Chapter 120: Being Proposed as a Hostage

Even after I was proposed as a hostage, I thought,

There’s one more thing.

The Kingdom of Mainz has a port town called Burgas on the southern coast, facing the sea. It plays an extremely important role in overseas trade and is a major collection point for goods. The taxes collected from there form a major pillar of this country’s economy. The Holy Roman Empire has made "unfrozen ports" a national policy and has been steadily pushing south, finding reasons to intervene in our country. From the Empire’s perspective of wanting an unfrozen port, they want to swallow this country and obtain Burgas. Both the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Mainz are always eyeing this country for annexation. The balance between these two great powers is what this country is currently riding on. Lord Robin has surely understood how extremely dangerous this situation is."

"Yes, I understand."

"Especially the pressure from the Holy Roman Empire is strong, so to counter it our country maintains friendly relations with the Kingdom of Mainz. That is why we have long placed princes of our country in the royal capital of Mainz as a symbol of our bond. Until two years ago, it was Prince Kaines who lived there, but he passed away from illness. We were searching for a replacement, but we could not find a suitable one."

So they sent me there...

"The prince sent to the Kingdom of Mainz will be entrusted with diplomatic affairs with that country. That naturally requires considerable intelligence. Therefore, I concluded that the recently well-regarded Prince Robin would be the ideal candidate. His handling of the Queen is also exquisite, and he is quick-witted. That is why I believe Prince Robin is the only one who fits."

Haaaa, I see.

I had no idea what kind of country the Kingdom of Mainz even was. I was completely anxious about going there. I couldn’t imagine how I would be treated. Would I be treated like a commoner, or worse, like a slave (I didn’t actually think that would happen)? I was filled with anxiety. In this world, I couldn’t search the internet to research it. So I couldn’t ask them to drop me off in a remote village on the border, leave me there until things cooled down, and then pick me up later?

Even though I said all sorts of things, the Prime Minister and I are just the Prime Minister and a prince, and even though I’m 30 years old inside, I’m still only a salesman. I ended up being skillfully convinced. My mother was told that the King wanted to speak with me, and she instructed me to behave normally until then.

After leaving the Prime Minister’s office, I walked down the corridor toward my room in a daze when it suddenly occurred to me: If I’m a hostage, then if the Kingdom of Mainz and this country go to war, I would be killed first, right? I remembered there were many examples of that in the Japanese Sengoku period. If I didn’t want to be killed, couldn’t I just escape on my own? Ah! Is this a flag?!

The next night, I was again sent on patrol with the security team. Of course, Lily and Stevie were my escorts. I thought, Tonight the two of them together, hehe? but Lily immediately attacked first.

"Now is not our shift tonight, you know."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yes, after last time I understood. Last time I tried to calm down Lord Robby’s arousal, but it only made it worse and we couldn’t sleep properly."

Lily said that, but wait... last time Stevie was sleeping soundly, wasn’t she?

"So tonight a different person is on duty. And it’s not Linda, so don’t worry."

Lily smiled as she said this. Not Linda...?!! A wave of disappointment washed over me. I had been let down before the patrol even started. Even if I got aroused, there was nowhere to vent it.

"What a shame."

Stevie comforted me too. Hearing that made me regretful. Ah, right! I could have called Stevie!

That’s what I thought, but Stevie said,

"I won’t be able to come tonight. The women’s day is coming soon."

She said it so casually. I had thought that would be taboo in this world, but it turned out not to be. When I looked at Lily, she gave me a tchah! face. My common sense was actually correct. I quickly looked around at the other team members, but none of them were making strange faces, so they probably hadn’t heard.

Just then, Captain Copeland spoke to me.

"Lord Robin, thank you for coming again."

He bowed politely, so I replied,

"I’m the one who should apologize for causing you trouble. Please take care."

People really are mirrors of themselves.

"Last time, after the thieves were dealt with, we received a reward from above. We were given five gold coins. We rented out the shop and had the whole family over for unlimited drinking and eating. It was all thanks to everyone. Thank you so much!"

Captain Copeland bowed deeply. The team members who had been listening also bowed and said, "Thank you!" Even the members who weren’t there last time looked confused as they saw everyone else bowing to us. One asked his neighbor, "What happened?" and when he heard about the previous patrol, the neighbor replied, "Oh well! Will we meet thieves again tonight?"

The captain said,

"Actually, I should have given you one too, but we’ve already used it all up, and I’m sorry."

He bowed even deeper. Since I wasn’t doing this for money, I told him,

"It’s fine. If the security team used the reward for drinking and eating, I have no problem with that."

The captain looked relieved and sighed,

"Thank you. Last time we did nothing, but Lord Robin dealt with the thieves, and it felt like we stole the credit. Thank you so much!"

He sounded like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. If you were that worried, you shouldn’t have mentioned getting a reward in the first place. Well, that kind of honest personality is lovable.