While a cheerful melody played in the background, two old men were riding fake horses and giggling like children.
To be frank, it was quite the surreal sight.
And those two weren’t any ordinary old men either. It might be hard to believe, but one was the king of this kingdom and the other was a duke.
As ridiculous as they were being though, I couldn’t laugh at them. After all, even I was captivated by this mysterious contraption called a ‘merry-go-round’.
“Hyaaaa~~~!”
I unintentionally shouted like that.
The merry-go-round thing was a large, tent-like structure that featured several fake horses bobbing up and down as they circled around and around.
…And since the horses circled around at the same rate, it was impossible to catch up to the horse up front.
I had no clue how it worked or why they even made it, but even so, once I got on a horse and the thing started going around, the childishness I stowed away deep in my heart came rushing out.
And it wasn’t just the mery-go-round. There were other structures here that stirred my childish nature awake.
“Duke Talister, let’s go on that coffee cup next!”
“Yes, that looks fun too!”
“I want to go too!”
The moment the horses stopped from circling around, the king and the duke immediately headed for the next play equipment.
I joyfully chased after them.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Huh!? W-what have I been doing…?”
After playing around until the sun set, I finally snapped back to my senses.
“If I remember correctly, I used that railway thing and reached their capital in just 3 hours…”
Just the sight of their capital shocked me for quite a while.
They had walls that far surpassed our capital’s walls; their city was thoroughly clean; and their towering royal palace was overwhelmingly impressive.
Shortly after arriving, the duke tried asking for an audience with the king. However, he was told that the king has left for an inspection of the ‘amusement park’. It seemed like even the duke didn’t know what an amusement park was. And so, curious about it, he decided to meet the king there.
As it turns out, the amusement park was a large land full of various structures and attractions that were for having fun. Before I knew it, I had reverted to being a child and played around.
It shames me to admit it, but I completely forgot my duty as a messenger.
Was I under some kind of spell? Ahh, but wouldn’t it be nice to ride that roller coaster again…ah, no, no, I must cease these thoughts at once!
It wasn’t just me that have forgotten themselves.
“……ahem. I-it would seem I enjoyed myself a bit too much there…I was supposed to do a simple inspection of the place, yet…”
“Y-your majesty, for some reason, I too was overcome with excitement when I saw those recreational structures…”
Both the king and the duke seemed not only embarrassed for their actions but also confused.
“At any rate, for your kingdom to be able to spare enough to build something like this in a city…”
Cities surrounded by walls were often, if not always, troubled by the scarcity of land as the population grows. If the city wanted more space, it would need to expand its walls first.
As such, there normally shouldn’t be much space for unnecessary buildings. In this city though, they used an incredibly large piece of land just for recreation.
Not only that, such infrastructures must have consumed large amounts of resources. Looking at the city’s residents though, they didn’t seem like they have been exploited financially or otherwise. If anything, they seemed to be treated well based on king’s intention to open this place to the public later down the line.
“Hahaha, how right it was for us to withdraw that quickly…”
Challenging a kingdom with this much national strength was nothing but folly.
Once I return home, I would immediately report my experience here and do my best to convince my king to build a friendly relationship with this nation.
“But is this really the same kingdom that has been troubled by civil wars until just a while ago…?”