How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 15

1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-1-7183-0928-9
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

The Great Tiger Kingdom of Haan, the Gran Chaos Empire, and the Maritime Alliance headed by the Kingdom of Friedonia compete with one another in a newly tripolar world.

Suddenly, the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan, home to the high elves, attempts to make contact with these three great powers. They desire to regain the land they lost in the expansion of the Demon Lord's Domain. Souma, however, refuses to help them, seeing no benefit in doing so. Meanwhile, the Great Tiger Kingdom accepts their request and sends troops.

Things soon take a downturn as a crisis unfolds; healthy soldiers are collapsing one after another. It turns out that a deadly disease known as the Spirit King's Curse has been running rampant in the Spirit Kingdom! In the face of a novel disease that could threaten the whole world, Souma introduces new policies no one has ever seen before!

Here comes volume fifteen of the revolutionary administrative fantasy series!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dojyomaru

Weitere Mitwirkende

Fuyuyuki

Mccann, Sean

Leseproben

Prologue: As One Country Rises

The great library of Parnam held the largest collection of books in the Kingdom of Friedonia. This world already had printing, and there was some distribution of books, but owing to the low literacy rate, they had never gotten to establishing libraries. Still, with the greater focus on education since Souma ascended the throne, a full six out of ten people were now literate, and there was already demand for libraries.

“Books are the crystallization of mankind’s knowledge. There can never be too many kinds.”

Having said that, Souma bought or borrowed all of the books that he could from around the country, and from foreign countries with which they had relations, and ordered reproductions of them made. In the world he came from, there was the legend of the Library of Alexandria, which it was said would take foreign books from any traveler visiting the city and, after copying them, would return the copy. Souma, of course, wasn’t doing anything so malicious. He returned the originals, as was only proper.

The books collected were not limited to academic or technical subjects, but also legends and children’s fables, and even strange texts filled with obscure and absurd knowledge. These were all copied by the librarians and researchers to be stored in the great library. (Magical texts, however, owing to the difficulty of handling them, were instead sent to a specialized analysis department.)

Souma’s policy of not neglecting any knowledge or technology was on display here too. There had been a shortage of librarians and researchers in recent years, and even after recruiting from the graduates of the Royal Academy and Ginger’s Vocational School, there was still no shortage of work to be done. This was the sort of work that noted bibliophile Hakuya, the Black-robed Prime Minister, would have preferred doing. And while he often did help out during his time off, there weren’t many individuals with such curious tastes as his.

However, in the previous year, a woman of singular talent had arrived in this library. It was Ichiha’s elder sister, the third daughter of the House of Chima, Sami. Having lost her adoptive father in the political struggles of the Union of Eastern Nations, the emotionally wounded Sami was taken in by this country. She happened to be an excellent mage and avid reader, so much so that she often shared books with her sister Yomi when they were younger. However, as they grew, Yomi came to seek knowledge of a wide variety, while Sami focused on accounting, math, and the sciences.

When he heard that from Ichiha, Souma said, “Rather than staying cooped up in the castle, I’m sure Sami will be able to distract herself better if she’s surrounded by books,” and selected her to be a librarian in the great library.

She proved to be the perfect pick.

Sami demonstrated great talent in organizing the books left in her care, and was also excellent in her handling of the magical texts that occasionally got mixed in with them. This quickly made her a central figure of the librarian team. For Sami’s part, being in a quiet library surrounded by books helped to soothe her, so she worked hard at her tasks. It would still be some time before her wounds healed, but it seemed she was able to smile more and more often.

— Around the middle of the 1st month, 1550th year, Continental Calendar —

On this day, too, Sami was organizing the bookshelves. There was a ladder placed in front of a shelf close to twice her height, and she sat on it, speaking to the person below her.

“Ichiha, hand me the volumes of that Amidonian fable anthology in order.”

“Okay.” Ichiha searched through the pile of books on the floor to find the tomes Sami had asked him for. “Here, sister.”

“Thanks.” Sami slotted the books into open spaces.

As he handed the volumes to Sami, Ichiha was looking at her in profile. Sami’s side ponytail, tied on the opposite side from her elder twin sister Yomi’s, was shaking. Her expression was peaceful.

Back during his time in the Duchy of Chima, Ichiha had been tormented by his musclehead older brothers Nata and Gauche for having no talent. Because Sami and Yomi hated those brothers and stayed away from them, Ichiha hadn’t had much contact with his older sisters.

Because she wasn’t the expressive type to begin with, Ichiha couldn’t figure out what Sami might be feeling right now. He was thinking about it so hard that his hands had stopped moving.

“Ichiha?” Sami looked at Ichiha dubiously.

“Ah, sorry.” Ichiha hurriedly passed her the next book. Sami accepted the book, placing it on her lap.

“You’re worried about me?”

“Oh! Um... Yes...” Ichiha replied, giving up on trying to hide it. Sami smiled a little.

“You’re so kind, Ichiha.”

“I mean, we family.”

“Family...huh? It’s amazing how different we all turned out despite coming from the same parents.”

A shadow fell over her expression, likely as she remembered their eldest brother, Hashim. Ichiha didn’t know what to say, but Sami shook her head, as if to drive off the emotions welling up inside her.

“Hey, Ichiha. Do you like living in this country?”

“Huh?”

“This country is just lovely. It’s peaceful, and the people in the castle are all so cheerful. They even treat me kindly, and look out for my well-being. You especially. You come to help all the time because you’re worried about my feelings...right?”

Sami was right. The reason Ichiha was helping her was because Souma and Hakuya had told him it would be better if there was someone by Sami’s side so that she wasn’t left alone. Being the clever woman that Sami was, she had come to notice this.

“Do you already serve Sir Souma?”

“Y-Yes. I’m still only a student, but he accepted me as a retainer.”

“I see... You won’t be going back north then.” Sami smiled slightly at that. “Yeah. This is for the best. If you went back north, you’d just be used.”

“Used...?”

“You know Sir Souma sent Fuuga Haan the , yes? The rulers of the Union of Eastern Nations were all so frustrated when they found out were the author. No one, myself included, ever thought that your knowledge would be worth so much.”

Sami slid over on the ladder, patting the empty space next to her. That apparently meant, Ichiha took her up on the invitation, and she put her arm around his shoulder, patting him fondly on the head.

“I’m sure if you did go back, they’d welcome you with open arms. They’d constantly praise you, totally forgetting the dismissive attitude they had towards you before. You’d be a hit with the girls too. I’m sure you’d be swamped with marriage proposals. But...from your perspective, it’d all be a bit too late, right?”

“Yeah, it would...” Ichiha sighed deeply. “I like this country, where I live among those who recognized me for who I was. The Duchy of Chima is already gone, so I have no reason to return.”

“Good. Now that people know what your knowledge is worth, I can’t see Hashim Chima leaving you alone. You’ll be safer under Sir Souma’s protection.”

Sami kept referring to their brother not as Big Brother Hashim, but by his full name, Hashim Chima. Ichiha sensed that this was intentional.

How far did her grudge go? It obviously included Hashim, who plotted her foster father’s murder, but did it extend to Fuuga, who carried out the plan, as well? What about Fuuga’s wife, Mutsumi? How about her twin sister, Yomi, who had joined Fuuga’s camp? How much did she resent her?

“Big sister. One of my friends is... Um...”

“I know. Fuuga Haan’s little sister, right?”

“Ah—”

Ichiha had been trying to choose his words carefully, but Sami figured out what was up.

“Does she live here in the castle? I haven’t run into her yet, though.”

“Do you resent Sir Fuuga, Big Sister Sami...?”

“I suppose... I can’t say that I don’t,” Sami said before shaking her head. “But the one I really can’t forgive is Hashim Chima. Setting aside Fuuga Haan, who carried out the plan given to him, I bear no grudge against Big Sister Mutsumi, who tried to save me. And as for Yuriga, who is just Fuuga Haan’s little sister...I have no problem with her at all. If anything...”

“If anything...?” Ichiha echoed.

Sami let out a self-effacing laugh. “The way she’s been jerked about at her brother’s whims, I feel a sort of kinship with her.”

“Uh...” Ichiha didn’t know how to respond to that.

As he was struggling to find the words, Sami told him, “If you say she’s your friend, then look out for her. As the sister of a ruler who has been entrusted to the central nation of the Maritime Alliance, she’s an easy piece to use. As a hostage, she can help to lower their guard, and by abandoning her, they can lay a trap for you. I can’t see Hashim Chima using her.”

“I...see.”

It was certainly true that Hashim would suggest such a plan. The question was if Fuuga would use it...and that would probably...