Beautiful, the Lagunican's Royal palace was simply beautiful. Its giant spires caused people to feel a sense of wonder, and Its impressive size left one in a daze. But the palace's beauty wasn't limited to just outside. No, when one would go inside Its beauty became even more breath- tacking. All around them were gold and marble. those two were often followed with red flags that depicted Volcanica, the kingdom of Lagunicas' protector. And such sights extended as much as the castle's hallways, that it is to say that they were endless, or at least that is the impression that they gave. Yes, all of this was simply...
"disgusting." And that was the only emotion that he could feel, disgust. How many people starved for such opulence to be possible? How many people struggled for basic survival so that the royals could leave in splendor? Just thinking about this gave him a great sense of anger. " But It won't be for long, I'll finally end this." And that he will, because right now a bloody battle was being waged in the Royal capital. Even, deep inside the castle, one could hear the thunderous crack of rifled muskets and field canons.
One would say that he was lucky, after all the palace's guards were easily overwhelmed. But those people are unaware of his authority, truth is he had fought this battle many times before he devised this perfect strategy. And even then many lives were unnecessarily lost, but that didn't matter anymore, because he had won. After all, very soon they will pay. And he will have the opportunity to see to It himself, because Natsuki Subaru, the Rose Revolutionary, was in front of the golden doors that separated the hallway from the throne room. And inside they waited, he made sure that they are surrounded and can't escape. All that was left was for him to act, and act he did. The doors were violently opened, and he entered, behind him militiamen followed all armed with rifled muskets, their weapons were loaded and bayonets affixed. And behind them, Husar Astreus, or as he was better known as Heinkel Astrea, entered with a squad of ex-royal knights that Subaru was able to recruit. His victory in this battle was owed greatly to his accomplishment of convincing the third of the white knights to switch sides. The musket man quickly made a firing line, while the knights protected their flanks. Across them stood fifteen still loyal royal guards and, for Subaru and the revolutionaries, most importantly the Sage council.
These old men took it upon themselves to rule the kingdom when the royal family died. But most couldn't notice the difference, for they continued all the foul practices of the kings. But the main reason Subaru disliked them, was ironic, their stupidity. After all these old morons decided to organize an entire selection, based only on writings from some stone. They claim that the stone shows them the will of the "Divine Dragon", which he found even dumber.
These people were ready to give the absolute power in the state, to whomever this flying lizard wanted. Rather hypocritical for a society that despises nonhumans. But then again Subaru doubts these people are smart enough to realize that. Their big dragon told them to choose their new ruler from a group of women called "dragon maidens", as far as he understood before all of this they were some kind of priestesses. To him, this was inherently dumb, but the woman in question somehow made it even dumber.
All four of them lacked, either the ability or will to lead successfully. Crush Karsten was a militaristic moron, who got herself and her entire camp killed when she attack a foe much greater than her. So great is her defeat, that nobody, but Subaru, even remembers her. Priscilla Beriele, although competent, is a stuck-up bitch lost in her own delusions of grandeur. Subaru honestly wondered how this woman didn't drown while trying to kiss her reflection, like Narcissus. Anastasia Hoshin is just a disappointment, smart, resourceful, and cunning, she had all the requirements for a good leader, but her greed corrupted her and now she is possibly his most dangerous enemy.
Emilia, just Emelia. She was a lot of things, airheaded, naive, childish, and simply put incompetent. He wouldn't entrust her with a goldfish, let alone a country. But ultimately she was the one who had the most growth potential. Yes, she was naive, but that would with time fade leaving her natural kindness. She was incompetent but willing to learn and rely on her betters, he saw how hard-working she was when he tutored her in oration. When he knew her she was the worst out of the candidates but had she lived to the end of the selection, she would have probably been a respectable leader. But she didn't, she was killed. Granted the country didn't kill her, but they also didn't shed any tears when sloth did. For this society destroys all that could potentially rise to improve it. They hate those with potential for greatness because they are a threat to them. In the end, Emilia was, in a way, a martyr for Subaru's cause. But these men won't be martyrs, No they'll be an example.
" Surrender, your comrades' defeat is inevitable. You needn't suffer the same faith as those who had fallen." Subaru's attempt at convincing a surrender was interrupted by a member of the council.
" Your disgusting tricks won't work here. Neither we nor the knights, here present, will bow to you!" The vitriol in his voice has quite palpable, so much so that the knights in front of him seemed to be more motivated.
" Is that so?" Turning, again to the knights he asked this question.
" You heard our masters, and will never betray their will. Such is an honor of the knights." One of the knights replied. His voice was calm, but it shoved the man's resolution to his intentions. None of the other knights showed any form of disagreement with this statement. So Subaru, without any emotion in his voice gave an order.
"Then so be it. Comrades fire!" the moment these words were uttered, the relative quietness of the room was replaced with thundering cracks. A wall of leed left the barrels of the militiamen muskets, and it crashed right into the knights' line. In an instant half of them had fallen dead, and the other half had their lives taken by their former vice-captain and brothers in arms. With the immediate threat dealt with Subaru could, for the first time in a long while, take in the throne room's grandeur. It is a sizable room, lined with white marble pillars evenly arranged across its length. This is where the royal guards would assemble for important ceremonies, but that will soon be just a horrible, past. A large red carpet spread across the horizontal line of the room, It led to an elevated height where two tables, standing in the right and left corner of the room, with the middle left empty. This is where the sages set, their function was to be the king's advisors. And in the perfectly opposite area to the rooms' doors, stood the thing that brought the greatest of pain to the people, and that caused all of this. Their, elevated even from the point of view of the sages, stood the throne of Lagunica. Its golden appearance, and the person who usually sat on it, caused most people to bask in its majesty. But to Subaru, this currently empty chair brought nothing but renewed disgust. He wanted so badly to see it destroyed. But that will have to wait for a little, first cam the sages.
" Oh, great and wise sages, please tell me. Where is this knight's honor now." His sarcastic words were quickly followed by a hand that gestured to the corpse of the knight that had rejected Subaru's offer.
"In the hearts and minds of the virtuous. But I doubt that somebody like you would understand such a concept." Always witty, lord Miklotov answers his mocking question.
" Ah, Mlklotov nice to see that your sense of humor didn't dull. After all, since when is starving people for the sake of one's indulgences a virtue." His comedic tone was soon shifted into a serious one." I saved the people of Lagunica, where you and the kings before you were exploiting them for your benefit."
" Saved? You, foolish child, is it being saved, having all that they believed, trusted, and lived by destroyed. How many people had you unnecessarily killed to accomplish all of this? Do you really believe all of those people's lives were a worthy sacrifice, for your cause?" Miklotovs voice was calm, almost like he was talking to a child. This treatment naturally further angered the revolutionary.
" There is nothing to believe old man. I know that you and those like you are leeches, I know that removing you would bring a better future to all and I know that all that was done, and that will be done is necessary." He controlled his voice's volume well, but still one could easily pick on his anger towards the older man.
" And when will that future arise, after how much spilled blood will you be able to proclaim your ideal world?"
" When you and all like you are finally gone." He seethed with hate when he said these words. One could not possibly start to describe the intensity of his hate. But that hatred didn't seem to affect the sage who, staying true to his title, had his voice sound calm and almost paternal.
" How will you know that? You can't see into one's mind to discern their beliefs. So You'll never be able to state with certainty that you had won." Miklotov's words were logical and his thinking sound. The only problem was that he didn't know that Subaru had knowledge of many revolutions like this one and that knowledge had given him the solution to the problem that the sage had presented.
" A special committee, whose goal is to root out the internal enemies of the revolution will be set. That committee will have the power to have anybody suspected of contra revolutionary actions arrested and tried." Almost like reciting a book he said these words to completely shocked Miklotov. Although the old man hid his shock pretty well.
" What you propose will be to terrorize the people of Lagunica" Hoping that Subaru would catch onto the monstrosity of his words the sage gave this statement. But like always Subaru was one step ahead.
" Terror without whom the virtue is impotent. Virtue without who terror is blind. For virtue to survive and thrive terror must be omnipresent. But my goal is not to create a virtuous world, at least not yet. First, we need to make a decent world, since you people are incompetent of that."
Misunderstanding his words as applying to the sage council, and not all the people that were the subjects of Od Laguna, Miklotov gave his response.
" What makes you think that you will be better, Just a moment ago you proposed the use of terror to keep the people in line."
" Firstly terror is not evil, at least not in itself. Terror is like a sword. When used by you and your knights, It is an instrument of oppression. But in the hands of people fighting for freedom, terror becomes a sacred tool. But I am not surprised that you can't understand such a simple concept." Never the one to miss an opportunity to insult his enemies, he said these words and then continued. Secondly, I know more about philosophy than all of you combined. And most importantly I know the history that non of you know, and that knowledge will help me avoid the mistakes that you and other historical figures had made."
With a sense of pride, headed. " If you don't believe my words, then believe my deeds. The Astrea Domain is flourishing since my ideas were implemented. The people there can finally, on their own. afford a decent living. All the weapons and uniforms used by my man were made there, had It not been for industrialization I would have never been able to mobilize these many men in this short amount of time."
The Astrea family domain was completely industrialized by Subaru. But that was only the beginning, when he brings the entire country to that standard, he will turn the domain into the center for heavy industry and military production. That land will be his forge, a forge that will make weapons and other materiel necessary for the inevitable war with this world's other monarchist countries. There is much left to do, and many battles left to fight, but the goal is just and they will win. He is sure of that.
This time lord Bordeaux decided to interrupt, with his usual attitude, he attacked Subarus's claim." You turned Astrea domain into a hell hole, over there the sun is rear sight do to your industry. Honestly, I can barely believe that that idiot Hainkel is dumb enough to let you ruin his land." As expected of this man, his words were filled with vitriol, and his body language communicated the same opinion.
But the aforementioned "moron" had enough of his words." What the fuck do you know old man." Irritated, he pulled out his flintlock pistol and aimed it into Bordeaux's head."You would do well If you thought about your words before saying them. Especially when your opponent is armed and you are an old fool!" Anger in his voice was palpable, and the sages in questions life seem to have been a bay gone conclusion. But Bordeaux will live, at least for now.
" Heinkel!" Immediately realizing what tone he had accidentally used, He switched to a friendlier one." Husar Astreus, There is no need for such displays of violence." His voice was soothing as he spoke to the man." Unlike them, we are civilized and enlightened, we don't kill people for saying what we don't like. No, we allow them to speak, even if all that they can say is illiterate nonsense." His voice was calm and so was his movement as he approached Heinkel. " After all, isn't the enlightenment the base of our ideals?" With a gentle push, Subaru brought Heinkel's pistol down. Nothing more was needed because Subaru's words cared a meaning only two of them knew.
"Yes, It is" While his mannerisms clearly showed that he was unsatisfied with this decision, he ultimately obeyed Subarus's will.
" Now that that is out of the way, let's get back on track" These words came out rather cheerfully, but as everybody knew it was just an act. His next words proved that." Where is Anastasia" In an instant the previous cheerful expression, was replaced with a deadly serious one. After all, this information was critical, without it he could never put an end to the counter-revolution that will inevitably follow the victory that he had achieved today. As long as that woman lives, remnants of the royal guards and other enemies of the people will have a figurehead to rally behind. And he doesn't plan to give them that luxury. No, they had enough of that during their life. Now it will be time for them to struggle for their bare existence. If only he could see such a sight in person, but alas he wasn't blessed with such an opportunity. He will have to satisfy himself with the faith of the man in front of him.
" Why would I ever tell you that? " Miklotov's words came rather like he was stating a fact, which he was, and not talking to an existential threat to his way of life.
"Well, If you do. You will, for the first time in your life, do some good for this country and world." Sensing that his sarcastic remark will not be enough to convince his speaking partner, He added. " But I don't think you really care for such things. Worry not If you tell there will be worthy rewards, as there are worthy punishments if you don't." His treat was in the end empty, simply put he was bluffing. Everybody in that room knew that the sages' council days were numbered, so whatever torture he could put them under, didn't really change their fate, at least not by much.
" Sorry, your offer does not interest us"
" Well then, punishment It will be. But I assure you that I will get what I want because eventually one of you has to crack." He seem to genuinely believe what he had said, and that put a feeling of unease in tot the hearts of the councilman. Had this young man possibly invented a new way of torture? They didn't know, but they were sure that they will find out soon.
" Do you truly believe that you can go against the wishes of the dragon, that you are greater than him?" this attempt of Miklotovs to use the fear of a greater power against Subaru expectedly failed.
Had he been a Lagunican, he would have probably felt fear at this point. After all his actions implied that he thought of himself as greater than the "Devine Dragon", the protector of Lagunica. But he wasn't he was Japanese, a fact that he had not once forgotten, he might live with these people, but he is not one of them. He was born and raised in a modern and civilized country, and he will never forget that. Just like he will never forget the day that he was, against his will, brought to this medieval, barbaric, shit hole that the locals mistakenly refer to as a country.
But that is not the only reason why he doesn't fear Volcanica. No, the main reason is simple, It is called Return by Death. His authority, there is yet to appear an enemy that can even come close to this power. At first, he was blinded by flashy sword moves and giant fireballs, but soon He realized that all of those are meaningless when compared to his Authority. It doesn't matter how hard you can swing a sword when your opponent can reverse time. It doesn't matter how good of a mage you are when your opponent can reverse time. Their strength was lacking when fighting him, their cunning futile. His is the right to bend fate, to shape past, present and future the way he saw it. Whatever this flying lizard can do won't, even in a million, years come even near Subaru's power. Yes, his authority made him unbeatable, it turned him into u unstoppable force that destroys anything that, foolishly, tries to stop him.
Had he accepted this fact earlier, they wouldn't have died, but he was a fool when he first came to this world. And he will never again let himself be one. So Miklotov is wrong, Subaru doesn't think he is greater than the "Devine Dragon", he knows that he is more powerful than him. And if that lizard dares to challenge him, It will suffer the same fate as all others who tried doing the same." That flying lizard does not concern me, If he gets in my way, I will kill him."
Miklotov had to turn his gaze from Subaru, his visage was simply that disturbing. His voice was flat lacking any emotion, and his eyes lacked any semblance of humanity. If they could usually be described as scary, now they were terrifying. They showed nothing but fierce determination, which coupled with his words gave an implication that everybody in Lagunica would describe, as simply horrific. Miklotov felt like every hair in his body was telling him, that this thing, in front of him is not human, that this thing was a monster. Miklotov imagined that this is how Sin Archbishops usually appear towards their enemies and considering the reactions of his fellow sages he wasn't the only one. If Subaru would say that he is one of them, they would believe him immediately.
"Well, this was a nice, although not a very productive conversation." He turned to the man behind him." Comrades, please arrest these men."
The militiamen did as asked, and the councilman, still affected by the recent event, didn't offer any resistance. Victory at last, now he finally starts making this shit hole into a country. He can already see the glorious future awaiting him and this kingdom, all the progress, all the reform. Whit his knowledge, he will advance this place centuries into the future. both technologically and culturally, Lagunica will be the shining beacon of light for all that crave freedom and enlightenment. For all that want to liberate themselves and others from oppression. Yes, It will be glorious, but one step at a time. There were immediate matters that required his attention right now.
" Hainkel, shall we"
He turned to his fellow revolutionary to witness his response. Hainkel merely nodded his head, but that was enough for Subaru. Both men took a short walk until they were right in front of the throne, they made short eye contact, Halibel unsheathed his sword and struck, in an instant, the throne was no more. All that remained was a ruble and a few large chunks. The once glorious and omnipotent throne was now nothing more than trash, but for Subaru, It was always that so its legal status remained unchanged.
The reaction to this was divided, the militiamen and ex-knights cheered, while the sages looked saddened and, finally, defeated. Who could blame them for that, all that they had believed for their entire life was now falling apart right in front of their eyes. As far as they saw it, the world was falling apart. But Subaru wouldn't be Subaru If there was where he stopped. So he stood where until recently the throne was and started speaking.
" Comrades, friends, today we had won a great victory. Our triumph over the monarchist menace will be remembered by all as the day when good finally stood up against evil. But we must not stumble now, for there is much yet left to do. It will take time, but this country will finally become a home for all its denizens. This country will become a shining beacon of light, in this dark world, a place where one need not be born in the right family, or be the right specie, for their talents and thought to be acknowledged. We will make a nation, that despises opulence, and promotes virtue, a nation where nobles will not be able to hold banquets, while the people under their protection starve. After all, one can't host a banquet when they are dead!"
His speech was slowly but surely hyping his comrades up. In contrast to militiaman, the sages went pale, not because they were afraid for their lives, after all, they were already dead men, but because Subaru just implied that he will kill all the nobles. While nobles do make only three percent of the kingdom, one should keep in mind that the kingdom has a population of fifty million.
" Comrades, do not even for a moment be fooled that the other countries of the world will simply watch as we triumph, for they won't. They can't allow our light to shine into their lands, they can't stand the possibility of their people, inspired by what we had done here, taking their fate into their own hands. So they will unite, They'll unite in order to destroy us, to destroy our ideas. But let them come! Let them come, and they will face four million bayonets! "
The already hyped-up crowd now began to cheer him, while some even started throwing their tricorne hats in the air.
" But we will not stop there, once we defeat them in our lands we will move forward into theirs. With cheers and gratitude, our enslaved brothers and sisters, who live in those countries will greet our liberating armies! But that is the future, and this is the present. Now citizens rejoice! For as I speak the people of Lagunica had proclaimed the Republic!"
If one had thought that previous displays of happiness, shown by the crowd, were all that was humanly possible now they would be proven wrong. For at the moment there was not a man that hadn't thrown his hat in the air, or in any other way shown his elation with Subarus's words. Even Hainkel, known for his disinterest, had a hopeful smile on his face.
"So no one man can rule the nation, so no group could ever oppress the people!". All in all, Subaru was quite content with the effect that his speech had caused, It would seem that he got hyped up by his own words. But such elation was not without challenge.
" You will never have peace young man, you will never have victory, you can win every battle, but you can't win this war." Miklotov, whose voice was once again paternal pleaded with Subaru, not only for the good of the country and the world but also for Subarus' good. His pleas were answered with disinterest.
"Pax Per Bellum, Miklotov."
He said those words while he was walking to one of the former throne rooms' large windows. From there he could see the city, once grand and imposing, was now a shell of its former self. Flames and smoke could be seen rising from various parts of this once, and soon again, majestic city, Noticeable amount of housing was destroyed, as were most of the bridges. But he could also see the battle, muzzle flashes, and thunder of guns were omnipresent. But they seemed to be concentrated in a single area, It appears that Subaru's man had surrounded the main forces of the royal army. Even so, this urban combat will be bloody even for his troops, but It doesn't matter now, as Miklotov had said this was only one of many battles to be fought. And If the Republic is to prevail, It must be ready to spill all the necessary blood. There is no place for mercy in this world, Subaru had learned that the hard way. There is only strength, there is only violence, and he will make sure that the Republic is the Strongest.
"Yes, Pax Per Bellum."
"Res Publica"
These words, although incorrectly pronounces exited her mouth with a great deal of excitement. Anastasia as a whole could be described as possessing a great deal of excitement. And how wouldn't she? After all, she currently learned a phrase spoken in an ancient language of Hoshin's and Subaru's world. And that is not all, Subaru had translated her an entire lexicon of such phrases. There is so much to learn about that language and the people who spoke it, just thinking about it is fascinating. The world from where Hoshin came is amazing by itself, now learning about ancient secrets of its is simply mesmerizing.
Now that she thinks about it she can remember Subaru using certain words, from this Latin language, in his speeches, but no written record of Hoshin shows the same. Could this role model of hers not know them and Subaru did? Was Subaru a greater intellectual amongst those two men? She found that unlikely, Hoshin's records are all mostly lost, so If he ever used Latin, the paper he wrote on was probably long destroyed. But she isn't certain, after all, Kararagi didn't seem to have any influence from this amazing civilization, Rome was it called? Her homeland didn't have any enlightened ideas from his world. The only thing Kararagi and Rome had in common was slavery, and that is hardly something to be proud of.
Out of them, Subaru was the only one to embrace this idea of res publica, and thanks' to the new books she can now understand it clearly, without any bias coming in the way. A system where no one man can control the country, a system that forces people to think about leadership and practice virtue. The populace had a great say in controlling their future, instead of fighting for mere survival and simply obeying their overlords. It is not only the ideas that this civilization created that fascinated her, it was also its age. Rome was almost three thousand years old, at least according to Subaru. That is way older than Lagunica and Kararagi and might even be older than Vollachia.
But not everything was great with this civilization, aforementioned slavery, social inequity, and many more. But It did give good ideas that can be adopted and improved, plus she hadn't even read the tenth of this book's content and she had already learned all this. She couldn't but wonder how many more such societies will she learn about? And how many more great people of the past, will she have the honor to learn about? All of this made her giddy, but not everything was purely fantastic.
These last two weeks she had spent with the villager, whose name she learned to be Robert and his family. While they did, graciously, allow her to stay with them, she was still expected to aid his wife in whatever house choirs she can. As It turned out, there wasn't much that she could help with, at least in the beginning. But by now her cooking skill had noticeable improved, or more accurately stated, the food she prepared is no longer inherently toxic. But her hosts are quite patient people, so they help her to improve where they can. And improvement is noticeable, although slow.
But the most important thing that happened was that she was able to send that letter that Subaru had given her. Knowing well Halibels' abilities, she doesn't doubt that he will find her soon. Until then she will take whatever moment she can to improve her knowledge of the revolution, she can see that her judgment about the res publica or republic, as Subaru and others called it was rash, but it wasn't without merit. She won't act until she had learned everything that she can learn on this topic, even when Halibel finds her. Subaru claimed that Halibel will be loyal to her, and she will have the opportunity to check this statement. But that is the future and the present is now, and now it's time to learn.