Anime Episode 26

Ahead, I See No Ancestors; Behind, I Find No Followers is 26th episode of the "Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki" Anime adaptation.

''On the last night of the year, Souma is called by the previous king, Albert, to speak with him and Queen Elisha. Albert reveals a stunning truth. Once Souma knows "everything", he is left with much in his heart to consider.''

Summary
Souma meet up with the former king and queen and is happy that he is finally able to, explaining that he requested a meeting many times, but was told they will meet one day and the former king will tell him everything. Albert states he will tell him everything if that's what he desires. Souma states he has three questions. The first is that when he was summoned, Albert immediately gave him his throne and even offered his daughter, and that is unnatural for someone you don't know, which makes Souma wonder why he was able to entrust him everything. The second is Georg's devotion, which was also unnatural that he would even ready to sacrifice his life for someone he never met, making Souma wonder to whom his loyalty really was. And third, Souma wonders why Albert didn't meet him until now. Albert confirms that this is all that Souma wish to know and then states that all three questions are linked to a single thing. Starting with the third question, Albert explains that they debated if they should tell him or not tell him anything. Albert wonder if Souma ever wished a do-over at life and Souma confirms, wondering if he could do certain things better and save more lives.

Albert starts telling and old story of a certain king, a mediocre king. One day, a request came for him to summon a hero and the king did, intending to turn him over to the great western nation, however the hero stated they should increase the nation's wealth and military might. The king sensed talent and appointed the hero as prime minister, who then lived up to the expectations and enacted a number of reforms. The kingdom started to improve, however since the reforms agitated the rich, he incurred the ire of the aristocracy. They then tried to convince the king to get rid of the man, but the man had an ally, the kingdom's army general who saw the young man's talent and backed him up. As the man enemies increased, the king gave in and dismissed the young man. The young man took shelter in the city of the army general's castle. The king thought this will prevent dividing the country and the young man will get to live, however, within a year the neighbouring country attacked the kingdom. The army general sends his forces to fight the invaders, but at the same time the aristocrat's forces staged a revolt, and being outnumbered the army general fell, along with his castle and the young man. The neighbouring country and the aristocrat's forces then advanced towards the king, who tried assemble his troops, however as he did nothing while the young man and the army general was killed, his troops no longer trusted him. Having no choice, the king recruited a volunteer militia, however that failed as well, as the young man's reforms helped the people, and they saw the king as the reason why the young man died and turned their backs to him. Eventually the king was isolated facing a large army, but had brought it all by himself.

Souma states Albert sounds like he witnessed it and Albert confirms, but actually he was shown it by his wife's ability. Albert asks Souma to not tell anyone and reveals that his wife is able to use dark magic, which allows her to transfer memories to people who are in the past. Albert continues the story, where Albert regretted dismissing Souma and even should have given him his throne, not only making him prime minister. Elisha states Albert is a failure, but using her magic, she can convey his failure to his past self. After explaining her ability, Elisha apologizes and explains she chose him before of memories from the future. Up until that moment, no matter what wise husband she chose, the kingdom always perished, whether by invasion of foreign enemies, war with the demons, insurrection by the nobility, or uprising by the people. While the kingdom is about to perish again, this was the first time it lasted that long and the first time she had a child. Albert then agrees and decides to send his memories right after the summoning of the hero.

Albert apologizes to Souma, even though his current self hasn't done anything, he in a way relived what his other self did and feels guilt for dismissing Souma. As that answers the first and third question, Souma then realizes that Albert perhaps told this story to Georg and Albert confirms. Normally people will think the king gone mad, but Georg believed him and formed the plan to get rid of the corrupt aristocrats. Castor became suspicious, but they couldn't tell him the truth and he ended up causing trouble to Souma. Albert is happy with his decision as the kingdom is currently saved. Souma wonder from what point they changed the future and Albert states its from the beginning. Elisha explains that they had Liscia with Souma from the start. In the other future, they met in Randel Castle and she ended up recognizing his talent and fall in love with him. After Souma was dismissed, she made a personal plea to reverse the decision, but Albert feared the aristocrats and didn't listen to his daughter. Disappointed, she returned to Randel Castle, where she perished as well. Souma wonders about his other friends like Hakuya and Poncho, but Albert explains they weren't around and he also didn't make his Gemstone Broadcast as Albert didn't gave his permission due to majority disagreeing for Souma to use it outside of traditional use. Souma realizes the Gemstone Broadcast was a tremendous turning point as he recruited most of his friends using it. But he was able to use it thanks to Liscia giving him legitimacy through they engagement. As Albert told him everything, he now intends to leave the castle and live in secret. Souma wonders why and Albert explains that if the former king stays around too long, it will give people ideas. Souma thanks them and leaves, but before he leaves the room, he wants to ask one last question. Souma asks if in the other future, they ever found Souma and Liscia's bodies. Albert states the castle was burn to ashes and they couldn't find anything. Souma states the Liscia may have lived and as he would not have let her die without putting up a fight and would have taken her out of the castle without any concern for shame or honor. That makes Albert and Elisha happy.

Liscia joins Souma at the balcony and wonders what he talked about with her father, but Souma states he can't say it yet. Liscia accepts it, believing there must be a good reason and when the time comes, Souma will tell her. The two remain on the balcony waiting for the New Year's fireworks. Souma hugs Liscia, telling her he needed to tell her something before Aisha and Juna. He tells her he loves her and asks her to marry him. Liscia states she loves him as well and they kiss.

The next day, Souma wishes happy new year to his friends. He tells Hakuya to continue helping him and support the kingdom. Souma expects Poncho to do great things with his taste buds and find even more ingredients for use. He asks Roroa to keep on supporting the kingdom financially. Souma turns to Juna stating he intends to increase the number of Gemstone Broadcast programs, and wants Juna to keep nurturing the hopes of the people. He tells Tomoe that her ability will become even more important as the kingdom grows. He then tells Aisha to continue keeping him safe and be careful to not eat too much. Turning to Liscia, she places her arm on his mouth, stating he doesn't need to tell her anything as she will continue to support him. Souma then explains that the future of the kingdom has been left in his hands, but he can't do it alone and will need the help of the whole kingdom. He explains that they need to keep doing what they can do and that will build the future of the kingdom.

Characters in Order of Appearance
Characters in italics debuted here.
 * Kazuya Souma
 * Albert Elfrieden
 * Elisha Elfrieden
 * Liscia Elfrieden
 * Hakuya Kwonmin
 * Poncho Panacotta
 * Roroa Amidonia
 * Juna Doma
 * Tomoe Inui
 * Aisha Udgard

Trivia

 * This Episodes adapts Light Novel Volume 04 Final Chapter (Part 2) & Bonus Story (The Last 3 Pages)
 * The title is adapted from Chinese poem On a Gate-tower at Yuzhou, written by Chen Zi'ang.
 * It's unknown if the anime will go further into the light novels, given this is a good stopping point.
 * In the previous timeline, Souma had Hakuya's job and made his reforms all the same; however, the corrupt nobles caused a rebellion.
 * The reason the king had Liscia engaged with Souma in the current timeline is because she would always fall in love with Souma.