How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

“Anything else?” I asked.

“You could take her as a secondary wife, sire.”

“That’s… all kinds of messed up.”

She’s young enough to be in elementary school, pal. It brings to mind that image of Backbeard saying, “You damn lolicon.”

Marx cleared his throat. “She is just barely within the acceptable age range for a political marriage, I believe.”

“Souma… Ten years old is a little young…”

“Why are you blaming me, here?!”

Now Liscia’s looking at me coldly. I’m not into that stuff, okay?!

“Hey, wait, the former royal couple can just adopt her.”

“Hmm. I believe that would be acceptable.” Marx was snickering.

That bastard, he said all that stuff when he already knew that was possible!

“That sounds good! I’ve always wanted a little sister!” Liscia said.

“Whuwhuh!” Tomoe cried in confusion.

Liscia hugged Tomoe tight, causing her to sputter and panic. As for Liscia herself, she had a more relaxed look than I had ever seen on her face before.

Come to think of it, since Liscia’s my fiancée, Tomoe’s going to be my sister-in-law. A wolf-eared loli sister-in-law… That’s too many character attributes.

“But, but… I have a family. My mom and little brother are waiting for me in the camp,” Tomoe said, breaking free from her (prospective) big sister’s excessively touchy-feely embrace.

“Ohh, the adoption is only for appearances’ sake, so you don’t have to worry about that. If you become my sister-in-law, your mother and brother will be family, too, so I don’t mind if they live at the palace, as well. We’ll provide some funds for them to live on, and if they want to work, we’ll give them something to do in the palace.”

“Well… in that case… okay,” Tomoe accepted somewhat timidly.

Good. That doesn’t quite wrap everything up nicely, but I think I’ve done what I can for the moment. I’ve somehow gained a sister-in-law in the process, but, hey, she’s cute, so it’s all good.

“Now then, let’s get back to the hall,” I said. “We’re keeping Madam Juna waiting.”

It’s been almost thirty minutes, after all. She probably can’t draw things out much longer.

“For now, we’ll only give Tomoe the prize money as her reward. If the former royal couple were to suddenly announce they were adopting her, that would be like telling everyone that something’s up. We’ll let some time pass and then announce it another day. I’d like you all to act with that in mind, got it?”

““““Yes, sir!””””

◇　◇　◇

Thirty minutes after King Souma called for a break, the award ceremony resumed. Right now, the mystic wolf girl was being praised.

As that scene unfolded, I stood with the other prize winners watching.

“Your gift is remarkable,” he told the wolf girl. “I hope you will put it to use for our country.”

“Y-Yesh! I undershtand!”

…She’s stuttering all over the place, I thought. How adorable.

What could that adorable little girl have said to alarm the king so badly that he had called for a break? What’s more, that little girl was the only one who had been called aside during the break. It was clear that it had been something important, but there was no way for me to know what it was at the moment.

From the time I came here, I had been observing the king in question. He looked ordinary. I had heard he’d been summoned as a hero, but he looked exactly like any of the common townsfolk. He didn’t wear a crown, carried no scepter, wore no cape, and though their design was unusual, when he stood there in those casual clothes, he didn’t look like a king even while standing in front of the throne.

If I looked for it, once in a while his eyes took on a statesman-like appearance. He was a very hard man to pin down. From the way he had acted so far, you might say he was a passable king, I suppose.

With the dark elf warrior’s direct appeal, he had shown magnanimity and, even without intending to, he’d found a solution to her problem. From what had happened with the mystic wolf girl, it seemed he could ad-lib where necessary, too. It had been a little awkward, but, well, I’d give it a passing grade.

However, his real trial would start here.

The fat man beside me was sweating profusely, though I couldn’t tell if it was cold sweat or greasy sweat. I turned to look at him. It was his turn to receive his award next.