"It's far too slow… Five days have already passed. Honestly, the efficiency of warfare in this world is still far too low and rigid."
Standing atop the city walls, Leon, dressed in elegant black-and-gold robes, wearing a refined crown and a long black cloak fluttering in the wind, gazed at the enemy army in the distance with faint boredom in his eyes.
The sky was filled with yellow sand as the two armies stood facing each other.
The atmosphere was so heavy and suffocating that it felt as though a brutal war could begin at any second.
Even so, Leon remained completely relaxed.
Even on that barren battlefield wrapped in dust, he still looked immaculate, graceful, elegant, and absurdly calm, as if the entire war was merely a theatrical performance arranged for his entertainment.
Leon truly lamented the military backwardness of that era.
Although Artoria had immediately decided to mobilize the entire army after discovering Lancelot and Gawain's defeat, five whole days had still passed.
The first and second days had been spent gathering military supplies.
But Camelot was so poor that they could barely find even a grain of rice or a piece of potato.
In the end, Artoria had to "borrow" supplies from the Magic Kingdom.
The second and third days were consumed by marching.
Although there were only a few thousand soldiers, most of them were ordinary people. Unlike the Knights of the Round Table, they possessed no magical power and could not continuously run without rest.
So when the fourth day arrived, Artoria ordered an entire additional day of rest for the troops to recover.
Leon found that far too virtuous.
If it had been someone else, they probably would have already used the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
Leon: "Well… the longer they delay, the better it is for my side. By now, things over there have probably already been settled. Hahaha… I'm truly looking forward to seeing the King of Knights' expression when she discovers the truth."
Meanwhile, Lancelot and Gawain had already spent five entire days inside the dungeon… eating prison food.
Not to mention escaping prison, the two seemed completely accustomed to that life.
Lancelot: "Honestly, these past few days have been far too comfortable…"
Gawain: "No need to practice swordsmanship, no need to go to war… we just sleep all day waiting for dinner."
First day: eat, sleep, and worry about the king.
Second day: worry about the king, eat, and sleep.
Third day: sleep, eat, and reflect on life.
Fourth day:
Lancelot & Gawain: "As noble and honorable Knights of the Round Table, how can we continue sinking like this?! We haven't practiced swordsmanship for three whole days! We must escape prison!"
Fifth day:
"Continue lying down…"
"The bread tastes delicious…"
The two looked like they were enjoying a vacation.
Ever since they began serving Artoria, so much time had passed that they could barely remember the last time they had lived such a comfortable life.
After all, before this, their swords practically never left their sides.
If they spent even a single day without practicing swordsmanship, they would already feel restless.
Either they were suppressing rebellions… or heading off to suppress another rebellion.
But now?
Gawain & Lancelot: "Fighting and killing too much really isn't healthy… it's far better to lie down comfortably… I'm looking forward to tonight's bread."
Honestly, life as a Knight of the Round Table didn't seem nearly as comfortable as being a prisoner.
The two even started thinking Mordred should at least torture them a little.
Otherwise, that life was simply too comfortable, to the point of causing psychological discomfort.
Meanwhile, Artoria was marching with nearly the entirety of Camelot's army to defeat Mordred and rescue those two idiots…
…while both of them slept peacefully in the dungeon.
Gawain: "Zzzzz…"
Lancelot: "ZZZZZZ…"
No matter what happened outside.
As prisoners, the two declared that it no longer had anything to do with them.
Thus, on the battlefield, the two armies finally faced one another.
The King of Knights, Artoria, led Camelot's army alongside the Knights of the Round Table.
Thousands of soldiers stared at Mordred with tense and nervous expressions.
But Mordred's side had also grown.
After this period of accumulation, her forces had already surpassed a thousand men.
Furthermore, thanks to Leon's sponsorship, she overwhelmingly surpassed Camelot in terms of military supplies.
All of Britain was watching that war.
Because the victor would become the island's next ruler.
Everyone speculated about the direction of the battle.
Everyone tried to imagine how Artoria and Mordred would act.
Leon: "What else could happen? The script is already prepared. So naturally, everything will proceed step by step."
C.C.: "As expected of you… so you've already predicted the outcome?"
Leon: "Predicted? No, no, no… how could this possibly be called prediction? They simply have no choice except to act according to my script."
He held a black chess piece between his fingers.
Leon calmly observed the intricate chessboard before him while playing chess against himself.
Although it appeared that the two armies were confronting each other…
In reality, it didn't matter whether they were black pieces or white pieces.
All of them were moving according to his will.
The same applied to the war about to begin.
C.C. involuntarily narrowed her eyes.
Even knowing that this was Leon's normal state, she still felt chills every time she saw it.
Leon had always been like this.
He rarely did anything personally.
This person preferred to prepare everything in advance.
To him, the entire world was like a gigantic chessboard.
Everyone was a piece in his hands.
Allies or enemies… it made no difference.
When people believed they were acting according to their own free will, they failed to realize that an invisible hand had already arranged their destinies.
Everyone followed the script prepared by Leon like puppets bound by invisible strings.
Everyone was a prisoner of fate.
…And Leon was fate itself.
Perhaps that was precisely why he felt bored.
Every single time, he hoped that one chess piece would break the script, escape the destiny he had laid out, and stop being a piece in order to become a player capable of standing against him.
Lumine had almost accomplished that once.
During the disaster in Mondstadt, her appearance caused a flaw in Leon's script.
But in the end, she still failed.
Now, she had become completely obedient to him.
C.C. then sat on Leon's lap and asked:
"And this time? Will the King of Knights manage to escape your script?"
Leon slowly shook his head.
"I don't believe that's possible for a king who doesn't even understand the hearts of the people."
"After all… she is merely the King of Knights."
"Becoming the King of the people is something far more difficult."
Even though it was their first meeting, and despite still being separated by hundreds of meters on the battlefield, Leon had already understood Artoria the instant he saw her.
She was a noble knight, worthy… and deeply pitiful.
A person carrying ideals far too heavy.
A person who had turned her own people into chains and burdens.
And now… she had reached her limit.
The current Britain was like a narrow wooden bridge on the verge of collapse.
If it were Leon, he would lead the people to build a new bridge.
He would turn the people into strength.
He would show them a new path forward.
Because he was the King of the people.
But Artoria tried to carry everyone across that narrow bridge alone.
A king incapable of understanding the hearts of the people could never truly guide them.
The people had become a burden to her.
Artoria saw herself as a human weapon.
And that weapon… was about to break.
"She's far too predictable. Far too orderly. The King of Knights possesses no unnecessary emotions."
"She takes what she needs and discards what she considers useless."
"She always chooses the correct answer."
Leon analyzed Artoria Pendragon with absolute clarity.
To extract resources from a village and reorganize the army, she would attack foreigners under the pretext of protecting the kingdom.
She would abandon ten people to save a hundred.
The Knight King Artoria had transformed herself into a machine called "king."
She always made the correct decision.
And precisely because of that, she could never escape the script prepared by Leon.
In his eyes, Artoria was the most obedient, honest, and well-behaved chess piece on the board.
A piece that would never cause unexpected deviations.
Leon: "Abandoning emotions and turning oneself into a mechanical symbol of correctness… that is not a good thing."
"After all, impulses, desires, and intense emotions are precisely what prove that a person is still human."
"As a king… someone should be more emotional than anyone else."
(End of Chapter)