How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

Right now, even if it was only on the surface, all of the other countries were united against the Demon Lord’s Domain. If this information were to spread, what would happen to that? If it meant they tried to sue for peace with the demons, that would be great, but it would be completely unsurprising if some of them put their own country’s interests first, siding with the demons in order to invade other countries. If that were to happen, mankind would fall to pieces.

“Do you think the Empire knows?” I asked.

“…I’m not sure,” Liscia said. “It was only with Tomoe’s unique gift that someone was finally able to communicate with them. Even if they do realize it, they’d have no way to verify it.”

“So, basically, our country has a monopoly on this information for the time being. Good grief…” This was one hell of a thing to have fall in my lap.

She’s like a bomb. I can use her as a trump card, but if I mishandle her, it could all blow up in my face.

“I–I’m sorry…” Tomoe was wincing, so Liscia poked me.

“Oh, no, we aren’t blaming you,” I said quickly. “Actually, I’m glad you came to this country. It chills me when I think what might have happened if you had gone to another country instead.”

“Still, are you going to conceal this information?” Ludwin asked. “If people find out we hid such vital information, isn’t it possible we would be condemned as an enemy of all mankind?”

“…You have a point.” I wanted to clutch my head when Ludwin pointed that out. “Doing a bad job of hiding it and then having people think we’re harboring ambitions as a result isn’t a great plan. Besides, if this is a war, the current situation where both sides are fighting a war of extermination is not good. In order to make sure the war doesn’t continue until one sided is wiped out, we need to leak the information out little by little.”

I need to resolve myself. I continued to speak, looking at those around me. “‘Maybe there are those among the demons we could talk with.’ We’ll leak something that sounds like nothing more than a hypothesis to the other countries. If we do that, they should be a little more cautious. At the very least, they should try to discover if there’s any truth to the rumors.”

“As part of that process, isn’t it possible they will reach the same information that we have? Wouldn’t that eliminate the value of concealing it?”

“You’re wrong, Marx. Our trump card is Tomoe herself.”

“M-Me?!” she squeaked.

I nodded firmly to Tomoe, whose eyes were darting about in bewilderment. “Even if the demons do have a will of their own, there needs to be some means of communication to negotiate with them. For instance, while the other countries are still searching for a way to negotiate with the demons, we can talk to them using Tomoe as a mediator. That is a huge advantage.”

I didn’t know how much our kingdom would be able to negotiate for on its own. However, by having our own independent line of communication, we could prevent a situation where another country monopolized the right to negotiate and refused us any opportunity for dialogue. In exchange, we would be taking a burden on ourselves, but that was far preferable to leaving our kingdom’s fate in the hands of another country.

“So, Tomoe, our country needs to do everything it can to protect you,” I said.

“P-Protect me…?!”

“Yes. It’s no exaggeration to say that, right now, you’re far more important than some guy like me. Honestly, if this information leaks out, the moment you get abducted, this country is ruined.”

“No way… you’re making that up… right?” Tomoe looked around restlessly, but no one denied it.

It was no exaggeration to say that Tomoe held this country’s fate in her hands. While I would never do it myself, another country might have pretended they had never heard any of this and “disposed of” her. That was just how important Tomoe’s existence was.

“So, in order to keep you under the highest level of guard we can, I want you to live here in the palace. If it comes down to it, we might not be able to protect you in the refugee camp.”

“Awoo…” Tomoe moaned.

“Hold on a moment,” Marx raised his hand. “If we have someone not of royal blood living at the palace, might that not draw unwanted scrutiny?”

“Hmm. Well, tell me how we can welcome her as royalty, then.”

“You say that like it’s so easy… There are a number of ways a common person can become royalty. One would be for you to adopt her, sire. However, as the wedding has not been held yet, this is not possible. Your wedding ceremony will take more than a year to prepare, after all.”

“You heard him, Liscia,” I said.

“Hey, don’t throw this over to me.” Liscia quickly looked away.

Living with Liscia as my wife and Tomoe, who’s already around ten, as my daughter, huh… Yeah, I just can’t imagine it.