Side Story 122: Shandal's Little Adventure (2)

On the journey to North Rudek, Shandal actively struck up conversations with Roa.

This was a rare opportunity to have the renowned strategist, Roa=Stein, all to himself. There were countless things he could ask and learn.

Roa readily answered Shandal's questions. At present, Shandal's greatest concern was how to make Golbel more prosperous, so he put the questions he had been pondering for that purpose to Roa.

Their main topic was the shipyard Roa had proposed. There was no doubt it would be an indispensable industry for Golbel in the years to come. Asking Roa about its operation and future prospects was immensely worthwhile.

To be honest, before coming to Rudek, Shandal had not been particularly interested in his own country.

Of course, he understood that he was in a position where he ought to fulfill his duties as a member of the royal family. But that was only because various people had told him so since he was a child. It was not something Shandal himself had decided.

At the time, Shandal had vaguely assumed that he would one day become king of Golbel, without any particular resolve of his own. He had never imagined that he would be sent to another country as a hostage.

Yet Shandal was here now. Golbel had lost, and his father had made the humiliating choice of effectively surrendering. Shandal remembered his father's smile, as though he had given up on something, and his words.

"Shandal, I am going to put you through a painful ordeal... But I want you to understand. Your father is not abandoning you. A king—and royalty as a whole—must bear responsibility to the nation and its people. That is precisely why a king can remain a king."

――The reason a king is a king――...