As the sun sets, fewer and fewer people come to see Ella at the court meeting. Ella sat alone on the throne, looking at the empty palace in a daze. Amy came over and served Ella a cup of brewed black tea.
"Amy...I'm going to be exhausted soon."
"Your Majesty didn't hate court meetings so much when he was in the Seven Hills Empire." Amy sighed, "What happened to your Majesty? Did you even think about escaping from Sweden this morning?"
"I can't understand the customs and laws here." Ella looked at the fading sky outside the door, "I think many of the laws here are barbaric... or even wrong, but the people here recognize it. Laws are righteousness. I don’t know whether I should change them, or whether I can change them successfully... let alone whether I should act according to their laws. There were many people at the court, all of whom came to see me. But But I feel like I am the only outsider. Amy, as a member of the Qiqiu Empire, am I really suitable to be the king of the Pirate Kingdom?"
Amy sighed again: "Your Majesty, you think too much. Although the throne of Sweden was not passed down to you by your ancestors, it was not cheated or stolen by you. How can you say whether it is suitable or not?"
While he was talking, a soldier came in from outside and said, "King of Sweden, another group of people have come to see you. They are representatives of several local tribes."
"Let them come in." Ella sat up straight with difficulty. And Amy consciously stood beside her
A group of people wearing coarse cloth came in and knelt in front of the throne.
"Get up." Ella said weakly.
So the group stood up. There are many red marks left by frostbite on their faces.
"anything?"
Someone in the crowd whispered: "Dear King of Sweden, these days, there are some priests...the same ones from before. Those priests are walking among us, saying...unfriendly words towards the King of Sweden."
"I know. They are Odin's servants. You can't expect them to say good things about me, right?"
The group looked at each other. After a while, someone finally stood up boldly and said: "Great Triumphant, we have no intention to offend you, we just hope you can agree to our small request. This is also the common view of all our tribes - can you Could you please lift the ban on plundering at sea?”
Ella sighed slightly and closed her eyes. And when she opened her eyes again, her childish eyes were already filled with the courage that a king should have. "You really want to go to sea and plunder?"
"It doesn't matter if the King of Sweden doesn't personally lead the team. We can organize a small team and go to sea by ourselves... As long as the King of Sweden can lift the ban. Otherwise..."
The person who spoke paused, and then continued in a small and almost inaudible voice: "...Otherwise, with the lobbying of those priests, the situation may become unfavorable to the King of Sweden."
Ella asked: "Do you want to be pirates all the time? Look at the foreigners who came today, they have learned your shipbuilding skills; look at Alfred of Britain, he built a ship specifically for you. Fleet; look at Otto of the Alemannic Federation. In order to guard against you, he built a fortress on the river... These practices will be learned by more countries sooner or later. How long can you continue to carry out such plundering activities? What will you do when you can no longer raid successfully?"
Someone hurriedly replied: "I hope the King of Sweden will not misunderstand... We still like the city walls, bathhouses and avenues built by the King of Sweden very much. It's just... it's just..."
"Just what?"
"It's just that before we think about things that far away, we have to think about how to survive tomorrow."
The courage in Ella's eyes suddenly disappeared. She covered her forehead irritably and waved her other hand toward the door: "I have received your opinions. I will consider it again. You can go back today."
The group of people each responded, and then retreated in scattered pieces.
"Your Majesty..." Amy looked at Ella worriedly.
"They are right." Ella said with some frustration. "I self-righteously prohibited them from going to sea to plunder, but I did not help them find other ways to make a living. This is all my responsibility."
Seeing Ella like this, Amy felt a sense of pity in her heart. She searched desperately for words that could comfort Ella, hoping to cheer Ella up. But before she could think of what to say, the soldier just walked up again and said: "King of Sweden, someone is here again, an envoy from the Island Republic."
"Island Republic?" Amy opened her mouth in shock, "It's an entire continent away from us? Why did they send envoys here?"
Ella's body shook slightly. Although this movement is light, it cannot be hidden from Amy's eyes: "Your Majesty... do you know what is going on?"
"...People from the Island Republic came here not long ago. They said they saw the merchants of the Alemannic Federation trading under our flag and thought it was pretty good, so they also wanted to trade with the Alemannic Federation. Like merchants, they trade under the protection of our pirate kingdom."
"...Your Majesty, do you agree?"
"I wanted to refuse, but the price they offered was too much... and I was short of money..."
"Then what if their caravan is really robbed? Their trade scope is in the Mediterranean! The Mediterranean! Your Majesty really plans to send troops from the North Sea, across an entire continent, to the Mediterranean to help them?"
"Gu... I'm not sure yet that they were robbed. Let the messenger come in."
A man dressed in rich silks strode into the palace.
"King of Sweden, not long ago a merchant ship under your flag was hijacked by the Republic of Liguria. The Governor of the Island Republic hopes that the King of Sweden can fulfill his promise and send troops to teach the Republic of Liguria a lesson."
When she heard that a merchant ship had indeed been hijacked, Ella lowered her head in annoyance—by sending troops to such a far place, her debt would increase again. But if she does not send troops, not only the island republic, but also the merchants of the Alemanni Federation may not sign an agreement with her again.
"Understood, I will send some troops to teach those guys a lesson. Please retreat first."
"Wait a minute, our governor has one more thing to say." The messenger said, "He hopes that the King of Sweden will not simply teach the Republic of Liguria a lesson, but will severely attack this group of daring guys, such as... capture One or two of their cities.”
"Is this a joke?" Amy couldn't help but say from the side, "Does your governor know how many troops it takes to capture a city? This is not a fair deal at all!"
"The Governor knew that this was a bit too much, so he made another condition: 80% of the cost of the King of Sweden's military expedition will be paid by the island republic. Here is the deposit that the Governor asked me to bring. In addition, everything obtained by the King of Sweden The spoils of war still belong to the King of Sweden..."
"Is there such a good thing?" Ella stood up excitedly as if she had grasped a life-saving straw, "Quick! Pass my order and wake up everyone who wants to go to sea to rob! Go to Liguria The Republic is robbing... Let’s seek justice!”
