Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 146 The Crimson Road

"So, Father, are you and Earl Hylan really, really good friends?"

Sitting on a sofa covered with soft cushions, Frederick IV, like a father telling stories in an ordinary family, did not answer his daughter's question directly. Instead, he raised his head and showed a look of reminiscence.

For men, regardless of their status, there will always be times when they think back to the days when they fought alongside their brothers, even if things have changed a bit since then.

After a long while, Frederick IV, having recovered from his reverie, reached out and touched his youngest daughter's head. Alice's long, light red hair was incredibly smooth.

"Ah~ yes, my dear daughter, Earl Hylan and I were very, very close brothers back then, the kind of relationship where we could entrust our descendants to each other."

Nestled in her father's arms, Alice clearly sensed something amiss in Frederick IV's words and asked a question with some confusion.

"So you two aren't those really, really close brothers anymore?"

Frederick IV was momentarily at a loss for words when faced with Alice's pointed question. After a moment's hesitation, he finally gave his answer.

“I think we are. In my heart, Kevin has always been the person I trust the most.”

“That’s great! I want to be like Father and Earl Hyland. I want to be Haven’s best and most reliable friend.”

Immersed in the cheers, Alice obviously didn't notice the indescribable expression on her father's face when he said, "We are best friends."

"And then what happened, Father? What happened after you and Earl Hailan returned from the Ama defense line?"

Alice, who had dressed up beautifully today, finally had time to ride her Odawiing to visit Haven after finishing her Dragon Knight training these past few days.

Before he could fly away from the Kremlin rooftop, he was stopped by a servant who suddenly appeared and said that his father wanted to see him. When he arrived at the study, he found that his father wanted to tell him a story.

Enjoying this rare moment of peace, Frederick IV adjusted his posture to a more comfortable position and continued speaking.

"Later, Kevin, Louise (Havent's mother), and I led six hundred white lion construct knights through the portal. After we came out and the dizziness subsided, we arrived in Roteslow."

Speaking of which, our little Alice hasn't been to Lothallo yet, has she? When we have time later, Father will take you there. It's a very beautiful town, and there's a huge star diamond mine next to it, but after years of continuous mining, it should be depleted now.”

Lying on Frederick IV's lap, Alice looked at her father's jawline, now covered in a mottled beard, and felt like the happiest person in the world. As for the times she heard people say that her father was a foolish and tyrannical ruler, Alice simply took it as slander from a group of unsatisfied people.

In Alice's eyes, Frederick IV, who always smiled whenever he saw her, was the best father in the world, and of course, the best emperor.

"To be honest, Father has never been quite used to the dizziness after teleportation. Now that he's getting older, he's even less able to adapt, so he hasn't been to many places in the empire. It's a real pity. But our Alice is now a great Red Dragon Knight, and in the future, she can take Father's place and see the splendor of our empire."

"Hehehehe~ I'm getting old, I'm getting old. We've gone off on a tangent. Where were we, Alice?"

Alice, lying on Frederick IV's lap, sensed that her father was acting strangely today, like an old man who had lived for over a hundred years, and that he was talking incoherently.

“Father, you just mentioned that you came to Rotheslow after exiting the teleportation array.”

At Alice's prompting, Frederick IV patted his head lightly, then stroked the girl's small nose with his hand, and continued speaking in a low, slightly hoarse voice.

"After the troops assembled, Anduette, the eldest son of the Cavendish family, appeared before us with several attendants. However, his appearance also brought us some worse news."

At this point, Frederick's thoughts traveled through time, as if he had returned to Roteslo thirty years ago, with the scenes unfolding right before his eyes.

"Cough cough~"

Anduette fanned away the rising smoke with his hand. The teleportation of several hundred people had already overloaded the makeshift portal. Looking at the constantly smoking magic circle, he felt a sense of relief. If there were a few dozen more people, the portal might not be able to hold up.

Good afternoon, Your Highness Frederick.

"Kevin, it's a pleasure to see you. It seems that the defense line is indeed a great training ground. You look even stronger. Louise talks about you every day, and I'm getting tired of it."

The handsome Anduette greeted the group warmly as they emerged from the portal. Frederick, a young and promising imperial official, was naturally very familiar with Anduette and proactively shook hands with him as he reached out.

"Anduette, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

In response to Frederick's polite inquiry, Anduette shook his head slightly.

“This is not good, Your Highness Frederick. The current situation is an ordeal for everyone.”

After hugging Kevin, Anduette looked at Frederick again.

"I didn't expect you two to actually come. To be honest, I didn't really want you to get involved. Come on, let's go to the tent next door to talk. A lot has happened since Louise left."

Seeing Anduette's hesitant expression, Frederick's heart skipped a beat. Although he had made some preparations, the negative emotions from the constant stream of bad things still made him feel a little suffocated.

"Come on, let me hear what's worse."

Inside the tent, Anduette poured a cup of lemon tea for each of them. The light, refreshing aroma helped to dispel some of the dizziness caused by the teleportation array.

"We've added calming herbs to it, which will help alleviate the dizziness you experience when passing through the teleportation array."

"Louise should have already given you two a general overview of what's going on in the capital."

Frederick, having taken a large gulp of lemon tea, let out a long breath. It seemed the calming herb in the tea had taken effect; he felt his nausea and irritability lessen considerably. He nodded in response to Anduette's question:
"Yes, Louise told us a lot. The gist of it was that my father, His Majesty King Keane, passed away for some unknown reason."

"And the Third Prince, Denbel, tried to force his way into the Platinum Palace but was wiped out by the Platinum Tower. The First Prince, Gillian; the Sixth Prince, Will; the Fourth Princess, Anmia; and the Eleventh Prince, Niimea, were all suspected of being assassinated by assassins from the Dark Alliance, is that right?"

Although Frederick tried to speak in the most relaxed tone, the slight trembling of his hands on his leg armor betrayed his turbulent inner state. However, at this moment, none of the others present would pay attention to such small details; after all, given the situation, few could face it with equanimity. A silence fell over the tent; no one knew how to begin—whether to offer comfort or something else—it seemed inappropriate to speak at this moment.

"Anduette, tell me, what has happened in the capital recently?"

Anduette, who had been called out, glanced at Frederick, who was trying his best to calm himself down, hesitated for a moment, and then told him the latest news.

"Just an hour before you sent this message here, I also received the latest information from the capital. The situation is indeed not very optimistic."

Under everyone's gaze, Anduette, unsure how to begin, took out several sheets of paper from his pocket, stood up, walked over to Frederick, and handed them to him.

"This is information that has come from the capital in the last three days. I think it would be better for Your Highness to see it for yourself."

Frederick noticed the enigmatic look in Anduette's eyes and was puzzled, but he still reached out and took the intelligence report, opening it and reading it carefully.

As Frederick flipped through the papers in his hand, his expression grew increasingly grim. When he saw the last sheet, his entire body tensed, and he let out a low growl as a mouthful of blood trickled down his chin.

Seeing his friend in such a state, Kevin looked puzzled and quickly went over to check on him.

"Frederick! Frederick! What's wrong? What's wrong?"

After Kevin's repeated shouts, Frederick finally regained his senses, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at the latter, his clean, white teeth stained with blood.

"How dare they! How dare they!!!"

Not quite understanding what was going on, Kevin picked up the paper from Frederick's hand and began to read it.

'The fifth day of the Autumn Leaf Month in the year 2134 of the Glorious Calendar.'

Since no successor has been elected to inherit the throne, the basic operations of the empire will be temporarily managed by the Senate.

Following a vote by the Senate Speaker, it was decided that MI8 would be established to address the recent attacks on members of the royal family and to prepare for potential further assassinations. Duke Clifton, the great Sunset Swordsman, would serve as its interim leader.

The sixth day of the Autumn Leaf Month in the year 2134 of the Glorious Calendar.

When Princess Miara went to the Platinum Palace to collect the remains of the Third Prince, she was attacked by twenty assassins. The assassins successfully eliminated the accompanying guards through a suicide bombing, and then completed the assassination and self-destruction before Duke Clement arrived.

Based on the on-site investigation, the crime is suspected to have been committed by Kim Shi-jung, a member of the Dark Brotherhood branch of the Night Alliance. A reverse investigation is currently underway based on the remaining statements from guards at the scene.

In the year 2134 of the Glorious Calendar, at sunset on the sixth day of the Autumn Leaf Month.

Senator Jimmy was assassinated at his home by his butler, who was subsequently killed by the head of the guard. However, after an on-site investigation by the Night Watch and MI8, it was determined that the butler was not Jimmy.

Investigators discovered that a magical artifact, Oliver's Face, was removed from the face and is suspected to have been altered by a branch of the Dark Brotherhood within the Night Alliance.

That same evening, the Imperial Minister of State was attacked again on his way to the Government Building. Fortunately, he was accompanied by Sky Knight Greyjoy, who killed five more assassins before the attackers retreated.

After reading the first page of information, Kevin sighed heavily. He had originally thought it was just an assassination attempt against the royal family, but he hadn't expected it to have spread to various high-ranking nobles. Looking at Frederick, who was still standing there in a daze, Kevin shook his head helplessly and continued reading.

'The seventh day of the Autumn Leaf Month in the year 2134 of the Glorious Calendar.'

News of an attack on the Royal Academy arrived, but fortunately, the attackers were quickly eliminated thanks to the powerful presence of the school's teachers. Judging from the direction the attackers were heading, their target was the Royal Library.

The then-dean, Savos, immediately announced that the Royal Academy would be under closed management and would not open the defensive array until the situation stabilized.

The seventh day of Autumn Leaf Month in the Radiant Calendar 2134
The Imperial Exchange was attacked by unidentified men in black, causing minor damage. Mr. Woking, the person in charge of the exchange, announced that the exchange will be temporarily closed and will reopen at a later date after the situation stabilizes.

The Hengdeli Chamber of Commerce's warehouse at the overpass dock was attacked by an unknown force, and a large amount of goods were burned to ashes. The Chamber's external affairs manager, Mr. Weiss, announced that cargo transportation to the capital would be suspended until the security team arrested the gang of thugs. Only then could the Hengdeli Chamber of Commerce resume commercial trade.

、、、、、、、、、、、、、、'

Looking at the series of attack reports, Kevin vaguely sensed a conspiracy. Someone was trying to muddy the waters and confuse the public. Perhaps some of the things were indeed done by the Night Alliance, but more likely, those shrewd guys wanted to avoid this situation.

After flipping through several pages, mostly about attacks in various places, the number of casualties, and organizations announcing temporary external defenses while awaiting news of the situation stabilizing, Kevin's eyes widened suddenly when he turned to the last page. He was so shocked by the information in the letter that he couldn't speak.

The first is the declaration issued by the Cathedral of the Eternal Sun.
'First of all, we deeply regret the unfortunate passing of His Majesty Keane, and we also deeply regret the problems currently facing the Imperial Capital. When His Majesty Keane was alive, we had positive discussions about the Eternal Sun being stationed in the Imperial Capital's defense system, but such a terrible thing happened before the relevant cooperation even began.'

For the sake of the capital's stability and prosperity, and the stability of the English Empire, at the invitation of His Highness the Eighth Prince, Sangol, we will dispatch elite Dawn Warriors to assist His Highness in eradicating the Dark Alliance, so that the situation can be restored to a stable state as soon as possible.

"#@*, those damned missionaries, the bloodsuckers of the Empire, Frederick, I think there's a high chance that those disgusting guys from the Church are behind this."

Frederick, still in a daze, ignored Kevin's angry outburst. Seeing this, Kevin had no choice but to continue reading.

'Glorious Calendar 2134, Autumn Leaf Moon Seventh Day Night'

Princess Laxman was assassinated in her bed. MI8 investigators are currently conducting individual investigations of all servants at Platinum Palace...

This message was brief, but it shocked Kevin just as much as the Eternal Flame's public announcement. After all, Empress Laxman was Frederick's biological mother, which explains why Frederick suddenly lost control of his emotions upon seeing this message.

"This...Frederick..."

Not knowing what to say, Kevin could only pat his friend on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)