episode_0203

Morning two days later.

It was obviously the beginning of a day like any other day, with nothing changing, but the eyes of citizens, free people, vagabonds, and slaves who had opened their eyes were shining more sharply than ever.

Their gaze was directed towards the residences, mansions, or palaces where the nobles stayed. There was no kindness in that gaze, just bottomless malice and anger.

“… … .”

The moment dawn broke and the rising sun hit the window of my house, they started moving as if they had made a promise.

Potters opened their workshops and put cutlery into the hands of citizens, and serfs opened warehouses and distributed agricultural tools to free people, vagabonds, and slaves.

Of course, no matter how much they were given out, they could not have weapons to arm them all, so those who did not have farming tools or weapons started coming out onto the streets, grabbing rolling stones, clubs, and even furniture from their own homes.

The knights and vassals of each lord who felt strange about the huge crowd went to the lord and knocked on their door.

“Go, Your Excellency!!”

“Silence? How dare you come into the office without knocking, what kind of rudeness is this!!”

“Ma, a riot broke out in the village!! All the serfs and citizens are flocking here!!”

―Kill the Galbaran Baron!!

-Find him! You probably haven’t run away yet!!

“They are already here… … !!”

“Nonsense, nonsense!! This is ridiculous!!”

Starting with Baron Galbarn.

“Baron, they are already right in front of you… … . There is no way to escape anymore… … .”

“Don’t be funny!! How did I get to this point!! It can’t be like this!!”

Baron Petra.

“Count! Slaves and citizens from the village are coming here with weapons!! You need to run away now!”

“What does that mean all of a sudden? Squire, where is the squire!! Where are those useless bastards doing and what are they doing if they don’t stop them!!”

“Well, they were the first to be caught and brought to the square… … !!”

bang!!

“Hee Iik!? Oh, you need to run away quickly!!”

“How, how could this happen overnight… … . No, this is… … . This is a dream!!”

“Damn it! How could I… … !! Just for commoners――!!”

Count Tyr.

-Catch the nobles!!

“Stop them!! hurry!! Those guys, ahhh!!”

Count Berg.

-Kill them all!!

“You bastards!! How dare you tell me where this is!!”

“Father!! Ahhh!! I hate it!!!”

Earl of Argyll.

-Don’t let them escape!

“The long fortune of the Marquis of Arbel ends here… … .”

Marquis of Arbel.

And the sparks of rebellion rose in 50 other territories at the same time.

The embers that rose, like wildfire on a windy hill, spread in an instant and turned the entire kingdom into a sea of fire.

And the man who started the wildfire and was like the wildfire itself was now heading to the royal capital, listening to various news coming from all directions.

“Captain, I received a call from the marquis. They say they killed the marquis’ agent, but they couldn’t find the marquis himself.”

“He’ll be hiding nearby, so tell him to search around.”

“Captain! The Earl of Argyll is over!”

“Tell them to join us immediately. Resistance will be stronger in the royal capital than in other places, so support must continue to come.”

―… … . ―――!! ――, ―! -!

Receive reports immediately, issue orders accordingly, and continue to advance.

Normally, this would have been impossible, but it was possible because magicians who had been kicked out for researching forbidden magic among the vagabonds were using long-distance communication magic, and their number was in the thousands.

“Captain, what happened to the rebels in the capital by now?”

Cromwell, who was moving forward, sighed softly and answered a question posed by a self-proclaimed adviser who was following him.

“Half will be visiting the nobles, and half will be moving to open the castle gate.”

“… … How many people do you think are alive?”

Cromwell was silent for a moment at the sharp question.

How many people do you think are alive? … . How many people do you think are alive in the royal capital defense force, including the royal guards, guards, Holy Knights, and other citizens who have not yet been captured? … .

Cromwell, who had been walking quietly, answered in a sighing tone.

“I hope there are as many people alive as possible, but I can’t guarantee how many people will be alive. If even half of them are alive… … .I guess a lot of them survived.”

“I see… … . I have to go apply as soon as possible.”

Cromwell nodded at her words and immediately gave an order to speed up the march a little.

Because the place was not too far from the royal capital, they were able to come close to the place where the royal gates of the royal capital were visible within 5 hours of starting the march.

However, their march had no choice but to stop there.

“… … How did this happen?”

“Did I fail…? … ? Or am I mistaken about the implementation date of the plan?”

“No, that can’t be possible! The royal capital was the first place where people gathered!”

This was because the tightly closed castle gate welcomed them.

The rebels who saw this began to murmur in confusion, and Cromwell began to reason about how the situation was going from the moment he saw the castle gate tightly closed.

‘Have you received information that a rebellion has occurred in another territory? No, that can’t be possible. All territories revolted at the same time, and it hasn’t even been 6 hours since the revolt began. There wouldn’t have been time to report in the first place… … .No, even if they had received information about the rebellion from another territory they had somehow contacted, there was no way they could have suppressed the arson and looting occurring throughout the capital in just six hours. ‘It’s impossible.’

Cluttering, Cromwell gritted his teeth and glared beyond the castle walls, and only then did he notice.

There was no acrid smell from the fire or blood coming from beyond the castle walls.

“What… … ?”

I understood if they couldn’t move because security suddenly became tighter. If you were quickly overpowered at first and couldn’t do anything, then yes. I could understand up to that point.

But to say that nothing happened was absolutely ridiculous. No, absolutely nothing happened.

If nothing had really happened, the castle gate would not have been locked like that.

‘Then what can be assumed in this situation is… … . No way, it was blocked in advance… … ? Rather than starting a rebellion, you found out about it first and prevented them from doing anything!?’

Cromwell’s eyes widened, but then he frowned and gritted his teeth.

‘Nonsense! Unless you have precognitive abilities, there is no way you would have noticed the rebellion… … !! Or someone betrayed… … ? No, out of concern, I deliberately agitated mainly on the vagabonds and slaves in the back alleys. Unless a saint appears in that damn back alley, there is no reason for those who have been oppressed to betray… … !’

Cromwell continued to reason out the situation in his head, but was unable to obtain any information or any answer.

The more I dug, the more questions came out, and there was only a sense of uncertainty about the situation that could not be resolved.

“Captain! What are you going to do? If the castle gate is closed, you can’t go in!”

“We don’t have siege weapons, we have engineers… … .Siege engines, no. At least I need at least a few more days to make a ladder.”

“You have to make a decision. Are you going to retreat? Either way, I will follow the captain’s judgment.”

“Captain!”

Cromwell chewed his lip so hard that it bled, and muttered in a heavily suppressed voice.

“Retreat. They retreat for a moment, build siege weapons from nearby trees, then join the rebels from other territories and attack them all at once. Fighting like this is tantamount to suicide.”

“It’s not a command I like, but… … . This is the wisest decision in the current situation.”

“Tsk, I can’t help it… … .I understand.”

They were all convinced by Cromwell’s words and quietly retreated, and Cromwell glared at the castle walls until the end and then quietly turned his back.

‘whoever… … .’

The first battle of the rebel army’s main force ended in vain without even meeting the enemy.

* * *

Tap―― Seueuugh―― Tap― Tap――

I opened my eyes to the sound of chess pieces moving again.

“… … .”

A map of the entire kingdom was spread out on a wide table, and on it, 56 black flags, one pure white flag, 56 black pawns, one black king, and pure white queen and pawn were moving one by one.

Six flags were lying down, and six of the 56 pawns were moving toward the king, who was moving away from the white flag.

“Galvarn, Petra, Tyr, Berg, Argyll, Arbel… … . The Counts are as expected, and the Marquis of Arbel doesn’t have a lord, so it’s only natural… … . Galvarun and Baron Petra are surprising.”

This means that the anger of the people of the territory was deep.

I laughed and stood up as I watched the flags falling down without any hesitation and the pawns under them moving towards the king.

“Okay… … . Gather like that… … . Everything, not a single thing left behind… … .”

I smiled and knocked down the candle standing in the southernmost part of the map, where the Duke of Rochelle’s domain was, and turned my back.

The candle, which was shaking unsteadily, caught fire on the map, and soon the map began to be covered in bright red flames.

“Now there is nothing left to do here.”

I left the office where the fire was quickly spreading and headed out of the mansion.

The mansion, which had a little bit of human warmth, was filled with hot heat burning behind the back and cold silence.

The only thing that echoed in the mansion, which had been full of life until recently, was the sound of my shoes and the sound of something burning.

As I got out of the mansion, what unfolded before my eyes was a panoramic view of the city covered in dark red mud, resembling a huge glass of wine, and a black sphere about to drop the last drop on top of it.

“… … .”

As the last drop hanging in the sky fell onto the black sea, the hole in the sky instantly distorted and disappeared with a scream.

At the end of that sound, silence fell over the entire city, and the dark red mud that covered the city also stopped moving.

I turned around for a moment and looked at the burning and collapsing mansion of the Duke of Rochelle, then turned my head again and looked ahead.

“Okay, let’s go. To the east.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the boiling mud began to swirl, and after looking at it for a moment, I threw myself into the whirlpool.

The black mud carefully accepted me, then turned into a huge wave and headed towards the east. I quietly closed my eyes, floating on the wave.

Six days later, waiting for the waves to reach the Bneron Mountains.