How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

Well, it’s better that she’s like this than to have her be tense and anxious, I thought.

Soon after we arrived in the dark elf village, we were met by a handsome man who looked to be in his twenties.

“Oh, Your Majesty!” he cried. “How good of you to come.”

His handsome face bore a certain resemblance to Aisha’s. Could he be her big brother?

He was tall, probably at least 190 cm. I could tell from the accessories he wore on his head and arms that he was of a high rank, but the fine-looking robe he wore was covered in dirt. He looked a little tired, as well.

As she stood before that young elf, Aisha thumped her hand on her chest once. “Father, I have brought His Majesty here with me.”

“Well done,” he said. “Your friendship with His Majesty must have come about through the guidance of our god-beast.”

“Father?!” I exclaimed.

My surprise brought a smile to the young elf’s exhausted face.

“My king, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am the chief of the dark elves and Aisha’s father, Wodan Udgard. Thank you for taking such good care of my daughter.”

“Oh, sure. Um… You’re awfully young.”

“Pure-blooded elves stop aging once their bodies mature to a certain point,” he explained. “We live three times longer than humans, too, so while I may look young, I’ve still lived 80 years.”

I see, I thought. That’s about the same as the elves and dark elves you see in stories, huh? Those say that elves’re long-lived, stay youthful for a long time, and that they’re all beautiful. Though, my chamberlain, the half-elf Marx, was an old dude, wasn’t he? Do half-elves age differently, I wonder?

Setting that aside, I whispered to Aisha, “He seems welcoming. I thought dark elves were supposed to be xenophobic?”

“My father is the head of the cultural liberalization faction, so he’s understanding of cultural exchange with the outside. Father was also the only one who approved of me going to make an appeal to you.”

“I see. The reason you don’t worry about the rules is because of his influence, huh?” I said. I shook hands with Wodan. “I am the (acting) king, Souma Kazuya. I am here by the request of Aisha to provide relief.”

“It’s good of you to come,” he said. “Also, you’re the king, so please, you don’t need to be so formal with me.”

“…Righty-o. Is this better?”

“Yes. Still, I never expected the king himself to come here.”

“I happened to be doing an inspection at the time,” I explained. “I’ve brought the fifty members of the Forbidden Army who were at hand as an advance party. A few days from now, a second group with relief supplies should arrive.”

“I’m grateful. The truth is, I’d love to have the whole village come to welcome you, but given the circumstances, I hope you’ll understand.”

“I know,” I said. “It really is an awful situation.”

The dark elf village was in the center of a thick circle of warding trees. There were villages like this dotted around the forest, and the dark elves lived in them. If you were to look at the God-Protected Forest as a country, this village would be the capital, and there was an order of magnitude more dark elves living here than anywhere else.

The eastern third or so of that village had been carved away by the landslide. It looked like a slightly elevated slope on the eastern side had collapsed. Perhaps due to the long spell of rain, there was a large amount of water flowing over the exposed surface. The ground might have loosened a fair bit. Our one salvation was that it was sunny now. If it had been raining, we would have had to worry about another collapse while we worked.

“What are the damages like?” I asked.

“We’ve recorded nearly one hundred casualties already. There are still more than forty missing, as well.”

That’s a lot, I thought. It’s going to be a battle against time to see how many we can rescue.

“Let’s begin the relief operation immediately,” I said. “However, there’s a risk of secondary disasters, so it would be a good idea to have the women evacuate. Also, have some people keep an eye on the mountain, please. If the mountain moves in the slightest, or there are any weird noises, have them report it. If it were to collapse again while we’re carrying out relief operations, that would be a serious issue.”

“I will do that at once,” he agreed. “Is there anything else you would like to ask of me?”

“Please compile a list of the missing. We’ll erase them from it as we manage to ascertain their safety.”

“Understood.”

Once I worked things out with Wodan, I gave orders to Aisha and the Forbidden Army.

“Aisha.”

“Yes, sir!”