How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

“Place limits on the growth of cash crops, bring back the growing of food crops, and improve our self-sufficiency rate. The country will pay subsidies to help support that transition. First we’ll replant the fields with beans, which have a wide range of uses, and potatoes, which are resistant against famine, and over time I’d like to increase the number of paddy fields. After that…”

Souma spoke eloquently of his plans for agricultural reform. He used a lot of words like “paddy fields” that were unfamiliar to me, but as I looked at his face in profile, he seemed so radiant.

I felt I could understand why my father had abdicated the throne to him. He was what this country needed most right now. We had to do whatever it took to keep him tied down here. Our betrothal had probably been meant as another chain with which to bind him.

I guess I can’t afford to be upset about the engagement being decided without my input.

Souma had said that once he got the country on track, he would return the throne, but we couldn’t let him do that. It would be a loss to the country to have a man of such rare talent leave. It needed to be prevented at all costs.

He says he has no family in his old world. If I were to become his family here, could I keep him in this country? I wondered. As his fiancée, if I can just make the marriage a fait accompli… Wait, the best way to make it a fait accompli… would basically be… doing that with him…

The thoughts that came to my mind left my face flushed red.

“So, in the mountains we’ll… Hey, Liscia, you listening?”

“Eek! Wh-Why, yes, I’m listening.”

“Hm? Your face is all red, you know.”

“It’s just the sunrise! Think nothing of it!”

My cheeks were on fire. I was ready to just die of embarrassment.

From there on, I don’t think I heard a single word of Souma’s explanations.

Chapter 2: Start From X

The technology in this world was kind of all over the place.

On Earth, technology had moved like this: from man power, to the water wheel and windmill, to the steam engine, and then on to the combustion engine. It was a series of incremental advances.

If you wanted to fly freely through the sky, before you could build an airplane, you would first need to discover the concept of lift, and a propulsion system (the internal combustion engine) would need to be created. In order to create that propulsion system, you would need to understand the system behind how things burn. In the history of Earth, new technologies had always been built atop other technologies that had laid the groundwork for them.

However, in this world, there were mysterious creatures and magic. If you wanted to fly freely through the sky, you could just ride a wyvern. These people had skipped past the concept of lift and propulsion systems and just gone flying.

In a world where you can create fire, ice, and more with magic any time you want to, the difference between what is possible and what is not becomes extreme.

In this world, they had large tamed beasts that could haul as much as a four ton truck.

There were steel battleships, only they were drawn by massive sea dragons.

There was no electricity, yet the nights were bright in this country. The street lamps had lightmoss in them, which stored light energy during the day and was phosphorescent at night, keeping the town lit.

They didn’t have gas, they used firewood, ovens, and fire magic (or magic items) to cook.

There were no aqueducts; however, all around town, there were wells with water elemental spells cast on them that drew water from deep below the earth… well, that’s enough examples to get the point.

In this country, even without science, many things could be done with magic. Turning that around, if you were to take away their magic and mysterious creatures, this country’s civilization would not be that advanced. Comparing it to a point in our own world’s history, they were probably in the late Middle Ages or early modern period, at best. The feudal system was still intact, and the industrial revolution a long ways away.

That was the kind of country I was now king of.

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“Liscia, agricultural reforms don’t happen overnight,” Souma told me. “So, for the time being, I suppose we’ll have to increase our imports from other countries to compensate.”

I sat across from Souma, nibbling on my toast as he talked. On the narrow table, there was a basket of bread, as well as plates with scrambled eggs, sausage and salad for two on them. It was breakfast time.

“But didn’t you say imports are expensive, and that causes a decline in consumer spending?”