The contents of the letter were quite simple.
It was the typical sort of pact drawn up when a group of people conspired to commit a great crime; they had drafted a letter and signed their names with thumbprints to ensure that no one would suddenly "see the light" and jump ship to the winning side.
Based on the signatures, the nobles collaborating with Oscar to "purge the court" and overthrow the so-called tyrant in favor of a new King accounted for more than half of the nobility in Camelot.
Unsurprisingly, they were all the same nobles Arthur looked down upon, and who looked down upon him in return.
It made sense.
His "cheap" old man and Mery must have had a lapse in judgment to come up with something like a Selection Rite.
If a scion of a Ducal house had pulled the sword, the others might have accepted it with some grace. But for a mere foster son of a Count—someone who appeared out of nowhere just before the ceremony—to pull the sword and claim to be the son of Uther? No one was going to just bow down.
Even if his fame had skyrocketed due to the incidents leading up to the coronation, the nobles who held military power remained unconvinced.
"Is this genuine?" Arthur asked.
"Mmh. We squeezed it out of one of the men captured at Oscar's estate. It was signed during the banquet last night—hot off the press," Kay said, curling her lip. "And we didn't frame them this time. Oscar really was working with Helmut, and the magical beasts truly are their doing."
"What's the story on this magus, Levi?"
"He's a notorious rogue magus. Back on the continent, he committed dozens of massacres. To him, as long as the coin is good, it doesn't matter if his targets are commoners, nobles, monks of the Church, or magi from the Association."
Kay's expression turned grave. "According to the magi I spoke with, he once faced three Executioners from the Holy Church. He managed to kill two, heavily injure the third, and then stroll away casually. He's extremely dangerous."
"Does the Church have a bounty on him then?"
"Not just the Church; the Mages' Association has put a price on his head as well."
"It seems my luck is holding out," Arthur said with a smile, handing the letter back to Artoria.
"Go on. Use the letter as a guide and start making arrests."
Artoria took the letter and asked, "Should I take them all in?"
"There's no need. Just grab the small fries for now."
"Understood!"
As Artoria led the knights away, Arthur turned to the black-haired girl beside him, a wide, predatory grin spreading across his face.
"It looks like we won't be short on funds anymore."
Even though he was only arresting minor nobles—men who didn't have many knights, land, or gold—the sheer number of them was staggering. Adding their assets together would provide a massive injection of capital into his recently depleted "little gold vault." After he raided a few more houses, the issues of the winter food supply and Camelot's budget crisis might just be solved for good.
"And what about the rest of them? The bigger fish?"
"Don't worry. Doesn't the letter say a beast tide will besiege the city soon? When that happens, I'll make sure they 'willingly' hand over half of their knights and family wealth to me."
Kay looked at Arthur, stunned.
"You aren't planning to stop the beast tide?"
"Stop it? How? We don't know where this Levi guy is, and even if we did, why stop it? They're practically hand-delivering all those magical beast corpses to our doorstep. I'm thrilled."
It sounded cruel, but the logic was sound.
Instead of sending his knights into the forests to risk being ambushed—spending a fortune on travel and logistics to hunt beasts one by one—it was far more cost-effective to let the beasts gather and come to them. Once they arrived, he would slaughter them all. This way, he'd secure an astronomical amount of valuable beast components in one go.
Between the assets seized from the traitors and the "collateral damage" of a few innocent commoners dying during the siege, his treasury would be full, and the surviving population would have enough to endure the winter.
"Aren't you afraid of things spiraling out of control?" Kay asked.
She didn't criticize his cold-blooded pragmatism; it was standard for a ruler. Did the commoners count as people? Well, technically yes, but if their deaths were more valuable than their lives, there was no reason to go out of one's way to keep them all alive. Even Artoria, the most kind-hearted of their group, would likely agree to such a trade-off if the situation demanded it.
"I'm not worried," Arthur said with a wink. "After all, I am invincible."
Over the next few days, Arthur's life returned to its usual repetitive, somewhat tedious routine.
The nobles didn't manage to stir up any real trouble. The gap in power was too vast, and the crackdown had been too sudden. By the time they realized what was happening, Oscar's estate had been purged and Artoria was already rounding up the minor conspirators on the list.
The mid-to-high-ranking nobles realized Arthur had the list, but with their leader gone and their subordinates in chains, they lacked the capacity to rebel. They could only wait at home in a state of constant dread.
When Arthur didn't send men for them on the second day, a few tried to request an audience. Arthur refused them all. He stayed holed up in his castle, spending his time eating, sleeping, "bullying" Lily, and "taming" Bedivere.
Mery, curiously, hadn't shown her face in days.
Arthur wasn't concerned. As the saying goes, "Good people die young, but a scourge lasts a thousand years." He figured that even if the world ended and everyone else died, a "super scourge" like Mery would still be standing.
Finally, it was the fifth day since Oscar's arrest.
Late night, in the Bath.
Hot water from the boiler room sprayed continuously into the pool, keeping it at a constant temperature. Steam billowed through the room, shrouding everything in a thick, ethereal mist.
Bedivere stood in the pool, the water reaching mid-way up her long, slender white legs. Her hands were pressed against the edge of the tub, her teeth clenched as if she were enduring something with great effort. Occasionally, stifled sounds escaped her lips, and the surface of the water rippled rhythmically, waves splashing over the rim.
"Brother."
Suddenly, footsteps approached from outside, followed by Artoria's voice.
"The scouts report that the beast herds are starting to gather. They are heading toward Camelot."
"How long do we have?" Arthur's voice sounded slightly raspy.
"About two hours."
"Go and assemble the knights. Have them wait at the city gates and maintain order. Summon every noble in the city—especially those remaining on that list—and have them wait on the battlements. Oh, and bring that old man Oscar out as well. Let him get some fresh air."
Artoria acknowledged the order, but just as she was about to turn away, the sound of splashing water inside the bathroom grew more intense. Then came a cry from Bedivere that she could no longer suppress.
"Nngh... haah...!"
Artoria's feet seemed to freeze to the floor. Her small fists clenched tightly.
Since Mery hadn't been around, Arthur had been seeking out Bedivere every single day. Not just at night, but even during his baths.
Bedivere had tried her best to hide it, but it was an open secret. Usually, Bedivere bathed with Artoria and Kay; now that she was being dragged off by Arthur to his private bath, accompanied by the occasional scream that could be heard through the walls, even a fool could tell what was happening.
I was the one who was here first! Artoria thought, fuming. Sister Bedivere is the worst! And Brother is the worst, too!
"Haaah... nngh...!"
A sudden, sharp cry from Bedivere startled Artoria.
She heard hushed voices from within, followed by the heavy splashing of water as someone stood up. A moment later, the door opened. Arthur, wrapped loosely in a bathrobe, emerged with his arm around Bedivere.
"Why are you still here?"
"..."
Artoria didn't speak. She just puffed out her cheeks and glared at Arthur.
Bedivere embarrassedly buried her face in Arthur's chest. She hadn't wanted to be "bullied" in front of her friends, and she certainly didn't want them to know the details of their relationship, but she simply couldn't find it in her to refuse him.
"What are you staring at? Go on, get to work."
Arthur felt a bit awkward as well, but he maintained his "elder brother" authority by giving Artoria a playful rap on the head.
"Hurry up!"
"You always bully me!"
Artoria clutched her head and shot Arthur one last angry glare before spinning on her heel and marching away.
"Brother is the worst!"
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