I will be crowned king

With the Kingdom of Clovis officially declaring war on the Elf Kingdom of Yser, the royal capital that had just experienced a riot no longer showed signs of its past decadence; the messy streets were cleared away, and the street lamps and eaves were filled with blood. Unicorn King Flag, under the solemn atmosphere, the city is bustling and full of vitality.

On March 13, after the "Kingdom Loyalty News" officially announced the "strategic deployment", the noisy atmosphere reached its peak; the whole kingdom was filled with joy, as if they had seen the legion's return with a great victory, and the Elf King Ysel knelt down News of begging for mercy.

According to the introduction of the "Kingdom Loyal News", the entire "Southern Army" will be "composed" of ten levy regiments, plus two regular armies, the Third Army and the Fifth Army of the Southern Fortress, totaling 30,000 troops, well-trained and well-equipped, and glorious. There are nearly fifty light and heavy artillery pieces, which can be said to be armed to the teeth.

After seeing this "official first-hand news", the major newspapers and magazines in Clovis City quickly followed up like chicken blood, using at least three or four pages to rack their brains from all imaginable angles. It introduces to readers and analyzes why "Clovis must win and Israel must lose".

"Clovis Truth" even opened a bet on the "Iser Punishment War", betting on how many days it would take for the elves of Iser to kneel down and beg for mercy from Clovis and declare unconditional surrender.

Of course, if anyone is willing to investigate, they will find that the so-called "Third Army" and "Fifth Army" were reorganized into another Western Army as early as last year, and they are "ghosts" that only have numbers. "Legion"; the entire southern legion has only nearly 10,000 levies of living people.

But in the passionate atmosphere, no one cared about these "trivial things."

The people at the bottom are waiting for the factories to reopen, the middle class is only concerned about when the market will reopen, and the upper class is looking forward to the farewell banquet prepared by the palace for the new army commander Major General Ludwig Franz in the next two days.

A war that has not yet begun has turned into a carnival from top to bottom in Clovis City.

War is a gamble, and in the eyes of the Clovis people, the war against the Yser elves is a gamble that is sure to win but not lose; countless businessmen and nobles who are keen on investing have set their sights on this huge gamble of huge profits. .

In order to provide sufficient supplies for the upcoming war, orders like snowflakes flew to the desks of many suppliers in the city; with the support of orders, countless factories that were damaged in the riots were quickly rebuilt one after another. homeless people were recruited into the factory.

Factory owners who received sky-high orders felt the joy of being given money by banks for the first time. They took loans with extremely low interest rates to repair factories, purchase equipment, and recruit people.

In this carnival-like investment craze, no one has noticed a figure who used to be very low-key and frequently appeared in the list of investors - Lu En.

In addition to investing in several old military-industrial enterprises, this low-key and wealthy ancient family also acquired several bankrupt factories in the outer city, purchased a large number of machines, and established a military factory belonging to the Luen family.

Although the Luen family does not have its own chamber of commerce or enterprises because it deliberately avoids the sight of certain people, the family's investment projects are very wide, including but not limited to coal mining, steel, transportation, storage, railways, textiles, trade... …

If Anson were to describe it, this ancient family that had stood firm for hundreds of years was like an octopus with countless tentacles, having already firmly grasped the entire city of Clovis in its palms.

With such a large base, it is impossible for a new military factory to lack raw materials, transportation and sales channels; in addition, Clovis is currently at war on almost all sides, so as long as the machines are turned on, there is no need to worry about not being able to sell the goods.

Under Thalia Rune's "bad taste", the factory was named "August", and its logo was two, two above, and three compact blood-red hollow triangles.

Relying on bribes and the operation of "traditional" noble councilors who have had good relations with the Rune family for many years, the first batch of two thousand "August" breech-loading rifles were reserved in advance for the upcoming customers before they even came off the assembly line. The Southern Legion on the march.

And just when everyone was rejoicing and celebrating the victory of the war in advance, a brand new organization was officially established in Whitehall Street.

In order to eliminate the traces of the past Guards, this new security force was named Clovis Police Department, because the headquarters was located in Whitehall Street, and was also referred to as "Whitehall".

Under the instruction of the Privy Council, the Clovis Police Department recruited a total of about 3,000 ordinary soldiers and grassroots officers from the former Guards. As the core force of the entire agency, it was granted the power to recruit auxiliary agents and set up strongholds throughout the city. , and is answerable only to the Privy Council.

On March 13, people in the outer city who woke up from their sleep and rushed to the factory saw uniformed patrol soldiers on the muddy streets for the first time, and were told that the outer city where they lived would soon be facing a war. Earth-shaking changes are coming: the king will lay standardized roads, build integrated row buildings, and set up more orphanages and public schools...

"All of these are the promises made by the great and kind His Majesty Carlos II to his loyal people of the kingdom!" Whenever someone asks, the patrolling Whitehall police will answer in a unified voice :

"Your kind Majesty wants to build a city where everyone can live happily, so if you encounter robbery or theft in the future, or are bullied by factory supervisors, and cannot get paid, you can come to us; in the name of Your Majesty , we will bring justice to you people!”

"All of this is the mercy and charity of the great and kind His Majesty Carlos to you people, do you understand?!"

Faced with the police's arrogant answers, people who were anxious to get to work could only say yes repeatedly. But when they thought about it again, they felt that something was wrong, but they didn't know where the problem was.

On March 13, after nearly two weeks of pressing, Clovis Cathedral finally sent all records of the riot to the Order Church headquarters in the Holy Capital, and noted in the document that Mace... Honard's death certificate, and a list of those killed on the church's side in the incident.

In the bar hall of the Truth-seeking Club on Friedrich Street, the expressionless Cole Dorian looked at the portraits that filled the entire wall, and silently hung an old flintlock ax on his waist.

He put on a three-cornered hat and hid his always smiling cheek in the shadow of the brim and collar.

On March 13th, a storm was about to begin.

………………

Inner city, Wangdu Central West Station.

An ordinary figure walked into the station along with the tide of people. The water vapor permeating the air made everyone walk in a fog. They could only rely on the looming gas lamp to continuously emit the friction of gears and the rotation of the steam engine. Walking through the loud noise station.

He was wearing a dirty and torn old coat, his muddy trouser legs were dragged down to the heels, his messy red hair was exposed from under the brim of his hat, and he was holding a suitcase that seemed to be falling apart, and he walked quickly from wave to wave. Waves passed through the crowd.

Walking into the platform, he found a bench and sat down, skillfully took out a box of inferior cigarettes from his pocket, held the cigarette holder in his mouth and struck a match in his hand.

Maybe it was damp due to water vapor, but it couldn't be lit.

"Crack!"

A small flame appeared in front of him, and under the flame was a person's finger.

"Want to borrow a fire?"

Anson, who was sitting next to him at some point, smiled at the astonished novelist.

Draco, who was holding a cigarette in his mouth, was startled for a moment, then raised the corners of his mouth:

"In such a public place like the train station...are you not afraid of being caught by the church?"

Anson, with a chuckle on his face, shrugged: "You can't do it if you move faster."

Draco stopped talking, and the low-quality cigarette held to the flame glowed with a bright golden red.

Anson gently shook off the flames from his fingertips and retracted his right hand with a playful expression.

"Leaving now?"

"Yes, everything that needs to be done has been done." The puffed-up novelist said calmly:

"The Guards are finished. The seeds and flames have been planted. This city no longer needs me."

"Are you so open-minded?"

"This has nothing to do with whether I can watch or not, but this is the only thing I can do; everything takes time and cannot be accomplished overnight." Draco shook his head:

"Even if I can kill the Guards once, twice or even countless times, many established concepts and things will still not change; because the people who make up the New Guards are still people, unless people's concepts are completely reversed, otherwise the same things will not change It doesn’t matter how many times you repeat it.”

"In that case, why not consider joining the new Guards?" Anson asked deliberately.

Draco smiled: "Do you think Carlos II would allow a man who started a riot and forced him to make a promise to become the commander of the New Guards? He is very generous if he can tolerate me leaving alive."

"But having said that, I think you are quite suitable to be the commander...it's a shame that you didn't succeed."

"Why?" Anson looked curious and vaguely expectant.

Is it because of his excellent military qualities, superb strategic vision, perfect planning and on-the-spot response?

"It has nothing to do with ability." Draco, who didn't notice the slight change in Anson's expression, said to himself:

"Mainly because of...cognition."

"Cognition?"

"That may be a bit vague. Let me give you an example that is easier to understand." Draco changed the subject:

"Of all the people I have come into contact with, you are the only one who has not been surprised by my proposed 'new way of policing' so far."

"Some of them just regard my ideas as a 'novel setting' and have no more ideas besides being interesting...for example, Lady Catalina of the Railway Commission."

"Some people are so shocked after reading it carefully that they match this set of things with some vague ideas in their minds, and regard them as something forward, future, something perfect...such as Say Viscount Bognar.”

"Some people feel that this thing is treacherous just by looking at it, and they regard it as a scourge that will be used against their evil plans... I guess the Guards should be this kind of people, although in fact it is indeed the case."

"There are still people who do not evaluate my plan in terms of good or evil, but only use it as a tool to make profits and seize power, so that their families can better attach themselves to the core of power in the Kingdom of Clovis... Yes, that's what I'm saying. Archbishop Luther Franz."

Having said this, Draco Vertes, with the corners of his mouth raised, turned to look at Anson, with some strange light shining in his eyes:

"Only you, Anson Bach."

"You are the only one who has not been surprised by this incident from beginning to end; to you, public security and management seem to be natural things that should exist."

Facing Draco's playful eyes, Anson laughed dryly; being targeted for this reason was beyond his expectation:

"Shouldn't it exist?"

"Of course it should exist." Draco nodded seriously:

"The city of Clovis is getting bigger and bigger, and people's living environment is much denser than in the past. Correspondingly, more manpower is needed to establish a more efficient and complex public security management system than in the past. Otherwise, the factory And the city is a powder keg that could explode at any moment...that's a given."

“But even if it’s something that’s taken for granted, it takes time for people to accept it and understand it.”

"Only a small number of people, because of certain innate qualifications or special experiences, can understand all this faster..." Speaking of this, Draco looked at Anson with an increasingly playful look. .

"Where do you plan to go after leaving Clovis City?"

Anson, who was all hairy, immediately changed the subject: "The train at the platform here leads to the south, but there is going to be a war there soon. Is it appropriate to go at this time?"

"If I can't go, I don't want to go either." Draco smiled bitterly:

"But there's no other way, work requires it."

"Work?"

"Yes, and I guess that Miss Sophia Franz has told you exactly what she saw, right?"

"you do this delibrately?"

"Of course, otherwise she wouldn't let me go so easily."

While the two were chatting, a dark steam train entered the platform with a sharp whistle, and the crowd who was instantly engulfed by the steam began to flow towards the black and ferocious shadow.

The novelist who had picked up his suitcase also stood up from the bench, stamped out the cigarette he had spit out on the ground, and walked with the crowd in the direction of the train.

"Wait a moment."

Anson, who was still sitting on the bench, hugged his shoulders and called after him: "Are you really not going to talk to me about the Truth Society?"

"No need."

Draco stopped and turned to look at Anson, with a hearty smile on his face: "It turns out, Anson Bach, you are not the kind of guy who is used to being swept away and changed in storms; you may actually be better than I, more than many of us, long to change the way things look, even if you’re still fooling yourself into adapting to it.”

"So trust me, it won't be long before you join us."

"Just not now!"