Chapter 254

Chapter 254: A Choice Between Two

Respected citizens of the Empire!
We gather here today because countless stars have fallen.
The Kingdom of Heinkel fell into the hands of evil, abandoned gods and humans, and chose its own greed.
History was a textbook written to avoid repeating the same mistakes; nevertheless, they ignored the records written with the blood of their ancestors.
Because of this, we lost many knights and soldiers.
Above all, the most heartbreaking loss is that the greatest star has fallen.
My brave younger brother, who could not tolerate injustice and drew his sword to march onto the battlefield, that great hero met his end at the hands of demons.
My beautiful younger sister, Olivia, wept bitterly right there.
Those who remembered his valor were enraged.
So I, Alexander Arken, will speak boldly from this position.
Citizens of the Empire!
We have risen upon the flesh and blood of our ancestors and lived in an era of prosperity.
That land full of abundant grain—we must not forget that it was made fertile by the blood of invaders and of those who were once someone’s sons and fathers.
Remember that the blood of ancestors who fought against absurdity flows through your veins.
Our enemy hides in the darkness.
Lurking in the cracks where light does not reach, their appearance made us think they were mere defeated remnants.
Look at what we lost due to that complacency!
Our mistake led so many people to their deaths!
What must we do?
It is none other than the light of Alte.
Under the light of Alte, everything is just and fair, and the weak are protected.
We must show those demons how great that light is.
We must shatter every shadow where they could hide from the light, and eradicate their very seed.
This mission will continue until the seed of the demons is exterminated—for my younger brother, the great commander Ureas Arken.
Arken Empire!
May it be eternal!
My father, His Majesty the Emperor!
May he be eternal!
Citizens of the Empire!
May you be eternal!

Alexander went ahead and declared war openly.
It was ironic.
Right when heading to the Kingdom of Heinkel, he was the most dangerous element that could threaten the position of Crown Prince.
With his rival dead, Alexander must have felt good that his younger brother was no longer around.
Moreover, the fact that he could utilize that death must have been immensely satisfying.
Killing a member of the imperial family is an incident that can never be ignored, and it served as justification.
Alexander’s anger granted a righteousness that admitted no interpretation.
The only one who had touched imperial blood and survived was Valdrova.
Several facts were revealed in such an extensive speech.
«The nobles have arrived at a moment where they must choose one of two options.»
Since the Doppler Incident, without clear means to distinguish Dopplers, false accusations and purges repeated themselves.
Amidst the chaos, there were those who attempted to take advantage, and the one who utilized it best was Archduke Golt.
He showed intentions to expand and unify his forces under his command.
If he had not dealt with Acad of Belung, most likely the Empire would have been centralized under the Archduke.
Alexander, whose weakness was discovered, also seemed to be under Archduke Golt’s command.
But an unexpected event occurred.
Ureas died.
He was a pure warmonger, so he had no partner.
Through conquest after conquest, countless illegitimate children were born, but not a single one of those illegitimate children survived past three years of age—all were eliminated.
As if the bloodline of the Empire were so important, no mercy was shown.
Thanks to that, Ureas’s bloodline no longer remained, and Alexander obtained justification to be restored as Crown Prince.
Do they say that even a cornered rat bites the cat?
Alexander had become even more ruthless through this incident.
When a confrontational structure formed, he seemed to have decided to deliver the final blow this time.
There was a reason why he could be so bold.
«Count Rooster.»
Count Rooster said he had been tasked with orchestrating Ureas’s death.
Although, conversely, Count Rooster lost his life, the fact that such a conspiracy existed was undeniable.
And that rumor circulated among the nobles.
Just a month ago, it would have been treated as mere baseless gossip, but the atmosphere was such that the nobles believed it credible.
Commissioning the assassination of royalty could be punished regardless of reason or rank.
Even if it involved the Grand Archduke Golt.
«That is why Alexander is bluffing.»
Alexander forced a choice.
Bow before the Archduke, or join him.
«Normally they would go with Archduke Golt.»
However, the situation reached a point where that rumor could not be ignored, so they could not blindly support him.
The memorial service being held almost simultaneously was also for that reason.
«In that sense, Archduke Golt is also a truly great human being.»
His arms—Acad of Belung and Oldin Rooster—died.
The fact that the two men who were symbols of his military might and problem-solving capability died miserably meant that an enormous void had been created.
Another duke or noble might have discarded it without hesitation.
Valdemar Golt.
A descendant of a past war hero, and now an even greater Archduke.
The man who combines past and present renown receives overwhelming support from the citizens.
Even among the noble class, high-ranking elders flatter him, and ambitious youths display their aspirations to become his confidants.
The support of the noble class would be important, but Ferda was different.
The most important thing remained the direction of support from the state religion, the Order of Alte.
«The Order seems to be joining Alexander.»
Right now, displaying that influence would be difficult.
Since the Pope was revealed to be a demon’s lackey, trust had shattered.
What was most needed to restore faith was a person with a clear identity, devout, who could become the face of the Order.
The person designated for this was Olivia.
The fact that she never loses her smile and serves the weak is already known to all citizens.
No matter how much one probes, only heartwarming stories emerge; the occasional flaws that surface are treated as vestiges of humanity.
The clergy calculated that if such a woman qualified as a Saint, there would be less resistance when attempting a shift through theocracy.
The sect leaders must also presume that Olivia wears an innocent facade.
‘Yet they will not be able to comprehend the depth.’
They will not know that even her understanding arose after designing it over and over again.
Olivia will place them in the palm of her hand and spin them around.
‘As expected, for the Empire to tremble, Archduke Golt must fall.’
How could he deal a blow to that old man?
He was thinking about that when.
“Greetings to the Regent. Regina Fallenji pays her respects.”
Garnet Swallow, no, Regina Fallenji of the Merchant Guild, bowed politely.
In her merchant persona, she wore the attire of wealthy high society and approached with courtesy.
“These are the Minutes of the Regular Citizens’ Meeting of this period. I will also provide you with a separate summary, so if there are problematic parts, you may address them with the Administrator.”
“The Administrator seems very busy.”
“With the refugee problem combined with discrimination, his head must ache quite a bit.”
That was always the case.
He was never the type to send a substitute using busyness as an excuse to that extent.
Indeed.
Inside the documents was a sheet of paper with a conspicuous black tag attached.
Black Mark.
Which meant it was a document delivered not as Regina Fallenji of the Merchant Guild, but as Garnet Swallow, head of the shadow organization operating in the dark.
The documents delivered as the shadow organization were on an entirely different dimension from common complaints like routine petitions.
“You are aware that magitech rifles and magazines were lost, correct?”
That was what Garnet had said before.
When the siege of the Kingdom of Heinkel ended and the cleanup began, they confirmed that several were missing.
In a war where they advanced treading on corpses, the disappearance of war supplies was natural.
However, the loss she spoke of was different.
She referred to spare supplies loaded in the automobile for unforeseen circumstances.
Unless the objects had legs, they could not run off on their own.
It was, without a doubt, theft.
Ferda nodded silently.
“We have completed tracking all the escape routes.”
Ferda put on a satisfied look at those words.
“They fell properly into the trap.”
Ferda had promised to supply enough magitech weapons to organize Ureas’s personal guard.
He said he would provide them as if unable to withstand the pressure, but from the beginning, these magitech weapons were scheduled to be lost through this siege.
They were the weapons the Empire paid the most attention to, and experienced commanders would have learned their value through this actual combat.
So they would have attempted to secure those weapons even at the cost of their lives.
Ferda had intentionally leaked them for two main reasons.
‘Innovation.’
History was truly a mysterious thing.
Looking back, it was so primitive that one would wonder if such an era really existed.
Examining the history of mages, there was a time when 4th Circle magic, Magic Explosion, was praised as divine magic.
Yet as they reached higher realms, they now believe that 8th Circle magic is the highest realm humans can reach.
‘Knowledge was exactly that.’
Destroying the world one knew and building a new world.
If that not only became the possession of the noble class, but also reached the lower classes, the situation would become extremely chaotic.
What the Empire, which had endured for centuries upon past pillars, needed was a powerful shock.
“Were there results then?”
“Whether they are significant results remains to be seen, but it is certain that they went in the direction you desire, Lord Ferda.”
“Which means they did not fall into the hands of the Imperial Palace or the high nobility.”
“Yes, they moved into the sewers of the slum district.”
The reason for taking the magitech rifles would be to dismantle internal components, steal the technology, and develop independent items.
Among crimes, it was the most dangerous; just being slightly involved could see three generations exterminated.
They could not risk moving carelessly and having high-ranking figures identified.
So they would disguise themselves as a criminal organization and carry out research so that severing ties would be easy.
Among those methods, entering the slums was truly ideal.
‘Even if they are caught in a massive explosion, those who die are not nobles.’
Human lives are that trivial and meaningless.
“Then did you manage to identify those organizations?”
Ferda asked.
She spoke with a remarkably bold expression, as if the question itself were rude.
“Yes. I recorded without omission the personal information of the local gangs and those who participated in the research.”
Ferda did not have high expectations.
Just because a fish trap is filled with bait, does one get a huge catch?
He read the list with the mindset that even if there were fish in the trap, they would be small fry.
Because of that,
“Hm?”
Ferda could see satisfying results.
He had hooked a huge, big fish.
‘That is why I executed the leak operation.’
They say geniuses who change eras occasionally appear in Escolleia, but a true genius shines even in a sewer.
“Is there someone who catches your attention?”
“Yes, there is.”
Ferda recalled a woman from before the regression.
While Marquis Vernel ambitiously manufactured daily necessities using magitech products, she was the pioneer who militarized magitech on a massive scale.
The woman who created the first magitech grenade.
That woman assembled parts from the junk pile to create high-explosive weapons that assassinated nobles.
When she was arrested, that woman called herself this:
“Gae Bolg.”
It was a spear that pierces through everything.
She later becomes the Matriarch of Crime who shakes the entire Serdes Continent.