Footsteps rang out steadily as Darius and his daughter walked away, slowly disappearing from Rex's sight.
Watching them leave, Rex felt that his conversation with Darius Crowley had been thoroughly pleasant. Darius Crowley still held considerable loyalty to Gilneas. At this point, he had yet to consider rebellion, and his support for Rex was entirely sincere. He had made a measured gesture of goodwill, and Rex had reciprocated. The Crowley Family held immense influence in the Kingdom of Gilneas. With Darius's support, Rex was no longer alone; at the very least, he now had a force behind him.
Prince Rex's response had surprised Darius Crowley somewhat. He had assumed Rex would not dare openly express his views on the kingdom's policies, but instead of leaving things tacitly understood, Rex had admitted them outright. Satisfied, Darius Crowley had responded generously, giving Rex 5,000 gold coins toward the cost of establishing the Knights of the Round Table.
Five thousand gold coins was no small sum even for Gilneas, much less for the Crowley Family. Over the past few days, Rex had sold off one business after another to raise money. Only by setting aside his pride as a prince had he managed to scrape together ten thousand.
What pleased Rex most was that his Knights of the Round Table had finally welcomed its first Round Table Knight: Darius Crowley's daughter, Rona Crowley.
This mature beauty was known as Gun Rose—though that description applied to Rona more than ten years in the future. For now, she was merely an inexperienced young girl.
Rona's deeds proved the saying that troubled times bred Heroic figures. It was the utter chaos of Gilneas that had produced this dazzling, unyielding rose. A fiery red rose, vibrant and unrestrained, she stood out so vividly, so brilliantly. Her fiery temper was her family's legacy, her independence her style, her courage and intelligence her defining traits, and her fierce refusal to yield her charm!
A Heroic woman who embodied both chivalry and wisdom, beauty and courage—a woman who put men to shame and made other women envious!
Rona's joining the Knights of the Round Table reminded Rex that now was the time to recruit the outstanding figures who would emerge after war engulfed Gilneas.
Rex naturally had ambitions of his own. Not just anyone could fill one of the Twelve Knights of the Round Table. At the very least, they needed the potential to become a Ninth Rank powerhouse. He had originally intended to set the standard at Hero Rank, but abandoned that idea after some thought. Hero Rank powerhouses were far too rare. At present, the entire Kingdom of Gilneas had only one: the captain of the Royal Guard, commander of the kingdom's most elite force. Darius, for instance, would reach Hero Rank after becoming a worgen in the future, as would Rex's father, but that was due to the Worgen Curse rather than their own true strength.
At present, Darius was only a Ninth Rank powerhouse, just like Arthas. Speaking of Arthas, Rex could not help but heap praise on him: handsome, filled with a sense of justice, and terrifyingly gifted. At only nineteen this year, he had already reached heights ordinary people could never attain—a Ninth Rank Paladin.
Rona naturally had the potential to reach Hero Rank. Even if she fell short, Ninth Rank was all but guaranteed. She had already displayed the gifts of her bloodline and done well for someone so young, reaching Sixth Tier. If she were Rex's age, she would surely have reached Eighth Tier.
The Knights of the Round Table would naturally need more than fighters; it also needed someone to manage logistics. That person would be crucial. When Liu Bang had rewarded his ministers, the greatest credit had gone not to a general fighting on the front lines, but to Xiao He, who managed logistics. The same principle applied here. Rex would have to find someone to oversee his supplies and support.
Rex had already settled on a provisional candidate: Gwen Armstead. Now that the Knights of the Round Table had Rona, he absolutely would not let Gwen slip away.
These two were known as the two exceptional, unyielding roses amid the thick mists of Gilneas, one blue and one red, both renowned for their military achievements.
Compared with Rona's exuberant passion, Gwen was steady and strong, the ideal chief of logistics. Like Rona, she would rise amid the chaos in Gilneas. What made Gwen even more remarkable, however, was that she was a common-born Heroic figure, for whom making a name was far more difficult.
When disaster struck her homeland, Gwen rose with determination and bravely shouldered her responsibilities. Through meticulous planning and comprehensive preparations, she distinguished herself in efforts such as securing supplies and evacuating civilians. She served as mayor of Duskhaven and commander of Wind Valley Village, among other posts, eventually rising to chief minister of logistics for the Gilnean Government-in-Exile. She was precisely the talent Rex lacked. For now, however, Gwen was not as easy to find as Rona. Rona was the daughter of Darius, an important minister of the kingdom, so there was a clear trail to follow. All Rex knew about Gwen was that she would be in Gilneas City when chaos broke out. That year was still a long way off, and she might not be there yet.
Still, Rex would not give up the search. Gwen was still young, like Rona, and at just the right age to be trained. Since she could rise amid troubled times, her talent was naturally considerable. Yet without specialized training, she had taken many unnecessary detours. After a few years of training, it would be time for the undead Scourge to erupt—and then she would have her chance to shine.
Everyone appreciated beauty. Given two candidates with equal potential, a woman would naturally have a better chance of being selected for the Knights of the Round Table. Fine, Rex had to admit it: though he had been in this world for a long time, the heart of a shut-in still lingered within him. His penchant for collecting beautiful women remained firmly rooted in his heart. If circumstances allowed, he wanted all twelve Knights of the Round Table to be women. He knew it was impossible, but that did not stop him from indulging in a little fantasy.
That night, Rex considered many things. Establishing the merchant caravan and founding the Knights of the Round Table were both steps toward saving Gilneas. But to resolve the difficulties Gilneas would face in the future, he had to address its isolationist policy at the root. The Greymane Wall was no shoddy construction, yet it would still be destroyed. Before the force of the Cataclysm, which would sweep across all of Azeroth and reshape the world, the Greymane Wall would be as fragile as tofu. Zandalar would be destroyed, turning the Zandalari Trolls who had lived there for tens of thousands of years into wanderers. The Greymane Wall built by Gilneas would also collapse, paving the way for the Forsaken to invade.
As Rex muttered to himself and drifted toward sleep, he cursed Deathwing.
(End of chapter)
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