I will be crowned king

The bright moon is in the sky, and the lanterns are starting to shine.

When the grand triumphal ceremony finally came to an end, a grand dinner was held in the Lighthouse Palace, the second largest building in Carindia Port - the first being Hantu Cathedral - which made the hustle and bustle of the night and the excitement of the day... Completed seamless connection.

In order to please Anson and his Stormtroopers as much as possible and make him forget about the "800,000 compensation", the Carindia Council almost tried their best at this banquet and went through all the troubles to come up with it. A cluster of flowers came out.

The Lighthouse Palace Hall, which serves as the main venue for the banquet, was originally just an old stone castle building. Because it has a long history and is large enough, it was preserved and used as the office space of the Carindia Parliament.

Now it has been repainted, with luxurious red carpets on the smooth bluestone floors. The originally monotonous walls on both sides are also decorated with colorful curtains. Exquisite empire-style crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling. .

The corners around the hall are also filled with sculptures and oil paintings from various eras. Even the tables, chairs and tableware are either old antiques or high-end luxury goods that are absolutely expensive...

In short, it is very gorgeous, luxurious, very good, and very spiritual. At first glance, it looks like the favorite of the nouveau riche who have no taste and no knowledge of art, or it can be said to be a fancy banquet scene for the upper class in an exotic country.

Leon was quite critical of Carindia's arrangements. The dinner party at the Lighthouse Palace he remembered was a very quiet salon gathering where they tasted fresh sea fish and country wines and chatted with each other under the slightly dim light. In his opinion, the purple and red colors in front of him were basically the opposite party deliberately trying to fool people.

But it was very appealing to the Storm Division officers.

After all, most of this group of people are either fresh graduates or civilian grassroots officers like Carl Bain - and professional scapegoats - who have never participated in a real "high-end upper-class banquet"; like the previous feast in Jinshi City , in their eyes, it is not as good as this time.

Under the colorful lights, the brightly colored dining tables are filled with countless wines and delicacies that cannot be named; everything looks completely tempting and very consistent with the Clovis people. Taste - mostly meat dishes, mostly pickled products, and whether they are sweet, salty, sour or spicy, the taste is very strong.

The graceful maids followed the rhythm of the musical notes in the hall and shuttled back and forth around the dining tables like flying butterflies. They moved elegantly and served every guest with their gentle words. It was the first time I met this guest. The officers of the Storm Division who were so "tuneful" were either as stiff as wood, or they were gibbering excitedly, or they were so red-faced that they were speechless.

As the most distinguished guest in the entire event, Anson was not only placed in the main seat where the host was originally, but he also enjoyed the flattery and compliments of the surrounding Carindia nobles, describing him and the Stormtroopers as if they were divine soldiers. He was omnipotent, making Carl Bain next to him roll his eyes and drink bottle after bottle of wine.

What a group of idiots who are about to be ripped out of their bones, and they don’t forget to thank the bad guys... Looking at the group of Carindia nobles who are still chatting and smiling, Carl, who is red-faced after drinking, can’t help but think .

Accompanied by warm applause from the audience, Anson, who was wearing a school officer uniform and a one-shoulder cape, walked to the podium and began his speech tonight.

……………………

At the same time, in the secret room on the top floor of the Lighthouse Palace, a temporary negotiation was going on simultaneously with the banquet.

"Sir Fabian, isn't this different from what we said before?"

Looking at the agreement in his hand, the Kalindia representative looked at his companion with a somewhat ugly expression and said, "Is there any misunderstanding here?"

"Misunderstanding? No, no, no, there is no misunderstanding." Fabian, who was smiling but not smiling, shook his head and raised his hand to signal the little secretary beside him:

"This is an agreement carefully calculated by His Excellency Alan Dawn, the secretary of Deputy Commander Anson Bach, and made after detailed investigation and evidence collection. It will definitely not exceed the current limit that Carindia Port can bear."

The limit of endurance... The Carindia representative's brows twitched, and he suppressed his displeasure and said: "But you clearly promised us before that you would convince Deputy Commander Anson Bach to accept the reason why the Carindia Port has suffered huge losses. , pushing the compensation to around 400,000!"

"Here are the records from that time and your autograph as evidence. Do you mean...are you going to break your promise?!"

"Of course not!" Fabian suddenly widened his eyes:

"As someone who has experienced it personally, I understand your difficulties very well - indeed, it is difficult to pay such a high amount of compensation under the current conditions of Carindia Port. I also do this with the most sincere and sincere attitude. An objective fact has been conveyed to His Excellency the Deputy Commander!"

"but……"

"But!" Fabian interrupted him sternly:

"But unfortunately, I failed."

Um?

The Kalindia representative was stunned, his eyes widening even more than Fabian’s: “What does failure mean?!”

"It means that I failed to convince Deputy Commander Anson Bach." Fabian spread his hands:

"I tried my best, but unfortunately, the deputy commander did not adopt my suggestions - it's that simple."

"This..." Representative Kalindia looked shocked and could barely control his desire to curse.

"More importantly..." Before the Carindia representative, whose face turned extremely ugly, could ask, Fabian's face suddenly darkened, and there was a hint of anger in his narrowed eyes:

"The real culprit that made me fail to convince the deputy commander and led you to think that I broke my promise... is none other than Carindia, that is, you yourself!"

"us?!"

The Kalindia representative was even more surprised.

"It was because you told me that Carindia's finances are already stretched thin and it really can't afford the amount of compensation, so I promised you to persuade the deputy commander to reduce the amount." Fabian seemed to be suppressing his anger and said:

"But in fact, it seems that you have not been honest with me."

"How can this be?!"

The Carindia representative also seemed to be irritated: "The great Carindia Council will never deceive allies or act treacherously - Your Excellency Fabian, I ask you to immediately withdraw this unwarranted and unwarranted statement without any evidence." Accusation!"

Facing his rebuttal, Fabian sneered and said nothing. He slowly sat down without saying a word and motioned to Alan Dawn at his side with his eyes.

"As to whether Major Fabian's remarks fall into the category of 'unfounded accusations,' please do not draw a conclusion so quickly."

The little secretary who noticed the other party's eyes immediately spoke, smiled and took out a thick stack of parchment scrolls from the black file bag he carried:

"In fact, just before this afternoon, I just transferred a list of expenditures from the Carindia Parliament from Hantu Cathedral. It clearly records the detailed income and expenditure of your treasury accounts in the past two months."

The Kalindian representative, who was angry just now, suddenly hardened his eyes.

"For example, regarding the compensation for losses caused by the fleet's mutiny, two shipyards in Carindia Port received new orders on June 18th. The number you mentioned is eighty large galleys." Hold up a ship. The little scribe holding the parchment raised his gaze:

“However, the orders and advance payment notes received by the shipyard stated that there were only eight ships.”

"this……"

The Kalindia representative opened his mouth but hesitated to speak.

"Also." The little secretary continued to add: "The total expenditure recorded in your treasury accounts for tonight's triumphal ceremony and banquet is twenty-eight thousand gold coins."

"But I checked the payment methods and the current price evaluation of Carindia Port. Even based on the most exaggerated standard, it is only one-third of this number."

"In addition, you also mentioned the reconstruction costs and compensation of Green Valley, with a total amount of 100,000 gold coins; but according to what I learned from the officers and soldiers of the Storm Division, the damage to the town is indeed serious, but the population casualties are even more serious."

"According to the oral accounts of several Carindia soldiers who came back with the Storm Division and the people of Green Valley, they did not receive any compensation or notices; apart from the 30,000 gold coins used to rebuild the town, how would you spend the remaining 70,000 gold coins? Where is it?"

"There is also the work of rebuilding the Carindia Army after the war, which is also an important part of your treasury expenditure; but as far as I know, this money has been allocated, but I have not heard that any famous arms dealer has contacted you Contact us; if necessary, there happens to be a Clovis arms dealer representative in the White Tower City of Thun, and he can come over at any time."

"besides……"

In the small conference room, the little secretary with a smile kept talking and read the contents of the thick stack of parchment to the other side in a fluent manner.

Every time he read one sentence, the cold sweat on the face of the Kalindian representative who was sitting on pins and needles increased, his hands and feet gradually became cold, his mind went completely blank, and the blood on his face faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Exactly twenty minutes later, when Alan Dawn placed the last piece of parchment in front of him, the trembling Carindia representative's face was bloodless, his eyes were dull, and his whole person seemed to be possessed by an evil spirit. Yes, shaking and shaking.

"That's about it for now. Because we just arrived today, the preparations were hasty. Please forgive me." The little secretary said a little apologetically:

"But even with your current financial situation, paying 800,000 yuan in compensation is definitely more than enough. There is no financial shortage at all."

"In addition, just in case, I have also included the losses caused by the mutiny of the ocean fleet; it is indeed a heavy blow to Carindia Port, but it has not yet reached the point where it is really damaging."

"After all, although you have lost a large-scale fleet, you also have no burden of maintaining the fleet expenses and maintenance for the time being; the real decline in revenue will not be obvious until at least next year; if nothing happens this year, there will even be taxes It may increase.”

The Kalindian representative was silent.

"Which family did you get these... these documents from?"

"Family, what does this have to do with Carindia's family?" The little clerk blinked with a confused expression:

"Treasury expenditure accounts, market price levels, and factory orders... these are all public information. As long as you search carefully, it is not very difficult to collect a general information in a short time. After all, it is not something that cannot be said. secret."

Then the Carindia representative became even more silent.

His throat twitched, and he looked at the small boy in front of him with a hint of fear in his eyes, his cheeks still a bit immature:

"Sir Alan Dawn, you...who are you?"

"I'm not a 'holy man', Your Excellency." The young man smiled slightly, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment:

"Just a humble, insignificant, little clerk."

Looking at the Carindia representative who had been beaten to pieces, Fabian coughed lightly, took over the words and continued:

"Therefore, after fully considering the premise that this year's Carindia did not cause large expenditures on the treasury due to war and fleet mutiny, Deputy Commander Anson Bach rejected the request for compensation relief."

"In addition, in order to ensure that Carindia will not be threatened by the two major forces of Aiden and Mist, and to improve the level of protection of your country by the Storm Division, we have decided to increase the compensation from 800,000 to 1 1.8 million to meet this demand..."

………………

“... Therefore, peace has always been a luxury since ancient times, because it not only means the absence of war, but also means enjoying happiness with prosperous trade, stable life, equal exchanges, and security that everyone can obtain. The right to live.”

“And like I said, to earn that right, it comes at a huge cost, and it takes everyone working together and sacrificing and fighting for it!”

“It requires people to put aside their hatred and differences, and no longer fight on their own, but to unite closely under one goal and one voice, in exchange for the costly, hard-won and precious things for us and our descendants. of peace!"

In the banquet hall, Anson stood on the podium, waving his hands from side to side, talking to everyone present, with infectious words popping out of his mouth one after another, and he talked eloquently.

At this moment, the smiling little clerk suddenly walked into the banquet hall, passed through the crowded crowd that could not stop him, walked to the podium and handed a parchment scroll into his hand.

The moment his eyes fell on the parchment, the corners of Anson's mouth curled up slightly, and he immediately clenched the agreement in his hand excitedly and raised it above his head:

"And now! Please allow me to announce solemn good news to everyone - after a short negotiation, our Storm Division has reached an intention to cooperate with the Republic of Carindia."

"The noble Carinthians will fight for this great cause together with us, the Thun people, and all those who are committed to peace in the land!"

"Long live--!!!!"

The excited cheers instantly turned the hall into a sea of ​​joy; along with the thunderous applause, the Carindia nobles who did not know that they were being beaten to the bone danced happily one by one, shouting "Friendship" and "Friendship" loudly. Peace" slogan.