How a Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom

Book 17: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Special Products Are What You Make of Them

During the war between the Great Tiger Kingdom of Haan and the Gran Chaos Empire, the Republic of Turgis, a nation on the southernmost tip of the continent, had taken advantage of the confusion. They invaded Mercenary State Zem, an ally of the Great Tiger Kingdom, and took three cities that were near their own borders.

That said, though the cities were taken by force, most of Zems mercenaries had been away fighting alongside the Great Tiger Kingdomspreading their defenses thin. The Republic had even more forces gathered for the push north waiting in nearby cities. As a result, the Republic didnt face much in the way of resistance.

When the war ended, they returned just the northernmost of those three cities, the one that was vital to Zems defense, while the other two were incorporated into the Republics territory. This happened due to three main reasons. The first being, after essentially declaring victory, Fuuga wanted to focus on stabilizing his newly expanded landnot deal with the problems of his vassal states. The second being due to the Head of the Republic, Kuu Taiseis, stubborn negotiating. And lastly, because Souma had been dragged out to mediate as leader of the Maritime Alliance.

Ookyakya! We finally managed to go north, huh! Kuu said, smiling as he surveyed his new cities from a distance. Its bold of Fuuga Haan to have us give back just one city and let us keep the rest.

Maybe he thinks its fine to give them to you for now since you wont be able to hold them anyway? Nike Chima, who was standing beside him, suggested with a shrug.

This young, capable commander who wielded a spear was Kuus friend and confidante.

Ill bet, Kuu said with a wry smile. Anyone who knew the history of the Republic would think that. Weve taken cities in an attempt to expand north before, but weve always had to abandon them in the end.

The Republic was unmatched in winter combat where the power of air forces such as wyverns was suppressed. But because their cold climate prohibited them from raising wyverns, they had no air force of their own. When things warmed up, and the enemy was able to send out their wyverns, the Republic inevitably ended up on the back foot. Furthermore, the Republic was locked in snow and ice during the middle of winter, shutting down communication between the homeland and the cities theyd taken. Thats why it was so hard to hold their conquests.

Fuuga must have known that too. He figured that even if he stopped negotiating with the return of just one city, he could take the rest back later anyway.

Kuu smiled daringly. Ookyakya! But thats how the Republic was before. Lets show him that that reasoning wont apply to the Republic were going to create.

Nikes eyes widened at this confident declaration. Feeling rather sure of yourself, I see. Do you have any reason to think we can win?

Hah! Ive learned a thing or two from watching my bro Souma rule. Ive studied up on how to win the hearts and minds of the people in the territory under our control.

Are you talking about the way Sir Souma annexed Amidonia? Kuus second wife Leporina asked, tilting her head slightly. She was standing opposite Nike, and was also here as Kuus bodyguard, so her bunny ears were twitching with alertness. He broadcast a music program, right? Are you going to do that, Master Kuu?

Ookyakya! Not quite. Providing broadcast programs for entertainment is just one method, but the essence of winning people over is deeper, simpler than that.

Its...simple?

Yeah. To sum it up real quickits about presenting them something new.

After saying that, Kuu gestured towards what was in front of them with his chin. There were dozens of people from the two cities and their outlying areas gathered there. They were wealthy farmers, big merchants, and ex-mercenaries whod retired to life as lordsthose with power, basically. They had been called here in Kuus name today and were now trembling, surrounded by soldiers of the Republic.

Currently, they were all gathered at the foot of a mountain. These influential figures were all worried that they might be massacred here, and their bodies discarded in the mountains, as to prevent them from interfering with his rule. No one had explained to them the reason for gathering, so you could hardly blame them for thinking that.

As he looked at these men, Kuu said to Leporina, These guys are like how the Republic used to be. They have a sense of values theyve built over time, and the traditions theyve cultivated make it hard for them to accept things that come from outside. If someones got their fingers in their ears, no amount of honeyed words will persuade them. Youve gotta pull those fingers out first. Its necessary to create a moment of vulnerability.

And thats what presenting them with something new does? Nike asked.

Yeah, Kuu replied with a nod. When people see something they hadnt imagined, the surprise leaves their hearts vulnerable. It brushes away all their established traditions and values for a moment. If you can just use that opening to present them with something tempting, theyre bound to accept how incredible it is.

Kuu clapped his hands. The sound gathered all eyes on him.

Bro used broadcast programs for it, but this is what Ill use. Kuu raised up his cudgel, turning just his head. Do it, Taru!

With that, he swung his cudgel down.

Bang! There was the sound of an explosion in the mountains, then...

Rumble, rumble, rumble! The ground shook, and the birds in the mountains took to the skies.

Is this an earthquake?!

Dont tell me its a landslide!

Sh-Shouldnt we run?!

The assembled crowd looked on in confusion, but Kuu was resolutely calm as he told them, Theres nothing to worry about! Ive got something I want to show you.

Next, he pointed to the rocky face of the mountain with his cudgel.

Grind, grind, grind... The rock face collapsed before their eyes, revealing a massive cylindrical machine. This machine, chewing through rock and dirt alike, was the product of the Republic of Turgis, Kingdom of Friedonia, and Gran Chaos Empires joint research project: the drill.

For the past two years, Kuu had been building his own drill for boring tunnels. Then, after hed decided to take Zems cities, he began slowly tunneling through the mountains along their border.

The hole behind that machine goes all the way to the heart of the Republic! Kuu told the power brokers assembled before him. Up until now, whenever the Republic seized land outside the Turgis Region, we struggled to hold it when winter snow made communication difficult. But with this tunnel, traveling back and forth will be much easier. Once youre inside the Republic, we have a lot of mounts that can handle the snow. The supply of goods to this area should become much better... Ookyakya! Like this!

With that, a group of people riding numoths and snow yaks with baskets began emerging from the tunnel. It was a merchant caravan from the Republic of Turgis.

Kuu had them lay out the things they had brought for the people of Zem to see. Their eyes widened when they saw what the baskets containedfresh fish. There were shellfish too, and they were still alive.

Now, take a gander. Weve got fresh seafood, caught in Turgiss ports today. Youre a bunch of inlanders, so you probably dont get fresh fish often. Ive been putting effort into my logistics, just like the Kingdom of Friedonia, Kuu boasted. He took a bottle of alcohol from his first wife, Taru, the Republics top technologist, who had rejoined them after directing the drill team. He held it up for the crowd to see. Now, lets drink and eat fish! We can save the boring talk for later!

The crowd roared with applause at this declaration. Theyd figured they were going to be murdered and buried. But they werent just being allowed to livethey were being shown this newfangled drilling machine, treated to fresh seafood, and even drinks to go with it. The release from fear combined with this excitement dulled their decision-making ability. No one here thought of Kuu and his people as invaders anymore. These influential figures had fallen for his scheme.

Okay, everyone! Lets go all out, partying and stuffing our faces today! Cheers!

Cheers! To Lord Kuu and the Republic!

As the curtain of night began to fall, a big banquet was held between the Republics military and the influential figures of the former Zemish cities, along with their families. They put a simple curtain over the front of the tunnel and laid out the food and drinks brought from the Republic behind it to create a space for the occasion. Kuu was in the center of the party, speaking about the future with a glass of wine in one hand.

From now on, youre people of the Republic too! Well be bringing more and more seafood through this tunnel! But thats not all! This warm land will become an important bridge between the Republic of Turgis, the Kingdom of Friedonia, and the Gran Chaoser, wait, theyre the Euphoria Kingdom now, arent they? Well, itll be an important bridge between the three countries! People and goods will gather, which means you can count on a lot of development!

Yeahhhh!

The continent is now divided between the Maritime Alliance and the Great Tiger Kingdom. Even if Fuuga comes knocking, we dont have to worry! Does he have an awesome machine that can pierce through these mountains? No! Only the countries of the Maritime Alliance do! If Fuuga attacks, well come through this tunnel to rush to the rescue!

Wow! Youre so cool, Lord Kuu!

Ookyakya! Thanks!

As Kuu waved to the clapping drunk, a round of applause erupted. Taru, Leporina, and Nike watched him from a short distance away, eating and drinking themselves.

Here, Nike. Its hot wine.

Oh, thanks. Nike gave a polite bow to Leporina as she poured him a drink.

Though he drank it for warmth, he never let go of his spear. If anyone tried to harm Kuu, he was going to be ready to run them through at any moment.

As he kept watching Kuu, Nike whispered, He looks like hes getting drunk and rowdy, but hes actually sober, isnt he?

Of course, Taru responded. The milk Master Kuus drinking isnt fermented, its just normal milk.

Hes acting like hes let his guard down in order to get them to open up to him, but he hasnt relaxed his guard at all, Leporina explained. Hes willing to put on a goofy act in order to win their hearts. It shows you hes operating on another level.

Taru nodded. As a ruler, he gets full marks. As a husband, I have to take off five marks.

Hm? Why is that? Leporina asked, but Taru looked away peevishly.

Hes all caught up in his work, leaving his two cute wives alone.

Ah ha ha... You have a point there. By the way, how many points is a full score?

One hundred.

Even after you mark him down, hes still scoring ninety-five? Youre head over heels, arent you?

You could tell from the way his wives were talking that they understood. Kuu was still fighting. And he was confident he would win.

Sensing the trust between the three of them, Nike thought, Watching them makes me want a wife of my own...

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Friedonia, Souma was so busy with work he thought it might kill him.

This was nothing new, but the amount of work being brought in to him recently was on the rise. Thats because, with Maria retiring from her role as empress and marrying Souma, Hakuya the Black-Robed Prime Minister had gone to marry the new queen, Jeanne. The adoption of a system of two countries, one nation in the Kingdom of Friedonia and the Euphoria Kingdom was necessitating many changes.

So, once again today, Souma was working alongside his wife, Liscia. It was around the time it began to get dark outside.

Excuse me, Your Majesty.

Ichiha, who was serving as acting prime minister while Hakuya was in the Euphoria Kingdom, came in.

Ichiha? Whats up? Souma asked, and Ichiha stood tall as he gave his report.

Sir Poncho has returned. He is waiting in your familys personal dining hall, sire.

Ichiha was doing a good job maintaining his composure with the eyes of the royal couple and their bureaucrats on him. You could tell he was Hakuyas successor. Hed really settled into his role as acting prime minister.

Souma nodded and stopped doing paperwork. Lets take a break. Will you come too, Liscia?

Yeah. It sounds like there might be something interesting.

Liscia, who seemed to know where Poncho had been sent, smiled peacefully as she set a bundle of papers down on the desk. It produced a heavy thunk, making Souma grimace.

Theres still that much left...? Well, it can wait. Souma shook his head, changing gears, and then left the office with Liscia and Ichiha to go see Poncho.

When they reached the dining hall, Poncho had already laid the fruits of his trip out on a long, wide table. Noticing Souma and the others, he bowed repeatedly.

Wh-Why, Your Majesties. Its a pleasure to see the two of you. I, Poncho Ishizuka Panacotta, have returned, yes.

Thank you for your trouble, Poncho.

As Souma thanked the man, Liscia looked at him, a little confused.

Hm? Sir Poncho... Have you lost weight again?

Now that you mention it, he has... Souma agreed, nodding.

It wasnt like the sudden, intense weight loss hed gone through before, but hed lost his usual roundness of form.

Poncho smiled awkwardly, scratching his cheek. Um... Miss Serina and Miss Komain want another, you see... Yes.

Ah... Souma and Liscia instantly understood. This had happened before. He must have been putting in a lot of effort, late at night with his two wives.

Ichiha, who was beside them, listening in, turned a bright shade of red as he figured it out too.

Thats, uh...more than I needed to know, he said.

No, no, youre at the age where you need to start thinking about that kind of thing too, you know?

D-Do you think so?

Well, we can leave that talk for later. This is more important. Souma clapped his hands as he tried to move things along from this awkward topic. So, how was the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan?

Oh, yes. To think I could go to the Spirit Kingdom, take care of my mission, and return within a week. Its an incredible time to be alive, yes, Poncho said with a wry smile.

Liscia looked at Souma. You put in a request with the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom, right?

Yeah, I did. I asked Queen Sill to send dragon knights to drop off Poncho and pick him back up. Man, their transition from being the Dragon Knight Kingdom to a courier kingdom sure is convenient. They can handle the sort of high-speed, long-distance shipping that only Naden and Ruby could do for us before, allowing us to move men and supplies around freely.

It was especially tempting as a means of moving retainers around. If he wanted to, Souma could bring Hakuya back from the Euphoria Kingdom in about a day, and it was also easy to send people and supplies there from the Kingdom of Friedonia.

Theyre currently limiting their services to requests we submit as a nation, but with the advance of globalization, the Dragon Knight Kingdom will become indispensable to the world.

Theyre turning into an incredible country... Queen Sill must be working hard too, Liscia said, sounding impressed.

Next, Poncho pointed to the stuff laid out on the table. As requested, I have brought back samples of potential trade goods from the Spirit Kingdom, yes. King Garula is taking a positive view of trade with our country.

Souma had sent Poncho to the Spirit Kingdom in order to investigate what trade goods they had. The independent government on the Father Island was the only part of the Spirit Kingdom beholden to Fuuga. The Mother Island still maintained its independence from him.

During the Spirit Kings Curse Incident (or Magic Bug Disease Incident), the high elves of the Mother Island learned there were some problems they couldnt tackle alone. Unable to remain as they were, they became more open to trade. The Spirit Kingdom was now opening to the outside world. They were trading with Fuugas Great Tiger Kingdom, using Princess Elulu, who was the representative of the independent government on the Father Island, as a mediator, and also wanted to trade with the Maritime Alliance.

However, while the Kingdom of Friedonia had many things to offer, such as medical goods and foodstuffs, Souma wondered if the Spirit Kingdom had any alluring goods of their own. If trade was one-sided, it risked being seen as economic exploitation. In order to prevent friction, the Spirit Kingdom needed to have some star products of their own. As a professional gourmet, Poncho was sent to investigate just that.

Well-traveled as he was, even Poncho couldnt have entered the Spirit Kingdom back when it was closed to the outside world, so hed been interested in their local cuisine.

Poncho smiled broadly as he picked up the box hed brought back with him.

Oh, the Spirit Kingdoms cuisine really was fascinating, yes. I thought they might live exclusively off the bounty of the forest, like the dark elves of the God-Protected Forest, but it seems theyll eat just about anything. The hot, humid climate has given bloom to a food culture that uses spices to make up for the difficulty in preserving food, yes.

Spices, huh? Come to think of it, I remember Merula mentioning that. Something about them growing the sort of spices that might be used to make curry powder.

Thats right, yes, Poncho said, nodding with glee. There were many spices I havent seen on the continent, and I think they will make wonderful trade goods, yes. Ive brought a number back with me, so Im looking forward to seeing how I can use them in my own cooking. Ah... I think Ill try chicken first. I wonder how it will taste marinated in each of them...

Poncho had a silly grin on his face, no doubt imagining all the different dishes he was going to make. Seeing him like that made the others present feel hungry. Especially Souma, who still had vibrant memories of the curry from his old world.

The Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago had seasonings the continent didnt, so heres hoping I can combine them to make something like Japanese-style curry. That would expand our repertoire of dishes, and...more importantly, I want to eat some curry. I havent had it in years... Sigh...

Souma, youre drooling... Liscia warned him.

Whoops, Souma said, wiping his mouth. So, did they have anything other than spices?

Oh, yes. There were a number of crops I wasnt familiar with, but the one that caught my attention was bean tea. It is also drunk in a number of places on the continent, but theres not much supply. Yet, it seemed the Spirit Kingdom could grow it in abundance.

Bean tea? Souma asked.

This is it, yes.

Poncho handed Souma a bottle filled with brown beans. Hold on, are these... he thought before opening the bottle to take a sniff of them. Yeah, they definitely are.

Is this coffee? Oh...I see. You guys call it bean tea, huh?

As you say, sire, this is a variety of coffee, yes.

Aw, yeah!

Souma pumped his arm enthusiastically, earning him a blank look from Liscia.

You had coffee at Genias place before, didnt you? Is this anything to be so happy about?

Well, its partially because Im more of a coffee person than a tea drinker, but its apparently more of a northern specialty, not something we have a large supply of. I think Genia got hers from the northern refugees too. That makes it more of a luxury than something people can drink regularly.

Yeah. That sounds about right, Liscia said, nodding. That was how people saw it in this country.

Souma picked up a bean and sniffed it. The caffeine in this bean will wake you right up. I imagine people drinking it when working late or staying up to study.

I see why youd need it then, Souma...

Working in the palace was a battle of perseverance. For Souma, he was working at home, and yet still had to do a lot of overtime and all-nighters. It wasnt as bad as just after he was first summoned, but it still cut into his sleep time. Souma had been compensating by drinking some well-steeped tea up until now, but if he could drink coffee on a daily basis, the bean would be a powerful ally.

Oh, this is good. If we can trade for large quantities, Ill send some to Hakuya, since his workload is killing him too... Id like to import a large amount of both the coffee and the spices all at once.

I think the Spirit Kingdom will be glad to hear that, yes.

Ah... But spices and coffee are both cash crops... Souma said, scratching his head. Liscia clapped her hands together.

Ohh. Like what caused our food crisis.

It looked like she remembered.

If you grow too many cash crops for export, that lowers your food self-sufficiency rate, and adverse events can result in a food crisis. You can use the money to import food crops from elsewhere, but its not good to rely on that too much... I guess well have to talk it over with King Garula and see if we can find a healthy balance... Well, theres something else to do first.

Hm?

Since weve got some here already, why dont we all try it?

Souma decided to make coffee for his friends and family right away.

The result was that Juna and Roroa liked it, while Aisha and Naden were not fans. Liscia and Maria were somewhere in the middle. (They could drink it with milk and sugar.) Surprisingly, Tomoe, Ichiha, and Yuriga all liked it. They said that if it became more widely available, theyd want to introduce it to Lucys familys parlor. It wouldnt be long before there were coffee-flavored sweets.

As Souma watched all of them react, he thought, Weve found a reliable ally in a surprising place, and sipped a cup of coffee with milk in it.