How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 10

1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7183-0918-0
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 318 Seiten

Reihe: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

'Starting today, I will formally become the king of this Kingdom of Friedonia.'
Having returned from the Union of Eastern Nations and rested awhile, the ceremony that will turn Souma from a provisional king to the true king is rapidly approaching. Because Souma's marriage to his fiancées is to be held on the same day, the capital gets more lively than ever!
Meanwhile, using his own marriage as an impetus, Souma encourages his retainers to get married, too. Those who are already engaged to be married, those who aren't ready to be husband and wife yet, those who haven't even recognized their own love-Souma shows concern for all his retainers' different circumstances...
The revolutionary administrative fantasy series, volume ten!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dojyomaru

Weitere Mitwirkende

Fuyuyuki

Mccann, Sean

Leseproben

Chapter 2: Ginger Wipes It All Away

— 3rd day, 2nd month, 1548th year, Continental Calendar — Parnam Castle —

On this cold day, Ginger Camus, the principal of Ginger’s Vocational School, where various fields were studied academically in the castle town, was having a meeting with Souma.

This was to report on a certain study from the music department which had opened just the other day.

In the governmental affairs office, Ginger sat on the sofa, anxiously waiting for Souma to finish looking through the materials he had submitted.

The only sound in the room they were alone in was the flipping of pages.

Eventually Souma, who had been intently reading the research documents, asked Ginger a number of questions. Ginger answered them.

“Hmm,” Souma groaned. “I see. That’s fascinating. It’s an interesting thing you’ve focused on, but... I can’t say whether it’s of any practical use to me or not. I’ll want to get opinions from a singer like Juna and a specialist on magic.”

“Why, yes,” said Ginger. “I think that would be for the best.”

“So, in the near future, could I ask you come back with the president of this ‘Society for the Study of Work Songs’? I’ll bring together some people who can make a decision, too.”

“Understood.” Ginger rose and bowed his head.

He hadn’t been able to get an instant answer, but this was a step forward. He’d be able to bring back good news to the researchers of the school.

While Ginger was feeling relieved, Souma lay the papers down beside him and said, “By the way, on a different topic... Ginger.”

“Y-Yes. What is it?”

“Don’t you have any plans to marry Sandria?”

For a moment, Ginger stared blankly back, unable to process what he’d heard. Then, as he gradually understood Souma’s words, the blood rose to his head, and he quickly turned red.

“Whuh?! What’s this, out of nowhere?!”

“Oh, well, you know how I’m holding my wedding together with the coronation in April?” asked Souma. “We’re planning to hold weddings around the capital for any of my retainers who want to participate. I’m looking for retainers who are interested, you see.”

“Y-Yes... I’ve heard.”

“When I first met you two, she was saying, ‘I don’t want to let you go,’ and ‘Please, keep me at your side,’ so I thought you’d be talking marriage in no time, but... I haven’t heard of any progress since,” Souma said with a doubtful look on his face. “I wanted to ask if you intended to get married or not.”

Ginger struggled to find the words to respond.

Honestly, Ginger wanted to marry Sandria, too.

They had overcome their positions as slave and master from his slave trader days, and worked together to find buyers for the slaves who would treat them well.

Then, even after Sandria was set free from slavery and Ginger was appointed to be the head of the training facility which came before the vocational school, Sandria had continued to support him.

He felt their bond was deepening. Ginger could feel that Sandria cared as much for him as he did for her, and that wasn’t just his ego speaking.

“The truth is... I’ve told her I’d like her to marry me before,” Ginger admitted.

Souma’s eyes widened. “What, so you’ve proposed already? What was her response?”

“‘I will have to decline for now’... she said.”

“Huh? She refused?! Oh, but with a ‘for now,’ huh... ‘For now’?”

Ginger nodded. If she was saying “for now,” then that meant she wasn’t entirely unwilling to consider it. That was a way of saying it might be possible she would accept later.

While Souma cocked his head to the side, unable to figure out Sandria’s true intentions, Ginger smiled wryly and explained, “San says she can’t be my first wife.”

Specifically, Sandria had told him this, with a slightly troubled look:

It seemed she was declining solely in the interest of the House of Camus.

Because she cared for Ginger, she didn’t want to become a fetter to him.

It was a feeling that came from her all-too-pure affection for him, so it was hard to reject it. The fact that she wanted him to keep her by his side, even as a mistress, meant that, in her own way, she was accepting his proposal.

Ginger clutched his head. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do. She accepted my feelings, but not in the way I would have wanted. I think she would accept marrying me if she was the second wife, but it would be rude to both San and the other person if I arranged another political marriage just so she would marry me.”

“Well, it seems like a common concern in noble society,” Souma said. “I can’t say her thinking is out of line with the times we’re living in, but... it must be a complicated feeling for you.”

Souma brought a hand to his chin, a pensive look on his face.

Souma had only experienced an unorthodox romance in which he deepened his bond with Liscia and the others after already getting engaged to them, but it wasn’t wrong to get married because of mutual affection.

When he saw Ginger and Sandria who loved each other, but were at cross purposes, Souma couldn’t just leave them be.

“If status is the concern, why don’t I have some house adopt Sandria first? I’m sure there are many houses that would want ties to the House of Camus, and with a word from the royal house, things would move quickly.”

“...No, I don’t think that’s the issue.” Ginger silently shook his head. “I think, probably, San has a complex about having been a slave who was sold by her family. She looks down on herself, thinking she’s not good enough for me.”

“That makes sense, yeah... So, until that complex is resolved, she can’t take a step forward?”

If so, it was a hard problem to solve. That sort of complex was a personal issue, and no matter how much others tried to help, only the person themself could resolve it.

In the end, Sandria would have to come to terms with herself.

Souma crossed his hands behind his head, groaning as he leaned back in his chair, thinking. He then asked Ginger, “That part about being sold by her family, did you ask about that specifically?”

“Yes. I’m told she was the daughter of a merchant family, but after her father was tricked into shouldering a debt for a bad person, he sold her to a slave trader to protect his family and business. From the way San tells it, it was a hard decision, and I’ve never heard her say a word of complaint against her father.”

“That’s terrible. That happened in this country? I want to see that villain prosecuted.”

“No, it seems San was sold here from another country.” Ginger sighed powerlessly. “It seems the villain was connected to powerful people in that country, and he had no choice but to take it lying down. If it had happened in this country, I’d have you prosecute that miscreant, so as to restore San’s honor, but there’s not much we can do if it happened in a foreign land, is there?”

“Yeah... It would be difficult if we’re not on friendly terms with them,” Souma said. “If they’re tied to influential people, we’d probably be accused of interfering in internal affairs, too. What country was it, by the way?”

“The Gran Chaos Empire. There’s clearly nothing that can be done there, right?”

Souma went silent.

He was thinking,

If he explained the situation to Maria or Jeanne, and had the villain and their powerful backers indicted together, he felt like it would fix everything.

If those two knew that their people were being made to suffer without their knowledge, they were sure to bring down the hammer of justice on the villains.

He’d thought it would be difficult, so he was almost disappointed how simple this was going to be.

However, Ginger still look depressed.

Because the secret alliance with the Empire was a secret, the number of the people inside the country who knew was limited.

For Ginger, who wasn’t informed, he couldn’t have imagined the channels that existed between the two countries, even though Souma and Maria could hold secret meetings whenever they pleased.

Souma was about to tell Ginger, seeing the gloomy look on his face, then... stopped.

Souma put his mind to work for the two of them. When he thought about his relationship with Ginger, and the line he had to the...