in the name of the queen

Chapter 60 They are dead, my heart is broken

"Look, look, the noble sister is here!"

The children's surprised voices echoed over what was once the Royal Knights Camp, now the Knights Family Park.

Several children who were playing around rubbed their cold red hands and gathered around Sif in excitement and embarrassment, chattering.

"Jerry, look, sister Sif looks so handsome in armor today!"

"That's not handsome, that's heroic. Tom, you always use the wrong words!"

"You are all wrong. Sister Xif is the most beautiful today!"

Listening to the children's sincere compliments, Sif smiled happily, and at the same time gave Roland a show-off expression of "Did you see someone complimenting you?"

Although it was just to show off, Roland didn't feel unhappy at all.

Who says there is no sunshine in the winter in Sussex? It’s all in Sif’s smile.

He laughed too.

Finally, some children accidentally "discovered" Roland.

"Look, Sister Sif's guards are here too."

"Ah, brother Roland is also very handsome."

Although it was a bit perfunctory, the children still praised her a few times for Sif's sake.

Roland puffed up his chest proudly and gave Sif a "me too" expression.

Seeing the children chattering non-stop, Roland coughed lightly and shouted loudly:
  "Kids, you go home first, there are important things today!"

Although the children were reluctant to petition, they still reluctantly said goodbye to Sif and headed back home.

Roland? He's just a follower of Sister Sif, I'm not familiar with him.

If they are not allowed to listen to Sister Sif's stories, they will be even more unfamiliar.

Of course, Roland would not argue with children. He went to Wharton, the acting head of the Knights, and presented the order issued by the Heraldry Council, requesting to receive the troops.

Wharton had received the issued order yesterday and knew who the new regiment leader was, but he didn't expect Roland to be so young.

Wharton is a typical Sussex strong man, nearly 1.9 meters tall and as strong as an ox. His red nose still smells of alcohol. It seems he drank a lot last night.

He squinted his eyes and looked at Roland, sighing in his heart, it seemed that the scandal was true.

The new leader is indeed Her Majesty the Queen’s little lover!
  Wharton felt a secret contempt in his heart when he saw that Roland took over the army and brought a beautiful woman with him.

He can beat up ten pretty boys like this.

But so what, on the surface he still has to listen to the pretty boy.

Thinking of this, Wharton's originally high-spirited expression became a little more solemn.

He listlessly opened the safe, took out the golden dagger and seal representing the power of the leader of the Knights, and handed them to Roland.

He held the dagger in one hand and handed it to Roland.

Roland didn't answer, just stared at him.

Wharton was stunned for a moment and suddenly realized, was this pretty boy using him to show off his power?
  He was furious and just about to explode when he saw the white rose pattern on Sif's collar from the corner of his eye.

This is the mark of royalty.

He didn't know Sif, but he knew this was a girl he couldn't mess with.

Wharton quickly switched to a smiling face, held the golden dagger in both hands, raised it above his head, bent one knee slightly in front of Roland, and reported loudly.

"I, Deputy Commander and Acting Commander of the White Rose Knights, Wharton, hand over all power to Lord Roland."

This is right.

After all, it’s also the team leader’s handover. It’s like a child playing house, isn’t that right?
  Roland knew that Wharton was angry, but he still persisted.

If you have a temper and find a way to solve it yourself, what does it have to do with him?
  Are you angry? If you don’t want to do it, some people will do it!
  As the person in charge of staying behind, Wharton had probably dreamed of becoming a deputy to a full-time position. Roland's arrival announced the end of his dream. It was strange that he liked Roland.

This guy has a beard on his face and looks rough. Only he knows what he is thinking.

Roland solemnly took over the golden dagger and seal and completed the handover according to the procedure.

After the handover, Roland sat directly at the main seat without any courtesy and asked casually:

"Deputy Captain Wharton, you are the person in charge of staying behind. Please give me a brief introduction to the current situation of the Knights."

Wharton looked at Roland angrily, and was about to make a few lukewarm remarks when he saw the white rose on Sif's collar out of the corner of his eye, which instantly withered.

The Royal Knights is a common name, and its official name is the Knights of the White Rose, because the white rose is a symbol of the royal family.

At first glance, it was a royal girl from a high-ranking noble family accompanying Roland to receive her. What else could he say?
  Although Wharton didn't dare to confront him head-on, he didn't have a good attitude either.

"Sir Roland, the Knights have not paid salaries for three years! I have no intention of complaining, but the brothers of the Knights need to eat, and their families also need to eat, so we can only find some way out on our own."

"Fortunately, the Stanley brothers have business acumen and have made money through logistics and trade. Now except for a few members of the group who stay behind, the rest are working for Stanley Trading Company."

"Captain, don't blame them. If we didn't have a way to make a living, we would all have died of hunger long ago. It doesn't matter if we starve to death, what will happen to our families? If we all starve to death, who will serve His Majesty?"

Sif's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her slender fingers turned white under her gauntlets. She thought the situation was bad, but she never thought it would be so bad.

She subconsciously wanted to turn her eyes to Roland, but held back. Roland is very busy and cannot let Roland do the thinking for him every time.

She also has a brain, why not use it?

Sif frowned slightly and began to think about the underlying meaning of Wharton's words.

First make sure something.

Wharton is anything but truly loyal.

Not as good as Roland.

Sif gave him a conclusion without politeness.

This is not the result of her razor-sharp analysis, but the effect of the power of [insight].

She stood behind Wharton and activated her extraordinary abilities.

At a glance, Wharton had a light cyan mark on his head.

Colors closer to red are loyal, colors closer to black are disloyal.

Wharton's mental defense was not very strong, and Sif saw through it at a glance.

Sif stood behind Wharton and reminded Roland with her mouth, "This man is not loyal!"

Roland lowered his head slightly, almost unable to hold back his laughter.

Sif is pretty good at cheating.

But that's right, who would do the questions if you can directly peek at the answers.

It's not class time now, we'll talk about it later.

Roland chatted with Wharton for a few words, roughly understood the basic situation, and then asked Wharton to go down and rest.

After Wharton left, Roland and Sif were the only two people left in the room.

After the two sat down respectively, Roland asked slowly: "Sif, what do you think of the current situation of the Knights?"

"It's a bit bad. It seems we can't count on them." Sif sighed.

"It's indeed bad, but it's not necessarily a bad thing." Roland said calmly.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing. Can they still change?"

Sif looked at Roland with disbelief, her eyes full of surprise.

She believed in Roland, after all, he could always create unexpected miracles.

The Knights were ruined, and she wanted to see what Roland would do.

Roland took out a document from the document bag and handed it to Sif.

"This is a bill from the head of the house. In the past few years, the royal family has been financially tight. It has indeed reduced the establishment and funding of the Knights, but the salary paid is 80%."

Xif took the bill and looked at it for a few times, her fair face turned red instantly.

"What a bastard!"

The deduction of military pay was actually deducted from her head.

Not only did they deduct military pay, but they also falsely reported their numbers and pretended to receive military pay.

A rough estimate is that the upper echelons of the Knights have siphoned off as much as 70,000 to 80,000 pounds from the royal family in the past few years.

It is strange that this kind of army can have combat effectiveness.

Because the knights were not adapted to the battlefield, the number of the knights was reduced and they fell into limbo.

But the Knights are a face, and the royal family still has to maintain this useless army and pull it out to act as a guard of honor during important celebrations.

The result is a bunch of borers.

"How to deal with it?" Roland asked softly.

Of course he was prepared, he just gave Sif a casual test.

Sif bit her lip, her cold eyes filled with murderous intent.

These morons all took her money.

She knows that internal money is very tight, and she has been taking the initiative to save money recently.

She sleeps on three layers of bedding at night, and eats no more than six dishes at a time. She doesn't turn on the magic lamp unless necessary at night, but makes do with a few candles.

But these bastards put their hands into her gold coin box.

"You must kill a chicken to scare those monkeys. That's what you said."

Roland nodded with satisfaction.

That's right, you have to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.

Sif learned very well.

(End of this chapter)