"Lily! What are you doing here!" Kailar exclaimed in surprise first, then quickly understood why. "Nonsense! Nonsense!" Kailar's voice rose. Even when he lost his composure, he would never yell or become furious. He simply paced back and forth in his bedroom: "If you came with me, what about the affairs of the country?"
"I've already fully entrusted the Grand Duke to handle them for me," Artoria said, a rare moment where she shed her Queenly aura and spoke obediently. Kailar looked at her, a headache brewing. Her current obedience clearly admitted her mistake, and as a man, Kailar couldn't very well keep pressing her, could he? Damn it, after so many years, even that honest and shy girl had become so cunning. Had he indulged her too much?
Kailar, of course, knew that Artoria was now entirely relying on the guilt stemming from her willfulness to boldly come out and play, but even he had to admit that Artoria had begun to grow smarter, both in political wisdom and in her'scheming' with Kailar... Kailar pinched his temples, then took off his coat and kicked off his shoes: "Forget it! I can't very well tell you to swim back, can I?"
Seeing Kailar get into bed and lie flat without any movement, she carefully clutched the sheets and asked, "No *pa pa pa*?"
Kailar looked at her, both annoyed and amused, knowing she was trying to apologize this way, but... "You!" Kailar flicked her forehead with a slender finger, shaking his head with a wry smile: "This is on a ship, you know. How good do you think the soundproofing is here? If they heard your cries, the entire army's morale would collapse..."
Artoria's face flushed.
"So, sleep," Kailar said, reaching over to put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her head into his embrace, his eyes simply closed.
"Mm," she hummed softly, her face slightly red, then slowly drifted into sleep in Kailar's warm embrace.
The next morning, when she appeared before everyone, it greatly shocked and encouraged the knights. If Kailar's presence here ensured their absolute victory, then Artoria's appearance signified a personal expedition by the monarch. For a country and a ruler, this was a matter of courage and a determination to expand outwards. Every move of the King was a symbol of the nation; her every action and expression were a premonition of the country's future. This was the greatest feature of an autocratic monarchy.
All the knights were overjoyed, and the morale of the entire fleet instantly soared by three feet.
But Kailar still wore a wry smile. Clearly, her absolute trust touched him, but as a King, she was derelict in her duty.
If it weren't for him, if it weren't for his father, the country would probably have been in chaos long ago, wouldn't it? This was the inevitable result of a King who suppressed national fortune not being in the country.
Moreover, if she always charged at the forefront and always led the army to victory, perhaps this was indeed a natural way to establish prestige. However, if this continued for a long time, it would create a strange and subtle psychological effect among the soldiers: "No matter how much I charge, the ultimate victory is always His Majesty's credit, as if His Majesty is stealing my glory..."
Ultimately, this subtle psychology was probably the reason for the eventual collapse of King Arthur's knight legion, wasn't it?
Kailar had seen this long ago.
But he didn't say anything.
Actually, the method was very simple.
As the legion grew larger, facing more and more enemies and an increasingly vast map, a division of forces would inevitably occur: navy, cavalry, infantry... She would be stretched too thin.
Thus, she could only assign the knights, infantry, and navy to various generals, ultimately using military academies to indoctrinate them with loyalty to the royal family, controlling the middle and lower-level officers, and finally achieving the ultimate happy_game of creating a great empire.
Setting sail once more, they did not divide their forces under Kailar's leadership.
In fact, their current troop strength was insufficient. Perhaps the Barbarians' tactics were correct, but for them now, with insufficient troops, invading and plundering Bergen Island would be even more arduous.
Kailar did not have such a superficial idea.
Since they knew there were food supplies here, Camelot, with its strength, would eventually come to retrieve them. Haste makes waste.
After a morning of sailing, even at noon, there was no rest. After eating a piece of stiff bread and gulping down a large mouthful of red wine, the helmsmen continued to sail.
They were soldiers, naval personnel.
Not fishermen. Strict obedience was the first rule for soldiers.
After many battles, Camelot's infantry had gradually approached the status of knights, and their standing continued to rise due to fierce and hard-fought battles.
And the navy?
To put it nicely, they were green recruits who hadn't seen blood. To put it bluntly, they were just slightly more advanced sailors!
This was too insulting!
Everything was due to one thing—military merit!
Without military merit, they were nothing. But with military merit, they were superior, nobles, exempt from taxes, free from labor, with cultivated land, territories, manors, women, wives, concubines, and even a father-marriage... Military merit was a good thing!
Thus, after the first naval battle completely annihilated the fleeing Barbarians, the navy's confidence grew several folds. They could now be more assertive when facing knights and infantry.
And this time, they even showed their prowess to the accompanying knights. The naval personnel were even more invigorated, intending to advance at full speed.
At three in the afternoon, under the scorching sun, everyone finally saw a faint outline of Bergen Island.
Bergen Island, for ordinary people and merchants, was like Devil Island—hell? A ghost realm? Call it whatever you want, but it was a place of no return.
There were no women here, only food, and a few old, toothless Barbarians training children. The mortality rate of Barbarian children was extremely high because they had to fight beasts, their own people, and adult Barbarians from a young age. They firmly believed that Barbarians nurtured this way, generation after generation, were the best.
Thus, this island was filled with cruelty and slaughter. The so-called children were more dangerous than adults. As Kailar recalled the customs of the Gauls, fifteen large ships gradually approached the port.
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