The King's Speech

For the moment, no one knew what had happened at the gates of Camelot Castle. The court was still suffused with the joyous, peaceful atmosphere of the New Year.

King Arthur stood in the center of the hall, holding a golden goblet as he delivered his New Year's address to everyone present. Though it was an annual tradition, no one found it tedious. The once-noisy hall had fallen silent, and all listened intently to the king's speech.

"My friends, my brothers, my sisters, thank you all for dining with me and celebrating with me on this sacred day.

"My heart overflows with great joy and peace, and I wish to speak of it to you all. My kinsmen, my lords, do you still remember when we built Camelot together?

"It was a scene like poetry.

"Just as my ancestors built Troy with the help of Apollo, god of the sun, and Poseidon, god of the sea; just as Romulus built Rome in Italy; I built Camelot with your help. This is not merely my castle—it is everyone's Republic, an ideal land that bears our dreams.

"When had there ever been such a bold and reckless group of humans in this world, who wished to change it—to bring peace, tranquility, and happiness to a land once plagued by war, discord, famine, and pestilence?

"We actually sought to restore God's Eden, the ideal realm of myth, to this world—to Camelot.

"This is a sight worthy of an epic poem.

"What a sacred vision.

"You and I changed this land with our own hands. Time and again, we defeated our enemies in war, bringing peace to this land and happiness to its people.

"I thank you. I thank you for standing beside me, gathering around me, and acclaiming me as king. Having you is my greatest honor, and I am the luckiest of men.

"With our hands, we created miracles and wrote myths. Therefore, I shall grant you—and myself—the highest honor: our names shall be recorded in history.

"What is a story? We write stories. What is a legend? Our deeds are legends. What is a myth? When those of later generations look upon us, we will already stand within myth itself."

Arthur spoke with stirring emotion. Looking at his uncle, dazzling like the sun, Gawain felt reverence rise within him. Never had his feelings burned so fiercely. He wanted to be like Arthur, to become one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, to write his own story as they did and earn glory.

"Now, as king, I ask you all: who among you can tell me a myth according to your own experiences and understanding, recite a passage from a poem, or offer a performance for the queen and me? As a gift, I shall repay them with lofty honor, for it too shall become part of Camelot's story.

"Merlin once said that stories are narrative magic.

"Stories were born before Jesus was born, and this magic has always exercised its power.

"They record the histories of gods and humans alike, and even the tales of animals. Nothing in the world is exempt.

"The rise and fall of nations and dynasties, war and peace, myths and legends, heroic epics.

"Even war could destroy Troy, but it could not destroy its glorious history. It recorded and preserved the histories of us Trojans, Romans, Germans, and other peoples until this day, and it will preserve them into the future.

"Every year, the courtly poems always tell the stories of the Romans. As a descendant of the Trojans, I take pride in Rome's glory. Yet what I wish even more to see and hear are the stories of our Camelot, and for our poems to be performed in this court.

"Therefore, we must learn to tell stories—our own stories.

"Whether they are heroic legends or comic farces, whether they portray the lives of nobles or commoners, the queen and I will gladly welcome them.

"Joyful or sorrowful, stories that carry our happiness, anger, grief, and delight all have value. Even if one day our kingdom is destroyed like Troy, our descendants will still be able to understand our lives and emotions, and carry on our civilization. Then Camelot shall become eternal.

"If we are destroyed by God like the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, then our stories may still serve as a warning to later generations.

"All this is so that our age, our present moment, may be preserved forever in the form of stories—or so that some regret may be fulfilled forever.

"We live in a world whose civilization and spirit have endured through stories.

"Whether it is the fleeting instant when I once drew the sacred sword, or the journey across nearly two thousand years of Troy's history.

"Stories endlessly turn the 'present' and the 'past' into the 'future.' They bind me tightly to my ancestors and the heroes of history. Perhaps one day in the future, people will write my story, and they will write the stories of everyone seated here as well.

"Now, I wish to introduce someone to you—a man who shares my blood, who comes from a foreign land, and who possesses countless stories..."

Arthur spoke slowly. Merlin covered his face with one hand, already unable to bear listening any longer. Even though Gawain was incapable, utterly hopeless, as king Arthur could only swallow his pride and grant Gawain glory.

In this age, a knight's squire had to pass trials and gain a knight's recognition before becoming a knight. To become a Knight of the Round Table, one needed honor; honor required achievements; and achievements came through war and adventure. Gawain possessed none of these.

But although Gawain's tales of adventure were fictional, everyone believed they were real.

The stories were so vivid, so lifelike that they felt as though one had experienced them firsthand. This was especially true of his adventures abroad: battling the Nine-Tailed Fox, fighting the Black Mountain Monster, along with descriptions of local customs, landscapes, politics, various objects, and everyday life. They did not seem fabricated in the slightest.

It was like how Marco Polo's Travels would later be repeatedly questioned and conclusively debunked by modern people: Marco Polo had merely gathered hearsay materials from the Central Plains. Yet because the information was so detailed, everyone at the time believed it was true.

They believed Marco Polo had truly reached the Yuan dynasty and had even won the favor of its emperor.

Because it was so convincing, Marco Polo himself was preserved in Chinese history and became part of it.

Arthur's speech today was all for the sake of granting Gawain glory.

As long as Gawain told his stories, even if they were false, he could easily obtain what he wanted by relying on the king's momentous promise at the New Year's banquet to "grant honor."

If I ask King Arthur, as his nephew, could I become a frontier knight?

Gawain did not understand Arthur's painstaking intentions. At this moment, all he could think about was leaving Camelot and asking Arthur to appoint him a frontier knight.

Britain in Arthur's age was not yet the prosperous Britain of later generations. Even Camelot, the capital, had a permanent population of only twenty thousand. London had slightly more, but only forty thousand. Everywhere else was even more sparsely populated; the land was vast and the people few.

Giants, dragons, and all manner of dangerous beasts roamed the land. Sirens and mermaids haunted the seas, werewolves and fairies inhabited the forests, and nymphs dwelled in lakes and woods. Dangerous prehistoric beasts were everywhere. Even harmless animals speaking was perfectly normal—magic existed in this world.

If Gawain became a frontier knight, the hardships of pioneering would not be difficult for him at all. He was skilled at training dogs and the like, so he believed that even savage beasts could be communicated with.

But just as Arthur had yet to put his plan into effect, at the crucial moment when he wanted Gawain to step forward and tell his stories, the banquet hall doors were flung open.

A huge figure clad in green burst in atop a green horse. He wore no armor, yet held an axe in one hand and a holly branch in the other. His appearance seemed intended solely to interrupt Arthur's speech.

Within Arthur's castle, the Knights of the Round Table could attend banquets in armor and carry their weapons, but riding a horse inside was absolutely forbidden. No one was exempt.

Yet now, a knight had ridden in openly and brazenly. This was nothing less than a provocation against the authority of Arthur and the Kingdom of Camelot.

The guests stared dumbfoundedly at the green-clad knight in the distance. A moment later, the Knights of the Round Table attending the banquet all rose and drew their swords.

If he wished to challenge the authority of the Arthurian dynasty, then he would first have to get past them, the Knights of the Round Table. No matter how terrifying the monster, giant, dragon, or even the mythical Hydra, they would make their opponent leave in defeat.

This was the most glorious moment of the Arthurian dynasty. With the Round Table nearly at full strength, its knights possessed incomparable power.

Whether it was the secular Roman Empire or the gods of Celtic myth, they were confident they could wipe them out in one stroke.

Arthur waved a hand, signaling the Knights of the Round Table to stop. He gazed at the green knight on horseback, then turned his eyes to Merlin. Sensing the green knight's aura, Merlin shook his head.

The green knight then walked into the banquet hall as if no one else existed. He casually tossed the holly branch onto the floor and took out a letter.

Gawain rose and looked at the Green Knight's face. It was not a human face, but one like that of a treefolk. Even without magic, he could sense the other's vigorous life force.

This was the mysterious Green Knight, the other protagonist of the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Did his arrival mean that Gawain's plot had begun?

Gawain drew a deep breath, fear swelling in his heart. He was actually supposed to challenge such an inhuman monster. He did not know the detailed plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and he knew even less about Arthurian legends. His deepest impression came only from the blanket king in anime, along with the brief introduction of Gawain when the blanket king appeared.

Becoming a knight required real skill, real courage, and real legends. Yet everything he had was false.

The Green Knight was supposed to be his opponent, but Gawain's legs trembled slightly. He simply did not dare step forward and challenge him.

It's fine. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are all here.

My uncle is the great King Arthur. Merlin, the greatest wizard in the world, certainly won't let him run wild.

So it doesn't matter if I stay useless.

Gawain thought this, yet he did not realize that events were not unfolding as he had hoped.

From the very beginning, the Green Knight's summons had been directed at Gawain.