I will be crowned king

Yangfan City, outside the bombed north gate.

Under the heavy rain that covered the sky, thousands of sailing city defenders were fully armed, dragging heavy baggage trucks and cannons through the almost ruined streets towards the Confederate military camp on the outskirts of the city.

The eleven-star ring flag on the dilapidated city gate has long been taken off, replaced by the ring of order hanging down in the rain, and Clovis's blood-red unicorn coat of arms on a black background.

The people on both sides of the street watched the departure of the garrison soldiers and the coming jihadist army. Apart from being frightened and frightened, there was also a hint of relief in their eyes; the complex emotions were like the weather in Sail City, permeating the air. In the mist rising air.

After some sincere and fair negotiations, Ludwig and his Crusaders finally obtained the most critical target in his heart and soul...Sailing City.

But this did not come without any price. On the contrary, when he first saw the long list listed by Anson Bach, it immediately brought back some very unpleasant memories for Ludwig:

First of all, the Jihadi Army must immediately lift the siege and blockade of Sailing City and Huangcao Forest, allowing the colonial defenders and all liberal people who voluntarily follow the army to leave safely without being blocked on the way;

This is basically a matter of course, and Ludwig even agrees with it.

Secondly, the supplies and prisoners of the Confederate army must be returned, and the supplies of the Jihadi Army - especially the fifty cannons - are all seized, and the soldiers in Huangcaolin are even required to surrender on the spot and hand over all their equipment to the Confederate army for "escrow." "...Ludwig endured everything. He knew very well about Anson Bach's almost miserly character, who wanted everything.

Ludwig also endured it, because he was the one who lost the battle.

The last one, which was also the most unacceptable to Ludwig, was that the Jihadist Army was not allowed to destroy or loot the occupied cities or the people who had not left the city, let alone substantively persecute certain groups of people.

This is almost an unabashed admission: you cannot touch my people in Yangfan City, and you must even take the initiative to protect them and avoid persecution from the empire and the church as much as possible.

Ludwig was shocked. For a moment, he even felt as if he had not captured Sailing City himself, but was just temporarily keeping it for Anson Bach, a bastard. He could no longer call it a request, but an order!

Is a traitor, a heretic, or his former subordinate giving orders to him? !

But Ludwig agreed anyway.

No matter how hard it is to accept, the fact is that from the moment he prepares to negotiate with Anson Bach, he has become an accomplice of this "traitor"; protecting those who are loyal to him in the city is, in a sense, protecting himself. The interests of Franz and even Clovis.

To put it more bluntly, the more difficult this "holy war" is and the more factors that are unfavorable to the church and the empire, the greater the benefits that the Clovis and Franz families can gain.

Ludwig even suspected... No, he was sure that his respected father, Archbishop Luther Franz, must have expected all this, so he would work so hard to make himself the commander of this damn army!

So after losing the battle and promising a lot of conditions, Ludwig and his Holy War Legion, who felt that they had been cheated again, became the new masters of Sailing City.

Of course, the officers and soldiers of the Jihadi Army knew very well that this "victory" was the result of negotiations between the army commander and his lord, but they knew nothing about the content.

But Ludwig was not worried about this. He knew very well how his subordinates were muddle along, greedy, cowardly, and selfish, and he would never dare to tell the Crusaders the truth about "conquering Sail City" of other people.

Standing at the top of the tower overlooking the dense crowd below, Ludwig sighed heavily, forcing himself not to indulge in meaningless anger and shock, and began to think about his next actions.

The Holy War Army has taken control of Sailing City, which is equivalent to destroying an extremely important stronghold for the Free Confederacy. It is only a matter of time before it abandons the entire west. After that, Anson Bach and others will definitely shift their focus to the Ice Dragon Fjord area.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing... The advantage is that they no longer need to worry about how to defend, and can concentrate their forces in one place, without the trouble of spreading the defense; the disadvantage is the same, the Jihadi Army does not need to attack on multiple lines and attack the White House with all its strength. Whale Harbor is enough.

It is now May, and the main force of the Jihadist Army will land in Sailing City in the middle of the month at the latest... According to the most conservative estimates, Anson Bach and his so-called Free Confederacy will lose most of their territory around June.

If Clovis wants to gain even a little benefit from this war, he must ensure that Ice Dragon Fjord or Beluga Port cannot easily fall in front of the 150,000 jihadist army before October.

"Are you worried about Anson Bach?"

Roman on the side spoke softly and said that he, who did not leave with the Confederate Army, stayed as a "middleman" in the communication between Ludwig and Anson Bach, and by the way, provided Ludwig with the required intelligence when necessary.

But for the loyal deputy commander of the Southern Army, the latter was the main reason why he really stayed.

"What does that damn traitor have to worry about?" Ludwig snorted angrily: "What I'm more worried about now is that your private conspiracy will be discovered and exposed by the empire and the church... Although the Truth Society is not as good as the Old God Sect, , but it is also a thorn in the side of the Holy See, but the impact it had before was not great, and it was not targeted too much."

"Even if the church can be prevented from taking the opportunity to interfere with secular ambitions this time, many things that could be concealed in the past will probably not be hidden anymore. Once the church orders a hunt, Clovis will never dare to object, and the Franz family will not be able to protect it. With your abilities, have you... thought about what to do in the future?"

Looking at Ludwig's worried eyes, Roman seemed to be petrified and froze on the spot. After being silent for more than ten seconds, he nodded slightly, not daring to look directly into the other person's eyes.

"Thank you for your concern. I am honored." Roman calmed his breathing while trying to maintain his cold tone: "For this result, I have been prepared for this result since the day I joined the Truth Society. Please don't worry. Too worried.”

Ludwig frowned slightly.

"Roman, we..." He sighed, feeling quite emotional:

"We're still friends, right?"

"Of course." Roman stood up slowly, but still dodged his eyes:

"It is my lifelong honor to be able to fight for Ludwig Franz."

……………………

Compared with Ludwig and the Crusaders, who were in complicated moods, the Confederate Army, which had won a great victory but was forced to retreat, was extremely heavy.

Although Anson had persuaded Louis not to make any explanation, in the end, he still took the responsibility alone: ​​in the name of the governor of Sailing City, he announced the abandonment of the entire Sailing City colony, and asked all soldiers and people who were still willing to be loyal to him to follow him and join forces with him. Evacuate to Gray Pigeon Castle.

“… Yes, we won the war, but the price we paid was enough to eclipse any victory; thousands of warriors willing to fight for freedom and fight for equality paid to defeat the Jihadists. The price of life; but in the end, what we gained was just the qualification to negotiate fairly with the enemy, nothing more..."

"...This is not because our soldiers are not brave and do not have the courage to sacrifice for freedom and equality; it is because the enemy we have to face this time is too powerful, and I am not capable enough to direct you in the battle, and I did not respond at the critical moment. Make really good decisions..."

"Just the enemy's vanguard force has already required the entire Confederacy to use all its support to barely compete; when it comes to the actual decisive battle with the enemy, the despair we have to face is at least ten times, or even twenty times, what it is now! "

"...It is meaningless to continue to defend Sailing City. For the continuation of the entire Free Confederation, it is the least bad outcome to evacuate from Sailing City without losing dignity and concentrate on preparing for a decisive battle with the enemy..."

After a sincere and frank speech, Louis Bernard was not surprised to receive the disappointment of all the liberals and the military loyal to him.

But even so, these people still decided to follow the Governor who had greatly disappointed them, and followed the large troops to evacuate from the Sailing City colony; not because of how loyal they were, but because the battle lasted for nearly a month, and most of them Most of them have already forged bloody feuds through close interactions with the Jihadi Army.

Once the army leaves and you stay, it is not difficult to guess with your toes how the other party will "repay" the previous friendly exchanges.

In comparison, it seems that it is more cost-effective to continue to be loyal to the Governor of Sailing City... although compared with the past, this loyalty already needs to be questioned.

But the young knight didn't care about this... When he saw that the vast majority of people finally accepted his "persuasion" and were reluctant but still willing to follow him to evacuate, even if the people around him looked at him with contempt, Louis His face still showed joy from the bottom of his heart.

"Because he is such a fool."

Looking at the Sailing City in the distance, the elf girl murmured softly: "To this fool, he will always be the most insignificant one; as long as he can achieve his goal and protect the things he wants to protect, even for the next second His body and reputation will be ruined, and there will never be a moment of hesitation."

"Don't talk about the entire Sailing City, even...even an orphan in the slums is a thousand or ten thousand times more precious to him than the Governor of Sailing City and the heir of the Bernard family."

Anson, who was forced to walk side by side with the elf girl, said nothing and nodded awkwardly.

"He is such a hopeless fool who never thinks about himself, let alone what is more beneficial to him." Freya's voice was slightly trembling, but her gaze towards Anson was Cold determination:

"You must be very proud of yourself for using such a fool to achieve your goal willingly, Your Excellency Anson Bach?"

"Absolutely not!"

Anson, who was shaking all over, flatly objected.

"Oh?" The elf girl narrowed her eyes:

"real?"

"Absolutely true!"

Raising his head suddenly, Anson's eyes were extremely sure: "I advised him several times not to explain to those people, but he just refused to listen and insisted on letting everyone know the whole story; how stubborn he is, you must be better than I know better!"

"That's natural...Adhering to one's own beliefs and implementing the spirit of defending to the death are the principles of knighthood."

The elf girl snorted, and her cold gaze was instantly replaced by endless attachment: "How can a guy like you, who has no integrity at all and doesn't understand the spirit of chivalry, shake his determination?"

"Ah, yes, yes, what you said makes so much sense!"

Regarding Freya's cynicism, Anson readily admitted it - compared with Louis, who still retains his innocence for once, the elf girl who has experienced palace politics is actually much more difficult to deal with; but she can only be in the presence of the young knight. She only becomes sensitive when her interests are compromised.

"But to some extent, thanks to Louis' honesty, hundreds of thousands of people in the Sailing City Colony clearly understood their current situation and willingly followed us to leave." Anson quickly changed the topic:

“Our enemy is unprecedentedly powerful, but the Confederacy is not fully aware of this, and is still full of unreasonable optimism. Many people even cannot understand how terrifying the hostility of the 150,000-strong army and the church is. "

"And these hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Sailing City may be a powerful enough shot in the arm to make them understand that even if they win on the battlefield, they still cannot reverse the gap and disadvantages between the two sides."

"Analysed from this perspective, Louis' approach is actually the right decision; a bit of strong pressure may improve cohesion and facilitate management; but being honest can dispel people's illusions and truly start to work on their own future and destiny down to earth. And fight.”

"Louis Bernard is such a gentle and wonderful knight; it is so reassuring to be able to fight alongside him."

As if suddenly feeling emotional, Anson smiled and turned his head: "Being able to become his close friend, comrade-in-arms, and ally is truly a blessing and a deep honor."

"With him here, we will definitely win this war!"

Facing Anson's gaze, Freya, who said nothing, frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Feeling the elf girl's emotions, Anson smiled and said, "Is there any problem?"

"Nothing!" Freya shook her head decisively, but seemed a little unsure:

"I just suddenly remembered something... strange."

"Strange thing?"

"It's not particularly strange, but... it just may not be tolerated by the public eye in this world." The elf girl's eyes suddenly began to dodge a little, and her words became hesitant: "I... I don't know anything about these. , I just heard Thalia Rune mention it so...well...a few times."

"It's just...it's you and Louis. You guys...should have just been...ordinary friends...right?"

Anson Bach: "..."

I just got home and was late, sorry.