Openly punishing but secretly protecting.
Anyone familiar with Camelot's current situation knows that most of the knights in Camelot are funded by nobles. And Artoria's move to keep Menachel by her side as a punishment seems to be a declaration that "he is mine."
This was not a good choice for King Arthur, who had just ascended the throne and whose throne was not yet very stable. Although the funded knights would not really obey the orders of the nobles and turn against them, they would more or less become passive and lazy, which was quite unfavorable for Camelot today.
Apart from winning the hearts of King Arthur's personal guards, this move was meaningless – but that's not the case, after all, Artoria's desperate move successfully made Menachel begin to reflect on his mistakes.
"Maybe I should have restrained myself a little more at that time."
Menachel lowered his head. He had taken off the soft armor that had no defense at all, but he did not go so far as to put on the heavy armor again. He was wearing the most ordinary casual clothes.
"Okay, okay, don't blame yourself."
After removing the shell of King Arthur, Artoria revealed a helpless smile. The girl stretched out a hand but found that due to her height disadvantage, she could not touch the other person's head even if she stood on tiptoe. The girl's hand froze slightly.
Menachel lowered his head in a casual manner, allowing the girl's hand to touch his hair smoothly. Artoria also enjoyed this scene mentally. As a king, she was not allowed to have love, so the pleasure she felt at this moment was particularly strong.
Withdrawing her hand with some reluctance, Artoria closed her eyes and calmed down before saying, "Let's do it later today. Bring some people to kill all those nobles."
The time was ripe, and Menachel's previous achievements had opened a gap in the tight alliance of nobles.
Artoria's tone was flat, but she easily sentenced dozens of people to death… or perhaps even more.
Compared to the girl in memory who wished that "the war would end", Artoria at this moment was much colder and sterner, but Menachel was happy to see her transformation, as it was the only way to become a king.
Menachel said,
"It will be faster if I do it alone."
It was obvious that Menachel's reflection had obviously ended, and at this moment he showed his innate arrogance again.
"Teacher Merlin said that you are still in the recuperation period and cannot do strenuous exercise like you did in the outer city."
"But—"
"Don't worry." Artoria saw what Menachel was worried about: "The knight's justice is only shown to his own people and recognized enemies."
As for those nobles who are nothing but parasites, they are just the necessary cornerstones on the road to building an ideal country.
Touching his chin, Menachel reluctantly agreed to Artoria's request, and at this time, a third voice suddenly interrupted the conversation between the two.
"Hey, is this something I can watch?"
Merlin's gentle yet servile voice made Menachel and Artoria raise their eyebrows at the same time.
"Well, don't be nervous, I didn't see anything." Seeing the two of them looking at him at the same time, the magician immediately smiled and waved his hands to explain: "I just suddenly saw something interesting, so I came here to remind you——"
At this point, Merlin's eyes, which were narrowed by his smile, quietly opened a crack, and a deep look in his eyes flashed away. He shook the letter in his hand and said, "This is the list. I invited some nobles in my own name to discuss assisting the new king. They have sensed the crisis and will definitely come. Just be prepared for a counterattack."
At least in the eyes of outsiders, Merlin, who assisted King Uther and now wants to support King Arthur who came from nowhere to become a puppet king, is a complete traitor and a remnant of the previous dynasty.
Merlin never made excuses, and it just so happened that at this moment, he could hold an afternoon party under the pretext of "helping the puppet king to correct his identity."
"Don't reveal my name."
"Certainly."
Menachel's eyes flickered. This was a good opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop. For Menachel, those knights who had surrendered to the nobles were also targets of hunting. Although it could be concluded from Artoria's words that the girl was not going to take action against these disqualified knights, Menachel felt that there was no need to spend so much energy to influence those "remnants of the previous dynasty".
He would take responsibility for anything that Artoria couldn't make up her mind about.
...
On the other side, the nobles, unaware of the danger approaching quietly, were enjoying afternoon tea.
"That kid Arthur has already started trying to seize power."
The old noble spoke out the consensus of all the nobles and knights present, and the faces of the knight commanders immediately became stiff. Compared with the nobles' "private soldiers", although they had surrendered to the nobles, they still retained considerable autonomy. After more than ten years of "separatist" life, they were more reluctant to return to the royal power than the nobles.
"But he will soon realize his mistake." The horse-faced noble sneered and took over the conversation: "After all, Camelot's operationscannot be separated from us."
The old man smiled but said nothing. At this moment, the sound of the door opening was heard, focusing everyone's attention on the person who came.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm a little late because I was dealing with some things."
Merlin, who was wearing fancy clothes, showed no apology at all. He walked into the hall step by step, leaning on his staff.
But no one cared about Merlin's performance, because there was a trail of blood following closely behind Merlin.
"Look, look, you are exposed after all. I'll let you wipe the blood off your body."
Merlin waved his hands helplessly, and then a bloodstained knight suddenly appeared behind Merlin as if falling from the sky – it was the knight Menachel who had brought shame to all the nobles in today's parliament.
"It doesn't matter."
Menachel shook the blood off the sword, and blood droplets splashed in the air, forming a flowing trajectory and fell on the faces of several knight commanders who were nearby, thereby restricting their movements.
But soon Menachel realized that his actions were unnecessary. He looked around at the knights and nobles around him. Unlike the guards who were slaughtered outside, none of the knights in this hall were carrying weapons.
"The sword is life."
Menachel sneered and walked forward step by step. Merlin turned around and snapped his fingers casually, and the hall was shrouded in a barrier.
At least I don't have to listen to this annoying sound anymore.
Merlin thought happily.
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