As….frightening as the experience was, I'm grateful that my oath warned me instead of simply shattering. While it was a comfort that my oath alone was willing to correct my mistakes, I felt that taking responsibility for myself was the best course of action. And my oath seemed to agree with me. I considered that nature of it. It wasn't a conscious entity within me. It wasn't even a pseudo-conscious entity like Enoch. I didn't know how to describe it. It was its own set of values held within me, gauging my every move and making sure they were in line with its values. I needed to spend some time in self-mediation and learn more about it, but now wasn't the time for that. I had prisoners to attend to.
I turned around towards the group of invaders. Denizens of the Slane Theocracy. I'll admit, I was mildly nervous about the nation. I was certain that it was founded by now-deceased players. What happened to their belongings? To their corpses? Out of what little I knew of this New World, they seemed to have the highest potential to be a problem. Perhaps even a threat. I was one of the most powerful players in YGGDRASIL. An arrogant statement, perhaps, but I've been undefeated in both duels and guild wars for several years now. And not for lack of trying. I participated in many conflicts between guilds and made time to accept a large amount of duels. I was confident that I had a minimum fifty percent chance of defeating any player in existence in a one-on-one duel.
Regardless, this world was a massive unknown to me, and YGGDRASIL was a game where controlling information was vital to success. I needed to learn fast. Thankfully, I had excellent resources to that end in front of me.
"Forgive the interruption, Captain Londes," I said. While I was interrupted when asking the question, I was fairly certain I knew the basics of what had happened with the title of captain. "I was just about to ask, why was Belius named captain of your squad instead of you."
"Nepotism." Londes scoffed. His eyes hardened as he answered. "Belius is the second son of a prominent noble house."
"I see. You seem to be an informed man. Would you kindly tell me the whole story? Leave not a detail out." I leaned in as I responded. He tried to hold my stare, but I could make out the slight tremble in his eyes. Five seconds. Ten seconds. He blinked.
"Very well," He said with a sigh. "The objective of the Slane Theocracy is to weaken Re-Estize and to facilitate the expansion of the Baharuth Empire. In the eyes of the cardinals, Re-Estize is a failed state, fallen to corruption and greed. For humanity to thrive, they need strong rulers. They hope the Bloody Emperor will purge the rot plaguing the kingdom. Our objective is to attack enough villages wearing the armor and insignia of Baharuth to draw the attention of the Royal Court. To that end, we have left a few survivors in each village.
The noble faction of the Six Great Nobles of Re-Estize is cooperating with our cardinals. When word gets to the Royal Court, they will petition the king to send out the Warrior Captain, the biggest obstacle in Baharuth's expansion. The nobles will restrict the support the Warrior Captain receives to make sure he's weak on the battlefield. The Sunlight Scripture, one of our nation's elite military groups, will ambush and assassinate the Warrior Captain and his Warrior Band, eliminating one of Re-Estize's greatest defenses. We had planned to attack them after this specific village."
Londes had a lot to say once he got rolling. I crossed my arms and looked towards the sky while I reflected on what I had just learned. I had involved myself in quite the political conspiracy by accident. Mass assassination, false flag terrorism, and the long-term conquest of a sovereign nation.
"I," I said before realizing I had no idea what I wanted to say. "Am satisfied with the answer you gave me. I still have a few more questions for you, but I'd say your pretty damn close to earning your life."
Gasps of hope lit up through the surrendered men. Londes was more composed, but I noted the widening of eyes and breath caught in his chest.
"By all means, ask away." He replied. Before I could do so, he continued. "Forgive me if this is…presumptuous, but may I ask you a few questions of my own?"
I was grateful my helmet obscured my face, or else he would have seen me blink dumbly. I was not expecting that. His men had wide eyes. They feared he may offend me after going through all the effort to get me to extend an olive branch.
"Ask away." Let's see where he's going with this.
"You are an angel, are you not?"
"I am. I am an angel of the highest order."
"Why have you interfered here? We are servants of the Six Great Gods, performing work for the betterment of humanity."
"Before I answer your question, allow me to ask one of my own. Why do you commit atrocities in god's name?"
"For the betterment of humanity. This may sound callous, but the villagers whose lives were lost, alongside the Warrior Band's, were lost for the long-term betterment of humanity."
"And is Belius assaulting women before killing them also for the betterment of humanity?"
"Thats…I couldn't stop him. I was ordered to allow him to lead our squad. I couldn't oppose him."
"Citing the Nuremberg defense, are we?"
"The..what defense?"
"Answer me honestly. Is that not just sophistry to push blame on your superiors who forced him to lead your squad?"
Londes looked down towards his feet silently.
"I see. To answer your original question, it is because the 'Six Great Gods' are false idols."
Londes's head snapped up. Shock and anger clouded his blue eyes.
"You heard me." I continued. "As a divine being, I'm aware of and have interacted with many gods. Yet I detect not a scrap of true Godhood from these 'Six Great Gods.'"
That was, in fact, the truth. I fought many gods in YGGDRASIL. Some were limited-time events on rotation, others were always available to fight. Entities that were, in canon lore, gods, were killed daily. Another truth was that I could not detect Godhood from the Six Great Gods. I couldn't detect Godhood in the first place, but they didn't need to know that. Before I arrived in the New World, I was agnostic. The claim "There is no God" is just as bold as the claim "There is a god." Fence sitting on the issue is so much easier. But now? I needed to do some soul-searching and think about the subject in detail soon. Magic was obviously real, alongside divine energy. I've taken these aspects of the New World at face value so far, but there are clearly some greater powers out there.
"Did you have any more questions?" I asked Londes. He stared at me for a bit before answering.
"No, I guess not." He said
"Then would you mind answering one or two more of mine?" I replied. Without waiting for him, I continued. "I'm familiar with the 'Bloody Emperor' and his excellent reforms in the empire in the past decade. But what's with this 'Rot' of Re-Estize? The corruption and greed you mentioned earlier?"
"While I'm not a true expert on the subject, I know the broad strokes of it. The Reigning King, Ramposa III, has ruled Re-Estize for the past four decades. Over the past two and a half decades, he's been an indecisive monarch. This caused the six great nobles to split into two factions, the royal faction which supported the king, and the nobility faction which wanted the king weakened for their gain.
The reason he hasn't abdicated the throne yet is because both heirs are terrible options. The first prince, Barbo, is a foolish brute who will be a puppet dancing on the strings of the noble faction. The second prince, Zanac, is a greedy pig who has little support. If he takes the throne, there's a risk of open rebellion. Instead of resolving the problems within their own house, Re-Estize struggles internally while Baharuth starves them out. Baharuth's strategy is obvious, but Re-Estize will still focus on their foolish squabbles.
There's also the world's largest criminal organization, Eight Fingers. Eight Fingers has grown so large and powerful that they're colluding with just about every damn noble of-"
I held up a hand to stop him.
"To summarize," I started. "Re-Estize decides to fight internal battles while ignoring the obvious external threat starving them while also choosing to feed the criminal underworld. Did I miss anything?"
"No, that's about it," Londes replied.
"One last question. Between Baharuth, Re-Estize, and Slane, it is obvious Slane is the most powerful country. If strengthening all of humanity is such a big deal, why do your cardinals not simply conquer Re-Estize themselves? Why all of the cloak and dagger bullshit?"
"The Argland Council State," Londes replied, as though that answered the question.
"Elaborate. This is the first I'm hearing of them." This time, it was Londes's turn to blink dumbly. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have a visor to hide it.
"The Argland Council State is the nation to the north of Re-Estize. It's ruled by a council of powerful dragon lords and promotes equality between all races."
"I see. A human supremacist country sharing a border with them would make politics between the nations greatly complicated. Thus, Re-Estize serves as a buffer state between the two nations."
"That's correct," Londes said.
Arcane Eye
I looked over the panoply of gear they had. None of it was enchanted except for a single sword. I turned to the group. The question that I had internally ignored up until now, what to do with them, loomed before me. I could avoid it no longer. Should I kill them? They crossed borders to commit false flag attacks in an attempt to destabilize the Kingdom. While I harbored no allegiance to the kingdom or any other nation, the villagers present were kind people who had tried to help me. Speaking truthfully, they didn't do shit for my physical condition. None of their herbs or wet rags had helped. If I was left alone in the crater I would have woken up in the same amount of time. It was extremely unlikely that something that could pierce my passive barriers would have stumbled upon me, and even if something did, Enoch would have killed it or evacuated me.
But they tried, at risk and trouble to themselves. And afterward, they gave me food and offered shelter. The knowledge given was extremely valuable to me, even if they didn't know it. In my eyes, they were good and kind people. And these men had killed them as they had with many similar villages before. They turned a blind eye to the men assaulting the women, and some present had probably partaken in the act in previous villages. But Londes here also helped me. They surrendered quickly and obeyed my orders. They hadn't attempted to lie or deceive me.
I wasn't sure. My attention turned inward to my own soul. The brand on it, the spiritual manifestation of my oath, stared at me. If I were to let them go, it wouldn't break my oath. They were inferior to my strength, they tolerated my word, and their will to fight against me was shattered. If I were to start killing them all, I imagined they would simply close their eyes and pray in their final moments. Punishing them for their crimes wouldn't be unjust. But what was justice without mercy? I made my decision.
"In return for your willingness to act in the face of fear, honest demeanor, and pleasant conversation, I, Aurora Borealis, have decided to grant you and your men your lives." I could feel the hope and relief radiate in waves off of the men. "There are some strings attached, however. Your horses and equipment will be returned to you and you will return to the Slane Theocracy at once. You are forbidden from deliberately contacting the sunlight scripture for the remainder of this mission. If, by chance, they contact you or you stumble upon each other by chance, you are permitted to speak honestly with them about what happened. If this happens, warn them away from enacting their plot. When you return home, contact your superiors and inform them of my existence, alongside my disapproval of their little plot. If I were to learn that any of you disobeyed my words here, I would be oath-bound to hunt you down and kill all of you. Do you all understand?"
They all nodded and spoke words of affirmation. I motioned for them to get up and retrieve their gear. The angels surrounding them all flew back, giving them space. The principality of observation approached a herd of gathered horses tentatively following behind it. While they grabbed and equipped their gear, I spoke to the captain while he adjusted his armor. I had asked for clarification on a few subjects as well as a few other minor questions. Perhaps it was because he no longer had a sword hanging over his head, but he was slightly more casual. Towards the end of the conversation, he was even throwing in a few small jokes. When he was almost fully equipped, I decided to end the talk there.
"Captain Londes, I think I would like the opportunity to speak together again, under more pleasant circumstances of course. Though I would not blame you if you didn't feel the same way."
To my surprise, he just laughed. He grabbed the last piece of equipment and tucked it under his left shoulder. He then turned to me.
"I think I would like that as well, Lord Borealis."
I stared at him for a few moments before sticking out my hand.
"Aurora," I said.
He stared at my outstretched hand for several seconds. Several complex emotions cycled through him. He then grabbed my hand and shook it with a respectable grasp. The eyes of his men bulged in shock. I counted at least four open jaws.
"Londes."
After we released our handshake, I turned around and marched a few steps before flying off to the town square. Mid-flight, I cast Perfect Unknowable. I just hovered over the town, observing everything. The villager's corpses being wrapped in shrouds, the disrespectful treatment of the invader's corpses, families hugging each other around a shroud, people partaking in alcohol, and a few people returning to work as though the events of today occurred once a week. The chief cataloging the dead, the Emmots sitting outside their home. The herbalist tending to the wounded.
The invading force was now entirely mounted. They had decided to leave the extra horses. As a gift to the village perhaps? Or purely because riding the extra horses is impractical. They began riding out.
Enoch, zoom in.
Affirmative, Architect.
My field of view rushed forward until I could make out the details of the riders. Londes was in the front, with vice-captain Williams behind him. He was speaking to the men, but I couldn't make out his words through his helmet. It didn't seem negative, however. I'll take it. Despite the atrocities he had committed against the innocent villagers who I had grown to enjoy, I couldn't help but like the man. I was a bystander too, once.
That's enough, Enoch.
Affirmative, Architect.
What are your thoughts about the recent events in the village?
This unit has prepared a full-text report that has compiled all gathered information. Would you like this unit to read it out loud?
How many words is it?
Ten thousand, three hundred, and forty-two.
Abridge it for me later.
As you command, Architect.
I felt mentally exhausted. And yet, I knew the day wasn't over. The Warrior Band ought to arrive soon, with the sunlight scripture hot on their heels. I felt pretty committed to siding with the Warrior Band in the upcoming skirmish. Unless this Gazef was a terrible person, I'd be willing to lend my spear. I was very committed to opposing the sunlight scripture. Something about the Slane Theocracy's meddling in the local region uncomfortably reminded me of my father's political meddling and callous disregard for lives. My mood soured. Deciding to distract myself, I descended into the village to aid with healing.