-"That would be all, Son."-A Sankta official from Fourth Tribunal bowed to me.
-"Thank you."-I nodded at him before turning to Mostima, who joined us this winter.-"What's your opinion?"
-"How about you just be the king here? Why leave this to that little girl?"-She said after appearing as if she was in deep thought.
-"I'm serious."-I rolled my eyes.
-"I'm too."-She shrugged.-"There is no problem with the plan. Building Lateran monasteries in the locations of some destroyed villages would help us in the long run. But you'll need Artoria to make some appearances to show her support for our actions; some already wonder if you're taking this country over covertly."
-"Is that so? I planned to make her the one who took King Rience down, as killing a king wouldn't look good on me, so now I have one more reason to make her appear here. She would also be able to establish more prestige by acting personally."
-"She truly owes everything to you."-Mostima shook her head.-"But knowing what would be her future without you… But I guess that's how you are."
-"So, any other thing I should keep in mind?"
-"Yes."-She handed me a letter.-"This got sent from abroad. Delegation will come to Britain next winter, they asked for you."
-"Me? Not Artoria?"
-"Yup. You."-She nodded.
-"What country?"
-"No nationality, I only know that they are Norse."
-"So they don't belong to any kingdom, but represent the Norse people as a whole?"
-"That would be correct."
-"Then it's most likely a consequence of my confrontation with Odin."
-"I thought the same. So how should we handle them?"
-"I'll meet them. I hope you can prepare everything."
-"Sure. I'll make sure they won't dare to even think impolitely."
-"Just don't overdo it."
-"I would never."
I just rolled my eyes at her again.
Winter soon gave way to spring, and the quiet chaos that brewed through the winter erupted in force. Rheged instantly shattered into a multitude of small factions, more than six nobles announcing themselves kings and Urien's successors. But I let them be for now; their small armies couldn't even make much noise on the grand scale, my eyes were only on King Rience.
Artoria confirmed that she'll visit Wales in the summer, so I had four months to bring him to his knees. With that in mind, Margaret set out for Abergwyngregyn while Viviana and Cellinia resumed their conquests of the other territories.
King Rience used everything he could to slow us down, at some point even sending thousands of refugees at Margaret's army to keep her occupied, but now, Notarial Hall just stepped in and took care of them. But still, the land was destroyed, the villages burned, the cities pillaged. He knew that he couldn't win conventionally, so he would try to cost us as much as he could.
I wondered if he was trying to do something, look for some allies or something, but there were no signs of it. I found it strange, so I told my Knights to proceed with care. My armies started to march forward, slowly closing in on his castle. There was some resistance, mostly unequipped peasants forced to attack us, but they posed no danger, just annoyance. By the time two months had passed, Margaret had already besieged his castle, only waiting for my orders to attack.
I arrived in the camp not long after that, meeting with Margaret in her private tent. When I walked in, she pulled me down, pinning me to the ground. I looked up at her face, feeling her breath. I raised my eyebrow, interested in what she was doing.
-"Got you."
-"You did. So am I your captive now?"
-"Sounds interesting."-She smiled and leaned down.
It was the next morning when we finally sat down to talk.
-"So, care to tell me what got into you?"-I asked.
-"Everything, to be honest."-She leaned on me, still a little shy.-"I got frustrated. Seeing the tragedies around, the destroyed homes… Eno, I hate this war."
-"It'll be done soon."
-"I know. Eno, let's make sure no such tragedy happens on Terra."
I nodded, but couldn't promise anything, knowing that Terra is far from a peaceful place. Our conversation then shifted to the reason why I came here.
-"What's your plan?"-I asked her.
-"Set up the perimeter and just announce that all who surrender will be spared. Their morale is already nonexistent; with good promise, they might disintegrate from the inside."
-"True, but I'm afraid that something is going on. King Rience isn't one to just stay put like that, just look at his desperate actions to delay us."
-"I also have my doubts, but we can't just stop and wait, can we?"
-"True. We'll proceed with your idea while I quickly investigate their situation."
-"Be careful then."
And so, while she continued with her arrangements, I covertly flew toward the castle before us. Instantly, the abnormality became apparent. While I could see people walking in the castle, I couldn't feel them with my Empathy, meaning that either they had no emotions and thoughts, or something was wrong. I approached the barrier carefully, not wanting to accidentally alert anyone, checking it in the process.
It was a typical runic barrier used in the fortresses, capable of stopping some projectiles and most magic. A technique as old as civilization, used everywhere around the world in many different runic languages, nothing special to be honest. But it was effective, restricting almost all magic from being used from outside. But that doesn't mean it can't be bypassed with some clever workaround.
Finding a field mouse, I communicated with it, something Druids were good at, and asked it to look inside for certain runes, to scratch them off. Then I waited, and a few hours later, I could feel the barrier fluctuate, allowing me to enter covered with Night Sorcery before it could stabilize. Inside, the strangeness only became more intense.
The people walked around like mindless zombies, and the air felt stuffy. Everything felt heavy but 'clean'. There were no signs of fighting, no blood, and there wasn't even much dust or dirt around. I wandered through the quiet corridors, looking for any danger, but found nothing. It was only when I stepped into the main room that I found the source of everything.
There, on the throne that should belong to King Rience, sat a woman; she looked young, like a teenager, even younger than how Artoria appeared. She had long black hair, arranged into a youthful ponytail, and blood red eyes that gleamed with arrogance and nobility few could match.
On her sides were two knights, one black and one white, but while block one appeared proper, the white one had something in him that caused my hair to stand on end. I observed them from afar for a while, thinking about my next steps.
-"That guy is still trashing around."-The white knight spoke, annoyedly.
-"Don't do anything to him, we need him."
-"Princess."-The black knight looked at the girl.
-"Ask."
-"Why do we involve ourselves in a human war?"
-"I just want to meet him."
-"But Princess…"
-"Don't worry, he's not our enemy. We heard that he's someone who can accept 'demon' as his Knight, so I think he won't mind sitting down to talk with us. Especially with that guy as a meeting gift."
From their conversation, I grasped who they were and could infer their purpose, so I walked forward, revealing myself.
-"Oh? As expected, you're quite special."-The girl looked at me, interest in her eyes intensifying with each breath.
-"What can I do for you?"-I asked directly.
-"I wanted to make an acquaintance with you, Justiciar Enoch. I'm Altrouge Brunestud, Master of Blood and Contract, Eclipse Princess of Black Blood."-She smiled at me.
-"Enoch, Holy Son of Laterano, Law incarnate, Supreme God of Sanctae Lateranae Eccliesia, and only Sovereign of Sankta."-I nodded in greeting, matching her chuuni energy.
-"Haha."-She laughed, enjoying me going along with her.-"But in my eyes, you forgot your important identity. I can feel you are a Nature Spirit of Gaia, one equal to us, True Ancestors."
-"You are correct, I've entered into a contract with Gaia, receiving their blessing."
-"Then it makes everything even easier. I want you."
-"I must refuse."
-"Sigh, then at least I want to cooperate with you."
-"How and why?"
-"Holy Church. It's our enemy, so I want to work together against it."
-"Right now, they are not my priority."
-"I know, but they won't let you just develop. They are already trying to force France to send armies here."
Her words made my eyes narrow.
-"State your conditions."
-"I'll help you delay them. Buying you five or six years wouldn't be an issue. I'll also help you develop your abilities as the Nature Spirit, but in exchange, you'll help me find my sister and deal with my 'father' ."
-"Father? You wouldn't be talking about Crimson Moon, would you?"
-"I am. Afraid?"
-"Why would you want to go against him? From what I understand, he is the origin of True Ancestors."
-"I don't want to be some piece in his play."-She answered calmly, but I could feel that her emotions were all but.
-"I can understand that. I can agree, but you'll also have to explain the deal with your sister."
-"She… Well..."-Altrouge showed an awkward expression.-"You can say we are rivals, but…"
I looked at her, focusing on my Empathy to read between the lines using her thoughts.
Basically, she and her sister had a rather serious fight not long ago, and she defeated her and claimed her hair. But she didn't do so for the position of the Brunestud, but to stop her sister from being used as a tool by other True Ancestors. But she miscalculated and put her sister in danger due to her power regressing. Her pride wouldn't allow her to admit it directly, so she couldn't help her, but I not only possessed the power to interfere, but also an identity not lower than theirs, so cooperating was not a problem.
I have taken all of this in and considered her proposition. Her offer was something that we needed, as France stepping in would make everything much more messy, while the price of helping with her sister and 'father' wasn't impossible. While I'd rather avoid making enmity with either of those beings, Crimson Moon wasn't exactly a rational being, so I never saw him as a potential ally.
-"I agree, but I can help you only after the war ends and my personal matters are dealt with."
-"You agreed? Great."-She stood up from the throne and walked up to me.-"I'll start training you when you are free. Strout, Svelten, you two go to France and make some noise."
-"But Princess, your safety."
-"I'm not some powerless girl, not to mention, as a knight, Eno won't go back on his words."-She smiled.
-"You seem to know me quite well."
-"I heard some things."-Her face flushed, showing that there was more to it.-"Would you mind being my knight for the tie being?"
-"I'll keep you safe, but becoming your knight is too much."-I shook my head.-"I have my liege and my vows, I can't throw them away."
-"Right… But I'll still leave my safety in your hands."
I nodded to this, not minding doing this much. With this, our cooperation started. Altrouge released the magic barrier and allowed Margaret's people to enter the castle, securing the defenders before she stopped the charm magic controlling them. I've secured the King Rience personally, preparing to transport him back to Gloucester, where he would be put to trial before Artoria.
With the leader of the rebellion captured, the remaining insurgents quickly surrendered or fled. Viviana and Cellinia destroyed the last group two weeks after the day when King Rience was captured, ending this almost two-year-long rebellion. They then began working with the Lateran Curia to reestablish order in North Wales.
Margaret, on the other hand, took her army further north into Rheged to stop the factional war happening there. The situation there was still stable enough not to be considered another rebellion, but all those 'new kings' needed to be dealt with. Though she was annoyed that she had to leave so quickly after our relationship took another step forward, a certain 'young' princess who now stayed by my side also didn't help with her vexation. Luckily, Altrouge had habit of 'napping' , and said naps would sometimes last days if not weeks, so her presence didn't cause me much trouble.
I meanwhile returned to Gloucester, where working on the trial was already underway. The First Tribunal worked on securing the evidence since the day they arrived in Britain, tracing every connection and link to uncover all those responsible. Of course, Mostima and Morgan monitored everything so that nothing that shouldn't be there didn't show up.
Due to being the location from where the Lateran Curia operated, the city changed drastically in the past year, becoming much more like Laterano, both in appearance and atmosphere. The streets were clean, the previously mismatched buildings were being rebuilt in the Lateran style, and even the people began to slowly behave like Sankta.
I started preparation for the public spectacle, even arranging magical projection screens with Morgan, so that this trial could be observed from other major cities. This was the first step of cementing Artoria's image as just but decisive king, showing that she wasn't just some wartime commander, but truly a capable ruler. And she arrived in the city a few days later, a small entourage led by Gawain accompanying her.
She looked at the city with a mix of shock and gratitude, watching the Sankta working around. The knights behind her had somewhat different feelings; some worried that I was upstaging their king, while others were wary of the Apostolic Knights leading the Pontifica Cohors Lateran on the regular patrols. Gawain was especially interested in them, interested in the strange weapons they used.
I noticed their actions through a Spectral Hawk flying above the city and decided to watch them as they rode through the city. I was surprised to see that Sankta respected Artoria quite much; they would often smile at her, some nodding in greeting as she passed by. For Sankta, who kept their distance from outsiders, this was rather unexpected.
Later, I would learn that this was caused by a combination of Artoria's aura and Mostima painting her into someone close to me. But I was relieved to see her being popular, as this would make future interactions easier. Seeing her smile was quite rewarding; she was the person who carried most on her back during this war after all.
She and her entourage soon entered the town hall, settling in the assigned rooms before meeting with me. But the moment she saw me, she noticed something was wrong, and her eyes filled with worry. I tried to reassure her, but she didn't accept my excuses, forcing me to admit everything then and there.