I will be crowned king

Late at night, Franz Residence.

In the smoking room with flickering candlelight, Luther Franz sat by the bay window, quietly admiring the city of Clovis under the moonlight while puffing away smoke.

For this city that is shrouded in thick fog and dark clouds all day long, this is a rare sight even more rare than a clear day - after the 80th year of the Saint's Calendar, there will only be a handful of clear nights like tonight.

Luther Franz was very satisfied with this, so much so that he even felt that there were still too many sunny days.

An important industrial center like Clovis has only two railways, one south and one north. The main force of logistics is still animal power. There is still a shortage of high-quality roads for heavy cargo transportation. The industrial center is still dominated by light industry, with limited heavy industry. Concentrated in the military and construction industries, the total population has just recently exceeded one million...

This is not enough, this is far from enough.

In order for Clovis City to become the true center of the world and replace the Empire's Snapdragon City, it would have to be expanded at least two to three times.

The old man withdrew his gaze from the window. His bloodshot and slightly tired eyes moved towards the picture frame on the opposite wall, which contained a piece of slightly yellowed parchment.

That was his diary when he first became a trainee priest. The neat and immature handwriting was the only thing in the room that could make the old man smile:

"...I have a dream. The proud city of Clovis will become a country in the clouds; sixty-meter-high steam towers surround her city walls, wastewater with white and green bubbles demarcates her boundaries, steel bars and sleepers The road paved for her...Looking towards the end, in the center of the countless townhouses, is a fortress of fire made of steel..."

"...she has no night, no day, the minutes are divided by factory bells, the hours are measured by steam whistles, and the roar of the train on the tracks is a sound that can be heard every moment and every second..."

"...She devours logs, flax, limestone, coal and countless ores; turning them into giant ships, clothing, roads and tens of thousands of manufactured products..."

"...She continues to expand her borders, constantly encroaching on the soil filled with swamps, plagues, dense forests, and rotten substances, turning this dark and primitive world into a true human paradise..."

"boom!"

A sudden loud noise interrupted the old man's reverie, and also broke open the door of the smoking room.

The frosty-faced Sophia Franz stood outside the door, staring coldly at the old man inside:

"We need to talk."

Looking at his obviously awkward daughter and the shivering little maid hiding behind her, the old man nodded and said calmly: "Then come in and don't forget to close the door."

Glancing at the smoke filling the room, the girl frowned slightly and hesitated; but the next second she stepped into the room, closing and locking the door under Angelica's nervous and concerned eyes.

"boom."

The dull sound of locking the door sounded, and the room returned to deathly silence.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, Sophia?"

"Thanks, do you have any rum?"

"Hmm... I remember there is still a bottle of Hipper left. Do you want some ice?"

"Just normal temperature."

"No problem, just a moment."

A minute later, there were two more cups of rum on the coffee table.

Facing her father's dull gaze, Sophia, who was tense all over, picked up her wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

The spicy liquid flowed down her throat and ignited a raging fire in her chest, as if what she was breathing was not the air space, but the heat waves surging in the steam boiler.

"You should drink slowly." The old man picked up the wine glass and looked at his daughter's empty glass with some pity:

"Hipper's taste is very mellow. You can only taste its unique taste by drinking a small sip. It is not suitable for..."

"What on earth are you doing?"

Sophia, who smelled of alcohol, said coldly, with a hint of tipsiness on her cheeks.

The old man put down his pipe and picked up his wine glass: "I don't understand."

"You understand clearly." The girl suppressed her anger:

"Why did you forcibly terminate the welcome ceremony and on-site interview that I had prepared - don't deny it, I know it was you!"

"Oh, that." The old man said calmly:

"That was indeed my order."

"Sorry, can I ask why?" Sophia tensed up.

The old man swayed the wine in the glass and looked at his daughter through the glass wall with interest:

"Sorry, can I not answer this question?"

"boom!"

The empty wine glass was knocked on the table by Sophia. The slightly tipsy girl took a deep breath, her beautiful cheeks trembling slightly:

"no."

A simple word, in her mouth, was like a glove thrown by a knight to the enemy.

Luther Franz said nothing. He put down his glass and continued to smoke his pipe silently.

This simple action seemed like the greatest ridicule in Sophia's eyes.

"I know... In your eyes, everything I have done in the past few months is no different from nonsense; or in your eyes, everything we have done is nonsense, completely inconsistent with your lofty expectations of us... ..." Sophia suppressed her anger in the calmest tone:

"But even so, this is what I have been working on for months... I am just one step away, just the last step, before I can get the Morning News and the Kingdom Loyal News to obey and reintegrate the media industry in the entire city of Clovis. "

"Yeah?"

Luther Franz raised his eyebrows: "And I don't need to do these things at all. I can also make these two newspapers obey."

"Because you are the Archbishop of the Kingdom of Clovis!" Sophia clenched her wine glass.

"Yes, I am." Luther Franz said calmly:

"So my dear daughter, you think you defeated them on your own?"

"I..." When the words came to her lips, Sophia gritted her teeth and held back:

"I am working for the prosperity of the Franz family, this brand new newspaper, and everything I do... You can protect us now, but if the future archbishop no longer belongs to the Franz family, we will still You can rely on it to influence public opinion in Clovis City and protect the interests of the family...Why are you laughing?!"

"nothing."

The old man who slightly suppressed the raised corners of his mouth and sighed secretly shook his head: "My dear daughter, you are very smart, but you often ignore some more important issues because of appearances."

Sophia's expression changed, and she tried her best to restrain her urge to refute.

"Just like now, when you find out that I am interfering with your 'efforts', the first reason that comes to mind is that I think you are doing useless work, so I want to interfere... never calm down and really think about my motives for doing this. "

The old man bit his pipe, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "Of course, at least you know how to take the initiative to ask me for confirmation. This is also a good habit; unlike your brother, he... well, I won't say more."

"Then let me ask..." Sophia pursed her lips tightly, and her right hand holding the wine glass turned slightly blue:

“What is the ‘more important’ question?”

"Ask for answers calmly instead of venting emotionally - another good habit. My dear daughter, you are indeed much better than your brother Ludwig." The old man praised:

"The question itself is complex, but I can tell you the final answer directly."

"Anson Bach, he's the reason for all this."

……………………

Amidst the piercing whistle, the speeding steam train flew along the track in the night; like a ferocious beast spitting thick smoke, it roared towards the end of the horizon.

In the slightly shaking car, Anson, who was lying on the seat, opened his eyes with difficulty and stared at the ceiling in front of him in confusion.

Wait, what time is it now?

He took out his pocket watch, and the hands on the dial happened to stop at eight-fifty-five—not walking, but stopping right here.

Um?

The confused Anson struggled to get up, and there were bursts of stinging pain in his left and right temples, as if his head was penetrated by a steel cone, and the slightest movement would tear the wound.

I had the impression that I was drinking and celebrating with Karl and Fabian. At first, I just drank a little casually, but soon someone was crying while drinking, and the guy next to him started singing. Then the little clerk got drunk and started to sing Keep mumbling a lot of nonsense based on official terminology, and then...

Well, then I had no impression at all.

Trying his best to restrain his groggy consciousness and control his body, Anson stood up from the chair and regained consciousness as soon as possible.

Something is wrong.

Probably due to drunkenness and motion sickness, his consciousness was a little groggy, but he still remembered that today was the day he arrived in Clovis City; the "Arctic Storm" under his feet should appear at nine-thirty. Royal Capital Central West Station, and now...

Looking at the moonless starry sky and desolate scenery outside the car window, Anson's expression gradually became serious.

"you're awake?"

A familiar voice sounded from the side. Anson, who was in a daze, turned his head and saw Lisa sitting on the seat opposite him, holding a cake, staring at him with big eyes and concern.

No, the real Lisa can't use the second person, so she is...

"Miss Thalia?"

Seeing Anson's slightly surprised expression, the smiling girl put down the cake in her hand.

"Dear Anson, sit down."

Taking a deep breath, Anson looked around and returned to his seat slightly nervously: "Where is this place?"

"Where? Of course it's in the compartment of the steam train." The girl blinked and said with a curious smile:

"Where else could it be?"

Anson didn't speak, but his whole body felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured on his head, and he was completely awake.

"You seem a little nervous."

Looking at Anson who was subconsciously looking out the window, Thalia said softly: "There is nothing to be nervous about. This is the Kingdom of Clovis. You and Thalia are in your own carriage, and absolutely no one can hurt you."

"Don't forget, you are my fiancé."

Anson trembled all over.

"The battle at the Royal Court of Yser did not go well, but that is not your fault, but the judgment knights' impromptu decision and violation of their original promise." The girl sighed:

"Although I really don't want to admit it, the war between the Church of Order and the entire Old God World seems to be inevitable; igniting the war... is only a matter of time."

"Fortunately, they are still very restrained at the moment, or they are still afraid that rashly starting a war will break the balance of power that they have maintained for decades; they are just annihilating a part of the Thirteen Council, and they don't even dare to pursue it too much; but once they are completely in Once Israel has established a foothold and proved that this expansion model is feasible, it will be difficult to predict the future situation.”

"Dear Anson, this is why you will be transferred away from Iser immediately." Thalia suddenly became serious:

"Although relying on the relationship with the Franz family and the chief inquisitor's personal friendship, they will conceal the identity of your spell caster for you, but not everything can be concealed; the other inquisitors will be able to pass it sooner or later. Those clues revealed the problem between you and Lisa."

"No matter what the outcome is, Israel is destined to fall into the sphere of influence of the Church of Order, so you must leave as soon as possible; although Clovis is not safe either, with the protection of the Franz family, at least there is an extra layer of protection."

Thalia said slowly.

"Is the situation already so dangerous?" Anson couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and his temples tingled.

"It's much more serious than you think." The girl said seriously:

"We originally hoped that the empire would be able to provide sufficient checks and balances on the church, but it is very regrettable that the current emperor is not a monarch who can truly unite the entire empire; even if he relies on foreign wars, he cannot mobilize enough to crush the church. The power of Clovis.”

"In a sense, this is also the masterpiece of the Church of Order in the past few decades - supporting Clovis to check the empire, supporting imperial orthodoxy to control Clovis, boosting the princes to weaken the emperor, supporting Clovis' expansion to frighten the aliens …”

"Divide and conquer?" Anson thought thoughtfully.

"Exactly." Thalia agreed:

"After decades, the Church of Order has obviously begun to gradually realize that this balance has reached a time when it should be broken; of course, not all believers in the Circle of Order agree with this view... But this does not Can't stop some guys who are already trying to 'cross the line.'"

"Iser... is their first step, and it will never be the last step; we once mistakenly thought that that fragile balance could really be maintained, but it turns out that it was just a delusion." The corner of the girl's mouth showed. A hint of sneer:

"The Church of Order...this group of believers of false gods don't even intend to leave us the right to die slowly; if we let them continue to act recklessly, it would be better to commit suicide directly."

"Therefore, dear Anson, some things can no longer wait. The world of the old gods has... no, not the 'old gods', but the entire world can no longer wait; if you do not intend to be ruled by the Church of Order, change We have become prisoners manipulated and controlled by false gods, locked in a cage of eternal darkness, and we must resist."

"Victory or destruction."

Anson's throat twitched.

"What do you want me to do?"

As if she didn't hear his answer, Thalia picked up the cake on the table again with a smile and tasted it happily:

"Don't worry, Anson, we have plenty of time."

"Tonight will be very long..."