After the gunshot, the genius and lunatic destined to be remembered by human history closed his eyes forever with a smile on his face.
The attendants in black calmly stepped forward, and after obtaining the queen's permission, they took away his body.
No one expressed grief or hatred for the death of Prince Arthur, just like their masters, these servants in black also had nerves that penetrated into the bone marrow, it seemed that in their opinion, the death of Prince Arthur was extremely perfect envious.
As he said, he is a winner in life or death.
Soon, they left.
The queen's eyes stayed on the holy city in the distance, and she still held the gun.
Dalton walked over and took the gun away.
After noticing the focus of the Queen's gaze, he paused: "... Forgive my presumptuousness, but please don't tell me that you really regard this as your own responsibility?"
"The one who should save the world and the one who should mourn for all beings is a saint. So far I have no plans to become a saint."
The Queen retracted her gaze. She really thought she should have dealt with Prince Arthur earlier, but it was more like a warning, reminding her not to make similar mistakes again. Death is blamed on oneself.
"Rona has a population of more than 200,000. Only a part of them fled, and the rest still live in the city."
The fire set by Prince Arthur almost ignited the entire eastern part of the Holy City. The fire will continue to spread, and the number of people who will die in the end will not be a small number. But to put it bluntly, the fire is not without benefits, at least in terms of curbing the further spread of the plague. The Xiul army with the largest number of infected people was buried in the sea of flames, and the corpses were directly burned. The main source of smallpox was eliminated. Although it is difficult to control the rest, it is not impossible.
Controlling the plague is only one aspect, and the other is more important.
Since the church used the plague as a weapon, sacrificing the entire population of the city, and not caring about the lives of hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of people, the plot must be much bigger than letting the Xiulers retreat. The Black Death pandemic in the 14th century shook the church's status. Now they want to use the plague after the fall of the Holy City to accuse the secular country's gradually emerging independent consciousness as the source of the catastrophe. Power, to re-strengthen the authority of the Church.
If Archbishop Rodri hadn't happened to detain the escaped Cardinals before, they might... no, they had already succeeded.
But now there is another possibility.
There are many explanations for one incident. The outbreak of the plague can be said to be God’s punishment for the monarch who stood by. It can also be said to be God’s disappointment with the corrupt church... It all depends on who first controls the mouthpiece of the world.
Or in other words, it all depends on who can fool the people the fastest.
The only certainty is that no matter which explanation, the truth will not be made public.
"There are tens of thousands of people, they are dead or alive, and their pain is so insignificant." The queen said softly, "Those who regard so many lives as pawns will surely go to hell after death."
She's not a saint, not guilty.
I just find it ridiculous.
Witnessing tens of thousands of lives struggling with her own eyes, her first thought was to use this burning city to contain the plague, and how to use this plague to attack the church... Isn't this a disguised way to treat the whole city as a kind of sacrifice? When she was young, she firmly believed that the generosity of humanity was more important than political matters, she believed in justice, benevolence and compassion, and she believed that justice will always be justice. What is the difference between her and those church people now
sacrifice, sacrifice...
For the country, for the benefit.
"Princes are ghouls that feed on death, blood, and carrion."
The queen stood in the light, her pupils were printed with black smoke and red flames.
"Don't think about it, Your Majesty."
Dalton said.
He didn't try to refute anything, didn't try to argue anything, those words can only be used to prevaricate others but not to persuade himself. In fact, she doesn't need to feel sad because no one can blame her behavior, but the world's accusations are actually irrelevant. The only thing that can really torture a person's soul and make it painful is his own conscience.
And she is indeed a monarch with a conscience.
So he just stepped forward and put his hand over her eyes.
"We're just mortals."
…………………………
On the way, Archbishop Rodri received the returning Queen, who was escorted by Dalton.
Seeing that the queen was safe and sound, Mrs. Kelly relaxed and almost collapsed on the ground. The Queen firmly held her hand and pulled the tearful Mrs. Kelly to her feet.
"We must block the holy city immediately."
The queen said quickly as she walked into the room.
The reason why the plague has not spread until now is that before that, Prince Arthur blocked the holy city with the help of Siul's army. Now that Prince Arthur is dead, and almost all of Sioule's army has perished in the sea of fire, the panic-stricken residents of Rhone will definitely try to escape from the holy city. They are beyond reproach for having such ideas, but in doing so they spread smallpox in all directions like the rats that spread the bubonic plague.
The army originally intended to ensure the safety of the queen during the negotiations did not come back with the queen, but went straight forward and stationed at several gates of the holy city. Whoever escapes from the holy city will be shot dead immediately. Relying on this cruel method, no one will escape in a short time.
But under the oppression of death, the people in the city will soon organize and attack the blockade outside.
"Let the army take over," said the queen.
Cruelly and realistically speaking, if the plague is not the city of Rhone but a smaller town, what they have to do now is not to enter the holy city and try to save it while controlling the plague, but to make sure that the fire will not go out. , burn the entire city of people, corpses, and disease.
However, the Rhone is a holy city with a population of more than 200,000 people and a politically, religiously and economically important position.
If they really did that, the reputation of all the important figures here, including the queen, would be devastated, and other countries headed by the Root Empire could use this as an excuse to launch an attack on the Roland Empire.
"Please entrust this task to me, Your Majesty."
Dalton said calmly.
When plagues and famines occur, it is often the time when the army is most likely to mutiny. If ordinary generals accept and lead troops into the holy city, not only will they not be able to block and control them, but they may also cause new chaos. For now, Dalton is indeed the most suitable candidate.
The Queen glanced at him and nodded in agreement.
Several people immediately discussed the number of troops that Dalton led to carry out this task. In terms of the quality of the troops alone, the army brought out by Dalton was the most suitable. But that is currently the most powerful army in the Roland Empire, and they cannot all be allowed to enter the Holy City to take risks. After a brief discussion, Dalton broke up part of his army and reorganized a force of about 3,500 people.
The remaining army was divided into two groups, one was led by the queen and transferred back to the country, and the other went north to deter the coveted Lute Empire and "recover" the cities previously captured by the Xiulers.
Archbishop Rodri also stayed.
He will organize monks to relieve refugees through Bezarda faction, and heal the infected as much as possible. Since it is uncertain whether any smallpox patients escaped to other places before Prince Arthur closed the city, he also needs to use his intelligence network to carry out surveillance on the surrounding areas. Do your best to investigate. In addition, he resigned from the post of Geert archbishop of the Roland Empire, officially "returned" to the Papal State as a cardinal, and will participate in the next pope election.
… … … … … … …
Even though everyone was anxious and wished to put on their wings and send the queen back to Roland immediately, the queen's departure time was still scheduled for the next day.
In order to avoid causing panic, the news of the outbreak of the plague in the holy city is still under blockade so far.
On the bright side, the queen led the army back to the country, and the pagans in the holy city had been punished by God to be buried in the sea of fire, and God handed over its city to the chosen ones. However, although the holy city has been recovered, the remaining fire is still alive. For the sake of safety, the queen herself and most of the army will not set foot in the holy city, and only Dalton is left to preside over the fire fighting in the holy city.
If you pay attention, you will definitely find that this series of arrangements is too hasty, but their voices cannot make waves.
When the Queen arrives in a safe zone, the rumors that the Cardinals have abandoned the city and turned their backs on the gods, bringing disasters to the Holy City, will quickly set off a turmoil on the earth.
It's urgent, keep things simple.
The army dispatched and set off, and under unprecedented strict orders, they acted as fast as tightened gears, and every minute and every second was seamless.
The fire in the holy city lasted all night, but the fire was dimmed, and thick smoke could be seen from a distance.
Dalton, on horseback, hangs at the rear of the line.
He turned his head and saw the queen's carriage, which was mainly red and decorated with gold embossing, passing by, its edges blurred in the sunlight. One of them headed for the hell on earth shrouded in thick smoke, and the other sailed into the sky full of light, just like one going to heaven and the other going to hell in the future.
Harsh words rang in his ears.
Fate must be entangled with each other, and life or death must become the most eye-catching stroke of the story.
She wants to leave her name in history. After a hundred years and a thousand years, people will praise her brilliance and praise her great achievements, so what about him? So many years later, according to historical records, Queen Roland's generals and soldiers were as numerous as a sea of sand, and his name was drowned in them. Who would remember and who would know the difference between this name
Prince Arthur, mad as he is, won.
So what about him
He suddenly turned his horse and chased after the carriage that was drifting away.
…………………
The queen heard the hooves of the horses.
With a rush like a drumbeat, they split through the crowd and arrived at the carriage directly.
She stopped the carriage.
Dalton turned over and jumped off the horse, reached out to the Queen, and handed her an unknown book. He stared closely at the beautiful face, his eyes were stubborn and gloomy and silent and affectionate in the shadow cast by the brow bone. The queen took the book, but instead of taking his hand back, he held her wrist tightly.
His tone was particularly urgent: "Can I ask you for a reward in advance? Your Majesty."
"Speak."
"Don't give roses to anyone else."