Pastor's Tantra

The day after the candle ceremony was the official funeral of Queen Sofia.

At 7:07 in the morning, the Candlestick Cathedral in the Red Queen once again sounded the dull death knell.

When the seventy-nine death knells are tolled, no more bells will ring in Avalon today. A dark silence surrounded the entire Avalon.

The funeral procession will start from St. Guinevere's Chapel and will circle the Red and White Queen before returning to the Candlemas Cathedral.

Seventy-seven pure white griffons with black scarves, and seventy-seven knights in silver armor and black cloaks guarded the dark coffin in the middle. At the front is Isabel, who is riding a griffon minister, followed closely behind her are Ligeia and Aiwass, who are riding a slightly smaller griffon.

If it were put before, people might question how these two young people, who together seemed to be less than thirty years old, could stand in such a high position.

But today, no one will raise any doubts.

Journalist Dimit - now as the editor-in-chief of the "Glass Steps Newspaper", the photo he took personally is on the second page of the "Glass Steps Newspaper".

The glass steps shattered, and the Great Guardian and his griffon were seriously injured and dying.

Minister Moriarty closed his eyes and prayed, and the new Grand Arbiter held the scepter. They stood behind the queen, protecting her unharmed, while all the knights in the Arbitration Hall knelt before them because they were late, repenting respectfully and seriously.

If that photo were taken in normal times, it would definitely make the front page.

It was because there were too many major events on this day that it was pushed to the second page.

The newspapers also recorded in detail what Aiwass had done, and people knew that it was Aiwass who saved their queen.

Except for the great guardian who almost died, Aiwass's reputation rose to the extreme almost instantly.

No one will question this young minister regardless of ministry.

The vast majority of Avalonians are ordinary people. They don't know what "energy level" is at all, let alone how strong Aiwass is, and they can't figure out what strength Emma is. These things belong to Secrets of the extraordinary realm.

In their view, Emma can turn the Candle Festival's noon into a blood moon night and make the entire glass island rain blood. That is simply the power of an evil god. But Aiwass can defeat her, which means that Aiwass is stronger than her.

Such a young and strong man is naturally worthy of respect.

They simply didn't know that Aiwass only had the third energy level.

And those who knew about this did not dare to stand up and explain "this is unreasonable" at this time. It will only be besieged by angry people.

More than a thousand guests accepted the invitation extended by the House of Silver and Tin. In addition, people from Glass Island spontaneously took to the streets.

They surrounded the funeral procession with solemn faces and silence.

Not just for the Queen's funeral, but for yesterday's big news.

Yesterday was the Candle Festival, and it was impossible to hide such a big thing as the queen's assassination.

And Aiwass and Isabel didn't want to hide it at all.

All the newspapers published in Avalon today have the cover of Queen Isabel with a grim face and blood-stained clothes. Without exception, the front page only writes two things. One is that Queen Sofia's funeral and state funeral is today, and the other is yesterday's attack on Queen Isabel.

Star Antimony's diplomats directly assassinated the monarch, and Isabel was already their only monarch - her father and brother were not recognized by the Avalonians. Whether it is a coward who abandons his responsibilities and runs away, or a baby who cannot even write his own name, it is obviously impossible to become a qualified monarch.

This has angered most of the Avalonians. The fear and panic caused by the sudden and ominous blood moon that suddenly approached the candle priest yesterday was also recognized by Countess Emma.

The sacred candle ceremony was disrupted and the queen was attacked - and the person who did it was the Star Antimony, who is universally hated by Avalonians.

Coincidentally, the next day was Queen Sofia's funeral.

Although most people in Avalon don't know much about Isabel, she is the heir chosen by Sophia after all. Her power ring was transferred even while Queen Sofia was still alive.

And Queen Sophia's reputation in Avalon is extremely high.

All current Avalonians will only experience and understand two monarchs. That is Queen Sofia and the previous tyrant "The Hanged King".

The "modernization" of Avalon was basically completed under the rule of Queen Sophia.

Before she took over, Avalon had no railroads, no bicycles, no factories, no telephones, no electric lights, no facilities for electricity, and no newspapers for civilians. Most people are illiterate, and only a few can enter college and become extraordinary people; more than 90% of the land in Avalon is rural, and the city is full of gangs and pickpockets, and outside the city are bandits and robbers.

Ever since Prince Lloyd appeared, Avalon has been declining from generation to generation.

Because people no longer believe in the Knights of the Round Table and their monarch from the bottom of their hearts. The compatibility of the Avalonians' authoritarian path has declined significantly. Whether it is the number and strength of the extraordinary, or the economy and infrastructure, they are constantly declining.

By the time of the Hangman King's succession, Avalon had declined to its limit. By that time, there were only six universities in Avalon that were still in normal operation. The silver and gold held in Avalon were rapidly flowing overseas, and many knight families even left Avalon directly with their assets and went to Star Antimony and Iris.

At that time, the most profitable industry in Avalon was shipping, because there was really no local output worth paying attention to. The most valuable thing was griffins. Even if stealing griffons was a felony that started with the death penalty, there would still be people asking for it. Goblin traders smuggle gryphon eggs.

Anyone who has access to griffins must be at least a middle-level leader.

There are also poachers with extraordinary professions who hunt extraordinary animals in the wild and sell their materials, which directly leads to the fact that many extraordinary animals in the wild in Avalon are now extinct. However, such a risky and illegal profession is praised among the people as "brave" and "adventurer" by children, and even many parents think it is a good way out.

——This shows that Avalon’s economy had completely collapsed at that time.

It is precisely because the whole of Avalon has fallen into chaos and crime that Tudor III, who does not know what to do, became the "Hanged King".

He's not very smart, but at least he's brave. He also has few smart and trustworthy confidants who can offer constructive advice to save Avalon.

So when the entire Avalon gradually collapsed and was about to fall into chaos, Tudor III chose the most straightforward way.

——That is killing.

Kill all the poachers, kill all the corrupt officials, kill all the fallen knights, kill all the thieves, kill all the bandits, kill all the profiteers and smugglers.

Kill the extraordinary ones who follow illegal paths, kill the publishers who print "stories of the brave", kill the bards who praise adventurers, kill the teachers who run away, and kill those who don't work and don't pay taxes. farmer.

Kill all the knights and ministers who disobey him, kill those who intend to start a rebellion, kill all aliens who set foot on the land of Avalon except the elves, and kill those civilians who intend to escape from Avalon.

Tudor III's solution to all problems was to kill. If the problem is not solved after killing someone, it means he killed the wrong person or not enough. His atrocities even alarmed the Theocracy, which sent an average of two people a year to dissuade him.

Throughout the reign of Tudor III, all the gallows in Avalon were lined up. For this reason, other types of executions such as beheading, waterboarding, and burning also appeared in the early days.

There is nothing complicated about sentencing.

Because before the invention of the treadmill, running a prison also had costs. In order to prevent prison riots, Tudor III did not throw people into prison at all. Precisely because he killed him so cruelly, the judges had to find ways to save him.

The reason why no rebellion occurred despite this level of killing was simply because he killed too quickly. The full power of the authoritarian path is unleashed—scrutinizing possessions, searching memories, identifying lies. The Supervision Bureau searched every village directly, and ordinary people could not keep any secrets from them.

At that time, the "Inspection Bureau" was synonymous with executioners.

They even go through the documents and belongings in each person's home and double-check where they came from.

When almost everyone was afraid of the Hanged King, only the Supervisory Bureau and the Supervisory Council truly felt the necessity. They stood firmly by the monarch's side and trusted the tyrant absolutely.

Because they are the only ones who have been continuously exposed to sin and chaos.

By the time of Tudor III, many prosecutors and inspectors were so desperate that they gave up on themselves because they were completely unable to prevent evil. People saved in the morning might die in the afternoon, and victims saved last week became perpetrators next week. They no longer know what to do, and many even have mental problems.

And after they obeyed Tudor III's order, they were surprised to find that the situation really improved.

——Not to mention the family members, killing them all actually works.

So they believed more firmly that what they were doing was right.

Crime and disorder decreased at a clear and immediate rate... although the population also decreased with it.

Some people were killed, some starved to death.

Some people risked the death penalty and fled overseas with their families.

Aiwass checked the information - in fact, after the initial wave ended, the number of executions has decreased a lot. The number of people who died in that initial wave was too many, more than the number of victims in all foreign wars combined since the founding of Avalon.

After that wave ended, the order in Avalon, which had almost completely collapsed, was rebuilt again.

Other types of executions due to overloading of the gallows have in fact been largely discontinued. The gallows, which is always "popular", is more like a continuous deterrent. This is why gallows are always full in various places, but new gallows are never built - what he wants is the effect of "full".

By the later era of Queen Sophia's reign, which was the era Aiwass lived in, most people had no memory of what the Hangman King had done.

But their fear of the Inspectorate seems to be engraved in their genes.

The fear, hatred and distrust caused by Tudor III indeed caused a lot of trouble for Sophia when she first came to the throne. But from another perspective, it was because he really killed all those people and really cleared these obstacles... that was why Sophia's policy was implemented so smoothly.

Because what she faced was ruins, not the fortress that was still hostile to her.

And it is precisely because of the comparison with Tudor III that people know how kind, diligent, gentle, and kind a wise monarch Queen Sophia is. With the trust and support of the people at the bottom, Sofia can implement more policies that benefit the people - these are all achievements of mutual benefit and utilitarianism.

It was Queen Sofia who saved all this from the abyss.

She only lived for seventy-nine years, but saved Avalon from two hundred years of decline.

Avalon rose again from the ruins, and under the leadership of Queen Sophia, in less than sixty years, it became a country that must be taken seriously by its powerful neighbors.

But it also ushered in new problems - the rapidly developing economy, prosperity that came too easily, and capital from foreign countries gradually corrupted the knights of the old era. Businessmen who are growing rapidly in the wave of factories, alchemy and modernization also have to pay attention.

When Avalon comes to life, someone is destined to become rich. Knights represent the power of the old era, while merchants represent the power of the new era.

In a peaceful era, knights were almost completely unable to shake the status of merchants - because knights also wanted to live a good life, and most knights did not know how to manage their assets and did not have the energy to make money.

Because of this, the vast majority of knights' wealth is constantly shrinking.

That's why there are new knights who compromise with business groups like Lloyd's, and ministers who have been corrupted by the Star Antimony and Iris people.

And these days are coming to an end now.

Because the war is about to begin.

If there was anything missing in Avalon during Queen Sofia's time...it was that there was too little war.

Avalonians are neither weak nor timid.

They were, after all, a nation of knights.

The original citizens of Avalon came from the local human slaves who hated the giants, and from the warriors who voluntarily joined the crusade from the Herasl Empire. The blood of fighting flows in their bodies, so they formed a powerful army such as the Griffin Legion, which is only for the ultimate attack.

Since the founding of the country, Avalon has never stopped engaging in active or passive wars. At the peak of Avalon, even the Hrasl Empire, which had not yet been disintegrated, was wary of and in awe of Avalon.

But in the era of Queen Sophia, because the economy was developing too fast - and rebirth from the ruins was naturally fast enough - this directly resulted in the Avalonians not having war for a long time.

Queen Sofia is indeed a gentle and kind queen, so she always tries her best to avoid all unnecessary wars. When faced with pressure from Iris and Star Antimony, she would always choose to give up her interests or compete on equal terms, and only resolve political issues on the table.

Even when the royal family was cursed one after another, her subconscious choice was to resurrect Lancelot I through the Shadow of Avalon ritual. Use this truly top-level warrior to protect Avalon and intimidate the ambitious Star Antimony people. And this is still essentially a "defensive" strategy.

In fact, this did wear away the bloody and aggressive desires of the Avalonians.

But when Isabel appeared in the newspaper wearing a blood-stained queen's dress.

The Avalonians were truly angry——

Queen Sofia’s mourning period hasn’t even passed yet!

Their new queen hasn't been crowned yet!

The people directly blamed the Star Antimony people for the previous deaths of the royal family due to curses.

At this moment, Count Star Antimony's attack on Isabel can undoubtedly be regarded as an act of annihilation of the country!

When everyone longs for war... war is bound to come.