Chapter 151 – Justice for the Emperor (2)

Chapter 151 – Justice for the Emperor (2)

The first thing that people felt when Barth Baltic entered the assembly hall of the House of Peers was a weird sense of alienation. The assembly hall of the House of Peers was quite large, with extraordinary splendor; after all, it was where the people who held authority in the empire and were considered the empire’s limbs gathered.

However, it was a place that was made for humans.

The mere presence of Barth Baltic, a four-meter tall giant who had a soaring horn that could almost reach the sky and a white beard that came down to his chest, turned the assembly hall into a completely unfamiliar space for the nobles.

Even the chairman Rhymer, who had made numerous speeches at the assembly hall for decades felt like he was back in the old mythological era upon seeing Barth Baltic enter the assembly hall.

Rhymer swallowed a gulp with an uncomfortable expression.

“Regent Barth,” Helmut opened his mouth with a stiff expression on his face, since he hadn’t expected Barth to show up in person. “When did you come to Torra...”

Barth Baltic ignored Helmut and walked toward the platform. It felt as if the entire assembly hall shook every time his thumping footsteps echoed throughout the hall.

Many nobles had their mouths wide open, since it was their first time seeing Barth Baltic. This was only natural, since Barth rarely showed himself in public. At most of the events, he was represented by Pavan Peltere, the Captain of the Order of the Capital. The only time Barth Baltic made a public appearance was when he occasionally trained the army.

Most people who saw Barth Baltic had similar thoughts.

‘He looks much older than I had thought.’

He seemed a little different from the rumors about his appearance: he had a long white beard, wrinkled face, age spots, and a slightly bent posture. Many people would say that he looked quite old even if he was a human, not from a different race. However, the muscles wriggling under his exposed skin showed that he was still quite active as a swordsman.

Following Barth, heavily armed knights entered the assembly hall with expressionless faces. The symbol of sun engraved on the fluttering cloaks behind their backs suggested that they belonged to the Order of the Capital.

The knights of the Order of the Capital were the most talented people that Barth Baltic had carefully selected from within the empire, regardless of their descent, region or race.

If the Order of the Capital’s intent behind entering the assembly hall was to take over the House of Peers, the nobles would have no choice but to die at their hands.

However, rather than being frustrated upon seeing Barth Baltic, Heretia quickly noticed that Captain Pavan Peltere was absent amongst the Order of the Capital.

‘It’s strange that Pavan Peltere isn’t here when Barth Baltic has made a public appearance...’

Barth Baltic stood on the platform, and Helmut quietly stepped down to let him speak. At this point, Helmut’s relationship with Barth Baltic was completely over.

Barth glanced at the nobles and opened his mouth.

“I remember when I once kicked a dog to death.”

The nobles were perplexed by the rather absurd remark made by Barth Baltic. They blankly stared at Barth, since the first thing he said after showing his face in such a serious situation was about him killing a dog.

But the following words spoken by Barth were enough to make the nobles shut their mouths real quick.

“That dog was the very last dog left in the country where I lived. That dog was eating my mother’s face. I knew that it had no choice and that it was desperate, but I still ended up kicking the dog out of anger. The dog soon died while bleeding through its mouth.”

Barth glanced around at the nobles with furious eyes.

“Have I ever mentioned how my parents, my race, and my country were destroyed?”

He had never said it out loud, but it was all recorded in history. Hornsluine was the last race to resist the gods, but failed. There was no other race who challenged the gods and failed after that, since a human succeeded in resisting the gods and wiped out all the gods.

And that man was the emperor.

According to the records, the gods destroyed the Hornsluine using rain.

“Red rain poured all over my country for seven days and nights. Those that were soaked by the red rain turned into monsters as their bodies twisted or new body parts grew. Everyone killed each other, since they couldn’t even recognize their parents or children, and the only thing remaining was an endless desire to kill. That happened all over the country. The mutation began as soon as even a single drop of the red rain touched those of my race.”

Barth, the last surviving member of the Hornsluine race, tilted his head to reveal his neck which was full of indelible tooth marks and scars.

“Ah, yes... I’ve never told anyone how I survived, have I? The only reason why I didn’t die there along with my own people was to become an entertainer for the amusement of the gods. They wanted to leave at least one witness to watch the price of rebellion—because punishment without any witnesses is meaningless.”

Barth calmly talked about the destruction of his own people. Not a single noble could open their mouth in absolute silence.

“I, and my kind, were dogs that were kicked to death by the gods. We bled to death just because we bared our teeth against the gods. I didn’t think that what we did was worthy of our entire race being destroyed, so I thought about the reason why the gods would destroy us like that. And I came to just one conclusion—it was the same reason why I kicked that dog to death.”

“It would have been nice if I could end him with my own hands, but I thought it would be better for him to be stabbed to death at the hands of his own child.”

“How dare you!”

One of the nobles from the meritorious faction stood up and shouted as if he was having a seizure.

Barth Baltic glared at the noble, causing the noble to immediately collapse into his seat while breathing heavily.

That marked the end of the nobles’ resistance.

With everyone remaining silent, Barth Baltic glanced around the House of Peers. The nobles felt as if they were being cut by his sharp eyes.

Heretia bit her lips when she felt the atmosphere of the Order of the Capital.

‘Barth Baltic insulted His Majesty and confessed his crime of treason, but there is no agitation among them?’

Only Ledna Loen was calmly placing her hand over the handle of her sword. The Order of the Capital was already showing their loyalty toward the Regent, not the emperor.

‘I guess it’s only natural.’

Many people went on and on about loyalty to the emperor, but it has already been almost fifty years since the emperor died and turned into a corpse. Most of these people were those who had never even seen the emperor when he was alive. Just like the Templars, they had only been educated with techniques that were close to brainwashing.

“I pity you all,” Barth Baltic said.

People were taken aback by Barth’s words.

‘Pity us? All of a sudden?’

Barth Baltic continued to speak with trembling lips.

“I wonder if all of you would still be able to worship the emperor like you do now even after his identity is revealed. I want to make all of you suffer by telling you just how meaningless your loyalties are, but it would be quite entertaining for me to see you realize that for yourselves.”

Barth Baltic turned his back on the nobles after only leaving those ambiguous words behind.

“Where are you going?” Heretia shouted hastily.

“To do what a soldier has to do. Haven’t you heard that the foreign enemy that is threatening the empire is coming?”

‘He is planning to stand up against Juan? As the Regent?’

Barth Baltic’s decision meant that the Order of the Capital would fight the forces of the east, south, and north. It would only be a matter of time before it spread to a large-scale civil war.

Heretia, who had tried to bring Barth Baltic down politically before such a situation came to be, started becoming desperate. Heretia followed after Barth in a hurry. It was not like she had any plan, but the only thought she had in her mind was to prevent a civil war.

However, loud roars and shouts were heard as soon as Barth Baltic opened the door of the assembly hall.

Heretia flinched and stopped. Outside the assembly hall were the citizens of Torra, who were gathered together to shout a slogan.

“We demand justice for His Majesty!”

“A bastard from the heterogeneous race who betrayed His Majesty!”

Splat! Crack!

Food waste such as tomatoes and eggs flew toward Barth Baltic’s feet. The Order of the Capital seemed to feel that it was unpleasant and uncomfortable, but no one moved without Barth’s order.

Barth glanced at the crowd and whispered to Heretia who was standing next to him.

“Do you see anyone amongst them who is truly demanding justice for His Majesty?”

Heretia remained silent.

“I spent almost fifty years helping the emperor create an empire for the humans and spent yet another fifty years defending it. I’ve been fighting for all of you for a total of one hundred years.”

Barth Baltic picked up a bruised apple that was rolling at his feet and took a bite.

“But the only thing that I got in return is a label and an insult about me being from a heterogenous race.”