"How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom" finally began airing in July 2021. Kazuya Souma, who had been living as an ordinary young man, was suddenly summoned to the Kingdom of Elfrieden as a hero one day, and as Kazuya Souma, he immediately became king! Unlike other stories where a hero is summoned from another world and uses his cheat abilities to slay his enemies, the highlight of this work is that the protagonist mainly uses his brain to rebuild the kingdom. In this article, we will introduce the plot of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom ahead of the anime to find out how it will unfold in the future.
The protagonist is summoned to another world as a "hero"
There are two main types of works about other worlds: "reincarnation in another world" in which the protagonist dies in his previous life and is reborn in another world with his memories intact; and "transfer to another world" in which the protagonist is suddenly transferred to another world despite living an ordinary daily life. This work is about transfer to another world, and the protagonist, Kazuya Souma, is a very ordinary student who was transferred to another world after passing the university entrance exam. The reason he was transferred is because he performed the "hero summoning" ritual in the other world, and Kazuya was summoned to the other world as a "hero". What makes this story a little different from other stories about being transported to another world is that despite being transported there, he remains calm and doesn't seem too flustered. In order to quickly grasp the situation, he holds a two-day meeting with the king and the prime minister, and gets a general understanding of the situation in neighboring countries and within the country. Immediately after the meeting, the king suddenly announces three things without any consultation: "abdication," "appointment of Kazuya as the new king," and "engagement of his daughter to Kazuya." Souma Kazuya is no longer a university student, but instead becomes the 14th king under the name "Soma Kazuya."
Magic that can be used after being transferred to another world
In this other world, all humans can use magic to a greater or lesser extent, and Soma, who was transferred to this world, also becomes able to use magic after being transferred. His magical ability is called "Living Poltergeists," and it allows him to copy his consciousness into objects and control them. When he first appears, he can control up to three objects, and if he uses an object as a medium, he can think about multiple things at the same time. He can do the paperwork of three people at once, which greatly increases his work efficiency. However, in the early stages, he was not able to control it perfectly, and the contents of the documents were sometimes out of sync... At first, he could only control magic in close range, but as his ability grew, the distance he could control increased, and he was able to participate in battles from a long distance through a medium.
The "Three Lords" and the "Forbidden Army" who are the pillars of the kingdom
There are four factions in the kingdom's military forces, and the human Ludwin Arx leads the "Forbidden Army," which is the king's direct army. The army general is the beastman Georg Carmine. The air force general is the half-dragon Castor Vargas. The Navy Admiral is Excel Walter, who has lived for over 500 years. These four have their own territories and have been protecting the kingdom as the heads of their organizations. However, at this time, only the "Forbidden Army" has pledged loyalty to Soma. The remaining three princes respect the personality of the previous king, and are said to have not yet pledged loyalty to Soma, who ascended to the throne as if to usurp his position. By the way, Castor is married to Excel's daughter, and the two are also relatives.
Five subordinates with special talents
"Just use talent if it's there." Soma, who believed that he could not trust anyone who had served the kingdom up until that point, except for the Prime Minister who had served the King, sent out a call for talented people through the Imperial Rescript on the Voting of the King's Word broadcast in order to find vassals he could trust. Educational background, age, race, sex, status, and origin were all irrelevant. Furthermore, he did not look for all-round excellent people, but rather people with only one outstanding skill. The five representatives selected from the many applicants were Aisha Udgard, a dark elf who excels in swordsmanship; Juna Doma, who boasts overwhelming singing ability; Hakuya Kuonmin, who is so intelligent that Prime Minister Markus immediately handed him the position of Prime Minister; Tomoe Inui, who can communicate not only with animals but also with monsters; and Poncho Panacotta, who has the best knowledge about food. These five people will be entrusted with important posts in the future to rebuild the kingdom.
Halbert and Kaede
Soma decided to go into the town incognito, wearing his uniform, and headed for the town with Rishia and Aisha. The three of them came to the singing cafe "Lorelei" where Juna works and enjoyed Juna's singing and the food, but at that moment they heard a loud voice arguing from a nearby table. The two were arguing between Halbert, a human from the army, and Kaede, a beast girl from the Forbidden Army. The two are childhood friends, but Halbert, who belongs to the army, does not like Soma, who has become the new king, and he utters abusive remarks about Soma. However, Soma later tells Halbert what the future holds if he rebels, and leaves the matter unanswered. Later, Halbert is brought to the castle by his father and ordered to transfer from the army to the Imperial Guard, and Kaede becomes a staff officer of the Imperial Guard because of her insight. (Kaede is the boss and Halbert is the subordinate.) At first, the two are unreliable, but as the story progresses, they become indispensable to the Imperial Guard.
To the rescue of the Dark Elf Village
Around the time that the city planning called Project Venetinova was started, Aisha received a letter. The letter informed them that a massive landslide had occurred in Shingo Forest, Aisha's hometown, engulfing half the village and leaving many people missing. Upon hearing this, Soma immediately heads to Shingo Forest with 50 people who had participated in the urban planning project as a rescue team. The Dark Elves forbid people of various races from entering the forest, but at the request of Aisha, the chief's daughter, they were allowed to enter the forest as an exception. Soma and his team continue their desperate rescue efforts at the horrific scene. As the number of lives that can and cannot be saved increases, some people lament, "Why are we who have been protecting the forest having to go through this?" Soma rescues the victims while explaining to them the reason for the landslide in a consoling manner.
Final Advice to the Three Lords
After deciding to conquer the Principality of Adminia, Soma meets the Three Lords for the first time through the Imperial Rescript on the Voyage broadcast before that. He issues a final warning to the Three Lords, who have not responded to his repeated requests, asking them whether they will comply or continue to rebel. At this meeting, Admiral Excel promises to swear loyalty to Soma under his command. In fact, Excel was originally connected to Soma through Juna, a spy, and tried to persuade Carmine to the very last moment, but to no avail. Castor and his trusted Georg join the rebels.
Fortresses and Fortresses
The Amidonia Principality army, which began its march after the rebellion of the three dukes, deployed a large army in front of the fortress city of Altomura. Then the lord of Altomura appeared, prostrated himself, and promised to open the city without any resistance. In exchange, the lord said, "I need time to persuade the nobles in the territory," so the Amidonia Principality army decided to wait for a while. However, the lord did not appear until the next day, and asked them to wait even longer the next day. Meanwhile, another battle was taking place at the same time in another place. Kaede and his friends built a fortress overnight in the same way as Toyotomi Hideyoshi's One-Night Castle, and withstood the onslaught of the army and mercenaries. However, the situation becomes increasingly unfavorable as the cannon is brought out. Then the dark elf Suell and his general Ludwin appear. Suell shatters the cannon with an arrow, and Ludwin charges head-on to destroy the cannon.
Soma's Army vs. Castor
Leaving the army to the Imperial Army and the Amidonia Principality Army to Excel and others, Soma takes a small group of aides and heads to Castor, who leads the air force. The means of transportation he uses is the "Battleship Alberto". He forces wheels onto a gigantic battleship equipped with cannons, moves on land, and fires artillery at the Red Dragon Castle where Castor is waiting from long distances. Castor has already cut ties with his wife and son, and left his subordinates in charge of his affairs, showing his strong resolve. After being attacked, he sends his daughter Carla to Alberto to fight back, but then he seems to sense something and decides to stay behind to defend the castle. His prediction turns out to be correct, and a battle begins between Castor and the small number of Soma troops that have arrived on the scene. The Soma forces are overwhelmed by Castor's overwhelming power, which even Aisha cannot match, but an unexpected ambush appears and the situation turns around in an instant...
Georg's resolve
Georg was thought to be the biggest enemy in this battle. However, he never appeared on the battlefield himself, and just watched the battle. Then, when he heard that the air force was on Soma's side and the anti-aircraft barrage had been destroyed, he easily admitted defeat without fighting back. This is because the whole war was a picture drawn by Georg, and his real goal was to gather all the "rogue nobles" who would become a disturbing factor in the kingdom in one place and capture them all at once. As expected, the corrupt nobles who were not convinced by Soma's methods gathered around Georg, who had rebelled. Georg was silent until the air force attacked, but when he heard Georg say "Let's abandon the people and run away" after the anti-aircraft barrage was destroyed, he lost patience and ordered his subordinates to put slave collars on the corrupt nobles. After that, he tried to put a slave collar on himself and end the battle, but... Soma takes the surrendered army to achieve another goal.
Formal Declaration of War on the Principality of Amidonia
After climbing over the big tree of warriors called Georg, Soma declares war on the Principality of Amidonia without taking a break. Soma's target is Van, the capital of the Amidonia Principality. Upon hearing this declaration of war, the Amidonia Principality army, which had been held up in Altmura, hastily returned to the capital, Van. Gaius marches at a speed so fast that the soldiers cannot keep up, without regard for his surroundings, and in the swamps he uses his soldiers as footholds, sacrificing his comrades as he advances. Along the way, the Amidonia Principality army is ambushed by Soma's army and is completely exhausted. Before they know it, their 30,000 soldiers have been reduced to half, 15,000. However, they forcibly conscript villagers along the way, and the number of soldiers at least recovers to 25,000... Just a few dozen kilometers away from Van, the Amidonia Principality army finds itself in a desperate situation, with 50,000 royal soldiers waiting for them.
50,000 Kingdom troops VS 25,000 Amidonia Principality troops
The final battle between the Kingdom and Amidonia Principality armies has finally begun. The Kingdom army has twice as many soldiers, but they are also overwhelming in terms of numbers and high morale. While the Kingdom army has come this far almost unscathed, the Amidonia Principality army is made up of mostly exhausted soldiers from surprise attacks and marches and villagers who were forcibly conscripted, so morale is low and some even run away in the middle of the battle. Seeing the overwhelmingly unfavorable situation, Gaius quickly admitted that it was a losing battle. Gaius sacrifices himself to buy time, lets his son Julius inherit his desire for revenge and escapes, and entrusts everything to him. To show the spirit of the Amidonians, he heads to the final battle, knowing that it will be a losing battle.
Soma VS Gaius
Using a small number of elite soldiers and doubles, Gaius cuts through the royal army and finally comes before Soma's eyes. His demonic spirit overwhelms Soma, and his powerful earth magic and armor overwhelm Soma and Carla. Even so, it seems that he has somehow managed to defeat him using the roasting pot, but Gaius musters his last strength and willpower and stands up...
Summary of "The Rising of the Shield Hero"
So far, we have introduced the plot from the first episode to the battle with the Amidonia Principality Army, which will probably be broadcast in the anime. What did you think? The series is quite long and will continue for a while, but for now, this is the end. There are also characters that we were not able to introduce this time, so please check out the anime for more details.
