Man on the ark, forced to become king

"That's a huge number. Not everyone can stay true to themselves under the temptation of power and wealth. Very few people can."

"Most knights are just ordinary people who are stronger than themselves; they are no different from the nobles of other countries."

"By the time you were born, the Business Federation had already gradually taken control of Kazimierz, and there were many things you did not witness firsthand."

"In that era, knights and nobles held the upper echelons of power in Kazimierz. Ordinary people could only barely make a living by becoming knights' squires or slave laborers. They earned meager incomes and lived without dignity. Under the oppression of those knights and nobles, some of the knights' squires united and stole the wealth of the nobles."

"That was the beginning of the business association."

"At first, they were just a group of pitiful people who wanted to escape oppression."

“You think the Business Federation is an exploiter who rides on the heads of the people, and I don’t deny that. However, their existence has indeed made life much better for ordinary people at the bottom of society.”

“At least, people can find a job in the factories they run to make a living and live as human beings.”

Do you think we are powerless to stop the growth of the Business Federation?

"No, we have a chance. In the beginning, a group of weak ordinary people, even if they could use their money to hire some skilled guys, would not be a match for the Conquering Knights. We could easily defeat them. Even now, we can take them down with us."

"But that's meaningless. From the perspective of the whole country, it may seem ridiculous, but it's the truth—even the commercial federation that you think is rotten, the people under their management live better than those in Kazimierz during the aristocratic era."

"So we didn't stop them, and even helped them avoid some of the trouble, thus contributing to the current situation."

"This is the truth, the truth about Kazimierz, the truth about the knight."

"The kingdom of knights that you yearn for never existed in the first place. There was no such thing, never."

"Why, how could this happen..."

Margaret staggered backward, but was caught from behind by Marna, who was prepared. The young knight grabbed his uncle's arm, his eyes full of pleading and hope.

She hoped for a negative answer, but Marna could only nod silently.

The tiny movement instantly drained all the young knight's strength, almost causing her to fall to the ground.

The emotional blow and the shattering of dreams are far more devastating than physical pain.

The truth about Kazimierz was far too difficult for a girl her age to accept. All her beautiful fantasies vanished, and her longing for the Kingdom of Knights was shattered, leaving only ruins.

"How could this happen, how could this happen..."

The girl's moans sounded like the cries of a young animal. Marna forcibly dragged her to the bedside and sat her down, letting out a deep sigh.

He didn't want his niece to be exposed to these things too early, but the old man's approach was even more radical than he had expected. You could say, they are indeed of the same bloodline.

Now, he only hopes that Margaret can be more determined, emerge from the ruins of those beautiful fantasies, rediscover herself, and become a truly steadfast knight.

"The Kingdom of Knights does not exist..."

Margaret murmured softly, her body trembling slightly, but she quickly calmed down, clenched her fists, her muscles tensed, and her empty, confused eyes gradually hardened, with a dazzling golden light seeming to bloom deep within them.

"There's a chance, there's a chance, we can do it, I can do it..."

"Since it doesn't exist, then create one, create a true kingdom of knights!"

"Whether it's the knights and nobles of the old era or the business guilds of today, sweep them all into the dustbin of history!"

"Gold will cover the earth, and a true kingdom of knights will be born from gold!"

Chapter Forty-Three: Xuan Tie, Died

Oh no, the stimulation was too much and drove the child crazy...

Marna was shocked and quickly restrained Margaret, who had suddenly become agitated.

Good grief, so you only wanted to overthrow the Business Federation before, but now you want to establish your own country?

How could you even think of that?

“Calm down, Margaret. I know this is hard for a child your age to accept. You are in the best time of your life, you have something precious, and you are full of hope for the future. But the world is never what you imagine it to be.”

Cyril patted Marna on the shoulder, looked at his distraught granddaughter sitting on the edge of the bed, and sighed.

“Marna, are there other guests downstairs? You should go down now, but don’t be rude in front of them. Margaret, you can stay here for now, I’ll talk to her.”

"Yes."

The old man's order made Marner feel dazed for a moment, as if he had returned to several years ago.

The Linguang family wasn't nearly as destitute as they are now, and they didn't have to worry about those complicated matters. I really miss those days…

……

"Big sister, are you my friend?"

"Big sister, may I touch your hair?"

In the living room, the petite Maria bit her finger, her bright eyes fixed on Shining's cascading white hair, her face full of eager anticipation.

Clearly, the little guy is very interested in Shining's hair.

"……Can."

Shining clutched her sword, her expressionless face effectively concealing her inner turmoil and helplessness.

She wasn't good at dealing with children of that age, had little experience, and didn't know how to interact with them. In the past, she had very few face-to-face interactions with people, so where would she have had the opportunity to learn how to get along with children?

Following the principle of doing less to avoid mistakes and doing nothing to avoid mistakes, she simply maintained a sculpted posture, remaining motionless like a large doll, allowing little Maria to lie down beside her and grab a strand of her hair with her little hand.

Fortunately, little Maria didn't do anything too outrageous; she just gently rubbed her hair and sniffed around with her small nose.

'My hair shouldn't have any unpleasant smell, right?'

The soft body lay on her lap, and Shining's body became even stiffer. She dared not make any unnecessary movements, but simply held the sword even tighter to prevent the hard scabbard from touching the little girl who was half-lying down on her.

"Maria! How dare you rub against the guest! That's so rude!"

Seeing this, Zofia, who had rushed over, quickened her pace and tried to pull away the person who was about to shrink into Shining's arms.

"It's alright, just let her stay here."

Shining forced out a few words with a straight face, hesitated for a moment, and then raised his hand to touch the girl's soft blonde hair.

"The older sister smells wonderful, like sunshine, it's so comforting..."

Maria rubbed her head against the hand that landed on her head, muttered softly, and leaned most of her body against Shining.

"I'm so sorry to have made you laugh."

Zofia was at a loss, her face full of awkward smiles, not knowing what to do. In her memory, Maria was not usually like this, and would never behave so rudely to a stranger she was meeting for the first time.

However, the guest didn't seem to mind, which put her in a difficult position, unsure whether she should pull the clingy little guy away.

"What do you call it?"

Marna, who came downstairs just in time, helped Zofia out of the awkward situation. She gestured to Zofia with her eyes to get some snacks, drinks, and fruit, which helped her escape the somewhat embarrassing atmosphere.

He himself sat on the sofa next to the coffee table, forcing a smile on his rigid face, looking very unskilled.

"The Shining".

Shining twitched the corners of her mouth and responded with a smile in return. When their eyes met, they felt a sense of déjà vu when they saw the stiff expression on each other's faces.

"Hello, Miss Shining, I am Margaret's uncle, Marna Nearl. She may have mentioned me to you. If I may be so bold, what is your relationship with Margaret?"

“We are colleagues and friends. This mission was initially carried out by me, her, and another senior colleague.”

"Task?"

Marner hesitated for a moment, not surprised by Shining's answer. He was more interested in the 'mission' and the organization to which the two belonged than in the relationship between his niece and this Miss Shining.

“Margaret didn’t mention who she’s currently working for. Could you tell me?”

"Golden Tree, she and I are both operators under Golden Tree, just from different departments."

"I see. So, are you her superior? Someone like you must hold a higher position than Margaret."

Golden Tree, a completely unfamiliar name.

Of course, it could also be an organization with a prominent reputation in other countries, but he just didn't know it.

After all, he had faced many restrictions since that incident, and his access to information was extremely limited, making it inevitable that he was out of touch with the world.

However, with a treasure that can make people regain their youth and a master like Shining, their strength can't be too weak.

"No, you've misunderstood."

Shining was quite fond of Marna's straightforward communication style and her own stiff social demeanor, as if she saw another version of herself, and she relaxed a lot during their conversation.

“Margaret and I are equals, except that she is an agent in the field department and I am a doctor in the medical department.”

"doctor?"

Her voice rose a few decibels, and Marna's gaze lingered on the black longsword for a moment before she realized it was somewhat impolite and quickly looked away, though a slight look of confusion still appeared on her face.

Without a doubt, Shining is very strong, with an unknown upper limit, but he is at least no weaker than him.

This powerful individual is just an ordinary operator like my niece? And a doctor in the medical department at that?

What kind of place is the Golden Tree? Is it really that magical?

"Yes, I am indeed a medical operator. The sword is just for self-defense. I... do not like fighting with others."

Okay, whatever you say.

Marner decided not to dwell on the topic too much, since it made no difference to him whether he was a field worker or a doctor.