How to be a King and build a Kingdom (II)

"Where am I?" When Arthur uncovered his eyes, he appeared on a balcony overlooking a vast crowd of people wearing medieval clothing.

"What is a King?" The mechanical-female voice asked.

Arthur opened his mouth to answer, but closed it after a man walked past him and towards the edge of the balcony.

The man wore a fancy robe that can be described as gaudy with blond hair carrying a golden scepter. When he arrived at the edge of the balcony, the people below started screaming as he waved his hand politely.

Arthur looked at everything with bright eyes and whispered. "A King is below none and above all."

He must have answered correctly, because the scene changed. What appeared in front of Arthur this time is a massive city wall with a gate in the center. He stood behind a large group of people surrounding the gate. The parents were talking with wide smiles on their faces while the children played happily with each other.

"Is a King, good or evil?" The mechanical-female voice asked.

"Look! King Edgar is back with his army!" A child screamed, causing the rest of the people to yell with joy while the kids pushed their way forward to see the King.

The King rode into town with a calm smile on his face as he waved to the people waiting. While behind the King was a badly injured group of soldiers who quickly entered the military barracks for treatment.

"No!" A heart-breaking cry sounded behind Arthur, compelling him to turn around. As he turned around, the scene changed.

The screams of happiness changed to heart-breaking cries of sadness as women circled around their dead partners and children in the mud as rain cast a haze over the world. One woman picked up her husband's military sword and thrust it into her chest as she fell forward onto her dead husband. Another woman kneeled on the ground with tears in her eyes, screaming to the heavens.

Watching these scenes as a spectator, Arthur lowered his head and sank into confusion. [Is he good?… Is he evil?…] Suddenly, he raised his head with firm eyes and whispered. "I understand what you mean." He looked up into the void with deep eyes. "Nobody is inherently good or evil, as is a King. The King is good to his people and evil to his enemies."

The scene changed again, but Arthur has already gotten used to it. This time, Arthur appeared on a throne, wearing a crown on his head.

[Are you forcing me to no longer be a spectator?] Arthur frowned and glanced up at the void, but was blocked by the palace ceiling.

The throne-room door opened and a group of soldiers escorted a group of six people in. Glancing over the group in chains, there were a pair of old men and women, a pair of middle-aged men and women, and a pair of young men and women around the same age as him 15-16 years old.

One guard on the right stepped forward and fell on his right knee with his head hung low. "Your Majesty, these are the criminals you asked us to retrieve."

Arthur sat on the throne and didn't say a word. The throne-room became deathly silent with only small sobbing sounds coming from the young girl in chains.

[Hello! Mechanical-voice lady! This is your turn!] Arthur awkwardly leaned into the throne with his eyes closed.

Ten-minutes later. The people on the side could no longer take this awkward silence. One with an ugly mole on his forehead as big as a popcorn kernel stepped forward with a pleasing smile. "His Majesty seems tired today. Why don't we call today's court hearing short."

[What is going on? Have I been really teleported to this medieval world? I guess I just got to go with the flow for now…] Arthur slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the kernel court member. "Yes."

Since the King has spoken, everyone left one after another. While everyone was leaving, Arthur suddenly glanced towards the group of prisoners leaving with an odd look in his eyes. [What was that feeling just now?] Although he doesn't know what it was, he knows it came from a prisoner.

Arthur stood up with furrowed eyebrows and glanced at a maid nearby. "Lead me to my room."

The maid looked a little confused but still faithfully lead the way to an impressive sized bedroom with a massive bed in the center.

"I'm definitely going to get me a bed like this in the 'Dragon Palace'." Arthur laid in the center of the massive bed while lost in thought. [What happened to the book that brought me here? Am I really here? And that feeling earlier. What was that? It was like being watched by an animal. Could it be… Killing intent?] his furrowed eyebrows eased slightly but quickly furrowed again. [If it's killing intent, like I think it is. Why does someone want to kill me?] While lost in thought, Arthur didn't know when but soon he fell asleep.

The next morning. The King's room had massive windows on both sides, covered in curtains blocking the morning sun. Arthur, who has been on a school schedule until recently, awoke at the crack of dawn. He sat up in the center of the massive bed and glanced around with blurry eyes.

While Arthur was still half-awake, the bedroom-door opened with a soft squeak. A maid's head popped inside and strained her eyes to see into the darkroom as she whispered carefully not to startle the person inside. "Your Majesty, It's almost time for morning court."

The blurry eyes of Arthur's quickly cleared and shone with doubts. [How did I sleep here? If it's not my body, then it must be some kind of illusion. Like [Tsukuyomi] in Naruto, one minute in reality is one month in the illusion.] Arthur tried to contact [Chaos Gate] and [The Demon King's Treasure] last night, but nothing happened.

[If this is really an illusion, then did the book create it to give me a training ground on being a King?] His heartbeat rose the more he thought and directly determined that's why he was still there.

[Since the book created such a wonderful training ground for me.] Arthur's cyan-blue eyes narrowed with sharpness as his body emitted a hint of kingly aura. [Ill take over as true King of this Kingdom.]

Seeing that nobody responded, the maid cautiously opened the door a little more, letting in more light. The light cleared half of the room until it hit the center of the bed, where she found Arthur sitting with sharp eyes.

The maid had long-blond hair tied in a ponytail, silvery green eyes that glowed brightly like gems, a small button nose, thin red lips, wearing a black and white maid outfit.

"Oh! Your Majesty, please don't scare me like that." The maid patted her chest with a surprised look on her face as she complained softly.

"I didn't mean to frighten you." Arthur glanced at the maid with raised eyebrows and thought. [Strange… If I am a King in this illusion, then how can she complain to me so casually?]

The maid noticed something and quickly knelt down and begged as she shuddered with fear shrouded eyes. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. Please forgive me."

Arthur got up from the bed and stood in front of the maid with a strange look in his eyes. "I'm not angry. I was just a little surprised that you can act so casually around me."

The maid cautiously raised her head and was relieved when she didn't see any anger on Arthur's face. She got off the ground and dusted her skirt as she explained a little. "I've been serving Your Majesty for a while. Sometimes I forget that you're the King."

[So you mean you're slightly ditzy?] Arthur's eyebrow beat slightly with a forced smile on his face and ordered. "Help me get dressed."

"Oh, right!" The maid bowed and quickly fetched an imperial robe to help Arthur put it on.

While the maid was helping him put on the robe, Arthur made small talk. "What's your name?"

"Regina Carey, Your Majesty." Regina reported softly, without stopping her hands.

"Can you tell me about the Kingdom from a normal person's point-of-view?" Arthur asked with a casual attitude, but only he knew how concerned he was with how she would answer him. If the Kingdom is going well then good. But if it's going bad, then his future problems are going to be serious.

The hands that Regina used to help Arthur dress shook slightly, but continued to help him get dressed as she reported calmly with her head down. "The Kingdom is going great, all the commoners are happy with Your Majesty's rule."

"You know, Regina." Arthur glanced at her with a sharp look and asked casually. "What punishment do people get when they lie to the King?"

The hand helping Arthur dress froze as Regina trembled and all the color on her face faded. Her body lost its strength as she knelt on the floor with tears in her eyes. "Please don't kill me. It's not that we wanted to lie, they made us."

[It looks like the Kingdom is worse than I thought…] Arthur's eyes darkened and asked in a heavy voice. "Who are 'they'?"

"Aldo Fischer." Regina grit her teeth and tearfully explained. "I once had a friend that worked as a maid with me that accidentally mentioned something about the Kingdom near you and the next day she was found dead in her room."

[Aldo Fischer, huh…] Arthur's eyes flashed with killing intent but soon calmed down. He squatted down and lifted Regina off the floor with a soft smile. "Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen. Just explain to me everything you know about the Kingdom. Even if you think I already know it, just explain it anyway." He gently wiped the tears under Regina's eyes.

Regina nodded her head vigorously and stopped crying. "Alright, Ill do my best."