The Saber King spoke these words nonchalantly. The light swords above the vagrants' heads flickered slightly, as if they could fall at any moment.
A immense fear descended upon them all. Having seen their leader's fate, they all believed that the young girl before them was truly capable of such a slaughter.
In the next moment, the entire vagrant group collapsed.
Watching the vagrants scatter like stray dogs, even fighting amongst themselves, Seele looked at Artoria with eyes full of admiration and longing.
"To think she destroyed the entire organization by dealing with just one person..."
Seele was kind-hearted and had almost never killed a human, but she had seen much life and death in the Underworld and wouldn't be shaken by the death of a single vagrant leader.
In fact, if she had known earlier that getting rid of this guy would eliminate the biggest cancer in the vagrant faction, she would have done it long ago.
The reason she had been helpless before was simply that she couldn't bring herself to kill over a hundred people. She just didn't expect Artoria to accomplish it with such a firm attitude.
"By pretending to threaten everyone, she used their own fear to defeat them. How amazing!"
Seele, believing she had figured out Artoria's strategy, offered this praise.
To this, Artoria's assessment was, "Pretending to threaten? What are you talking about?"
"?"
Seele paused and swallowed hard with a gulp.
So, this blonde Knight Princess wasn't threatening them, but really intended to kill all these vagrants?
Even though she also felt these guys deserved to die, she had never been able to make such a big decision.
"May I ask, what did you do before?"
Seele asked this god of death with a hint of awe.
"I was once the leader of a country. Now, I am Master's personal attendant," Artoria answered formally.
"The leader of a country?"
Seele's eyes widened slightly. Recalling the kingly demeanor Artoria had shown, she immediately chose to believe her.
However...
"As a king, to be able to strike down so many people without hesitation... don't you hesitate or feel regret?" Seele asked, puzzled.
Death was an irreversible state, which was why she was so cautious and never abused violence.
Faced with such a naive question, Artoria shook her head.
"I am only responsible for my subjects. And if my subjects break the law, then they should also accept punishment. If the rotten branches are not pruned, the country cannot grow and prosper."
Although she was often described as "King Arthur doesn't understand the human heart," and had once struggled with self-doubt...
But now, after following Su Mo, she had come to terms with much of it.
Since she had known from the beginning that her life's struggle was for a dream destined to shatter, then no matter how that dream shattered, it was only natural.
The answer she sought now was merely a way to account for her own regrets.
At least in terms of how to govern a country, she did not doubt her own abilities.
"Pruning branches... When you said killing a hundred bad people to save a thousand good people, is that what you meant?"
Recalling Artoria's words, Seele wore a thoughtful expression.
Although she still couldn't accept such an act, she could understand Artoria's thinking.
If the leaders of the Overworld could do this... forget it. For those guys to do that, they'd probably have to kill themselves first.
Seele quickly abandoned this boring thought.
Before her, Artoria nodded slightly. "Correct."
"Then what if the ones who make mistakes are the officials and nobles of the Overworld?" Seele asked tentatively.
Having seen the misery of the lower class, she often struggled between the desire to kill those good-for-nothing freeloaders and the fear that doing so would cause greater chaos.
She wanted to save the Underworld, to make the Underworld better, but she didn't know how.
This was why, in her original fate, she had compromised with Bronya.
Lost and confused, she needed a leader's guidance. So this question was also a subtle test, to see Artoria's attitude towards the poor.
Faced with this question, Artoria didn't think too much. For her, the question Seele raised was too common to be noteworthy.
"Just cut them down as well," she said in an unusually calm tone, stating the policy that Merlin had called that of a wise king. "Decadent nobles are an obstacle to the kingdom's progress. Whether through war or enfeoffment, their power must be suppressed."
"As for the vacancies created, they can be filled by the emerging class. I used to prefer using the knightly class. Master likes to call it the system of military merit."
No matter the world, the basics of power struggles didn't differ much, and it was the same even in the Honkai: Star Rail universe.
"Using knights... to replace nobles?"
Hearing this, Seele's eyes widened, feeling as if a new world had opened up to her.
She had never thought that such a method could be used to solve both the problem of corruption and the problem of a power vacuum at the same time.
According to her, this method had even been proven effective.
Didn't that mean that if they used her theory to take control of this city, this world would have hope again?
She was a king, a high and mighty leader, yet she could strike down her own nobles and officials without mercy.
In that instant, Artoria shone almost like a god in Seele's eyes.
"If only this city were ruled by you..."
In Artoria, she saw the image of an ideal king.
Although she spoke very softly, Artoria heard her clearly. She shook her head slightly and said, "I'm sorry! From now on, I will always be Master's attendant. I will not take the position of king again."
"In addition, I should remind you that the knightly class is also mostly filled by nobles. Unless schools are established to popularize knowledge, it is difficult for commoners to be competent. But it doesn't matter. As long as you persevere, the rotten productivity will eventually be eliminated."
"Whether it's Master's teachings or my own experience, this is the slowest, but also the most efficient method."
The current Artoria was also well aware of the drawbacks of her own plan.
However, ideals are not achieved overnight. The slowest method often reaches the goal the fastest.
"Master?" Hearing this title, Seele looked back at Su Mo. "Who exactly is this Mr. Su, that a wise king like you would be so willing to become his attendant?"
After being won over by the kingly Artoria, she started to become interested in her master, Su Mo.
Handing out priceless fruits casually, and with an attendant of such extraordinary origin... could he be the incarnation of a god?
"Master?"
Hearing Seele's simple question, Artoria thought for two seconds and answered, "He is a very, very amazing person."
"What kind of evaluation is that?" Seele muttered, puzzled.
Just as she was about to say more, a commotion suddenly came from the distance.
A dozen or so vagrants were clustered behind a white-haired loli in a large red coat, constantly pointing towards Su Mo.
The white-haired loli looked to be only thirteen or fourteen, walking barefoot on the road. Her eyes looked a little troubled, but she didn't refuse the vagrants' guidance. She approached Su Mo with confusion and began to speak.
Beside her, a dozen or so mechs surrounded her, separating the vagrant group from the white-haired loli.
"Clara?" Seele recognized the white-haired loli and quickly understood the vagrants' intentions. "Those guys went to complain to Clara? A bunch of shameless fools!"
"Please wait here. Clara is not a bad person. I'll just go and explain to her."
To avoid misunderstanding and conflict between allies, Seele explained and was about to go over.
"Don't attack Clara or the other robots! Svarog will get angry!"
Hearing this, Artoria looked towards a certain direction, from where the sound of something rapidly approaching could be heard.
"The Svarog you speak of, is it that big robot? Or is it a collective name for the entire robot army behind him?"
Hearing this, Seele finally noticed Svarog's figure rushing over.
Not only him, but almost half of the Underworld's mechanical army was charging with him, looking as if they were about to go berserk.
"Oh no! It involves Clara, so he's been provoked! Be careful, this robot was the strongest guy in our Underworld before! He also has control over the other mechs. He's a one-man mechanical army, very difficult to deal with!" Seele clenched her scythe and immediately warned.
Before, even she might not have been Svarog's opponent.
But now was different. After consuming the Fruit of the Tree of Life, her strength had increased severalfold and was continuing to increase every moment.
The current her was already strong enough to solo Svarog.
But facing an entire mechanical army was still a bit troublesome.
Hearing Seele's warning, Artoria's eyes sharpened.
Even if the opponent's strength was negligible, she couldn't let them rush her master. Regardless of whether their attack was based on a misunderstanding, this was a matter of principle and could not be violated.
Just as she gripped the hilt of her sword, about to make a move, she suddenly saw Topaz, beside Su Mo, step forward and take out a strange core.
In that instant, as if a pause button had been pressed, all the mechs stopped and froze in place.
Even Svarog, the former strongest in the Underworld who could control all the robots, after a brief stiffness, directly knelt and submitted at Su Mo's feet.
Seeing this, Artoria blinked in confusion.
"It's already over?"
"??? Making Svarog submit in front of Clara... why am I having such a dream?"
Seele slapped her own head, wondering if she was dreaming, or if she had never actually woken up after fainting.
"It should be Miss Topaz's power. Let's go and see."
Artoria and Seele immediately walked over.
As they got closer, they saw the barefooted, white-haired, red-eyed loli shaking the large robot in front of her. After realizing that the ever-reliable, father-like Svarog wasn't responding, she immediately looked at Su Mo with a nervous and pleading expression, on the verge of tears.
"Big brother! Mr. Svarog is not a bad person! Can you please let him go? I'll do anything!"
Looking at these lines, which were exactly the same as her own earlier, Seele slapped her head and sighed.
Just then, watching his beloved daughter pull on a man's sleeve and beg for him, Svarog's red eyes glowed to their limit, almost about to explode. But he could only tremble slightly and let out a helpless "hic," watching helplessly as the man before him dominated his and his family's lives.
A father's NTR moment.
Seeing this, Topaz's lip twitched. She felt as if she had become some kind of villain forcing someone to sell their daughter.