I will be crowned king

The heavy rain gradually weakened under the dark night, and the cold rain dripped from the collapsed and broken walls, splashing small crystal water in the crater opened by the six-pound solid bullet.

It was already eleven o'clock late at night, and the streets outside St. Isaac's College were empty, and the dim yellow street lights were a little hazy in the vapor caused by the heavy rain.

The statue of Saint Isaac outside the gate still stands intact, as if nothing has happened, but also as if countless stories have happened.

Because of the sudden appearance of the Inquisition—or His Majesty Carlos’s will—the Guards who had blocked the Isaac Academy had to evacuate and “transfer” the garrison task to the hurriedly arriving Stormtroopers.

Dragging corpses loaded into hundreds of carriages, the Guardsmen were drenched in the heavy rain. Many of them even didn't understand what the trip was about, and turned around and returned to the station in confusion. .

"And such is the mercy of His Majesty the King."

Sitting in the carriage on the way back, Anson held Lisa, who was already asleep, and said to Sophia in a tone as if he had seen it with his own eyes:

"They don't know what happened, and they don't need to know; what His Majesty or the Privy Council wants is to disband the Guards and establish a new Royal Capital Security Force, not to cause a mutiny."

"His Majesty?"

Sofia frowned slightly and gently patted the maid who was sleeping on her shoulder: "What does this have to do with Carlos?"

The shaking car fell into a brief silence as Anson sighed.

Sophia was confused by the complexity of the matter, while Anson marveled at how terrifying the power of the Franz family was.

"Because Your Majesty is the real backer behind the Guards." Anson paused slightly and took the lead in breaking the silence:

"Although the Royal Army and Navy are also loyal to the royal family and are independent groups and organizations, all their expenses and rosters must be reported to the Privy Council; without the permission of the Privy Council, even a small promotion to Army Captain is illegal. .”

On the other hand, as long as the Privy Council nods, the attitude of the army and navy does not matter.

The reason why Anson's lieutenant colonel rank was hostile to the army was not only the contradiction between the army and the church, but also the contradiction between the officer nobles and the parliamentary nobles.

"But the Guards are different. They are the real royal army. Once you join the Guards, no one has to ask about the roster and military expenditures. The Privy Council only has the right to allocate funds, not the right to question or control." Anson explained road:

"Theoretically...just in theory, His Majesty the King and the Commander of the Guards can let the Guards appear anywhere and do anything, and the Privy Council has no jurisdiction; if a Guards soldier kills and robs in the street, only the royal family and the Guards can The Guards have the right to sanction him."

"They are not the 'Army of the Kingdom of Clovis', but the 'Army of the Osteria Family'... There is a big difference between the two."

Sophia fell into silence, trying to think about the difference.

"So, the Public Administration Bill that the Privy Council and the Church of Order are trying to promote is actually weakening the authority of the royal family?"

"Well said, this is indeed the Privy Council trying to limit the royal power." Anson nodded:

"Once the rights and obligations of the Guards are determined by law and system, they cannot do whatever they want, which is a great restriction on the royal power - which may be why the Public Administration Act has been delayed until now."

Although he was 99% sure, Anson, who considered himself modest, still had a slightly speculative tone.

"But Carlos still agreed, why?"

Sophia asked.

"Why..." Anson shrugged:

"I have no idea."

"you do not know?!"

"Yeah, I really don't know."

Anson looked at the astonished Sophia as a matter of course: "I'm not Carlos... Your Majesty, how could I know?"

"But you..."

Sophia wanted to say, "You look so confident, I thought you knew everything" - but that was too stupid, as if only a little girl like Lisa could say it...

The girl lowered her head, and her expression of sheer hesitation made Anson a little confused.

"Although I don't know the reason why His Majesty did this, but..." Anson changed the subject:

"There is one thing that can be an excuse for him to do this."

"What's up?"

"That's the Guards itself." Anson said seriously:

"Although the royal power is the biggest support of the Guards, people in the Guards system don't think so - in their eyes, their privileges and the king's protection are taken for granted; not because of anything else, just because of them It’s the Guards.”

"Under the dual protection of royal power and privileges, the Guards can neither be mobilized to the front line to fight, nor do they consider themselves obligated to protect the king and the places where the king cannot see; the only thing they care about is probably their own interests and privileges. .”

"Once they lose the protection of the royal power and become ordinary security forces, they must fulfill their obligations, otherwise they will be held accountable, punished and dismissed for dereliction of duty; the Guards cannot accept this, so since the birth of the Public Administration Act, they have Their actions are all about trying to protect the power in their hands."

Sophia paused for a moment, then suddenly said: "Then tonight..."

"It's the same tonight." Anson continued:

"To allow thousands of thugs to show up at St. Isaac's College on time without being discovered, no one in Clovis except the Guards could do it; they probably thought that this would allow His Majesty and the Privy Council to see the strength of the Guards , threatening some people by the way - although it is really stupid to do so."

At this point, Anson was stunned. He suddenly remembered what a certain novelist said.

A person who is about to die will grab any life-saving straw.

Draco Vertes...did he already guess that the Guards would destroy themselves?

The more Anson got to know this novelist and second-rate detective, the more suspicious this guy became - everyone he came into contact with seemed to know him and have a close relationship with him, and reminded him more than once that this guy was a very important person. figure.

The starting point of everything was the Beigang incident five years ago. This guy was like the protagonist of a detective novel, shuttling between various major events and key figures, but no one could always find him.

By the way, is he also a time traveler? !

The shocked Sophia looked at the rainy scene outside the window for a long time... The excitement for her tonight was no less than the first time her father took her into the underground vault of Clovis Cathedral, pointing at the mountains of gold and silver, and gently Say to yourself:

"Starting today, you have to learn to take care of them and serve the Franz family."

The wealth that was enough to create a kingdom, subvert a kingdom, and destroy a kingdom once made Sophia temporarily forget the fun of legendary novels and adventures.

Until she got to know a novelist named Draco Vertes.

"Then all this is the death struggle of the Guards. What does it have to do with the Old God Sect?"

After calming down her thoughts slightly, Sophia continued to ask.

"Then do you think that with the way the Guards do things, they can gather hundreds or thousands of thugs in the outer city on their own?" Anson asked back.

The girl immediately understood what he meant: "You mean there is cooperation between the Old God Sect and the Guards?"

"It's possible."

Anson neither admitted nor denied: "But until the evidence is found, this is all just speculation."

Sophia nodded slightly in agreement... The protagonists in Draco's detective novels would all say something like this.

"Your father, Archbishop Luther, gave me a task to find the Old God Sect's hideout in the outer city within six days, and lead the Storm Group to take them away - this is the purpose of him asking me to come to the banquet." Anson continued:

"So we'll know the answer soon."

"So now you have completely abandoned my brother Ludwig and are working for my father wholeheartedly?"

Sophia suddenly snorted coldly.

"To the Franz family, to the church, to the Kingdom of Clovis and the great ring of order." Anson pressed his right hand on his chest and made an oath expression:

"I have always been, and always will be, loyal!"

The girl smiled dismissively, but then she realized there was something wrong with this sentence:

“Can one person be loyal to three parties at the same time?”

"Yes, as long as you treat everyone sincerely, you can be loyal to everyone!"

Of course, occasionally a little skill is needed... Anson nodded solemnly, his expression very sincere.

The bumpy four-wheel carriage passed through the empty streets on the rainy night, turned around at White Lake Park and headed towards the Red Brick Street, and stopped steadily in front of Clovis Cathedral.

The half-awake maid and the barefoot Sophia helped each other out of the carriage. Several church nuns holding umbrellas had been waiting outside the door for a long time, and hurriedly ran forward to greet them.

Standing in front of the deserted street, Sophia was wrapped in the blanket handed by the nun and looked at the figure holding Lisa in the carriage with a thoughtful expression.

"Anson Bach."

"Um?"

Hearing the voice behind him, Anson turned his head and quickly stopped the coachman: "Is there anything else?"

Sophia pursed her lips tightly, and looked at Anson with a bit of enthusiasm that she had never seen before - the kind of enthusiasm he had only seen in Ludwig's eyes during the stormy night of the attack on Thunder Castle.

"No."

Sophia's tone was as meaningful as her eyes:

"If there is a chance and the interests are consistent, you can actually work for me...right?"

"……sure."

Looking at the girl who seemed to be hinting something to him, Ansen, who was smiling, felt a little confused.

The carriage continued to drive through three more intersections, and it didn't slow down until the silver pocket watch in Anson's hand reached half past twelve, and stopped in front of an apartment door next to a closed cafe.

55 Brahman Street.

Holding the sleeping Lisa in his arms, Anson carefully opened the door with the key and tiptoed up the stairs step by step.

The landlord, Mrs. Bogner, was very hard of hearing. He still remembered that the first night he rented the house, he just lit the fireplace in the living room, which kept the old woman awake all night.

But Anson soon discovered that he was really worrying too much - he opened the door and saw an old woman wrapped in a dark purple thin blanket curled up on the sofa by the burning fireplace. Her slightly cloudy eyes were filled with tears. Looking at himself between the wrinkles of pale skin.

"B-Mrs. Bognar?"

"Yo, young man."

Looking at the old woman's expression that was definitely not "friendly", Anson twitched his lips and asked, "Why are you here?"

"There's something wrong with the fireplace in my room. It emits black smoke when I light it up."

"No, I'm asking why you haven't slept yet?"

"You are indeed a young person - when you get to my age, you will know that it is normal for old people to have trouble sleeping at night."

So it’s not because of my great hearing...

Resisting the desire to complain, Anson carefully laid Lisa down on the sofa, covered her with a blanket and said to the old woman:

"The situation is like this, Mrs. Bogner, there is something I have to trouble you..."

"Don't tell me yet, let me guess."

Squinting her eyes slightly, the old woman said in a tone full of experience: "You are leaving the apartment soon to do something very important, right?"

"Yes." Anson nodded.

"And this is dangerous?"

"So be it."

"So you can't take little Lisa with you and you need me to help you take care of her?"

"...That's pretty much it."

"Finally, if something happens to you, do you still want to trouble me to help you inherit all your inheritance to little Lisa, and then send her to your hometown?"

"...I still...I really didn't expect it to be that far..."

"And you are not the first man to tell me this." Mrs. Bogner snorted:

"Whenever I get married, my husband buys an apartment on the Boulevard des Beauremannes - or have you forgotten that I told you how I became the biggest landlord on this street?"

Anson suddenly felt that it was superfluous to explain a word in front of this person. No matter how perfect the plan was, it could not compare with her rich life experience.

"You don't need to worry about little Lisa; she is a very strong girl and can survive whatever happens."

Mrs. Bogner looked up at Anson, with countless stories condensed in her cloudy pupils: "Do what you should do, home is a woman's territory; except for eating and sleeping, a man should not stay in his comfort zone. .”

Nodding slightly, Ansen gave the old woman a solemn look, then turned around and left silently.

"Oh, right."

The moment he was about to go out, Anson stopped and looked back at Mrs. Bognar: "There may be some instability in Clovis City recently. If possible, it would be better for you to find a place to hide temporarily."

"Young man, do you think I have lived in this city for many years and I haven't seen anything?"

"...Viscount Bogner asked me to bring this here. It's a little bit of care. He also specifically told me to say hello to you."

Seeing the expressionless old woman taking the thick letter and throwing it into the fireplace, Anson, who was a little confused, silently opened the door and got into the carriage waiting outside.

“Go to Westgate Street Church!”

It’s time to start fixing it all!