Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Suppression of the Uprising (3)
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The mayor of Ravonia grabbed my hand tightly as soon as he stepped outside the castle.
That human trash of a man grabbing my hand.
A surge of disgust welled up in an instant, but I forced myself to keep a straight face.
Even though we shared the same rank, I couldn't openly show my revulsion toward a man with decades of seniority.
'That bastard's still innocent for now.'
"Major Schumacher, I really owe you one. If you hadn't come, those rioters might've killed me."
"Even if I hadn't gone in to rescue you, sir, you wouldn't have been murdered."
"Cut the nonsense. What do you know about what those horny wild boar-like rioters might do?"
Horny bastards will do anything to satisfy their lust.
Insane types who laugh it off even after blowing millions, tens of millions.
Some even kill people or dip into all sorts of crimes.
The Empire's probably got mountains of people who went bankrupt blowing money on lust.
What's lust that you'd throw your whole life away for it?
And that's not something you should be saying, anyway.
You damned corrupt official.
"I was just doing my job."
"I know a fair few people in the General Staff Headquarters and the Imperial Administration. I'll make sure to put in a good word about you."
"Thank you, sir."
Not grateful in the slightest, really.
I don't need backing from scum like him to get ahead.
Worse, if I accept a favor from guys like that even once, I'll end up just like them.
Better to just discharge honorably.
"By the way, sir, what are your plans from here?"
The mayor looked me in the eye and let out a sigh.
"Deep down, I'd love to climb higher here, maybe even become a department head in the administration someday. But with this mess... my bureaucratic career ends here, I suppose. Still, making it to mayor of a city like this? Can't complain about that run."
"Is that so?"
No hint of remorse anywhere.
Corrupt officials never change at their core.
So why should I go easy on you?
If you even pretended to be sorry or admitted fault, maybe.
"For now, please rest in that room over there and stand by. The judge for this rebellion case will arrive soon."
"Thanks for passing that along."
"No worries, sir."
The judge dispatched to sort out the rights and wrongs of this incident had arrived.
In military terms, a brigadier general or higher—a big shot.
"I'm Ainz Kaitel, Chief Justice of the Imperial High Court."
"Major Michael Schumacher."
"No need to feel burdened by my presence. You have full discretion over this uprising suppression, and I'm just the old man stamping the papers."
High-ranking folks don't joke around lightly.
One offhand remark could get heads rolling or families shattered in an instant.
If it's a bastard who deserves to die, no pity there...
But if it's an innocent? Human guilt kicks in.
So, like he said, I can just do what I want.
"I can't just stamp anything willy-nilly, or the High Court Chief will have my head. Need proper grounds, you get me?"
"Understood."
"Good. So, how do you think we should handle this uprising?"
"Execution or life imprisonment for the ringleader and all his top cadres. Same for the mayor and every civil servant grade 5 and up."
Chief Justice Ainz tapped the desk at my words.
His brow furrowed slightly.
But he didn't call me crazy or curse me out.
"You're an orphan, right? That why you're pushing harsh sentences on the bureaucrats?"
"This feels just right to me. And if I'd been influenced by my past hanging with the poor... I wouldn't be asking leniency for the ringleader and his protesters, would I?"
"Fair point. The poor weaklings are those guys, after all."
"His Majesty the Emperor protects the good and innocent weak, not the sly and cunning ones—or so I believe."
The protesters crossed the line hard.
Their leader should've kept his greed in check...
That lunatic twisted this into the worst kind of uprising just to take a bite out of the treasury.
"For starters, the mayor and his officials collected way too much tax, embezzling nearly 20% of it. They cut taxes for merchants, doctors, artisans in exchange for bribes, and squeezed the rest from the poor."
"Even embezzlement has limits. Scum like that everywhere?"
"Tax records show a single farmer pays more than a merchant pulling in 20 million marks a year."
"That make any sense?"
And yet, that's exactly what happened.
"They slapped impossible taxes on families with pretty daughters under bogus pretexts, then waived them in exchange for human trafficking."
"Fucking lunatics. Even pigs don't gorge like that."
In civilized countries, a civil servant gets disciplined for bad coffee.
Go to Southeast Asia, and cops demand bribes for 'illegal U-turns' on flimsy excuses.
Refuse? Up to two years rotting in jail.
The Empire's the biggest on the continent, sure...
'But corruption's rampant.'
Even a judge living in this world would say no human does shit like that.
"They've been gorging on this for at least seven years."
"Fortuna preserve us."
"And they show zero remorse. Any reason to keep 'em alive?"
"The mayor's got thick political connections... but with corruption this bad, even his backers won't complain if we hang him and his lot."
Even your own guy has limits to protection.
Cross into batshit insane territory? You're done.
Who keeps a child sex offender alive? Castration's not enough.
"I get wanting harsh punishment for the mayor and bureaucrats. But with atrocities this bad..."
"Normally, Imperial law would go easy on the leadership."
Justified self-defense.
Unless the Emperor ordered it, rebelling against guys arbitrarily jacking taxes and trafficking people? Weirder not to.
Of course, the uprising itself isn't justified...
Standard is 20-year sentences for top dogs and cadres, then the Emperor pardons 'em after three months.
"But that protest leader saw this uprising as his ticket up."
"A promotion? The guy's nuts."
Jeon Bong-jun at the heart of the Donghak Peasant Revolution got a huge boost once.
Even had the Jeolla Governor consulting him directly on administration.
The rotten Joseon recognized his status as the people's rep.
Of course, General Nokdu didn't aim for promotion...
Can't compare to this punk steering an uprising into treason.
'Key point: being at the uprising's heart is a fast track up.'
"What's your basis for that judgment?"
"Imperial Army tried entering the castle to fix things, but the gates stayed shut. Citizens inside eyed us warily too."
"Mercy, this is treason."
Treason like this? Unheard of.
"It is treason. And I've got a way to handle it."
Zwei, the leader who seized control of Ravonia City with his protesters.
As Schumacher predicted, he saw this uprising as his big break.
Lived his life as a lowly peasant nobody, couldn't even inherit his dad's tenant land, ended up a city laborer.
This was his shot to flip 30 years in one go.
Light the fire of the uprising, then personally snuff it for major credit...?
'Councilman at least.'
Just become a councilman, and you'd get noble treatment anywhere in the Empire.
Three square meals of meat a day, not a whaleback mansion maybe, but a proper villa.
So he kept riling up the masses inside the castle.
"Imperial Army's outside, sure—but don't let your guard down yet! The corrupt mayor's a noble; we're just commoners."
Everyone cheered that.
Crabs stick together—high-and-mighties side with their own...
Not with regular folks like us?
Doctors, merchants with decent trading houses, artisans with workshops...
Not quite establishment, but well-off by Empire standards—they nodded along too.
"We can't resist the Imperial Army head-on. But we gotta show 'em our resolve firm."
The so-called protest cadres started agreeing.
"He's right! Changing just the mayor won't fix our lives, will it?"
"Long live the leader!"
"Even worms squirm when stepped on!"
Deep down, leader Zwei chuckled.
Everything going exactly to plan.