“Who put Hilbert on his feet? Who killed me? It wasn’t anyone in particular. It was the public opinion that encouraged Hilbert, the public opinion, the atmosphere …, those vague and fluffy things that were the source of the problem. I cannot kill it because it has no form and no life. So I will slaughter the people and carve terror into them. Let them die by my slaughter. I want them to die as collateral damage. I hope they die on the streets in the cold. I hope that thieves will kill them because of the chaos in the countryside. I hope that they will be exterminated because they are starved to death by the wild thieves. I hope I starve because I have lost the politics of famine relief.”
Oswald was immensely surprised.
He was surprised by René’s response. He was shocked by René’s prodigal desire to talk about the death of the people.
René was currently going around killing the lords who had been pro-Hilbert, and the chaos that would ensue, as well as the deaths of the citizens who would become collateral damage in the process, was also something that René wanted to see happen.
Oswald was mistaken. He had assumed that the collateral damage would be an unnecessary sacrifice for René, or at worst, that it would be “unimportant” at best.
Unbeknownst to him, René had been greatly underestimated.
“Of course I’m willing to kill citizens who were pro-Hilbert, and if they weren’t, I’d be happy to let them beg for their lives… Essentially, it doesn’t matter which side they’re on. I can’t be sure of everything, and I’m not interested in killing anyone in particular from the masses. It’s a massacre for the sake of leaving an indelible and horrific stain on the lives of those who survive, not to mention those who die…”
“It’s a … mess. It makes no sense! Those who did not approve of the coup will die, even babies who had nothing to do with it.”
“On a local micro level, that may be true. But I don’t care.”
René understood that if she considered revenge on the big picture macro level, rather than on each individual, she would be stomping out a lot of contradictions in the process. And René didn’t mind that.
“That absurdity and selfishness is what we call ‘evil’.”
Oswald clenched his hands in frustration as René stared down at him.
“I want my revenge. I don’t think about whether the outcome is fair or not from the beginning. I wonder if you’re not aware enough that you’re dealing with the treacherous undead. You.”
“What…”
She felt like she was talking too much.
She was not lying, but she felt that she was being “evil” without any reason.
Although she didn’t want to be an “absolute evil” who would be abandoned by everybody.
–What a childish idea. I’m testing … Oswald, I guess.
The fact that Oswald did not dismiss René as “just an enemy” was the reason why René wanted to be sure.’
She wondered if he would forgive her and take pity on her even though she had exposed all her evilness.
She wanted to see if she still had room for someone to love her.
It was a foolish sentiment. An act of tracing and confirming the bond with a mother she would never see again by entrusting it to someone else.
Half-hearted, René thought. She could no longer be a merciless avenger, but a helpless child crying out for help.
Still, René decided to fight, so here she was….
“Betray Marquis Edfeldt and give me the heads of the Marquis and Ghislain, Earl Keely. Do so and I will spare your lives, and yes, I will … immediately stop the attack and spare the lives of those still alive in this city.”
“I do not agree with you. It is a choice I cannot make.”
René’s question, more of an ultimatum than an invitation to betrayal, was immediately answered with clarity and decisiveness.
“Oh, my. Did you not bend the rules of reason to protect your people and sit by and watch the coup instead of fighting for my father, King Elbert? If you base your actions on what is or is not permissible, … was that choice permissible?”
Oswald stammered as he felt the pain in his heart.
He was a man of regret.
“…I pretended to myself that it was inevitable, and I disobeyed my path. The result is the chaos in the country. Many things and procedures were twisted for the mere purpose of seizing power, politics was disrupted, and the people were left to suffer the consequences. Even if His Highness had not allowed the capital to fall, the country would have faced bankruptcy in the not-too-distant future.”
Above the melee of the pavement, there were those who advanced to stand by Oswald.
A knight wearing a surcoat of the Earl’s coat of arms (though not as luxurious as Oswald’s) over his armor. Hadley, Oswald’s second son.
A man with arms and torso twice as thick as Oswald’s, he was a rough-looking, avant-garde adventurer. Oswald’s third son, Steve.
A woman who looked somewhat like Catherine, wearing all-white robes and carrying a gold staff. Priscilla, Oswald’s eldest daughter.
They listened to their father’s words closely as they faced René without letting their guard down.
“That is why I swore an oath! I vowed that I would correct the course of the people, even at the risk of my own life, if there was a “next time”! When power distorts a country, it is the people who scream! If we lose Marquis Edfeldt, the majority of the country will lose its balance and fall apart! Not to mention the fact that we have to go through the formalities of appointing a crown prince!”
‘Protect the shape of the country’, he said.
A nation is formed by sharing various orders of institutions, rules, laws, discipline, and principles … If they could keep up with the rules and regulations, it would be certain that some things could be protected by them. It was less likely that things would go wrong than expected.
“What about abandoning Ghislain and supporting the ‘other crown prince’ …?”
“If one of them is chosen as a result of the Council of Lords, that is fine. But if one of them is chosen because the other was murdered, there will be political complications!”
Oswald was not swayed by René’s enticing words.
In fact, Everis also predicted that the political chaos in Ciel-Terra would deepen if the western candidate for the crown prince were to take the throne by accident.
Well, if René killed all the former Hillbertist lords, the conflict itself would disappear and the immediate problem would be solved for the time being, but … she couldn’t possibly work with that in mind … Oswald in particular.
“So you have no intention of betraying him.”
“Yes. And … it seems that unless we stop Your Highness here, there will still be more of our people at your disposal.”
Oswald did not draw his sword, which he had once retracted, but instead picked up the handy-sized lyre that he carried on his waistband. He interrupted Marks’ broadcast over the town, still playing a mournful tone on autoplay.
Instead of Oswald, who did not have a sword, his children, who were fortifying the perimeter, took up battle positions.
“I am sorry that I could not protect Your Highness’ father at … and Your Highness and your mother. It is with deepest regret that I could not prevent the chaos in this country. However, this is a different matter. As one of the lords, I must fight for all the people. Will you not … step aside, Your Highness?”
“A foolish question, Oswald.”
“I’m sorry and I can’t help but sympathize…”
Oswald just shook his head painfully.
As if cursing the fate that had propelled René into battle.
René could read his emotions. It tasted like nectar, different from the fear and despair favored by the Abyss Spirit. She felt a slow heat, as if a fire had been lit in his chest.
“Then please forgive me for admonishing you with our military prowess.”
“Do you think you can win?”
“We have to win!”
With determination, Oswald plucked the strings with his fingertips, and the lyre switched to playing.
The song was up-tempo, heroic and tragic, a song of warriors heading into battle ready to die.
“… Thank you.”
René said, in a voice too quiet to be heard.
Oswald had decided to fight to fulfill his duty and his belief in justice.
But even so, he still did not consider René an “obstacle in the way” or a “foreign enemy to be feared and dreaded”.
–Thank you for not abandoning me… and die.
“Stop the protective charms, guys! …≪Combat Song Battle Song ~ Hero Challenges Fate≫ [Arrangement: Distributed Processing/Mental Resonance]!”
“””Singing standby good!”””
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