turn that summoned hero over to the Empire.” It was abundantly clear that this country had no means to pay, and perhaps that had been the Empire’s intention all along. Perhaps they wanted to use a hero for his fighting potential, perhaps they wanted to dissect one and study him, or perhaps they had no interest in one to begin with, and they merely wanted to use the Kingdom’s failure to respond to their request as a casus belli to invade. With no way to know what the Empire wanted, speculation had led only to more speculation, and the kingdom had become suspicious of everything.

In response to their situation, the kingdom had decided to perform the hero summoning ritual. They had not yet decided upon whether to turn the hero over or not, but if they succeeded, it would at least give them a card to negotiate with. For that, they needed to respond to the request, and show they intended to perform the ritual.

…Now that you’ve heard this much, I’ll bet you’ve probably already guessed that the king never thought he might actually manage to summon a hero.

“Hey!” I shouted at him without intending to, and the king jumped back in fright.

“Eek! I am most sorry!”

“Oh, sorry,” I said. “I lost my composure for a second there.”

Even though he acts like this, he’s still a king. I’ll have to refrain from any further rudeness.

Still… Had I really been summoned by coincidence, with no one really expecting anything from me? After taking a moment to calm myself, I asked the king.

“…So, what do you plan to do?”

“A-About what?”

“The whole ‘turning me over to the Empire’ thing.”

“That is… What should I do? It is a real pickle.” The king really did seem troubled.

That surprised me a little. I had expected a “The Empire is scary! Please, go and serve them for our kingdom!” as he cried and begged me to do it. He looked pretty fainthearted, after all.

“What is there for you to agonize over?” I asked. “You’re afraid of the Empire, aren’t you?”

“I am afraid! That is exactly why I am agonizing over this!”

“If I may interject, allow me to explain,” the half-elf prime minister said, stepping forward. “At present, there is a clear difference in power between our country and the Empire. We simply are not in a position to say no when the Empire asks for something. While we are stuck in that situation, you are the sole lucky card that has fallen into our hands. Once we play that card, however, we have nothing left to use when negotiating with the Empire. Even if we can survive this time by doing as they say, what will we do the next time something comes up? Next time, we might only have succeeded in giving up our only card.”

I was silent. It wasn’t hard to see what he was saying.

What had happened to northern Fujiwara after they had given up their only card, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, was a good example. Those who cave in to intimidation, letting go of the only card in their hand, will have only a dark end awaiting them.

“What is a hero, anyway?” I asked.

“It is said that a hero is ‘one who leads the change of an era,’” the prime minister replied.

Hmm… So it’s not just someone who slays that Demon King?

“Isn’t that a wee bit vague?” I asked.

“We don’t have much in the way of documentation, you see.”

“…Please don’t hold a ritual if that’s the case.”

“I cannot apologize enough for this state of affairs,” the prime minister said formally.

Giving me the routine bureaucratic apology isn’t going to help… Still, this is a problem. There’s not enough information to act on. Which means what we need most right now is time.