Chapter 65: The Picts Are Coming!
This crown...was undoubtedly planted by Vortigern.
Many of these items, along with numerous relics of King Uther and Vortigern's father, remained in Vortigern's possession.
It was during the period when Vortigern felt his ideals had grown irreconcilably divergent from King Uther's, compelling them to part ways, that she believed she too deserved a portion of the inheritance and their father's relics—thus taking them.
At that time, she was not yet the White Dragon, still harboring human ambitions, greed, and attachments.
And these items stood as evidence of her sins from that era.
Now, this crown was merely the beginning. As a succession of relics belonging to the previous King of Camelot were brought forth, Morgan was so enraged her eyes nearly shot flames.
Even Artoria, who initially knew nothing, cast a hostile glare upon learning what these objects represented.
The old knights who once served King Uther nearly drew their swords on the spot!
The other citizens of Camelot, upon discovering the truth, almost surged forward to beat this old wretch to death then and there!
Not only that, but even the faces of those from the Northern Six Territories turned grim.
For them, King Uther was the benefactor who had elevated their status, but since they were not in Camelot, though fuming with rage, they could only stare fixedly at the screen, awaiting the new king's judgment upon this sinner!
Had they known these items were taken by Vortigern, they might not have been so incensed.
Not because Vortigern was too powerful, but because Vortigern indeed held the right to inherit a share of the relics and property. Moreover, Vortigern never sold these relics—so what was wrong with her, as the daughter of the previous King of Camelot, retaining some of her father's mementos?
King Uther and Vortigern could possess them; even Morgan and Artoria could.
If Merlin had one... well, that might be acceptable too.
But for anyone else to take them? Absolutely not!
Just as almost everyone had defined this old noble's greatest crime as stealing the royal family's inheritance, many nobles and the Twelve Lords soon realized that their casual observation had turned into a crisis hitting close to home!
After all, this treasury contained not only Vortigern's hoard but also items plundered by the Saxon Barbarians over the years.
Swords belonging to one lord's father, rings of another lord's mother, armor of this lord's grandfather, necklaces of that lord's grandmother...
Some had one item missing, others several.
The most ironic and terrifying case was that of King Lucan.
His grandfather and father's weapons and armor, his grandmother and mother's jewelry, along with several sets of luxurious garments engraved with their family crest—all were found in this treasury!
Those who heard the news now recalled:
The reason King Lucan had always maintained neutrality in the south was that, on one hand, his father-in-law was a noble, preventing him from completely severing ties with the nobility. On the other hand, during his childhood, Saxon Barbarians invaded his territory, slaughtering his entire family except him and looting everything they owned.
This left King Lucan with an intense hatred for the Saxon Barbarians, so he refused to collude with those nobles and even took initiative to stop their actions when uncovered.
He strictly forbade his own people from clandestinely dealing with the Saxon Barbarians.
But now...
Though he wasn't on the execution platform, to those in the know, he appeared far more clownish than his half-dead father-in-law being carried up there!
This infuriated him so much that he directly drew his sword.
Moreover, King Lucan was quite capable.
Two Enforcement Knights, unwilling to harm him, actually failed to stop him momentarily, allowing him to charge onto the platform.
And then...
His sword was struck away by Noah with a single blow from his scabbard, followed by a kick that sent him tumbling into the arms of the Enforcement Knights, where he was promptly restrained.
Witnessing this scene, many lords who had been furious earlier now turned their attention to Noah.
After all, King Lucan... this guy was hailed as the strongest individual fighter among the southern lords!
The foremost warrior of the south!
Although the northern lords had never taken this "foremost warrior of the south" seriously, they had to admit that King Lucan certainly possessed some skill.
This was evident from how the two knights, who appeared quite elite, had momentarily let their guard down and allowed him to break through.
But they never expected that even such a King Lucan could be dealt with so effortlessly by Noah...
Seeing this, King Pellinore, who had been pushed forward by the kings of the Northern Six Territories to challenge Noah to a duel during the negotiations between the north and Camelot—thereby forcing Noah to prove his strength—though not abandoning the idea of the duel, gave up on letting Noah choose his own weapon upon seeing Caliburn still sheathed in Noah's hand...
Just...
I must not let King Arthur duel me with a sword!
It has to be a spear!
If we duel with spears, I won't lose!
King Pellinore thought to himself.
As for Noah, after restraining King Lucan, he directly addressed him.
"Don't rush. Wait until all his crimes are listed... then I'll let each of you who hold grudges against him strike him once with your sword, before tying him to the stake and burning him."
Hearing this, King Lucan stopped struggling.
Having cooled down a bit, he also felt a belated fear over his impulsive actions and immediately bowed his head to Noah.
"Apologies, my king. I was too impulsive earlier, daring to draw my sword in your presence—it was truly my fault!"
Seeing him like this, Noah glanced at him but said nothing, instead letting his Conqueror's Haki fall upon him.
A mere wave of his hand.
This so terrified King Lucan that his legs went weak, nearly causing him to kneel on the spot.
Only when Noah felt it was enough did he return to his original position, waving his hand.
"Understandable. You are not at fault."
Hearing this, King Lucan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, the listing of crimes resumed on the other side of the screen.
From dawn till dusk, from one day to five, with several shifts of people in between, it wasn't until everything was fully accounted for that everyone returned—finally listing all 3,500 known crimes of that scoundrel, along with over 8,000 additional unverified or untraceable offenses.
In the end, just as Noah had said.
The Six Southern Kings, along with many knights of Camelot, each gave him a sword strike.
Even Morgan and Artoria participated in it, and then Noah struck him with Caliburn right under their watchful eyes.
Afterward, he was tied to the stake, surrounded by dry firewood, and the citizens of Camelot were instructed to throw torches until he was burned to death.
Only then did this public execution come to an end.
Once everything was over, Noah returned to his study and leaned back in his chair.
To be honest, many things that happened during this public execution were quite unexpected to him.
But the outcome was favorable.
The people were gradually rising up from the oppression of the nobility.
Moreover, this event refilled the treasury that had been nearly depleted—even the other treasuries that had always been empty were now full, and several more were added.
In short, there was no longer a shortage of money!
They were overflowing with wealth!
As for the miscellaneous relics, Noah gave them all to Morgan.
He left it to her discretion to handle their return.
As for the conditions the Twelve Lords and knights had to agree to in order to reclaim their family's relics, that was also left for Morgan to decide.
Noah only advised her not to go too far.
After all, Britain was no longer short on funds, and stabilizing the situation could be achieved naturally. The reason for setting conditions was to prevent those with suspicious minds from feeling uneasy about receiving things for free—there was no actual need to use the relics for any ulterior motives.
As for himself...
After resting for a while, Noah took advantage of the convenience of 'Will of Britain' to directly contact Vortigern, who had already arrived at the Selkirk Territory—the front line of the conflict with the Picts.
White, how is the situation over there?
In response to Noah's inquiry, Vortigern provided an update.
Your Majesty, just as you predicted, the Picts have also seen the light screen in the sky. They confirmed that you are currently in Camelot and that your elite forces are gathered there as well. So, over the past few days, they have assembled their main forces and are preparing to launch an attack on the Selkirk Territory.
Hearing Vortigern's report, Noah smiled.
Good. Then, take my written order and lead the Camelot knights gathered there to assist. I will make some arrangements here and then teleport over!
----------
For advance chapters join my Patreon.
[email protected]/Aarvan