Manga Chapter 049

"Chapter 49: Weighing Nostalgia Against the Future (2)" is the 49th chapter of the "Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki" Manga adaptation.

Summary
Kazuya's group hurry to the source of the screams. They find an adventuring party holding off bandits that were trying to take refugee children. Carla and Owen help the adventurers while Hilde treats the injured with Febral. The thief, Juno, gets in a tough spot and Souma manages to fend off the bandit's blade with some thrown rocks and his beginner training. Liscia takes out the bandit and berates Souma for getting into combat.

Juno asks why Souma knows her name and remembers that the mercenaries were given a feast to celebrate protecting the villagers from the Flame Pierrots. The pair join the others when the fighting is over with Juno not getting her answer. Apparently these people were slave merchants and thier employees that didn't make the cut given the strict test. They believed that refugees weren't the same as people since the government wouldn't do anything for them. Souma yells that this isn't true but quickly catches himself. They send Carla back to the castle to tell Hakuya Kwonmin of this while leaving the bandits to the adventurers.

They meet with the chief of the villagers and his younger sister. They thank the king for helping save some of thier people. Souma has come for the choice of the refugees: come to the kingdom as citizen or leave the kingdom. Komain tries to speak up but Jirukoma says decisions shouldn't be based on emotion. Souma wants a conclusion because he doesn't want tensions between those of the kingdom and the refugees to escalate any further so he's pressing for a conclusion. It's cruel but it has to be done.

Characters in Order of Appearance
Characters in italics debuted here.
 * Carla Vargas
 * Kazuya Souma
 * Owen Jabana
 * Liscia Elfrieden
 * Dece
 * Julia
 * Augus
 * Febral
 * Juno Minazuki
 * Hilde Norg
 * Jirukoma
 * Komain