EP 22 – Make world great again (4)
The times call for heroes.
[…] … European heroes! European heroes! Passing the Arc de Triomphe at Etoile! All Parisians welcome their heroes!]
Heroes give hope.
[…] … Chevaliers Sans Frontieres. Knights Without Borders stands here. We are finally freed from national and political interests, upholding the mission of humanitarian aid-]
Hope is strength.
[…] … A procession of tribute to the Hunters filled Concord Square. Thousands of candles marching through the streets, turning dark Paris into a city of light-]
and,
It was the politicians who handled that power.
[…] … It is reported that Lumière, general manager of Knights Without Borders, had a close meeting with the president just 30 minutes ago.]
* * *
dark night.
The Eiffel Tower lit up the city in a dazzling brilliance, and countless candles slowly drifted down the street.
City of Lights La Ville Lumière.
Paris boasted a majesty worthy of its nickname.
At least for tonight.
“I don’t know how many months it has been since the Eiffel Tower was lit.”
“… … .”
“Actually, it seems that the electricity bill was more terrifying than the monster that rushes to see the light. It sounds a little ridiculous, though. haha… … .”
From the window of the most splendid parlor of the Elysees palace, the French president gazed at the most splendid night view of the city.
The reason he was always behind his back may be because he knew that this landscape was not from his own hands.
The middle-aged man smiled pale and looked back at the protagonist of the City of Light.
“Thank you for accepting the invitation. Lumiere.”
However, Lumiere was not hasty to say goodbye. It was a private place, and her private feelings were full of resentment against the president.
Of course, it was a complicated feeling to dismiss with one word resentment.
“… … .”
“… … .”
It was the president, who was smiling calmly, who broke the mixed emotions of silence.
“France, in fact, was already destroyed a year ago.”
This was a desperate self-confession that I had never told anyone before.
“The three elements of a state are territory, population and sovereignty. And protecting it is usually called national defense. So, a country that has failed in its national defense is not a country.”
“… … dismissal. Until you say-”
“I am very grateful and sorry for the way you embraced me even in such a situation. Lumiere. But now I am colder than ever.”
he asked Lumiere.
“Lumière. As someone who has seen France up close, please answer honestly. Was this country?”
“… … .”
“This is not usually called a country. I don’t know if it’s a tribal alliance. haha… … .”
With a weak smile, he decided.
In fact, it was close to the sacrament of confession.
“France has been doomed for a long time, and I’ve been spraying preservatives to keep the body from rotting.”
“… … .”
“From the moment the maggots boil, it will be absolutely irreversible.”
The president began to unravel the history of the lesser evil he had been doing.
“After the opening of the gates, the United States retreated, and France lost most of its territory in an instant. As the shelters and the PMCs started their own lives, the remaining military power was also absorbed.”
“… … .”
“The reason the government was able to survive even though the country was going to the worst was because, ironically, the Hunters ruled the city. Because sovereignty is decentralized, so is the responsibility of sovereignty.”
He flopped down on the sofa. The sofa was too big for him to sit on. Perhaps he didn’t even know that, his voice was terribly split.
“Under this situation, I decided that it would be best to maintain the current system, and thankfully the Prime Minister agreed to this. The old man who fought with me all my life.”
“… … .”
“So we took a few steps.”
He hesitated for a moment.
Maybe he hesitated for a while.
And at the end of that hesitation, a shocking truth awaited.
“… … It was I who created the conflict between superhumans and ordinary people.”
* * *
Certainly, the anti-hunterist ideology that once drove all of Europe into madness.
The creation and propagation of ‘Rizrism’ was not without a very contrived aspect.
The ‘Hunter Management Act’ proposed by Rep. Lizre, a politician who lost a family to a Hunter.
The subsequent enthusiastic response from the media and public opinion.
In the end, Assemblyman Lizre was brutally murdered by an unknown hunter.
And a lot of fanatics who got up with the portrait photo.
In addition, the promotion of a crazy secret plan to inject toxins into the bodies of the hunters was enough to make even Lumiere decide to flee to Korea.
Of course, he was also determined to save Europe, but the fact that the Saint of Europe decided to leave Europe meant that the shock at the time was by no means light.
So, the weight of the question she uttered now,
It was never easy.
“… … Are you saying that all of this was done by your Excellency?”
“I planned everything, and I made it happen.”
The president’s answer was clear.
On the other hand, Lumiere’s voice that followed was shaking very precariously.
“Why the hell did you do that? No, in the first place, what is the point of saying that now?”
“… … .”
“Tell me. dismissal.”
The president continued to answer calmly.
“… … I wanted to keep the status quo, and my biggest concern was that Hunters would get popular support.”
The Parisian government was able to stand above the Hunters because it had democratic legitimacy.
In other words, if citizens support the hunters rather than the government, the government will inevitably fall.
“So I made a difference between the hunters and the people.”
With the spread of anti-hunterist ideology, the hunters began to search for reactionaries inside the shelter, and eventually the popular will left the hunters.
However, what Lumière needed was not an answer like this.
“… … Was it really for this reason?”
“… … .”
“Are you saying that you divided the people of Europe like that in order to maintain a fallen country and a fallen regime? … ?”
The president answered.
“… … It was for France.”
“please-!”
Lumiere got up from her seat and shouted.
It was also a cry that almost sounded like a scream.
“Is it worth it for a country called France!?”
Her halo shook wildly. Not only that, but all the lights in the room flickered, swept away by her will.
The way the light and shadow lost their place was bizarre and even terrifying.
However,
The president responded in a detached manner without being pushed by the momentum.
Dry eyes looked up at Lumiere.
“There must be a country called France… … .”
“… … .”
“Because there will be no war between the country of Dunkirk and the country of Verdun.”
Lumiere’s halo, which had been fluctuating wildly, stood still. The president continued his explanation.
“The moment Hunters gain the support of citizens, a city-state is born.”
“… … .”
“And, if hundreds of city-states are born in an era like this, where people can barely survive by taking someone’s possessions… … .”
he asked
“Can you predict how many people will die?”
His lesser evil was the good of avoiding the worst. But, like all good things, he couldn’t care for those outside the good.
And since Lumiere’s life was for those who were pushed out of the good, this lesser evil was by no means an acceptable good.
“So, you mean this was the best?”
“… … It was the most sensible workaround.”
“Then you should have worked harder!”
Lumiere’s bloodshot eyes turned to the president of this country.
“Being a person is not about giving up! No matter how hard it is, there is a line that no one can cross!”
“I tried hard enough.”
“If it doesn’t work, you should have asked me to help! Why on earth would you do something like a dog to put chips in the bodies of hunters-”
“Did Agent Theresia from the General Intelligence Service tell you about it?”
“… … Yes?”
“It was me who thought of chipping in the bodies of the hunters, that I told you about it, that you used that as a weapon to impeach me and become the new leader of France.”
The president smiled bitterly and stood up.
“But, like most things in the world, things didn’t go as expected. Maybe it was my incompetence that I didn’t foresee.”
“… … .”
“Oh yeah… … I did all sorts of things. Very few have been successful.”
He took a file from the bookshelf and handed it to Lumiere.
“When PMC Armada claimed protection over the entire Iberian Peninsula, I commissioned IS to assassinate the then clan leader.”
“… … .”
“The assassination was successful in the end, but who knew? The daughter of the clan chief, who was not even a hunter, would be able to put an end to the rebellion of the subordinate factions.”
This was not all.
The president’s file was very thick, and with each turn of a sheet of paper, countless secrets were revealed to the world.
It was a very secret thing that even Lumiere did not know.
“Those people don’t know, but there were times when an outbreak of infection occurred in the south of France. It was only after the two shelters were burned and everyone involved died.”
“… … .”
“Ah, there was a case where 21 people were assassinated by the intelligence agency over there while conducting spying activities to understand the manufacturing process of stimulants in Korea.”
He explained his next best bet for a while.
They certainly weren’t the best, they were far from good, but at least not the worst.
The president smiled softly and shared his thoughts.
“The fact that in a world where the killing of the terrorists who shot and killed 132 people in Paris and the use of white phosphorus bombs on the people who cried out for help is a reasonable next-best solution. Oh yeah. Isn’t it?”
“… … .”
“In hindsight, it seems like I always gave up little by little. Patriots who fought for humanity, morality, or Calais. All I did was do that, and it was just a sloppy next-best solution.”
He got up and went to the window.
There was no strength in the steps of the president, but
The city was shining brightly.
The city was shining.
“okay. I’ve always wanted something like this. A shining city and hopeful citizens. united Europe. What they were doing was the exact opposite.”
“… … .”
“… … But at the end of the day, it would be an honor to burn my life to light up this city.”
An old politician with his back against the splendid night view of the city gave his life to a young and great politician.
One file was enough to capture it.
“Take it.”
“… … This, why, to me.”
The president of France told the new European leader.
“Lumière.”
In this city of light,
in this dark world.
“… … Please publish this file.”
to bring back the light.
* * *
At that time, Han Seung-moon received a call from the President of the United States.