I will be crowned king

"To Anson Bach:

I don't know the exact time when you received this letter, but if the Circle of Order is with you, I hope it will be no later than late March.

But even if things deteriorate to an outcome that none of us want, the content of this letter should still be of some help to you in understanding the situation at hand and what happened - at least I hope so.

First, here's what you should already know more or less... Clovis has decided to abandon the colony, prompting the Empire to change the direction of its attack, gain advantage on the border front, and even reach an armistice.

I mention this just in case you still have misgivings or luck. From this moment on, I can assure you that anything you do next will not be held accountable by Clovis; you can In fact, treat Ice Dragon Fjord as your governorship or even an independent territory.

In contrast, the mainland will no longer be able to give you any reinforcements, and will even cut off contact with you, including part of the trade with the colonies - considering the speed at which normal news spreads to the new world, the latter impact may not reach It will only be reflected in the second half of this year. Seize this last time difference and be as prepared as possible for the upcoming war.

Because what is about to declare war on the New World is not the Empire, but the Church—more accurately, the entire Old World.

In order to strive for the power to interfere with the secular world, the Church of Order is mobilizing a holy war against the new world; this will be a force that encompasses the entire world of Order, with a strength of approximately 100,000 to 150,000 people and well-equipped, to completely destroy the so-called " Free Confederacy" and an armed group targeting all heretical beliefs.

Clovis, too.

By mid-May at the latest, the Church of Order will declare this holy war to the world and reveal the "true identity" of the Luen family; hunting down the apostles and eradicating all the strength of the Luen family is another of their goals.

Therefore, the Ice Dragon Fjord Colony is also within the scope of this holy war, and is even very likely to become the main landing place for the Holy War. In addition to the Holy War, which is a patchwork of armies from various countries, the Judgment Knights and the Tribunal will also join in the attack on the Ice Dragon. Sequence of fjords.

I must warn you that this war is not a temporary initiative of the church. Even if you do not launch a war that changes the pattern of the new world, it will still appear, but in different forms; apart from the church’s enthusiasm for secular interference, it will also It involves conflicts of interest between the Holy See and the major dioceses.

You don’t need to know too much about this, just understand that the leader behind this war is the Holy See and the Pope himself, not the entire Order Church.

In this war, the church must achieve two goals: establish two or three dioceses in batches in the New World, hunt down Apostle Rune, and eliminate all forces involved with it.

And among the "powers" divided by the church, you and your Storm Legion are not included for the time being - of course, only temporarily.

These two goals must be achieved and must be achieved, for which the church is willing to pay any price; Clovis will delay the start of the war as much as possible, but the empire is very likely to promote an early start of the war. Both situations have their own pros and cons. , maybe it will have a certain impact on the war, maybe not.

Based on the current situation, the last window you can get is June. The Jihadi Army will be assembled in early summer at the latest and head to the New World; but at least after March, the attitude of the Old World will change for you and the new world. The colonies in the New World are deteriorating rapidly; don't take any chances, let alone think you can win over any allies; no matter where you decide to stand, fighting alone is the inevitable result - this is a final reminder.

Luther Franz. "

... Putting down the letter in his hand, the young knight sitting in front of the desk had a sinking face.

The night outside the house was dyed ink by dark clouds and storms, with no light visible; the howling cold wind was mixed with ice particles and raindrops, making the sound of thousands of arrows hitting the windows.

Although he couldn't see it, the turbulent waters of Beluga Harbor and Ice Dragon Fjord perfectly explained Louis Bernard's state of mind at this moment... He slowly raised his head and found that the man was also looking at him. The sculpture-like stiff expression is full of complexity and despair after shock.

"Why tell me?"

In addition to surprise, Louis' eyes also showed a bit of confusion. He really couldn't understand why the guy in front of him suddenly became candid and brought out such important information - it seemed that he should be the one to do this. It's the right thing to do.

"Because we are friends."

Not sure if it was an illusion, Louis noticed that Anson's voice had become a little hoarse, and his eyes were obviously depressed: "More importantly, Louis Bernard, I need your help."

"If the 100,000 jihadi army really arrives in the New World, even if the troops of Ice Dragon Fjord and the Free Confederacy are tied together, there is no chance of winning - of course, using the terrain advantages and various coastal defenses to retreat It may be possible to win a few battles on the passes and dangerous shoals, and fight for several months or even more than a year..."

"But when the coastal colonies were captured one by one, the rivers and roads were occupied by the jihadist army one after another, more and more farms and warehouses were controlled, and the limited number of arms continued to be consumed, we..."

"We have no chance of winning." Anson smiled bitterly: "This is just a hundred thousand holy war troops. If they have 150,000, or even 200,000, oh, by the way, and the Judgment Knights must be added, what will happen? A scene?”

"You must still have some impression of the airship that dropped the 'rain of fire' from the sky during the Battle of the Royal Court of Yser. Am I right?"

"Impressed." The young knight nodded:

"But considering the distance between the Old World and the New World, I don't think the Judgment Knights will use it; even if they do, they won't be in large numbers."

"Yeah, there won't be many." Anson chuckled:

"One... only one airship is needed to destroy the artillery positions of the Storm Legion. It will not be more difficult than taking a walk."

Louis frowned slightly, and after being silent for a few seconds, he showed a rather unbearable expression: "But you still have a choice, right?"

"Archbishop Luther Franz made it very clear that the Church of Order currently only lists Ice Dragon Fjord as a target, and does not include you and your Storm Legion - not even the Shooting Army, and the New World Company - Although I don’t know why.”

"But even if you can't join the Holy War, you still have the opportunity to sever ties with the Rune family and the Free Confederacy, and as a Clovis army, ask the church and the Holy War to provide... protection to avoid this war that has nothing to do with you. .”

"not related?!"

The expressionless Anson suddenly raised his voice: "If these words were said by others, it might be excusable, but you, Louis Bernard, how could you think that this war has nothing to do with me?! "

"I……"

"The Free Confederacy was established, Bernard Wirtus was defeated, the Cressy family was destroyed, the Gravekeepers attacked, the Rune family... To put it bluntly, I am one of the triggers of this war!"

"As for the so-called... it has nothing to do with me?" Anson shook his head, his expression becoming more sarcastic:

"Why do you think a man as smart as Archbishop Luther Franz would go out of his way to remind me of this?"

Why?

Facing his best friend's meaningful eyes, the young knight opened his mouth but hesitated.

"This is a hint." Anson sneered:

"Clovis is still a colony, Franz is still Rune... He is asking me to make a multiple-choice question: if I step back from the cliff, I will still be the youngest brigadier general in Clovis; if I persist in my stubbornness, I will be the old man who must be eradicated. The remnant sent by God.”

"But this is because the Archbishop has too little information. He doesn't understand that from the moment Luen arrives at White Whale Port, I have no choice."

Louis lowered his head and let out a long sigh.

Persuading Anson to cut off from the Luen family was originally part of his goal.

But when he saw his best friend's expression, or more accurately the moment he handed the letter to him, the young knight immediately realized that that was impossible.

In addition to the fact that the power of the Luen family has spread throughout the Free Confederation, it is closely related to the interests of all colonies; openly resisting an apostle... Brave like Louis Bernard, he also understands that it is suicide.

In fact, even now, he couldn't imagine how the church could hunt down an apostle - and it was a rune who had existed for thousands of years and had defeated another apostle.

Even if Anson Bach really "betrays" Rune and joins the jihad army, what will be the result?

The Church of Order already has his handle. For such a blasphemous mage with clear "apostasy" behavior, will he really be let off lightly when he loses his use value?

Louis hoped so, but that was impossible - otherwise he wouldn't have escaped to the new world with Freya incognito.

In this regard, his and Anson's situations are actually almost the same. Even if they cooperate with the Crusaders' actions as much as possible, as his father said, with Louis' understanding of the Judgment Knights, he does not believe that those people will be willing to let go of those who pose no threat to them. Elf girl.

"……what you up to?"

Frowning tightly, the young knight even lowered his voice subconsciously, and looked into Anson's eyes with complex gleaming eyes.

"I want to prevent certain things from happening, or...make what is about to happen turn into something else." Anson said seriously:

"The Church of Order wants to form a holy war army, the Empire wants to take back its former colonies, and Clovis plans to abandon us in exchange for an advantage over the Empire on the frontal battlefield... We are powerless to stop these things, and it is too late to save them."

"But those people, those who sit in palaces, salons, or even their own bedrooms, ambitiously plotting wars and thinking they can control the overall situation, are not invulnerable."

"In a head-on battle, we can't defeat an army of 100,000, let alone the well-equipped legions of geniuses of the Judgment Knights, but we are not so fragile that we can be easily defeated; our people are not as united as they seem. "

"And the way to defeat them, Archbishop Luther Franz has already told us in his letter."

Hearing this, Louis, who was originally feeling heavy, changed his expression.

"You mean..."

"Defeat Rune and establish a diocese - this is the ultimate goal of the entire holy war." Anson took a deep breath, and his originally decadent eyes began to shine again:

"As long as these two goals are accomplished, the church can declare the Holy War a success; but how exactly Rune is defeated and who establishes the diocese is a... quite broad concept."

"We can't defeat the entire Holy War Army, let alone organize the Church of Order; the strength gap between the two sides is too big, so big that even if the entire New World unites, we can't do it." Anson stood up and turned his back to the young knight:

"But we still have to fight, at least to thwart their arrogance, so that the church... and even those who originally didn't want to join this battle understand that defeating us will require a price, and this price will far exceed theirs. Tolerable expectations.”

"Hantu, Clovis, and even within the empire, I believe that not everyone agrees with this war, but they are forced to join due to reality...to win over, bribe, bribe, and then defeat them head-on, let the Church of Order do its best The organized military force fell apart before it achieved its goal!"

"Only then will they be willing to sit down and negotiate with us, compromise, and make concessions; the best way to prevent a war is to make the initiator feel the pain and let him clearly understand the serious mistakes he has made."

"And to do this, I need your help." Anson slowly looked back:

"Louis Bernard, I need you to fight against your country and even...your beliefs."

"For a new, peaceful new world."

The young knight's body was trembling slightly.

He didn't speak, but the look in his eyes gradually changed when he looked at Anson.

He stood up and walked to the door. His right hand, which could wield a sharp blade to split bullets, tightly grasped the door handle.

"When I came this time, I also brought Freya with me." This time, it was Louis who was left on the other side's back:

"Think of a way to wake her up for me."

"Okay." Anson nodded:

"must."

"Yeah, definitely."

Exhaling softly, the young knight opened the door and left the room.

A few minutes later, Norton Crosell, who was guarding the door, walked in, as cautiously as if he was afraid that a certain sea knight would suddenly appear.

"Um... Commander-in-Chief, I have something to ask you." The commander of the Third Infantry Regiment had a very strange expression:

"Since you were sure of persuading Louis Bernard anyway, why did you show him the letter - and you forged it?"

"It's very simple. First of all, I did not forge Luther Franz's letter - I just copied it again, changed some of the wording, and deleted some information that was not suitable for Louis to know immediately."

Anson Bach, who was impassioned just a second ago but was now sitting on the sofa drinking coffee, glared at him: "Secondly, this is a good way to show sincerity, especially for some... honest people."

"But……"

"No but, the current situation is that my plan has succeeded, and it has succeeded perfectly - establishing a solid information channel with the Bernard family, and at the same time ensuring that Sail City will not rebel." Anson interrupted forcibly:

"Now...has the messenger arrived?"

"Already here, in Alan Dawn's office - unnoticed by anyone."

"Very good." Anson put down the coffee cup:

"Take me to him!"