How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom (2021–2022): Season 1, Episode 2 - If You Possess an Aptitude, We'll Make Use of It - full transcript

This world has magic
and strange creatures.

So if you want to fly
you can just ride a wyvern.

Large, domesticated creatures pull wagons

and steel warships are moved
by giant sea dragons.

There are no light bulbs,

but the shining moss inside streetlamps
luminates the city at night

and they cook using firewood,
a furnace, and fire element magic.

In this world, they don't know

about science, but they can do
most things with magic.

In other words,
without magic and strange creatures,

this country's level of technology
is not very high.



They're far from
having an industrial revolution

and they still follow a feudal system.

And I am currently the king

of such a country.

ORIGINAL STORY BY DOJYOMARU

A magic test?

According to the records,

heroes who are summoned from another world

are sometimes endowed with

some kind of magic
when they come to this world.

In other words,

you want to check to see
if I am able to use magic too?

I just need to touch this?

Yes.



If you are able to use magic now,

your mind will tell you
what kind of magic that is.

Really… Well isn't that helpful.

How was it?

It seems I am able to use magic too.

But when will I ever use this magic?

Souma, I'm coming in.

What's going on?

You're here, Liscia?

Um… You're controlling
the pens with magic, right?

I guess you can say that.

All I know is that I have

the ability to copy my consciousness
onto objects and manipulate them.

So I'm not moving those pens myself.

They're moving independently
based on a copy of my consciousness.

I named this ability Living Poltergeist.

I know it sounds a little immature.

I don't know about that,

but it sure is a strange type of magic.

I can't move any more than
three objects for now,

and it seems like
they have to be close to me.

But with this ability,

I can focus my consciousness on

multiple tasks and take care
of them simultaneously.

In other words…

In other words…

It's so helpful when doing paperwork.

Thanks to this,
I can get so much work done.

Without this ability, I would've been
buried under a mountain of paperwork.

It seems to me that you are
buried under paperwork even now.

By the way, what's all this fuss about?

-We're excavating buried treasures.
-Buried treasures?

More accurately, we're looking through
unexplained expenditures.

We're comparing the budget request forms
with revenue and expense statements.

Even if the amount of expenses
is equal to the amount requested,

if there are more entries than planned,

they may have squandered the money
in order to use up the budget.

Or it could be a ruse
to cover up embezzlement.

We're checking those
and if we find any fraud,

we're making the related parties
pay for the losses.

If a single person is embezzling money,

we'll have them pay us back.

If they cannot pay,
we'll arrest them and seize their assets.

Why do you have to go that far?

You got enough money to pay the empire
by selling national treasures, right?

Yeah, for now

I don't have to worry about
being handed over to the empire.

But to get this country's
economy back on its feet,

we will need much more money.

And of course, manpower as well.

I wonder if Souma and Liscia

are getting along?

Those two

will be all right, I'm sure.

Okay.

I guess you're right.

-Oh, I fell asleep?
-Good morning, Liscia.

Good morning.

Since when were you there?

When? A little while ago.

Why?

Well, I noticed you were sound asleep…

We finished what we can for now.

Do you want to go back to sleep?

No.

I'm fine. What about you?

You look like you didn't get any sleep.

I'm planning on going to sleep after this.

But can I borrow you for a second?

Right now?

There's something I wanted to show you.

Hey, don't grab on so hard.

But it's pretty scary.

How pitiful.

Isn't the man supposed to
hold onto the reins?

I can't help it.
It's my first time riding a horse.

It is?

In my world,
even if you couldn't ride a horse,

you could ride
a lot of other useful vehicles.

The world you lived in…

-Hey, Souma…
-What?

Did you have to leave behind any family

or…

-Lovers?
-No.

My grandpa, who was my last family member,
died before I came here.

-I'm sorry.
-Don't worry about it.

Grandpa lived a long life. And so,

I have nobody waiting for me to return.

I'm not really itching to go back either.

I see.

Stop here.

They're beautiful,
covered in morning mist.

Beautiful, huh?

Is this what you wanted to show me?

Yeah.

This inedible field is the cause
of this country's food shortage.

Inedible field? What do you mean?

It's exactly how it sounds.

These are all cotton fields.

Oh, that's what you mean by inedible.

Long story short,
the increase of cotton fields

caused this country's food shortage.

What?

The expansion of
the Demon Lord's Domain started it.

Until now, the northern countries
mainly produced cotton,

but because of the demons,
their production levels plummeted.

By the way, in this world,
it gets warmer as you go north, huh?

It's not like that in your world?

It was the opposite in my country.

Never mind that, though.

Because the supply decreased,
the price of cotton increased.

Because you can sell as much as you make,

the farmers of this country
stopped farming food crops

and they all started growing cotton.

Crops that are grown to be sold
rather than to feed people

are called cash crops.

Because all the farmers
started to grow nothing but cash crops,

this country's
food self-sufficiency rate went down.

That's why we have a food shortage?

No, we could've imported
however much food we needed.

That's right. Since we can
sell cotton at a high price,

we can use that money to buy food.

Right. However,
then the price of cotton collapsed.

Seeing that it was profitable,

other countries began
producing cotton too.

I guess supply exceeded demand
on a worldwide scale.

As a result, this country, which was
reliant on the export of cotton,

was suddenly put in a tough spot.

We didn't have enough money
to buy food from other countries.

When the import volume decreases,

obviously the price of food circulating
within the country soars.

And the lower your income is,
the harder you're hit.

That is one of the issues
eating away at this country.

I didn't know.

How could I not know such a thing?

As a person of authority,
I'm ashamed of myself.

Don't beat yourself up about it.

It's not too late to learn
about these things.

Is that why you wanted to show this to me?

Yeah.

Liscia, you will eventually
lead this country.

So, I wanted you to
know about these things.

So that you can manage

this country even after I am gone.

PRINCIPALITY OF AMIDONIA

LISCIA ELFRIEDEN

First, we'll limit how many
cash crops people can plant

and have them plant food crops again
to raise the self-sufficiency rate.

We'll support them
by granting government subsidies.

We should start with soybeans, which have

a wide range of usage and potatoes,
which can handle unstable weather.

Are you listening?

Yeah, I am.

Agrarian reform doesn't happen overnight.

So for the time being,

the government will buy out
foods that are both imported

and made domestically and sell them
for less than what we bought them for.

Wouldn't that leave us in debt?

I'm hoping to cover
the difference with exports.

We have to find a replacement for cotton,
which was the main source of income.

That'll be hard.

Well, that aside…

You're the king, so why are
you eating in a place like this?

Don't worry about that.

The entire castle is trying to
be frugal right now.

We can't splurge on food.

Even still…

It's good to see you, Princess Liscia.

Or should I refer to you
as Queen Liscia now?

Oh… I'm not yet…

Souma, this is the captain
of the Royal Guard,

Ludwin Arcs.

I'm Souma Kazuya.

I'm technically the king of this country.

I'm Ludwin Arcs.

I've heard rumors

about your amazing work
from the bureaucrats.

Then tell those bureaucrats,

"If you have time to be rumoring,
get more work done."

Roger that.

-May I have breakfast with you?
-I don't mind.

While I'm here, may I ask you one thing?

If it's something I can answer.

Is the reform you are planning

going well?

Not really.

I especially need talented workers.

Aside from Marx, the prime minister,

everyone else is not much help.

The retainers of the previous king
were handed over to me,

but they are the ones who let this country
fall into this state in the first place.

-I am guilty of that as well.
-Hey, Souma…

Someone who tells me what I want to know

and willingly works on
what I want them to work on.

That's the kind of retainer
I want for myself.

Using the gemstone broadcast
to recruit talent?

Yeah.

The gemstone broadcast
covers the entire country, right?

Yes.

As long as you have a working setup,

whatever is said inside
the castle's gemstone room

can be heard anywhere in the country.

Then that's perfect for reaching
large amounts of people.

It's usually used for
the king's New Year's speech

or when issuing important decrees.

I'm sure it's the first time using it
to recruit talent.

How do you usually recruit people?

Let's see…

You use personal connections

or hold a written exam
and hire whoever passes.

That limits things a lot, doesn't it?

By the way,
what is this country's literacy rate?

Half of the people can read
and about a third of the people can write.

That's not good!

You can't tell how capable someone is
just by their literacy.

But because of that,
70% of the people can't take the exam.

You're missing out on
so many diamonds in the rough.

You're absolutely right.

Well, once the economy becomes stable,

we can slowly start
fixing those things too.

More importantly,
we have to recruit talent for now.

What kind of people
do you want to recruit?

I have a statement in mind already.

Well, I'm just going to borrow the words
of a hero I admire.

Hero?

Yes, an unscrupulous hero
in chaotic times.

Near the fall of the Han dynasty, Cao Cao
founded Wei, one of the Three Kingdoms.

He was so invested in recruiting

talented individuals that he's said
to have had a mania for gathering talent.

In order to do
a widespread search for talent,

he made a declaration
in the 15th year of the Jian'an era.

In there, there is a line
that is quoted to this day.

That is…

If you possess an aptitude,
we'll make use of it.

-Is that the new king?
-He's so young.

This country is currently facing
an unprecedented crisis.

A constant shortage of food,

an economic recession,

an influx of refugees who lost their land
to the Demon Lord's Domain.

All of these are serious issues
eating away at this country.

Some neighboring nations are

waiting to devour our country as well.

Upon seeing this situation,
the previous king

concluded it was
out of his ability to fix things,

and entrusted that to me.

The previous king was a wise ruler

in a time of peace.

However, we are living in turbulent times.

What we need during turbulent times

is not a king who is like a saint,
but a tenacious survivor.

A king like that

will ultimately
protect your families and possessions.

That is why the previous king chose me.

Because in terms of my tenacity,

and only in that aspect,
I was greater than the previous king.

Currently,
I am working on various reforms.

However, I am in serious need
of talented workers.

And that is why
I am recruiting talented individuals.

In this period of turmoil,

we don't need someone who is peaceful.

We need someone who excels
in a certain aspect.

I don't care what kind of talent it is.

If you have enough pride to say,
"Nobody can beat me in this aspect,"

come before me.

Your level of education, age,
social class, background,

race, or sex does not matter.

Whether or not you can read or write,

whether you own a lot or little,
whether you're pretty or not,

whether you have a shady past or not
doesn't matter.

"I am better at this than anyone.

Nobody in this country
can beat me in this aspect."

If you can say that about something,
show it to me.

I'm sure some of you are unsure
if your talent is really useful.

However, that is not for you to decide.

Whether or not this country
needs your talent

will be decided by me, the king.

I don't care if people say
your talent is stupid.

So do not hesitate!

If I determine that your talent
is useful to this country,

I will show my utmost respect

and welcome you as my retainer.

If you are still hesitant,
here is what I will do.

If your talent proves to be
second to none in this country,

as king of Elfrieden I promise

to issue a Certificate of Peerlessness

and give you a reward in cash.

Now did that motivate you a little?

Come on, guys!

You can sign up yourself
or recommend others.

If you recommend someone,
you will receive a third of the reward.

If someone is hiding and acting like
a recluse during this crisis,

drag them out yourselves.

Also, some talents will have
a lot of competition,

like being strong or singing well.

We'll have those people compete beforehand

to decide on one representative.

So keep that in mind.

Well then, those with talent,

come shake my hand
at the royal capital of Parnam!

What was that at the end?

-I made it up on the spot.
-Seriously…

I hope a lot of people

with the talents I need come forward.

‪So, your mind is already made up?

‪Yes, Father.

Subtitle translation by: Kiko Morita