The Sun King's Evidence

Frankly speaking, the number of times Ryan and the old king met was really not that many. Since he came to Britannia, the number of meetings between him and Richard was really only a handful.

On the one hand, it was because there was a certain compulsion for Lane to be granted the title of baron at that time. To put it simply, it was the meaning of the fairy in the lake. After Richard was awarded the sword by the lord, Lane should have been his vassal, so he ordered Lane to Barely justified and well-founded.

But the embarrassing problem is here. Ryan is a Holy Grail Knight, and Richard is just an expedition knight. The Kingdom's Holy Grail system determines that it is difficult for expedition knights to order Holy Grail Knights. In addition, Ryan has the support of the goddess and the strength of the Holy Domain. François supported him, which made it difficult for Richard to control Ryan. The relationship between the two parties was very awkward, and they rarely met.

On the other hand, Ryan and Richard had different political views. The only tacit understanding between the two parties was that Richard's eldest son, Charles, would not have the opportunity to ascend the throne. Richard was more inclined to Raun, while Ryan obviously wanted to fight for the throne with all his strength. The two sides had a dispute over the knight's throne. After many contests and struggles, this struggle was finally concluded with Richard's defeat, Lawn's defeat at Mousilon, and Lion's recovery of Mousilon. Richard accepted the outcome of failure, and the previous grievances between the two parties were finally settled. got a result.

After Mathurbard was killed by Ryan at the gate of Coulona, ​​Richard had passed his title of Duke of Le-Angoulant to his nephew Taubot, and asked his grandson William to set out for the Holy Grail. Expedition, as for his legitimate son, Prince Charles, who finally chose to become a vampire after waiting for more than seventy years for the duke and the throne?

Who cares?

Every time he saw Richard, Ryan could feel that he seemed a little older. When he first came to Britannia, Richard's hair was still gray. Later, when he failed to suppress Ryan, it had turned gray. Now it is almost gray. All white.

"What? Are you surprised?" Richard stood at the door. His temperament had changed into that of a pure old man. The outgoing old king gently stroked his beard: "I think I need to come and see you. "

"Of course." Ryan hesitated for a moment, but still felt that he must show basic respect to Richard. This was not because he was weak or timid, but to maintain the legitimacy of his own legal principles. Only by giving the old king full respect, his Only the throne will have legitimacy: "Uh, borrow a step?"

"Are you interested in going out with me? It's nearby." Richard spread his hands: "No weapons, no people."

"Okay, wait a minute, I'll go talk to Sulia." Ryan nodded. He entered the room and said a few words to Sulia. The female knight was a little surprised, but she quickly said it was okay.

A few minutes later, on the dimly lit streets of Curona, the old king and the new king who was about to take the throne walked in tandem, ignoring the curfew and strolling down the street. At this time, there were no pedestrians on the street. Under the rule, the curfew in the capital was strictly enforced. Except for a small number of nobles who had the right to go out on the streets or licensed businessmen, no wanderers were seen on the streets.

The street lights are not bright. Curona is the city with the largest population and the largest area in Britannia. If you want to keep the city brightly lit at night, it will cost a staggering amount of money every day. Lawn only ensures that the city maintains basic The lighting was bright, so whether it was Richard or Ryan, their faces were looming under the light.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" Richard's old voice was full of calmness and ease.

"I remember you were the one looking for me." Ryan was a little amused after hearing this.

"Your Majesty," Richard said in a hoarse voice.

"Um?"

"You must call me now, Your Majesty, because you are not the king yet." Richard snorted coldly from the depths of his throat: "Don't you have any basic courtesy?"

"Okay, my Majesty, I remember you came to me first." Ryan rolled his eyes without leaving a trace, thinking that this old guy has come to the end, so he didn't forget to take advantage.

After Ryan finished speaking, Richard said a faint "hmm" and said nothing more. The old king was in front and Ryan was behind. The two of them walked along the street together. Richard remained silent and Ryan also remained silent.

In the strange silence, the two people gradually approached the Cathedral of the Holy Grail Champions. The sacred and glorious cathedral shone brightly under the light of the magic lamp. The stories of the twelve first-generation Holy Grail Knights will be told forever here. Until the end of the world.

"No one will forget Arthur and his Holy Grail companions, and no one will forget their glorious twelve battles in founding the country. Without their sacrifices and victories, there would be no Britannia today, the Kingdom of Knights." Richard Caressing his white goatee, the old king had tears in his eyes: "Ryan, as the inheritor of Landuin's will and virtue, you must be able to feel this emotion, right?"

"Your Excellency Landuin is worthy of being a perfect man of chivalry. He sacrificed himself to save Musilon. Without his sacrifice, Musilon would not be where he is today." Ryan nodded slightly. At this moment, in addition to the rising feeling in his heart, Apart from infinite admiration, he had no other emotions in his heart. Without sacrifice, there would be no victory. In the long history, countless martyrs have used their blood and glory to create the cornerstone of humankind.

"Hehehe~" Seeing Ryan's expression, Richard smiled as if he was sarcastic or self-deprecating. He pointed to the rows of stone benches at the entrance of the Holy Grail Cathedral: "I'm old and can't walk that much. Come sit with me."

"Okay." Ryan did not refuse. He and Richard sat on opposite ends of the bench.

"Have you ever hated me?" Richard was sitting on the bench and turned to ask Ryan: "Since the chivalry war in Arden Forest, I have made things difficult for you more than once, and then I even wanted to transfer you to Go to the Arabi Jihad Army and tell me, lady’s divinely chosen champion, have you ever had hatred in your heart?”

"No, I'm just bored at most." Ryan shook his head calmly: "We just have different positions."

"Hmph~ Hahahaha! Different positions?" Richard laughed loudly when he heard this. His old laughter spread far away. Several guards from the Holy Grail Cathedral immediately came out to check the situation and saw that it was the old king and the new king. The king sat chatting together, quickly saluted, and then stepped back. The old king looked at the guard and sneered: "Do you think you and I have different positions? Ryan, do you know that when I was young, I was the same as you? Reformist?"

"???" Ryan frowned when he heard this, and he tried to figure out the meaning of Richard's words.

This old guy has changed his gender and supports me?

Or is it about to abdicate and sell well?

"Why, you don't believe it?" Richard sneered: "Do you know the Le-Angoulan Marine Corps? This army is all equipped with muskets, decades earlier than your old Guards."

"I didn't expect that army was created by you." Ryan decided to wait and see what happened. He was indeed a little surprised, because the Principality of Le-Angoulan did have a musketeer battalion called the Marine Corps, but its presence was too low. (Ryan had never seen it once since arriving in Britannia), he had almost forgotten it, and did not expect that this army was actually created by Richard: "But I seem to have never seen it."

"That's because this army is no longer useful." Richard nodded slightly. He seemed to be sighing and helpless: "About thirty or forty years ago, when this army was first created, it still had a certain combat effectiveness. After a long time, The battle formations were sparse and poorly managed. The serfs were unwilling to fight hard after enough military pay was paid. The army that was built with a large sum of gold and silver and the muskets purchased from the empire were all turned into waste. I did not consider this at the beginning. You are just as thoughtful, I once thought that as long as we purchased muskets and trained rigorously, our army would not be worse than the empire."

"...It's useless as long as the equipment keeps up, but the system and management don't keep up." Ryan said casually: "This kind of temporary army can only fight a full-scale war at best. The soldiers either make enough money or fight." A battlefield of death.”

"Well, now you believe that I was a reformist before, right?" Richard's cloudy eyes exuded a faint light: "I have realized it long ago, earlier than you. When I was the Duke, John I and John II came to power one after another, and they were aggressively militarizing the country and squeezing the country's power internally and squeezing the wealth of the serfs. I was probably the most radical among the Dukes at that time!"

"...I can't tell." Ryan didn't know much about Britannia's previous history and stories.

"You must want to know why I am like this?" Richard chuckled: "When he first came to the throne, the high-spirited and ambitious Duke Le-Angoulan, the Paladin Richard nicknamed 'Tiger', How did you become the cautious old man you are today?"

"My Majesty..." Ryan breathed out lightly. He looked up at the dark night sky. The bright moonlight filled the entire street, shrouding the Holy Grail Cathedral in an unreal light and shadow.

"After I came to the throne, I thought of many ways, many." Richard continued to talk to himself: "But without exception, they all failed. I spent several years and bruised my head. I thought the Dukes chose I would have supported my decision when I came up, but they didn't. On the contrary, they only focused on their own interests. I was restricted in every way. What's more terrible is that I still can't get the support of Her Highness Morgiana. Her Highness Morgiana doesn't support me. , then the lady will definitely not be on my side."

"Ryan, the power of habits and traditions is terrifying. When a country that has been passed down for thousands of years gradually declines, many times it cannot be saved by just one person. Ryan, do you really think that John I and John II are heinous sinners?" , a tyrant who endangers the country?" Richard turned his head and looked at Ryan: "I felt the same way at first. It wasn't until I became king that I discovered that John I and John II were not what they imagined. They also wanted They just didn't choose the right way to save this declining kingdom, especially John II who hoped to have a chivalric holy war and gain actual control of the kingdom through an expedition to the badlands to fight against the greenskins, but his ending was chivalry. The entire army was wiped out, and I was pulled off the throne by Her Highness Morgiana."

Ryan sighed softly after hearing this. He understood. The new king also looked at the old king: "So, after trying many times, you chose to give up because the ending of John II scared you."

"Yeah, I'm scared." Richard nodded slightly: "Selflessness is often just a pursuit. I have my family, my family, and my vassals. I can't do it because of my selfish desires. Let bad luck happen to them, I can only become what I hate the most, being a rubber stamp, trying hard to maintain stability, just like an old captain desperately steering the rudder, controlling the broken ship that is leaking everywhere. I am tired. I'm tired, but I can't stop, and I don't dare to stop. Ryan, you have your own way of protecting the kingdom, and I also have mine."

At this point, Richard already had tears in his eyes: "When I was three years old, I heard the story of Arthur and the twelve first-generation Holy Grail Knights. I once thought that I only needed to be like Arthur and the Holy Grail companions in the story, and move forward bravely. , without fear of evil, you can have your own great achievements, but after truly becoming a king, I found that I was powerless to deal with the status quo. When I saw your various strange actions and repeated challenges to the existing order, my tired My heart and fragile will make me instinctively hostile to you, because I know that this kingdom can no longer withstand any small hardship."

"My Majesty..." Ryan looked up at the black night sky. Who can understand the weight of the crown? Everyone only saw the glory and power that the crown symbolized, but few knew that the weight of the crown was enough to turn Richard, a once brave and proud paladin, into what he is today.

Old, conservative, decadent, stubborn.

"I'm very happy that you found a way." Richard took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes: "Now is your time. The future of the kingdom will soon be in your hands. I have a feeling , the Knight Kingdom will either fall into chaos under your hands, or it will fall into chaos."

"Just wait for my performance." Ryan didn't know what to say. To this day, he is still a little unsure about becoming a king. The entire kingdom will be under his rule. He has a very good heart. He had an indescribable feeling, which seemed to be excitement and worry. In the future, he would have to take care of the country by himself.

"Huh, speaking of it, you are still a foreigner." Richard said casually: "But what does it matter? Arthur is not a foreigner too, the entire Brittanians moved here from across the Gray Mountains , since you married Sulia, you are our Britannia."

"Then people don't know, and you can't predict it." Ryan stretched out his index finger and gently rubbed it from left to right under his nostrils, then spread his hands: "A person's destiny, of course, depends on self-struggle. , but we must also take into account the course of history. My Majesty, how can I, the adopted son of a Nord lord, become the King of Knights?"

"Oh, this is not the first time. Wasn't the original Knight King Taylor the illegitimate son of the Duke of the Empire?" Richard also sighed with emotion: "After more than thirty years on the throne, I thought about it carefully, and probably Just did three things.”

"First, after John I and John II's militarism and decades of chaos, I presided over the restoration of production, stabilized the political situation, and stopped the civil war between the dukes."

"Second, the chivalry wars were stopped for more than twenty years and the national strength and the number of knights were restored."

"Third, reaching a consensus with the former Imperial Emperor Luitpold has maintained the overall peace between Britannia and the Empire for nearly thirty years."

Richard said to himself, and Ryan nodded repeatedly when he heard the words, with a smile on his face. The old king actually didn't say it to Ryan, but to himself. To be fair, Richard did have some interests in the kingdom. your own contribution.

"If there are any achievements, it is that I tried to introduce the empire's technology, and the scale of Egil's invasion was also very large, but these are secondary. What I mainly focus on are three small things. Ashamed, I only did a small amount of work."

"The future is yours, Ryan. Below heaven is your paradise."

"May the lady bless you."

After saying this, the old king stood up on the spot and ignored Ryan. He left alone. His old figure was no longer as strong as it was in his prime, but the pride deep in his heart and the ease of unloading the burden made his steps very fast. Quickly, turning a corner, Richard left. Ryan knew that this was probably the last time he would see Richard.

"Very well, next, it's my turn."

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