I will be crowned king

"Free Confederacy? United Front?"

In the early morning of the chapel, the elf girl carrying the tray walked to the dining table and accidentally glanced at two words on the newspaper, as well as the worried face of the young knight: "Is the rebellion in the colony not over yet?"

"No, the situation has become more complicated."

Louis looked at the report with a solemn expression, and took the hot milk from Freya without raising his head: "Not only has the turmoil in various colonies not ended, it seems that there is also the idea of ​​​​getting rid of the empire and uniting for independence...Thank you."

Once the colony becomes independent, the empire will immediately lose an important financial source... The confrontation between Clovis and the empire has now entered a tug-of-war state. Any loss may immediately destroy this fragile balance and give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it.

It doesn't matter if it's just this. The problem is that judging from the content of the report, there seems to be signs that the Clovis people are operating behind the scenes and supporting behind the scenes.

"Liberal... Confederacy?"

The elf girl with strong curiosity sat down directly opposite the dining table. She held her little head in the palm of her hands and poked at the frowning young knight: "Flea knows about freedom, but... what does confederation mean?"

Of course she was not interested in these technical words, just as she was not interested in military strategy; but she liked Louis' serious and serious expression when he was thinking about these things.

"It is a kind of...different from the mainstream of the world today, a relatively special ruling system." Since the girl wanted to ask, Louis had no choice but to explain:

"In many corners of the world of Order, usually important ports and trade centers, they are composed of merchants, ownerless peasants, and fugitives. They do not bear any obligations to the local lords except paying taxes, and establish so-called 'parliaments' to rule themselves. , and at the same time there are no or few nobles."

“Such a place is called a ‘free city’ or a ‘city-state’, and when several free cities unite to form a common alliance, it is usually called a ‘confederacy’.”

"Hmm~"

The elf girl with the raised corners of her mouth nodded slightly, indicating that she understood and please continue.

"During the sectarian wars, this form of 'confederacy' appeared in both the south and north of the empire, but it ceased to exist after forty-seven years of the Saints' Calendar and was strictly prohibited; free cities everywhere were also Demanding allegiance directly to the emperor himself, bypassing the local lords.”

"Of course, there are not entirely exceptions - Adlan's Bird Port is also a free city, but it is currently under the jurisdiction of the Bernard family because it was originally the territory of the Crecy family..."

Louis' expression suddenly changed slightly, his general words stopped abruptly, and he fell into silence.

"So these colonies are planning to become independent and form a 'confederacy' to fight against the empire, right?"

Sensing the abnormality in the young knight's demeanor, the keen elf girl immediately changed the subject: "If that's the case, then why do they want to form a so-called 'united front' - what's the difference between the two?"

"……A big difference."

After a long pause, Louis, after finishing his breakfast, slowly said:

"If the colonies are just independent and form a confederation, then the threat to the empire is actually not very big - although there are many colonies, their respective strengths are not very high. The strongest Sailing City is only about the same size as the mainland. The earldoms are so different that they can't stop Bernard Morwes's counter-rebellion army."

"But if there is a so-called 'United Front', the situation will be very different; this shows that the rebel colonies know very well that they cannot fight against the empire alone, so they are preparing to recruit more forces to join their camp against the empire on the basis of the confederation: Wanderers, adventurers, natives, pirates, bandits, even Clovis.”

Or should I say, especially the Clovis people...Louis thought to himself.

This should also be one of the most worrying situations for the empire: Clovis, who has been unable to conquer the frontal battlefield for a long time, instigates the colonies in the New World to join their camp, further expanding the scope of the war to the New World and the sea.

This seems to be Clovis, the weaker side, seeking death, allowing the huge empire to attack them from more directions; in fact, it is continuing to destroy the existing balance and forcing more forces to start choosing sides. .

The principle is simple: Clovis is not only a powerful and orderly world country outside the imperial system, but also a prosperous economic entity that supports the new world trade network.

If the emperor wants to attack Clovis from land, he must first convince those forces that have a large amount of trade with Clovis; within three months of the war, a large number of chambers of commerce in Clovis City have closed down and factories have gone bankrupt; those imperial merchants have suffered heavy losses. , people's livelihood and financial resources are becoming increasingly depressed?

If the war expands further, it means that the emperor must also sacrifice the interests of those maritime trading powers with Clovis and the colonies and let them fight for the empire.

Suppress both sides at the same time. Although Louis was loyal to His Majesty Herred, to be honest, he didn't think the emperor could do it.

Not to mention others, the Bernard family alone has always had close trade relations with Beigang; if the emperor wants to force the Bernard family to officially start a war with Clovis, and there is no guarantee of a quick victory... He doubts that his father, Grand Duke Adlan, can Unable to maintain unlimited loyalty to the Empire.

In addition, the Clovis army in Beluga Port is also worthy of vigilance; perhaps it is an illusion, but the imperial methods of "rebuilding the country" and "united front" that bring together a bunch of forces to fight against each other always feel familiar to Louis. I seem to have seen it on someone before...

…………

"Anson Bach."

Staring at the name written on the note after "Commander-in-Chief of the Beluga Port Garrison", Bernard Molwes gritted his teeth, almost biting the two consecutive words into pieces, and squeezed them out from between his teeth. He forced out: "It's really him?"

"Well……"

The herald, who had his hands behind his back, was startled, and his expression was slightly unnatural: "Our scouts are still carefully verifying this information, and it is not yet confirmed that it is 100% correct..."

"No need to confirm anymore, it must be him!"

Bernard, who was suppressing some anger, roared, his anxiety almost written directly on his face: "Sure up a bunch of small forces that are not worth mentioning to strengthen yourself, and turn interfering with neighboring countries into resisting the empire." A war of aggression...that's what he did in Hantu, and it's still the same this time!"

"If I guess correctly, his next step is probably to win over pirates, win over small colonies in the wilderness that do not belong to any force, win over indigenous people who believe in cults, win over the colonies of the three countries in the North Sea... all of them will join this so-called 'imperial resistance' Come to the United Military Front and let us be completely isolated in the new world!"

He clearly remembered that last time, it was because of this guy's obstruction that he forcibly promoted the Seven Cities Alliance to transform into the Hantu Kingdom, causing the empire's investment in Hantu, especially the investment in the Carindia Port, to be in vain.

Faced with an irreversible situation, Caspar Hered had to take huge risks and force a quick attack to open up the situation. In the end, he fell short. Tens of thousands of the imperial army were almost wiped out in the vast earth, and the Ysel elves were also lost. The kingdom has been cultivating this ally for many years and is ready to cooperate with the empire at critical moments and stab Clovis in the back.

If this so-called "United Front of the Imperial Resistance Army" can really be established, he will not only have to face threats from the east, but even Yangfan City may no longer be safe.

I don’t have any power in Yangfan City, and I can only suppress all the rebels by relying on the army; if the entire New World begins to isolate the empire and let the Yangfan City Autonomous Council have some unrealistic imaginations...

Well, Bernard felt that since they could kill his "predecessor", it was not impossible that they would want to kill him.

"Even if you are isolated, it's not a big deal, right?"

Looking at the frowning expression of the chief minister, the herald was quite incomprehensible: "Although there are many colonial militiamen, their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with the real army. There is almost no difference between 10,000 people and 1,000 people, and it may even be possible." It’s even worse.”

"As for the Clovis army in Beluga Port...although the numbers are almost the same, if they just want to annex the colony, they don't need to fight all the way to Sailing City to start a war with the Empire. It is most beneficial for them to annex them one by one; not to mention to overcome With Lowe’s size, it is simply wishful thinking to conquer all the rebellious colonies.”

Regarding the herald's "reasonable" confusion, Bernard could not say a word except a wry smile.

Of course, he couldn't tell the other party directly that the Clovis people could turn the rebellious colonies into their own vassals without actually occupying them; and the reason why he could become the "colonial minister" was precisely because the empire could no longer turn the rebellious colonies into their own vassals. If more troops are sent to the new world, they will not get any reinforcements at all.

My only hope now is that Ed Levent can successfully convince the three North Sea countries to let them attack the Clovis colonies from the east, forcing the other parties to be exhausted and unable to provide any assistance to the colonies that have just formed an alliance.

Thinking of this, Bernard raised his head suddenly: "By the way, have you got any information about the Green Dragon heading to the Three Kingdoms of the North Sea?"

"Uh...no!"

The herald's face was startled, and he quickly replied: "We have dispatched nearly a company of scouts and privately paid informants to Changhu Town and Red Hand Bay, but so far we have not received any intelligence in this regard."

"Really?" Bernard nodded slightly, his expression thoughtful:

"I think... no news can sometimes be considered good news, what do you think?"

"I also think so."

The herald nodded quickly in agreement, and at the same time squeezed out a flattering smile on his face: "Counting the time, Sir Ed Levent should have arrived at his destination by now, and may be having secret discussions with representatives of the three North Sea countries."

"Well, it's very possible."

The two looked at each other with expectant smiles.

……………………

Beluga Harbor, battleship Green Dragon.

In the small, dark and damp cabin, Ed Levent, who was tied into a rice dumpling, stood motionless in the cabin with blood-red eyes, his dull eyes full of detached wisdom.

For him, the word "unlucky" is not enough to describe his experience in the past ten days; even the exaggerated-sounding "life is worse than death" seems too pale and literal.

Ever since the power of his blood was discovered by the crew of the Crown, this group of unscrupulous devils have begun to use various methods to force themselves to blink - using mirrors to reflect bright light in front of themselves, and throwing smoke into the cabin. Play with bullets, pierce with nails, whip with whips, tickle with feathers to make yourself laugh...

This was just the beginning, and it became more and more "exciting" later on - especially after they discovered that they could activate the power of blood not only with their eyes open, but also with their eyes closed, which meant that they were not even allowed to sleep.

First, six people worked in three shifts every day, taking turns, trying their best to wake themselves up and blink. Later, they probably found some kind of fun in various "tortures", so they often saw all kinds of new faces. Holding strange things and glaring like a guinea pig, he walked into this cabin full of sin...

Three whole days and three nights... The emperor's special envoy, Ed, the heir of the Levent family, experienced three days and three nights that he would never forget.

Probably because he was worried that his life would be in danger if he kept going on like this... On the fourth day, these Clovis devils finally showed mercy and allowed him to sleep for four hours; Ed Levent, who was covered in bruises, disheveled and mentally broken, Finally, I breathed a brief sigh of relief in the darkness.

It's a pity that this "dawn light" lasts less than twenty-four hours... Through many experiments, the Clovis devils who discovered that people will not die as long as they sleep four hours a day are like opening up a new world. Like the gate of the world, I once again threw myself into the never-ending night.

The teachings of the Circle of Order say that there are three hundred levels of heaven and three hundred levels of hell in this world; Ed Levent felt that he could correct it: No matter how many there are specifically, there must be more than three hundred.

In addition, he once did not believe in Saint Isaac's statement that "human imagination is infinite." Now he knows that he is wrong. The limits of human imagination, at least in some aspects, are really beyond human imagination.

In such a situation where life was worse than death, he even wished that the other party would come out and question him personally... Ed Levent swore that as long as the other party asked, he would be willing to tell the truth even if the consequences were to be thrown into the sea, and he was even willing to die. Express your gratitude to the other person in the most sincere way.

Suddenly, he heard a rush of footsteps coming from outside the cabin; judging from the speed, frequency, and the severity of the sound when the feet landed, it was probably... not the more than two hundred sailors who tortured him before!

So Ed Levent, who was confused just a second ago, immediately became excited, his heartbeat began to accelerate, and the muscles all over his body began to spasm unnaturally.

"Click..."

The hatch opened, and dazzling light entered the dark cabin.