When the armored griffins of Cecil's people flew across the sky, Count Uriel was still in the mood to enjoy the scenery of Crow Terrace. This highland, which once had several sentry towers and a small fortress, was one of the strongholds of the Sunil Saint Sunil, but it had been destroyed by the flames of war. Among the ruins, only the flags and equipment left behind by the defenders and the torn corpses of the Crystal Cluster Giants could be seen. Brand new flags were flying among the ruins, bringing with them a wonderful contrast.
A cool wind blew over, and there was a strange smell of the battlefield in the wind. Count Uriel took a deep breath, smiled, and said, "The past few days were really difficult, but fortunately, those difficult days are finally over."
"We did not encounter any resistance. There are only a few seriously injured monsters here," a viscount said. "These results are probably not enough, right?"
"It's okay, we can collect these ready-made remains," Count Uriel said casually. "Our king should be very busy in the coming days. I don't think he has time to care about these small things."
"Our new king …" the viscount said with a chuckle. He then looked up at the sky curiously. "Strange, why are those griffins hovering around here?"
"Those should be the griffins of Cecil's people." Count Uriel looked up at the sky. "Are they here to greet us?"
The armored griffins hovered above Crow Terrace for a while, then suddenly flapped their wings and flew into the distance.
Count Uriel narrowed his eyes. After a while, a sense of uneasiness finally emerged from the bottom of his heart.
He thought of Count Lucre, who was executed by the king.
"This is a trap!"
Count Uriel roared in shock, but a sharp whistling sound came from afar.
Crow Terrace was shrouded in an earth-shattering explosion. Flashes kept flashing, and clouds rose into the sky.
Wales stood on the wall of the Sunil Saint Sunil and looked at everything calmly. After a long time, he softly said, "He's really decisive."
Other than him, those who stood on the city walls and knew what was on Crow Terrace, the nobles who supported the king, the soldiers who defended the city, and the people who were left behind by Wales for various reasons, all watched the terrifying scene with shock and fear in their eyes.
The crowd cried out in alarm. There was chaos on the city wall. Some people ran in the direction of the king, wanting to ask for further orders. Wales, however, raised the long sword in his hand. His voice, reinforced by magic, rang through the city wall. "Silence. Nobles of the inner court, stay behind and guard. Follow me out of the city to welcome Duke Cecil."
"Your Majesty!" an inner court noble cried out in alarm. "Absolutely not! They just bombarded Crow Mesa, they just killed … "
"Do they know that the Noble Knight Order is on Crow Terrace?" Wales asked calmly. "Do they know that I gave the order in the Silver Fortress?"
"Your Majesty, this …"
"This might be a terrible misunderstanding, so it needs to be clarified in person," Wales said with an unquestionable tone. "No matter what, Cecil's people saved the Captical and cleared the monsters on the plains. Their army is just outside the city. We have to go and meet them. "
The king's last sentence woke everyone up. The inner court nobles who were in shock and fear realized who had the real initiative. Those who were smarter suddenly sensed some truth from Wales' abnormal attitude and smelled a terrible, bloody truth that happened under the sun. After a brief moment of confusion, they realized that they did not have any other choice.
No matter what the truth behind the bombardment on Crow Terrace was, they had to follow the king's orders and go out of the city to welcome the Cecil Army.
…
"The meeting location is at Mill Town. It's already in ruins." Victoria ended the magic communication with Duke Bodwin, turned to Gwen, and said, "Wales and the inner court nobles have already set off."
Gwen nodded. "Let's go, too."
His calm attitude even made Victoria feel an indescribable fear. The latter could not help but ask, "Aren't you worried that it's a trap?"
"I'm worried, so I'll bring a tank battalion. But I don't think it'll be necessary. Wales is a smart man, and Bodwin? Even more so for Franklin. "
Victoria was stunned for a moment. Then, she glanced at Raven, who was standing not far away.
This terrible incident that happened under the sun was completed by a letter sent by this royal shadow guard. At first, Victoria had wondered why Bodwin did not contact her directly through magic communication. After all, she was already in the Saint Sunil area, within the range of magic communication. But soon, she understood. The guardian of the Western Region knew her very well. Bodwin knew that she would definitely not agree to this bold and extreme 'conspiracy'. Contacting her in advance could only make her take action to prevent all this from happening.
Duke Bodwin, who was in charge of Ansu's commerce, probably acted like a businessman. He accurately calculated the greatest benefit for the country and then did whatever it took to achieve it. This was something that Victoria, who had always been trapped in the stale aristocratic fence of Ansu, would probably never be able to imitate.
Gwen had already stepped out of the command post. Victoria quickly gathered herself and followed him. But before getting into the car, the Duchess of the Northern Region suddenly realized that someone was missing. "Where did Miss Amber go?"
Gwen walked to the magic car parked in the camp and casually said, "She went to investigate something."
In the depths of the camp, in a barracks heavily guarded by soldiers, a magic network terminal was humming as it operated. The printing device connected to the terminal was constantly spitting out sheet after sheet of white paper. There was a large amount of text printed on the paper, as well as many black and white images and detailed hand-drawn emblems.
Amber sat next to the magic network terminal. While flipping through the printed paper, a strange smile appeared on her face. That smile was 30% satisfaction and 70% mockery.
"That's a lot … To think that Wales could defend the city to this day with such a group of people dragging him down …"
…
The Cecil Army sent a team of guards to the ruins of the mill town outside Saint Sunil City according to the agreed time and place. Before they arrived, Wales had already arrived.
There was no need to occupy or repair this ruin that was almost all that was left of it. The Crystal Cluster Giant's army had flattened it and demolished almost all of its buildings and walls. It seemed like the best way to deal with it was to completely flatten and rebuild it.
The Royal Knight Regiment that was sent here cleared out the scattered monsters wandering around the ruins almost effortlessly. Then, they planted the Ansu flag on a piece of debris.
When the rumbling sound of cannons came from the direction of Crow Terrace, the Knight Regiment was stationed there silently. They had received orders not to leave this place no matter what happened, and if nothing happened in Crow Terrace …
Their mission was to intercept and kill the returning nobles here.
The Ansu flag fluttered on the edge of the ruined town. The broken bricks and collapsed walls gave off a desolate aura under the sun. A silent Knight Regiment guarded this piece of debris. Wales? Moen led the surviving nobles and soldiers loyal to him to stand outside the town and watch those ferocious and strange steel war machines drive into this open land.
When Wales saw the rotating tracks, the floating steel armor with the radiance of shields, and the rail cannon muzzles that gleamed coldly under the sun, he could clearly feel that everyone around him had become nervous. He also heard several throaty sounds.
In fact, even he could not help but feel emotional when he saw those chariots.
The door of the magic chariot that was protected by the chariots opened, and Gwen walked out. Then, the Duchess of the Northern Region, Victoria, who was wearing a white dress and had a cold and distant expression, appeared.
There was a slight commotion among the nobles and knights beside Wales, but no one made a bigger move. Victoria just stood quietly behind Gawain, even though she knew very well what it meant for her to still be standing beside Gawain after he bombarded Crow Terrace with cannons.
She was using this method to fulfill her promise to Gwen.
The atmosphere at the scene was subtle and tense, and an indescribable awkward silence shrouded everyone. Gwen of course could feel this special atmosphere, but he just showed a faint smile and walked calmly towards the new king of Ansu. "We finally meet in peace, Your Majesty. But the atmosphere here doesn't seem to be very good?"
"Because we may need to clarify a terrible misunderstanding." Wales met Gawain's gaze, and before Gawain could speak, or before the other nobles could speak, he said, "We need to talk, Duke Cecil."
Gwen looked at Wales for a moment and nodded. "Of course."
The town had been destroyed, but it wasn't difficult to find a room for the king and the duke to discuss matters. A sturdy little church was the only building that hadn't collapsed yet. After some simple cleaning, the little church became a place for the two of them to talk.
Except for Gwen and Wales, everyone was blocked outside the chapel, including the nobles and guards who came with the king, the commander of the Cecil Regiment, and Victoria who came with Gwen.
The scarred wooden door of the chapel creaked closed, and a ray of sunlight shone into the chapel through the broken colored crystal window. In front of the collapsed statue and the pulpit, Gwen and Wales stood facing each other.
Gwen looked around. "I never thought that our first serious talk would be in this place."
"This place is cleaner than the Silver Fortress," Wales said with a smile. "At least there are not so many eyes here."
"But there are a lot of eyes outside," Gwen said. "I'm curious, what are you going to do next?"
"What about you? Have you thought about what if this is a trap? What if I just want to put you in an unjust situation and bewitch you to bombard Crow Terrace? What if I just want to get rid of the dissidents and keep the throne? Have you thought about what you will do in this situation? "
"There is nothing to think about." Gwen looked at Wales. "Because the sword and the spear give rise to political power."
Wales looked at Gwen for a moment, a little stunned. He was startled for two seconds, and then suddenly laughed.
The new king burst into laughter in the abandoned chapel. He did not have the demeanor of a nobleman, nor was he restrained. He laughed so hard that he was out of breath. It was as if he had never laughed so hard in the first half of his life, and it was all for today. It was not until a few minutes later that the laughter gradually stopped. He slowly straightened his back and took a deep breath. There was still a smile on his face. "That's right, that's right … You really are such a person …"
"Our generation was such a person." Gwen unconsciously brought Gwen into Cecil's mind. In Cecil's memories, he sighed and said, "What about you? What's your decision?"
"You know, in the past year, the Sacred Plains, the Northern Region, and the Western Region have been implementing all kinds of reforms. We have tried all kinds of things." Wales had calmed down and said slowly, "New factories, town management, new military drill, even new schools, new free people system … all of these are challenging the old order, but the two dukes, Victoria and Bodwin, have done their best to implement them because we all believe that these things can make the Ansu strong again …"
A faint noise came from outside the chapel. It sounded far away, but it seemed to be getting closer.
Wales turned his head and glanced at the closed door of the chapel. He turned back and continued, "But in the end, almost all of the reforms failed … the factories became a new means of collecting land, the military drill was almost ineffective, the new system was not promoted, and the schools … the schools were not built at all. The only change was that the Captical nobles were divided into the opposing reformists and conservatives. There were constant quarrels and internal strife …
"But you know, this is not the only time the Ansu has worked hard for reform.
"Before your resurrection, as early as ten years ago, or even decades ago, we have worked hard many times. Of course, at that time, I was far away from the Silver Castle. Strictly speaking, it was my father and a few Dukes who worked hard many times.
"Silas? Duke Loren brought a reform plan that was based on Typhon's reference.
"My father had considered establishing a parliament.
"The former Duke of the Northern Region had implemented the Kingdom's Constitution.
"Duke Bodwin had implemented new commercial policies.
"All of them failed."
The noise outside the chapel became louder and louder, but it did not affect the conversation between Gwen and Wales. Gwen nodded slightly and said, "I know some of them."
"I've left the Silver Fortress, but I've been paying attention to everything," Wales continued. "I've been thinking since a long time ago. I've been thinking about what's stopping the kingdom from changing for the better. Are we not wise enough? But before Typhon implemented the new policies, they did not have more scholars and advisers than the Ansu. Are we not enlightened nobles? But the king and every Duke were reformists, and there were always people who supported the reform in the noble system. Are we short of money? Short of food? Short of time? But in fact, when the Ansu started, it was not much different from when Typhon started the reform.
"Then what are we short of?
"In the process of comparing with Typhon, I vaguely found some key points. After the rise of the Southern Territory, we imitated your new order and carried out even more drastic reforms. After encountering even more intense backlash and contradictions, I think I figured it out …" "That's right.
"The problem lies in the entire Ansu system with the king as the head, the feudal system as the skeleton, and the land and serfs as the flesh and blood.
"I don't agree with Edmund and Duke Loren's approach, but now I have to say that they have done me a favor.
"Duke Cecil, do you know what is the most difficult part if you want the reform to proceed from the top to the bottom?"
Wales smiled and looked quietly at Gwen.
But before Gawain could speak, he had already given the answer himself.
"That is to overthrow yourself."
Wales strode to the chapel door. When the noise outside had turned into roars and shouts, he pushed the door open.
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