episode_0066

“Kyaaaa! S, Saintess-nim! Are you alright?!”

“Quick, summon a doctor! Gather all the priests who can use healing magic! The Saintess’s condition is–”

“I’m fine, so don’t worry, everyone. Please don’t make such a fuss.”

The clergy made a fuss over her disheveled appearance as soon as she came out of the prayer room.

As the nuns and priests screamed and danced in a frenzy, the Saintess sighed and dissuaded them.

“Then what about that mark on your neck? Was there perhaps an assassin?”

“That’s… no.”

But it was understandable to be mistaken.

Because Joan’s condition right now was far from good, to put it mildly.

The ceremonial robes for the Saintess were crumpled and torn to pieces, her eyes were full of tear stains.

The mark on her neck was the trace of the goddess personally strangling her, even wasting her precious divine power.

She looked more like a victim of assault or robbery than someone who had been praying.

“…Let’s just say I was scolded by the Goddess for something on Earth. It’s complicated to explain in detail.”

“A scolding…”

“The world is very chaotic these days. The number of people who don’t follow our order is also increasing. She was very angry about that.”

However, it was difficult to reveal the truth, so she made up an excuse.

How could she explain that the crazy goddess was angry because the person she kidnapped and tried to force into labor was causing trouble?

Even she, who heard it directly in her head, was still dumbfounded.

If she explained it to the clergy who couldn’t receive oracles, they would just think Joan was strange.

“Her anger must have been considerable. Enough to express it on the Saintess-nim.”

“Well, something like that. She kept shouting even while talking.”

“You’ve suffered a lot. To handle that alone.”

She had suffered quite a lot.

She experienced high blood pressure for the first time in her life listening to that crazy bitch’s brazen insistence.

And she got angry and blurted out whatever came to mind, and even experienced divine punishment for the first time in hundreds of years.

“It’s nothing. More than that, could you bring me a wet towel and a drink? Anything cool would be nice.”

“I’ll bring it right away!”

While a new priest ran to the kitchen, Joan slumped down on a nearby bench.

She didn’t have the energy to return to her bedroom.

She needed time to organize her thoughts and rest for a while.

‘Since I received the order, I have to follow it.’

She had learned the truth hidden by the sacred being, but that was separate from her mission.

In any case, she needed to fulfill the duty she received as a Saintess.

If she refused and resisted, another oracle would come and threaten her. She had no choice but to obey to some extent.

Of course, that didn’t mean she had to do everything she wanted 100%.

“Haa.”

“Is there something wrong, Saintess-nim?”

“It’s just a sigh, so don’t worry too much about it.”

In the old days, she would have happily carried out her mission faithfully, but it was different now. How could she blindly obey as before, knowing the ugly truth?

She couldn’t harbor mindless loyalty even knowing what was happening on the dark side of the world.

‘Laemis Instructor, no, Ismail.’

Once her teacher, and a person trying to burn the world with revenge.

“…I have to meet him.”

In any case, it would be good to meet and talk in person. To find out what she couldn’t ask last time.

Now that she had obtained a clue to find him, contact wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Saintess-nim. Here’s the wet towel you asked for.”

“Thank you. Your name is…”

“It’s Garosh!”

Somehow, it was a name that suited an orc who was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Unfortunately, this friend was clearly a human being.

Anyway, Joan slowly wiped the dust from her face and clothes with a towel.

Even if she wiped away the tears, the marks remained, but she looked less hideous than before.

“Bishop.”

“Tell me.”

“Could you organize a small delegation? About twenty people, including me and the attendants.”

“It’s not difficult, but… where are you planning to go?”

“The Elaine Kingdom. I have to carry out the Goddess’s order. It’s not for diplomatic purposes, so I’m going to go quietly.”

“It’s going to cost quite a bit. Where should I get people from…”

When she invoked the name of God, he obediently followed, even though his expression darkened.

He probably didn’t like the idea of the top decision-maker leaving when the Order was already in a chaotic situation, but he couldn’t refuse.

Joan thanked him inwardly for always being faithful to the orders. Thank you, for always helping me.

“It’ll take about two months, including the round trip. I’ll be back soon.”

“That’s a relief.”

Since it was just a matter of meeting one person, it wouldn’t take long.

…The problem was what she would learn, hear, and realize there.

‘What is that person thinking?’

Joan lacked confidence.

She wasn’t confident that she could maintain her current beliefs and attitude even after having a serious conversation with Ismail.

* * * * *

Let’s talk about the old days for a bit.

Europe in the Middle Ages and early modern times was a mess where wars broke out every other day.

Gang-ups, alliances, betrayals, and all sorts of sordid methods were rampant, and they killed each other.

To survive in such a world, it was inevitable to mobilize a lot of military spending.

It was common sense to squeeze taxes and food from the commoners to death and waste them on wars.

‘Exploitation was daily life. There were many places so serious that the Hell Joseon they criticize was like a fairy.’

But surprisingly, there are hardly any cases where countries or territories are overthrown due to revolts/uprisings.

Of course, if you look for it, there are some, but it’s very small compared to the intensity of the exploitation.

How was such a system possible?

The secret was none other than the monopoly of military force.

Because the ruler had absolute military power within the territory.

The rebel militia was no match for the knights who trained all their lives.

Even after gunpowder was developed and the knights fell, the military advantage remained the same because there were direct armies and mercenaries.

In short, it was difficult to rise up because they were crushed with overwhelming force.

‘Military-first politics is a modern version of this logic.’

And the 2nd and 3rd leaders of the North (not e-book but North 以北) Bogurius revived this political technique, which had been buried since modern times.

For the purpose of preserving his power, even if the country’s finances were collapsing and the economy was plunging into the abyss.

“Looking at the name, I can roughly guess what the concept is, but it doesn’t seem very beneficial.”

“That’s right. It’s not a system that a normally run country would adopt.”

At the time, North Korea was experiencing the Arduous March due to Kim Jong-il’s misrule, and the country was collapsing in real time. There was no money, the infrastructure was broken, and even the government system was on the verge of collapse.

No farm or factory was functioning properly. Thanks to this, the Baektu bloodline’s dominance was rapidly weakening.

The measure put forward to overcome this situation was this.

It is an idea to govern and control society by putting the military first to maintain order.

[The people must be ruled by guns. They value bullets over candies, and the people obey the Party only when gunshots are heard.]

Resources, manpower, and funds of the country are poured into the military. It doesn’t matter how ragged and hungry the people are, but the military is somehow kept alive.

At the same time, the status of the military is raised, but the work of clearly defining and taming the hierarchical relationship with the powerful is carried out in parallel.

In that case, the military’s loyalty naturally pours into the water lord and commander, the person.

Now, if you press down on the bottom with the secured military force so that they cannot resist or rebel, that is military-first politics.

[Pyongyang is the capital of the revolution and a symbol of the ideological and civilization superiority of socialist Juche Korea. Those who do not have excellent family background should not be given the right to live.]

Ah, nurturing the privileged class is a bonus here. It is good to prioritize benefits and support for areas that are the foundation of the powerful, such as the capital.

People who receive different treatment and treatment from others will naturally cultivate exclusivity and discrimination.

To maintain that, they will thoroughly be loyal to the regime and become watchdogs that check others.

“But where is there a normal country in this world these days? Even my father-in-law’s Great Prairie is in turmoil due to power struggles and fanatics.”

“…That’s true too. I forgot for a moment.”

As Kalia, who was fidgeting on my lap, reacted, it was by no means a proper way of governing.

If it was a country that was running ‘normally’, it would naturally reject it, saying that it would ruin the future.

‘Of course, there are plenty of guys who do it knowing that.’

But let’s not forget. We are at war now. Where is common sense in a situation where everyone is pulling out the pillars of their houses and pouring them into military spending?

Everyone is controlling society with the military. Military-first politics simply combines political engineering techniques and developed governance techniques to that.

And there are many rulers in the world who don’t care about the future. Humans who are ok with just maintaining their power in their own time.

This North Korean-style governance method will surely be accepted that way.

“When are you planning to spread it?”

“It’s difficult right now… from next month? The anxiety about internal division must be sufficiently widespread first.”

It’s not difficult to revise the writing to suit the actual situation of this world. It’s not like I’m writing a book for the first or second time.

However, the proper timing was important. The mentality of the rulers must be shaken to accept such ideas well. I still have to wait.

And–

“For the time being, I think I should pay attention to the southern sea.”

Because the Alcyone Federation finally opened the era of the Warring States.