[Another Perspective] The King Visits

Interesting.
This has been interesting.

For the first time in a long time, I can’t contain my elation.

“Sergio, this is a good learning experience.
Take my place for three months and learn how to rule the Country.”

“Your Highness.
This is good.
Such an opportunity does not come along frequently.”

Sergio is a smart and good-looking boy, just like me, and I have no doubt that he will grow up to be a great ruler.
Sergio is a smart, good-looking boy like me, and if he grows up, he will surely become a great monarch.

But he lacks ambition.
He seeks stability and peace and does not want to fight with other countries.

In a peaceful world, that would be fine.

However, if our country, which does not have outstanding power, wants to survive in this war-torn world, it is not good enough.

If our country remains in the same position while other countries are accumulating power and grabbing territory, we will be swallowed up quickly.

Being strong is synonymous with defending one’s own country.

“Fa, Father.
I understand that, but why the two of you? If you just want to make sure they are useful, one of you should be fine.”

Sergio said this with a troubled look on his face, but I knew what he really meant.
I’m just anxious.

I snicker and take off my cloak.

“Not only do we do internal surveillance and border reconnaissance, but we also send our secret agents into enemy territory, and we do more intelligence work than any other country.
No problem.”

“No, but… there is a possibility that they are secretly planning an invasion…”

“If they invade without us knowing about it, we won’t be able to get there in time anyway.
It will be up to the lords who protect the frontier.
That is why it is essential to have competent nobles and lords, strong knights and powerful magicians.
Therefore, we must go and see this lord who has slayed a dragon with only a small village.”

Sergio looked displeased, but kept his mouth shut as he said this.
He laughed, looking at me sideways, and opened his mouth again.

“Normally, I would summon a single lord to the royal capital immediately, but he is the lord of a small village with only a hundred people.
If I called on him, the village would more than likely be destroyed.
If you want to see him, you will have to go and see him.”

“But even Lord Aperta…”

Sergio said, and Aperta shook his head from side to side expressionlessly.

“I will not allow His Majesty to be the only one to enjoy such a rare event.
If you leave me in King’s Landing, Your Majesty will be grounded as well.”

“Wait a minute, this has nothing to do with me!”

I refute Aperta’s statement.
But Aperta cowered his shoulders without replying.
No matter.
This man is no leverage when it comes to this.

“…You see, Sergio, we have no choice.
We will be away for three months.
As acting king, you will do your best.
Yes, let’s take Pista with us.
We are the same age, are we not?”

“Yes, Pista-sama is nine years old this year.”

“I see.
I’m going to be nine years old now.
Good, it will be just a good learning experience.”

And so, we decided to leave King’s Landing for the first time in a long while.

Well, Sergio was still sulking, but when I was his age, I was really performing my duties desperately as king, not as deputy.
I tolerated him for about three months.

I felt like a boy on the road for the first time in a long time, and along the way I even put on my armor and made the rounds of the wagons as a guard.

Viscount Panamera and his men, who had taken over my guard, were surprised, but my Royal Guard didn’t react much.

They were not amused.

The king always wears a disguise so that no one can know he is away from the capital, but since he cannot hide the fact that he is a messenger from the capital, it was impossible to see his normal appearance in the towns he stopped in.

When they see the royal coat of arms, they all kneel in unison and turn their faces to the ground.
On the rare occasion, there were those who looked at us while standing, but they were soon forced to sit down by the people around them.

It was no use, but it was no fun.

This is the same in the royal city, where the nobles show various strict attitudes to show their authority and bind the residents by law.
If this is loosened, some residents will have an opportunity to revolt.

This is especially true in a country like Japan, which is expanding its territory rapidly.

As a result, the inhabitants naturally kneel at the sight of the emblems of lords and royalty.

“…I don’t intend to play the politics of fear, but this is how the rest of the country sees us.”

I look out from inside the carriage and mutter quietly.
Aperta nods at my words and then snorts.

“We have no choice but to stabilize the country.
We will firmly distinguish between nobles and commoners and create a clear disparity.
This disparity must be strictly controlled by law, and those who deviate from it must be punished.
This way, the country will be long, strong, stable, and prosperous.”

Aperta said this and suddenly turned his gaze next to me.
There is Pista, his eyes transfixed on the view outside the window.

Compared to the serious and quiet Sergio, Pista, the fifth son, is very active.
He is not fond of studying, and is not interested in politics, although he is interested in swords and horses.

His aptitude for magic is the wind of the four elemental magics, and he thinks that in the future he will be entrusted with a knighthood.

Aperta, however, has a different view.
Apparently, he is planning to make Pista the lord of a large city.

The attempt is interesting, but not suitable by any stretch of the imagination.
Well, the lord of the village we are heading to is also eight years old, so it might be a good stimulus in that sense.

“Your Majesty.”

“Hmm?”

Aperta points out the window and opens his mouth.

Aperta points out the window and speaks up, “In a little while you will see that remote village.
It’s been a long road, but we’re finally there.”

“I see.
I saw the village on the way, but even with 300 people… no, even with 1,000 people, I don’t think we would have been able to defeat the dragon… hmm? What is that?”

Suddenly, I noticed something at the end of the road and tilted my head.

“Is that… a wall, I don’t think so, a city wall…?”

Aperta couldn’t say for sure, either, as if she wasn’t sure.

But the honest child said exactly what he saw.

“…It’s a great wall.”

A castle wall

Yes, definitely a castle wall.
It was definitely not a small village.

“Should I call Viscount Panamera?”

“No, wait.
No, wait.
There is no reason for it to lie.
He cannot expect us to actually come and see it, so he is not talking about harming us.”

“But there is a big discrepancy between the two stories.
Even if we had started building it before the Viscount came to King’s Landing, there is no way we could have completed it in a couple of months.”

“…That’s right.
Okay, call the Viscount.”

Saying this, Aperta instructed the soldiers, and Panamera immediately appeared.

I call out from inside the carriage to Panamera, who kneels with a troubled look on his face.

“Viscount.
Is that the nameless village? That’s a very different story.”

Panamera looks up at me with serious eyes.

“I, too, am very surprised.
I had no idea that they would build another village…or should I say a town on that scale?”

“…one more? You mean you made that one from scratch?”

I asked again, not understanding what he meant.
Panamera nodded as if it were a matter of course.

“That’s right.
The real village is behind there.
I helped build the walls, so I’m sure of it.”

“…I don’t get the story…you mean the Marquis of Fertio is behind it? But I thought the Viscount said that Van Nay Fertio himself was responsible for the development of the village.”

When I confirmed this again, Panamera answered clearly.

“Yes.
There is no doubt about that.
However, that town is new to me as well, so I cannot speak about it.
I am sorry, but I would like to ask you to head to the town with me.”

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