I must draw my sword immediately!

Chapter 45 What kind of king do you want to be?

Suya still couldn't understand what Meryl meant.

Coming into this world,

Break through the encirclement of the Conqueror King's army.
He must outwit and outmaneuver the Knights of the Round Table, who may be genuine or not, who are drawn to him by his identity.

He never had many choices.

He has been forced to make choices that benefit himself.

He was like a small boat swept away by the torrent of the times and caught in a raging storm.
Regardless of his thoughts, his deepest desires, or his pure and simple nature.

The world didn't give him a choice.

But then he suddenly heard Mary say that she might become some kind of amazing person, someone with a prefix like 'once in a millennium',
Suya initially found it funny.

With such a weak self, even if I make a choice, what can I change?
But soon,
These inexplicable words lingered in my mind, like sticky silk drawn from a spider's belly, coiling around my heart, congesting and whispering in my ears and in my heart.
It kept him awake at night.

#
"Sir Dagonet, why are you here today?"

The next day, early morning.

With dark circles under her eyes, Suya crawled out of her tent after only an hour of sleep and headed to the agreed-upon location on the side of the camp to learn the combat technique called "Shadow Vanish" from Lukan.

however,
The person appearing here at this moment was not Lukan, but Dagonit, who was wearing silver plate armor and had a flattering smile on his face, as if it were a template.

Compared to yesterday, his plate armor now had several claw marks and dents, and grass clippings, leaf roots, and dirt were stuck in the gaps between the plates. His face was also covered in a dirty mess of dirt and sweat.

At this moment, seeing Sua approaching, Dagonet placed his hand on his chest and respectfully said:

"My lord, the one who taught you 'Shadow Vanish' is none other than your most loyal knight, Dagnet!"

Suya nodded: "I see. Let's begin."

Although a different person has come to teach, and it seems that something strange might have happened in between,

But Suya had no interest in exploring the details; he was content as long as the other party could teach him.

His throne is fake, his identity is fake, the knights who pledge allegiance to him are fake, and even the authenticity of that allegiance is most likely fake.

But Suya was certain that the combat skills he had learned, and the power that began to rise after he had filled his stomach, were undoubtedly real.

And then,
Dagonet bowed slightly, the dark horizon reflected behind him, and suddenly asked:
“Before that, Your Majesty, Dagonet has a question for you.”

"Please say."

Dagonet lowered his head and solemnly began to speak:

"It may seem strange for someone as lowly as me to ask this question, but as someone who is loyal to you, we need an answer."

"Please forgive Dagnet's rudeness."

Suya was slightly puzzled, but still nodded and replied:

"No problem, please ask."

Dagonet did not straighten up. Although he could take Sua's life at any moment with his strength, he maintained the posture of placing his hand on his chest and bowing. After a slight pause, he slowly spoke:

There are seven kings in this world.

"King Solomon, the magician who was granted a divine position by wisdom and justice, and who guided kings in governing the world with wisdom."

"Gilgamesh, the hero of the oldest epic, a tyrant who ruled Mesopotamia with cruelty, arrogance, and unparalleled divine power and wealth."

"He gave birth to the sun, the sky, and the dawn. He was able to conquer 99 castles of Kareim all by himself. He is the god-king of order who defeated chaos, King Indra."

"Charlemagne, the Carolingian emperor, who, with divine glory and the twelve paladins, saved and unified Europe."

"Born to be a true king, the Great Emperor who conquered Greece, Egypt and even the West Asia, ruling the most vast land and the strongest army, the Conqueror Alexia III."

"A regency ruled by fear and blood, manipulating kings, poisoning the world, and covering the earth with thorns and blood stakes, the legendary vampire duke, King Thorn III."

"Furthermore, there is Julius Caesar, the greatest hero, military commander, and politician of ancient Rome, who continued to influence and rule the entire Roman Empire even after his death."

After introducing the seven existing kings in this world,
Dagonet paused, raised his head, and looked at Sua with a very serious expression. His face straightened, and he solemnly said:

"So,"

"As the eighth king!"

"You, the destined king of all the nations of Britain—"

Bathed in the faint light of dawn rising slowly from the distant horizon,

Dagonet then asked softly:
"What kind of king do you want to be?"

Upon hearing this inquiry,

Sua struggled to process the horrifying names in Dagonet's words.
then,

He was stunned.

My first thought was, "What the hell am I doing?"

My second thought was, is it too late to surrender with Britain now? The most outstanding and greatest kings of the seven kingdoms are undoubtedly a group of at least legendary-level powerhouses.
His identity, throne, and even his status as a Knight of the Round Table were all fake, and even his power was nothing more than that of a novice swordsman.

Are these two comparable?

You ask me what kind of king I want to be?

For a moment, Suya really didn't know how to answer the question.

In other words, just in case, just in case, I really do end up on the throne and become the King of Britain due to some random, unforeseen event...
Compared to such a group of people, I, who know nothing about politics and military affairs and only have a little experience in imitating others, would be considered a great success if I didn't become a wise ruler or a tyrant who caused the dynasty to collapse!
After a moment of contemplation,

Suya scratched his head and looked at Dagonet with a somewhat innocent expression.

He couldn't answer that question directly.

But given the atmosphere, he couldn't very well say something to the knight before him:
"Hello, I'm a piece of trash."

His first instinct was to brush off the question with sweet talk, or say something grand and righteous, like, "I swear I will become the strongest knight king, then lead you to defeat these worthless false kings and unify the world!"

This was not difficult for Sua, who had a job as a fraudster.

He could even tell lies in a way that was incredibly beautiful, so emotionally charged that it brought tears to people's eyes, and so passionate that it made people want to applaud loudly.

but,

At that moment, Sua met Dagonet's gaze.

It was a look of someone who had fallen to the bottom of an abyss, bewildered and helpless in a dark environment, looking around in a daze, where even the emotion of 'despair' itself had vanished, leaving only indifference, numbness, and a gaze that had already understood everything.

Then, at this time, in this environment,
The clown knight, Dagonet, stared at him with a blank look, as if he had seen a beam of light descending from the sky.

Suya saw through it all in that look—

He doesn't believe in himself.

He also did not believe that he could compare to the kings he described.

He never even had any hope that he would be willing to 'do' it.

just,

He looked at himself with that knowing, almost indifferent, gaze, like a moth drawn to a flame, yet knowing full well that what lay ahead was not the sun, but just an ordinary, broken light bulb. It was a gaze that had become so familiar and habitual.

It seems that as long as he tells the lie he expected,

This knight would be like a moth drawn to a light bulb, knowing it's pointless, yet repeatedly crashing into it until he's bloodied and bruised.
To himself, a broken third wheel, loudly swear allegiance.

Faced with such a gaze,
Suya felt a slight dryness in her throat, as if the lie she was about to utter was blocked by something.

He couldn't bring himself to tell such a knight a lie as sweet as honey.

He was not worthy of making the knight bear the burden of a false king with his life.

He had no right to promise the knight a future that the knight already found indifferent.

He wanted Dagonet to revert to his former slick, cunning self, as if the world had worn down his edges.

That should be what it means to live longer and longer in this world.

At last,
After a long silence, Suya could only avoid that blank, knowing gaze and chuckle foolishly:
“I’m sorry, Lord Dagonet, I haven’t thought about that.”

"If I absolutely need an answer,"

That's all I can answer.

He paused, and finally said silently:
"I do not know."

The expected answer was not received.

They did not receive the arrogant and boastful lies they had heard when they had chosen to serve those monarchs in the past, when they were still unwilling to give up.

They didn't even receive a decent, clear response.

Dagonet stood there, stunned.

Behind him, the light of dawn dispelled a corner of darkness and struggled upwards.

At last,
Do not know why,

Despite being given the perfunctory answer, the knight seemed to have finally received the answer he had been longing for.

He suppressed the sudden welling up in his eyes, knelt down before Suya, and bowed his head deeply.

Words trembled slightly with emotion, rising from the grassland and drifting into the distance.

"I am certain once again that you are a noble king!"

"My king—"

"Your most cowardly knight, Dagonet."

"Reporting to you!"

(End of this chapter)