Upon hearing the reminder, Tristan nodded understandingly and promptly said:
"Alright, I understand! I’ll go seek the king’s approval right away."
With that, he quickly descended from the city wall and hurried towards Altria’s tent.
Two hours later, Tristan led a team out of the city, heading straight to Oxfordshire.
At the same time, a tall and graceful figure approached the wall, walking up behind Luo En:
"Teacher, why did you recommend Sir Tristan to quell the rebellion in Oxfordshire? Honestly, his character is overly sentimental and easily influenced by emotions, making him unsuitable for leading an army. Especially this time, the opponent is the Duke of Oxford, the kind of scoundrel who uses refugees as human shields."
"You are their monarch, not their babysitter; they should be allowed to try for themselves."
"Can trying lead to success?"
"No, trying will let them realize they can’t succeed!"
Luo En replied with a cold sneer, his face showing unrestrained mockery.
There is no such thing as a peaceful time, only someone enduring burdens with resilience.
People like Tristan, to put it nicely, are sympathetic and considerate of others.
To put it harshly, they talk without understanding, typical of a Holy Mother syndrome affliction.
The reason he has the energy to accuse Altria of being unsympathetic, unable to find the optimal solution to save everyone, is because Altria is so capable, taking on the responsibilities and guilt that should have been shared by the Twelve Knights of the Round Table.
Whether it’s killing enemies or recruiting soldiers, it’s all under the monarch’s orders anyway.
They are just executors, pure as the lily flowers.
Equal dining companions?
What a face they have been given, ultimately fostering bad habits.
Only Altria, with her goodwill, doesn’t fuss over these things.
But as a teacher, Luo En cannot pretend not to hear.
Those who need a scolding, indeed need a good scolding.
This is also a way of internal harmonization, eliminating hidden dangers.
Although Altria does not agree with the way this teacher handles subordinates, she still feels a strong sense of protection and care, her heart warming:
"Teacher, you really don’t have to do these things for me. Whatever they say, I don’t care."
The praise and criticism of subordinates are trivial matters to her.
Even if alienated, feared, or betrayed many times, her heart remains unchanged.
"Then what do you care about?" Luo En asked.
"Of course, it’s you!"
As soon as Altria spoke, she realized it seemed inappropriate and quickly explained,
"Whether it’s the ’Knight’s Way’ or the ’King’s Way,’ they were all taught by you, and it’s you who let me see what I need to do, what kind of person I need to become. Whether outsiders understand me or not doesn’t matter, as long as you understand, it’s enough."
"Understand, of course I understand, you are my best student."
Luo En pledged with confidence.
Altria looked at her teacher with extraordinary acuteness:
"I have a feeling you have said similar words to many women before."
"Really?" Luo En feigned ignorance.
Altria nodded seriously, bluntly exposing this teacher of hers:
"I’ve asked you so many times to reduce your issues with women. Just in this matter, it seems no matter how many years pass, you can’t change."
Never mind the lovestruck young girls in town, but along this campaign, the Lake Knight Lancelot frequently visited this teacher’s tent.
Their relationship has always been ambiguous until now.
Having his essence seen through, Luo En chose to gleefully admit:
"Can’t help it, I am part Dream Demon, excitement is my reason for living."
Watching his mentor say this with pride, Altria neither fumed nor raged, only responded with a warm smile.
That’s right. Up till now, Luo En had seen her smile countless times.
Yet, she never smiled for herself.
This girl, this goddess, loves to see those she cares about happy and smiling.
"Thank you for all you’ve done for me, Merlin. To me, you are both a great teacher and the most trusted family member."
"Is that all?" Luo En feigned disappointment, shaking his head, "I thought I was quite charming."
"Are you talking about a lover?"
Altria pondered and answered seriously,
"I don’t have the experience interacting with the opposite sex like you do, so I don’t know what that kind of feeling is. But I think you being by my side, and the years you’ve spent with me, are extremely precious. Maybe, I might have fallen in love with you."
Without blushing, nor showing the shyness of a young girl, she just honestly and truthfully stated her judgment.
And sincerity is the ultimate move.
Even someone like Luo En, often in the midst of roses, was momentarily rendered speechless by his student’s frank and sincere expression.
In fact, he even felt a subtle twinge of guilt.
To avert this intangible awkwardness, Luo En hurriedly shifted the topic:
"By the way, have the geodetic nodes been cleared?"
"Yes, most have been cleared. Following your instructions, for each citadel we capture, I use the Authority of the Sword in the Stone to purge the old marks within the geodetic nodes and have the elves stabilize the groundwork using the tribe’s ’Holy Lance,’ reconstructing the basis. And as you predicted, the cleansed lands never exhibited any corruption again."
"So how many nodes have you completed up to now?"
Luo En listened and nodded secretly.
According to the "History of the Kings of Britain," King Arthur experiences twelve dynastic wars to unify all of Britain, establishing the great feat of the ’Eternal King.’
Which means, just one more trial remains.
Since the war began, Altria, leading the Round Table Knights, has been victorious repeatedly, nearly sweeping through Britain’s corrupted goblins, Wild Hunt, Magic Beasts, and rebels.
However, the Calamity source, King Vortigern, leveraged his near-immortal nature, constantly relocating via the geodetic nodes, stirring chaos.
Now, with eleven geodetic nodes locked, Vortigern has lost mobility and doesn’t have much time left.
In his thoughts, Luo En unfolded a map, calculating the location of the twelfth geodetic node.
Soon, he pinpointed the target
This place seems to be within Oxfordshire? Could it be such a coincidence?
Luo En glanced at Tristan and the others, long vanished from sight, a faint sense of foreboding rising in his heart.