Alien Knights

"To meet Muxi's king with you?" Emerson rolled his eyes and leaned his body against the wall: "I won't go, why should I waste time on a king with no future?!"

Cumberland took a breath, stopped the urge to strangle someone deep in his heart, and asked in a low voice: "A king with no future? What do you mean by that?"

Emerson glanced back at the old knight: "Todd Fisher, is that the right name? Regardless of whether he is the Holy Son or not, as far as the founding monarch is concerned, he is not qualified."

Looking at Cumberland's facial expression, which was already on the verge of rage, Emerson sat up without the slightest fear and looked directly into the other's eyes: "I have my reasons for saying that. You can think about it, starting from the ancient Tyro period, what are the common characteristics of the monarchs who established new kingdoms?"

Cumberland shook his head and said, "I don't read as many books as you, and I don't want to guess, you just tell me."

Emerson clenched his right hand into a fist, raised it in front of Cumberland, and said, "A founding king may not be smart enough, his family may be ruined, or even lacking in military prowess, but there is one thing that must be possessed - ambition, or desire for power."

"After talking for so long, you told me that a wise monarch should first be an ambitious man?!"

Emerson spread his hands, looked at Cumberland, and said in a firm tone: "Ambition, selfishness, tolerance, tyranny, and judging the situation, these are the virtues of a king. You knights, because you have suffered too much false preaching, began to reject the truth and surrender to hypocrisy."

"Human beings are two-faced creatures. On the one hand, they are stupid, always have unsatisfied desires, and desire to obtain everything; on the other hand, they have the nature to submit to power." Emerson looked at the "protective umbrella" on Cumberland's chest, shook his head and said: "The king, especially the founding master, should be as cruel as a lion and as cunning as a fox. But what the ruler of Muxi is doing is doing the opposite. Balancing demand, that's a ridiculous thing in itself."

Listening to Emerson's statement, Cumberland was speechless for a long time. After he came back to his senses, he weakly argued: "The king should love his people, and the people should obey the king's will."

Emerson leaned his back against the wall and said with a sneer: "What the monarch needs is cruelty, not love. Compared with being loved, fear and obedience can make the monarch gain security and strength. But sometimes he needs to convince the people that the monarch is a person who combines virtues."

Seeing Cumberland's increasingly confused expression, Emerson continued: "It's not difficult to understand. In public, the king should show love for the people like a son and be merciful. Let other people do the punishment. In the end, you can also blame others and find a scapegoat to avoid being condemned by the people. Rewarding others should be done in person, so as not to allow subordinates to do personal favors."

Cumberland shook his head while listening: "Listen to what you said! Greed, pride, tyranny, these are original sins! You let a holy son rely on these sins to gain power and govern the country?!"

"I used to believe in good deeds in the past, but what I saw, heard, and did in the year before the demise of the Silver Ring Kingdom completely changed my view." Emerson stretched out a trembling hand, took out a small wine bottle in his arms, opened the cork, and took a sip: "This is like two people. If everyone has kind thoughts in their hearts, they will naturally live in peace. Therefore, from the very beginning, it is the best strategy to have the most selfish intentions."

Cumberland snatched the bottle and threw it into the pile of debris behind him. He pointed at Emerson's nose and cursed: "Absurd! If you think like this, there will be no virtue and kindness in the world, only intrigue and lust, and only war and killing in the world. How is this different from hell?!"

"You have fought more battles than I have. Come and tell me, in this dark world, which year was there no war?"

Emerson's words made Cumberland choke for a moment, and he didn't reply.

Emerson leaned his head against the wall, looked towards the roof and murmured, "This world has long been a hell."

—————————————

Todd sat on the throne, closing his eyes and quietly thinking about everything in his mind.

This is the homework he has to complete every day now.

Before parting, Clarence "gifted" some of his memories and abilities to Todd as a gift.

Ability not to mention for now.

One of the three elders of the Presbyterian Church, his memory is naturally extremely valuable. Through them, Todd not only understands the internal structure and operating procedures of the Presbyterian Church, but can even peek into some "secrets" of this organization.

But the trouble is that the transmitted memories are all fragments, sometimes it is a scene, sometimes it is a prop, and sometimes it is just a vague sound.

What Todd has to do now is to rearrange these chaotic "memory fragments" according to time and characters, and find out the most critical events.

And for him, the most important thing right now is - how to stop the mutation.

According to "Legion of Discord" Jerome, he was already on the verge of mutation because of the failure of the successor experiment. Because of Theodore's treatment for him, not only was the mutation stopped, but he also became a member of the "New Inheritors".

Todd plans to use Theodore's voice and images as search keywords to conduct an exhaustive search of Clarence's memory.

This work is not only difficult, but progress is slow. Finding what you want among tens of thousands of "memory fragments" is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack. But beyond that, Todd really has no other options.

"Your Majesty, Lord Cumberland is asking to see you outside the door."

Since Huggins is still recovering from his injuries at home, the work of ordering is still in the charge of the guards of the Knights.

Todd opened his eyes and said, "Please come in."

In the strange eyes of the guards, Cumberland looked like a shepherd going to the market, holding a rope in his hand.

An old man who was tied up, with an expression of lovelessness on his face, was dragged by Cumberland and entered the room.

"Your Majesty, let me introduce you. This is my former boss and good friend—Earl Emerson."

Todd looked at the rope in Cumberland's hand, his brain couldn't turn around, his mouth opened but he didn't know what to say.

"He used to be the commander of the Southern Legion of the Silver Ring Kingdom, and the teacher of the third Crown Prince of the Silver Ring Royal Family. He also served as the Minister of the Interior and the Chief of the Foreign Consul." Cumberland pulled the rope in his hand, and Emerson stumbled forward.

very urgent?

To serve His Majesty?

Todd glanced at the rope, then at Emerson with a stinky face, and whispered to Cumberland, "Are you sure he wants to serve the Muxi Kingdom? I don't think he seems willing..."

"He has such a natural face, and everyone looks like a debt collector."

"Then what's the matter with the rope?"

"It's just some of his special hobbies..."

Emerson was listening to the conversation between the monarch and his ministers, blushing with anger, and finally shouted angrily: "Cumberland! If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will leave immediately!"

Todd squinted at the awkward old knight, walked up to Emerson, untied him with his own hands, and said, "If Cumberland forced you to come, you can leave at any time."

Emerson moved his hands and feet, looked at Todd and sighed: "Your Majesty, I want to talk to you."