I will be crowned king

Naxir port, early morning

The arrival of midsummer has made the morning in this port city a few minutes earlier than yesterday. However, the sun spreading its morning light across the entire port cannot change the fact that it is just before six o'clock at this time; in this deserted city on weekdays, It was already extremely lively at this time.

Narrow streets and alleys, spacious square avenues, countless fanatical figures crowded together, either holding high the statues and flags of the Ring of Order, or holding high the holy scriptures, cheering and praying... Tens of thousands of people were moved by the same power. Infected, each other's eyes flashed with endless excitement and enthusiasm, showing an intoxicated look.

Accompanied by rapid drum beats and stepping sounds, the source of this power slowly moved closer to the crowd: neatly dressed soldiers of the Holy War Legion marched in neat steps, holding their heads high and walking on the spacious central avenue of Naxir Port. Everyone's face is filled with pride and pride, enjoying the envious or admiring eyes of those around them.

But in addition to being proud, their eyes were also slightly uneasy - because they knew very well that they and the jihadist army behind them had not experienced even a jihad at all.

But this small problem will not affect the cheers of the people and fanatical believers present. They are shouting and intoxicated, looking at these holy warriors from the old continent with eyes full of fantasy, intoxicated with what they have compiled in their minds, The story of good triumphing over evil, and the sharp blade of the Ring of Order cutting off the heads of the heretics.

After the tens of thousands of holy warriors, the Holy See priests and Judgment Knights who did not show up in this parade rushed to the palace early to prepare for the reception banquet specially prepared by the Naxir royal family.

In front of the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the middle-aged host, who was the host, had already changed into exquisite Chinese robes under the service of his servants. According to the prior plan, he should have been waiting for his guests in the hall at this time, using humor and humor without losing sight of it. Solemn words to win over or please those dignitaries in the Holy See.

But looking at the hustle and bustle outside the window, the middle-aged man remained silent, with a terrifying haze in his shrewd and capable eyes.

"This is reality, Your Majesty."

A familiar voice sounded. The guards and servants who heard the voice turned around and left the empty and gorgeous palace with tacit understanding, leaving only the middle-aged man himself.

"Even if you destroy the ambitions of the rebel nobles and save the lives of countless civilians in this city, in their eyes, you are still just a king who can be loved, not a god who must be revered and believed in."

"Even if the latter has never had much impact on their lives, it still cannot change their beliefs... No! It is precisely because it will not have any impact on their lives that makes their beliefs unwavering."

"They will also cheer for your victory and glory, and praise your kindness and generosity... But as soon as those incarnations of faith come in front of them, they will leave you behind without hesitation, and come with ten times a hundred times more energy. Cheering and praising figures that never really affected them..."

The words that echoed between the palaces were mixed with a bit of ridicule and teasing, as if they didn't care about the listeners' real thoughts and only cared about making themselves happy.

The middle-aged man turned his head and looked coldly at the guy with the crown in his arms, dressed in tatters and looking like a homeless man:

"You know, if I tell them your whereabouts now, it will definitely make Naxir become more loyal in the eyes of the Holy See."

"I highly doubt it."

The young man smiled self-deprecatingly: "As far as I know, ninety-nine percent of the people in the Holy See know nothing about me; to them, I am just an ordinary person who is slightly involved with some old gods. He's just a novelist, and it's not worth the trouble."

"Yes, but those Old God Sect elements have never been the key." The middle-aged man sneered:

"You... and the Truth Society behind you are the trigger of all problems, the source of chaos in the world!"

"Really?" The young man raised his eyebrows in surprise: "I think the Church of the Ring of Order is the root of all conflicts and problems; because of their existence, too many problems cannot be solved."

"What do you think the representatives of the Holy See would think if I told this?"

"Simple, they will think you have finally revealed your true nature."

"nature?"

"His Majesty the King, who is determined to reform, which led to the outbreak of rebellion in the Kingdom of Naxir, is obviously very dissatisfied with the restrictions and suppression of his power by the Holy See, exposing his desire for independence and his ambition like some Clovis pseudo-believers .”

"...You mean if I expose your existence, they will think so?"

"No, no matter what you do to me in the end, they will all feel this way. Otherwise, why would they drag the Jihadi Army that has not yet participated in the war to Naqsir Port, where the war has just calmed down, to hold such a flashy military parade?"

The young man...Draco Vertes chuckled, shrugged, and pointed out the window: "Those people, your innocent subjects, are the hostages they use to threaten you, telling you to behave, otherwise they will attack you at any time. All have the ability to take you down.”

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly, his look becoming more fierce.

"Why their first stop was neither Sailing City nor Beluga Port, but Naxir, which had just ended the civil war... The reason is self-evident."

Holding the crown symbolizing the royal family of Helvig, the novelist walked respectfully to the middle-aged man and knelt down on one knee: "I guess you don't need someone like this to decide for you what to do."

The middle-aged man just had no expression on his face, staring at the crown motionless as if he was experiencing an endless battle between heaven and man.

"You know, I've always felt that I'm the kind of weirdo who insists on having his own way, is stubborn and doesn't listen to advice."

After a long silence, the middle-aged man said in a hoarse voice: "Thank you for helping me break this illusion today."

"Listen extensively to suggestions from many parties, and make your own decisions unswervingly, even if you know that the future is uncertain - this is the innate talent of Mingjun." The novelist's smile became more subtle:

"Your success is not due to anyone or external forces, it is entirely due to yourself."

"Myself? Humph!"

The middle-aged man sneered at himself, looking down at the novelist in front of him, "Draco Wilters, if you were my minister, I would not hesitate to cut off your tongue that is always prone to slander; if You are my clown, and I should at once give you as much wealth and lands as a considerable earl.”

"Too bad you are neither, so I can neither punish you nor reward you...what a shame."

"I feel that it is a great honor to be your friend instead of a clown minister." The novelist chuckled lightly: "Because sharing between friends has nothing to do with status - no matter lucky or unfortunate .”

The sneering middle-aged man said no more, took the crown from the novelist's hand with one hand, and walked out of the palace; Draco, who had a flash of joy on his face, stood up in a hurry and looked at the other person's back: "Your Majesty, as for what we agreed before..."

"I will immediately rush to the banquet to welcome the Hantu Holy War Army, as well as many distinguished guests from the Holy See and wealthy families!"

The middle-aged man stopped and said in a deep voice without looking back: "During this period, there may be some rebellious traitors who are dissatisfied with Helvig and the Church of the Ring of Order, and some of them will be released under the guise of my name." Rebels in jail.”

"These people have always been a serious nuisance to the Kingdom of Naxir. I have long wanted to execute them all. However, the Archbishop has given repeated orders, warning the king to restrain his anger and to have mercy and sympathy for the ministers who betrayed him. ."

"If this group of rebels not only refuses to repent, but also escapes, it will probably bring disgrace to the church and the archbishop, right?"

As he spoke, he glanced sideways at the novelist behind him: "You have to be careful not to accidentally get involved with them!"

"Please feel free to worry about this." Draco Vertes stood up with a smile and saluted the other party handsomely:

"I will definitely...never be so careless!"

……………………………………………………

The "reinforcements" of the Kingdom of Naxir are the remnants of the nobles who rebelled during the civil war... Although this is a little unexpected, it is indeed reasonable.

First of all, although the Helvig royal family won the civil war in the Kingdom of Naxir, victory on the battlefield was only the first step towards success. Next, in order to prevent this gang of rebellious officials and traitors from continuing to be evil, they must take away the stolen goods, and We must also prevent them from calling thief "catching thief" and calling rebellion an uprising, causing some idiots who are not clear-headed to regard thieves as their fathers.

It is easy to deprive the traitors of their territory with victory - of course, in fact it is not that easy - but it is too difficult to kill them all; after all, except for the aristocracy, which will definitely protest collectively, even their own people are unlikely to support it. , the church is also the staunchest opponent of this "tyranny".

Is there any good idea that can drive away all these annoying guys so that they will never come back easily and won't arouse everyone's resentment?

Of course there is, and it's very simple: let them leave alive, but they can no longer maintain a foothold in the country.

Thousands or even tens of thousands of Naxir nobles and their families, servants, and followers were forced to flee; almost overnight, hundreds of smuggling merchant ships and pirate ships appeared on the rough sea, and dozens of Large and small, independently armed large fleets are rampant in various waterways, robbing passing ships unscrupulously, ranging from merchant ships full of warehouses to small sampans of fishermen, all are within the scope of their business, even those without Be careful and the sharks that pass by will have their fins cut off and put in a pot to make soup.

At this time, due to the outbreak of the Holy War, almost half of the ships sailing on the turbulent sea were the logistics transport teams of the Jihad Army. Even the merchant ships that were not would hang the flag of the Ring of Order on the stern; but this group of people was completely out of touch with society. The pirates don't care about this. Whether they can rob the opponent or not mainly depends on whether they can beat them.

And unlike those old pirates who have been around for many years, these newbies still fight naval battles in the same manner as the conflicts and disputes between lords in the past-killing all the ordinary sailors, leaving only the senior crew members to extort ransom, and the ships After eating and wiping it clean, it was basically scuttled cleanly.

Well, it's like those castles that are captured but cannot be occupied.

It didn't take long for the Crusaders who were fighting against the Free Confederacy in the New World to feel the power of these impolite new pirates... guns, ammunition, reinforcements and supplies... they robbed everything indiscriminately, and the new pirates who disappeared 100% afterwards The entire maritime supply line was going crazy.

The first person to feel this pressure was, of course, the Hantu Jihad Army in Naxir Port; Léon François, who was having a toast with the Helvig royal family a second ago and was treated as a distinguished guest, spent the night Soon I found myself becoming a thorn in the side of the locals.

Nearly 40,000 Jihadi troops are stationed in the local area, but they are helpless or even indifferent to the raging pirates. This makes the people of Naxir Port who rely on trade feel that they have been deceived. The Jihadi soldiers who fight for their beliefs do not intend to fight for their faith. They solve the immediate troubles, but are they still worried about their voyage being blocked and are in a hurry to leave?

But little Leon also felt that he was quite innocent - with the headquarters here, how could he decide whether to stay or leave? What's more, Hantu is not a naval power at all. More than half of the Jihadi Army are landlubbers like Anson Bach. Being able to survive to the Nakshier Port is already considered brave!

And at the same time that he was taking the blame for the head of the Holy See, the Helvig royal family, which was beginning to feel the pressure, was also complaining to the church. Although the rebellion went smoothly, the church and the archbishop required mercy in the previous stage. Because of this, the rebellious nobles who had just been defeated were still eager to move, and the kingdom needed to invest a large amount of troops to maintain stability and suppress them, so they really did not have the energy to join the Jihad Army.

Not only that, because of the civil war in Naxir, the other two families in the three North Sea countries have also begun to make moves recently. The Helweg royal family does not dare to expect the church to be willing to send troops to help them deter their unkind neighbors, but if they can provide some endorsement, , for example, if Naqsir joins the Jihadi Army, so declaring war on Naqsir is equivalent to declaring war on the Jihadi Army and even all participating countries, things will be easier to handle!

This kind of request will 100% involve all forces. Even if the church wants to agree, it is impossible for the church to agree. In addition, it has to rely on Nakshier to maintain a stable route for itself and serve as the logistics base of the Jihad Army. Therefore, it cannot It's good to refuse directly, so I can only delay and not give a reply.

And what Naxir wants is this: If you don’t give an answer, then I don’t have to send troops. As for the pirate issue - of course I have worked hard, but hard work and completion are two different concepts. Even if your completion degree is zero, but As long as you do it, no one can deny your efforts.

At least on paper, the Free Confederation now has a giant fleet with hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of soldiers, serving as an important ally to fill the gap in its maritime combat power.