CH 194

Chapter 194 – Meeting

“Now then, let me tell you our demands. First, Merinesburg will be liberated from the control of the Holy Kingdom by our Liberation Army. In the meantime, the Holy Kingdom’s army stationed in Merinesburg will be disarmed of all weapons. In addition, all weapons in the armory will be confiscated.”

“Is that all?”

“Basically, yes. Our objective is to take back the former territory of the Merinard Kingdom and rebuild the Merinard Kingdom. In the Merinard Kingdom, there is no difference in treatment between subhumans and humans. Everyone is equally people. Therefore, we will not exclude anyone simply because they believe in the Adol religion. However, in the name of the Merinard Kingdom, we will not tolerate discrimination against subhumans based on faith. If that is unacceptable to you, we will ask you to leave.”

Sylphy turned her amber eyes to Ellen, adding the words, “Even if it’s forced.”

“I see. I understand your demands. Then I assume that you will not commit massacres or looting of civilians, is that correct?”

“In principle, yes. However, those who have mistreated the subhuman population will be given a suitable punishment. We are aware that you, the people of the Holy Kingdom, are abusing innocent subhumans under the guise of indoctrination.”

“…Not all of the Holy Kingdom’s citizens are involved in such acts.”

Ellen wrinkled her brow at Sylphy’s words and muttered quietly.

Indoctrination is, in layman’s terms, the act of mistreating subhumans and then rephrasing it to make it sound like a good thing.　

According to the teachings of the mainstream of the Adol religion, subhumans are all born sinners who have been branded as guilty by Adol, the main god of the religion. Therefore, righteous Adol believers must punish them and help them atone for their sins or something like that. No matter how much they talk about it, what they are doing is simply an act of abuse. Beating and kicking are commonplace. They make them do hard labor until they are on the verge of collapse without giving them water or food, and they do things to them that they would never say to a child. I have not seen it firsthand, though.

“Of course, I am aware of it. I know that those who are involved in such acts are the nobles, wealthy merchants, and other powerful people, as well as high-ranking priests of the Adol religion, who are supposed to be clean and pure. And I also know that the reason for the invasion of the Merinard Kingdom by the Holy Kingdom 20 years ago was because they wanted the Elves to increase their magical power.”

“…..”

Ellen’s expression clouds over even more at Sylphy’s sarcasm.

“Well, I don’t see why we should tell such a thing to a pure saint. The only thing you need to grasp is that we are not willing to kill any more than necessary with that understanding. I will not allow the soldiers of the Liberation Army to loot and slaughter. That would make them no better than you.”

“Sylphiel-sama!”

Sylphy was about to open her mouth again when Melty called out to her from the side, interrupting her further words. 

“The grudges we have accumulated over the past twenty years are no small thing. But that is that, and this is this. Let us work out the details.”

Saying this, Melty began discussing the neutralization of the Holy Kingdom’s army stationed in Merinesburg, as well as temporary governance, defense, and security systems.

For the time being, all of the Adol religion’s, or rather the Holy Kingdom’s, forces will be disarmed and their armaments confiscated. However, the guards of Merinesburg, who were responsible for maintaining security, were exempted from the confiscation of light armor, batons, canes, and other arresting arms. This is because the sudden disappearance of the guards is likely to cause a significant deterioration in the security situation in Merinesburg.

It seems that a part of the infantry of the Liberation Army will also be in charge of maintaining security in Merinesburg, along with the Merinesburg Guards. My guess is that in addition to that, Harpy’s scouts will be sent out to monitor the situation from the air as well. With the Golem communicator, they can move without having to wait for citizens to call in.

Other governance details were also worked out, such as restricting nighttime outings in Merinesburg for the time being and making arrangements to minimize the impact on the city’s economic activities.

“And what about our disposition?”

Ellen asked when the discussion had come to a close. By “our,” I assume she means the Adol religion people, including Ellen, who had been in a leadership position in Merinesburg up until now.

“…As I said before, we are not going to take anyone’s life just because you are an Adol religion priest. We also do not have the hobby of beheading people, nor do we wish to cause unrest among the citizens of Merinesburg by doing so. Basically, it will be business as usual under our watch. There will be some gradual changes in the way we do things.”

“Will your people be satisfied with such an unacceptable punishment?”

“That is not your concern.”

Ellen’s question was answered with a sharp reply, and Sylphy got up from her seat.

“First of all, we have to disarm the army. If you don’t want any more deaths, you’ll have to convince the soldiers as best you can. Leonard takes half of the infantry and half of the riflemen and takes control of Merinesburg.”

“Understood.”

“The other half, Zamir and Kosuke, will go with me to the royal castle. I will ask the saint and the others to come with me. The captain of the guard, Gustav-dono, will accompany Leonard.”

“U-understood.”

“Very well.”

The middle-aged man who looked like a guard in armor was Gustav, a member of the Merinesburg City Guard. The Guard led by him was not on the battlefield with the Holy Kingdom’s army but was assigned to intercept the enemy on the walls of Merinesburg.

However, it seems that they chose to surrender early after seeing approximately 2,000 regulars being ground to meat in just a few minutes.

Is he a coward at worst or a man of calm judgment at best? To be honest, at this point, I can’t judge him at all. However, if he had chosen to fight a thorough war, there would have been a certain amount of damage to the guards and to Merinesburg itself, so I think we can say that his decision was a wise one.

“We will accompany you to the royal castle, right?”

“Yes. As soon as the rescue measures are in place, tell Isla and the mage corps to come to the castle. The infantry and riflemen will escort them. Also, tell Harpy’s scouts to scout the area and the bombers to keep an eye on Merinesburg.”

Melty nodded to Sylphy’s words and sent off the instructions. The “we” that Melty is referring to is probably the civilian staff that is accompanying her. They had done little work up to this point, but from this point on, it was their battlefield.

“What, are they done?”

Grande, who had finished her pancake and was looking at the stairs with a bored look on her face, said.

“Yeah, it’s over.”

Hmm… after all, why are the two of them quarreling so much? I’ve been listening to the conversation, but I never really understood it.”

“It all started with the war twenty years ago. So it’s a long story.”

“Well… human beings don’t live more than a hundred years, so it doesn’t make sense that they would go to the trouble of killing each other’s kindred.”

Grande stood up from her seat and spread her wings with an unexplained expression on her face.

“Kosuke is going into the city, isn’t he? I’m going to go play in my old house for a while.”

With these words, Grande flapped her wings and flew away into the sky in the blink of an eye. The people on the Holy Kingdom side rolled their eyes when they saw this. Perhaps they finally recognized that Grande was a transformed dragon. She indeed looks like that. She is a thin girl who looks like a dragon, but not quite a little girl.

“Now, let’s get moving. I’m going to ask you to come with me. Kosuke, bring out the airboard.”

“Roger that.”

The troops who are going to conquer Merinesburg can’t go to the castle on foot. It’s quite a distance.