Chapter 847: Extra (1): Carey’s Memory
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The old days will pa.s.s, whether you like it or not. However, the old memories will still exist and stay in your heart. Carey felt it at the moment.
Standing before his manor, he was basking lazily under the sun. The faint sunlight shone on his body on the horizon, making his whole body feel a little warm. However, Carey’s face still showed some melancholy even under such a warm season.
“I’m getting old, after all.” Carey sighed softly as this thought flashed through his mind.
It had already been more than ten years since the establishment of the Nardo Kingdom. The Nardo Kingdom was built on the corpses of the Kutu Kingdom. Hence, its original territory was the size of the Kutu Kingdom in the past.
Only after the Nardo Kingdom was established for some time did the Kutu Kingdom slowly expand to the outside world under King Kling and grow into a well-deserved overlord. This was due to the Kutu King, King Kling, known as the King of Knights.
!!
Kling Nardo was a name that people in the past decades rarely knew. However, his reputation has become increasingly prominent in recent decades. He was brave and good at fighting.
He defeated many of the enemy’s troops with a weak military force. He had even defeated a hundred thousand rebel soldiers with a mere army of less than ten thousand in the Kutu Imperial City. That battle laid the foundation for the Nardo Kingdom and affirmed Knight Kling’s position.
As the Nardo Kingdom expanded in the following decades, the King of Knights’ reputation spread further to the entire continent. Carey was proud of his friend, Kling.
From its looks, his life could be considered mediocre. He didn’t have any outstanding talent as compared to those geniuses. However, he had a prominent and n.o.ble background, which was why many people looked up to him.
Nonetheless, his best choice in life was to become friends with the young King of Knights. Kling was Carey’s lifelong best friend. In the battle, when the King of Knights entered Kutu, he was the one who opened Kutu’s door and opened the way for the King of Knights to enter Kutu, which also laid the foundation for the future.
And after the King of Knights, Kling ascended to the throne, Carey also received generous rewards. In the end, many territories that originally belonged to the Kutu Royal Family were given to him.
Although many n.o.ble families benefited from this move, there was no doubt that Carey was given the most elite territory, being the King of Knights’ best friend.
Carey also worked under his former best friend in the following days, trying to contribute to the newborn Nardo Kingdom, gradually making the country more prosperous.
They succeeded in delivering everything they had promised. With their efforts, the entire Nardo Kingdom became prosperous at a speed visible to the naked eye. The country rapidly flourished in just a dozen years while the Nardo Kingdom expanded outward.
The population began to grow continuously. The major industries also developed rapidly with the support of the King of Knights’ efforts. Not only did they absorb a large amount of labor, but they also attracted a steady stream of merchants from the outside world.
The business transactions, the population growth, and the relatively peaceful policies led to the peaceful development of the entire Nardo Kingdom. Everything was so beautiful.
Here, the King of Knights’ benevolence was worth noting. Compared to all the kings in the past, the King of Knights was benevolent. He re-enacted the laws after he became king. Not only did he revise many unreasonable rules, but he also abolished many punishments.
There was no longer the death penalty in the current Nardo Kingdom. Instead, the most severe punishment was to demote a person to an enslaved person and become a future absentee worker. This was partly due to the King of Knights’ benevolence and the development consideration.
The productivity in this era was still way behind. Moreover, many jobs were quite dangerous under such circ.u.mstances. For example, mining and road building had a very high mortality rate.
Using those who had committed serious crimes to do these dangerous things was just the right way to utilize waste. Not only did it give these people a way out, but it could also prevent others from doing such dangerous things. After all, the current population of the Nardo Kingdom was still insufficient after all the turmoil in the past, so how could it be consumed so easily?
From Chen Heng’s perspective, as a transmigrator, the death penalty was undoubtedly too heavy and a serious waste of manpower. Therefore, it was better to use these prisoners well instead of creating many death penalty criminals for various reasons.
Nonetheless, this was a manifestation of benevolence in the eyes of others. The great King of Knights mercifully pardoned those evil people who committed the most heinous crimes, allowing them a way to live and benefiting many families. Hence, they no longer had to engage in those dangerous jobs. If this was not benevolence, then what was?
To better implement this policy, the King of Knights regained several privileges from the lords in the following years. The first thing he took back was the power of appointment and removal of personnel and the power to use lynching.
In the past, the lords of various places were the local emperors with all the power in their territories. Therefore, they could freely appoint and remove the officials in their territories, use lynching, and even deal with all the merchant caravans that pa.s.sed by their territories without permission.
Raping women and killing civilians was nothing out of the ordinary in the eyes of the lords. Yet now, the King of Knights had taken back this part of his power.
So, from now on, the appointment and removal of the lords’ officials had to be approved by the king, and even some key positions had to be taken up by the king’s people. As for the power to use lynching, it was also abolished. So at least the future lords no longer had the right to attack the people of their territories.
Once these measures were taken, it would naturally trigger a backlash. The lords, who had just settled down for a few years, began rioting. Many people rebelled again, trying to push the King of Knights down and even helped the people of the past Kutu Royal Family to come to power.
Nonetheless, the King of Knights was looking forward to such a scene. In the past few years, the King of Knights conferred t.i.tles on many lords to quickly calm the situation and preserve vitality. Yet, seriously speaking, this was a helpless move, just a temporary measure.
Many of the lords conferred t.i.tles were not Chen Heng’s subordinates but those n.o.ble families who already had a lot of strength. These people naturally could not be on the same side as Chen Heng.
Moreover, the power they possessed was a little too powerful. Hence, Chen Heng had to weaken it as much as possible and return their territories to the kingdom’s hands.
Thus, after resting and recuperating for a few years, Chen Heng decisively made his move. After a few of his initiatives, many n.o.ble families started a rebellion. It was as if more than half of the Nardo Kingdom had raised the rebellion flag for a time. Yet then, everything seemed to return to the chaotic era of the past.
Carey somewhat missed that time. He still remembered the scene back then. Many n.o.ble families rebelled, and as the King of Knights’ best friend, he naturally stood firmly on the King’s side. He was not the only one.
Krudo, who was in the Northland and was conferred the t.i.tle of Duke of the Northland by the King of Knights, also stood firmly by Kling’s side. The two of them were the King of Knights’ most solid supporters in the entire Nardo Kingdom. They firmly believed in the King of Knights and stood by his side.
The king’s protector— this was what the people called them by their loyalty at that time. After that, they fought alongside the King of Knights.
The rebellion was quelled in just half a year. All the rebellious n.o.ble families were suppressed. However, the King of Knights did not show any mercy this time. All the rebellious n.o.ble families had their territories taken away and all their properties confiscated. To put it bluntly, apart from their lives, they had nothing left.
The Lords who were neutral in the war and didn’t attack or support the King of Knights were not so lucky. As neutrals, they didn’t end up as badly as the rebels. At least they retained part of their territory and strength, but the most crucial parts of their territories were taken away.
Even many neutral territories— territories the entire family had pa.s.sed down- were taken away and transferred to other desolate places. The entire Nardo Kingdom had unified once again. The unity this time was much stronger as compared to the last time.
After all, the King of Knights did not touch the hereditary n.o.ble to quickly complete the task of replacing the Kutu Royal Family. Still, he tolerated them, so he only retained a nominally unified country. This time, except for a few places, the entire country was under the royal family’s direct jurisdiction. So there was naturally no problem.
Even a few places that did not have direct jurisdiction, such as Carey and Krudo’s territories, also completed the reform. Among them, there were many officials appointed and removed by the royal family. Everything was over again. After this turmoil, the Nardo Kingdom welcomed a great development again.
Standing before his manor, Carey somewhat reminisced about that period, which was the happiest time of his life. He rode behind the King of Knights, and together with him, they conquered cities and lands, contributing to various kingdoms.
Unfortunately, his strength was still a little weak. Compared to Krudo, who had long awakened the seed of life and was already a real knight, he was not even a knight apprentice.
Then, an accident occurred in a battle, and he was shot in the chest by an arrow. He almost lost his life at that time. Fortunately, the King of Knights discovered Carey in time and used his life energy to save Carey. However, after that, Carey’s body became weaker and weaker, and he could no longer continue to fight.
Now, Carey was even older, already in his early fifties. He was not a knight and had been injured before. So naturally, he looked like an old man at the moment. However, he still paid attention to the news around.
“I heard that Princess Venar has been in a coma for a long time?” Then, under the sun, he asked his child.
Although the King of Knights had been king for a long time, those who survived from the previous era, like Carey, still preferred to call Venar a princess.
“Yes.”
Carey’s eldest son solemnly replied, “It is said that Princess Venar has been unconscious several times. This time, she hasn’t woken up for several months. If the king hadn’t used the power in his body to forcefully cure her, I’m afraid Her Highness, the queen would have died.
“Sigh.” Carey let out a long sigh.
He was familiar with this situation. Venar’s sister, Oliman, and her father had the same symptoms back then. The same applies to Venar now. Perhaps this was the bloodline disease of the Kutu Royal Family. It often flared up among the royal family members, resulting in the current situation.
“Send me into the palace.” He thought for a moment and said, “I want to see His Majesty and the queen.”
If ordinary people wanted to enter the palace, they naturally had to go through all kinds of troublesome procedures before they could be allowed to enter. However, as the King of Knights’ best friend, Carey naturally did not need to go through so much ha.s.sle. Thus, he just gave a simple notice and went in directly.
Walking into the palace and arriving at a familiar palace, a strong medicinal smell came from within. Carey subconsciously sensed the smell and frowned before seeing the situation around him.
This was an exceptionally s.p.a.cious palace. There were exquisite decorations everywhere, but there was also a sense of warmth under the exquisiteness and magnificence, just like an ordinary girl’s room. This was the residence of the King of Knights and Venar, but now, it had become Venar’s exclusive palace.
When Carey walked in and looked, he discovered that the King of Knights was already there. After so many years, Venar, who was still a young girl in the past, had already become an old lady.
Although she was not old, the strange symptoms on her body tormented her so much that she aged very quickly. Yet, from the outside, she looked like an old lady.
At this moment, Venar was lying quietly on the bed, her eyes closed. It seemed that she had fallen into a deep sleep and could not wake up for the time being.
The King of Knights stood at the side, looking a little tired. Carey had made inquiries and knew that the King of Knights had not slept for three days. As the illness in Venar’s body had flared up very suddenly, he had been standing here for the past three days, injecting his life energy into Venar’s body to suppress Venar’s illness and maintain her life.
Even a great knight would feel tired after three days.
“Carey, you’re here.” A gentle voice sounded from the side.