I will be crowned king

Clovis, inner city, Osteria Palace.

midnight.

The soaked Archbishop Luther Franz stood in front of the door of the living room, refusing the frightened palace steward behind him to prepare a set of clean clothes for him. His tired face was colder than the rain on his body.

A few minutes later, a naked man wearing only a silk robe opened the door: he had light yellow slightly curly hair, sharp eyes showing a bit of panic, and a deliberately grown beard, which made this picture stand out. The handsome face and strong figure are a little more mature.

Without the other person having to say anything, Luther Franz knew exactly who this face he had seen countless times in the past twenty years belonged to.

Carlos Osteria, the king of the Kingdom of Clovis, is also the "lucky man" Carlos II among the people of the empire.

He lost his father at an early age but succeeded to the throne smoothly. He lost the battlefield but defended Beigang during the "Four Kingdoms Intervention". He went to war several times but the domestic economy prospered, creating what countless chambers of commerce call the "Clovis Miracle."

During his adult years, Clovis built the world's first railway, opened up colonies, expanded the size of the royal capital, built a new palace, and thoroughly popularized basic education...

He himself is much "inferior", but he awakened the power of his bloodline at the age of four, breaking the age record for geniuses in the entire Order world, and he smoothly married the youngest sister of the previous generation emperor, who was only thirty years old. He ruled the increasingly powerful Kingdom of Clovis for eighteen full years...

In the eyes of the empire - or the whole world, His Majesty Carlos is extremely lucky. He is definitely blessed by the "Ring of Order" and is a biological son.

But only those who have experienced it will understand that things are not as simple as they seem...

"How could this happen?!"

The stunned Carlos II blurted out and shouted angrily: "Who did it?!"

"It doesn't matter who did it, Your Majesty."

Luther Franz stretched out his hand to wipe off the rain from his collar, and said calmly: "The important thing is that you please immediately order the guards outside the palace to dispatch to relieve the siege of St. Isaac's College."

"In addition to the guests at the banquet, there are hundreds of faculty and students there, as well as hundreds of years of research results accumulated since the 'Qiuzhen Sect'!"

"I have given the order to the commander of the Guards outside the palace - when the steward told me that you were not even willing to change your clothes when you came in, I already knew the seriousness of the matter." Carlos II said solemnly:

"Don't worry, the four infantry regiments will move in batches. The commander told me that the vanguard will arrive within thirty minutes. Sit down first, Lord Archbishop. Even if we continue to stand, it will not help, right?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Luther Franz nodded slightly and sat down on the sofa opposite Carlos calmly.

"So who did it?!"

Almost as soon as the archbishop sat down, Carlos couldn't wait to say: "The bishop of the Kingdom of Clovis, the ambassador of the Elf Kingdom, and nearly a hundred important figures in the kingdom were besieged by thousands of thugs at the church college in the inner city!"

"Is it the Old God Sect, or is it a chess piece planted by the Empire in the capital?!"

"I'm sorry, please forgive me for my eagerness and gaffe, but now I really want to know who has the courage and power to do such a crazy thing?!"

"I understand your anger, Your Majesty." Luther Franz expressed his understanding, resting his elbows on the armrests and crossing his fingers:

"Wait until tomorrow morning and you can publicly declare that this is a conspiracy by the Old Gods - and you should."

"Then start a turmoil in the royal capital and declare war on the Elf Kingdom of Iser?!" The excited Carlos asked angrily.

"If you still plan to sit on the throne." Luther Franz looked at him calmly:

"I am not suggesting to you as the archbishop, but as your friend - with the help of the empire, the Ysel elves have established a legion of nearly 50,000 people, and the death of the elf ambassador has given them a great opportunity. Good excuse."

"To go to this point and beg for peace is to disgrace ourselves."

"Disgrace yourself..." Carlos murmured in a low voice:

"Who on earth has the courage?"

"The Old Gods, Your Majesty." Luther Franz said calmly.

"Yes, we all know that this is the work of the Old Gods. It must be them, it must be them!" Carlos gritted his teeth and sighed:

"But...who is it?"

Looking at the persistent His Majesty the King, Luther Franz fell into silence.

Carlos Osteria... His Majesty the King is really too naive sometimes. He doesn't understand that once he opens his mouth, it will be used as an excuse for the church to interfere in the internal affairs of the kingdom. Waiting until tomorrow will only be more detrimental to himself.

In comparison, the leader of a certain storm group seemed to be too smart, very sure of what he should do and say, and never cross the line easily.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Archbishop Luther decided to give the king a small reminder.

"Your Majesty, I was protected by an inquisitor and came directly from St. Isaac's College surrounded by thugs." Luther Franz said calmly:

"There are my subordinates, friends, and my daughter in that banquet hall. I want to solve this matter as much as you do."

"But instead of going to the closer Guards station, I came directly to you... Your Majesty, do you understand why?"

Why?

Carlos didn't speak, and his sharp pupils showed his mood.

"Thousands of thugs showed up at St. Isaac's College - even on a rainy day, it was impossible for there to be no movement." Luther Franz looked at the king silently:

"Why didn't the Guards receive even a single message?"

"How come they were gathered together so smoothly and haven't been discovered yet?"

"Why were thousands of thugs able to appear outside St. Isaac's College by such a 'coincidence' without any hindrance, even on a dark rainy day?"

"Why……"

One question after another caused Carlos to fall into an inexplicable panic, and his breathing almost stopped.

He didn't even want to, and he didn't dare to continue thinking about Luther Franz's question.

Cold sweat slid down his neck. Carlos woke up and immediately pressed his neck. He was relieved when he saw that the liquid on his trembling palms was transparent.

"The Guards... is a legion directly under the royal family, and it is also the last army not under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council." Slowly putting down his right hand, Carlos gasped in a low voice:

"Do you think I should hand them over to the Privy Council to re-establish a new 'security force'... High Septon?"

The king's voice trembled slightly, with a hint of begging.

"That would be a very brave choice." Luther Franz comforted softly:

“Just as brave as Brandon II—your ancestor—who followed Saint Isaac’s will and negotiated peace with the church!”

………………

"boom--!!!!"

The golden-red firelight lit up St. Isaac's College, which was shrouded in heavy rain, reflecting countless faces full of violence and excitement, rushing like a tide towards the only light in the darkness.

The Guardsmen, who had completely not expected that thousands of thugs would launch an attack, put up some decent resistance, and their thin defense line collapsed in front of ten times more thugs, quickly "turning around" into the castle. Enter".

The few soldiers who stayed in place were quickly engulfed by the "tide" holding torches and crude weapons, and disappeared silently in the heavy rain.

Inquisitor Laurence Bernat led a dozen guests who bravely stood up, plus some students and teachers in the castle to resist tenaciously in the castle; although they still could not stop more and more thugs from rushing into the castle, they still The impact of the "tide" was contained and the frontal resistance of the thugs was barely repelled.

Unlike most church colleges that were born after the first year of the Saints' Calendar, St. Isaac's College has historically been one of the largest sects of the Church of Order. It is the stronghold of the "Qiuzhen Sect" and has resisted attacks from all forces countless times. attack.

Even fifty-three years after the schism ended, the college still retains "certain traditions" - in addition to the castle, which can be called a historical relic, a considerable number of rifles are still preserved in many "utility rooms" and various emergency weapons.

In the dark rainstorm, the howling thugs desperately smashed the glass windows and doors with torches and crude weapons, and launched a desperate attack into the castle.

The Guards, whose morale had completely dropped to freezing point, and the equally trembling guests relied on the narrow corridors in the castle to fire round after round of messy volleys.

In less than half an hour, the corridor filled with the smell of moisture and blood was already filled with corpses.

As time went by, the pressure on everyone in the castle not only did not decrease, but instead continued to increase - more and more thugs rushed into the academy; they continued to pour in the only direction where the lights were still on.

After realizing this problem, Lawrence immediately used his flintlock ax to blow out the crystal chandelier in the banquet hall. While causing a commotion and screams, he finally somewhat curbed the continuous flow of people outside.

"boom!"

There was a roar, and dozens of lead bullets rushed towards the roaring crowd from the flames gushing from the muzzle of the flintlock axe, exploding large swaths of blood amid the shrill screams; they were originally used to target spellcasters and mutant monsters. The terrifying weapon was as powerful as a six-pounder infantry cannon in the narrow corridor.

In the midst of the splashing flesh and blood, the mobs crowded together seemed to have not heard the gunshots or seen the tragic situation of their companions around them. They continued to pour into the corridor, and their numbers did not decrease at all.

"We can't hold them off for long!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Laurence Bernat loaded the last lead bullet and propellant into the gun chamber of the flintlock axe, and pointed the dark muzzle at the believers of the Ring of Order he swore to protect.

And right behind him, in the banquet hall that was only half burned, there were at least two spellcasters from the Old God Sect sitting there safe and sound, enjoying their protection.

This all-round "dislocation" gave Lawrence a bitter sense of absurdity.

"We don't have to stop them for much longer!"

Anson, who rushed down from the side stairs, picked up an old-fashioned musket, and Lisa alternately fired at the crowd in the darkness, covering the group of nobles who took a minute to reload and called themselves "sharp shooters."

He actually wanted the Borne rifle in Lisa's hand, but no matter how many cakes he promised, the girl refused to trade with him - it was all because of the little maid named Angelica, who gave her too many cakes. Got it!

"Don't worry, everything is according to my plan!"

As he finished speaking, the old-fashioned musket made a dull sound in his hand, and a thug who was about to rush to the door was shot through the head by a lead bullet.

The headless corpse dragging a puddle of minced meat used its inertia to rush to the front door, causing a burst of exclamations in the "line" formed by the frightened gentlemen and nobles.

A middle-aged gentleman who was trying to remain calm glanced at the corpse on the ground, then looked back at the musket in his hand: "Excellent marksmanship, he is worthy of being a security force commander hired by the church!"

Anson, who was loading ammunition, twitched his lips. What he had just aimed at was the chest of another person next to him... This old-fashioned musket is too unreliable!

"It's all in the plan..."

Lawrence, who was muttering in a low voice, frowned and pointed the revolver at the crowd in the darkness; he still didn't understand why this man always looked so confident.

But Anson understood.

At first, he was so shocked by the words of Professor Mace Honard and the death of Elf Ambassador Morris that he attributed many of the things that happened to some "interlocking conspiracy", but in fact it's not true.

The reason why the Black Mage appeared at tonight's banquet unsuspectingly was not because everything was in his plan; on the contrary, he had already known what would happen, so he was not worried at all.

So if I hadn't told Bloen about the elf ambassador, and if there hadn't been this series of coincidences... what would have happened tonight?

Thousands of thugs showed up at St. Isaac's College in the dark and on a rainy day without any hindrance or even detection?

How did they do that?

Who helped them do it? !

Laurence Bernat suddenly realized something, and looked up at the door in shock; in the dark rain curtain, the sound of waves could be heard.

But Clovis is an inland city and it is impossible to hear the sound of the waves.

Soon, not only him, but everyone in the entire hall and even the entire St. Isaac's College heard it; in the heavy rain, the thugs looked around in horror, but saw nothing.

But they heard it.

"All those involved in the riots, hand over your leaders, release all hostages, put down their weapons and stand where they are, waiting to be dealt with!"

"Anyone who dares to continue to resist will be executed on the spot!"

Almost immediately after this warning sound, there was a burst of thunder in the rainy night sky; dozens of red meteors roared towards the castle.

"Everyone - get down!"

With no time to think, Anson threw away the musket in his hand, hugged Lisa beside him, turned around and rushed towards the banquet hall behind him:

"Artillery fire is coming!"