How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 9

1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7183-0916-6
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 319 Seiten

Reihe: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

Souma, who has come to the Union of Eastern Nations to deal with the demon wave, pushes east toward the intense fighting in the Duchy of Chima. Duke Chima has been gathering reinforcements with a promise to reward those who distinguish themselves in battle by presenting them with one of his six capable children, but the battle has reached a stalemate.
En route to the Duchy of Chima, Souma meets the king of the nomadic state of Malmkhitan. As they travel together, Souma learns Fuuga is also there to support the Duchy of Chima. But for Fuuga, who is aiming to be the top contributor to the war effort, Souma is an enemy competing with him for one of the six brothers and sisters.
When faced with Fuuga's shocking power, how will Souma handle it?!
The revolutionary administrative fantasy series, volume nine!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dojyomaru

Weitere Mitwirkende

Fuyuyuki

Mccann, Sean

Leseproben

Prologue: Tora and Tiger

Beneath the high sky on a warm, clear day, the winter was drawing near.

The Dabicon River shone in the sunlight as a procession of troops belonging to the Kingdom of Friedonia moved east along it. They marched at a confident pace, but not hurrying.

The demon wave was a phenomenon in which a great number of monsters were flowing out of the Demon Lord’s Domain in the north.

Our forces from the Kingdom of Friedonia were coming to aid the Union of Eastern Nations, which was being struck by the demon wave.

Just the other day, we had gone to one of the areas of intense fighting, the Kingdom of Lastania. Working with local forces, we had succeeded in eliminating a swarm of monsters. We were now heading toward the other area that had seen intense fighting, the Duchy of Chima.

Having received a report in the Kingdom of Lastania that they were facing a crisis situation, I had sent the Wyvern Cavalry and Dratroopers ahead and placed a heavy focus on speed as we hurried to have the troops march. But then word came that the forces of the Union of Eastern Nations had gathered in the Duchy of Chima, and it was unlikely to fall immediately, so we were now proceeding at a normal marching pace so as not to break ranks.

As the one who was, for official purposes, leading this force (though the one taking actual command was Ludwin), I had joined the procession on horseback.

There were sturdy carriages for the higher-up, but being in a carriage the whole time would have made my shoulders stiff, so I was riding a horse so that I could move around.

Naden was sitting in front of me as I held the reins. “Wow, who knew you could ride a horse?”

I had mostly been riding Naden in her ryuu form lately, but I couldn’t match pace with the army that way, so we were riding a horse together this time.

I felt embarrassed when she complimented me on my skill with a horse, so I scratched at my cheek. “My teacher, Owen, taught me well.”

“Hmm, this is kind of new. Normally, I’m the one giving you a ride, but now you’re giving me one. This is nice, too, in its own way.” Naden leaned back against me.

When Naden’s head got closer to mine, her glossy, black hair gave off a pleasant scent. I rested my chin between Naden’s two antlers. When I moved my chin around a little in that position, Naden let out a sigh in weird voice. “Ahhhhh...”

While I was playing with Naden, a horse approached from behind.

“You look like you’re having fun,” said the horse’s rider.

This was a blue-haired beauty who was the sole person wearing a marine uniform in this military procession: our Prima Lorelei, Juna.

“I’m a little jealous that you get to have a leisurely ride with His Majesty,” she went on.

“I’ll trade places with you later,” Naden said.

“Hee hee! Please do. If I ride, maybe I should be the one in back.”

While listening to Juna talk cheerfully, I smiled wryly. “I was sure you’d be going back with Excel.”

Excel had done a great service for us in the Kingdom of Lastania, and then been stubbornly resistant to return home afterward. Having foreseen that, my prime minister, Hakuya, had sent Excel’s granddaughter, Juna, to come collect her.

I had expected her to go back to Parnam with Excel, but now she was accompanying us instead.

Juna gave me a charming smile. “If Roroa has returned to the castle, there’s no reason I should have to, too. I will be staying with you from here on, sire.”

I smiled. “That’s reassuring for me, but... Excel’s going to get miffed about it.”

In fact, Excel was probably complaining, right this moment.

Juna gave me with a “It will do Grandmother some good. She’s always playing around too much, despite her old age.”

“There’s a line I’d be too scared to say myself,” I confessed. “Especially the part about her age.”

“Ahaha! You do get it!” Naden, whose age was as much of an unknown as Excel’s, laughed.

While we were talking about that, Aisha came up on a horse. “Your Majesty, a message for you from Sir Ludwin. There is a request from a nearby town saying, ‘We are surrounded by monsters and would like to ask for help.’”

“Again?” I sighed.

The effects of the demon wave were spread along the Dabicon River, which served as the border with the Demon Lord’s Domain. In short, there was fighting all over.

Even if most places weren’t facing a crisis on the same scale as the Kingdom of Lastania or the Duchy of Chima, there were obviously going to be places that couldn’t slay all of the monsters on their own.

There was an endless stream of requests from such places, and as we were here in response to a request from the Empire to provide aid, we had to respond to each one.

“How many?” I asked.

“Around a hundred,” Aisha reported. “If we send out the wyvern cavalry, they can scatter them instantly.”

“We’ll have to send Hal and his men again, I guess... Okay. Tell him he has my permission.”

“Yes, sir. Understood.”

Aisha’s horse raced to the front of the procession. When there was a request for aid, we deployed a unit with high mobility, like the wyvern cavalry or regular cavalry, and had them rejoin this main force when the enemy were defeated. This was another reason we couldn’t pick up our marching speed too much.

“I knew it would be, but monster slaying is tiresome work,” I commented.

“Unlike war, it doesn’t end when you break the enemy’s main force,” Juna agreed.

“That’s right.” I nodded. “It’s a pain, but we can’t leave them be. We have to nip trouble in the bud as much as possible.”

“Yes. I think you’re right.”

“If Ruby gets tired, let’s go, too,” Naden put in. “I’ll drop some lightning on them and scatter them.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking up to watch a unit of wyvern cavalry flying off into the eastern sky. “I’m counting on you.”

? ? ?

Meanwhile, as Souma and his party were heading to the Duchy of Chima...

In the area around Wedan, the capital of the Duchy of Chima, an intense battle was being fought again today.

The strategy being used in the Duchy of Chima during this demon wave was essentially the same as the one used by Julius in the Kingdom of Lastania. The armed forces abandoned all the places that would be difficult to hold, concentrating their forces in Wedan and preparing for a siege.

However, the Duchy of Chima had two things the Kingdom of Lastania did not: the solid Wedan Castle, and reinforcements from the Union of Eastern Nations that they had gained through skillful diplomacy.

In order to use these two things effectively, Duke Chima had deliberately allowed the monsters to approach Wedan Castle, and worked with the reinforcements from the union to meet them there. The back-and-forth battle between the monsters and the united forces of the Union of Eastern Nations was ongoing.

There were eyes watching the battle which continued on today, from a distance.

From atop a tall tree in among the trees on a hill that overlooked the field of battle, there stood a great man clad in black armor and wearing a black tiger mask.

This was the leader of the Kingdom of Friedonia’s clandestine operatives, the Black Cats.

With eyes shining beneath the mask, Kagetora observed the battlefield.

Faced with an untold thousands of monsters, the ragtag forces of the union seemed to be putting up a good fight. However, Kagetora had his arms crossed in dissatisfaction.

he reflected.

Then he shook his head.

If someone could be credited with the creation of this force from the Union of Eastern Nations, it would likely be Duke Chima with his request for reinforcements. However, the Duchy of Chima was a small country, and no matter how capable they were at diplomacy, they did not have the power to take the head of a coalition and unify the forces of each country under their command.

Meanwhile, if the country with the most forces were to try and take command, the other countries that were trying to distinguish themselves and win the reward of one of the Chima siblings would push back against it.

Because of that, each country was paying with not-insignificant losses as each fought as they pleased in order to win acclaim.

It was a style of fighting that brought massive damage to the enemy, but also to one’s allies as well. If they continued like this, there would inevitably be places where their forces collapsed... or so he had thought.

In contrast to Kagetora’s expectations, the forces of the union had...