Chapter 58: Dilemma

The offensive from the Kingdom of Ceneride came with startling speed. King Odin of Ceneride was utterly enraged! Without even waiting for the emissary from Camelot to explain the situation, he directly mobilized his troops. By the time Kay rushed to the border, the war had broken out completely unannounced.

Had Kay not secretly deployed Sir Leon and his forces to the border beforehand to ensure Arthur and the others' safety, Camelot would have suffered a disastrous blow due to being completely caught off guard. Even so, Camelot was still forced to reluctantly push their defense line backward.

There was simply no alternative, as no one had ever intended to go to war with the Kingdom of Ceneride.

As a side note, Ealdor had already been destroyed. The very day after Arthur killed Prince Alalerik, Ealdor was demolished by the furious nobles of the Kingdom of Ceneride. Fortunately, after killing Alalerik, Arthur and his companions had anticipated the swift retaliation of the Ceneride Kingdom and persuaded the villagers to retreat with them back to Camelot. Otherwise, the hundred or so residents of Ealdor would certainly have been hanged by the enraged nobles!

Even so, over a dozen villagers who refused to evacuate were hanged by the nobles.

Kay had no time to dwell on such matters. He could only organize the troops to resist Ceneride's assaults while frantically searching for a way to end this troublesome conflict. He had considered contacting the nobles of the Kingdom of Ceneride, hoping to reach an agreement with the King of Ceneride through them, since a war would benefit no one.

Unfortunately, it was entirely useless. King Odin of Ceneride had lost his mind. He refused to listen to any persuasion, single-mindedly bent on revenge.

Facing this predicament, Kay could only grit his teeth and maneuver against the Kingdom of Ceneride, hoping to end the war at the absolute minimum cost.

***

While Kay was running himself ragged at the front lines, Camelot was hardly idle either. First was Arthur, who was thrown straight into the dungeons by King Uther. Of course, this was largely for show; Uther had to display this attitude to make things somewhat easier for King Odin. Once the situation took a turn for the better, Uther would naturally release Arthur—after all, Arthur was Uther's only son and heir.

As for Morgana and the others, though they were spared the dungeons, their lives were far from easy. Morgana was placed under house arrest, while Merlin was once again subjected to flogging by King Uther! The charge was failing to properly advise the prince.

This time the punishment was lighter, consisting of only ten lashes. That was merely because King Uther was somewhat reasonable, knowing that Merlin truly could not be blamed for this affair, and thus showed extraordinary leniency.

Merlin harbored no resentment this time; after all, the entire incident had indeed stemmed from his own request. If not for him, Arthur never would have gone to Ealdor, and everything that followed would naturally be out of the question.

The only one completely unscathed was Guinevere—Gwen. Uther's reasoning was simple: he did not believe a maidservant like Gwen could possibly alter anything. She could neither fight nor had any opportunity to issue commands; from beginning to end, she was merely a bystander passing through. Uther hardly paid her any mind, which was why she alone remained safe and sound.

***

Because of this, Gwen found herself with far more opportunities to see Arthur.

Since Morgana was confined to her quarters, she had no chance to visit Arthur in the dungeons personally, despite her deep concern for his condition. Thus, she entrusted Gwen with the task of caring for him. Coincidentally, Merlin was recovering from his ten lashes and was in no condition to look after Arthur either, leaving the duty entirely to Gwen.

Arthur felt profound self-reproach for his own impulsiveness.

Before setting out, Kay had repeatedly instructed him not to stir up trouble, to deal with the bandits and return immediately. Yet he never expected... thinking that his momentary impulse had caused the loss of so many innocent lives, Arthur even felt the urge to end his own life.

Fortunately, at that moment, Gwen—like a soothing flower—remained constantly by his side, continuously encouraging and comforting him, making him feel a little better.

Through this constant interaction, the relationship between the young man and woman, who already held mutual admiration for one another, rapidly heated up. Well, Gwen's sensible and charming demeanor caused Arthur to completely overlook her minor flaws, such as her slightly crooked jaw and somewhat masculine features... Ah, no, to put it correctly, in Arthur's eyes, this girl possessed no flaws whatsoever and was radiantly beautiful.

Thank goodness Kay was not present; otherwise, he definitely would have found a doctor to cure Arthur's eyes, and perhaps his brain as well! (Every time he saw Gwen on screen, the author couldn't help thinking of his fifth grand-uncle—no, wait, the author's fifth grand-uncle was at least fairer and clearer-skinned than Gwen!)

***

Fortunately, although the two harbored deep feelings for each other, they maintained enough composure to realize their social standings were vastly mismatched. Therefore, neither explicitly voiced the romance in their hearts, choosing instead to let it slowly brew beneath the surface.

Compared to the relative leisure of these young people, King Uther was being driven to distraction.

Waging a war was no child's play; the myriad matters involved were vast, and all of them required Uther's personal attention. Ordinarily, Arthur could have shared the burden, but Arthur had performed so appallingly this time that Uther had to teach him a harsh lesson, or else there was no telling what greater disaster this foolish son might drag upon the kingdom.

Consequently, over these past few days, Uther had grown visibly haggard. The autumn harvest was rapidly approaching, and the nation could not spare many able-bodied men for the battlefield at such a critical juncture. Moreover, the drafted men had to be paid wages, and those wages had to be distributed fully and generously. In an era of low productivity, the significance of the autumn harvest went far beyond mere gathering; it was deeply tied to the survival of numerous commoner households and the stability of the entire nation.

The kingdom could never afford to be careless in this regard. A single misstep would leave the fields littered with starving corpses, shaking the entire country to its foundations. Therefore, the conscription of men had to be handled with extreme caution, and the military pay had to be substantial, since many families relied entirely on those wages to survive the entire year.

***

Yet the problem was that the treasury had no money!

A king in the feudal era was by no means as wealthy as people imagined. After all, the vast majority of the nation's tax revenues were actually held in the hands of the numerous nobles, and the funds truly flowing into the royal treasury were far less than anticipated. Camelot was considered relatively well-off and prosperous, but no amount of wealth could withstand the crushing consumption of warfare. In particular, much of the royal family's wealth consisted of immovable assets such as land, houses, castles, shops, jewelry, and artworks, while actual cash reserves were truly quite limited.

Furthermore, the kingdom's annual budget was fixed, and with the autumn harvest just around the corner, the original budget had already been nearly exhausted. New tax revenues could only be collected after the harvest. At this critical crossroads, even Camelot could not produce such a massive amount of cash.

Thus, King Uther was consumed by worry—so much so that he had lost a considerable amount of hair. Whenever Uther looked at the gold and silver ornaments adorning the palace, he felt a strong impulse to sell them off. But the matter was far from simple; if they could have been sold, they would have long ago!

Liquidating royal assets at this moment might temporarily alleviate the fiscal crisis, but the consequences would be far graver. Doing so would undoubtedly signal to his subjects and vassals that the royal family was completely financially depleted!

That was the most severe danger of all!

Once such a perception took root, the morale of the citizenry would inevitably suffer a devastating blow. The war had barely begun, yet the royal family was already out of money... Could there be any blow more catastrophic than that?

Right now, King Uther's mind was entirely filled with thoughts of money, money, and more money.

And it was precisely at this moment that a piece of intelligence reached the king's ears.

Deep beneath Camelot lay the tomb of a sorcerer!

Rumor had it that the master of that tomb was the most powerful sorcerer in history—Cornelius Sigan! Buried within his tomb were countless treasures, treasures so vast that if unearthed, they would be sufficient to purchase three entire kingdoms outright!