I will be crowned king

"clever."

Luther Franz's smile was kind, but it made people involuntarily nervous: "It seems that the decision I made was indeed correct. You guessed it in the end, which is really amazing."

"No." Anson shook his head silently: "I actually blame myself a little for not realizing it until the end. Otherwise, this incident could have been solved better, instead of being messed up by everyone like it is now. Aware of our purpose, we will make ourselves and the Franz family a thorn in everyone's side."

"That's right, starting from today the War Department... No, it should be said that the fate of the entire Clovis is in our hands: Viscount Bogner and the reformists need to rely on us to expand their interests, and the local Sisi The Er family is also anxiously waiting for the alliance with the Free Confederacy. The Shotgun Club and a large number of middle- and lower-level officers who have not been reused will be devoted to us. Even the royal family... hum, as long as Her Majesty the Queen still wants to secure her position, she does not need to be If you are beheaded on the charge of ‘assassinating the king’, you will not be able to betray us.”

"A very perfect result, but there is a saying that you have as many enemies as you have friends; we tied half of Clovis to the chariot, which is almost equivalent to completely opposing the other half of Clovis."

"That's all if there is really nothing to do, but in fact this is completely avoidable - if, I realized at the beginning of the mutiny, this was the drama planned by you and young Périgord."

Anson looked regretful and secretly accused the other party of not telling him the truth of the matter in advance, which led to the unsatisfactory final result.

The Archbishop did not answer immediately, but instead turned his gaze to the ruins of the inner city streets in the distance that were destroyed by mutiny and fighting.

"Do you still remember what Draco once told you about the metaphor of 'storm'?"

"That third-rate novelist?" Anson raised his eyebrows: "I still have some vague impressions... Do you want to say that this mutiny is also part of the storm?"

"Yeah, you're a smart guy."

Luther Franz nodded slightly, with a very pleased expression: "There are two kinds of people in this world. Some people can stir up storms and decide their own destiny with their own hands. Some people can only passively participate in it, and they will do their best just to survive. All you can.”

"But he may not have told you that when someone has the ability to stir up a storm but chooses balance and stability blindly, he will immediately become an obstacle and a hunting target for others."

"You mean that Carlos II has become an obstacle in the eyes of you and little Périgord?" Anson narrowed his eyes slightly: "But if I remember correctly, he trusts you very much, and can even say that he treats you Follow your advice.”

"Yeah, he's a good boy."

Luther Franz nodded, with a little sadness in his eyes: "I was his first teacher. I watched him grow up and succeed to the throne. He gradually became mature and capable from being immature and reckless. As king; if there was any way that didn't involve sacrificing him, I wouldn't do it."

"But you still did it, and you showed no mercy." Anson said solemnly: "You let the queen who he was least wary of kill him with her own hands, and you also let the murderer usurp his position and let his heir Without knowing anything, he respectfully called this murderer his mother."

"No, you were the one who did this, dear Anson." The archbishop's eyes became sharp: "The moment it happened, Anne might have been able to survive, or she might have been sentenced to death by the angry royal guards... It was you who protected her. , pushing her into a position that doesn’t belong to her at all.”

"You mean, I'm the culprit?"

"Yes, and you did a great job, even beyond the bottom line of my initial expectations."

Luther Franz's expression showed a little more approval: "When Maurice Périgord came to the door, the first thing I realized was that he most likely did not get any benefits from you. Otherwise, given his character, if he loses the chess pieces of the War Department and is robbed of a difference machine, he will not let it go no matter what."

"But even so, the danger of this guy is still beyond imagination, and he will never give up until he achieves his goal; it is impossible to satisfy him, or to have to leave Clovis City temporarily without paying some price."

"So I asked myself, what does he want most?"

"Chaos." Anson said silently: "It completely breaks Clovis's balance and plunges the entire kingdom into chaos where all forces fight against each other and kill each other."

"You are right, but what is the purpose of the chaos?"

The old man turned around and walked forward slowly, with a strange look in his deep eyes: "I agree that little Périgord is a person who does things without considering the consequences, but even an alien existence like him always has a specific purpose. He doesn’t like to see human beings killing each other – of course this can also be regarded as one of his goals.”

"He wants to weaken Clovis." Anson said without thinking: "A weak Clovis Kingdom is beneficial to the Holy See."

"That's true, but there are many ways to weaken Clovis, and assassinating the king and organizing a mutiny is definitely not the best option."

Luther Franz continued to ask: "Especially considering Clovis's centralized system, such sudden political events can easily lead to the emergence of a more centralized and radical government, and in fact it did appear; even if Even the craziest conspirators know that the death of one king is not enough to shake the foundation of Clovis. To do this, you would have to kill almost two-thirds of the men named Osteria."

"Then is there a possibility that all other methods have been tried, but none of them succeeded in the end?" Anson finally began to follow the old man's thinking:

"For example, using the Ministry of War to target me and the Storm Legion to prevent Clovis from forming an alliance with the Free Confederacy was probably one of the goals he hoped to achieve, right?"

"Well said, it is indeed possible."

The old man nodded: "But if I remember correctly, he also helped you when you hunted down 'Whisper'. It was just that your subsequent actions did not meet his expectations, which led to the death of Little Périgord." It’s becoming more and more extreme and radical, isn’t it?”

"So the crux of the matter is what he wanted me to do after getting help, right?"

"Correct, but this is only part of it." The old man nodded slightly:

"And at least we know that your decision to send Whisper's head to the War Department and the Difference Machine to the Tribunal was definitely not what he wanted; and we can work backwards from this and conclude that he wanted Things you do.”

Anson said without hesitation: "He wants me to replace the War Department and become his partner in Clovis or... a pawn that can be exploited."

"And you have partially achieved his desired goal - replacing the Army Department. However, the part that was exploited seems to have little hope."

The old man said with a hint of ridicule, and took out his pipe from his coat pocket. After slowly loading the tobacco, he couldn't find a match, so he had to look up at Anson:

"He knows you very well and knows how heavy a difference engine is in your mind. He also knows that even with the relationship between you and me, you will not be allowed to use the difference engine of Clovis Cathedral casually; conversely, , he probably already knows that you already have a lot of things about Saint Isaac in your hands."

"So..." Anson paused for a moment, then snapped his fingers:

"The purpose of weakening Clovis is to facilitate the Holy See's better penetration - whether it is related to interests or supporting certain forces, it all revolves around this point."

The pipe at the corner of Luther Franz's mouth suddenly ignited, and the drifting smoke obscured the old man's approving gaze.

"To penetrate the interior of Clovis, the first thing you must face is Archbishop Luther Franz, who has almost single-handedly covered most of Clovis, and His Majesty Carlos II, who has unconditional trust in you. ; As long as you two are still alive, it will be difficult for the Holy See... no, it is impossible for the Holy See to interfere in any affairs related to Clovis."

"But Carlos II is dead. No matter who the new king is, no matter what his attitude towards the Holy See, it is impossible for him to have the same unconditional trust in you as Carlos II did. And the chaos after the mutiny also gave This is enough reason for the Holy See to intervene in Clovis’ politics!”

Ansen's face remained calm, but his heart was already filled with huge waves.

If all my guesses are true, then I am afraid that this storm started not when I arrived in Clovis City, but much earlier; what I saw was only the end of it. .

From the very beginning, Périgord Jr.'s real target was Luther Franz, who wanted to completely overthrow the Archbishop of Clovis' almost unshakable influence on the upper echelons of the kingdom.

That's why they support the War Department, because none of the senior officials in the War Department are hostile to the Franz family; it is of course also because of this that they support themselves; if the Storm Legion and the Free Confederacy collectively choose to abandon the Franz family, they can do the same. Weaken the Archbishop's influence over the Reformists, thereby losing control of the kingdom.

But all these goals failed, so Périgord Jr. could only choose the most extreme and last resort: kill Carlos II.

Only by letting the king who obeyed Luther Franz disappear from the world can he smash a gap in the iron wall of the Archdiocese of Clovis and insert his tentacles.

So no matter what conditions Luther Franz offered at that time, when he promised not to protect Carlos II, little Périgord would not refuse - this was his only chance, Archbishop His acquiescence is almost the only prerequisite that can ensure his success.

If this is the case, Anson can understand why Luther Franz did not reveal his plan to himself in advance: because not telling him should be part of the agreement.

Since Maurice Périgord can distort other people's memories and cognitions, he may also have methods such as mind-reading; even if he will be fine, if he knew about it in advance, he would definitely use this to plan the follow-up. Plan, there is always someone's actions, some clues will expose the fact that you have obtained the information.

Moreover, the Archbishop was not completely unprepared - Ludwig happened to stumble upon the scene where the king was assassinated. If it was a pure coincidence, Anson would never believe it.

"...If I guess correctly, his name is not Maurice Périgord." Anson sighed: "You lied to me."

"Yes, I lied." The old man blew out the smoke ring gently:

"This is the name of the unlucky Yser elf ambassador. The moment you spoke, I knew that you had already met him and had distorted your cognition, so many things I told you will make you Many of the things you see are things I deliberately let you see."

"The purpose is also very simple, which is to make him relax his guard against me. Little Périgord...well, let's just call him this name for now. He is not someone who can be easily deceived. There are some things that if I keep a little Be on guard, and he will immediately become as alert as a viper.”

"So dear Anson, you must be sincere. Sincerity... is the most powerful weapon."

"I absolutely agree with this." Anson nodded matter-of-factly: "My greatest advantage is precisely that I am sincere in my treatment of others."

"In this case, it seems that we can continue to remain friends?"

"Dear Lord Luther Franz, haven't we always been friends? You have forgotten that I am now also a member of the Society of Truth."

"Ah... that's true."

The old man nodded slightly: "My sincere friend, have you figured out your next plan?"

"You...ah, you should be about to take over the power of the entire Kingdom of Clovis, but as you said, half of Clovis is already your enemy; the generals who are just leaning on the wall and watching are still There are local factions like the Cecil family who have not officially expressed their stance, the loud and quiet revolutionary faction, and a Queen who may be ousted at any time. What are the chances that you will not let Clovis be torn apart?"

"Not sure, but...probably 0%." Anson shrugged:

"But if we have the help of the Archbishop, it will be 100% possible."

"Yes, but I can't help you - in the past it could be because of the existence of Carlos II, but now that he is dead, no one will allow me, the archbishop, to have an indelible impact on the next generation of Clovis kings."

"That's such a pity." Anson looked calm, fully expecting this result: "In this case, I can only adopt the next-level plan."

"Oh, for example..."

"Since these fence-sitters are either waiting and watching, or are unreliable, then I will recruit all the reliable people, and then..." Anson paused:

"Establishing a completely new organization."