Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Suppression of the Rebellion (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The protesters had completely lost their motivation to continue the demonstration.
The corrupt mayor and other officials had their heads lopped off by the Imperial Army.
On top of that, His Majesty the Emperor had promised tax reductions and food aid so they could return to their daily lives.
"Captain Zwei, don't you think it's time to call off the protest now?"
Zwei pressed his hand to his forehead upon hearing those words.
He let out a massive sigh in that state.
It was because the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for advancement in his life had gone up in smoke.
Deep down, he wanted to scream at the fool urging him to end the protest without even knowing his own intentions.
But snapping now would ruin all the groundwork he'd laid so far.
Exercising superhuman patience, he suppressed his anger and asked in a measured tone.
"Why do you think that?"
"Mayor Ravonia was executed, and His Majesty the Emperor said he'd provide food aid so we can return to our daily lives. All the problems that were tormenting us are gone."
Zwei had no desire to return to everyday life.
With his natural gift of gab, he'd barely managed to gather people and become the protest leader.
If he could get recognition as the protest leader here and claim credit for disbanding the rebellion peacefully, he might snag a city council seat or some other title and rise in the ranks.
But if the protest disbanded just like this?
He'd be back to being a lowly wage laborer scraping by on the streets.
'How can I throw away this hard-earned chance?'
If he couldn't rise in status, he'd rather die.
"Yes, on the surface, all the problems tormenting us seem to be gone. The corrupt mayor was executed, and with food aid, we could all return to normal life. No, it looks like we can."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Because we squirmed a bit, the higher-ups hurriedly executed the mayor to uphold justice. But is there any guarantee the Empire's noble bureaucrats won't pull the same stunt again?"
"There isn't..."
Zwei had successfully seized control of the conversation's flow.
And now he began pondering the option that would benefit him most.
If he kept insisting on holding the castle, he might get beaten to death.
But opening the gates right away would undervalue his worth.
'In times like this, I should play the good guy, and make those guys the bad ones, right?'
"We'll open the castle gates on the morning of the third day."
"You plan to hold out until the very end of the three days?"
"If ordinary citizens like us show we can squirm when stepped on, the next mayor assigned here will have to watch us a little, won't he?"
School bullying, workplace harassment, higher-ups tormenting those beneath them.
There was one ironclad rule when the strong unilaterally bullied the weak.
Even if the weak could never truly harm the strong no matter how much they resisted, the strong usually avoided messing with those who fought back.
They feared they might get hurt themselves if they weren't careful.
The protesters, who had lived their whole lives as the weak, could empathize with that.
"You all just need to hold the castle like this for exactly two more days. Then on the third day, I'll open the gates and we can all leave."
It wasn't a particularly difficult request.
They'd followed Protest Leader Zwei's orders, and the corrupt mayor had lost his head.
The Imperial government was even providing free food so they wouldn't starve.
Without Zwei, they'd have kept getting exploited forever.
If he were openly defying the Empire, that'd be one thing, but he was just asking them to hold out within acceptable limits. There was no reason to refuse.
Everything had gone well following his lead so far, so why wouldn't it continue?
"That's nothing we can't handle. Things have never gone wrong when we followed Captain Zwei."
"Just trust me. And I have one small additional request."
The protest leaders tilted their heads at the word "request."
"Once we get out of the castle, ask them to appoint someone to represent our voices. That way, I can look out for you all even a little."
"We only get better if someone like you speaks up for us. Don't worry—once a captain, always our captain."
Zwei breathed a sigh of relief at that.
If all these people spoke up saying he was absolutely necessary?
The protest leaders aside, he could land a city council seat for stabilizing the city's citizens and surrounding public sentiment.
'At least I can pass on a silver spoon to my kids, even if not a golden one.'
"The gates open in two days, so spread the word: eat and drink as much meat and booze as you want. We've won."
"Thank you, Captain!"
"I want to be alone for a bit, so I'll head out soon."
Zwei holed up alone in his room and grinned.
"I did it, damn it. Me, born to a peasant family, climbing this high... Soon I'll be a city councilor, raking in massive cash."
Once he became a councilor, merchants seeking city contracts would shower him with "gifts."
The amount depended on the councilor's influence, of course.
But even at the low end, it'd be two or three million marks a month.
He'd be earning in one month what his father made in a year.
And this money was tax-free.
"I did it. My luck's turned. Damn it, thank you, Fortuna. I'll tithe plenty from now on and donate big to the church."
After becoming a councilor, he'd marry a pretty young wife, build a big house, and live it up.
The protest leader cronies? He could slot them into the guard with his councilor pull and use them as private muscle in emergencies...
'This is what a life reversal looks like.'
After indulging in those delightful fantasies for a while, he stepped out of the office.
After he left and everyone had gotten drunk on meat and booze...
One man entered the room Zwei had been in.
"Major Schumacher shows no mercy to enemies, that's for sure."
Zwei was a born agitator.
Born just a bit earlier in the era, he could've been a close aide to that guy with the suspicious mustache.
But there's always someone above you, no matter where you go.
To the high-ranking survivors of the Imperial political scene—like Major Schumacher—it was plain as day what motives he had.
If he'd hidden his intentions even a little better, he might not have had to die...
"I don't exactly disagree with what the guy did..."
The man who had entered the room was an Imperial Army sergeant major.
An Imperial soldier.
He'd enlisted as a private, aced military life at S-rank, commissioned as a non-com, and succeeded in his own life reversal. He could fully empathize with why people like Zwei had started the rebellion.
'I'd probably join a rebellion in a situation like this too.'
After a moment of sentimentality, he quickly scanned the room.
He was looking for a place to hide the forged letter he'd brought.
"......Where should I stash this?"
After glancing around, he slightly lifted the massive bookshelf in the office.
He only managed to raise a corner a bit.
But it was enough to hide the letter he'd brought.
If he got caught hiding it, his own neck wouldn't stay attached...
The sergeant major carefully tucked the secret missive under the bookshelf's base.
"Better to hide it like this than cut into the desk or shelf. It needs to be hidden sloppily enough that the contents get discovered..."
He didn't know what was written inside.
But Schumacher had penned instructions for Zwei to incite an uprising directly from the currently-truce-bound Dolce Republic, along with action guidelines.
In other words, if this got found, Zwei would go from protest leader to traitor in an instant.
The best scenario was Zwei opening the gates and an Imperial soldier "accidentally" finding it...
But even if one of the protesters found it, no problem.
The good ones among them, hating traitors, would beat Zwei to death and open the gates themselves.
"Time to head out."
The sergeant major exited through the door as casually as could be.
Perfectly natural, to anyone watching.
Jumping out a window or scaling the wall would scream suspicious intruder...
And that would heighten the castle's alert status, making things risky...
So he strolled right out the front.
As he left city hall, a drunk protest leader grabbed him.
"Why were you still hanging around city hall?"
He briefly considered killing the man, but didn't draw his sword.
A dead body would complicate things more.
"I pulled an all-nighter on paperwork yesterday, fell asleep, and woke up to the noise outside. What happened?"
"The captain said eat and drink all the meat and booze you want. It's a festival now. Mayor's dead, we'll go back to normal life soon anyway. Want a drink?"
"I'll hit the john and join you."
"Don't get caught banging some girl in an alley corner."
Ignoring the drunk's babble, the sergeant major slipped away safely.
And precisely on the morning of the third day, the gates opened.
Zwei strode out proudly, thinking he had only great things left in life.
Utterly unaware of what was about to unfold.