Ch.77The Gate Opens

“His Majesty will not willingly take the medicine. Is there any other way?”

“We could mix it into the tea His Majesty frequently drinks. I will do it.”

“Thank you…”

“Not at all. As His Majesty’s servant, it is simply my duty.”

The advisor was attempting to entrust the administration of the stimulant to Fahrenheit’s chamberlain.

Fortunately, she accepted the advisor’s proposal, and the advisor could see faint tears forming in her eyes along with his own sense of relief.

How could her clear eyes, still youthful despite being over seventy, look so sad?

With a sense of pity, the advisor handed her the container of stimulant and said, “This is all for Fahrenheit.”

“Yes. For His Majesty’s sake.”

In this world where state and individual were unified, the distinction between them was meaningless.

Without the monarch, there would be no state, and without the state, no monarch.

But that didn’t mean the people of this world couldn’t distinguish between loyalty to an individual and love for their country.

While Fahrenheit was certainly maintained under Marcus’s existence, that didn’t mean the legacy created by the 10 million lives living under him was worthless.

“I hope this will be enough for His Majesty…”

The chamberlain received the medicine bottle, tucked it into her bosom, and with that, the meeting between the chamberlain and the advisor came to an end.

They parted ways toward their respective offices, leaving only a lonely silence in the place where they had met.

“May the angels forgive our disloyalty…”

The advisor muttered as he walked alone down the corridor where candles flickered.

*

Clatter. Tap.

“Your Majesty. Here is today’s tea.”

“…”

Marcus’s weakened state was pitiful to behold.

His clothes, which no one knew when he had last changed, emitted a faint musty smell, and a stench wafted from his body and hair, stained with sweat.

Considering that one of the virtues of a monarch is thorough self-management, this man who bore the title of “Great” Monarch was demonstrating just how far one could fall.

Tremble, tremble…

Marcus lifted the teacup with unfocused eyes and gulped down the already lukewarm tea.

Despite the bitterness of the tea, it seemed he could no longer taste anything, as he didn’t touch the cold water and refreshments provided to cleanse his palate.

“…”

And the chamberlain watching him anxiously.

She had secretly mixed the stimulant into his tea, and in a normal state, he would have immediately noticed the change in taste from the foreign substance.

However, he showed no reaction, and the chamberlain could only sigh in front of the Great Monarch.

“Haaah…”

“…Miriam?”

But at that moment, her master called her name, and she turned to look into Marcus’s eyes.

Seeing his pupils gradually regaining their luster, Chamberlain Miriam covered her mouth, and as the stimulant’s effects began to take hold, Marcus rose from his seat, embraced Miriam, and looked around.

“What… what… is this? Miriam. Did I… did I do this to myself?”

“Your Majesty. Are you coming to your senses now?”

“My head hurts. It feels like it’s burning…”

The Great Monarch sat back down, clutching his throbbing head.

And as the stimulant’s effect fully reached his brain, he grabbed Miriam’s shoulders with bloodshot eyes.

“You put something in my tea! What did you put in? Tell me at once!”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty! We had to use the power of medicine to restore your mind!”

“Mind… medicine… Good heavens…!”

Marcus collapsed in place like a deflated balloon.

Miriam hurriedly caught him before he could hurt himself, but the realization that he had reached a state where he could only regain his senses through dependence on drugs began to hit Marcus hard.

“I’m in no position to scold you… By the angels… When did things come to this? Fahrenheit, a nation with 300 years of history… and I’ve been running it into the ground!”

Having reached this conclusion, the Great Monarch began to shed endless tears beneath eyes now showing signs of life.

In the end, he had failed to win the war, and cold and hunger were gnawing away at his people and his country.

And he knew that now, only one option remained to save the nation.

“Miriam…”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Go and summon the advisor…”

Marcus ordered Miriam to call for the advisor, and then, left alone in the empty room, he murmured softly.

“We have lost…”

*

“Sign it, Great Monarch of Fahrenheit.”

“Ugh…”

The Great Monarch of Fahrenheit painfully signed the surrender document before thirty-five representatives.

Just as the cold was beginning to subside, one nation surrendered to many, and Fahrenheit with its 300 years of history was forced to open its steadfast gates under the fierce attack of Amurtat and the Allied Nations, with their mere decade of history.

Whether it was the advisor’s drug treatment showing improvement, or simply the Great Monarch’s realization that everything truly could end, one fact was clear to them all.

“A historic moment indeed. The weak united have defeated the strong!”

“The alliance between nations cannot be broken by anything!”

Exchanging copies of the surrender document, the representatives of the Allied Nations shared congratulatory words.

Simultaneously, the warehouse keepers who had been detained were released, and they rushed to the fields to push harvested crops into spatial storage warehouses.

“Now hunger will retreat from Fahrenheit once more. Great Monarch, see that you keep the treaty.”

“I shall. I will give you all of Fahrenheit’s knowledge, but please, do not harm the citizens.”

“That remains to be seen. If they do not interfere with us, we will not harm them.”

The representative of Amurtat spoke arrogantly before the Great Monarch.

Yet despite such disrespect, the Great Monarch could not raise his head, for he was a defeated ruler bearing the burden of defeat, and furthermore, felt guilty for bringing about the fall and decline in Fahrenheit’s 300-year history of rise and fall through his own misguided judgment.

“Open the gates!”

Clank!

Rumble!

At the command of many voices, the gates, still bearing numerous scars, began to open.

From atop the walls came the sorrowful laments of emaciated soldiers, and as tears began to flow along the cracks in the walls, the forces of Amurtat and the Allied Nations casually wiped them away as they headed toward Fahrenheit’s libraries, industrial facilities, alchemists’ workshops, and magic towers—all containing the knowledge and information they desired.

Now books would disappear from Fahrenheit’s libraries.

Now there would be no more secrets in the industrial facilities.

Now there would be no more clandestine formulas in the alchemy workshops.

Now the magic tower research laboratories, filled with enough teachings to bury a person, would be emptied.

This was the right of the victor and the price of the defeated.

“Amurtat beheaded the Master, a most significant achievement. Therefore, we representatives of the Allied Nations have unanimously concluded that Amurtat should be given the exclusive right to plunder the city of Fahrenheit for one week.”

Even among the victors, ranks were established, with the highest honor going to Amurtat, which had destroyed the strategic weapon known as the Master.

“I express my deepest gratitude for the consideration of the Allied Nations. Our sovereign, Lord Tiberius, has commanded that kindness be repaid with kindness, and in return, Amurtat pledges not to plunder the treasures of Fahrenheit city.”

“We express our gratitude for Amurtat’s consideration. Then we too can march in triumphantly with dignity.”

The fundamental reason why many alliances form and then dissolve into conflict once their purpose is achieved is that while they lack the strength to achieve goals alone, once united and successful, each wants to claim a larger share.

The reason there was no discord among the current Allied Nations was that what Amurtat wanted differed from what the other nations desired.

Amurtat sought knowledge of technology and scientific information to become a more advanced technological power, while the other nations wished to plunder Fahrenheit’s treasures to fill their national coffers.

Even with spatial warehouses, not all treasures were stored within them.

From flour sacks in homes to nobles’ precious metals—in a city with a massive population of 10 million, there was far too much to take.

“Soldiers of Amurtat! Carry out His Majesty’s orders!”

“Yes, sir!”

And as Amurtat’s soldiers entered through the opened gates, the Allied soldiers, officers, and representatives watching could only wait impatiently for the week to pass as quickly as possible.