EP.399
And a month later, I am now standing on the plain near Reichburg, the capital of the empire.
“That vicious bastard, who deserves to burn to death under a curse, must not be allowed to live! “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 insulting His Excellency the Archbishop of Warsaw, who will soon be executed by burning at the stake, right in the center of the podium.
However, as thousands, or even tens of thousands of people, if you count the people beyond, keep swearing all at once, it hurts my ears.
Your Majesty, who sits on a throne one level higher than me, probably thinks the same thing.
“Bring His Majesty the Cardinal.”
“Yes, Marshal.”
An officer wearing stylish armor and a cape hurried down and brought the cardinal up with him.
An old man in his 70s, his back was bent and his hair had long since turned white, but his eyes were still confident.
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 man 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 brief 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 with his cane in anger, then took out the Pope’s bull, which was covered in gold and boasted authority and splendor, and began to read it.
“Thus says I, Baspuccio von Gregory, Pope of the Deus and Vicar of Deus. “Of the 50,000 soldiers who fought with Marshal Peter Jaeger of the Reich Empire at Bastion Castle, I express my condolences and respect to the 30,000 heroes who died while protecting their faith and honor, and pay my respects to those who survived.”
Those who fought at Bastion Castle did not fight because of ‘faith’.
However, that damn archbishop gave the enemy a reason to massacre us 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 million-strong Allied Forces were naturally excommunicated for carrying out the ridiculous crime of suppressing heresy.
On the other hand, killing 180,000 people against 360,000 people with 50,000 people was recognized as a kind of miracle, making a leap of logic 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. woke up.
That 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.”
From Lieutenant Colonel Landel’s point of view, he was a cowardly sergeant and a bumbling man...
“After closely examining his body, it is clear that when the Archduke’s head was cut, he was in a state of immobility. 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 from the Allied Forces, which were not enough to kill them by tearing them limb from limb.
Then, when there was no more sound, I raised the baton in my hand upwards.
At my signal, a military band near the square began playing a marching song.
And soldiers holding division flags with emblems depicting Bastion Castle entered the exact center of the square in rows and rows.
I did my best to show up with a carefully crafted uniform, a flashing spear, a sword, and a brilliant flag.
The height, age, and gender of the soldiers in that unit were very diverse.
Men in their 40s who are too old to be called soldiers, girls in their teens, men in their 20s, wives in their 30s, etc.
Moreover, because they had not received proper training, their gait was very sloppy, but no one laughed at them.
Because all of these were people who survived from that hellish Bastion Castle.
“I ask you, proud warriors of Bastion. “Who is your enemy?”
“It’s the Allied Forces! The Archduke of Warsaw, all those who were part of the allied army of the archbishop who was burned at the stake!”
“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?”
“An 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!”
At those words, the citizens cheered and clapped in unison.
Since they are people who have suffered greatly because of the Allied Forces, how sweet would it sound to take revenge on them?
“It is a dangerous and difficult path. Still, do you really need to do it?”
“You must do this to avenge your family and friends who died in order to protect your surviving family and property! 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 take revenge on those who trampled on your well-being and the peaceful daily lives of your families by sending out an army of 1 million like them?”
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.
After hearing those words, His Majesty gave me the treasured sword he was wearing.
“Okay then! 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!”
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