How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 12

1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-1-7183-0922-7
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

An invitation has arrived for the Great Martial Arts Tournament in the Mercenary State of Zem. Its grand prize? A single wish. Having previously broken off diplomatic relations with the Zem, though, Souma had no intention of responding-that is, until he received reports that the daughter of the former General of the Army will be participating?!
Her father, Georg Carmine, was disposed of as a traitor following the rebellion. Should she win and wish for revenge, that might lead to an all-out war against the Kingdom! Looking to probe her intentions, Souma sets out for the Military State. There, he meets the King of Zem, who he learns is equally in the dark regarding what she has planned.
Volume twelve of the revolutionary administration fantasy series starts now!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dojyomaru

Weitere Mitwirkende

Fuyuyuki

Mccann, Sean

Leseproben

Chapter 2: Invitation

— Late in the 8th month, 1548th year, Continental Calendar - Parnam Castle —

“Okay, Kazuha. Say ahhh.” I brought the little spoon to her mouth.

It was the night of one of an ongoing series of hot days. Liscia and I were in her room, feeding the twins. Kazuha’s toys were covered in drool, and she would chew on just about anything, but when it came to baby food, she wouldn’t eat unless I put it in her mouth. Even so, once it was in there, she smiled and ate it, even as she made a big mess of it. Maybe she just enjoyed being fed.

Now that we were feeding them more baby food, I could even help feed the twins. Though, according to Doctor Hilde, it was best to give them breast milk after they ate their baby food as a nutritional supplement, which was why, next to me, Liscia was breastfeeding Cian.

It had been about eight months since the twins were born, and they both had full heads of hair that was a similar color to Liscia’s. They could crawl now, and Kazuha in particular was always going somewhere, making Liscia and Carla worry to no end.

Cian, meanwhile, despite having learned to crawl, was generally more relaxed, playing with stuffed animals and wooden blocks. (I was worried he might swallow those, so I prepared an extra large set.) He would sit there, flipping them over, looking at them, whacking them, licking the rounded corners of the blocks, and lightly chewing on the ears of his stuffed animals. Cian didn’t seem like an energetic baby, but Kazuha was the complete opposite. She would charge in and flip him over, or ride on top of him like a baby turtle on the parent turtle’s back. When night came, they would both sleep soundly.

As I finished feeding Kazuha, I asked Liscia, “She’s done eating. Are you good to go?”

“Yeah. I think Cian’s had his fill. Let’s trade.”

“Righty-o.”

I took Cian from Liscia, then deposited Kazuha in her arms in return. Kazuha started suckling Liscia’s breast immediately, as if she had a separate stomach for milk. Meanwhile, Cian, who was now full, was starting to doze off.

“...Eat well, sleep well, and grow up healthy.”

“Hee hee, you sound like a real father,” Liscia giggled.

“Well, yeah, I am these kids’ real father, after all.” Though we were sharing a peaceful moment, I let out a sigh. “But I’m not going to be able to see them for a while after this, huh?”

“...You’re going to country, aren’t you?”

I nodded and said, “I received the invitation before the wedding. I could have refused, but... I’m scared to leave the issue unaddressed. I have other reasons to go, too, so in the end...”

“I’d like to go with you, but I can’t, right?”

“...Yeah. When I consider what could happen in the worst case...”

“I understand, but... it sure is frustrating.” Liscia said, lowering her head. “To be honest, this is an issue I should be settling. As someone who learned under him.”

Putting my arm around her, I whispered, “I can’t take you with me because of the children. We’ll be taking every precaution, of course, but it’s a foreign country, we can’t be certain that nothing will go wrong.”

“Right...”

“Well, I expect it should be a week at most this time. I’ll do what I can about the matter that’s concerning you, too.”

“...Don’t be reckless. You need to come back safe for the children’s sake, too.”

“I know.”

We nestled close to one another for a little while after that.

? ? ?

The next day at the governmental affairs office in Parnam Castle.

“The ‘Great Martial Arts Tournament’ in Zem?” Aisha asked, as if acting as the representative of everyone gathered there. There were seven people in the room including me; three of my queens, Aisha, Roroa, and Naden; Prime Minister Hakuya; my personal trainer and sounding board, Owen; and Hal’s father Glaive Magna.

Setting aside Liscia, who I had told about this yesterday, the reason Juna was not here was because I had sent her to Lagoon City. The maritime state to our east, the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Union, had become more active lately, and Excel was gathering information on why.

While I was thinking that, Roroa crossed her arms and said, “I’ve heard of this before. The whole country gets involved in puttin’ on the tournament.”

The Mercenary State Zem was founded and led by the mercenary commander, likewise named, Zem. It was a robust country. Their geography was even more mountainous than the Amidonia Region’s, and they had mercenary forces (which was just a name for their national army) that would fend off any foreign attack. They proclaimed eternal neutrality, while at the same time earning foreign currency by forming contracts with other states to dispatch mercenaries. In some ways, you might have been fair to call them a military state.

It was still fresh in my memory that, during the rebellion Georg Carmine had staged, the corrupt nobles had hired Zemish mercenaries. Though, cornered as they were, the best they could have hired were third-rate mercs who were worth very little when ransomed back. Hakuya later told me,

“Zem ain’t the type to go holdin’ festivals year in and year out like we do, so they’ve gotta put a whole lotta passion into this tournament,” Roroa continued. “The merchants’ll be there, and money’ll be changin’ hands, too.”

“You probably shouldn’t use us as a baseline for comparison, though.”

Ever since we had adopted all the religions inside the kingdom as national religions, and we made their festivals, like the Spring Announcement Festival, into major events, we had been celebrating a lot more. There was always something going on month by month.

Aisha cocked her head to the side and asked, “Um... Does that mean we’re entering someone in that tournament?”

“Ahh, no, no. The current Mercenary King, Gimbal de Zem, sent an invitation to come watch the finals. Though, that invitation arrived before the wedding.” I put the letter I had received down in front of everyone. “This was delivered to Owen and Herman who were watching the western border while we were away in the Union of Eastern Nations. Right, Owen?”

“Yes, sir.” Owen gave me a solemn nod. The old man was normally energetic to the point it was annoying, but today he spoke little, and his pallor seemed to be not so good. I knew why, so I decided to press on without touching on the matter.

“Hakuya, what do you think King Zem is looking to do here?”

“He wants to restart diplomatic relations with our country after we terminated their mercenary contract with us. To accomplish that, he wants to show off how powerful his mercenaries are.”

“It’s a show of force, then?”

“Yes. The best result for him would be forcing us into another contract, but, failing that, he wants to demonstrate his country’s strength, and show us how terrifying an enemy they could be.”

“Darlin’s goin’ to a country we don’t even have diplomatic relations with just for that?” Roroa chimed in, sounding unamused. “Can’t ya just ignore him?”

“Well, ignoring him outright would be a problem, but I was planning to politely decline. It’s just... some circumstances have cropped up that made it so that’s no longer an option,” I said, slumping my shoulders. “First of all, the person who delivered the invitation is a problem.”

“The person? Who?”

“Mio Carmine. She’s the daughter of the former General of the Army, Georg Carmine.”

“Wha?! Lady Mio, you say?!” Glaive exclaimed.

During the rebellion, Glaive, who had stood alongside Beowulf as Georg’s right and left hands, had been sent to help take care of things when it was over. I had entrusted him Georg’s old castle at Randel, as well as a portion of his former domain. However, even after he was given Randel Castle, Glaive did not choose to live there, instead ruling from a mansion in the castle town. I took this as proof that his respect for his former commander had not waned.

When the name of Georg’s only daughter came up, Glaive seemed to lose his composure. He rounded on Owen, who had been the one to accept the letter. “Sir Owen. You’re certain that the messenger was Lady Mio?!”

“...Almost certain. The messenger was a knight who had the tail that marked her as a lion beastman, and she carried two longswords on her back. I recognized the way she acted, too.”

“How could this happen...?” Glaive pressed one hand to his forehead.

Georg had severed ties with his wife and daughter to avoid them being held responsible for his rebellion, and made them leave the country. In order to honor his wishes, I never searched for the two of them. If their locations were discovered, there would be those who wanted to dispose of them before others tried to use them for their own gain.

But now that his daughter was supposedly out in Zem, I wondered what had led her there, of...