Chapter 124: Kay Feels Like He Understands Everything!
Upon learning that Rome had sent assassins, the one who took it most seriously was not Noah, but Kay.
Kay was the captain of Camelot's patrol unit, and Noah also had him overseeing the Enforcement Knights. To Noah, this arrangement was quite reasonable—after all, even if the Knights of the Round Table were established in the future, finding someone like Kay, who possessed both considerable strength and managerial skills, would be rare.
Especially if Agravain were no longer around, someone like Kay would be even more suitable.
Moreover, for Noah, the alchemical equipment and potions used by both the Enforcement Knights and the patrol unit came from him, the world's top alchemist.
Additionally, with just two units, whether it was him, White, Scáthach, Morgan... any one of them could single-handedly wipe out the entire force!
Even Artoria, if she cooperated with Vivian, could manage it as they were now.
Given that, whether all of it was given to Kay or not made little difference. Since he himself was too lazy to manage it, it was better to let Kay handle everything.
However, from Kay's perspective, the trust implied by this arrangement was entirely different!
After all, Camelot's garrison forces now consisted only of the Enforcement Knights and the patrol unit. By entrusting both to him, Noah was effectively giving him command of all of Camelot's troops.
What immense trust this was!
Faced with such trust, even Kay, who was usually quite sharp-tongued, was left speechless.
He could only act silently, determined to prove his loyalty to the king through his actions!
But under normal circumstances, aside from training the troops, patrolling, and helping the king promote those alchemical devices, there really wasn't much else for him to do.
After all, this was Camelot.
In Britain today, who could possibly threaten Camelot?
Thus, the news that Rome had sent assassins to kill the king was taken with the utmost seriousness.
Although Noah had told him to let the assassins in, saying he would face them personally and wanted them captured alive, Kay still made extensive preparations.
He had no objections to the king's orders, as facts had long proven how courageous and wise Noah, the Chosen King, truly was.
He was a king who had never made a mistake, so this decision must also be correct.
Nevertheless, Kay still made numerous arrangements, planning to keep the assassins under covert surveillance from the moment they entered Camelot!
Kay knew this would be difficult, but he was determined to do it.
After all, these were assassins—if anything were to happen, Kay would never forgive himself!
So, while the task Noah assigned Kay was of simple difficulty—just let them in and ensure the citizens remained undisturbed—in reality, Kay raised the difficulty level of his own mission to hellish.
At least, that was roughly Kay's mindset.
Though it was challenging, he dared to do it!
To him, it was just as the king had said from the beginning: those who were timid did not deserve to follow the king. All of this was for the future, for the greater good!
So he specifically selected individuals skilled at hiding in the shadows from the Enforcement Knights and patrol units, trained them, and formed a separate team that remained constantly vigilant against the elite assassins from Rome.
Before their arrival, Kay had devised at least a hundred different infiltration strategies they might employ, each one ingenious and befitting the title of Rome's elite.
Then...
When they actually arrived, Kay discovered they had swaggered right through the front gate... Though they blended into the crowd and had prepared documents to deceive the guards, a closer look would reveal that the Roman insignias on their persons were not fully concealed...
If Kay hadn't instructed the guards to let them in, the guards might have drawn their weapons and shouted—"Do you think we're blind, Romans?"
This first move left Kay utterly baffled, and what followed only deepened his confusion.
Not only did they swagger in, but they practically conducted their reconnaissance of Camelot Castle in broad daylight... and their stealth skills were subpar.
On several occasions, Britain's most elite archers stationed at Camelot Castle spotted them. Had it not been for prior arrangements, they would have shot these sneaky Romans dead on the spot!
This left Kay increasingly disappointed.
Yet he remained vigilant, suspecting it might all be a Roman ruse.
But after shadowing them for five or six days, and finally witnessing these assassins enter Camelot Castle with his own eyes, he came to a sudden realization—times had changed.
Rome was no longer the Rome that struck fear into Britain's heart.
At least these assassins... were far too incompetent!
What Kay didn't know, however, was that Rome couldn't be entirely blamed for this.
The Age of Gods had long ended in Rome, and assassins in this world were simply at this level. After all, ordinary people couldn't spot insignias from over a kilometer away in the dead of night, nor could they treat a distance of several hundred meters as an absolute defensive perimeter...
To guard against these Roman elites, Kay had gone to extremes, expanding the perimeter to 1,200 meters based on Noah's revised unit of measurement!
For a Rome no longer in the Age of Gods, it was unimaginable that any human could achieve such a feat.
Moreover, these Roman assassins had deliberately revealed their Roman insignias from the start, hoping Britain would hesitate to act out of fear.
That's why they behaved this way.
Neither they nor Kay yet understood the immense difference between having the blessings of the Age of Gods and lacking them.
Times had indeed changed.
Britain was no longer the Britain of old, and Rome was no longer the Rome of old.
Under the watchful eyes of nearly forty percent of Camelot's forces, the Roman assassins "sneaked" into Camelot Castle with exaggerated caution, their faces etched with silent, triumphant smirks as they mouthed insults about the incompetence and foolishness of the Britons!
And the already confident leader of the assassins grew even more assured of himself.
Upon entering the castle, they first confirmed the locations of this Romulus and that Guinevere, then immediately split into two teams, each carrying different tools.
Team One headed for the slightly more distant location where Romulus was stationed. Even if they caused a commotion, it wouldn't matter—they could kill and flee.
Team Two, meanwhile, went to capture Guinevere nearby. This required a live capture, and they absolutely could not be discovered, lest they cause unnecessary trouble for Team One.
During the retreat, Team Two would leave first, and Team One would find their own way to escape.
Such was the plan. The leader of the assassins personally led Team One, entrusting Team Two to his subordinates. Then, these Romans, under the watchful eyes of Britain's knights, divided their forces while outnumbered and even intended to accomplish two tasks simultaneously...
For a moment, the fear these British knights held toward Rome diminished considerably.
After all, the Romans... though they sounded formidable in the tales of the older generation, now they seemed... just like this!
When Kay observed the reactions of his knights, he suddenly understood.
—So this is what the King meant!
The King must have known all along that these Romans couldn't stir up much trouble, which is why he deliberately arranged things this way—to dispel the fear of Rome among our British knights.
And the King's purpose in doing this...
Thinking this far, Kay recalled Noah holding Caliburn high during the sword-pulling ceremony.
First, dispel the fear, then launch a counterattack against Rome, right!
Lately, Kay had felt somewhat idle, even growing uncertain during training drills. But now, he finally awakened.
————So the King's target isn't just the Saxons, but Rome as well!
I understand, I understand everything!
In that moment, Kay felt he had grasped the King's profound intentions, and he grew even more convinced of Noah's unfathomable depth!