by Dojyomaru
When Souma declared that, loud applause rose up from the boats.
It looked like he had satisfied the hearts of the Amidonian people.
The king of the victors was giving a speech to the defeated people.
If he was high-handed, they would push back against it, and if he was too weak, they would look down on him.
Souma had to be careful with these opening remarks, but he’d managed to do it by focusing on Gaius’s dignity.
While internally feeling relieved, he wrapped up his statement.
“Okay, that does it for these stiff opening remarks! There is no kingdom or principality now! Let the grudges and sadness sink to Hades with the dead! Tonight, let us mourn the departed, and celebrate the joys of living together! Now, drink, eat, and sing! While remembering Gaius and all those who have left us! I hereby announce the opening of the Gaius Memorial Festival!”
With Souma’s words, the greatest cheer yet today went up.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Don’t ya think you’re praisin’ my old man just a li’l bit too highly?” Roroa asked me with a smirk when my opening remarks were finished.
The people were already having a raucous good time out on the river.
On the shining boats there were people drinking, telling stories, listening to musicians play, and Juna and her loreleis were singing. There was no Elfrieden or Amidonia now, and the initial goal of remembering the dead was forgotten. But that was fine. Because we should be celebrating. The living needed to be celebrating the joy of life with everything they had now.
“Om, nom, nom, nom!”
“Whoa, whoa, Aisha,” Naden burst out. “Isn’t that a bit much at one time?”
“Urgh...” Aisha pounded on her chest like she was choking on something.
“See, I told you so. Tomoe, fetch some water,” Naden said as she tended to Aisha.
“O-Okay, Naden!”
Oh... That might me celebrating a little too much.
I shrugged my shoulders in exasperation, resting my hand on Roroa’s head. “There may have been some exaggeration, but there was no lie in what I said. Sir Gaius acted in the way he thought was best for this country.”
Our paths may not have converged, but I was sure that he had lived his life to the best of his ability. And as a fellow ruler, there were places where I could sympathize with him.
So, at the very least, I would protect Roroa and this country, the proof that he existed. I would tie the things I had inherited from him to the next era.
As I was renewing my will to do so, Roroa grinned at me. “When you said you’ll protect me for life, too...?”
“Of course I meant it.”
“Mweheheh. I really do love ya, darlin’.”
Roroa wrapped her arms around my neck and jumped up, planting a kiss on my lips.
Ow! She had too much momentum, and our teeth hit. I wrapped my arms around Roroa’s waist, and Roroa was suspended in the air. It was an odd position to be kissing in.
When Roroa moved her face away from mine after a while, she gave me the best smile she had yet today.
“Ya declared you’d do it, so I ain’t gonna let it go if you don’t take good care of me for life, darlin’.”
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Copyright
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 7
by Dojyomaru
Translated by Sean McCann
Edited by Emily Sorensen
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 Dojyomaru
Illustrations by Fuyuyuki
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2018 by OVERLAP, Inc.
This English edition is published by arrangement with OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo
English translation © 2018 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: September 2018
