According to Merlin, this was not simply the presence of a dragon, but rather a mixture of various phantasmal species blended together from Menachel's body – from this perspective, Menachel was no longer a simple human being.
For ordinary creatures with lower intelligence, it is an irresistible suppression. It is a pity that this suppressive force seems to be ineffective against humans.
However, possessing this unexpected ability did not bring any qualitative leap to Menachel's individual combat capability. He was confident that he could behead the horse before the cavalry reached him.
But this does not mean that this "suppression" is really useless. When the two armies are fighting, facing a large number of cavalry charges, he can completely rely on this suppression of horses to easily harvest the enemy. Menicher can completely create a group of "special combat forces against cavalry."
The only problem now Is that this suppression does not distinguish between friend and foe. After two days of trying without success, Menachel finally found a solution – to eliminate all the guys who caused this problem.
More than 200 elite mounted knights under Menachel were instantly downgraded to foot knights. Fortunately, the deterrence brought by Menachel's feat of "fighting against a hundred knights" not long ago was still there, and although there were still complaints, no one dared to speak.
"You will run into problems sooner or later if you manage like this." Artoria said as she annotated the memorial in her hand, "What will you do if a mutiny occurs on the battlefield?"
"I don't know much about management. I only know how to chop people." Menichel said, his voice revealed a bit of helplessness. While devoting all his energy to physical training, Menichel had to give up other aspects of learning. He even gave the training of the knights to Lanmarok.
He didn't want to upset Artoria if he could help it.
"I'll let Agravain help you."
Suddenly, Artoria spoke, she stopped what she was doing, stretched a little, and the alopecia on the girl's head rose and fell with her movements.
Menachel, whose attention was completely focused on the hair that was jumping up and down, just looked nonchalant, saying "it's up to you to decide."
Seeing this, Artoria couldn't help but puff up her cheeks a little. Her lovely emerald eyes glared at Menachel fiercely: "This is not a trivial matter that can be ignored. This concerns your life."
"So I trust your decision."
Menachel looked back without showing any weakness, but his tone was not tough at all: "Because I trust you, I can trust you without reservation, I can leave these matters to you, and I can execute your orders without thinking at all."
Artoria looked at Menachel in a daze. The girl's heart seemed to be pulled by something invisible. Her heartbeat was very fast, but she still forced herself to turn her head away.
"It's really cunning to say something like that."
Her voice was stammering, no longer as bold as before, and the low volume was completely covered by the vague tone. After all, she was just a teenage girl, and she could no longer maintain the dignity of a king when accepting such a confession, but feeling the burning gaze, Artoria had to turn her head away again.
The girl's lovely expression made Menachel unable to help but curl the corners of his mouth. Even if the voice just now was very small, it could not escape his ears. This taboo feeling of contrasting cuteness in front of and behind others made Menachel's heart beat a little faster.
He recalled what Mr. Merlin had said, was this love? Menachel didn't know at all, but this excitement, different from the one during battle, intoxicated him, so he could just assume it was love – when did this love that he couldn't help but feel even if he didn't want to admit it start?
To this day, he can no longer tell whether he was absorbed by the paradise described by the girl or was longing for the girl who described the paradise.
"Menachel, there is something I need to explain to you now." Artoria forced herself to keep a straight face and regained some of her royal demeanor.
Seeing Artoria suddenly become serious, Menachel, who was sitting opposite her, put away the smile on his face and indicated that he was listening.
"I'm very sorry, but as a king, I can't fall in love. For Britain, I can only devote my life to the country."
Artoria had been thinking about this matter since the last meeting. She knew that doing so might cause her and Menachel to be bound by shackles, but her conscience also told Artoria that she should not say nothing.
"What do you think of me? Do you think I'm the kind of person who would repay a favor?" Menachel's eyes revealed indignation: "I didn't come here because I want you to do something for me, I just, just—"
In anger and some unknown emotions, Menachel couldn't find the right words for a moment. While he was organizing his words, Artoria spoke again as if she had been prepared:
"Although the wait is very long, so long that I don't even know when it will end, but if that day really comes, and if you are still willing until then, I would also like to experience the love of a commoner."
The words that Menachel had just conceived were immediately stuck in his throat. He opened his mouth wide and looked at Artoria in amazement, as if he wanted to speak but didn't dare to.
Perhaps because she had said the most daring words in her life, Artoria's face turned a little red, but the girlish charm that was almost overflowing and her cool and pleasant voice flowed into Menachel's ears word for word.
"Menachel, do you remember what I said before we parted last time?"
"When the country is stable, I will no longer be King Arthur."
"Then I won't be a knight at that time." Menachel immediately understood and continued with Artoria's words.
"Let's go see the snow together then." Artoria took the initiative to hold Menachel's hand.
This was a dreamlike scene, but the warmth coming from the palm was not fake. Minachel raised his eyes stiffly, and his gaze moved inch by inch from the intersection of their palms to the slightly red and peaceful smile of the girl in front of him.
"Artoria, I…"
"Ahem!"
Before Menachel could say anything, a sudden cough was heard, and like a thief caught on the spot, the two men withdrew their crossed hands at an extremely fast speed.
Menachel looked towards the door angrily, but saw Merlin's half-smiley face. A sense of guilt that shouldn't have existed surged into his heart, as if he was a child caught in a premature love affair by his parents. Menachel immediately stood up and looked at the few pages in Merlin's hand: "If you have something serious to say, I won't bother you any more."
"How is it? How does it feel to be in love?" Merlin ignored Menachel who was walking away and looked at his "daughter".
"Teacher Merlin, when did you start eavesdropping?" Artoria glared at Merlin in anger and embarrassment.
"Not long ago, probably since you asked Agravain to help Menachel."
Wasn't that the beginning?—So why did you choose to come in just now?
Artoria bit her lower lip and said nothing. She looked up and was about to complain when she saw that Merlin had stopped smiling.
"Menachel is definitely on your side, but because of that, if one day your will goes against Camelot, or even elects a new king to drive you away, he will not hesitate to start a rebellion." Merlin sat down in the seat before Menachel, folded his hands and rested them on his chin, and said in a deep voice different from usual: "Menachel, he is a loyal subject who belongs to you alone."
Artoria listened to Merlin's words and did not respond for a long time.
If she had died on the road to restoration, perhaps Menachel would have immediately rebelled?
She couldn't help but think, closing her eyes, a sharp light gradually emerged in Artoria's eyes.
"That's enough," she said, with a tone that was no less confident than Menachel's. "He's mine alone, and that's enough."
Merlin took it all in and sighed inwardly.
In the end, nothing changed, and everything developed boringly according to the established trajectory.
"Really?" Merlin's smile returned to his face. "As a teacher, I am very pleased that my disciples get along well with each other."
Meanwhile, Menachel, who was the subject of the conversation, was a little annoyed at leaving – if only he had simply ignored Merlin and spoken out his words.
Menachel sighed and could only wait for the next time.
But Menachel's "next time for sure" was destined to be postponed indefinitely, because that very night, the news that the King of the North had joined forces with the other three kings to launch a rebellion reached Artoria's desk.
As agreed, Menachel was sent to quell the rebellion.
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