How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom - Episode 10 Review - Souma's Clever Attack Against Vargas

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Civil War has begun! Following How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Episode 9, Gaius is about to attack a stronghold city in Elfrieden called Altomura. He has 30,000 troops and wants to occupy the city and take its food supply. The leader of Altomura, a noble named Weist begs Gaius to wait just a little while, first. He tells Gaius that with time, he can persuade an Altomuran faction that would resist Gaius’ army’s occupation.

I’m impressed that Gaius shows restraint, as advised by his son. He doesn’t want to lose any of his soldiers unnecessarily if possible. But Gaius also plans to doublecross Weist and kill him as soon as the gates of Altomura are opened.

Meanwhile, the Forbidden Army is occupied with Carmine’s forces, numbering 40,000. Kaede and her team built a fort almost immediately, with Souma’s expert resource creation and management knowledge. The fort is holding against magic attacks. Kaede and Hal are manning the wall of the fort.

Having to overcome a fort built out of nowhere took Carmine’s army by surprise. They use cannons against the walls, which are almost successful in breaking them. But luckily, dark elves from the God-protected Forest arrive and are able to destroy cannonballs mid-air with archery. We meet an elf named Sur who is grateful for the rescue work the Forbidden Army did during the landslide.

Then Ludwin and the Royal Guard destroy the cannons on horseback!

Aristocrats panic and complain to Carmine. But he is not worried. He discuss with his second-in-command Beowulf that he has some secret plan ready…

Weist reports back to Gaius. The faction hasn’t backed down at all. He buys some more time from Gaius with some gold dust to convince the faction. But this is all just a ploy. We learn that Excel is leading Altomura behind the scenes, as part of Souma’s plan. She contributed the gold. Something big will happen before noon the next day.

Meanwhile, Vargas in Red Dragon City thinks that maybe Souma forgot about his air force, since all of his 10,000 men went to protecting the fort. But Souma makes a surprise move! He was able to put one of the naval flagships on wooden wheels to attack Vargas’ castle with incredible fire power. 

His daughter Carla and the wyvern force attack the battleship. They’re able to stop it by destroying its wheels. They think Souma’s inside the ship commanding and plan to capture him alive. Sorry, suckers! He used Living Poltergeist to control the ship. It’s completely unmanned! This was just a distraction, leaving Vargas defenseless in his castle…

This will probably lead to Vargas joining Souma’s side in the war, or at least taking those wyverns.

Image source: Amazon