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King Leodegrance's expression grew grave as he asked, "Guinevere, tell me more about it."

Despite his reluctance to admit it, King Leodegrance knew that his daughter possessed exceptional intelligence. From the moment she was born, a fairy had blessed her and prophesied that she was destined for greatness as a wise and noble person. As a result, King Leodegrance had long been attentive to his daughter's opinions.

Naturally, King Leodegrance kept this incident to himself, particularly from his sons, fearing they might view Guinevere as a threat.

Regrettably, despite her intellect, Guinevere was also gentle and timid, rarely voicing her opinions. But now, with her astute observation, King Leodegrance realized that his daughter had noticed something he had overlooked.

Guinevere hesitated for a moment. Throughout her childhood and into adulthood, she had observed many things that others could not comprehend. However, she kept her thoughts to herself, afraid of being labeled an oddity. But now, the situation was too dangerous for her to remain silent.

Grimacing, she gathered her courage and spoke slowly, "Father, what is your plan once you strike a deal with King Arthur? What was your original intention?"

King Leodegrance responded without hesitation, "I will recruit soldiers and purchase horses. As King Arthur stated, I can buy grain from him with animal skins and weapons. I will use this grain to feed my army and strengthen our forces."

She probed, "But if we're putting all our resources into soldiers and horses, who's going to work the fields?"

He responded confidently, "Arthur has promised we can trade furs and weapons for grain. That should take care of feeding our people."

Not satisfied, she pushed a bit more, "And what if Arthur goes back on his word? What if he trades with us for a couple of years, filling his armory and storerooms with our stuff, then decides it's more beneficial to fight us instead of trading? What will we do then?"

He brushed off her worries, saying, "Arthur's army only has 500 soldiers, and they're not even well-equipped. We could easily defeat them."

Guinevere wasn't done though, "Despite the current cold weather, he has an abundance of grain that he could trade for armor and weapons. Why are his soldiers still so poorly equipped?"

King Leodegrance paused, taking a moment to consider her question.

She urged him, "We need to figure this out soon. If we don't, we might be the only kingdom left in Britain in a few years' time."

"Okay..."

Although King Leodegrance was still unsure about the situation, he realized he had to take his daughter's words seriously. He reached out to other kings and shared Guinevere's concerns. Unfortunately, instead of being taken seriously, he was ridiculed by the other kings.

The other kings mocked him, saying, "How could you trust the words of a mere woman? King Leodegrance, perhaps you have grown too old!"

"King Arthur has shown us such sincerity, and yet you are entertaining such treacherous thoughts. This is unacceptable!"

"We need to unite against Vortigern, not create unnecessary internal conflict!"

The kings laughed, dismissing King Leodegrance's concerns.

Each of the other kings boasted thousands of soldiers, while King Arthur had only 500, and even if he had some hidden away, the run-down place could support at most 2,000 soldiers. They saw no reason to fear him.

Their conviction was based on a single truth: in this world, military strength equated to power!

For thousands of years, which country's greatness was not tied to its military strength?

Even the Roman Empire, which created a great civilization, relied on its military strength to conquer other regions. But once their military strength was weakened, they became vulnerable to being bullied by others.

They believed in this point. Only military strength was true power!

Upon hearing the Northern Kings' words, King Leodegrance found himself agreeing with their principle. Like the other kings, he believed that military strength equaled power, and power came from the sword.

He believed this rationally, but emotionally, he was a bit swayed by Guinevere and didn't know what to do.

...

Through Shirou's communications with other kings, he learned of the conversation that had taken place among them.

He was surprised to learn that even Agravain, known for his shrewdness, couldn't wrap his head around the idea of economic warfare. Interestingly, someone in King Leodegrance's court could understand this concept.

He was absolutely thrilled by the news. He couldn't contain his excitement at the thought of someone so knowledgeable being out there. He felt a strong eagerness to win them over to his cause.

Shirou summoned Agravain and said, "Agravain, I need you to tell the spies to start spreading some rumors. Let's say that King Leodegrance has formed a secret alliance with Vortigern. Our goal is to plant this idea in the minds of the other kings. We want them to be cautious and exclude King Leodegrance from their inner circles."

"You can count on me, my king," Agravain replied with confidence. "I'll take care of it and handle the situation with finesse."

"Very well, I'm counting on you," He said, dismissing Agravain so he could carry out his task.

Next, he summoned Gawain and entrusted him with a thousand elite troops, preparing to launch a surprise attack on King Leodegrance's kingdom under the cover of night.

Upon hearing that the attack would be proactive in nature, the other knights' eyes shone with excitement and they eagerly offered to join the mission.

For more than two years, the king had ordered them to take a defensive stance, and while the knights understood the situation in Camelot, they were becoming increasingly frustrated. Among them, Scathach was the most frustrated.

After spending more than six months stationed in Cornwall, she had put up with his bullying for a lot longer than she could bear. The frustration was eating at her, and she was feeling seriously irritated. Even training the spear soldiers couldn't ease the turmoil inside her, so she jumped at the chance to volunteer for the mission.

She was completely taken aback when she found out the fact that Cornwall had more than a dozen warehouses filled with Gae Bolg. It was only later that she realized Shirou had been scheming to dupe her into training the spear soldiers right from the start!

Despite her anger at the deception, she still agreed to continue with the task. Her desire to understand the king's wisdom outweighed her frustration.

As the knights clamored for a proactive attack, Shirou began to select individuals for the mission. Just then, Lancelot stepped forward and spoke earnestly, "King Arthur, I am indebted to you for the aid you provided to my kingdom. Please allow me to serve you in this battle."

After considering Lancelot's request, Shirou nodded in agreement. He appointed Gawain as the main general and made Lancelot his second-in-command.

"I want you to lay siege to Cameliard without conquering the city," Shirou instructed. "Convince them to sign a treaty and bring the troublemaker back to me unharmed."

"Understood, Your Majesty," Gawain and Lancelot replied in unison.

Agravain worked with remarkable efficiency. In just a few days, word had spread throughout the Northern kingdoms that the Kingdom of Cameliard had formed a secret alliance with Vortigern.

This news sparked great suspicion among the other kings. Despite King Leodegrance's attempts to explain himself, his efforts were in vain.

Such was reality. Once prejudices take hold in people's hearts, they become immovable like mountains.

"This is an outrage! an outrage!" King Leodegrance roared with anger.

Guinevere, who was gathering flowers in the garden and savoring their fragrance, noticed her father's agitated state and asked gently, "Father, what's happened?"

"I don't know who spread the rumor that I've allied myself with Vortigern. It's causing the other kings to suspect that I'm going to switch sides at the last minute. It's driving me insane!" he exclaimed.

The flowers in Guinevere's hand fell to the ground with a clatter, and her face grew pale.

Surprised by her sudden change in expression, he asked, "What's the matter, Guinevere? Are you also upset about this situation?"

Forcing a smile, she replied, "Father, if someone comes to attack Cameliard, don't fight back. Just hand me over to them."

...

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