399 – Desperate Revenge (3)
From noble mtl dot com
And a month later, I am now standing on the plain near Reichburg, the capital of the empire.
“That vicious bastard, who deserves to be burned to death under a curse, must not be left alive! “Tear them limb from limb and kill them!”
“Burn to death in the name of Deus! “It must be burned!”
“Judge that wicked man with fire! “The archbishop’s son is no better than that heretic!”
Everyone is pouring criticism and jeers at the podium in extremely loud voices, but of course the target is not me.
To be precise, he is cursing His Excellency the Archbishop of Warsaw, who will soon be executed by burning at the stake, right in the center of the podium.
But the thousands, or even tens of thousands of people if you count the people beyond, continue to swear at me at the same time, making my ears hurt.
Your Majesty, who sits on the throne one level higher than me, probably thinks the same way.
“Bring your Majesty the Cardinal.”
“Yes, Marshal.”
An officer wearing stylish armor and a cape quickly went down and brought the cardinal up with him.
He was an old man in his 70s, his back was bent, his hair had long since turned white, but his eyes were still dignified.
And there was great anger on his face.
“Marshal Jaeger, is that heretic standing over there the Archbishop of Warsaw?”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Cardinal.”
“He seems like a human being for whom it would not be enough to tear his limbs apart and throw them into Satan’s maw. “What kind of evil spirit is it that they are under the control of, so that they can accuse those who are not heretics but sincerely believing in Deus as devil worshipers and arbitrarily declare the suppression of heretics?”
We had a short conversation, and immediately the cardinal went up to the pulpit and raised high the shepherd’s staff, symbolizing his authority.
Then the crowd, which had been talking loudly just a moment ago, suddenly became quiet.
The Cardinal struck the pulpit hard with his cane in his anger, then took out the Pope’s bull, which was coated in gold and boasted of his authority and splendor, and began to read.
“Thus says I, Baspuccio von Gregory, Pope of the Deus and Vicar of Deus. “I express my condolences and respect to Marshal Peter Jaeger of the Reich Empire and the 50,000 soldiers who fought at Bastion Castle, among them the 30,000 heroes who died while protecting their faith and honor, and pay respect to those who survived.”
Those who fought at Bastion Castle did not fight because of ‘faith.’
However, that damn archbishop gave the enemy an excuse for massacre by accusing us of heresy, even though there was no basis for it, just to win the war.
Still, the Allies lost the war.
As a result, the 1,000,000-strong Allied Forces were naturally excommunicated, bearing the burden of carrying out the ridiculous suppression of heresy.
On the other hand, killing 180,000 people against 360,000 people with 50,000 people is recognized as a kind of miracle, and it is said that stopping those who deserved to be excommunicated with a small number of troops was the grace of Deus and also a miracle created by faith in Deus. A leap in logic occurred.
Crazy Deus Pope, I gave some money to the Pope and asked him to speak kindly to me, so he made up words like that.
“Since ancient times, miracles have followed those who fought to preserve their faith against pagans. Sure enough, just before he was defeated by the forces of Satan, the Lord used a lieutenant colonel named Randel to raise him up from his wounds so that he could not move, and finally had him cut off the Archduke’s head.”
Lieutenant Colonel Randel, when I saw him in Richen, he was a cowardly sergeant with a sharp nose…
“After close examination of his body, it is clear that the Archduke was in an immobile state when his head was cut. Therefore, all of this must have been the work of Deus himself, who performed miracles to condemn heresy. In addition, I proclaim that Deus’ grace and favor were with those who fought together in Bastion Castle and all soldiers of the empire. “I hope Deus’ blessing will be with them forever.”
The people applauded those words.
That’s right, all of the people here, although there may be differences in degree, share the experience of suffering because of the Allied Forces, which were not enough to kill them by tearing them limb from limb.
This is because there are so many people who have lost their families and hometowns.
“And I will punish the archbishop who led the Archduke of Warsaw and the 1,000,000-strong allied army astray and caused them to be excommunicated. First, I will deprive him of his priestly duties and make him an ordinary saint, and then I command that he be excommunicated and burned at the stake for selling his soul to a pagan.”
When the cardinal finished reading the edict, everyone shouted three cheers.
“f*ck, kill me! Kill it! Burn it!”
“A guy like that, who is worse than a dog, should not be allowed to live. “The excommunicated archbishop must be purified by burning!”
“Long live the Reich Empire! Long live Deus!”
And before I knew it, the cardinal was holding a torch in his hand.
Everyone cheered at that sight, and the Archbishop of Warsaw began to have a fit.
“f*ck, please save me! I just did what the damned Archduke of Warsaw told me to do! So please excommunicate, just excommunicate! I don’t want to go to hell! “Ugh!”
I am not a big believer in the existence of heaven and hell after death.
However, Laura, Anya, Charlotte, Louise, Friedrich, or just everyone in this world thoroughly believe in the existence of Deus.
To a certain extent, the four ladies who usually try to lure me into their room every night basically refuse to listen to my requests, saying that I should purify myself the night before Sunday.
If I don’t go to mass on Sunday, I get punished, so unless I’m really sick and feel like I’m going to die, I always have to go to mass.
And they all seriously believe in the existence of God, heaven, and hell, to the point where they buy holy water, which is just water, for a few gold coins, believing in its efficacy.
The cardinal hit the archbishop on the head with his cane.
“This is God’s punishment for your apostasy! Go to hell, you filthy son of Satan! Everyone, light it up! “This guy shouldn’t leave even a single bone behind!”
As soon as the cardinal’s emphatic command was issued, the knights ignited fire.
“Help me! Help me! Deus, please forgive me! “aaah!”
The smell of people roasting slowly spread through the square, and the crowd cheered passionately.
“I have to kill you like that! “Kill that heretic archbishop bastard!”
“Stone! “You have to throw stones!”
“You stupid bastard! “If you throw a rock and get hit on the head and die quickly, you will suffer less!”
In this day and age, pagans have no human rights.
Furthermore, isn’t that guy a scum who insulted the soldiers and civilians under my command who died in Bastion bravely, nobly and nobly enough to be described as brave?
Thinking that a guy like that was going to get burned, I was clapping passionately without even realizing it.
“Deus will gladly accept the death of this demon! Long live Deus!”
When I, the number one contributor to this war and the enemy, shouted this, the audience responded enthusiastically, applauding so loudly that their palms burst from cheering.
I suddenly said, laughing like a clown in some movie I can’t even remember.
“And I hope everyone will be quiet. “I can’t hear that heretic’s screams as he’s dying!”
…… Looking at it objectively, I think I’m a crazy person right now.
When I think of Randel and the other soldiers and civilians who died in Bastion, I either go crazy with anger or go crazy with guilt for forcing them to make such a noble sacrifice.
If anyone were in my position, they would definitely not be able to survive without going crazy.
I watched the scene in silence until the bastard burned and was unable to scream.
Then, when there was no more sound, I lifted the marshal’s baton held in my hand upward.
At my signal, the military band near the square began playing a marching song.
Then, soldiers holding division flags with emblems depicting Bastion Castle came into the exact center of the square in rows and rows.
I did my best and showed up with a carefully made uniform, a flashing spear and sword, and a brilliant flag.
The height, age, and gender of the soldiers in that unit were very diverse.
A man in his 40s who is too old to be called a soldier, a girl in her teens, a man in his 20s, a wife in her 30s, etc.
Furthermore, because they had never received proper training, their gait was very sloppy, but no one laughed at them.
Because all of these people survived from the hellish Bastion Castle.
“Proud warriors of Bastion, I ask you a question. “Who is your enemy?”
“This is the Allied Forces! The Archduke of Warsaw, the Archbishop who was burned at the stake, and all those who were part of the Allies!”
“They are all dead!”
At those words, they all stamped their feet at once.
“It’s not enough! We could not decapitate the Archduke and the King who sent them to painfully slaughter our friends, brothers, parents, wives and children! “I couldn’t bring them to their knees!”
The eyes of everyone standing in the square were focused.
“Then I will ask again. “What should I do?”
“A great army of one million! “We must raise an army of one million men, destroy the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and crush and trample on all the countries that participated in the Allied Forces!”
From noble mtl dot com
At those words, the citizens cheered and clapped in unison.
They are people who have suffered greatly because of the Allied Forces, so how sweet it must sound to get revenge on them.
“It is a dangerous and difficult path. Still, do you really need to do it?”
“You must do this to protect your surviving family and property, and to avenge your deceased family and friends! Please order! If Your Majesty allows it, we, the survivors of Bastion, will stand at the forefront just like when we defeated a million-strong army!”
When the right to speak returned to the Emperor, His Majesty stood up and asked the audience.
“I ask you, subjects of the empire. Do you agree with the words of the heroes who protected Bastion? Do you want to send out a million-strong army like them and take revenge on those who trampled on the empire, your well-being, and the peaceful daily lives of your families?”
Everyone shouted loudly.
“Raise a million-strong army and kill them all!”
“Deus will protect us!”
“Long live Deus! Long live the Reich Empire! Long live your Majesty the Emperor!”
The atmosphere became extremely heated, as if we were watching some kind of communist convention.
When His Majesty heard those words, he gave me the treasured sword he was wearing.
“Then, good! I command Marshal Peter Yeager to raise an army of one million! First, crush the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. “Let the black eagle rule this continent of Europa!”