As the weather gradually settled, fewer people came to the court meeting to meet Ella. Ella sat alone on the throne, staring at the empty palace in a daze. Amy walked over and brought Ella a cup of brewed black tea.

"Amy...I'm going to be exhausted soon."

"Your Majesty didn't hate the court meeting so much when he was in the Seven Hills Empire." Amy sighed, "What's wrong with your Majesty? You even thought about escaping from Sweden in the morning?"

"I can't understand the customs and laws here." Ella looked at the fading sky outside the door. "I think many of the laws here are barbaric... even wrong, but the people here generally recognize that such laws are just. I don't know whether they should be modified, nor whether they can be modified successfully... and I don't know whether they should follow their laws. There are many people at the court meeting, all of whom come to see me. But I think I am the only outsider. Amy, a native of the Seven Hills Empire, is it really suitable to be the king of the pirate kingdom?"

Amy sighed again: "Your Majesty, you are thinking too much. Although the throne of Sweden was not passed on to you by our ancestors, it was not something you deceived. It was stolen. How could there be any suitable or not?"

While speaking, a soldier walked in from outside and said, "King of Sweden, another group of people came to see you, they are representatives of several local tribes."

"Let them come in." Ella sat upright with difficulty. Amy stood beside her consciously

A group of people in coarse cloth clothes walked in and knelt in front of the throne.

"Get up." Ella said weakly.

So the group stood up. There were many red marks left by frostbite on their faces.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Someone whispered in the crowd: "Dear Swedish King, these days, there are some priests...the previous ones, those priests wandering among us, saying...the unfriendly words to the Swedish King."

"I know. They are Odin's servants, so you can't expect them to say good things about me, right?"

The group of people looked at each other. After a while, one of them stood up boldly and said, "Great Triumph, we have no intention of offending you, just hope you can agree to a small request from us. This is also the common view of our tribes - can you ask you to revoke the ban on robbery at sea?"

Ella sighed slightly and closed her eyes. And when she opened her eyes again, her pupils were filled with the courage of a king. "You just want to go out to sea and rob?"

"It doesn't matter if the Swedish king doesn't lead the team in person. We can organize a small team of people and go out to sea by ourselves... As long as the Swedish king can revoke the ban. Otherwise..."

The man who spoke paused, then continued in a small, almost unaudible voice: "... Otherwise, under the lobbying of those priests, the situation might become unfavorable to the Swedish king."

Ella asked, "Do you want to be pirates all the time? Look at the outskirts who came today, they have learned your shipbuilding skills; look at Alfred of Britain, who specially built a fleet for you; look at Otto of the Federation of Almany, who built fortresses on the rivers to prevent you... These practices will sooner or later be learned by more countries. How long can you continue to carry out such looting activities? What should you do when you can no longer carry out looting smoothly?"

Someone hurriedly replied: "I hope the Swedish king will not misunderstand... We still like the Swedish king's walls, bathhouses and avenues. It's just... it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just that before we think about things that have been so long, we have to think about how to live through tomorrow."

The courage in Ella's eyes disappeared suddenly. She covered her forehead irritably, and waved her other hand outside the door: "I have received your opinions. I will consider it again, so you can go back today."

The group of people answered each other and then retreated in scattered ways.

"Your Majesty..." Amy looked at Ella worriedly.

"They are right." Ella said a little discouraged. "I banned them from going to sea and robbed them without helping them find other ways to make a living. It is all my responsibility."

Looking at Ella like this, Amy felt pity. She scoured her head and looked for words that could comfort Ella, hoping that Ella could cheer up. But before she could think of what to say, the soldier came up again and said, "The King of Sweden, someone is coming again, he is an envoy from the Island Republic."

"Island Republic?" Amy opened her mouth in shock, "Well, is it a whole continent separated from us? What did they send envoys here for?"

Ella's body shook slightly. Although this movement was light, it could not be hidden from Amy's eyes: "Your Majesty... do you know what's going on?"

"... People from the Island Republic came here not long ago. They said that they saw the merchants of the Almany Federation traded under our banner, and thought it was quite good, so they wanted to trade like the merchants of the Almany Federation under the protection of our pirate kingdom."

"...Your Majesty, you agree?"

"I wanted to refuse, but the price they gave was too much... I was short of money..."

"What if their caravan is really robbed? Their trade range is in the Mediterranean! Mediterranean! Your Majesty really plans to send troops from the North Sea, cross the entire continent, and go to the Mediterranean to help them stand out?"

"Gu...I can't be sure they were robbed. Let the messenger come in."

A man in gorgeous silk strode into the palace.

"King of Sweden, not long ago, a merchant ship carrying your flag was robbed by the Republic of Liguria. The governor of the Island Republic hopes that the King of Sweden can fulfill his promise and send troops to teach the Republic of Liguria a lesson."

When she heard that a merchant ship was robbed, Ella lowered her head in annoyance - she had sent troops so far away and the debt she had to bear would increase again. But if she did not send troops, not only the Island Republic, but even the merchants of the Allmani Federation would not sign an agreement with her again.

"I understand, I will give some troops to teach those guys a lesson. You can step down first."

"Wait, our governor has another word," said the messenger. "He hopes that the King of Sweden will not just teach the Republic of Liguria, but will be able to attack these bold and arrogant guys, such as... to capture one or two of their cities."

"Is this a joke?" Amy couldn't help but say, "How many soldiers need to be dispatched to capture a city, your governor knows, right? This is not a fair deal at all!"

"The Governor knew that this was a bit difficult, so he offered another condition: the cost of the Swedish king's troops was paid 80% by the island Republic, and there was a deposit entrusted by the Governor to me. In addition, all the spoils obtained by the Swedish king are still owned by the Swedish king..."
Chapter completed!