The day after the candle ceremony was the official funeral of Queen Sofia.
At 7:07 in the morning, the Candlestick Cathedral in the Red Queen rang the dull death knell again.
When the seventy-nine death knells are tolled, no more bells will ring in the entire Avalon today. A pitch-black silence surrounds the entire Avalon.
The funeral procession will start from St. Guinevere's Chapel and will circle around the Red and White Queen before returning to the Candlemas Cathedral.
Seventy-seven pure white griffons wearing black scarves, and seventy-seven knights in silver armor wearing black cloaks, guarding the dark coffin in the middle. At the front is Isabel, the minister riding a griffon.
, followed closely behind her were Ligeia and Aiwass riding a slightly smaller gryphon.
If it had been put before, people might have questioned how He De, two young people who seemed to be less than thirty years old together, could stand in such a high position.
But today, no one will raise any doubts.
Journalist Dimit - now as the editor-in-chief of the "Glass Steps Newspaper", the photo he took personally is on the second page of the "Glass Steps Newspaper".
The glass steps shattered, and the Great Guardian and his griffon were seriously injured and dying.
Minister Moriarty closed his eyes and prayed, and the new Grand Arbiter held the scepter. They stood behind the Queen, protecting the Queen unharmed, and all the knights in the Arbitration Hall knelt down in front of them because they were late, respectfully and seriously.
Repenting.
If that photo were taken in normal times, it would definitely make the front page.
It was because there were too many major events on this day that it was pushed to the second edition.
The newspapers also recorded in detail what Aiwass had done, and people knew that it was Aiwass who saved their queen.
Except for the great guardian who almost died, Aiwass's reputation rose to the extreme almost instantly.
No one will question this young minister regardless of ministry.
The vast majority of Avalonians are ordinary people. They don't know what "energy level" is, let alone how strong Aiwass is, and they don't know what strength Emma is. These things belong to
The secret of the extraordinary realm.
In their opinion, Emma can turn the Candle Festival's noon into a blood moon night and make the entire glass island rain blood. That is simply the power of an evil god. But Aiwass can defeat her, which means that
Aiwass is stronger than her.
Such a young and strong man is naturally worthy of respect.
They simply don't know that Aiwass only has the third energy level.
And those who knew about this did not dare to stand up and explain "this is unreasonable" at this time. They would only be besieged by angry people.
More than a thousand guests accepted the invitation from the Palace of Silver and Tin. In addition, people from the Glass Island spontaneously took to the streets.
They surrounded the funeral procession with solemn faces and silence.
Not only for the Queen's funeral, but also for yesterday's big news.
Yesterday was the Candle Festival, and it was impossible to hide such a big thing as the Queen's assassination.
And Aiwass and Isabel didn't want to hide it at all.
The covers of all newspapers published in Avalon today feature Queen Isabel with a stern face and blood-stained clothes. The front page without exception only contains two things. One is that Queen Sofia's funeral and state funeral is today, and the other is
The matter is the attack on Queen Isabel yesterday.
Star Antimony's diplomats directly assassinated the monarch, and Isabel was already their only monarch - her father and brother were not recognized by the Avalonians. Whether they were cowards who abandoned their responsibilities and fled, or they did not even have their own names.
It is obvious that a baby who can write cannot become a qualified monarch.
This has angered most of the Avalonians. The fear and panic caused by the Candle Priest yesterday being disturbed by the suddenly approaching ominous blood moon was also recognized by Countess Emma.
The sacred candle ceremony was disrupted and the queen was attacked - and the person who did this was the Star Antimony, who was universally hated by Avalonians.
Coincidentally, the next day was Queen Sofia's funeral.
Although most people in Avalon don't know much about Isabel, she is the heir chosen by Sophia herself after all. Her ring was even transferred while Queen Sophia was still alive.
And Queen Sophia's reputation in Avalon is extremely high.
At present, all Avalonians have only experienced and understood two monarchs. That is Queen Sofia and the tyrant "The Hanged King" of the previous generation.
The "modernization" of Avalon was basically completed under the rule of Queen Sophia.
Before she took over, Avalon had no railways, no bicycles, no factories, no telephones, no electric lights, no electrical facilities, and even no newspapers for civilians. Most people were illiterate, and only a few could take the test.
Enter college and become a transcendent; more than 90% of the land in Avalon is rural, the city is full of gangs and pickpockets, and outside the city is full of bandits and robbers.
Ever since Prince Lloyd appeared, Avalon has been declining generation after generation.
Because people no longer believe in the Knights of the Round Table and their monarch from the bottom of their hearts. The compatibility of the Avalonians' authoritarian path has dropped significantly, whether it is the number and strength of extraordinary people, or the economy and infrastructure.
decline.
In the era when the Hangman King succeeded, Avalon had declined to the limit. By that time, there were only six universities in Avalon that were still in normal operation. The silver and gold held in Avalon were increasing rapidly.
Leaving overseas, many knight families even left Avalon directly with their assets and went to Star Antimony and Iris.
At that time, the most profitable industry in Avalon was shipping, because there was really no local output worth paying attention to. The most valuable thing was griffins. Even if stealing griffons was a felony that started with the death penalty, there would still be people asking for it.
Goblin traders smuggle gryphon eggs.
Anyone who has access to griffins must be at least a middle-level leader.
There are also poachers with extraordinary professions who hunt extraordinary animals in the wild and sell their materials, which directly leads to the fact that many extraordinary animals in Avalon are now extinct in the wild. However, such a risky and illegal occupation is ignored by children.
It is praised among the people as "brave" and "adventurer", and even many parents think this is a good way out.
——This shows that Avalon's economy had completely collapsed at that time.
It is precisely because the whole of Avalon has fallen into chaos and crime that Tudor III, who does not know what to do, became the "Hanged King".
He is not very smart, but at least he is brave. There are no smart and trustworthy cronies around him who can give constructive suggestions to save Avalon.
So when the entire Avalon gradually collapsed and was about to fall into chaos, Tudor III chose the most straightforward way.
——That is killing.
Kill all the poachers, kill all the corrupt officials, kill all the fallen knights, kill all the thieves, kill all the bandits, kill all the profiteers and smugglers.
Kill the extraordinary people who follow illegal paths, kill the publishers who print "stories of the brave", kill the bards who praise adventurers, kill the teachers who run away, and kill those who don't work and don't pay taxes.
farmer.
Kill all knights and ministers who disobey him, kill those who intend to start a rebellion, kill all aliens who set foot on the land of Avalon except the elves, and kill those civilians who intend to escape from Avalon.
Tudor III's way of solving all problems was to kill people. If the problem was not solved after killing people, it meant that he had killed the wrong person or not enough. His atrocities even alarmed the Theocracy, which sent troops to the Theocracy every year on average.
Two people came to dissuade him.
During the entire reign of Tudor III, all the gallows in Avalon were lined up. Therefore, other types of executions such as beheading, waterboarding, and burning also appeared in the early days.
There is nothing complicated about sentencing.
Because before the "treadmill" was invented, prison management also required costs. In order to prevent prison riots, Tudor III did not throw people into prison at all. It was precisely because he killed so cruelly that the judges had to find a way.
Save people.
The reason why no rebellion occurred despite this level of killing was simply because he killed too quickly. The power of the authoritarian approach was fully unleashed - examining property, searching memories, and identifying lies. The Supervisory Bureau directly searched villages one by one.
In the past, ordinary people could not keep any secrets from themselves.
At that time, the "Inspection Bureau" was synonymous with executioner.
They even go through the documents and belongings in each person's home and double-check where they came from.
When almost everyone was afraid of the Hanged King, only the Supervisory Bureau and the Supervisory Council truly felt the necessity. They stood firmly by the monarch's side and trusted the tyrant absolutely.
Because they are the only ones who have been continuously exposed to sin and chaos.
By the time of Tudor III, many prosecutors and inspectors were so desperate that they gave up on themselves because they were completely unable to prevent evil. The people they saved in the morning might die in the afternoon, and the victims they saved last week became perpetrators next week.
They no longer know what they should do, and many even have mental problems.
And after they obeyed Tudor III's order, they were surprised to find that the situation really improved.
——Don’t talk about your family, killing them all actually works.
As a result, they believed more firmly that what they were doing was right.
Crime and chaos are decreasing at a very clear and immediate rate... although the population is also decreasing at the same time.
Some people were killed, some starved to death.
Some people risked the death penalty and fled overseas with their families.
Aiwass checked the information - in fact, after the end of the initial wave, the number of executions has been reduced a lot. There were too many people who died in the initial wave, and the number was more than that of the founding of Avalon.
The number of casualties in all subsequent foreign wars put together will be many.
After that wave ended, the order in Avalon, which had almost completely collapsed, was rebuilt again.
In fact, other types of executions due to the overload of the gallows have basically been discontinued. The gallows, which is always "popular", is more like a continuous deterrent. This is why the gallows in various places are always full, but they are always full.
Not building new gallows - what he wanted was the "full" effect.
By the later era of Queen Sophia's reign, which was the era in which Aiwass lived, most people no longer remembered what the Hanged King had done.
But their fear of the Inspectorate seems to be engraved in their genes.
The fear, hatred and distrust caused by Tudor III did indeed cause a lot of trouble for Sophia who had just ascended the throne. But from another perspective, it was because he really killed all those people and really cleared them up.
Obstacles...that's why Sofia's policy implementation was so smooth.
Because what she faced was ruins, not the fortress that was still hostile to her.
And it is precisely because of the comparison with Tudor III that people know how kind, diligent, gentle, and kind a wise monarch Queen Sophia is. With the trust and support of the people at the bottom, Sophia can implement more policies that benefit the people.
——These are all achievements of mutual benefit.
It was Queen Sofia who saved all this from the abyss.
She only lived for seventy-nine years, but saved Avalon from two hundred years of decline.
Avalon rose again from the ruins. Under the leadership of Queen Sophia, in less than sixty years, it became a country that must be taken seriously by its powerful neighbors.
But it also ushered in new problems - the rapidly developing economy, prosperity that came too easily, and capital from foreign countries gradually corrupted the knights of the old era. Rapidly in the wave of factories, alchemy and modernization
Growing businessmen also have to pay attention.
When Avalon returns to life, someone is destined to become rich. Knights represent the power of the old era, while merchants represent the power of the new era.
In a peaceful era, knights were almost unable to shake the status of merchants - because knights also wanted to live a good life, and most knights did not know how to manage their assets and did not have the energy to make money.
Because of this, the wealth of most knights is constantly shrinking.
That's why there are new knights who compromise with merchant groups like Lloyd's, and ministers who have been corrupted by the Star Antimony and Iris people.
And these days are coming to an end now.
Because the war is about to begin.
If Avalon lacked anything in the era of Queen Sophia... it was that there were too few wars.
Avalonians are neither weak nor timid.
They are a nation of knights after all.
The original citizens of Avalon came from the local human slaves who hated the giants, and from the warriors who voluntarily joined the crusade from the Herasl Empire. The blood of fighting flowed in their bodies, so they formed the Griffins.
The legion is a powerful army that is only designed for ultimate offense.
Ever since the founding of the country, Avalon has never stopped engaging in active or passive wars. At the peak of Avalon, even the Hrasl Empire, which had not yet been disintegrated, was wary of and in awe of Avalon.
But in the era of Queen Sophia, because the economy was developing too fast - and rebirth from the ruins was naturally fast enough - this directly resulted in the Avalonians not having war for a long time.
Queen Sophia is indeed a gentle and kind queen, so she always tries her best to avoid all unnecessary wars. When faced with the pressure from Iris and Star Antimony, she will always choose to transfer benefits or compete on equal terms, only to
Political issues are resolved on the table.
Even when the royal family was cursed one after another, her subconscious choice was to resurrect Lancelot I through the Shadow of Avalon ritual. Use this truly top powerhouse to protect Avalon and deter the ambitious Star Antimony people.
This is still essentially a "defensive" strategy.
In fact, this has indeed worn away the bloody and aggressive desires of the Avalonians.
But when Isabel appeared in the newspaper wearing a blood-stained queen's dress.
The Avalonians were truly angry——
Queen Sofia’s mourning period hasn’t even passed yet!
Their new queen has not yet been crowned!
The people directly blamed the Star Antimony people for the previous deaths of the royal family due to the curse.
At this moment, Count Star Antimony's attack on Isabel can undoubtedly be regarded as an act of annihilation of the country!
When everyone longs for war... war is bound to come.