I will be crowned king

Sophia stared intently at Anson, who was sitting awkwardly but smiling on the sofa. She could never imagine that there was only one step away from her idol, although she would never admit it because of her arrogance. ——Although they were separated by more than half a block, they passed each other in the end. Of course, this is not to mention...

"Where is he now?!"

The girl suddenly threw herself in front of Anson. From such a close distance, he could even see clearly the flush on her smooth cheeks, and the softness rising and falling due to the violent breathing...

Well, I've already touched it before - that time at St. Isaac's College.

"I have no idea!"

Anson raised his hands to show his sincerity, and there was no distracting thought in his clear pupils:

"We met at the Crown Tavern on Ximen Street in the outer city, but he is definitely not there now. There is no point in you going."

This answer was obviously impossible to satisfy Sophia, especially when she felt as if she had missed a wonderful life experience, so Anson quickly added: "But I know where he will go next!"

"where?!"

"Osteria Palace - he seems to be planning to end this disaster that may destroy the city of Clovis by persuading His Majesty Carlos II!"

"What?!"

Anson said in a tone of serious doubt, while Sophia looked at him in disbelief. Both of them were obviously shocked by this statement... although the direction was completely different.

Almost at the moment the words fell, Anson could see the bubbles floating on the girl's head from the girl's rapidly changing expression. Countless flashbacks formed a coherent picture:

In the towering Osteria Palace and the eerie Holy Grail Hall, Draco Vertes, wearing a thin coat, stood in the center of the hall, facing Carlos II on the dim throne in front of him.

On both sides of him were the Guards with live ammunition, surrounded by MPs and nobles with their own evil intentions. They looked at the weak and helpless novelist coldly with malicious eyes, like a huge shadow that wanted to devour him. .

Carlos Ostrilla, he was still as decadent and gloomy as ever. He took a deep breath and said in a slightly threatening tone:

"My loyal subject, Draco Vertes, the unknown savior of North Port, do you want to declare war on your king on behalf of those despicable people?"

"No, my lord."

Draco Vertes said in a loud voice, knowing full well that in this room where the most powerful people in all the kingdoms gathered, even a single wrong sentence would cost him his life.

But he still spoke, resolutely said:

"I am not standing here for war, but for peace, and for the glory of Clovis!"

"For the glory of Clovis?"

The weak king Carlos snorted coldly, mockery and embarrassment appeared on his depressed face at the same time:

"For the glory of Clovis, we, noble people, are required to admit our mistakes to those despicable mice and meet their excessive demands that violate tradition, law and morality. How absurd is this? !”

"This is not ridiculous, Your Majesty!"

Draco Vertes stepped forward, and the shadow weakly receded in front of him, revealing Carlos's depressed face:

"That makes sense."

"Why?!"

"Because times have changed, Your Majesty!"

..."Dong dong dong!"

The rapid knock on the door broke Sophia's mind and saved Anson from the edge of the abyss.

After quickly calming down her emotions and regaining her usual reserve, Sophia gently opened the door. Luther Franz stood outside the door with a cold expression, followed closely behind by the extremely well-behaved little maid Angelica.

The Archbishop walked into the study and quickly glanced at his daughter and a certain Army lieutenant colonel who had stood up in a hurry. His pale complexion and heavy eye circles clearly revealed a kind of extreme exhaustion from body to heart.

"Father, I..."

Seeing Luther Franz's tired face, Sophia hesitated for a moment, but still mustered up the courage to step forward: "I have a very important piece of information to report to you, about..."

"Sophia."

The archbishop raised his hand to stop his daughter, and forced a smile with a tired face: "Can you wait a moment? Give me some time to finish chatting with Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach. He is a guest. "

The girl opened her mouth, but finally stopped talking and smiled:

"certainly."

Looking at his well-behaved daughter, Luther Franz nodded slightly, and said while walking to the desk: "Remember to close the door when you go out, and tell the deacon outside not to let anyone in within an hour."

The moment the words fell, Sophia's delicate body shook slightly as she was about to turn around and leave.

The girl froze in place for a few seconds, bit her lower lip lightly, and quickly left the study with the little maid without saying a word.

Anson stood there with his hands behind his back, looking carefully at the old man who walked to sit behind the desk, keeping a stiff smile on his face.

"Sit down, Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach." The old man pointed to the chair opposite the desk expressionlessly, with suppressed anger in his calm voice:

"Sorry for the poor reception, as I just came back from a terrible meeting that destroyed all my previous efforts."

"Not at all, you're too kind."

Anson then stepped forward and pulled out the chair, keeping his posture upright and only sitting on the front half.

"The main war faction has completely gained the upper hand, and the army got everything they wanted - the Privy Council officially passed a resolution, and the kingdom will officially declare war on the Ysel elves."

With a tired sigh, Luther Franz suddenly looked at Anson and asked a casual topic:

"Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach, do you know anything about the Southern Seven Cities Alliance?"

Seven Cities Alliance?

Anson, who was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment and replied with a serious expression:

"I can only have a vague understanding of them. I had contact with them when I was training and interning at the Southern Fortress. What aspects do you want to know?"

"No, just asking casually." The Archbishop said calmly:

"Let's get back to the topic. The purpose of your visit today must be related to what happened last night?"

You obviously didn't even ask, and it was you who wanted to say these digressions, but now you don't ask... Anson nodded seriously and said with a serious expression:

"certainly."

In the next half hour, Anson used the most concise and concise way to completely tell the Archbishop what happened that night and what Draco Wirts said after meeting him.

Of course, "a little bit" about himself was omitted, especially the information that "Old Pocket Watch" was affiliated with the Black Mage.

Luther Franz remained indifferent from beginning to end, until finally when he heard the number of people, his expression changed slightly.

"So...what we do now is meaningless. Even if the Old God Sect organization in the outer city is eradicated, riots will still break out?"

The archbishop's pupils shrank slightly, and his expression of suppressed nervousness in his indifference was exactly the same as that of Major General Ludwig Franz:

"And...a hundred thousand people?"

"I'm afraid it's at least one hundred thousand." Anson repeated:

"Someone told me an unconfirmed piece of information. There are no less than one million residents living in the outer city."

"Once these 100,000 people are incited by gangsters, spell casters of the Old God Sect, and some people with evil intentions, they will soon become the trigger, drawing more people to join the riot. No matter how many there are at the beginning, I’m afraid it won’t be this number in the end.”

Luther Franz nodded and said in a calm tone: "As for Draco Wirts, he thinks the best way to resolve this matter is for him to convince His Majesty and the Privy Council to accept the demands of these rioters. ?”

"That should be the case, at least that's what he told me." Anson said frankly.

"Then what do you think?"

"Um?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Anson Bach, what do you think of this matter, or where do you think this novelist got the confidence to think that this can quell the riot?" the archbishop said slowly.

Where does the confidence come from?

Anson's expression was dazed for a moment. He really hadn't thought about this issue seriously before.

Obviously, this novelist is a person who, like himself, will realize the plan before doing something and even take the initiative to make arrangements - in order to kill the Guards, he went up to the archbishop, the noble councilor and the top person in charge of the railway committee, and went down to an old man. The two dealers sent by God are all part of his plan.

"I think it is very likely that he has a deal or agreement with some of the core groups of the riots." Anson thought carefully for a moment and said without hesitation:

"Only in this way can we ensure that most of the riots can be quelled after His Majesty and the Privy Council agree to the request. Otherwise, it is meaningless to just convince Your Majesty - he cannot explain it one by one to 100,000 people outside."

"Just like the Northport incident five years ago." Luther Franz said lightly:

"Did he reveal anything valuable to you about this core group?"

"No."

"No, he didn't even explain to you why he believed he could succeed?"

"Not at all." Anson's expression changed slightly, and he actually had some doubts:

"He just told me that no matter what, I must convince you to make adequate preparations in advance, especially after the riots. You must not give up Clovis Cathedral in any case, because this is what matters whether the entire city of Clovis can be maintained. A stable hub.”

"In view of this, as the commander of the security force of Clovis Cathedral, I hereby solemnly propose to you to immediately start preparations for the security of the cathedral and the surrounding martial law, and at the same time apply for assistance from the Knights of Judgment, and I need you to grant I have full authority to command!”

As Anson spoke, he couldn't help but stand up. His eyes carefully observed Luther Franz's micro-expression under his increasingly serious expression.

Asking the other party to completely hand over control of Clovis Cathedral... This is a very alarming request.

Not to mention that he is still suspected of being a member of the Old God Sect... As someone hired by the other party, as a mere lieutenant colonel in the army, this request seems too much.

But for Anson, this is a must-do part of his next plan.

Draco Wilters' words greatly stimulated him, and Lisa was most likely to be targeted by the black mage because of August's bloodline...

So this time, he planned to take a little risk.

"Can."

Luther Franz said lightly.

well?

Anson didn't react for a moment, the Archbishop's decisiveness made him a little unbelievable.

"What, you thought I would refuse?"

The expressionless archbishop glanced at his security force commander:

"Once the Clovis Cathedral falls, it means that this incident has evolved from a simple riot to an attack by the Old God Party on the Church of Order. It means that the Church of Order will be completely involved in this matter, and it means that the entire city of Clovis and even The financial order of half the kingdom will be destroyed."

"If I explain it this way and you still don't understand, then why do you think I would rather make huge concessions to the Guards and the Privy Council to form this security force that belongs directly to the church and the Franz family?"

Luther Franz's series of questions made Anson's expression serious, and then he spoke as if he had realized something:

"So...you already knew?"

"Of course I know!"

The archbishop emphasized his tone, and the anger that was suppressed under his tired face was slightly revealed:

"As early as the beginning of the war, I warned those extremely stupid congressmen that an all-out war with the empire would cause inevitable turmoil in Clovis City."

"Yes, as long as it is operated properly, the demand brought by the war will make up for the deficit caused by it, and profits can still be made from it; but this is the trigger; all kinds of contradictions in Clovis City have already piled up, no matter whether the war wins or fails , will detonate it.”

"Why? Because these ignorant people built factories and owned railroads, but still ruled their farms and factories like the serfs who ruled them in the past, completely unaware of the dangers involved."

Luther Franz sighed again:

"They don't even realize how deadly this danger will be!"

Anson remained silent, he understood the meaning of the Archbishop's words.

The entire city of Clovis is like a knight's territory, with the inner city being its castle and the outer city being the serfs attached to the castle. Of course, the lord can exploit his serfs unscrupulously, provided that he has enough force to suppress any resistance.

But now because of the outbreak of war, this absolute power no longer exists; the serfs did not resist immediately, just out of the inertia of fear of the past; but this inertia will weaken with day after day of oppression and abandonment , and finally broke out completely when they had nothing left.

Of course, serfs alone may not be enough to subvert the lord's rule, but what if the lord had differences before, what if there was the power of the Old Gods behind it, and what if there was a lord from another knight's territory plotting secretly. ?

The fall of a dynasty is never because it is disliked and hated by a certain group of people.

But from top to bottom, everyone thinks it deserves to die—including itself.