Manga Chapter 044

"Chapter 44: A Story of Using Shrimp as Bait to Catch Sea Bream, but Instead Catching a Shark (1)" is the 44th chapter of the "Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki" Manga adaptation. It was first released on December 17, 2021 through "Point Payment" mode on "Overlap:Comic Gardo" Online Publication.

Summary
The Principality of Amidonia's court list off the people's complaints. Julius remembers Souma's words while also wanting to erase the kingdom's influence. He bans the Jewel Voice Broadcast along with all types of art to regain his authority as king even if he was called a tyrant. Souma explains that the people grew restless after that. The people around Van kept viewing the Jewel Voice Broadcast while the authority of the Van castle went on a decline and none of the lords trusted Julius. It grew until a rebellion happened in Northern Amidonia because of the food shortage.

The lord of that region had to go to Van despite not hearing the pleas of the people. Julius decided to take it as a sign to show off his power and brought an army to take the rebellion down. The rebellion was extinguished in a sea of blood but shortly after Julius got more bad news. The people of Van were rioting (thanks to Souma's espionage squad) and asked the Elfrieden Kingdom for help. Naturally the kingdom obliged and took Van.

Maria is saddened and says she'll have to talk with Elfrieden strictly. Souma asks if she can really do that given that the human declaration also acknowledges people's rights so Souma suggest that the people of Van have a referendum asking if they want to be part of the Elfrieden Kingdom. These human rights are the biggest flaw in the Mankind Declaration Treaty causing a deadlock. Souma continues the story he told Jeanne about how a multi-ethnic kingdom rose up to get their independence causing a deadlock. Since the Elfrieden Kingdom is a Multi-Ethnic Nation, Souma saw this flaw and chose not to sign the treaty. Maria sympathizes since her country is also a multi-ethnic nation but can't give up on the treaty. She says the Gran Chaos Empire will stand as a flag that unites humanity.

She then asked about why the kingdom annexed Amidonia and Souma mentions that it wasn't his plan. Souma mentions that as Julius headed back to Van, rebellions were popping up all over Amidonia. Julius no longer knew who he could trust and fled the principality. Amidonia had been fractured so it was no longer a hostile nation. But there were other issues.

Characters in Order of Appearance
Characters in italics debuted here.
 * Julius Amidonia
 * Kazuya Souma
 * Maria Euphoria
 * Glaive Magna
 * Kagetora
 * Kaede Foxia
 * Aisha Udgard
 * Tomoe Inui
 * Roroa Amidonia *mentioned*