episode_0138

Report from the Ministry of Information.

“Hmm…”

I find myself lost in thought as I read that Nicaea in the Babylonian Empire plans to hire additional mercenaries and transport them by ship.

Until now, I didn’t know they were moving secretly to recruit mercenaries from Babylon, but now I’m lost in thought as I see them hiring on a large scale rather than moving secretly.

Have you finally realized that you have fallen into a trap?

Gradually, a noose was created to strangle Ioannes.

It seems like they decided to add mercenaries from the Babylonian Empire to try their best to somehow loosen the noose…

If you do it wrong, there will be a handshake.

Mercenaries are a group of armed forces that cannot be trusted.

Even if they are on the same continent, they fulfill the contract to some extent for the sake of their credit, but if they are from different continents, creditworthiness is not much considered.

The largest customer for mercenaries is the continent on which they operate, so it would be more profitable to make a big splash than to gain the trust of other continents.

“Well, whatever. Since the front line on the Dupol side is still strong… You’re not trying to target Dupol, right?”

Considering that they have hired on a large scale to the point of forming almost a new front, does it seem like they are on the bad side?

Nicaea’s fronts are Epirus, Ezip, Dupol, and Jarl.

Among them, it is absurd to send troops to Epirus and Egypt to take an offensive, so the remaining side has no choice but to fight.

-Tap…tuk…

I tap my fingers on the desk and get lost in thought.

Should I tell Martin to prepare his defenses?

The Grand Duchy’s 10,000 is not enough to protect the vast plains of Yael.

I think this is a problem that Martin should deal with on his own, rather than something I should command from afar.

“Well, trust Martin on this… Lucius!”

When I call Lucius outside, Lucius opens the door and comes in.

“Did you call His Highness?”

“Yes. Is the carriage ready?”

Lucius nods his head at my words.

“Yes. It’s already ready.”

“Then I’ll come back.”

So he gets up from his office and heads to Roman Prison.

Roman Prison where William and the Golden Knights are currently imprisoned.

It’s literally a prison sentence, only there are no women… I ordered them to support whatever they want.

These knights will soon be going to war, so we need to feed them well and let them rest well.

In a way, it was their short vacation period.

Now the time has come for the vacation period to end.

-Squeak…

Before we knew it, we arrived at Roman Prison.

I think about this as I look at the magnificent size of the prison.

I’ve been to the Imperial Palace Prison before. I’ve heard many times that Roman Prison is much larger, but this is my first time actually visiting it.

A person from the intelligence department saw me and said hello.

“Your Majesty the Grand Duke, I heard that you are visiting.”

“Yes. Where is Sir William?”

“I will take you to Sir William’s room. Please come here.”

After receiving the guidance, we head to Sir William’s room.

I am satisfied with the strict security seen here and there.

At this level, we can avoid unnecessary rumors.

So let’s go inside the prison,

-Ha!

-Ugh!

The loud sound of cheers resounds along with the sound of heavy breathing.

Wow… are they training in prison?

The Golden Knights are seen fully armed and training.

Is this a prison?

I’m a little anxious because I think that if they get even a little bit evil, the palace will be in danger, but William still doesn’t know that my relationship with Theodora has become soured.

Come to think of it… Theodora did not appear at the Grand Study after that day.

According to the Ministry of Information, I heard that you have been spending a lot of time with your mother-in-law recently…

I hope you don’t do anything pointless.

Anyway, if you just kill the demon worshipers, you will leave without any regrets.

You probably won’t send an assassin out of resentment toward me, right?

With such foolish thoughts in mind, I burst into laughter as I arrived at the room in the prison with the name “Warden” on it.

“Sir William…is he using the warden’s room?”

“Yes. Since he is so big… this is the best room in the prison.”

It’s not wrong… but still… Is this right?

I told them to accommodate their convenience as much as possible, but this situation is a bit absurd.

-smart!

“Sir William, His Royal Highness has visited.”

[Tell them to come in.]

When I hear the voice of my loyal knight, I open the door and go in.

He looks at William, a familiar face in the room, and speaks.

“The face looks a lot better.”

William just looks at me without reacting to my words.

He opens his mouth.

“Your coming… means that we will soon have to go to the battlefield.”

I nod my head at those words.

“Yes, that’s right.”

He smiles slightly at my words.

“Okay… I guess I didn’t know much about you until now. Unlike his father, he seems to be steady.”

I was steady… but I’m not sure if I’m steady myself.

If he was honest, he wouldn’t have married Theodora in the first place.

“This is too much praise.”

William shakes his head and says what I said.

“That’s not excessive praise. It’s quite noisy outside because you locked me up, right? I just lived hard for the empire. I heard that the people here went through a hard time because of you and me.”

“Haha… That can’t be helped. Thanks to this, Ioanes will be able to erase the Lord and the Golden Knights from his mind. Rather, it is beneficial.”

In fact, many people protested against my tyrannical treatment.

I am very dissatisfied with the treatment of William and the Golden Knights. There’s even a street march going on, so I’ve said everything.

So, if the Golden Knights appear in Adria, they will be really shocked.

Perhaps soon, Ioanes will hear that the Empire and the United Kingdom have formed an alliance.

But what…

Even if we prepare by then, Adria will already have almost no troops.

According to recent intelligence reports, there are less than 3,000 people, so it would probably be easy to occupy them and cut off the supply to Dupol.

Meanwhile…

If Agrippa leads the main army and takes over Nicaea’s capital city of Byzantium and Nicaea, Ioannes will be unable to make a comeback.

There is nothing a king who has lost his land can do.

“First of all, I will give you the 40,000 troops I have assembled, so I hope you can take control of Adria and cut off the enemy’s supply.”

William says, pondering my words.

“It won’t be easy, but I will try my best by relying on the terrain and fortifications.”

“Of course, a United Kingdom ship will be stationed at the Adriatic Port in case of danger. You probably have more war experience than a kid like me. If you have time, you can take a boat and join the main unit.”

Anyway, I’m drawing the other person’s gaze towards Adria and robbing an empty house.

“Don’t worry. I will definitely protect that place.”

No… I don’t think you understood what I said…

“It is important, but it is disadvantageous…”

At my words, William shakes his head violently, raises his palm and says.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be defeated by the kids from Nicaea.”

No…if you are at a disadvantage, retreat…don’t risk your life to defend…

If William just dies in this state, there might really be a riot.

A hero who was persecuted by me and died in the war…

It was enough to make the crowd go crazy, so I tried to say it again with a worried expression…

William laughs heartily at my words.

“I know your worries well. So don’t worry. So… when do we board?”

Tomorrow the ship will enter Roman Port.

At that time, we plan to send them to the port at dawn.

“I plan to board the ship at dawn, probably the day after tomorrow. And if you pack up your weapons today, we will transport them to the port in advance by carriage.”

Even though it’s early in the morning, walking around wearing shiny golden armor like that feels burdensome.

“I gave you my word in advance.”

I say while lowering my head as I see William nodding.

“Now that’s it, I’ll go.”

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes. I’m really sorry, but I have a backlog of work… Next time I see you, I’ll get some good drinks and wait for you.”

That won’t happen.

Perhaps it is Theodora’s job to invite them to Roman.

“Hehe… I understand. I look forward to that time.”

I leave the room seeing William laughing like that.

***

Mary is close friends with Joey.

If Mary hadn’t had Joy, she might have gone crazy in the boring imperial palace.

I am having a good time in Roman with the sweet, bright, and cheerful Joy.

If you ask why Roman…

“Sister Mary! here! This is the most popular underwear store in Roman!”

Because Mary and Joy have secretly escaped from the imperial palace and are wandering around Roman.

The two have been seeing each other for less than a year. Could it be said that Joey feels more comfortable with Mary than Theodora?

Maybe I can say things to Mary that I can’t say to my sister.

Plus, our reading tastes(?) were somewhat similar, so we quickly became best friends.

The two bought underwear to seduce Agrippa and stopped by a delicious dessert shop.

In particular, Joy, who is not able to move around freely, is very happy at this moment.

This is the first outing since it was released in secret with Debian in the past.

In addition, it was a relief to have the best military officer in the empire as an escort, and what would anyone say if I were to go out with Mary when I got caught later? I also have thoughts.

“But Joy, isn’t the atmosphere in the imperial palace a bit scary these days?”

At those words, Joy puts a fork between her lips and makes a worried expression before speaking.

“I’m not sure? Sister, try this! This is so delicious!”

When Joy spoke with her eyes shining as she looked at the crepe cake with layers of crepes and whipped cream, Mary frowned and spoke.

“You… don’t gain weight even if you eat like that?”

Is it because I’ve been walking around with Joey and eating a lot in recent weeks?

‘I’ve already gained 3kg since I came here… What on earth… has he…?’

Is it because it’s a wealthy city?

She couldn’t help but gain weight as she was engrossed in delicious food that was different from Win’s and ate it frantically.

However, Mary thinks that she will eat a little less for the sake of Agrippa, whom she will soon meet.

Does Joy, who eats similarly…or more than her, not gain weight?

Mary asks with a curious expression as she watches Joy carefully eat the cake with a fork, not caring about her own worries.

“But, Joy. You eat like that but you don’t gain weight?”

Joy chuckles at Mary’s words.

“My sister and I are just like my mom, so no matter how much we eat, we don’t gain weight.”

Mary has lived an enviable life so far… but now, she is very envious of Joy’s constitution.