Chapter 108 – For Freedom (4)

“What do you think Captain Gerard did? The captain I know wouldn’t have made an exception, since a mission must be carried out even if it means having to kill a child. However, Captain Gerard let them go after hesitating,” Horhell said.

“And that happened in the forty-fifth year after the founding of the empire?” Juan asked.

“Yes. And three weeks later, the door to the Crack opened in the northeastern metropolitan city of Arbalde.”

This was the beginning of the tragedy of Arbalde. The more the people praised and sought knowledge, the stronger the power of the Crack became. Then, once the ways to prevent and suppress the encroachment of the Crack became widespread, no one was interested enough to try to find out more about the Crack, other than corrupted magicians. However, at that time people had been helplessly exposed to the power of the Crack, without knowledge, which was now considered to be common sense. The fact that the door to the Crack had opened meant that the area could no longer be controlled by anyone.

“Captain Gerard and the Order of Lindwurm were desperate to try and prevent the spread of the Crack. But nothing we did was enough. And eventually… Captain Nienna led the Order of Penlil to the eastern territory.”

As someone who had been fighting against the Crack ever since she was old enough to hold a sword, Nienna knew exactly what to do in such a situation. Juan clearly remembered hearing about the widespread massacre conducted by Nienna in the eastern territory through a report that she wrote herself—her report had been so horrific and shocking that even Juan had wondered if it had been necessary to suppress the people of Arbalde to that extent.

However, Juan trusted Nienna. Nienna was the one who had been personally fighting against the Crack all along and she knew better than anyone what would happen if she didn’t stop the power of the Crack in Arbalde. So, she stopped it—by all means necessary.

“I know that Gerard and Nienna almost had a falling out because of what happened in Arbalde,” Juan said.

“No, they actually did fight to the point where they were both drenched in the other’s blood. It was rather surprising that they didn’t fight using swords. It almost caused an all-out war between the Order of Lindwurm and the Order of Penlil, but all of it stopped when the emperor’s royal letter arrived,” Horhell explained.

Juan nodded heavily. The royal letter was written by his own hands, and its content stated how Juan understood, trusted and accepted Nienna Nelben’s methods to stop the spread of the power of the Crack in Arbalde.

“At that time, Captain Gerard had no choice but to back down. I had never seen anyone look up to the emperor as much as Captain Gerard Gain. So, he had to understand and convince himself; after all the royal letter was from the emperor, whom Captain Gerard believed to be the most just and righteous person in the world. The Order of Lindwurm then retreated from Arbalde; we couldn't bear to attack our own people. The same was also true for me. But… Captain Gerard Gain was different. He slaughtered the people of Arbalde with his own hands, right beside the members of the Order of Penlil.”

Juan remained silent.

“Two million people were slaughtered. Doesn’t that number feel unreal? Had so many people ever been killed since the gods were exiled from the empire? We were shocked and infuriated by the fact that human hands could kill so many humans. What do you think we were all thinking in that situation? There was only one thought in all our minds.”

Horhell expressed himself loud and clear.

“Was that massacre really necessary? We, the knights, originally decided to grab our swords in order to protect our people. But we had to kill so many people. Was all that truly necessary? What is the Crack? No, is the Crack really what we are against at that point? If we had to kill that many people with our own hands, what even is the point of protecting them from the Crack? Do we, or does the emperor, even deserve to be called the guardian of humanity?”

Horhell paused for a moment, then soon continued.

“...the northeastern rebels are the descendants of those who survived the massacre of Arbalde. The fact that Captain Nienna failed to completely wipe out the traces of the Crack even after the massacre might be proof that the massacre had been unnecessary. Or maybe we were only able to lock those encroached upon by the Crack in the eastern territory, thanks to the massacre. Anyway, the northeastern rebels despise the empire for what happened. I don’t even want to criticize their ignorance which caused them to fall under the influence of the Crack,” Horhell sighed. “Because, the first ones to be encroached upon by the Crack after the massacre were the members of the Order of Lindwurm.”

Juan continued to collect the stones around him again while listening to Horhell’s words.

“The members of the Order of Lindwurm comforted Captain Gerard Gain, who was distressed, trying to drag him to the Crack and forget about everything. But I couldn’t get myself to stop them, since I might be responsible for two million deaths. I thought that it would be impudent of me to flee to the Crack to forget about what I’d done. I slowly became distant from the Order of Lindwurm, and became closer to the dragon. From that day on, I don’t even hesitate to kill even a child,” Horhell murmured painfully. “However…”

Horhell looked at the sky with empty eyes.

“...then the members of the Order of Lindwurm tried to prove that Captain Gerard Gain and themselves hadn’t been wrong. So, they tried to spread the Crack in the empire—in particular, Deputy Vekelt was at the center of the plan.”

“They tried to spread the Crack?” Juan frowned and asked.

“I didn’t hear the details. All I knew was that Captain Gerard Gain was planning to assassinate the emperor, then return to the eastern territory and lead the Order of Lindwurm to attack the capital. But everything was in vain when Captain Gerard didn’t return. The Order of Lindwurm didn’t know what to do. Then they went to Durgal in order to try and repeat exactly what had happened in Arbalde.”

“...Is that what happened in that dungeon?”

“Yes. So, I killed them all. There were a few others who joined me in stopping them, but I was the only one who survived. In return, I entrusted myself to Duke Henna. But… I’m not sure if I made the right decision.”

Juan stopped what he was doing and looked back at Horhell.

“I survived in order to save the dragon, but shouldn’t I have died with my comrades back then? Was the infant really just babbling? Am I the one who caused the deaths of two million people? Am I the one who caused Captain Gerard to have no choice but to stab the emperor? Did I drive the empire to this point?”

Juan approached Horhell and noticed that Horhell’s eyes were quite hazy. Horhell had become mentally weak, not only because he had lost too much blood, but also because of the fact that he thought that both him and the dragon were going to die soon.

Juan quietly stared at Horhell’s eyes.

‘

What should I do with him?

’

Horhell believed that he was the one who caused the tragedy of Arbalde and the assassination of the emperor. If Horhell’s actions had been what influenced Gerard Gain to assassinate the emperor, it might be best for Juan to take his life right here to make him comfortable.

However, Juan felt that was not enough.

Juan raised his hand and slapped Horhell’s cheek. The members of the punishment unit looked at Juan in unison upon hearing the echoing sound.

Horhell trembled and spat blood. At the same time, for some reason, Juan’s gaze made Horhell feel ashamed of himself.

“How arrogant of you,” Juan said.

“What do you…”

“It wasn’t up to you to decide whether to kill that infant or not—that had been Gerard’s job. It was Gerard’s own will to be convinced by your words, and it was also his will to obey the emperor’s royal letter. It was also his own will to stab me out of defiance. Do you really think that you have that much influence over everything? You overestimate yourself.”

“But…”

“That was what the emperor chose.”

Horhell shut his mouth, and Juan moved the pieces of stone that he had been rummaging around for a while. The sky was starting to brighten. The sun tended to rise later in the middle of the mountains, but the valley was already starting to become bright. At the same time, the song sung by the rebels could be heard closer than ever.

“The emperor gave all of that authority to Gerard Gain, not you. Therefore it is Gerard Gain who is responsible for all that happened. Tell me. Did Gerard reappear in front of you to resent you? Did he blame you even a little bit? The reason why he was in pain was entirely because of his own decisions,” Juan snorted. “He was just waiting to be persuaded if he was given even the slightest motivation. The regrets from his own decision are entirely his responsibility.”

“But…”

“Are you going to tell me that none of that would have happened if you hadn’t said anything about the infant? Then Gerard would have just made another excuse, because that’s the kind of guy he is. He probably would have believed that he could take the responsibility for anything he did, and that’s why he probably regretted his choices even more. I have no idea how he got so weak, but what can anyone do?” Juan clenched the stone in his hand. “I, the emperor, raised him like that. I appointed him as the captain of the knights, and believed that he would do his job properly. After all, the mistakes Gerard made are also considered to be my mistakes. Maybe it was only natural for the emperor to pay the price with his own blood. The responsibility should be directed upward, not downward.”

Horhell opened his eyes wide at Juan’s unexpected remarks.

“Juan, you…” Horhell’s lips trembled.

“Yes. Maybe the emperor was meant to die.”

Juan was clutching the stone so hard that his hand turned pale white and then began to bleed. Being unable to use mana, Juan’s skin was weak and fragile. The fragments of stone scattered everywhere as Juan threw them on the floor.

The sound of the pieces of stone rolling down the valley could be heard, and the members of the punishment unit could even see someone shouting toward the valley. It was clear that this ‘someone’ wasn't the backup that the punishment unit had been waiting for. The sunlight began to seep into the valley, but their reinforcements were nowhere to be seen.

Hury grabbed his weapon. Their location wasn’t the most ideal, as the bottom of the valley was easy to attack. The members of the punishment unit glared at Juan with resentment and hatred in their eyes. It was only natural for them to be angry, since they were all about to die while waiting for the arrival of the reinforcements.

The valley was filled with humming sounds.

“You paid for the price of your sins by killing the rebels, Horhell. I’ll be the one to forgive your sins myself. And I’ll help you live your life a little longer,” Juan said.

“What are you talking about…”

“However, keep in mind that your life will then belong to me, not to Duke Henna.”

At that moment, one of the rebels shouted in a strange singing voice and swung his spear. The armor the rebels were wearing looked shabby, and no one was dressed in any type of uniform. Juan dodged the rebel’s simple attack with ease and kicked him in the stomach while grabbing the spear.

The spear then pierced straight down the rebel’s neck in a blink of an eye. While the man was struggling in pain, he puffed his mouth to mutter something. The enemy faltered for a moment upon seeing Juan’s quick and clean response.

Fighting broke out throughout the valley. The punishment unit formed a circle and fought desperately, but there were too many enemies. The number of enemies was increasing to the point that they were covering the entire valley.

Then, Horhell noticed the handcuffs still hanging on Juan’s wrist. Juan couldn’t use any mana or magic with those handcuffs on his wrists. Horhell fumbled through the pockets of his trousers to search for the key, but the key was nowhere to be found. Horhell bit his lips as he thought he must have dropped it somewhere when he crashed.

“What are you doing?” Juan asked.

“The handcuffs… I can’t find their key. There’s no way to get them off your wrists,” Horhell said with a frown.

Juan looked at Horhell with a dumbfounded expression and spoke. “That’s unnecessary. I wasn’t going to ask you to release me in the first place.”

“What? Then how are we going to fight against all these rebels when…”

“I never said that I won’t use magic.”

Then, Horhell realized that the stones and branches scattered on the ground by Juan followed a series of strange patterns. Even before Horhell could figure out the meaning of those patterns, the rebels charged toward them.

“Although I can’t use magic that kills thousands at once.”

Juan broke the blade off of the spear with his bloody hand and tightly clutched the metal. Juan’s blood dripped to the ground, and the blade soon began to glow red. At that moment, the stones that Juan had strangely arranged heated up simultaneously and started emitting burning heat. The members of the punishment unit quickly dropped their weapons; they too were starting to heat up.

“Stay away from the dragon,” Juan warned.

“What?”

“To be exact, stay away from the restraints on the dragon’s body.”

Horhell looked back toward the dragon upon hearing Juan’s warning. The steel restraints that the dragon had all over its body were glowing red and heating up. The dragon seemed surprised, but did not seem to be feeling any pain. Horhell recalled that dragons were born with strong flame energy, and remembered a story that said that drinking a dragon’s blood enabled one to become impervious to flames. This could be seen from the fact that Gerard Gain had been able to casually wander around in flames after drinking the blood of a dragon.

“What the hell is this…” Horhell murmured.

Instead of answering Horhell, Juan raised his hand which was holding the blade high up into the air. The heat in the valley rose higher and higher as Juan raised his hand higher. The rebels backed away in a hurry, and those who held weapons made of metal all dropped their weapons, unable to hold onto them due to the burning sensation.

The terrible heat emitted by the metal weapons filled up the entire valley.