novelhk Page 9
Page 9
Your kindness
Kai decides to join you as an assistant, working alongside the guards to maintain order in the city, and you agree to his offer.
[Artoria also wanted to do the same, but you rejected the future Knight King's proposal and offered your own suggestions.]
“Kay is a knight, and he can use his status to suppress those adventurers and make them behave. But Artorius, you are just a knight’s squire. The adventurers won’t give you face, let alone the knights. You can’t help me with this matter.”
"Then what should I do?" Artoria's ahoge (cowlick) drooped a little.
"How about this, can you write?"
"meeting!"
"Alright, you'll stay by my side as my secretary for the time being. To govern a city, you can't rely on just your sword."
Chapter Eighteen: The King Arthur Development Plan
"Alright, you'll stay by my side as my secretary for the time being. To govern a city, you can't rely on just your sword."
Taking advantage of the absence of her brother, and facing Artoria, who was fresh out of school and whose eyes were as clear as those of a college student untouched by the corruption of society, Quinn finally revealed his true colors and planned to officially launch his long-planned "King Arthur Training Project".
That was his real purpose in tricking Morgan into holding the tournament!
Not only did he recruit Artoria as his subordinate, but he also wanted to become the teacher of the future King of Camelot!
Be a good ward and offer me favors and constraints, Artoria. In this way, when I become Emperor of Britain in the future, I may well bestow upon you the title of Prince of Wales.
Quinn's mind started racing, and he even imagined how to use this favor to control King Arthur once the plan succeeded. Why not use this favor to get Artoria to willingly give birth to Mordred for him?
Just as Quinn was envisioning the future, a single sentence from Artoria shattered the time traveler's fantasy.
"A clerk? What's that?"
"What?" Quinn thought he was hallucinating.
"Um, Sir Quinn, I don't quite understand what the scribe is supposed to do? I'm just a knight's squire." Artoria knew her question might be absurd, so she lowered her voice considerably.
Quinn fell silent, then stared at the youthful version of King Arthur in front of him.
Character: Artoria Pendragon
Religion: Catholicism
Culture: Celtic
Clan: Pendragon
Diplomacy: 12
Military: 27
Management: 7
Strategy: 8
Knowledge: 21
Bravery Value: 36
阿尔托莉雅·潘德拉贡对您的好感度：+50（倾国倾城30+白龙之敌20+完美的骑士20-你们具有相同的王国宣称20）
Character Status: Admiration (The other party idolizes you) / Growth (The other party is in a growth phase, and their abilities are increasing)
Okay, now I understand why you always get betrayed by your knights. Wait, how exactly did Merlin teach you the ways of a ruler? Low strategy is one thing, but how come a crown prince's management stat is only 7?
Is your Camelot people's governing tradition really based on idol-based governance? Do you rule entirely through culinary skills?
Quinn felt his blood pressure rising. He had long guessed that Artoria wasn't good at managing a country or controlling subordinates, but he really didn't expect that Artoria's management value was less than 10. No wonder she was always betrayed by her own people and eventually stabbed in the back by her own son.
No, you must accept the teachings from the great Eastern power.
“Your job is to keep records. I’ll show you how I usually handle my work. You just need to record the problems I encounter at work and the solutions I use,” Quinn explained patiently.
"Just keeping records? What does that have to do with governing a city?" Artoria asked blankly, clearly unable to understand the importance of written records.
Quinn, who had already decided to replace Merlin as King Arthur's new mentor, demonstrated the necessary qualities of a teacher at this moment.
[You recall the way Director Ken taught you and decide to adopt your teacher's teaching method to teach Artoria. You tell her that a detailed written record will help future generations understand what their predecessors experienced, and these records will be a natural teaching material for future generations.]
Artoria is not foolish; she immediately realized the importance of the position of scribe and decided to follow your instructions, staying by your side to record your words and actions.
[With Artoria as your legendary spreader, the speed at which your legendary tales spread throughout Britain will be increased.]
You begin working as usual.
[Logistical preparations for the martial arts tournament, maintaining city security, supply policies for homeless refugees... You led Artoria through every detail of your work process, watching her record your actions in a book, diligently fulfilling your responsibilities as a scribe.]
[You are pleased with Artoria's earnest attitude. You would be even more pleased if she were willing to spare a little effort for learning while recording cases. But unfortunately, this honest knight squire does not understand the other meaning behind your appointment of her as a scribe.]
[You know it takes time to get someone with almost no emotional intelligence to understand your intentions, and the last thing you lack right now is time. You are now Camelot's Minister of the Palace, and you have plenty of time to complete your "King Arthur Training Plan."]
[You devised a scheme against Artoria—to win her over]
The day quickly came to an end. You instructed Artoria to organize the records and extract cases related to maintaining public order, which you then shared with Kay. Meanwhile, you planned to return to the palace to continue your magic studies with Morgan.
"Aren't you planning to return to the camp?" Artoria asked, somewhat puzzled, after hearing that Quinn was going to the palace.
“I have other work to do.”
Quinn offered a casual explanation, hoping to send her away, but he didn't expect that Artoria had no intention of leaving. Instead, she followed behind him, forcing Quinn to stop. "You should go back to the camp, Artoria."
“But am I not your clerk? You said I should record all your work.”
“…The situation is different now.” Quinn was somewhat speechless. “You’re too rigid. You can’t become a good knight like that. You need to use your brain more and handle different situations flexibly.”
“I don’t quite understand.” Artoria, clutching her pen and paper, looked at Quinn nervously.
Quinn stretched out his hand, revealing the Palace Minister's Ring to Artoria. "See this? This is Camelot's Palace Minister's Ring. Princess Morgan granted me the position of Palace Minister, and the matters I am about to handle are all important matters known only to the Palace Minister."
Artoria stood there, nodding thoughtfully. "I understand, but I have a question."
You've got a lot of questions, kid. I never dared to talk to Director Ken like that before. Is it because I seem easy to talk to? I'm busy learning foreign languages with your sister.
"Just tell me if you have any questions."
As a teacher, even if Quinn is in a hurry to see Morgan, he must first fulfill his responsibilities as a teacher. He doesn't want to become a monster like Merlin.
"I remember that only the king is qualified to appoint the prime minister of the palace, but the princess has not yet ascended the throne. Is she really qualified to appoint you as the prime minister of the palace?" Artoria asked, her face full of confusion.
Quinn was immediately shocked and took a deep breath.
Your management value is only 7, right? How did you find the legal loophole so quickly?
"As I've said before, to become a good knight, one must be flexible in dealing with situations. Now that a new king has not yet been crowned, the princess, as the daughter of King Uther, is Camelot's..."
Chapter 18
As the former regent, she naturally couldn't always adhere to the law in order to govern Camelot.
Your reasoning convinced Artoria, and she remembered it well, no longer insisting on following you back to the palace.
But your difficulties don't end there. After escaping your good student and returning to Camelot Palace to cultivate your relationship with Morgan, you discover that this time Morgan isn't waiting for you in the bedroom. She corners you in the main hall of the palace, and the guards who should be patrolling the palace are inexplicably absent tonight.
You instinctively sensed something was wrong, and just as you were about to ask your good teacher what was going on, Morgan preemptively asked the fatal question.
What have you been doing all day?
"Of course, I am handling official business diligently, Your Highness."
"Oh? With some random woman who came from who-knows-where?"
Geek!
Upon hearing this, Quinn, seeing Morgan's indifferent expression, realized that something was terribly wrong.
Chapter Nineteen: Three Punches Shatter the Knight's Soul, Sir, I'm a Great Englishman
"What wild woman?"
Quinn, drenched in sweat, forced himself to remain calm and stared directly at Morgan.
"Do you think I know nothing about anything in Camelot City? Where did that scribe next to you come from?"
“Oh, you mean Artorias? He’s a knight’s squire. Remember those two knights I mentioned before? He’s one of them.”
"...Was that a man?" Morgan frowned, still somewhat doubtful, trying to use his fairy eyes to determine if Quinn was lying.
"Yes, he is Knight Kai's younger brother."
Not lying.
The fairy-like eyes' judgment calmed Morgan's anger. She hesitated for a few seconds before confirming again, "You don't have any other intentions, do you?"
“I don’t have any particular preferences, I just want to hire him as my subordinate, you know my preferences.”
As he spoke, Quinn reached out and wrapped his arms around Morgan's waist. The warmth of their skin touching made Morgan blush slightly. She felt a hardness coming from a certain part of Quinn's body, which confirmed the truth of his words. However, the misunderstanding she had just made made Morgan unable to back down.
She slapped Quinn's hand away from her waist, adopting the demeanor of a teacher, "Hmph, stop thinking nonsense. Don't forget that the winner of this martial arts tournament will be challenging you. You don't want to lose miserably, do you?"
Your words eased Morgan's jealousy, and he stopped pursuing Artoria's identity.
You continue learning magic from Morgan until dawn. Before you leave Camelot Palace, Morgan reminds you again that you will be the final duel against the winner of the tournament, but you are not worried about it because you have already given up.
[Ever since you learned that Artoria's sworn brother, Kai, would be participating in this tournament, you knew that the ultimate winner of this tournament would most likely be Kai. Although Kai has hardly left any achievements in history, he is still a knight who can be ranked at the Round Table in the future. He is a rare master in Britain and is enough to give the other contestants a crushing defeat.]
Unless, of course, his opponent is another Knight of the Round Table, and one known for his fighting prowess.
[But at this point in time, the future Knights of the Round Table are either not yet born or are far away in foreign lands. Don't you think that a mere tournament can gather so many masters all at once? So, after leaving the Camelot court, you continue your "King Arthur Development Plan"]
[Your plan went very smoothly. Artoria clearly has complete faith in your teachings. Compared to yesterday's rigidity, today when you were handling various matters, she no longer stood quietly to the side taking notes, but would ask you all sorts of questions from time to time.]
Of all the things she cared about most was the preparation for the entire martial arts tournament.
Inside the Camelot tournament venue, a considerable number of people were busily engaged in the setup work.
Artoria stood on the stands, taking in the entire scene. She watched as logs and timber were transported to the center of the venue by oxcarts, and as workers processed the building materials one by one, constructing the outlines of buildings. From the rudimentary outlines of these buildings, one could tell just how enormous the scale of this martial arts tournament was.
In this era, martial arts tournaments were not uncommon for cultivating and selecting talent, but... in this era, most martial arts tournaments were extremely crude. Basically, local lords would issue a notice to promote the event, and then set up a fence around the barracks as the competition venue, allowing participants to fight one-on-one or in teams.
Even France, the birthplace of chivalric culture, wasn't much better off in this era, let alone Britain, an archipelago far from mainland Europe.
Although the history of the moon is full of strange and supernatural phenomena, Artoria had never seen such a tournament before, with a venue large enough to accommodate hundreds of people, which was beyond Artoria's common sense.
How much would it cost to host a martial arts tournament of this scale? If that money were used for food, how many meals could you afford?
Just thinking about it made Artoria swallow hard.