How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 18

1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-7183-0934-0
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Reihe: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

The Demon Lord's Domain has been liberated, ushering in a new era. However, with the demons no longer a common enemy, the threat of a power shift hangs in the air. Who will triumph if the Maritime Alliance led by the Kingdom of Friedonia clashes with the Great Tiger Empire of Haan?

While Souma is busy mobilizing his personnel to prepare for an impending conflict, Yuriga approaches him with a shocking request to return home. He initially doubts his ears, but it's part of a surprising plan to corner Yuriga's brother, the Great Tiger Emperor?!

All this and more in the eighteenth installment of the revolutionary transferred-to-another-world administrative fantasy series!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dojyomaru

Weitere Mitwirkende

Fuyuyuki

Mccann, Sean

Leseproben

Chapter 1: Petty Trickery Runs in the Family

When the new city of Venetinova was being built in the 1546th year of the Continental Calendar, Old Man Urup had told Souma the Legend of the Sea God, which warned of the dangers of a tsunami.

After his meeting with Souma, the city’s plans were changed. Urup moved to Venetinova, where he continued his job as a fisherman while also working as a storyteller on the side, telling people the legends and what to do in the event of a tsunami.

As the years went by, the harsh labor of fishing pushed Urup’s stamina to its limits. Eventually, he came to leave that work to his children and grandchildren in order to focus on his work as a storyteller. He went around to the daycare facilities—modeled after the one in Parnam Castle—and told his tales to children. After doing this for some time, he had a thought one day.

Because of knowledge from his former world, Souma had recognized the value of Urup’s Legend of the Sea God and placed a good deal of importance on it. However, in contrast, up until he met Souma, Urup hadn’t known the value of the legend he’d been recounting. It was possible that when his life came to an end, the legend would be lost. And if no one knew the legend when the day of calamity came, how many lives would be lost?

At this point, Urup had a flash of inspiration.

Old as he was, it wouldn’t be odd for him to keel over any day now. That being the case, he’d devote his remaining time to gathering legends and becoming the teller of all of them. With this decision made, Urup acted fast. He immediately drafted a letter to Souma explaining his thoughts. The time spent learning to read and write after retiring from his life as a fisherman was well worth it.

“‘To His Royal Highness, although I cannot resist the waves of time, nor can I row out to sea any longer, I now take up this pen in hopes of carrying out one last task.’ Ha!” Souma laughed out loud after reading the opening line of the letter, not caring who heard. “Old Urup’s going to become a folklorist, huh? He’s still got a lot of energy!”

Wiping away his tears as Liscia and the rest looked astonished, Souma began writing a letter of approval on the spot, and promised to fund the endeavor. Moreover, he also issued a certificate that said Urup’s research was sanctioned by the king and that people were to cooperate with him. He even arranged for Juno, Dece, and other trustworthy adventurers to escort the old man on his travels.

Later, this letter from Urup was donated to the museum in the capital and became one of its main exhibits. But that’s another story...

“Hey, Old Man Urup. I brought a letter for you from the king.”

“Oh, girlie! Hurry, hurry, and show it to me!”

After reading the reply sent along with Juno and the other adventurers, Urup went to his family. They were reasonably concerned about his recent tendency to do things that were dangerous at his age, but he wouldn’t let that slow him down.

“I’m off for now!” he announced, and departed on his journey.

“Okay, where to first, old man?” Juno asked.

Urup rubbed his mustache and said, “Disasters involving water are scary, so first we’ll go along the coast, then along the rivers, I suppose. After that, it’ll be the mountains. Once I’ve gathered legends from all over, we’ll have to return to Venetinova so I can compile them.”

“That sounds incredibly time-consuming...”

“Of course. I intend to spend the rest of my life doing it.”

With that, Urup began walking in high spirits.

Normally, escort jobs were from one village to the next. Juno and the others would join him when it suited their plans. In the cases where it didn’t suit them, Urup would be accompanied by other trusted adventurers from the guild who’d received a request from the kingdom.

There were those who were suspicious of Urup and his entourage asking around about local legends, but seeing King Souma’s written certificate made them quickly change their attitudes and cooperate. People who saw Urup’s encounters spread stories about them that were exaggerated in amusing ways. In later years, there was even a play called in which he somewhat resembled a certain old retired ruler from the Mito region.

Incidentally, the members who accompanied him in that play, like Suke and Kaku in the original, were always members of Juno’s party. (Even though they weren’t always the ones traveling with him...but that’s getting too far off-topic.)

This was how Urup traveled all around the country, investigating myths and folk stories that remained as lessons from each region. Eventually, he would return to Venetinova to compile them before setting out again to investigate more legends. His edited compilations were submitted to the country as a form of report, and Souma and Hakuya were satisfied with the work he was doing.

One day, after this had been going on for some years...

Upon returning to Venetinova to compile the most recent batch of stories, Urup received a summons from Lord Weist Garreau and was given an order from Souma to appear at Parnam Castle. The next day, a wyvern gondola arrived to take him to the capital, and in no time at all, Urup became a man of the sky.

The gondola was a spacious one in the service of the royal family, but Urup huddled in one corner of it. As he asked himself how it had come to this, the gondola continued its journey. Before he knew it, they had landed in the courtyard of Parnam Castle.

“You must be Master Urup. How good of you to come,” the head maid, Serina, politely greeted Urup as he hesitantly disembarked from the gondola.

Although connected to King Souma, Urup was still a commoner. He was flabbergasted at being welcomed like some kind of noble or minister.

Serina gestured to her right with the palm of her right hand. “Please, come this way.”

Urup followed her lead without a word. He was used to Souma and some of the others at this point, but even the castle’s halls looked so formal to him that he was left feeling nervous. He walked until he was taken to a room.

“Please wait in here for a moment,” Serina said, bowing, then taking her leave.

In addition to being decorated with paintings and other art, the room also had two large comfy red sofas. This seemed to be a waiting chamber of sorts.

“I-Is it okay if I sit down...?”

Urup, being a bit of a miser, hesitated to sit on something so opulent. After struggling for some time, he heard a voice from the other side of the door.

“Please wait in this room for a moment. His Majesty will be with you shortly,” they said.

The door cracked open, and he caught a glimpse of the dragonewt maid Carla on the other side.

Then suddenly, a person barged into the room. They were a large bearded man who looked even more out of place in the castle than Urup did.

, Urup thought.

Their eyes met, and the big man said, “Hm? Were you called in by the king too, old man?”

“I’m Urup, here from Venetinova. Who’s asking?”

If the big man were to get violent in this room, he could snap the old man in half. However, Urup puffed out his chest, not wanting to lose to him in attitude, at least.

Seeing how Urup was acting, and sensing he’d scared the old man, the big man scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

“The name’s Gonzales. I’m the captain of the mountain rescue team. I got a sudden call from the king today... You too, old man?”

“Yes...I did.” Feeling the man wasn’t any danger to him, Urup relaxed his guard. “I heard about the mountain rescue team when I traveled around villages in the mountains. His Majesty set them up to look out for and rescue people who got lost. Many of the members are former mountain bandits who left that life of crime, but they’re trusted by people because they know the mountains well and are willing to go anywhere to help people.”

“Heh heh... You’re making me blush here,” Gonzales said, not seeming to mind in the slightest. A smile made anyone seem a little more charming, but he had the charm of a bear that was totally relaxed.

“You were called in too, right, old man? Have you heard anything?”

“No, I don’t know the details yet either...”

As the two were talking, the door opened, and Souma entered the room with Hakuya in tow.

“Old Man Urup, Gonzales. Sorry for calling you in on such short notice,” Souma said casually.

“Thank you for taking the trouble,” Hakuya added, bowing his head.

...