Chapter 75
This happened some time after we had finished inspecting the roadwork on the highway connecting Rudek and Golbel and returned to the capital.
"Roa, I have something important to discuss."
Frein, who had come to my office, had an extremely serious expression on his face.
Frein was in charge of the Tenth Knight Order whenever I was away. He was a vital presence. If anything troublesome had happened, I was more than willing to help.
"...First, there's somewhere I'd like you to come with me. Do you have time right now?"
"I don't mind, but what's happened?"
"It'll be quicker if you see it for yourself first. Also, if possible, we'd like Prince Zelando to accompany us..."
When I turned my gaze toward Prince Zelando, who was relaxing in my room as though it were perfectly natural for him, he casually replied, "I do not object."
"Surely we can come along too, can't we?"
Frein replied to Rapilia with a pointed remark. "Of course. I especially want to hear Rapilia's opinion."
"Can I come too?"
When Lufa asked, he answered, "Of course. The more opinions, the better."
I had thought it was a serious matter judging by how serious he looked, but apparently that wasn't the case.
Without understanding what was going on, Frein led us out of the capital.
After riding my beloved horse Arrow for a while, we reached a meadow some distance from Rudektrad and spotted some figures. Ruzel and the twins were there.
"Oh, Roa, you've come. The prince is with you too?"
Ruzel, who had been engrossed in conversation with the twins, noticed us, raised a hand, and then bowed to the prince again.
"You're late."
"Time is money."
Leaving the twins alone for the moment, once everyone had dismounted, I asked again.
"What on earth is going on?"
"What do you mean, 'what's going on'?" Ruzel said.
"Roa, isn't there something you haven't told us?" Frein pressed me as well.
Something I hadn't told them? ...I couldn't think of anything at all. I was sure I'd told them both everything important, though.
Seeing that I had no idea what they were getting at, the two pressed me further.
"I hear Golbel held quite an enjoyable event."
"And the twins told us that Golbel is even building a dedicated facility for it."
Only then did I finally realize what they meant.
"Oh, do you mean the horse races?"
"Of course that's what it is. What else could it be? To begin with, I hadn't even heard that you'd held something called horse racing when you went to Golbel on a goodwill mission."
Ruzel protested, pursing his lips.
"Huh? Didn't I mention it?"
"No, I didn't hear about it. I did hear that the twins had raced some Golbel soldiers and won, but..."
I see. Well, we'd had more important things to deal with then. I had regarded the horse racing as little more than an afterthought, so maybe I'd only mentioned it in passing.
Frein and Ruzel were two of the Tenth Knight Order's biggest horse fanatics. Naturally, the horse races had caught their interest.
"...Hm? So does that mean... you want to hold horse races in Rudek too?"
"Of course that's what it means. And don't you think this place would make a suitable venue?" At Ruzel's words, Frein and the twins looked at me, clearly satisfied.
"A suitable venue? This is probably land directly under the royal family's control. Won't they be angry if you build something here without permission?"
"Exactly. So, Roa, I want you to persuade the king."
"What?"
Things were moving far too quickly. Weren't we going to discuss whether to build it in the first place? In their minds, construction of a horse-racing venue was already a done deal. Damn it, these two idiots weren't going to stop!
Frein and Ruzel now held positions of some importance. If these two wanted something, it would become a major undertaking.
The situation within the country was calm, so the king probably wouldn't say no, but we'd still have to consider the scale and budget, too. Now, what should I do...
"I will persuade Father."
While I was mulling this over, Prince Zelando cut in.
"Prince, really? We would be most grateful."
At Frein's words, the prince replied magnanimously.
"Indeed. In exchange, I would like this to be a project centered around me. Is that acceptable?"
"Of course."
"Then there is no problem. Teacher, will you leave it to me?"
"I don't mind, but are you sure that's all right?"
I couldn't help feeling that Frein and Ruzel had somehow taken advantage of me.
The prince came and went from my office as naturally as could be, so I felt comfortable speaking casually with him. Still, I wondered whether it was appropriate for his subjects to use him so casually.
"Yes. It benefits me as well. In fact, Father told me to gradually take charge of more matters myself as preparation for inheriting the throne. I thought these horse races could serve as part of that effort. Judging by what I saw in Golbel, the people of the capital should enjoy them too."
...I see. If that's the case, I have no objections. If the event succeeded, it would improve the citizens' impression of the prince. And, having already learned from Golbel's example, he had judged the likelihood of failure to be low.
On top of that, he planned to use it to build up his own accomplishments. Well, the prince had become quite calculating. I wonder whose influence that was.
In any case, with the prince's approval secured, Frein, Ruzel, and the twins wasted no time beginning a discussion of specific construction plans right there.
Apparently, they planned to use as their model the horse-racing facility the twins had heard about from the King of Golbel during our inspection tour.
"The course built in Golbel was flat, wasn't it? Should we make this one flat too?"
In response to Frein's words,
"But if it's merely flat, my beloved horse, Stanley, won't be able to show what he can really do."
Ruzel protested.
"Then let's build a slope."
"What about the ground, then?"
"They said they spread wooden pieces over the ground in Golbel. Perhaps that's an idea born from a country where woodworking flourishes..."
"It would be difficult to get that ready quickly in Rudek."
"Then shall we use sand?"
"Sand would be readily available."
"No, wouldn't that put my Grien at a disadvantage this time?"
"Then how about we mow this grassland short and build two types of courses, one with ordinary ground and one with short grass?"
As I watched the four of them heatedly debate, somewhat dumbfounded, Arrow let out a huge yawn beside me.