How a Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom

Enlightenment Arc Chapter 1: A Tale of Two Cities D The next place that we went to was the 『Kikkorou Brewery』, located nearby the training center (its logo was the kanji for wolf – 狼 – in the middle of a hexagon)[1] .

It was managed by Tomoe-chan’s kin, the Mythical Wolf Tribe, and mainly produced shouyu, miso and sake .

In this place, we met with someone who I know .

When we entered the premise, there was a fat person who wore short sleeved clothes even though it would soon be the cold season .

「Hm?

Poncho?

」(Souma)「Oh, Your Majesty!

I bid you good day, yes!

[2]」(Poncho) When he noticed us, Poncho made a bow and lowered his head .

He only made one bow, so he might have gotten used to this .

Since in the past, he would bow numerous times .

「Poncho, what are you doing in this place?

」(Souma)「That’s right!

Please hear it, Your Majesty!

」(Poncho)「Too close, too close!

What’s got into you?

」(Souma)「At last… At last it has been completed!

What Your Majesty had wished for, that “sauce”!

」(P) When he said this, Poncho took out a bottle filled with black liquid and showed it to me .

The “sauce” that I wished for?

…… Ah!

「Is it true?

Has ‘that’ been completed!

?

」(Souma)「Please have a taste, yes .

」(Poncho)「Here goes!

」(Souma) I dropped several drops of the black liquid into the back of my hand and I tried to lick it .

The flavor of vegetables and fruits .

The scent of spices that filled my nose .

The unmistakable taste of that sauce .

And yet, unlike the usual Worcester sauce[3], the sourness and sweetness were stronger, furthermore the taste was deeper .

There was no doubt .

This sauce is no doubt, the “Fritter-Food Sauce”[4] that is good for yakisoba and its kin .

「The taste of the sauce…… is boyish .

」[5](Souma)「What are you saying?

It doesn’t make any sense .

」(Liscia) When the appalled Liscia told me so, I came back to my senses .

「Err, when I thought about the fact that the sauce had been completed after a long period of trial and error, I was emotionally moved .

」(Souma)「I-is it really that amazing?

」(Liscia)「If we have this then we can make yakisoba, okonomiyaki, monjayaki, takoyaki, and sobameshi .

[6] Of course, this sauce is also good for deep-fried foods .

」(Souma)「I don’t recognize most of the foods that you mentioned just now… .

.

」(Liscia)「I will make it next time .

Even if there are leftovers, Aisha will surely eat them all .

」(Souma) But you know, the fritter-food sauce had finally been completed .

It had been so long .

This world already had a Worcester-like sauce, but there was no sauce like this that is good for yakisoba .

I thought that perhaps somehow I could make it and ened up going through many trials and errors .

Even so, since I didn’t have any knowledge about sauce-making, I couldn’t reproduce the taste (in the end, rather than a yakisoba-bread, I made a Napolitan-bread[7]) .

I gave up half-way through the development, but it seems that Poncho had continued the research…… 「But, you have reproduced it so well .

Poncho, you should have never tasted it before, right?

」(Souma)「Your Majesty’ words, 『Thicker than the commonWorcester sauce, with a sweet and sour taste』 , and like yakisoba, there was a dish where the sauce is mixed with the noodles, the Naporitan .

This became the hint .

」(Poncho)「The Naporitan?

」(Souma)「Yes, it does, yes .

That Naporitan uses the tomato sauce, “Ketchup”, that Your Majesty had developed before .

Since that tomato sauce is really good for the noodles, perhaps it was also used as the sauce for the noodle dish called yakisoba, or so I had thought, yes .

」(P)「…… AAH!

」(Souma) I see!

So, the sourness and the sweetness of that sauce is from tomato sauce!

That means, the Fritter-food Sauce is a thickened Worcester sauce with Ketchup added to it!

「Then, to bring the taste out from the mixture of the sauce and the tomato sauce, I added a small amount of shouyu and mirin that was produced in Kikkorou brewery .

So… how was it?

」(Poncho) While he hesitated in his words, I put my hands on Poncho’s shoulders .

「Poncho…… Well done .

」(Souma)「Wh-!

Y-you honor me, Your Majesty, yes!

」(Poncho)「Then, can you mass produce this sauce?

」(Souma)「Kikkorou Brewery can commence on it .

」(Poncho) Then it’s good .

With this, a new page will be added to the kingdom’s cuisine .

While I was excitedly having this sauce discourse with Poncho, the other members, especially the girls, gave me a wry smile in dismay .

「Even though Souma isn’t that gluttonous, but sometimes, he strangely fusses over it .

I wonder why he is behaving like this .

」(Liscia)「Man is such a creature, Princess .

[8] In things incomprehensible to females, they pointlessly invest their enthusiasm and disregard any anguish caused by it .

Such queer creatures they are .

」(Hilde)「It seems you have first-hand experience .

Are there any acquaintances of Hilde-dono who behave like that?

」(Carla)「Don’t ask too much, dragonewt jou-chan .

Would you like that mouth to be sewn shut?

」(Hilde)「Uu…… Yes, Ma’am .

I didn’t ask anything .

」(Carla) …… What they were doing over there, I wonder…… ◇ ◇ ◇ After we parted from Poncho, we had a meeting with the Elder of the Mythical Wolf Tribe at the Factory Chief’s office .

We sat face to face in an arrangement just like what we had in Ginger’s office .

The Elder had white hair, a long white beard, and a thick mustache that gave him an appearance like a Maltese dog .

[9]Well, the inside was an old man, though .

Then, when the Elder took his seat, he made a deep bow .

「For the honorable King to shelter us, the Mythical Wolf tribe, to construct this Kikkourou Brewery, and to confer to us various aids, we are eternally grateful .

As the representative of our tribe, let me express our utmost gratitude .

」(Elder)「That is fine .

Tomoe-chan also has greatly helped us .

Furthermore, it is a fortunate happenstance that you people know how to cultivate rice and how to produce shouyu, miso, mirin and sake .

So it is possible for me to eat delicious food .

」(Souma)「Those words of gratitude are too much for us .

And thus, my King, on what errand is your visit for today?

」(Elder)「Ah…… the matter with the “outside”, I think that it will soon be time to settle it .

」(Souma)「By “Outside”…… Do you mean the refugee camp?

」(Elder) When the Elder asked, I gave a silent nod .

I believed I had resolved the list of the problems that this country had when I was summoned to this world, to some degree .

The food shortage was resolved, the country was united .

The foreign enemies were repelled, and as for the Demon Lord Territory, we had made an arrangement to deal with them by establishing a secret alliance with the Empire, then the last problem that I had been left with was this refugee problem .

Outside the Capital City Parnam’s ramparts, there were settlements of the refugees from the north that were fleeing from the Demon Lord Territory’s appearance .

Although they were called settlements, it was only a gathering of tents or huts .

Among those various races of the refugees who were gathered at that place, only the Mythical Wolf Tribe, due to the leverage of the special skill that they had, was able to elevate themselves out from that place .

However, it was just a mere several percent compared to the total number of refugees .

There were many refugees that still lived in that refugee camp .

For the time being, they received aid for minimal amounts of food and other necessities, even during the times of trouble .

However, this couldn’t continue for long .

There was the matter of sanitation, and if they received aid for too long, then this might give birth to friction amongst the citizens .

If it was possible, I want them to choose their own way of life as this country citizens and be self-reliant, just like what the Mythical Wolf Tribe had done…… but it seems that this will be difficult .

Their desire is 『To return to my home country』 .

If they become this country’s citizens, then it’s the same as abandoning the return to their home country .

Considering that their wish was to return to their home country one day when the Demon Lord Territory’s had been driven away, this was something that they wouldn’t possibly accept .

I had dispatched my subordinates numerous times to the refugee camp and tried to persuade them, but they all failed to reach any agreements .

『I want to return to my home country』, 『Until then, I want to stay in this place』, since it was clear what they had in mind, we didn’t argue that much with them .

…… However, there were no much time left .

「Soon it will be winter .

With those crude tents or huts, the frail people like the children or elderly might freeze to death .

Before that happens, I intend to personally urge them to come through with a decision .

」(Souma)「Your Majesty……」(Elder)「For this reason, first I want to send the Elder as my envoy to the refugee camp .

Then, convey that I will visit .

With this, there will be less chance of chaos .

」(Souma)「…… As you wish .

」(Elder) Then, the Elder stood up and knelt on the floor .

「We, the Mythical Wolf tribe, had already been rescued by Your Majesty’s hand .

If it is possible…… Please also rescue our other brethren .

」(Elder) The Elder said this as he bowed his head down low, but I scratched my head .

「…… I will try as much as I can .

」(Souma)「Isn’t this is where you should be saying, 『Leave it to me』?

」(Liscia) Liscia might say this, but that will just be an empty promise .

「I will try to persuade them, but…… The ones who will decide in the end, is not me .

They will be the one who decide their own futures .

If they follow this decision, then I must decide on how to deal with them .

」(Souma)「Souma……」(Liscia) What I wish for…… is for them to make their decisions, not by seeing the『Ideal』, but the 『Reality』…… ☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽ [1] Kikkorou is a parody of Kikkoman, a very famous soysauce producer and brewery which is now an international food and drink company based in Japan .

Its main products and services include soy sauce, food seasoning and flavoring, mirin, shouchuu, and sake, juice and other beverages, pharmaceuticals, and restaurant management services .

Its logo is a kanji for thousand in the center of an hexagon .

[2] What Poncho say is actually ご機嫌麗しゅうなのです which is a very polite greeting .

The kin of Gokigenyou .

Nowadays, only used in Rakugo or Theater .

Thinking of using “May many years of happy days befall my gracious sovereign”, but this is too Shakespearean .

[3] This is Japanese Worcester Sauce, not the English Worcester Sauce[4] Actually “Sauce for Konamono” 粉物用ソース .

Konamono is a type of flour-based food like takoyaki, okonomiyaki and other teppan-yaki variants .

In Indonesia, it will be the ubiquitous “bakwan” and “fritters” for the westerners .

[5] ソースの味って……男の子だよな is a quote from 孤独のグルメ Kodoku no Gurume, 'Solitary Gourmet' is an ongoing Japanese cuisine seinen manga series written by Masayuki Kusumi and illustrated by Jiro Taniguchi .

It’s from one panel where the MC is commenting on his food .

[6] Yakisoba:Okonomiyaki:Monjayaki:Takoyaki:Sobameshi:[7] Only in Japan, will you put noodles between bread .

The difference is that in yakisoba-pan, you use yakisoba, in Naporitan-pan you use pasta in tomato-sauce (Naporitan is Japan-style pasta dish – a Youshoku .

)Yakisoba-pan:Naporitan-pan:[8] Hilde is referring Liscia as ohime-san .

Not the usual ohime-sama .

Interesting way of choice .

[9] Maltese dog