For Bernard, avoiding the assassination of the "remnants of the rebellion" in the city is just a trivial reason, and winning over Louis Bernard is his most important purpose.

Ability is of course one aspect. Although the Hantu War ultimately ended in failure, regardless of the strategy proposed by the other party and his ability to discern the enemy's behavior, as a commander, Louis Bernard is definitely qualified.

The opponent also possesses the extremely rare power of the "Sea Knight" bloodline - this may be some kind of traditional prejudice, but it is indeed spread in the world of order that "all talented people who have awakened the power of the Sea Knight bloodline are born captains"

”.

In a new world with a vast territory and sparse population, and where major settlements are connected by ports, it is absolutely self-evident how important an outstanding talented fleet commander is.

And in the end... he is the first in line to the Grand Duchy of Adlan and the only heir currently.

For the imperial colonies in the New World, apart from the royal family, Bernard of Edland is probably the imperial family they are most familiar with - of course there is definitely an element of royal bragging in it, but this is not important.

New World colonies far away from the Old World may be able to ignore wealthy families like Morvais who hold high positions in the emperor's court; but they never dare to offend Bell, who controls the largest port and navy in the empire and holds countless trade routes.

Na family.

If the future Grand Duke Adlan becomes his staff, it will definitely not greatly increase Bernard's influence in Sailing City or even other colonies.

Facing the active solicitation from the Governor of Sailing City, the unprepared young knight froze on the spot.

"I am very grateful... that you are willing to extend such an invitation to a defeated general like me." Louis took a deep breath and said with an extremely serious expression: "I am really, really grateful."

"You have been one of my goals for a long time. Since I was very young, I have hoped to be like you, who knows how to manage the territory and is also a qualified chief of staff and leader - get Bernard Mo

Ervais's recognition is an extremely precious honor for Louis Bernard; I...I may never forget this day in my life!"

"Don't underestimate yourself." Bernard said with a smile:

"Failure does not explain everything. The keen sense you showed on the vast battlefield has proven that you are a qualified knight and leader. It just needs time and more experience."

"The New World can provide you with such an opportunity to exercise. I can assure you that we will respect every suggestion and idea you have - to use a gentler way to solve the problem of colonial rebellion."

"That's my honor."

Louis nodded solemnly, and then changed the subject: "But I'm very sorry, I must refuse."

After saying that, he put down the wine glass in his hand, sat up straight, with a trace of apology in his determined eyes.

Watching quietly in the church, the slightly surprised Governor of Sail City looked directly into his eyes and remained silent for a full minute.

In the slightly depressing silence, the young knight did not dodge guiltily, nor did he change his answer; he just looked directly into Bernard's eyes, his expression becoming more determined.

"Why?" Bernard said:

"Is it because of the issue of salary and title? If so, I remember that there is still a senior counselor position in the governor's palace, and the cuirassier regiment is still short of a regiment for the time being..."

"It's not a title!" Louis snapped:

"Leaving Adlan to the new world is because I want to stay away from it all - Thunder Castle, Eagle Point City, Summit Tower... Whenever I feel that I am the truly right person, reality will use the cruelest way.

Prove that I was wrong."

"Including the advice I just gave you, if you think about it now, it may be too one-sided; I advise you to get more in touch with the bottom, but in fact I don't know how many difficulties you face and how helpless you are... Regarding all of this

, I know nothing about it.”

"If you really take my advice, maybe the final result will not be as good as you imagined, and may even be worse; maybe the only way to suppress it quickly is to use the most cruel and bloody means in the shortest time.

True kindness to the colonized people...as Lord Caspar Herred said."

"You just suffered too many blows and added a lot of unnecessary pressure to yourself."

Bernard could only comfort him: "No one can always have smooth sailing, just like no plan is perfect; we can only do it as comprehensively as possible within our capabilities. As for success...it only depends on the ring of order."

Will.”

"But since you have made up your mind, I respect your wishes - I will not come again for the time being, and I will also warn the members of the Sailing City not to come here to disturb you until you think about it clearly."

The Governor of Sailing City stood up and said while putting on his hat: "Of course, don't let me wait too long, otherwise I may be unable to help but send people to move the entire church together - Sir Louis Bernard,

The future Grand Duke of Adlan!"

After saying that, he smiled at Louis and opened the door and left before the other party could speak.

Looking at Bernard's back, Louis took a deep breath, and the faint candle flame swayed in the wind, as if responding to his mood.

"Why refuse?"

The soft words brought him back to his senses after being in a daze for a while, and he turned to look at the elf girl who appeared behind him.

"Flea?"

"Why refuse?" Freya, dressed in a black and white nun's outfit, stared at Louis quietly, holding the wine just taken out of the cellar in her arms, and repeated the question:

"He is right. Louis, you are the future Grand Duke of Adelaide, and you cannot really stay in this chapel forever - you know this better than anyone else."

"I……"

Facing the elf girl's clear eyes, Louis was suddenly speechless.

"I just think my life is very good now, why should I change it? And...and...and..." He hesitated and pursed his lips, desperately organizing the words:

"And even if I go, I may not be able to help much; I once thought that the plan to raid Thunder Castle would help the Empire defeat Clovis, but it turned out that I was wrong; when I climbed to the top of the tower, I suggested that the commander should not hold on but

If you take the initiative to attack, the final result will be that the entire expeditionary force is wiped out... Doesn't this prove something?"

"cannot."

The elf girl spoke softly, with an extremely serious expression: "I have never been to Thunder Castle or the Summit Tower, but I know that without Louis Bernard, Freya Moses Field would never have come to Sailing City by boat.

Such a beautiful city.”

"She should have died in Eagle Point City a long time ago, or been locked up in the dungeons of the Clovis and the church."

I don't know if it was because of the nun's uniform, but Louis suddenly felt that the elf girl in front of him was a little... different from before.

"But...just because this is the only correct decision he made, shouldn't he continue?" Louis asked:

"I finally got it right once. If I interfere in these things again, I might still mess up in the end; every time I fail, many people will pay the price."

So, if you can hide here... even if it's only for now, even if it's just a short period of time, hide from everyone with Freya, and pretend that the outside world no longer exists, then...

"Because of me?"

Freya suddenly said.

Huh? Louis, who was lost in thought, looked stunned and did not react.

"Is it because of Freya... that Louis had to give up recruiting that person?" The elf girl's voice was very steady, and her eyes suddenly became serious:

"Because Freya is the target of the Church of Order. If Louis accepts the other party's request, he is likely to be searched by the church because of Freya, so he must refuse?"

There seemed to be some kind of magic in her eyes, making Louis unable to look away and look into the elf girl's eyes.

This made the young knight who instinctively wanted to be honest suddenly have an intuition in his heart, trying desperately to prevent himself from making some decisions that he might regret for the rest of his life.

"Of course not!" Louis, who had been silent for a long time, said stiffly: "This is my own decision. I think this is the best choice."

"Yes, I may have felt that honor, victory, praise and titles were everything to me; that was indeed the case for Louis Bernard, who was always dreaming and chasing his idol."

"But these are no longer important to me now - I made so many mistakes, paid so many prices, and in the end only one thing succeeded."

"This... sounds like this is very against the spirit of chivalry, but at least for now... I want to protect this only correct decision until I understand what to do, so that I will not make the same mistakes again."

Louis slowly stood up from the chair, took a deep breath, then gently pressed her shoulders, and whispered in a slightly trembling voice:

"So... Her Highness Freya Moses Field, can you accept that your knight is... not a very brave man?"

The elf girl raised her head.

"No, because a coward will never abandon everything and run to the edge of the world in order to protect a little girl who is being hunted by the whole world, and even confess his mistakes to her."

Louis was slightly startled, and just as he was about to say something, the elf girl with a slightly tipsy face had already taken a step forward, and took the initiative to put the little silk head into his arms.

"He is a brave knight. No matter what other people say, in the eyes of the little girl, he deserves it."

………………………

After leaving the chapel, the Governor of Sail City, who was dressed in military uniform, took advantage of the daylight and took a carriage, escorted by guards, back to his newly "renovated" Governor's Mansion.

After failing to recruit Louis Bernard, he is now exhausted both physically and mentally. He even turned down the celebration dinner carefully prepared by the sailing city councilors who wanted to please him. Now he just wants to take a hot bath and lie down wherever he can.

Sleep on an object called a "bed" until you wake up naturally, and completely get rid of the pain from head to toe caused by days of fighting.

As for the "low-price acquisition strategy" mentioned by Louis... Bernard actually didn't take it to heart.

To be honest, this is indeed a good way to win over the people, but as he himself admitted, the young and simple Louis did not see the fundamental contradiction of the problem, let alone the emperor's immediate intention to make well-intentioned actions because of the colonial rebellion.

"Giving in" will bring terrible consequences.

The relationship between the colonies and the mainland is extremely severe, and even the religious sects are completely different; any compromise will be mistaken by the colonies as a "victory" they have won, and such a victory will definitely breed their unrealistic ideas.

Ambition leads to further advancement.

Therefore, the empire must not give in, let alone make any compromises. It must remain absolutely tough at all times in order to effectively deter lunatics with evil intentions or people who are too easily incited.

Of course, this still cannot hide that it is indeed a good method - but it cannot be done now. We must wait until the suppression of the rebellion is completely over and all colonial parliaments have been purged. If I, the governor of Sailing City, are still there, I can use it then.

This method attracts immigrants and stimulates production.

If you are lucky, with this merit and the achievements of reform, maybe the emperor will reinstate his official position and return to his court.

As for whether the future Sailing City will have a higher degree of autonomy as a result, become more centrifugal towards the local area, and hope to get rid of the empire's rule... Bernard doesn't care, anyway, he will definitely have resigned by then, no matter how much trouble and
To be continued...