Chapter 316
As for just how unaware this is...
Just look at Humphrey; he claims he absolutely did not collude with Russia! But he's quite proficient in Marxism-Leninism and seems to enjoy drinking vodka. As for the investigation into him, it was basically Britain.
It basically says, 'After our thorough investigation, the permanent secretary involved in this matter is innocent; he was manipulated without his knowledge.'
As for the real situation...
Who knows?
Anyway, if Humphrey really helps her find someone, even if he doesn't tell Huck, and then they discuss it in a meeting, then basically everyone will know, except for the media coverage.
So all I have to do is wait.
"What a rare moment of relaxation~" the Saber stretched and said, "Speaking of which, which hotel did you put me in? I need to cancel the hotel I booked before."
After saying that Saber picked up his phone and started operating it.
But after waiting for a while, there was no reply, and the surrounding street scene seemed to be... not quite like going to a hotel.
"Sir Humphrey?" Saber sensed something was off and asked, "Where are you all headed?"
"Humphrey, answer my question!"
The Saber adopted a commanding tone, feeling that if her senses were correct, this road should lead to a place she hadn't really expected!
"Don't try to fool me with long, complicated sentences!" said the Saber angrily. "This road leads to..."
"Buckingham, right?"
Chapter 353: My Your Majesty the Queen
I'm here to find someone, not to ascend the throne and become king!
The girl with the ahoge couldn't understand it at all. She had only come here to find SU, so how did she become the queen with the Britain?
"Please don't be nervous, this is an understanding arrangement for..." Humphrey began to unleash his signature long, complex sentences again, answering Saber's question in a rather indirect manner.
Those long, complicated sentences that give you a headache can all be summed up in one sentence.
Yes, this is the road to Buckingham.
"I already said that!" said the Saber angrily. "Don't try to fool me with these long and complicated sentences! Besides, I told you as soon as I arrived."
"I didn't come here to be king! Is this Otto's arrangement?"
Was he deliberately using this situation to trap her and prevent her from going to Su, so as to obtain the specific location and entry method of the secret realm where the Xuanyuan Sword was located?
"Otto? Ha~" Humphrey laughed and said, "Although he is the Archbishop of Schicksal and has an alliance with our country, our country does not need him to decide who will be king."
"Then what do you mean by this?" the Saber questioned.
"My dearest Her Majesty the Queen," Humphrey said this time with sincerity, pride, and a pleading tone, "It is not the king who is choosing his subjects, but his subjects who are choosing their king."
"Oh, I see." The Saber suddenly realized, "Are you planning to seize the throne?"
"Wearing a yellow robe?" Humphrey pondered the phrase carefully; it was a very common phrase, unlike anything he had studied in classical literature. He racked his brains before finally remembering that it seemed to be an idiom from China, translated into English.
"This is not a coronation, my queen," Humphrey explained. "You have simply returned."
"..." Saber was truly speechless.
It seemed these people were determined to push her into Buckingham. She didn't want to, but these people were just ordinary people. Although they held high positions of power, they were still just ordinary people in this world.
While he is absolutely outmatched in terms of physical strength, using force would definitely have serious negative consequences.
He was Herrscher, Herrscher that was already avoided by ordinary human society. If he were to use force recklessly, his fate would be far more serious than just death.
I reckon he really is an enemy of mankind.
Even Otto couldn't save it.
The breakthrough point now is...
"Where is the current king?" asked the Saber. "Are you planning a palace coup?"
"Please don't worry about these things," Humphrey said, seemingly unconcerned about the old king. "We're simply making our own choices. And we don't lack these things, do we?"
Oh, right, like the Glorious Revolution.
The Saber a decent grasp of history and naturally knew about the things that happened in Britain.
The histories of Britain are largely similar across different parts of the world. As for why an ordinary person could behead a king, not everyone in a royal family, which is maintained by bloodline, can become a powerful war god, especially in Europe where there are often few descendants, forcing the heir to be chosen from a collateral branch.
Therefore, it's not uncommon for characters like Big Hammer, whose mothers were once Valkyrie but who are just ordinary people themselves, to exist.
Although some people might think that a certain nobleman was a bit eccentric because of this.
"Your Her Majesty the Queen." Humphrey saw that the Saber was no longer speaking, and he knew what the Saber was thinking.
He seemed to be setting aside his airs and arrogance as permanent secretary, and earnestly pleaded, "I think you should know through the channels you have now about the current situation. Prime Minister Hak did not get into this position by accident just because of the balance of power. He has no ability to change the status quo, nor does he have the ability to make the country better."
"Actually, it's not so much that he lacks ability, but rather that's just how politicians are," Humphrey said with a hint of sarcasm. "They only care about their votes, and they'll do anything that benefits their votes, regardless of the consequences. All these politicians can do is maintain the status quo and prevent the country from getting worse."
"Then you administrative staff also contributed, right?" The Saber had seen "Yes, Prime Minister" and "Yes, Minister."
This drama profoundly reflects the conflict and relationship between civil servants and political officers. They are like two ends of a scale, both wanting to overpower each other and supporting each other to maintain the status quo.
Haq doesn't really have much ability or decisiveness; his success is mainly based on his passion for votes. He's popular, which also means he's good at compromising and changing his tune.
This is a basic tactic of politicians, except that Haq has taken it to a whole new level.
Of course, the agents represented by Humphrey are not good people either. If there is one driving force for them in the whole series, it is to stop Hack's whimsical ideas and keep the whole thing Issei.
"This is a basic administrative structure of the government, which was developed through..." Humphrey was about to use a long and complicated sentence to fool the Saber again.
"Stop!" Saber once again halted Humphrey's rambling, saying, "Can we not talk about this?"
Saber didn't want to get into this with Humphrey; it would never end. Besides, he wasn't an administrator, and this kind of thing would just drag on forever!
She knows nothing about reforms or anything like that, so don't give Xia Jibo any advice on this kind of thing.
"That's right," Humphrey adjusted his chair and said, "Your Her Majesty the Queen, the people of the United Kingdom, and indeed the entire Federation, need hope! They desperately need hope. And this hope is not something the current king can provide."
"This king is almost the same as our prime minister."
He lacks distinctive features and decisiveness; he's mostly just focused on maintaining his position. That's about it. He doesn't want to offend anyone, and as long as his position isn't threatened, he doesn't want to make any changes.
Compared to his mother, he probably wouldn't even qualify as a ruler who could maintain the status quo.
As for why he was able to ascend the throne, it was simply because he had no other choice. His son was originally handpicked by the Queen to be the next king, but due to too many blemishes, he was deemed unfit to be a ruler. In order to avoid becoming an international laughingstock and to prevent the people from making jokes about him, he was chosen instead.
So the hammer, which originally had little hope, rose to power.
"So you've decided to choose me?" Saber asked.
"It was the Sword in the Stone that chose you," Humphrey said. "Your Majesty, you should know very well that both the Sword in the Stone and King Arthur are priceless treasures that our country cannot give up. If someone else had obtained the Sword in the Stone, perhaps they could have chosen one of the two."
"But the Sword in the Stone and His Majesty King Arthur are two options that cannot be chosen at all."
Humphrey said, whether with sadness or a hint of schadenfreude, "His Majesty the King is very reluctant, but for the sake of the United Kingdom and the entire Federation, he must make a choice. What is needed now is a true king."
"A king who could give hope to the people," Humphrey said. "He understood and, after our persuasion, calmly accepted his fate."
'Is your persuasion... based on physics?' the Saber thought to himself. 'Has Charles the Great calmly stopped having his heart stop beating?'
"As you know," Humphrey said, seeing Saber's stunned expression as if he wanted to complain but couldn't, "The decisions of both houses cannot be rejected."
"Does that include me too?" Saber asked rhetorically.
Humphrey didn't answer, but simply straightened his body and looked ahead, pretending to be deep in thought.
"Alright..." Saber didn't argue anymore. She asked again, "You said that what is needed now is a king who can bring hope to the people, so you... or rather, you all, do you think I can bring hope?"
"We believe in history," Humphrey said. "And wherever you stand, there is hope!"
Okay... I'm not going to talk about Saber anymore.
Before she arrived, she seemed to have truly overlooked the enormous influence that the Saber" himself brought. Just like Mr. Yang, for modern Chinese people, the gentleman who could utter "Long live the people" was the embodiment of hope.
For this world, for Britain.
Saber, or rather Li Pu, certainly didn't like this country, but for its people, facing economic decline, ineffective policies, and the ever-present threat of Honkai...
They definitely need a Lord who can inspire people more than a nice king who is just a good guy with no scandals.
A valiant king, wielding the true Sword of Kings, charges forward.
Wherever she stands, she embodies hope.
Even if she can't really do anything, just her presence is enough to bring hope to the people here.
Will I be the one to become the king?
Looking out the car window, Saber saw that the roadside was already packed with people, all peering into the vehicle. Saber knew very well that what Humphrey hoped for, and what the people of this country hoped for, was that the real King Arthur was sitting in that car.
Rather than an ordinary person with the skin of King Arthur.
Can...
This is for myself...
"Your Her Majesty the Queen," Humphrey said after a moment of silence, seeing the current state of the Saber, "You should know that the car windows are not privacy glass. People outside can see what's going on inside."
"So please don't look like that. The people don't want to see their Her Majesty the Queen sad."
"Please cheer up, Your Her Majesty the Queen."
"You are our hope!"
Chapter 354 The Queen Arrives
In reality, Saber was wrong.
Humphrey didn't take her to Buckingham, but to another equally important place—a location that frequently appears in movies and anime involving Britain ceremonies.
This place is called Windsor Castle.
Buckingham is indeed a royal residence, and it was the home of the previous Queen and Charles the Great for a long time. However, Saber's first trip to London was not to Buckingham, but to a place called Windsor Castle.
The purpose of Humphrey's mission was to bring the Saber to St. St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
This is where medals are awarded and important royal events are held.
To be honest, Saber knew very little about Windsor Castle. This was her first time visiting a place that was almost non-existent in her past life, this life, and even in Saber's memories.
As the vehicle slowly drove into Windsor Castle, I saw the Royal Guards, wearing bearskin hats and red uniforms, standing on both sides of the street.
It seemed that Saber Britain had really pulled off a charade of bestowing the imperial robe upon her this time.
The vehicles continued driving further in, and the number of ordinary people dwindled until they were completely out of sight. They were replaced by reporters with their cameras and microphones, waiting along the roadside. They all seemed eager to get their hands on firsthand news photos as quickly as possible.
Although it looked like a surprise attack, Britain had done a lot of publicity.
They've really mobilized the state apparatus to promote her here.
"Humphrey," Saber said, sounding very uncomfortable, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong with me looking like this?"
What is she wearing now? A blue windbreaker on top, baggy sweatpants on the bottom, and sneakers on her feet. The outfit isn't terrible in itself, but it's definitely inappropriate for such a formal occasion.
"If this gets filmed..." The Saber really doesn't know what tomorrow will bring...
You could even say that something will be written on today's front page headlines.
"Of course you don't need to worry about that," Humphrey said. "We haven't arrived yet."
Since they're capable of doing all this, they must have considered every imaginable possibility. How could they possibly overlook something like this? So... now all I need to do is follow their lead like a puppet?
Ah...
I really thought it would be a vacation where I could wander around and travel on a business trip at public expense.
The result was this.
It really makes people uncomfortable.
'Speaking of which... will this affect my search for the Xuanyuan Sword? Will it? It definitely will, right?' Saber felt that he was probably... definitely... definitely tricked by Otto!
He certainly couldn't interfere with Britain, and he couldn't get Britain to change his king.
But if he tells Britain everything, or at least hides some things from Britain, then Britain really has no choice. Just as Humphrey himself said.