When the Cecil armored griffins flew across the sky, Count Uriel was still leisurely admiring the scenery of Crow Mesa - this highland that once housed several guard towers and a small fortress was the site of St. Sunil. One of the garrison strongholds, but it has been destroyed by the war. Among the scattered ruins, only the flags and equipment left behind by the defenders after their hasty retreat can be seen, as well as the torn corpses of the cluster giants. Brand new flags are currently flying on these broken walls. There is a wonderful contrast between the ruins.
The cool wind blew over, and there was some strange smell from the battlefield. Count Uriel took a deep breath and said with a smile: "The past few days were really difficult - but fortunately The difficult days are finally over."
"We didn't encounter much resistance. There were only a few seriously injured and dying monsters here," a viscount said from the side. "I'm afraid these results are not enough. Right?"
"It doesn't matter, we can collect these ready-made wrecks," Count Urel said casually, "Our king will be very busy next and will not have time to distinguish these small things. "
"Our new king..." the viscount next to him said with a chuckle, then looked up at the sky curiously, "Strange, why are those griffins lingering around here? "
"Those should be the Cecil griffins," Count Uriel looked up at the sky, "Are they here to say hello to us?"
Armored Lions? The vulture hovered over Crow Mesa for a while, then suddenly flapped its wings and flew diagonally into the distance.
Count Uriel narrowed his eyes, and after a moment, a kind of uneasiness finally emerged from his heart.
He thought of Count Lucret who was executed by the king.
“This is a trap——”
Earl Uriel roared in shock, but a sharp howling sound came from the distance...
The Crow Mesa was shrouded in a sky-shattering explosion, flashes of light continued, and clouds and mist rose into the sky.
Welsh stood on the city wall of St. Sunil and watched all this calmly. After a long time, he whispered: "He is so decisive."
And people other than him , those who stood on the city wall and knew what was on the Crow Terrace, those noble children who supported the king, the soldiers guarding the city, and other people who were left behind by Wales for various reasons, they all watched with shock and fear. The terrifying scene in the distance.
The crowd exclaimed, and there was chaos on the city wall. Some people rushed towards the king's direction, wanting to request further orders, but Wales raised the sword in his hand, and the sound of magical power resounded through the city wall: " Quiet - the nobles of the inner court, please leave the guard and follow me out of the city to meet Duke Cecil." "Your Majesty!" a noble of the inner court exclaimed, "Absolutely not! They just bombarded the crow. Mesa, they just killed..."
"Do they know there is a noble knight on Crow Mesa?" Wales asked calmly, "They know me.Was the order given in Silver Castle? "
"Your Majesty, this..."
"This may be a terrible misunderstanding, so it needs to be clarified in person," Wales said in a tone that left no room for doubt. "Anyway, The Cecil people saved the royal capital and cleared away the monsters on the plains. Their legions are just outside the city and we must go and meet them. ”
The king’s last words awakened everyone present. The nobles in the inner court who were in shock and fear realized who had the real initiative - and those who were smarter, Suddenly, they faintly noticed some facts from Wales' abnormal attitude, and smelled a terrible bloody truth that happened in the sun. After a brief period of confusion, they found that they had no more choices.
No matter what happened. What is the truth behind the bombardment on Crow Mesa? They must now go out of the city to meet Cecil's Legion according to the king's order.
...
"The meeting place is in Mill Town. , that place is already in ruins." Victoria ended her magical communication with Duke Baldwin, turned to look at Gawain and said, "The nobles of Wales and the inner court have already set off. "
Gawain nodded: "Let's set off too. "
His calm attitude even made Victoria feel an unspeakable fear, who couldn't help but said: "Aren't you worried that it is a trap? "
"I'm worried, so I will bring a tank battalion - but I don't think it will be needed. Wales was a smart man, and Baldwin Franklin even more so. ”
Victoria was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes glanced at the dark crow standing not far away.
This terrible incident that happened in the sun relied on this royal A letter passed by the shadow guard was completed. At first, Victoria thought about why Baldwin did not contact her directly through magic communication. After all, she had already arrived in the Saint-Sunil area and was within the range of magic communication, but soon she Then she figured it out - the Western Guardian knew her very well, and Baldwin knew that she would definitely not agree to this bold and extreme "conspiracy". Contacting him in advance would only allow her to prevent it from happening.
Duke Baldwin, who is in charge of Ansu's business, may behave like a businessman... he accurately calculates the best interests for the country, and then does everything possible to achieve it... This has always been the case Victoria, who was trapped in Ansu's outdated aristocratic barriers, would probably never be able to imitate her.
Gawain had already stepped out of the command post, and Victoria quickly regained her composure and followed him, but. Before getting in the car, the Duchess of the North suddenly noticed that someone was missing: "Where is Miss Amber? "
Gawain walked towards the magic vehicle parked in the camp and said casually: "She went to investigate something. ”
Deep in the camp, in a barracks closely guarded by soldiers, a Magic Network terminal was humming, and the printing device connected to the terminal was spitting out white pages one after another.Paper, with a large number of texts printed on it, as well as black and white pictures and detailed hand-painted emblems.
Amber was sitting next to the Magic Network terminal, flipping through the printed paper and showing a strange smile - that smile contained three parts satisfaction and seven parts ridicule.
"There are so many... It's a shame that Wales can defend the city to this day when being held back by such a group of people..."
...
Cecil's Legion separated a guard and went to the ruins of the mill town outside Saint-Sunil at the agreed time and place. Before they arrived, Wales had already arrived here.
There is no need to occupy or repair this ruin with almost only ruins. The army of crystal cluster giants flattened it and demolished almost all its buildings and walls. It seems that only Complete bulldozing and reconstruction is the best way to deal with it.
The royal knights who were sent here cleared away the scattered monsters wandering near the ruins with almost no effort, and then planted the Anzu flag on a piece of broken bricks.
When the rumble of cannons came from the direction of Crow Mesa, the Knights stationed here silently. They had received orders not to leave this place without permission no matter what happened, and if nothing happened to Crow Mesa Happened...
Their mission is to intercept and kill the returning nobles here.
Anzu's flag is flying on the edge of the ruined town. The broken bricks and collapsed walls give off a desolate atmosphere in the sun. A silent knights guard the ruins. The bricks were broken, and Wales Morn led the surviving nobles and soldiers who were loyal to him to stand outside the town, watching the ferocious and weird steel war machines drive into this open land.
When he saw those rotating tracks, the steel armor with floating shields, and the rail gun muzzles flashing coldly in the sun, Wales could clearly feel that everyone around him was tense and listened. There were several throat beating sounds.
In fact, even he himself was inevitably shaken emotionally when he saw those chariots.
The magic vehicle guarded by the chariot in the middle opened the door, and Gawain walked out of it. What appeared next was a man wearing a long white dress with a cold and distant face. Victoria, Duchess of the North.
The nobles and knights around Wales made a slight commotion, but no one made any more noise. Victoria just stood quietly behind Gawain, even though she knew very well that during Gawain's bombardment What does it mean to still stand beside the other party after Crow Mesa.
She is using this method to fulfill her original promise to Gawain.
The atmosphere at the scene was subtle and tense. An unspeakable awkward silence enveloped everyone. Of course Gawain could feel this special atmosphere, but he just showed a faint smile and calmly walked towards the person in front of him. New King Ansu: "We finally met safely, His Majesty the King - but the atmosphere here doesn't seem to be very good?"
"Because I"We may need to clear up a terrible misunderstanding," Wales met Gawain's gaze and said before the other person spoke, before other nobles next to him spoke, "We need to talk, Duke Cecil." "
Gawain looked at Wales for a moment and nodded: "Of course. ”
The town has been destroyed, but it is not difficult to find a room where the king and the duke can discuss matters. A sturdy chapel is the only building here that has not collapsed. After cleaning, the chapel became a place for the two to talk.
Except for Gawain and Wales, everyone was kept out of the church, including the nobles and guards who came with the king. They, including the commander of Cecil's Legion and Victoria who came with Gawain
The scarred wooden door of the church creaked shut, and a ray of sunlight shone into the church through the cracked colored crystal window. , Gawain and Wales stood opposite each other in front of the collapsed statues and pulpit.
Gawain looked at the surrounding environment: "I didn't expect that our first serious conversation would be in a place like this. "
"This place is cleaner than Silver Castle," Welsh said with a smile. "At least there are not so many pairs of eyes here. "
"But there are many eyes outside," Gawain said. "I'm very curious about what you plan to do next. "
"What about you? Have you considered that if this is a trap, if I just want to put you in an unjust situation and trick you into bombarding Crow Mesa, if I just want to eliminate dissidents and keep the throne, have you considered what to do in this situation? What should I do? "
"There is nothing to consider," Gawain looked at Wales, "for the sword gives power. ”
Wales looked at Gawain in shock for a while. He was stunned for two seconds, and then suddenly laughed.
The new king was in the abandoned chapel. He laughed loudly, without any aristocratic demeanor, without any restraint, and even laughed so hard that he was out of breath, as if he had never laughed heartily once in the first half of his life, and had accumulated all his energy to laugh together today. , it was not until a few minutes later that the laughter gradually stopped. He slowly straightened up and took a deep breath, with a smile still remaining on his face: "Yes, yes... you are indeed such a person... "
"Our generation is all like this," Gawain unconsciously brought into Gawain Cecil's memory and sighed, "What about you? What decision do you have? . "
"You know, in the past nearly a year, the Holy Spirit Plains and the northern and western regions have been implementing various reforms, and we have tried various things," Wales had calmed down and said slowly, "New factories, town management, new military drills, even new schools, new free people's system... all of these are challenging the old order, but Victoria and Baldwin both The Duke did his best to promote them, because we all believe that these things can make Anzu strong again...…"
A faint noise came from outside the church. It still sounded far away, but it seemed to be getting closer.
Welsh turned his head and looked at the closed church. He glanced at the front door, turned around and continued: "But in the end, almost all reforms failed...factories became a new means of amassing land, military drills had almost no effect, the new system could not be promoted, schools...schools did not exist at all It wasn't built. The only change is that the nobles of the royal capital are divided into tit-for-tat reformers and conservatives, with constant quarrels and internal strife...
"But you know, this is not the only time Ansu has worked hard for change.< /p>
"Before you were resurrected, we had worked hard many times for more than ten years or even decades - of course, I was far away from Silver Castle at that time. Strictly speaking, it was my father and the king who Several Protector Dukes worked hard many times.
“Duke Silas Laurent brought a restructuring plan based on Typhon.
“My father once considered establishing a parliament.
“The former Duke of the North has implemented the Kingdom Constitution.
“Arch Duke Baldwin has implemented new business policies.
"All failed."
The noise outside the church became more and more obvious, but it did not affect the conversation between Gawain and Wales. Gawain nodded slightly Nodding: "I know part of it."
"I left Silver Castle, but I am paying attention to all this," Wales continued, "I have been thinking about it since a long time ago, thinking about what it is. What hinders the kingdom from changing for the better - is it because we don't have enough wise people? But before Typhon implemented the new policy, they did not have more scholars and advisors than Ansu; but is it that we lack enlightened nobles? The Duke Protector is a reformist, and there are always people who support reform in the aristocratic system; we are short of money? We are short of food? We are short of time? But in fact, there is not much difference between Ansu's start and Typhon's start of reform.
“So what exactly are we missing?
"In the process of comparing with Typhon, I vaguely found some keys. After the rise of the Southern Territory, after we followed your new order and carried out more drastic reforms, we encountered After more intense backlash and conflicts, I think I figured it out...
"The problem lies in the entire Ansu system with the king as the head, the feudal lord system as the skeleton, and the land and serfs as the flesh and blood. superior.
“I don’t agree with what Edmund and Duke Laurent did, but now I have to say... they did me a favor.
“Duke Cecil, you You know what’s the hardest part when it comes to making change happen from the top down? ”
Wales smiled and stared at Gawain quietly.
But before Gawain spoke, he had already told the answer himself.
“That’s overthrowing yourself. ”
Wales strode towards the church door, when the noise outside had turned into roars and shouts., he pushed the door open.