Listening to Sir Miles' account, Suya recalled something Merlin had once mentioned: fifteen years ago, on the first underground level of the capital city of Wincheston, a red dragon had revived here. King Uther led his army to battle it, and in that single conflict, half the capital was destroyed, with fires raging for a full half-month and nearly a million deaths.
And according to what Sir Miles and Gryflet had just said, King Pellinore and King Uther had conspired to sell out Britannia in exchange for things that satisfied their private desires. This 'selling out' likely referred to selling off Britannia's ley lines.
In the Age of Gods, or the Age of Mystery, the land was permeated with ley lines, which mages called 'Greater Sources.' These ley lines ensured bountiful harvests, favorable weather, and cultivated higher-grade materials to meet the daily consumption of high-level professionals. Once these ley lines disappeared, the land of Britannia would be unable to sustain its hundreds of millions of people.
Thus, a disaster called 'The Barren Land' was imminent.
And what had previously sustained Britannia's mystery was, according to them, the 'dragon's blood spread throughout the land.' Could it be the red dragon slaughtered fifteen years ago?
At this thought, Suya felt a chill creep up his neck, sending shivers down his spine. The idea of fleeing became even more resolute.
But for now, he had to placate these two knight-devotees, whose gazes at him were growing increasingly strange. He immediately asked:
"So, what do you plan to do?"
Hearing this inquiry, Sir Miles first looked at Gryflet. After she nodded, he turned to Suya and solemnly began to explain:
"The Cadore family is a force left behind by the Duke of Cornwall, who died in battle. To survive, they were forced into peddling."
"We moved between King Pellinore, the Church, and Jerusalem, thus learning many secrets."
"Although our past was not glorious, and we were even forced to collude with those traitors, in the face of such a grave matter concerning the safety of the entire kingdom,"
"Please believe that we still possess the heart of a knight!"
At this, Gryflet took a deep breath and said gravely:
"According to the clues and intelligence we've gathered, Dominion King Morgan le Fay disappeared from St. Stephen's Cathedral after ascending the throne. King Pellinore is undoubtedly connected to this."
"In other words, it was King Pellinore who betrayed Morgan le Fay."
"Furthermore, after King Pellinore sent away the knights at St. Stephen's Cathedral, he immediately contacted the Church—"
"They decided to continue the Royal Selection ceremony, at least to choose a king who could inherit Britannia."
"That is to say,"
"King Pellinore likely intends to continue cooperating with the Church and, on the day of the Royal Selection, restore the old policies he and King Uther established."
At this point, Gryflet's expression became resolute, and she spoke firmly:
"We absolutely cannot stand by and watch him turn Britannia into a barren land!"
"We originally planned to assassinate King Pellinore three days from now, but now, with your involvement—"
Suya looked at her, vaguely feeling as if he had become a pig on the cusp of a storm.
Then, he heard Gryflet say solemnly:
"The Royal Selection will take place on Friday, five days from now!"
"We have decided to postpone the plan by two days. We will use the Cadore family and all the merchant houses in Wincheston to build momentum for you, fully assisting you to defeat all the other princes of Britannia's various nations on the day of the Royal Selection and ascend to the throne!"
"And after the Royal Selection, in the name of the King—that is, your name—we will rally all the aspiring individuals of Britannia,"
"On the Day of the Tombs, six days from now—"
"We will bury Pellinore!"
Listening to this stirring declaration, which sounded like an imminent 'Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians' movement, Suya, as the 'King' they revered, seemed to have no reason to refuse. Yet, he couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of unease. Gryflet and the others seemed to completely disregard the threat from the King of Conquerors. He didn't understand why, so he couldn't help but ask:
"Don't you know that the King of Conquerors is about to breach the Golden Iron Curtain right now—"
"Oh, so that's what concerns you."
Gryflet suddenly understood, then smiled faintly,
"As long as King Pellinore is prevented from continuing his old policies, the mystery on this land will persist."
"Then, Rhongomyniad, the Holy Lance guarding the capital, will be able to continue standing on the land, receiving almost infinite energy." She giggled, shaking her head. "The Holy Lance is the [Pillar of Light] that binds the inside and outside of the world. To pull out the Holy Lance means to tear apart the entire world."
"How could anyone possess such power?"
At this point in the conversation, Suya had obtained the information he wanted and gained a new understanding of the internal power structure of the capital.
At this, Gryflet immediately stood up and said to Sir Miles beside her:
"In that case, there's no time to lose."
"Sir Miles, I'll leave the arrangements with the Royal Guard Knights to you. I'm heading to the merchant guild right now to organize activities to build momentum for Suya."
Then, she looked at Suya, took a signet ring with a vibrant rose pattern from her index finger, and handed it over.
"Tomorrow, I will come to find you."
"If you need money, take this ring to any Cadore family bank in the capital, and you can withdraw funds. Also, presenting this ring will grant you a waiver at all consumer establishments in the capital."
Under the night sky of the capital,
The Cadore family, a colossal entity that permeated every aspect of clothing, food, housing, and transportation for everyone in the capital, quickly began to operate under Gryflet's command.
Masters, demi-heroes, and even heroic figures began to move around a name called 'Suya.'
And until he walked out of the Wincheston Grand Casino, Suya was still a little dazed. Under the manipulation of fate's grand hand, he had easily acquired cheating abilities he wouldn't have dared to dream of in his previous life. It was as if he had simply typed a line of code:
Show me the money
And then, a beautiful and cheerful girl, like a cosmos flower, would approach him with a wallet, as if he would be looking down on her if he didn't take her money.
But,
despite winning millions of gold pounds at the casino and helping Merlin retrieve the Mystic Code she had always dreamed of getting back;
despite casually pulling out a wallet stuffed with 10,000-gold-pound bills and handing it to Gawain, smiling nonchalantly and saying, 'Keep the change, that's your tuition,' under her awe-struck gaze;
despite even effortlessly learning inherent abilities that only heroes could master,
Suya didn't feel happy.
He only felt an indescribable strangeness.
It was just because the thought of "I want to become stronger" crossed his mind, and then, with a few words from Gawain, he gained the inherent abilities that only a hero possesses.
It was just because the thought of "I'm a little short on money" crossed his mind, and then he followed this subconscious urge to a place where he could potentially get money.
And then, he immediately had more money than he could spend in this lifetime.
But Suya was very clear that his thoughts weren't that urgent; he didn't even know how to spend so much money all at once.
This process was like drawing a bow to shoot an arrow: Suya hadn't even pulled out the bow or drawn the string, and the arrow had already flown out by itself, hitting the bullseye squarely.
This bizarre situation, where the result preceded the process, made him somewhat hesitant to even think about what he should get next. Suya frowned deeply, walking slowly back to the tavern street in the night-shrouded capital, exercising extreme caution.
Just as he passed a tavern,
"Oi~, young man, watch where you're going, you're about to step on me!"
A weathered, bitter voice suddenly rose from below him. Suya sharply lowered his head and saw—
A disheveled knight lying on the side of the road, clad in tattered armor, reeking of alcohol, raising an arm to block Suya's foot that was about to step on him. This rough-bearded knight casually glanced at Suya, then an amused expression spread across his face.
Then, he flared his nostrils, sniffing the air like a dog, and asked:
"Oh~, you seem to be very rich?"
"That's right."
"Then do you know how to spend money?"
Suya immediately shook his head. "No idea."
The fallen knight chuckled, propping himself up with his sword. His movements were slow, completely unlike a knight.
"Then how about this: you buy me a drink, and I'll teach you how to spend money!"