How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

Those words could have been heard as an abdication of responsibility. He was telling those who were suffering to go work hard on their own, after all. However, it was also true that only those who worked hard would be saved.

The young king bowed his head sincerely. “Please. When I say everyone, I mean every last one of you. Don’t lash out at others because you’re suffering; don’t send away children because you have too many mouths to feed; do not throw away the old and frail. I want you all to greet the bounty of autumn together. This broadcast is something we’ve put together in the hopes that it will be some help with that.”

Souma went into the objectives of the current broadcast. As a means of buying time until the food crisis could be solved, they would introduce ingredients not commonly eaten in this country and show the ways to prepare them. These ingredients could be obtained cheaply (or freely where they grew in the wild). Furthermore, by eating those ingredients on air, they would demonstrate that they were edible.

Even those citizens who had been indignant at his earlier statement, which had seemed to abdicate responsibility, felt their anger cooling as they listened to Souma’s explanation. Because this king truly was thinking about them. They could feel that keenly.

“…So, there you have it. Now then, I’ll hand the show back over to your hosts, Poncho and Juna.” With his explanation complete, Souma returned to his seat.

Souma couldn’t have known this, but at that moment, roaring applause erupted through plazas around the country. It was spontaneous applause from those citizens deeply impressed by Souma’s words. Without knowing it, Souma was slowly beginning to gain recognition as their king.

The video returned to Poncho and Juna hosting once more.

“Now then, let’s get right to it,” Juna said. “Poncho, what’s our first ingredient?”

“Y-Yes! Our first ingredient is right here!”

With that, Poncho brought over a cloth-covered box, placing it on the table where Souma, Liscia, Aisha, and Tomoe were seated like guest commentators.

It was a box big enough to hold a largish aquarium.

Pausing a moment for dramatic effect, Poncho pulled back the cloth.

◇　◇　◇

We were in the cafeteria at Parnam Castle for the live broadcast.

“Urkh…”

“Eeeeeeeeek!”

“Wai— What?!”

When they saw what had appeared on the table, Aisha, Tomoe and Liscia each let out their own cries of shock.

Juna, on the other hand, looked at it and seemed to be thinking, “Ohhhh, so that’s it.”

“That’s an octopus.”

“It sure is an octopus.”

The thing in the box in front of them was the eight-legged wriggly soft-bodied creature you all know to be an octopus.

While many of the creatures in this world had a touch of the fantastic about them, such as even the cows and chickens having armored carapaces, this was just a straight-up (though rather large) octopus. Well, even in fantasy worlds, giant octopuses are often a thing, so I guess it’s okay?

By the way, in this country, they called octopuses “ocatos,” but that’s just confusing, so we’ll stick with octopuses. I mean, with my mysterious translation ability, the word sounded like “octopus” to me, anyway.

“Huh? You people don’t eat octopus in this country?” I asked.

“We do not! Hold on, Souma, have you actually eaten one of those creepy things before?!” Liscia looked at me incredulously.

Come on, it’s just an octopus, you know? I’m having a hard time accepting this reaction.

“Well, considering how they look, I’m sure they’re only eaten in some coastal regions. My hometown is one of them, though,” Juna gently explained.

Well, even back on Earth, in Europe (excluding Italy and Spain) they’re called “devilfish,” and in some countries people refuse to eat them… I guess? I thought.

“But they’re so tasty…” I said.

“A-Are they?” Liscia asked.

Once she heard they were delicious, Aisha was ready to dig in. Her being my bodyguard meant we often ate together, so I already knew this, but this girl was quite the glutton. She had a special weakness when it came to sweet foods (like the snacks that came as offerings for the king and maids), and she would munch away at them to the point that the maids jealously grumbled, “How does she eat so much and still maintain that figure…?”

“Yeah. There are divergent opinions about how good it is raw, but if you just rub salt into it, wash off the mucus, and boil it, it’s good like that. Cooked, fried, served with rice, it’s delicious any way you like it.”

There was silence.

“Aisha, you’re drooling,” I added.

“Whoops… Pardon me.”

“Honestly, it’s high-protein, low-calorie, so it’s great if you’re on a diet, too.”

“High-pro? I–I’m not sure what that is, but my ears pricked up when I heard the word ‘diet’…” Liscia seemed to be ready to dig in now, too.