Ch.861 Million City

“1.4 million!”

I let out a shout of joy.

I was expressing pure happiness at the fact that nearly 600,000 refugees and wanderers had made the decision to become citizens of Amurtat.

Of the 600,000 new citizens, 100,000 were accepted into Pale Harbor, 100,000 into the villages outside the city walls, and the remaining 400,000 into Amurtat City itself. With this, Amurtat had become a city of 1 million, having accepted 900,000 people.

You might ask if I’m rounding up from 900,000 to call it a city of 1 million? You could think that, but the standard for a “million-population city” is based on “floating population,” which makes the criteria more lenient than you might expect.

It was so lenient that in Polistory, there was even a challenge to achieve the million-city milestone with just 700,000 permanent residents.

The concept of floating population might seem complicated, but it’s like how in Korea, people commuting from cities like Suwon in Gyeonggi Province to Seoul are all counted as part of the floating population. So even a city with 900,000 residents would inevitably feel like it had a population of 1 million.

When you can physically feel the crowds during rush hour, how could anyone deny that this was a million-population city?

“But 600,000 people… Why are there so many refugees?”

“There haven’t been any reports of large-scale wars in the central continent recently… It’s strange indeed.”

“I’m a bit uneasy about it. Let’s put in a request with the Adventurers’ Guild to investigate this thoroughly.”

“Understood.”

600,000 wasn’t a small number by any means. Even though we had controlled all the northern routes for several months, the influx of this many refugees without major incidents was unprecedented.

This was enough people to establish two or three decent-sized nations. While I was grateful for their arrival, I also felt afraid.

It might sound impressive to say 1.4 million, but looking closer, it meant 800,000 and 600,000 people were coexisting uncomfortably in one nation.

Moreover, some had likely been brought here semi-forcibly through human hunting, which meant half the population was essentially a ticking time bomb.

Well, in this world, having a roof over your head, daily bread, and clothes to wear—however shabby—was already a blessing. So the likelihood of these 600,000 newcomers starting riots or rebellions was low, but…

“There could be demon worshippers or heretics among them.”

“I’ve been concerned about that too. Usually… for this many refugees to be created…”

“A nation must have fallen.”

My aide silently nodded.

The barrier I maintain—the one created by the combination of the monarch and the earth core—provides absolute defense against external impacts and invasions, but it has a fatal weakness: it cannot prevent monsters or demons born from within.

That’s why any nation with common sense works tirelessly to root out demon worshippers and heretics. Demon worshippers are those who worship demons, while heretics follow faiths other than the angel religion.

Demon worship was self-explanatory, but heretics were divided into two factions: those who worshipped spirits that gained power from specific environments (like forests or seas) similar to earth cores, and those who deified natural phenomena (like lightning or storms) and devoted faith to them.

I could understand “devotion of faith” with some generosity, but there was a reason these people were called heretics.

They fundamentally aimed to “destroy the current order”—physically overthrowing barrier nations represented by “earth cores and monarchs.” To achieve this, they would resort to extreme measures like human sacrifice to awaken spirits and trigger natural disasters.

The problem was that even if they awakened spirits, they couldn’t control them, and causing natural disasters wouldn’t ensure their own survival.

At least demon worshippers had a clear purpose: to sacrifice us for their own benefit. Heretics, on the other hand, were lunatics whose sole purpose was the destruction of existing human society.

If demon worshippers were the “bad guys,” then heretics were the “insane guys.”

Anyway, one thing was certain: I wanted both groups out of my country.

“Let’s contact the church, make donations and offerings, and request a national purification.”

“Understood. This will cost us a significant sum again.”

“Still better than letting the entire city fall into corruption.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

*

Fall of the 10th year of Amurtat.

During the bountiful harvest festival, a person was tied to a stake.

“How foolish. Do you think the spirits will answer your prayers?”

In front of the bound heretic stood armed priests in angel church attire, holding torches. Around them, crowds had gathered to witness the rare event of a burning at the stake.

“Answer, heretic. Why have you strayed from the righteous teachings of the angels?”

“Righteous teachings, my ass!”

*Spit*

The heretic’s head was crudely shaved, and the word “heretic” was branded uglily on his forehead.

This indicated he was a victim of the villagers’ crude heretic hunt rather than the priests’ careful condemnation, but since he was indeed a servant of heresy, this wasn’t much of an issue.

“No matter how hard I work for a year, only 30% falls into my hands… Harsh labor conditions like being worked like cattle pushing a wheel every day… It all needs to be burned… destroyed! Yes! Burn it all!!! With Ifrit’s flames!! With Tempesta’s storm!!!!”

“…”

Though the heretic bound to the stake continued to spout blasphemous statements, the priests remained silent.

The reason was simple: their duty was to condemn heresy, not to reform and solve social problems.

Moreover, despite his loud voice, the crowd showed no sympathy for his words.

“Wooo~ You trash~ You call that an excuse?”

“Are you the only one being ground down? We’re all ground down too!”

“Others manage to support families after paying taxes, but you’re complaining while living alone?”

“Your belly is full, so you turn to vile heresy!”

This world might be a dystopia, but it wasn’t an apocalypse.

If you worked hard, you would surely receive your due reward.

If not, either you hadn’t worked hard enough, or there was some corruption involved.

But in either case, it was an issue that should be improved through legitimate expression of opinions, not by “let’s destroy everything!” as the heretics advocated.

“There’s no value in listening further.”

“Shall we burn him?”

“Yes.”

At the head priest’s word, the attending priests simultaneously threw their torches onto the stake.

The dry woodpile caught fire instantly, and acrid smoke immediately enveloped the stake.

“Cough!! Cough!! Gaaack!!”

Even before the flames reached the heretic’s body, he was already approaching death.

Carbon monoxide laden with heat of hundreds of degrees began to burn his alveoli, gradually making him lose consciousness from oxygen deprivation. By the time the flames reached his feet, his consciousness was already completely gone.

But the crowd neither knew this, nor could they know, nor did they need to know.

All they needed was the satisfaction that the heretic was dead and they were safe, the refreshing feeling that a sinner had paid for his sins, and the reassurance that there were no more heretics around them.

“In the court of angels, no one except the Archangel of Defense will be able to prove your innocence, for this is the punishment for a corrupted soul.”

“””The final day that will come is the day when all sins will be judged and all sinners will be punished.”””

Reciting verses from the scripture, the priests’ faces remained serene as they doused the still-burning stake with water to extinguish the flames.

For them, this was a mission given by the angels, just another job.

To them, killing a heretic was no different from slaughtering livestock, so their faces showed no emotion except for beads of sweat from the heat.

“The Archangel of Justice, Justia, said: ‘People, do not betray and fall. A wife serving her husband and a treasurer keeping away from wealth are blessings from us angels to shake off numerous evils.'”

“””She continued, saying: ‘I have given you the will to resist temptation, the justice to purify corruption, and the resolve to reject betrayal. Whether great or small, all your sins trample upon this grace of mine.'”””

Finally, scattering the bone ash mixed with cinders to the wind, the priests completely demolished the stake, leaving no trace of its form.

This was the final mercy bestowed by the servants of angels, through which those who betrayed and fell under this heaven would be forgotten forever.