On the march toward the Kingdom of Nogares, we decided to stop for a short camp in a clearing in the forest and catch our breath.
Amid the crackling of the campfire, I sat on a wagon, tending to Caliburn.
But Medea, seated across the fire, had her gaze firmly fixed on my fingertips and my serious profile, as if drawn there by a magnet.
Her cheeks were flushed a rosy red, whether from the heat of the fire or for some other reason, unlike her usual pallor.
'...What do I do? I keep looking at him.'
Medea clutched at her chest and muttered inwardly.
"Hey, Caenis..."
Medea, at a loss, carefully leaned over and whispered to Caenis, who was polishing her spear beside her.
"About Master... usually he just seemed like a childish brat, but today on the battlefield... didn't he look kind of... really cool?"
"...Huh?"
At Medea's sudden question, Caenis also paused for a moment and glanced over at me.
Then all at once, Caenis's face turned bright red.
"Wh-what?! N-no way! What's so cool about that bastard?! He's just... a lecherous little punk who's freakishly strong, that's all! D-don't get the wrong idea, witch, I'm absolutely not falling for him or anything!!"
After rattling off a flood of excuses no one had asked for, Caenis couldn't bear the embarrassment and bolted off toward the other side of the forest with her face covered.
Medea stared blankly after that painfully obvious tsundere retreat, then let out a deep sigh and cupped both cheeks in her hands.
'Haah... so it's true. I really have fallen hard for that Master. Was I always this easy a woman?'
A shy budding love returning after the wounds of betrayal. The night deepened as the witch of Colchis fretted like an ordinary girl in love.
The next day, we finally entered the Kingdom of Nogares, the heart of North Wales and the stronghold of King Rience.
Our arrival was, in itself, a tremendous shock and terror.
"Th-that's...!"
"K-King Rience's head?! And that's Commander-in-Chief Nero's head too!"
Two massive severed heads, skewered on spearpoints and raised high. Faced with the horrifying reality that their invincible king, who had marched out with an army of ten thousand, had returned beheaded, the soldiers of Nogares completely lost their will to fight.
The soldiers guarding the walls threw down their weapons, dropped to the ground where they stood, and surrendered.
By the strict chivalric code of Britain, taking an enemy commander's head or displaying it was originally forbidden as a barbaric act.
But Rience was a different case.
He was a sadistic tyrant who plundered neighboring countries and cut off the beards of kings, and the Kingdom of Nogares itself was a place steeped in savage customs far removed from chivalry.
So there was no one who objected to displaying his severed head.
Rather, the commoners and citizens who had suffered under Rience's tyranny threw stones and spat at the two heads hung up in the streets, cheering in satisfaction.
Of course, the remnants who had followed King Rience from the shadows were grinding their teeth, but they did not even dare resist openly for the moment.
Without shedding a single drop of blood, I entered the royal castle of Nogares in a bloodless conquest.
The throne of Nogares was adorned with splendid leather and beast bones.
I sat arrogantly on that massive throne with my legs crossed, looking down coldly at the ministers of Nogares lined up below, trembling.
"Well, I assume you all understand the situation by now?"
My voice rang heavily through the audience chamber.
"As of this moment today, I declare that this Kingdom of Nogares has become the property of me, Arthur Pendragon."
The ministers' reactions split clearly into two camps.
The moderate ministers, who had barely managed to stay alive under Rience's tyranny and sadistic whims, inwardly felt relieved at the appearance of a new ruler and bowed low.
On the other hand, the treacherous officials who had profited by siding with Rience's tyranny could not hide their displeased looks, anxious that their own positions would shrink.
But I had no time to concern myself with such petty factional struggles one by one.
"I may have become king, but honestly, I think it's still too early for me to bother with troublesome things like state affairs and administration. I didn't found a new country, I seized one. So matters like that should be left to experts."
I gestured toward the two magi standing beside the throne, Morgan and Merlin.
"Sister, Merlin, I'll leave rooting out internal rebels and handling administration to you two."
"Hm, something on that level is no trouble at all. We'll turn every disobedient little rat back into mud."
Morgan nodded with a cold smile.
At the murderous yet elegant pressure she gave off, the treacherous officials who had been harboring complaints all trembled like aspen leaves.
"And Merlin."
I looked at Merlin and added seriously.
"As soon as the internal purge is finished, we'll reorganize the army. I'll firmly bring the archipelago on the Ireland side, which Rience had subjugated, back under my own name, and without giving them time to breathe, I'll move straight on to conquer the neighboring Kingdom of Northgalis as well."
At my tremendous plan of conquest, Merlin's eyes widened.
"Oooh~ so you're even planning to strike King Cradelmant, the other hegemon of North Wales? If that happens, all of North Wales will fall completely into your hands! That would give you the perfect foothold to advance into the heart of Britain, wouldn't it?"
"Of course."
I tapped the armrest of the throne and declared,
"And using North Wales as my base, I'll lay the foundation for the new country I intend to build. Its name... will be Logres."
"The Kingdom of Logres! Wow, that's a really wonderful name!"
Artoria clasped her hands together and cheered.
"That said, I'll keep Nogares as a separate directly governed territory. To begin with, the biggest reason Britain is split into this mess right now is the rotten old feudal system."
At my sharp observation, Merlin and Morgan both grew serious.
"That's certainly true."
Merlin agreed.
"Uther and the Pendragon family acted as high kings of Britain for generations, but because they granted lands to lords and let them govern as they pleased, those lords eventually built up their own strength, proclaimed themselves kings, and split off into independent powers."
"That's why I'm going to tear out that rotten root and remake it from the ground up."
I spoke of my ambition while recalling the overwhelming centralized systems of the East that I had learned in my previous life.
"I'll adopt the commandery-county system of the East. In the Kingdom of Logres that I establish, each region will be governed not by hereditary lords, but by close retainers I appoint personally and dispatch there. The raising of private armies will remain under constant inspection, and all authority will be concentrated in the center."
I rose from my seat, eyes shining, and declared,
"At the same time, I'll strictly separate the ranks of lord and king. Right now, because it's an age of chaos, every neighborhood strongman of a lord calls himself a king, but I'll drag those petty things down to the status of mere lords. And I... will go beyond being the king of Britain. I will become the emperor who rules this entire island."
"An emperor!"
Merlin cried out, her voice mixed with surprise and excitement.
"Of course, with the Roman Empire still standing, proclaiming an emperor in Britain would cause enormous repercussions... but if you come to rule even the Irish archipelago, then you'd certainly have the right to use that title!"
I nodded and turned to Morgan.
"Exactly. And the throne of kings who will assist me will be granted only to those I can trust most. For example, I'm thinking of investing you, Sister Morgan, as the king of the Kingdom of Londinium."
"Me...?"
Taken aback by such unexpected and extraordinary treatment, Morgan flushed red.
"But Londinium is the heart of Britain, the land that once belonged to the Pendragons... and you would entrust that place to me?"
"Of course. Your ability is first-rate, and your bloodline is first-rate too, so who but you would suit that position? As for the other thrones, I'll think on them a little more."
"As I thought... Brother, you truly are a ruler with ambitions greater than I ever imagined."
When the heavy atmosphere in the audience chamber eased a little, I rested my chin on my hand and fell into thought.
"That said, once I establish Logres and advance into the center, who should I entrust this North Wales region to...?"
I glanced at Medea standing beside me and asked,
"Medea. Since you were a princess, who do you think would be the right person to govern Nogares?"
Medea couldn't meet my eyes directly. Fidgeting with her fingers, she answered in an extremely shy and gentle voice.
"Something as complicated as that... doesn't necessarily have to be decided right this moment, does it? A-after all, you'll be staying here to rest for a while... so you could think it over slowly, with plenty of time... ah."
Her tone was no longer that of the sharp, sarcastic witch she usually was, but had turned soft and bashful, like a girl in first love.
"Huh? What's with the way you're talking all of a sudden?"
When I tilted my head in puzzlement, Artoria, who was pressed close at my side, seemed to understand something and wore the expression of a mischievous little rascal.
Was I the only one who didn't get it?
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