Chapter 184 183 is! Marshal!

Chapter 184 183! Marshal!

King Louis, King Louis IX to be exact.

This man, known to the outside world as a great man, had many nicknames, such as the Avenger of the West, the Conqueror of the Greenies, the Destroyer of Faith, the King of Steel and so on, but the most important of all these nicknames was definitely the “King of the Goldenrod”.

This fifty-five year old man is in the most powerful stage of his life, and based on the fact that human beings in this world generally live to be one hundred and forty years old, his rule over this kingdom, which has just been born thirty years ago, is bound to last for quite a long time to come.

The legendary King Louis was wise, stable and majestic, with all the qualities of a legendary king.

Even the most stubborn conservative nobles of Westland and the most radical restorers of Issa in the Grand Council would put aside their disputes and listen to the advice and opinions of this king, and even of the future “Emperor”, in the presence of King Louis.

The most remarkable thing is that, despite having the power, King Louis rarely interfered with the judgment of the political or military decisions made by the Grand Council since it was formed to reconcile the contradictions between the two major factions in the country.

If the use of power is regarded as a kind of talent and skill, then King Louis can be regarded as a master in this regard.

He maintained the ambition of his powerful ministers and deputies to control the affairs of the country, but he was also able to exert his omnipresent influence everywhere in a subtle way.

Although thirty years of operation has allowed the Grand Council to form a set of standard procedures for the management of the country, but even the beggars on the side of the road in the Kingdom of Canary Flower know that, as long as King Louis is willing, he can still be hollowed out or even abolished in one night the Grand Council.

This is a real power king, but he knows how to decentralize!

And for the national establishment of a “reform” as the goal of the great idea to serve as the foundation of the new country identity, whether it is the prime minister or the Grand Council, and even those who are retained by the conservative aristocracy, are all his realization of this ambition and the best tool, by the king has enjoyed the manipulation of the hidden behind the scenes to control the deployment of arbitrary.

The Kingdom of the Golden Sparrow is now vibrant.

It is like a young man, aggressive, belligerent and irascible, bringing great pressure to those around him while at the same time full of boundless energy.

King Louis seems perfect, but only those who know him well know that King Louis has his own flaws.

For example, underneath his dignified and solemn appearance, he hid a weary soul that had been forced to fulfill its duties in an unruly manner. After all, as a young man, King Louis aspired to be the finest poet and traveler in the Westland, and he was so talented and dissolute that he had more than seven lovers by the time he was nineteen years old.

Including an elven sage and a priest of the Songhai.
He became king not because he wanted to, but because his father and his brother, who was made Crown Prince, were accidentally assassinated during a visit to the Kingdom of Isha.

To put it bluntly, Louis IX, who was only a month shy of his twentieth birthday at the time, was forced to take the throne, and one of the first things he did after being pushed to the throne by the three main nobles and powerful ministers within the Kingdom of Sealand was to command the newly reformed nation in a war of annihilation against another nation!
He won.

And it wasn’t a difficult win.

With the help of the Silver Dwarf Highland Priests, this prodigal prince attacked the Misty Capital in less than three months, forcing the last king of the Kingdom of Isha to marry his daughter Princess Elizabeth, who was only sixteen years old, to him before he cut himself off, thus completing the establishment of the Kingdom of the Golden Bird’s Flower.

At this time, General Loren, who had rushed back from the front line, met his majesty in the afternoon sunshine at the Golden Canary Palace, also known as Dunwich Palace.

The latter hosted a banquet in his favorite garden for his most loyal and trusted general.

It was a banquet, but in fact it was a fine afternoon tea.

And the half-dwarf general sat on a gold-encrusted chair specially made for his height, enjoying the emerald green forest black tea from the Antani region in his hand while looking at the man in front of him, who was reading the Travels of Capet in the sunlight with great interest.

That was his king.

It was also his majesty whom he had been defending since he enlisted in the army.

However, General Loren still can’t forget that disturbing fall thirty years ago.

When the news of the assassination of both the old King and the Crown Prince had come back to Sealand, a group of young Praetorians, led by him, had frantically searched the city of Bourbonnais for the then prodigal prince, and had finally dragged him drunk out of his bed in one of the drawing rooms and brought him back to the palace.

General Loren even remembers it well!
He remembers pulling the equally naked young prince up from the wraps of three beautiful, naked girls.

And the most outrageous part was that it was a mother and her two daughters.
Uh, this was basically one of the most humiliating of His Majesty King Louis’ youthful affairs, a private secret that a king must be kept, and one of the things that was hidden in the back of General Loren’s mind.

Thirty years had molded a prodigal son into an honorable king who would shake the continent even with a cough, and after the Kingdom of the Golden Sparrow had completed its rank annexation of the Confederacy of Portia, the next move at home was likely to be to put King Louis on the throne of Emperor.

In terms of the territory and strength of the Kingdom of Canary Flower today, it is already fully qualified to be elevated to an empire.

However, this is not easy on this continent, for a new emperor to be born, it must be recognized by the two ancient empires.

This is of course not talking about what stuck in the hell of the “emperor audit”, any power leader as long as enough shameless can call themselves “emperor”, but an empire can not be recognized by the super power of the same status is destined to only close the door to self-indulgence.

The Sanghai Empire in the Land of Origin and the ancient kingdom of Kalam in the east are super ancient powers that rule over a horrific area, an unimaginable population and have existed for more than 700 years.

Those two ancient kingdoms existed when the tribes of Silans, Caitians and Nords were still playing “village armies” on the continent in horseback battles.

Winning the joint approval of the Pharaohs and the Dragon Emperor was not an easy task, even for the King of the Canaries.

“What a nice romantic chronicle, but I bet that wasn’t the first report submitted by the young men of the Capay family. The men of that family are serious to the point of being intimidating, such as my political advisor, Count Lyon, is.”

The king chuckled and placed the report, which he had read a third of in his hand, on the table, and thoughtfully placed a bookmark made of gold leaves inside.

He was like a gourmand who had gotten his hands on a piece of gourmet food and didn’t bear to swallow the goodness in one gulp, intending to stay and enjoy it slowly.

The king lifted his cup of tea and leaned back in his chair in a comfortable position, looking out over his favorite garden and the royal maids in black and white uniforms walking through it in the warm afternoon sun.

It was his favorite place, and one of the few places where he could remove the mask of the majestic king and enjoy his life.

The sun shone on King Louis’s face, casting a shimmering light on his solemn and elegant features, and his well-groomed beard was like a work of art that recorded the years, adding a touch of grandeur to a face that was actually a bit soft.

But looking closely, General Loren had no difficulty in realizing that the king’s face still retained some of the softness of the rambunctious young man of that year.

“You’ve been watching me, Secretary Frederick.”

King Louis put down his tea-cup with great irritation, and, staring with feigned fury at his most trusted general, said:
“So it was my General Steelheart who found something dirty on my King’s face?”

“Uh, that’s not true, Your Majesty.”

The half-dwarf leaned over slightly and answered gravely, but then whispered in an odd voice:
“It’s just that you have unwiped lipstick on your neck .”

“Huh?”

King Louis was immediately embarrassed, and hurriedly pulled out his “royal handkerchief” and wiped his neck.

The general wasn’t talking nonsense, there was indeed lipstick residue there.

But it was not from his “confidantes” whom he had long since lost touch with and forgotten in time.

“I was having lunch with Margaret and Elizabeth before I summoned you, and, as you know, ladies’ passions occasionally know no bounds.”

The king explained, and the general only smiled and did not reply.

Countess Margaret, the fairest flower that could be born among the Zealanders.

His Majesty was courting this lady fiercely the night before he ascended the throne at the age of nineteen, and after his ascension to maintain the majesty of the king he cut ties with all his lovers, but only Countess Margaret stayed by his side, and even gave birth to a healthy daughter for the king seven years ago.

It was a well known secret in the upper circles of the Kingdom of the Golden Sparrow, but no one was displeased, not even the most traditional and conservative nobles dared to speak out on the matter.

It was clear to all that, if it were not for political reasons, the noble Countess Marguerite would have been the only and perfect queen for King Louis.

But the most outrageous of all the outrageous little stories about Louis IX is that, although it was a political marriage, His Majesty and Queen Elisabeth were as close as real couples can be.

Five years earlier, the Queen had given birth to a healthy boy for His Majesty, who was then established as the heir apparent, and the daughter of the Countess Marguerite had been crowned Princess.

Neither the queen nor the countess complained of this.

This could only mean that His Majesty in front of him was really no less gifted in matters of male and female affection than he was in his specialty of manipulating power.

“Ah, you’re showing this dwarf-like wry smile again, it’s really irritating, Loren!” King Louis no longer addressed the general by his formal last name, but instead switched to a more intimate term of endearment between the two as he grunted and once again took a small sip from his teacup and said:

“Given your character, surely you didn’t come all the way to see me just to deliver this nice travelogue, what else do you think is important enough for me to know? Speak.”

“And please finish your tea first, Your Majesty.”

General Loren removed the second document as he whispered:

“I’m guessing that you won’t be in the mood for tea after you read this.”

“Wait then, I don’t want to ruin my nice mood today by some sudden, eye-less bad thing.”

King Louie nodded, then spent almost ten minutes chatting with General Loren about battlefield anecdotes while finishing his tea and devouring a few rose cookies.

It was only after the nice and leisurely tea time was over that he wiped his hands and took that second document.

The document was short, only a few pages.

After all, all it said was a disaster that was confirmed to have been cleaned up and a few unsubstantiated and irresponsible guesses.

But the king read it carefully.

After several minutes he closed the document, reached up and rubbed his brow, and said:

“Carpe’s report is unsubstantiated, but my mind tells me it should be true, and I trust my reason, but I still need to ask my most trusted general for his opinion.”

King Louis opened his eyes.

In the depths of those loverly, gentle, deep blue pupils shone a touch of coldness and decisiveness.

He twisted his head to look at General Loren, and under the gaze of those lion-like eyes, the half-dwarf general immediately stood up straight and waited for orders.

The king spoke.

But instead of asking General Loren for his opinion on the matter, he asked rather directly:
“In the event of a conflict, how much military power would you need to utilize to be able to uproot the Tower of the Ring? I don’t want the worst outcome of this matter to affect the upcoming restart of the country’s reforms.”

“It depends on how long you want to end the strife.”

The general was quite careful to voice the ventriloquism he had been typing up along the way, and he reported back in a very organized manner:
“If you need a thunderbolt, then I can return to Fort Silver immediately to contact that relative of mine, and with the help of the Silver Dwarf High Priests and Gaia’s Forbidden Guards, and the entirety of the Old Forbidden Guards, I can burn the White Cliffs to the ground within half a month!
But I’m afraid you have to be prepared for half of the Old Guard to be killed or injured, or even withdrawn from the army.

If you can tolerate the war being over in six months, then I will mobilize the Grimni Legion and the Pathfinder Legion, plus the assistance of the recently defected Wolfsbane Clan.

The Tower of the Ring can be wiped from the kingdom under a three-way attack without affecting your reforms, while incidentally depleting the Wolfsbane Clan’s strength and completing the final military reforms of the Pathfinder Legion along the way.”

“What if I want it faster?”

The king stroked his beard and said in a cold voice in the sunlight:
“What if I want to end the fighting three days after my hecklers reach White Cliffs? You know, Secretary Frederick, the one thing I can’t tolerate in a man is betrayal. It is like a fire burning my heart and stomach, and like a cup of acid burning my stomach, it gives me sleepless nights.

I wish to see traitors suffer as much as they burden me.”

“For three days …”

General Loren considered carefully as he finally gave his options and said:

“Then while contacting Fortress Silver and mobilizing the Wolfsbane Clan, you may need to invite the Winterwolf Church of the Kingdom of Nordtorf to intervene as a king. After all, there is only another group of psychics that can quickly crush one group of psychics, and after the collapse of the Church of Avalon, we lack the psychic power belonging to the kingdom in our hands.

But that also means you need to open up the realm of faith in the Kingdom of Goldfinch to those Northerners, and let their Wolves of the North Wind run rampant across the land that belongs to us.

As you know, after the destruction of the Church of Avalon, the spiritual level of the people is like a wasteland, and their poor hearts are longing for the dew to nourish them.

However, this opening cannot be opened!

Once the Church of the Winter Wolves is allowed to enter the kingdom, Nordtorf will have a vice-like grip on us.

After all, the two kingdoms are bound to fight in the future, and that Wolf Woman . With all due respect, Your Majesty, it would be better to expect that Queen, who has inherited the bloodline and dominating thoughts of the Heroic King Boris, to surrender on the battlefield than to expect you to conquer that young girl of only 25 years old with your own male virility.

It would be much more cost-effective for you than a war.”

“I’m happy that you’re praising my charms, but the fact that you want me to view a 25-year-old girl as a target makes me feel like you’re ridiculing me as an old rogue.

Let’s prepare it according to the first program.”

King Louis dropped the paper in his hand on the table, he closed his eyes and whispered:
“I will hand over the command of the Old Forbidden Guard to you, and once the Tower of the Ring doesn’t give me an explanation that satisfies me enough, then troop out of White Cliffs!

I can fully understand their importance to the kingdom.

But if those Spiritualists think that they can do whatever they want based on their importance, then there is no need for such a foolish force to exist.

Dogs that can’t tell who their masters are are better to be killed before it’s too late.

Ah, what an unappetizing thing!

I was expecting to be in a good mood this afternoon to listen to the noble members of Parliament quarrelling over the slightest trifle, and that would have been so amusing, but let’s forget it now.”

The king rose, and a royal housekeeper immediately came forward to fetch his majesty something that had already been prepared.

A lavishly decorated and very practical command sword, a National Hero Medal bearing the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Goldfinch, and a Marshal’s ceremonial uniform embellished with a blue ribbon.

“I would have announced the good news to you with good cheer, Secretary Frederick, but now I must send you into another dangerous battlefield while conferring upon you the highest honor as a soldier.

I hope you will not blame me for this.”

King Louis handed the commanding sword with both hands to the most trusted general in front of him, and he said in a deep voice:

“Please continue to fulfill your duties as the King’s Blade of Punishment, my Marshal Loren.”

“Your Majesty, I am deeply honored by this! Of course, it would be perfect if this were a marshal’s battle axe in the style of the dwarves.”

General Loren uh, no, Marshal Loren took the command blade and gave another small spat before he saw two royal attendants straining to carry a golden Dwarven style Lord’s battle axe that was also embellished with a blue ribbon.

This made the marshal realize that his majesty had already arranged everything, and he gave a smile, but then said still full of worry:
“Your Majesty, I do not fear a war with the psychics, however now that the Black Plague is coming, perhaps”

“A great enemy is just the right time to root out internal dangers, I need to teach those psychics a lesson as engraved as a broken bone.”

King Louie waved his hand, rather decisively:

“Besides, can’t we fight without psionics? The fact that the Chardo Halflings don’t have psionics on a scale doesn’t stop those Faithless from standing above the continent, their steam technology has become a force to be reckoned with alongside psionics, and little by little that power is being held in our hands.

The Tower of the Ring must realize this fact!

It is they who need the country!
Not the country needing them!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Seeing that King Louis’ mind was made up, Marshal Loren gave a crisp military salute and watched his majesty leave the garden.

He stroked the hilt of his marshal’s sword, determination flashing in his eyes.

Ha, psionics.
How dare you take advantage of the dwarves, now you will truly pay the price.

(End of chapter)