How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 4

by Dojyomaru

  “It’s pretty incredible that everyone said, ‘Let’s do it!’ to something you came up with on the spur of the moment, though.”

  W-Well, lately, it did feel like my brakes were starting to break down.

  With Roroa and Colbert joining us, there was more funding at my disposal, and Genia the Overscientist was merrily giving birth to new inventions. Also, because of the many new policies we had instituted, the people of Friedonia themselves had developed a fondness for the strange and were overflowing with curiosity. It was like the Japanese craftsman spirit, or something like, “No matter how meaningless, when you master a thing, it becomes an art.” That was how an idle thought that had come out of my mouth one week ago...

  “Oh, hey, it’s almost the end of the year. If it’s the end of the year, its time for the Kouhaku Year-end Song Festival.”

  ...had ended up being implemented like this.

  The first one to hear me, Roroa, had said, “What, what?! Tell me more about that wonderful name that sounds like profit!”

  So I ended up having to explain Kouhaku, the Red and White Song Battle, to her.

  When I did, Juna, who was also listening, said, “A festival of songs, is it? That sounds like an opportunity to put our talents to work,” and was uncharacteristically proactive about it.

  Then Pamille and Nanna, as well as other loreleis, and the general who had become a singer, Margarita, had gotten highly enthusiastic about the idea, and after some point it had gone so far that I couldn’t say, “Nope, we’re not doing it after all!” anymore.

  Between loreleis from the singing cafe Lorelei, which had at some point turned into something like a production company, and participants from the Nodo Jiman amateur singing contest program we ran in Van gathering, it had turned into a fairly large-scale event. That was when the sudden rush to get things ready had begun.

  Well, having everyone work together to create something was fun in a culture festival sort of way, but it meant my workload had gone up just that much more...

  The hard part was going to be the “White” part of Kouhaku’s red and white.

  The Red Team (female singers), led by Juna, had variety and flair, but the male singers just didn’t leave as much of an impact. The vast majority had come up through Nodo Jiman, and they all sung this world’s folk songs. If there were no male idols participating in Kouhaku, and it were all enka singers, that wouldn’t be very stylish, now would it?

  Because of that, I had decided on a big experimental deployment of my male idol response to the female loreleis—the singing knights, orpheuses—which I had been developing for some time.

  “Now, my orpheuses, gather!” I called.

  “““Yes, sir!”””

  When I called out to them, three young men who were discussing something off in the corner came over to me. One of them, the tall, silver-haired, twenty-something man, saluted me and said, “The orpheus unit Yaiba is ready and awaiting your commands.”

  He was a human from Van and the leader of Yaiba, Axe Steiner. He was an attractive man with striking, cool eyes, but his overly formal speech that was characteristic of young men from Amidonia gave him a strait-laced image.

  When he saw the way Axe was acting, the comparatively easygoing young man with tiger-stripped hair laughed wryly. “Sheesh, our leader’s such a stiff. Am I right, Kukri?”

  “I think you’re a little too laid back, Kotetsu,” Kukri agreed.

  The frivolous and superficial looking young tiger beastman was Kotetsu Burai. He was a fiery man with distinctive yellow and black stripes; athletic; and his sharp dance moves made him stand out even in this group.

  The one he had turned to for agreement was a middle school aged pretty boy (?), Kukri Carol. I think you’ll have realized this from his surname, but Kukri was a kobito and Pamille Carol’s big twin brother. He was clearly filling out the shota position in the unit, but he was still the eldest of the three.

  ...Man, the kobito race were scary.

  Well, anyway, these were the three members of Friedonia’s first idol unit, Yaiba. The name had come from the fact that all three of them had names that sounded kind of like bladed weapons. I hadn’t had much time to come up with a name, after all.

  Incidentally, I’d considered including Hal, who also had a weapon-like name, in their members, but he had firmly refused. According to Kaede, “Hal can control his pitch, but he’s tone deaf, you know.”

  That wasn’t important now, though. I clapped my hands. “I want the members of Yaiba to start rehearsing as soon as the set is ready.”

  “Yes, sir!” Steiner announced. “Are you certain you want us to go first, sir?”

  “I want to test that the stage is strong enough,” I said. “You’re the only act during the song battle that will have multiple members singing and dancing. If you guys are fine, it should be safe for everyone else, too.”

  “Yes, sir! Understood!”

  When Axe, who was as stiff and formal as ever, headed toward the finished stage, the remaining two smiled wryly and followed after him.

  “Good grief,” Kotetsu said. “Why’s our leader gotta be such a square?”

  “It’s because he’s nervous, isn’t it?” said Kukri. “Though I’m sure his personality has something to do with it, too.”

  “Hey, you two! Look alive!” someone yelled as they were dragging their feet toward the stage.

  ““Eek!”” they shouted, jumping a little.

  When the two hesitantly turned around, they found a frowning Margarita standing there in a deep red dress. It was a showy color, but that only made her three times more intense.

  Margarita looked the two of them up and down then raised her voice. “You are the face of Friedonia! Stand up straight and get your acts together!”

  ““Y-Yes’m!””

  “If you get it, then get going! On the double!”

  ““R-Roger!””

  Margarita had risen to become a general in Amidonia’s patriarchal society. When she tore into them, those two responded with the same stiff formality as Axe and ran off toward the stage. They were like new recruits being chewed out by a drill instructor.

  Then Margarita noticed me and hurriedly bowed her head. “Wh-Why, Your Majesty, I’ve let you see something most embarrassing there.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind,” I said. “They’re a bunch of strong personalities, so having you take charge helps. Still... that outfit really is something.”

  “This is, well... I snuck out during the costume fitting...”

  “You snuck out?” I repeated.

  “Oh, there ya are. Runnin’ out durin’ a fittin’? That’s just not right, Margie.”

  “P-Princess?!” Margarita yelped.

  “‘Margie’?” I repeated.

  I turned to look because Margarita had let out a scream, and there was Roroa rushing over to us.

  She reached us and smoothly wrapped herself around my arm. “Darlin’, I’ve been workin’ hard, too. Praise me, praise me.” She rubbed her face up against my shoulder.

  Her adorable little animal-like gestures felt somewhat calculated, but... still, she sure was cute. The fact of the matter was, without Roroa’s financial cooperation, this plan wouldn’t have been possible.

  I petted her on the head. “You’ve been a big help. Thanks, Roroa.”

  “Mwuhuhuh!” she giggled.

  “Come on, Roroa,” said Liscia sternly. “You’ve gotten your praise, and you’re satisfied, right? We’re working here, so it’s time for you to let go.”

  Liscia grabbed Roroa up by the scruff of the neck like she might do to a cat and pulled her off me. Roroa got into it and even threw in a playful meow.

  “Wait, I didn’t have time to be doin’ this,” Roroa added, interrupting herself. “I’m gonna take Margie back with me. We’re still in the middle of her costume fittin’, after all.”

  “Costume? You mean this red dress?” I asked.

  Roroa gave me a bold laugh. “Look forwar
d to it. It’s gonna knock your socks off durin’ the main event.”

  “I don’t like it, princess!” Margarita protested. “Not that. Spare me that, at least!”

  “I already put in the order, so give up and just accept it,” Roroa smirked.

  “Nooo! Not eighteen meters!”

  Margarita was dragged off by Roroa, looking more frantic than I’d ever seen her before. Margarita could scare your average man senseless, but she couldn’t stand up to Roroa, the former princess of Amidonia. I didn’t really get the balance of power between the former Amidonians.

  “And, wait, what did she mean by ‘eighteen meters,’ anyway?” I added.

  “The length of her dress, apparently,” said Juna.

  The lorelei had come over here because she was the next one going on for rehearsal after Yaiba. She wasn’t wearing her usual easy-to-dance-in outfit. Instead, she wore a shining blue dress and looked very pretty in it.

  “Wait, an eighteen meter long dress?” I asked, startled.

  “Roroa was saying she wanted something that would knock the audience’s socks off,” Juna said. “She’s going to be putting Madam Margarita on stage in a massive, eighteen meter dress. I hear that the dress is painted with powdered lightmoss, like the kind we use in the streetlamps, and it lets off a dazzling light.”

  “Well, that’s... gaudy as all hell,” I said.

  I dunno. Somehow, I could see this becoming an annual event and it getting gaudier every year.

  Margarita... I had thought she was the big boss of the entertainment industry, but she was apparently the last boss.

  What should I do? I wondered. I had planned to have Margarita sing the Japanese version of “Snake Eater,” but maybe I ought to change that to “Kaze to Issho ni.”

  That was when I noticed another girl standing behind Juna.

  She was a simple-looking young girl of fifteen, maybe sixteen years of age. She was cute, but didn’t stand out in any way. It was a sort of natural, girl next door type of look.

  “Juna, who’s the girl?” I asked.

  “Let me introduce you, sire,” Juna said. “This girl is Komari Corda. She was in training at Lorelei until just recently, but I’m thinking of having her debut in this song battle.”

  “I-I’m Komari Corda! It’sh a pleashure to meet you!” the girl gasped.

  While tripping over her words spectacularly, Komari bowed her head deeply to me. While I laughed wryly at how tense she was, Juna explained a little more about her.

  “She has a voice with room for growth, and an enthusiasm for practice that makes me think she’ll transform in the future. I think she may have the hidden talent to surpass me as a lorelei.”

  “Well, that is impressive...” I said.

  “I-I could never! It’s too much of an honor for you to suggest I might surpass you, Lady Juna!” Komari yelped.

  When I saw Komari hurriedly try to act humble, I thought, Oh, I can see it...

  Her appeal likely lay in how unpolished she was, unconsciously making you want to cheer her on. That was a charm that the already-perfected Juna didn’t have. When this girl was finished, she might be a lorelei who could lead the kingdom’s singing world forward.

  She was someone whose development I would look forward to seeing.

  That was when the current Finance Minister of the Kingdom of Friedonia appeared.

  “Ah, Madam Juna, Madam Komari,” said Colbert. “So this is where you two were.”

  For some reason, Nanna, the cat-eared beastman, was hanging around his shoulders. Pamille the kobito was standing behind him, too, holding on to Colbert’s sleeve. I don’t know what to say... They looked like father and daughter.

  “They’re awfully fond of you, Colbert,” I commented.

  “You’re the one who pushed them off on me, Your Majesty...”

  In addition to his duties as finance minister, I had Colbert handling their finances (and the paperwork). This country was in the middle of an unprecedented lorelei boom. For Juna, Nanna, and Pamille, in particular, as the first loreleis, there was far more money moving around them than they could ever use personally. Setting aside Juna, who was at the castle as a candidate to become a secondary queen, it was dangerous for Nanna and Pamille, who were still ordinary citizens, even if they were loreleis, to be given too much money.

  That was why I had the financially talented Colbert handling their assets, arranging bodyguards (primarily women from the National Defense Force), and handling other general business for them. In a way, he was like their manager.

  I could understand that that was why he spent a lot of time with them, but why did they love him so much? When I asked them, they said...

  “The meals! He treats me! I get to eat lots of fish!” Nanna squealed.

  “After meetings, Mr. Colbert often takes me out for dinner,” Pamille added. “When we go, he never treats me like a child. He always treats me like a proper lady.”

  ...There you have it. He was taming them with food, huh! No, in Pamille’s case it was a little different, but...

  “Colbert, if you’re going to lay your hands on them, wait for the two of them to grow up a bit first,” I said.

  “I’m not going to, okay?!”

  “I won’t be getting any bigger, though...” Pamille had a sour look on her face.

  Uh... um... sorry.

  “Th-The four of you have rehearsal now, right?” I asked, hastily covering my mistake.

  “Yes,” said Juna. “When Yaiba finish, we’re up next.”

  I looked toward the stage where the three from Yaiba were singing passionately. It was a song from a male idol group back in the other world. I hadn’t been familiar with what was trendy, but the sort of songs that they played all the time during commercials had stuck in my head. They were a bunch of cool, young people singing cool songs with all their heart. I thought that might be enough to capture the hearts of the ladies of Friedonia.

  “Everyone, we’ve brought food for you!” Serina called.

  “I-In order to keep it simple to eat, we decided to go with rice balls and sandwiches,” stammered Poncho. “Of course, there are spaghetti buns, too, yes.”

  “Big Brother, Big Sister, it’s time to eat!” Tomoe called.

  While I was watching Yaiba, Serina, Poncho, and Tomoe brought the maids along. They all had large baskets in their arms. They were probably filled with rice balls and bread. When they spread them out on a long table, everyone gathered around.

  “Oh! That looks good,” Hal said. “Can we have some?”

  “Hal, you have to wipe your hands first, you know,” Kaede scolded.

  “Carla, please prepare tea for everyone,” Serina ordered.

  “R-Roger that, Head Maid!”

  As the area started to grow more lively with conversation, I stared off absently. “Things sure have grown...”

  “They have,” Liscia agreed.

  It looked like Liscia had overheard the thought I’d let slip. I felt awkward, but Liscia gave me a big smile. “You’ve gathered people, people have gathered around you, and before we knew it, we’ve become surrounded by this huge crowd.”

  “It’s reassuring, but it also makes me nervous,” I confessed. “It means I have that much more that I want to protect, after all.”

  “What are you saying?” Liscia put her left hand on her hip, pointing her right index finger at my nose. “The people you want to protect, they want to protect your reign, too. That’s why... those that you want to protect will surely protect you.”

  When Liscia firmly declared that, mysteriously, it made me feel like she was right.

  “They will, huh?” I asked.

  “Yes, they will.”

  “I see... Well, Liscia, could I ask you to hold down the fort here for a while?”

  “I can, but... where are you going?” she asked.

  “It turns out there are some people I have to meet. Look, Hakuya’s here for me now.”

  When I looked to the entrance, Ha
kuya had just come in.

  “Bye,” I said. “I’ll be back soon.”

  “Sure. Leave things here to me.”

  With Liscia seeing me off, I left the great hall. Then, together with Hakuya, I walked down the hall.

  We didn’t talk along the way. It was already pitch black outside the windows.

  It was around eight o’clock. I thought back to how things were now in the great hall. If that was how far along they were at this time... we were in for an all-nighter, for sure.

  I needed to make sure to send the performers home early to get some rest. It was going to be broadcast live, so if we made them stay with us, and then they went and collapsed on us during the main event... it would be a total disaster.

  While I was thinking about that, we arrived at the room which was our destination.

  In front of the door, Hakuya stepped aside to make way for me, standing with his back to the window across from the door. He probably meant to wait here. I hadn’t forbidden him from entering the room, but Hakuya had decided to refrain from doing so on his own. Then, crossing his arms in front of himself, he gave me a respectful nod.

  “I have the Black Cats patrolling the area,” he said. “Take as long as you need to talk.”

  “Got it.”

  I nodded, then opened the door and entered through it.

  When I closed the door, the room suddenly became dim. In the room with flickering candlelight, what caught my eye was the king-size bed, and the moonlit terrace beyond it. The people I was looking for were drinking tea at the glass table by the windowsill. When I approached, those people put down their teacups and rose.

  “Why, Sir Souma, it’s been some time.”

  “It’s good to see you again, Your Majesty.”

  I greeted the two who had welcomed me here. “It has been a while, Sir Albert and Lady Elisha.”

  The ones waiting for me were Liscia’s parents, the former king, Sir Albert, and his queen, Lady Elisha.

  “Have some,” Elisha said.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  When I took the proffered cup of tea, former queen Elisha gave me a broad smile. Lady Elisha was like Liscia, only calmer, with a more womanly sexiness. Would Liscia eventually become like her? If so, I had a lot to look forward to as we grew older.