How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

General of the Elfrieden Kingdom Air Force, Duke Castor Vargas. A dragonewt. He was king of the skies and leader of the stars of the royal army, the Wyvern Knights.

In exchange for swearing fealty to the kingdom, their families were allowed to hold territory (duchies) within the kingdom, where they were given self-rule.

At the time of the kingdom’s founding, this kingdom having been created by the coming together of many races, this system had been put in place to protect their races from friction with the others. However, even now, with all of the races living in harmony, the system still remained in place. In exchange for territory, their families put their lives on the line to defend the country they loved. That was the pride of the Three Dukedoms.

However, at present, the Three Dukedoms had taken their forces and were secluding themselves in their own territories. It seemed these three, with their great love and respect for the former king, had not yet recognized Souma, who had ascended the throne in a manner that looked like he was usurping it, as their liege. That was the source of Souma’s current worries.

If you combined the three duchies, they made up a third of the country. Without their cooperation, Souma’s reforms would be difficult to accomplish.

I myself had written to Duke Carmine, who loved me like a daughter, a number of times, asking him to meet with Souma directly, but the reply was always, “As yet, I see no cause to trust him.”

He was a man who was resolute in his convictions, but I had never known him to be so blindly stubborn. So why was he being so stubborn this time? For my part, I hoped he would accept Souma as soon as possible.

Without any idea how I was feeling, Souma was shaking hands with Sir Ludwin. “I’m Souma Kazuya. Technically, I’m the king of this country now.”

“I’m Ludwin Arcs. I’ve heard rumors of your hard work from the civil servants.”

“Well, you tell those civil servants, ‘If you have time to gossip, work harder’ for me.”

“Hahaha, I’ll do that. Would you mind if I joined you for breakfast?”

“It’s fine with me.”

“Thank you.”

Sir Ludwin brought over a breakfast tray, and sat down next to me. “So, how are things going? With these reforms of yours, I mean, Your Majesty.”

“…Not so well,” Souma complained between bites of toast. “We’re especially suffering from a lack of qualified people. At present, I’ve inherited the previous king’s advisors. In other words, the people who left the country alone until it got this bad. Setting aside Prime Minister Marx, the rest are all useless.”

This country was an autocratic state. The will of the king was strongly reflected in its politics.

There was a Congress of the People which all citizens had the right to vote for representatives in, but it was merely a place where laws and policies to “suggest” to the king were drafted, and these laws and policies would later be “suggested” to the king by the prime minister. In short, it was a glorified suggestion box, and whether these suggestions would be implemented or not was entirely up to the king.

Though, that said, if the king were to just do whatever he pleased, he would lose the hearts of the people, and would likely see himself deposed by the Three Dukedoms…

Furthermore, when the king wished to consider different policies, he could summon advisors other than the prime minister. The king would confer with his advisors, deciding if his policies would be effective or not. The selection of advisors was left to the king’s sole discretion. He could hire whomever and however many he wanted,

In truth, even before taking the throne (in this kingdom, from the time one was a prince), a prospective king would begin to gather people who might become his advisors. But with Souma having ascended the throne so suddenly, he had none.

“People who can tell me the things I want to know, and who will work hard at the tasks I set them to,” he said. “Those are the sort of personal retainers I want.”

“I understand. All those who stand above others long to have capable underlings,” Sir Ludwin said.

“Is it the same for you in the Forbidden Army?”

“Yes. Most of the graduates from the Officers’ Academy request to be assigned to the armies of the Three Dukedoms. Since, while they call us the Forbidden Army, we’re basically just the capital’s defense force. It’s not a popular posting, is it, Princess?”

“Well… I guess not. Most of my classmates went to the armies of the Three Dukedoms.”

I was in the land forces, but that was because there was no point in me joining the Forbidden Army, since it existed to protect the royal family.

“Well, there you have it. These days, the Forbidden Army has a lot of misfits and eccentrics in it. We even have a mad scientist who drifted over to us from the Weapons Development Branch.”

“Oh, now that sounds like someone I’d want to meet!” Souma said.

Seeing Souma’s enthusiasm, Sir Ludwin replied, “I’ll introduce you sometime.” He laughed wryly.