I will be crowned king

Rough Sea, Wanderer.

The cold waves beat against the hull of the boat, making the already uncomfortable and small cabin even more depressing and unbearable. Even when lying on the bed, you would feel like the world was spinning and you couldn't find your direction.

The humid and cold air made all the passengers on the ship consciously reduce the frequency and time of leaving the cabin. They huddled shivering between the bed boards that were not warm at all, wrapped their bodies tightly with smelly blankets, and tried their best to stay. The last trace of warmth.

The small colonial sailing ship Nomad was so quiet that it seemed like a ship of the dead on the sea at night. Only the faint light of kerosene lamps and the aroma of hot soup could bring some life back to the "living dead" in the cabin.

Wilhelm Gottfried was lying on a wooden barrel in front of the bed, writing quickly in a notebook with the help of the weak kerosene lamp at the top of the cabin; his withered right hand added a worn-out pen, writing on the yellowed paper He left a very beautiful and clear handwriting.

He would stop writing every two or three lines, wrap the almost frozen palm with a blanket draped around him, until it regained its temperature before continuing to write, and then repeat the cycle; and except for the friction between the pen tip and the paper, no sound was produced Any sound.

The skinny figure, the dim lights, the sound of "rustling~" writing...if people passing by have poor eyesight, they will be enchanted by the pen if they are not careful.

Just when everything was going smoothly, a voice behind him suddenly interrupted his rhythm.

"what are you writing?"

The boy who was sleeping on William's upper bunk suddenly stuck his head out, scratched the edge of the bed and asked.

"My notes."

William replied casually, while stopping the pen in his hand and looking back at the young man on the upper bunk: "Well... this is also my most important research result so far."

"Research...results..." The young man, who was obviously not from a noble family, frowned and chewed these two professional words carefully, his eyes full of curiosity flickering: "Are you a priest?"

"It's a church scholar." William explained patiently:

"It's a priest who specializes in research, studying certain knowledge, technology or history."

"Oh...I know, just like Saint Isaac!" The boy's curiosity seemed to be endless:

"Then what do you study?"

"Mathematics, history, practical technology and... writing." William silently put down the pen in his hand: "Mainly writing, and various symbols."

"Is it interesting?"

"...That's not necessarily true." William shook his head:

"Knowing too much often brings more pain and misfortune to people, because the truth is not always good... and sometimes it can even cause trouble."

The young man's brows furrowed, as if he couldn't understand the connection between knowledge, pain, and trouble.

"Then, are you still researching now?"

"Now?"

William glanced at the notebook casually and shook his head slightly: "No, I am just rewriting the notes of previous research; I left the previous notebook to some bad people, because if I take all the things away, they will You won’t let me go easily.”

"Why did they do this to you?"

"Because of a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstand?"

"They seem to think that the runes I studied have some kind of power and can use magic to summon evil gods." William shrugged:

"This is a huge misunderstanding, because these runes have nothing to do with magic; if we insist on saying so, they are a special 'language' - the language of the dragon."

"Dragon?!"

The young man's pupils suddenly lit up, blooming with infinite brilliance: "Have you ever seen a giant dragon?"

"I don't."

William categorically denied it, and before the other party showed a disappointed expression, he changed the subject again: "But Saint Isaac has seen it."

“Not only did he see it, but he even left behind a knowledge called ‘Rune Literature’, which is used for the legendary heterogeneous communication between humans and dragons that transcends nature.”

"But he was an extremely conceited and extremely rough person. He left behind runes but not a pronunciation method that is in line with human abilities. I guess he probably had his own solution and felt that only a genius like him could control this. There is no knowledge, so nothing is left except the runes themselves."

"And my job is to subdivide and evolve these runes to make them easier to understand, and through syllable combinations to make them truly usable, rather than worthless dead words."

"In other words, as long as you learn this kind of writing, you can talk to the dragon, right?"

"Theoretically, yes."

William said calmly, carefully observing the changes in the young man's expression and comparing it with his previous judgment: "Of course, it can do more than that; even in a sense, those bad guys are not completely wrong. "

"Although these runes cannot summon evil gods or use magic, they can reveal the magic of the three old gods and make them no longer look so mysterious."

"If I were to describe it, it is like a key that can reveal many secrets... This is not an exaggeration. In fact, I have made many surprising discoveries through research on it, many of which They are completely different from what the church says, and even completely subvert most people’s understanding.”

"Just like giant dragons... Although the church has always denied their existence, these runes evolved from ancient writing are themselves direct proof that dragons once coexisted with humans; and in the dark ages when the Church of Order had not yet flourished, magic also It is not synonymous with evil; the Seven Knights defeated the three old gods, but they did not deny the significance of magic, and even admired this power..."

William Gottfried narrated the story from the birth of runes to the Dark Ages, and from the Dark Ages to the days when dragons once flourished, and how the seven knights gathered together, spellcasters and church priests together. The years when he served in the court of the King of Knights and when the dragon hovered over the castle spire.

The young man smiled and lay on the edge of the bed, listening silently as if listening to a bedtime story. His radiant eyes gradually dimmed in William's calm tone, and his pale skin lost color little by little, and his breathing stopped.

Only the raised corners of his mouth and his innocent smile full of curiosity were forever fixed on his face.

Looking at the boy who was no longer breathing, William turned his head silently, picked up the pen he had put down, and continued to work; the dim kerosene lamp left four figures in the cabin, but only the thinnest one was still smiling slightly. Shaking.

According to official statistics from Clovis, among the colonists who can successfully sail from North Port to the New World every year, their health conditions have declined due to the living environment, sanitary conditions and malnutrition. More than three-quarters of the people are sick and die. The rate hovers between one-tenth and one-fifth all year round, and will continue to increase as the climate becomes colder.

No more than two-thirds of the immigrants successfully arrived in the New World.

"So knowledge often brings only pain and misfortune." William murmured to himself while waving his pen: "What scholars often need to carry is not only wisdom, but also all the hardships that come with it; all exploration of the unknown No one will be spared."

"Except...well, including St. Isaac."

……………………

"My loyal Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial Corps, Brigadier General Anson Bach:

This is the second letter I have written to you recently. When you receive it, you must have seen the "surprise" I carefully prepared for you, so I would like to give you a small congratulations on the complete success of the plan.

Of course, I think you should have understood the danger of the situation by now, so let’s stop talking and get straight to the point.

The thing is, in order to help you who are far away in the colonies and lack talents, I have carefully selected a talented scholar to go to the colonies to provide technical assistance. His name is William Gottfried, who is from your alma mater, St. Louis. A graduate of Sac College, a senior lecturer and associate professor, he is well versed in mathematics, history, practical techniques and ancient runes.

But none of this matters to you... You just need to know that he is a mechanical expert. You can ask him for advice on all technical issues.

Well, I guess you should have noticed it - yes, he is bound to the 'surprise' I prepared for you; so you can regard him as a technical expert personally appointed by me, the governor, with a status and The kind that makes you an equal.

He is really an amazing genius who can definitely help you solve a lot of problems; I hope you can respect him from the bottom of your heart, just like you respect me.

In addition, there is one small, insignificant thing that needs your attention; that is, our great Associate Professor Wilhelm Gottfried is a wanted criminal.

Of course, I believe that the reason why he is wanted by the trial must be due to some misunderstanding, but... you should understand what I mean. Protecting his personal safety is also one of your responsibilities. Never let his whereabouts be disclosed to anyone. People involved with the church found out.

As for the rest... try to meet all his needs as much as possible, and don't be angry with him for some of his quirks in life and behavior - of course this is just a precaution, you know, people with extraordinary talents often have some quirks.

Dear Anson Bach, I sincerely believe that you two will be able to live in harmony, millions, millions! Don't let me down.

Well, if anything happens to the Honorable Associate Professor Wilhelm Gottfried, I will definitely hold you accountable; remember that, I mean what I say.

Finally, make good use of this 'New Year's gift' I have prepared for you. I also look forward to your return gift in the coming year, which will give me enough surprises.

Sophia Franz

yours truly. "

Snapped--

Suddenly putting down the letter in his hand, Anson, expressionless, raised his head and looked at Erich standing in front of him: "Where is the person?"

"who?"

With a dull look in his eyes, Eric subconsciously said, but then he suddenly woke up and quickly said:

"Ah! You, you are talking about Associate Professor William Gottfried, he did not come with our fleet."

"Not with you?" Anson raised his eyebrows:

"You mean that he found a separate colonial merchant ship that departed from North Port?"

"Uh, yes, it's like this." Eric nodded repeatedly, his eyes wandering:

"And, in fact, we don't even know the specific ship he was on."

This extremely honest answer made Anson frown even more.

According to Sophia's letter, this Wilhelm Gottfried was her appointed technical advisor and the specific person in charge of this operation; such an important person did not set off with the fleet, but acted alone ?

The weird part doesn't end there. Sophia repeatedly mentioned the status and importance of this technical consultant in her letter, and wrote a special letter to introduce and explain to herself, which is enough to show that she attaches great importance to this person, but she repeatedly cited it from various sources. Angle told himself that this expert consultant had a bad personality and was also a wanted criminal being hunted by the Tribunal.

Judging from her tone, it didn't sound like she was asking herself to respect and value the other person. Instead, it was all kinds of crazy hints, asking her to find an opportunity to kill this talented scholar.

In addition, he did not even take the fleet carefully prepared by Sophia, but acted alone... No matter how slow Anson's reaction was, it was not difficult to feel that there was definitely something wrong with this.

His first reaction was that this person had probably offended the eldest lady of the Franz family, so he wanted to use his own hands to avenge her, so that Sophia wouldn't have to deal with it herself, which seemed too rude - as if she was a very grudge-bearing person. Same.

Well, although she is very vindictive and very petty, the type that will cause countless troubles if she is provoked.

Anson shook his head, threw all kinds of random thoughts out of his mind, and turned his attention to his eyes again: "So how much did you transport on this long journey?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Erich's eyes suddenly light up in front of him; he took off the top hat on his head, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and gave Anson a standard Clovis gentleman's etiquette:

"Please allow me to introduce to you the 'Old Hemmer Arsenal' in the southern suburbs of Clovis City!"

"The factory has the official authorization of the famous arms dealer Leopold Brand. It has a long history of twenty years since its establishment. It has produced countless high-quality and low-priced arms for the kingdom, and has received orders from famous generals many times. ——There are many current top military officials among them!”

“Today, the factory not only has a complete production line of Leopold breech-loading rifles, bayonets, grenades and other infantry equipment, but also has the ability to completely manufacture light artillery, heavy-loaded carriages and large baggage vehicles; it has There are thousands of skilled craftsmen, and the workshop mechanics have an average of more than ten years of service. They are experienced and trustworthy."

"Now! All the production lines, equipment and workers of this arsenal with a long history and outstanding capabilities, plus the inventory of three thousand Leopold rifles and supporting equipment, and twenty six-pound infantry cannons..."

"Everything is yours!"