The king received his cousin, General John.
The redemption of General John is really a road of twists and turns. First, the inheritance tax of the nobles was levied, and then the collection of the ransom was interrupted by the change of the rose. Then the civil strife was settled, and the nobles handed in the ransom for themselves, but then the Five-Port Alliance broke out. Rebelling against the movement, Blasey's Expeditionary Force tried to take advantage of the situation.
From September to the end of winter, the general, who was closely related to the king, was able to return to the capital, Merz.
General John's return was very low-key.
After careful consideration, the king chose a time when the Duke of Buckingham was not at the Rose Palace and asked General John to see him.
General John was eight years older than the king. He was thrown into battle by the Duke of Buckingham in the year he had just become a knight. He did not become a general by virtue of his dignity. He became a general on his own merits. General John's silver hair of the Rose family logo was shaggy back, making him look like a young lion.
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."
Now the young lion was rather depressed. He knelt before the king, his voice low.
"My fault has brought disaster to Legrand, please punish me."
He leaned down and pressed his forehead to the ground.
"You are indeed guilty."
The king's voice came from overhead, along with the casual flipping of the pages.
General John didn't say a word to justify himself, and the guilt almost overwhelmed the young general.
"Twenty thousand pounds." The king laughed lowly, "The loss caused by your fault is as high as twenty thousand pounds. Do you think this price is high enough?"
"I betrayed your trust."
General John answered bitterly.
With a "snap", the manuscript in the king's hand was tightly closed by him, and the gentle and soft voice just now suddenly became cold and sharp.
"Do you think £20,000 is high enough? No, it's much more than that."
"I beg you to deprive me of all my titles, but please allow me to continue to serve you. Your Majesty."
General John answered in a low voice.
"Do you think that's enough?"
There was anger in the king's voice.
He put down the book, stood up, and walked over to General John.
"You almost cost an old man the continuation of his life, his beloved son, you almost cost a king his powerful general, you almost cost Legrand his impregnable barrier, and you almost cost a Ben There are not many people who can be trusted to lose his respected brother."
General John suddenly raised his head and looked at the king in a dazed way.
The king squatted down in front of him, his hands on his knees, his ice blue eyes filled with anger: "Now, tell me, do you think twenty thousand pounds is enough for your mistake?"
General John looked at him blankly.
The king stretched out his hand to him.
He held the king's hand tightly all of a sudden, and the poor general was afraid that he blamed Legrand's upheaval on his own defeat, and the guilt almost overwhelmed him. He held the king's hand tightly, unable to utter a decent word for a moment.
If the soldiers under General John saw him like this, they would be too surprised to say anything.
The king sighed in his heart.
He had already learned from the other defeated and captives who had been released together with General John's behavior during this period - after being captured, the Blasey Expeditionary Force had spent a lot of effort on how to prevent General John from committing suicide.
Before John arrived at the palace, the king had thought for a long time how to handle today's meeting.
"You made me have to choose a gentleman who wanted to kill me before as my general. It's your fault."
said the king softly.
He reached out and hugged his cousin gently as the Duke of Buckingham had embraced him.
"You have to pay me a stronger army, that's what you should do."
"I will, I will, Your Majesty."
General John repeated hastily, his sky blue eyes were wet, as if washed by rain.
For a moment, the king released him uncomfortably and returned to his seat: "Now, please tell me about the Battle of Bouven. Even if you doubt yourself, please don't doubt your uncle's years of teaching. , I don't believe your failure could be so simple."
The king pointed to another chair next to him, motioning for General John to take his seat.
When it comes to the Battle of Bouven, General John's eyes are covered with a cloud of darkness. Obviously, during this time, he was also thinking about that battle over and over again.
"Someone betrayed," he said in a low voice. "But that's not the big point... I wonder how they predicted my actions."
This doubt seemed to have plagued General John for a long time.
The timing of the arrival of Blasey's expeditionary force was well chosen. It was after Legrand had just experienced the rebellion in the two places. The Duke of Buckingham originally wanted to lead the army himself, but due to the domestic situation, he had to stay behind.
After General John arrived on the front line, he laid out tight defenses.
There are three lines of defense, and the Moon River Fortress is on the last line. And General John himself was facing the first front of Blasey's expedition. He did not defend blindly. When the Blasey Expeditionary Force had not yet established its foothold, he sent two teams, one along the Doma River, to attack the Blasey Expeditionary Force stationed in Casson, and the other They attacked the port where Blasey's Expeditionary Force landed, trying to cut off their supply lines.
The army on the front line of Casson achieved a lot of victory, making it impossible for the Blasey Expeditionary Force to launch a direct attack for a while. The attack on the port was not successful, but it also played a harassing role.
The early battle was smooth, and the Blasey expedition was pulled into the quagmire of a long-term attack on the castle. General John believed that they were fighting across the sea, and it was more difficult to bear the huge material consumption than himself. The negotiation victory of the king in the later period also confirmed that at this point.
However, in the battle of the city defense, betrayal appeared.
The defenders of an important castle lowered the drawbridge, and the commander of Blasey's expedition drove straight in, killing General John by surprise.
In a critical situation, he made the quickest response and retreated with the core army.
The incident at the first castle made General John realize that there were traitors in his army, and there were likely problems in the subsequent castles. After a brief judgment, General John made a decision - "offensive instead of defense."
He retreated with the army, and in the middle of the march, he suddenly turned around with the army and made a surprise attack on the rear wing of the Blasey Expeditionary Force. This decision was made immediately by him under the circumstances at the time, and there is absolutely no possibility of leaking secrets.
— but he was ambushed, and after a difficult fight, was able to escape.
General John knew his opponent, and the leader of Blasey's expedition was a calm general. After he captured the castle, it was impossible for him to divide his forces to intercept it halfway.
After that, there were several key operations in which the enemy made preparations in advance.
How did they do that
General John almost questioned his ability to command.
"I understand what's going on."
After listening to General John's statement, a dark cloud seemed to sink in the king's eyes.
"Please don't feel guilty, it's not your fault."
General John looked at him suspiciously.
The king didn't mean to explain directly. He seemed to be thinking about something before he said, "Now, an order."
"Please order."
"Go see uncle, this is an order."
The king smiled slightly.
…
After General John left, the line of the king's lips suddenly straightened, extremely cold.
He had a guess.
Speculation about the enemy's actions on the battlefield is indeed something that generals will do, but the king believes in General John's strength, and at the same time senses something from those "coincidences".
If the action is not leaked, but the enemy knows it in advance, then this kind of "prediction" can be associated with something - foreknowledge.
The king thought of the man he had met during the negotiations at Moon River Fortress, the young astrologer standing beside General Blasey.
A war involves a young astrologer, and the status of the astrologer appears to be very high. Why is this? Because this easily overlooked astrologer is likely to play an important role in the battle - such as divination of the enemy's actions.
Inhuman powers have secretly interfered with the course of the war.
If this is the case, then behind the Battle of Bouven, there is another hidden shadow - the Holy Court.
Astrologers today are almost always under the control of the Holy See.
The king leaned back in his chair and thought.
He once asked the devils if their inhuman powers would directly participate in human wars, and got a negative answer. The devil once mentioned "that damn knife on the head" which means there is some kind of limitation.
How should the astrologer at the Battle of Bouven explain it
Although the devil is always full of lies, the information obtained by the King through the former Templar Commander during this period has confirmed that there is indeed a "law" restricting it.
If astrologers were truly able to engage in war recklessly, then other non-human forces would also join in—and from the history of Legrand, as well as the history of other nations, this is certainly not possible.
Then there is only one explanation:
Through some means, the Holy See bypassed the "law" and indirectly intervened in the war.
The king must know, what is the price paid for such means? This is related to whether the king will face the enemy who always predicts his actions indefinitely in the following wars.
He summoned Mr. Astrologer from the Academy of Mad Men.
After listening to the king's question, Mr. Astrologer showed a look of astonishment: "Which astrologers are willing to lose their lives like this?"
The king was explained.
The divination of astrologers is often vague and unclear. If you want to achieve such accurate divination, you must need the blessing of some special items, and you need to gather the power of many powerful astrologers, so that the divination will be clear. Ability is transferred to a specific person.
The price of this ability is enormous, too great to imagine.
What's more important is the "punishment" that comes with it.
What is meant by "disciplining" the astrologer is vaguely expressed due to the existence of some kind of prohibition, but the king is still clearly informed - if this is done, all participating astrologers will surely die.
After the astrologer left, the king raised his hand and pressed his forehead.
He has a headache, which is getting worse and worse these days.
He frowned, remembering the "sacred relics" that the Guros family wanted to use as a bargaining chip with the Holy Court - the Holy Court was collecting relics, whether those relics were the special items needed to perform this divination, and if so …
The king's expression became serious.
The Holy Court, perhaps wanting—
start a war.
… … … …
Cossoa.
Pirate ships flying the flag of the Rose King roam the coast.
Although there is money, the ship cannot be built so quickly, so the current composition of the king's fleet consists of 40% of the original royal fleet and 40% of pirate ships. The remaining 20% consisted of the remnants of the Five-Port Alliance confiscated ships and the purchase of some armed merchant ships.
At first, people along the coast and in various ports were still a little nervous, for fear that the pirate ships flying the king's flag would resume their old business and blatantly rob themselves.
However, they soon discovered that the pirates did not give up their old business, but they were no longer the targets of robbery.
—Blasy's merchant ships and some Norgenian merchant ships.
The former is a feud with Blasey, the latter... Well, don't forget that today's merchant ships are actually often engaged in some not-so-glamorous pirate activities. As long as the pirates weren't coming for Legrand's ships, it didn't matter who he robbed.
And based on the hostility to the Blaseys, people are quite happy to see those Blasey ships suffer. Thus, the figures of the pirates of Volway are active in various ports.
- Can enjoy drinking and having fun, who would like to live in the sea
Because of their cheerfulness and generosity, as well as their knowledge of sea legends, the pirates of Walway actually won the support of some young people. Older parents have to worry about how to stop their stinky brats from running away with those carefree pirates...
The king earned a… um… not-so-laudable title for it:
Pirate monarch.
However, it seems that the "tyrant" used to describe the king before is also not a good word
Tavern.
"Pirate monarch?"
Drunk, black hat, scarred man holding up beer and pulling a guy with a face full of bitterness in one hand. He smiled disdainfully and patted the table.
"He didn't even set foot on the pirate ship, what kind of pirate monarch... Bah, he didn't even get on the pirate ship, back then... that bastard William..."
The Pirate Captain of the Volway, and Admiral of the Royal Fleet, Hawkins's voice was getting lower and lower.
He grunted, climbed to the table, and lowered his hand under the table.
The sailor Walway, who was being pulled by him, took out his purse in pain.
- After learning that the captain was the general, the pirates gathered on the big ship and cheered all night to celebrate that they finally got rid of this crazy and unreliable captain. At that time, even the ghost ship was very spirited.
As a result, by the next day, they woke up from a hangover.
As soon as I woke up, I met a certain smiling face:
"Hey! I'm—so—moved—that you have such a big party to welcome me!"
Do not! ! No one welcomes you back!
Forget the past.
The poor pirate paid, and dragged Captain Hawkins, who was holding on to the bottle, with difficulty, pulling off his turban and discreetly covering his face so as not to lose face.
The upright General Sheehan pressed the hilt of the sword on his waist, and the blue veins on the back of his hand jumped up.
He stood in the doorway, silently watching Captain Hawkins being dragged by the masked pirates, feeling that his capacity was skyrocketing.
Is this his colleague in this operation
Is this the man who will be in charge of the Great Lockdown with him
General Sheehan felt that the heavy, depressing, and tragic atmosphere on the way before he came was broken into a pile of crows, which flew away from his head with a quack cry.
General Sheehan took a deep breath and walked in.
He was about to speak.
Captain Hawkins, who was pulled by one leg by the sailor, turned over, opened his mouth, and a cloud of alcohol sprayed directly on General Sheehan's face, interrupting his self-introduction.
General Sheehan: …
Seriously, can he draw his sword and slash this guy
An ominous foreboding—
This time the mission seems to be unfolding in an abnormal melody.
…
When the rose flag of the Legrand royal family roamed the sea, the Holy Court.
In the magnificent castle of the Holy Court.
The night was deep, and a group of people shrouded in black robes walked in the shadow of the holy light. Their dark burqas were uniformly embroidered with blood and white crosses, and on their sleeves a sword was embroidered.
A sword wrapped in flames.
This revealed the identity of these people, who were the "judiciary" of the Holy See.
These people are the other side of the Holy Court.
The Holy See advocated "the Lord's truce" and also said, "Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth; I did not come to bring peace to the earth, but to bring swords to the ground." - They are to purge all the heretics who violated the will of the Lord. sword.
They are the swordsmen of the Holy Court.
The Adjudicators walked silently into a dark iron building.
In addition, a group of silent astrologers gathered here, sitting in various corners of the room, facing the huge crystal ball and closing their eyes. In the middle of the hall, there is a deep pool - it is modeled after the holy pool where Lockevis stood when he was baptized.
Now, that pool is filled with blood.
"start."
The arbiters were scattered around the sanctuary, they put silver crosses in the blood, and sat around the sanctuary.
They are carrying out an order jointly signed by the Pope himself and the cardinals:
Top Secret Cleaning.
"Holy, holy." The chief judge muttered in a low voice, cut off his hand, and blood fell from his fingertips into the holy pool like a snake.
The pool water tumbled.
Not far from the holy pond, on a stage with exquisite reliefs, the golden eagle-beak holy oil bottle scorched brightly under the flickering firelight.
"Sacred Holy!"
All the adjudicators said in unison, and they also cut off their hands.
The silver crosses in the bloody water floated up one after another, standing straight down, as if it were a sword that chopped off Huo Ran.
…
Rose Palace, the night is deep.
The king has rested.
The guards of the palace were dutiful, and the patrolling captain passed in front of the king's bedroom and found nothing unusual.
The king closed his eyes, not knowing how long he had slept, when he suddenly found himself in the Cathedral of St. Weiss.
Is he dreaming
There are many people in St. Weiss Cathedral, wearing heavy black robes, holding crosses and holy books. All of them bowed their heads one by one, and the blinding light fell from the willow window on the ribbed beam vault, one after another, so white that it made people feel uncomfortable from the heart.
The king stood on the red carpet and stood at the door of St. Weiss Cathedral. He looked at these black-robed monks and felt his head hurt again.
And it hurts more and more.
The feeling of thousands of knives slicing came over again, stronger than ever, from the inside out. The king involuntarily raised his hand and pressed his head firmly - he felt that his soul was being torn apart.
The pain is familiar yet unfamiliar.
It's as if he's actually experienced something torn his soul apart.
He gritted his teeth hard to keep himself from kneeling on the ground because of the sudden burst of pain, and his consciousness gradually lost. When he woke up again, he found himself in the middle of St. Weiss Cathedral - on the high platform.
The high altar is somewhat similar to the altar where Grand Duke Glace held the coronation ceremony, but it is different.
He was drowning in a pool of blood, and those in black robes had come to the high platform from the choir, surrounding him. They raised their hands, they had fire and swords on their sleeves, and all had pale masks on their faces—except one.
The man had a black iron mask on his face.
The man with the black iron mask held a golden eagle's beak in his hand, and blood gurgled out of the eagle's beak and poured onto the king's head from midair.
They are here to kill themselves!
- The thought flashed by.
The king instinctively wanted to break free from the holy pool, but the blood was engulfing him, and he felt uncontrollably that his consciousness was being ripped apart. Those pains gushing out from the depths of the soul, those knife-like headaches converged with the blood poured from the air at this moment.
The ears were buzzing.
a hunch.
If he died in this strange dream - if it was a dream - then he was really dead!
They, they came to kill him!
Familiar feelings overlap, everyone wants him to die... Those people are the people who are surrounded by him at this time! They have been haunting him like a shadow for more than ten years, just to make him die completely!
These are the people!
Anger mixed with the feeling of a broken soul, the king tried hard to lift his hand from the water.
—The royal family who survived with gritted teeth roared.
He doesn't want to die!
"Holy holy! The sword of all armies!"
The man holding the golden hummus chanted in a low voice.
"Holy holy! The sword of all armies!"
The rest of the black-robed men stretched out their hands, the fire on their sleeves burst into flames, and they held long swords from the fire.
The king was surrounded by blood, and the long swords in his pupils fell towards him.