Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Retribution (2)
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Irena was no philanthropist.
She didn't believe all lives were equal, nor that there was some sacred duty to protect every one of them.
>How could every life possibly be equal?
Much less, how could anyone love every life equally?
Not every human had value.
Not every human could change for the better.
That was why Irena could prioritize.
Her top priority was, of course, Ian.
If forced to choose between saving a complete stranger's child or Ian, she'd pick Ian without hesitation.
It might sound cold, but Irena knew it was reality.
No matter how she thought about it, she knew she'd move toward Ian, not the child.
>A little time remained until the Great Beast broke free of the ice.
Irena gazed at Ian, who was demanding an explanation.
"They say the one who never loses their temper is the scariest when they finally do. Guess it's true, Ian."
"…"
Irena paused to choose her words.
Language was always imperfect.
The meaning you tried to convey always shifted based on the listener's emotional state.
Especially now, with Ian so worked up.
>Instead of trying to persuade him with words, she posed a question.
"What's the difference between a Great Beast and a human, in your mind? That it's a monster? That it harbors malice toward people?"
The reason for distinguishing monsters from Great Beasts was simple.
Even if they took on a human form, they were never truly human.
Irena didn't think that applied only to monsters and Great Beasts.
All people were human, but not all humans were people.
If "human" meant the biological animal,
then to her, a "person" was the social animal.
Beings who could share thoughts and values, understand and consider others.
That was her definition of a person.
The reason not every human could be called a person.
The Empress's mindset of viewing all non-people humans as livestock.
In Irena's case, she simply distinguished between people and humans—she didn't see them as livestock.
"I think... yeah, there's not much difference between Great Beasts and humans. Humans harbor malice toward other humans and kill them all the time. It's just a matter of degree and capability."
>Eat when hungry, sleep when tired, kill when annoyed.
If you just chased your immediate emotions and selfish desires, what made you any different from a beast?
That wasn't a person.
That was a Great Beast.
A beast that lived faithfully to nothing but instinct and desire.
"The reason we fought Great Beasts is because we're people."
People who could transcend base emotions and physiological urges, who could truly care for others.
People who defied their selfish human nature and willingly ran toward death to save someone else.
>Ian was her person.
Irena wanted him to remain one.
"Don't think saving them means you get to hold power over their lives and deaths. Saving is just saving. That's all it is. Nothing more."
Irena wanted nothing from them.
She'd never had any expectations to begin with.
"So…"
>Ian still wore a grave expression.
Irena chuckled at his trailing words.
>"You're more emotional than I imagined. Well, no one can be perfect."
Irena reached out and pulled Ian into a firm embrace.
"Snap out of it, Ian. You're too emotional right now. Revenge... let's think about it after the anger fades. If you still feel the same then... I'll gladly join you."
Sidor and the other instructors arrived running.
They'd heard the news from Chuw Geom and led the Raid Pavilion's people in evacuating the citizens.
"Lady Irena! Evacuation's complete. Time to wrap things up... Ahem. Looks like you're busy."
>Irena patted Ian's back and whispered.
"Revenge—let's do it in a more refined way. Make it satisfying. Thorough. Just the two of us."
There was no hesitation in her eyes.
In response, Ian said nothing.
More accurately, he couldn't.
The ice encasing the Great Beast was cracking.
Irena confirmed Ian had gripped his sword again, then turned her head.
"You lot evacuate too. We'll finish this."
Having seen the Great Beast lay waste to the capital, no one spoke up about joining the fight.
A few instructors or disciples brimming with confidence stepped forward now and then, only to take hits and retreat.
The beast shattered the ice and swung its arm amid a massive roar.
The ramparts scattered like dust, and black wings blotted out the city skies.
Irena swung her frost spear, freezing the monster's leg and pinning it in place.
Ian summoned his Wave and thrust it into the Great Beast's heart.
With a final scream, its torso tore apart.
That was the end.
The moment the monster was subjugated, the capital fell into silence, as if awakening from a long dream.
The first to stir were the evacuated citizens.
"We survived... We made it!"
"The Sword Lord... he killed the monster!"
Cries of joyous sobbing erupted from all around.
A child crawled out from the ruins of a collapsed house and reached toward Ian.
Irena scooped the child up into her arms, and the people wept as if beholding a myth come to life.
Soon, Chuw Geom, Sidor, and the Raid Pavilion disciples swarmed in, leading the citizens.
Their words swept through the crowd like waves.
"The Sword Lord stopped the monster!"
"Without the Raid Pavilion, this city would've been finished!"
It was natural incitement.
A scheme to hoist the Sword Lord onto a pedestal as a hero.
And it worked perfectly.
The word "hero" began flowing naturally from the people's lips.
Amid the cheers, Irena quietly watched Ian.
Ian was expressionless.
>The incident of the colossal monster assaulting the capital became known as one resolved by the Sword Lord and his subordinate Raid Pavilion.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The fervor over the monster subjugation hadn't even cooled when a royal decree swept across the kingdom.
[The Sword Lord unleashed the monster upon the capital to overthrow the nation. He is hereby wanted as a rebel.]
The king's command was proclaimed.
Normally, the people would have taken the king's word as gospel, but not this time.
Too many had witnessed the Sword Lord and his Raid Pavilion subjugating the monster.
The Raid Pavilion's efforts in evacuating people had played a part too.
"Hah... Rebel? Who killed the monster, then?"
"The king didn't save us! He hid away and now tries to pin the blame!"
The king refusing to admit his own faults, jealous of the hero instead.
Such absurd rumors spread, and the people's fury boiled over in an instant.
It wouldn't take long for the king's entire lineage to vanish.
And then, at some point, the rumors caught fire.
"All those missing people... it was because of secret experiments in the palace."
"That's how it became a monster. Our neighbors were turned into fodder for that beast!"
"Demons...!"
It was Irena and Chuw Geom's handiwork.
The populace was already a pot of boiling oil; a few whispers and eyewitness accounts were all it took to spread like wildfire.
The rumors snowballed, swallowing the king and his ministers whole.
From mouth to mouth.
Even without solid proof, the people arrived at a truth that wasn't truth.
>The lies crumbled, and suspicion took truth's place.
The rumors were no longer mere rumors.
And that suspicion turned toward the palace.
In the palace council chamber, a suffocating silence hung heavy.
The ministers eyed one another before finally speaking up.
"Your Highness, the people's rage is piercing the heavens."
"To hail the monster's summoner as a hero... Those filthy swine don't even appreciate Your Majesty's grace…!"
"We must arrest the rebels at once. Label them nation-subverters and execute them down to their eighth cousins."
The king muttered anxiously.
One minister smirked and shook his head.
"Have no fear, Your Highness. The masses forget quickly. Besides, the best counter to incitement is more incitement, no?"
Court historians rushed out at once.
Edicts in red ink were plastered on every bulletin board.
Self-proclaimed eyewitnesses came forward, spreading tales that the Sword Lord had summoned the monster.
The ministers gathered palace scribes and shouted in one voice.
"Nation-subverters were scheming! But His Majesty stepped in personally and saved the people!"
"Killed the monster? Nonsense! Without His Majesty's wisdom, how could a wretch like the Sword Lord have won?!"
"This incident may be tied to foreign powers... an Empire plot, perhaps!"
The king nodded and added,
"We shall form an investigation committee. The monster's backers will soon be revealed."
Troops were already scarce in the capital.
Rebel charges against the Sword Lord were on hold, fearing potential uprisings.
The ministers whispered among themselves.
"A committee will buy us a few years."
"Public opinion will die down in the meantime. It always has."
They planned to force the hero to "suicide" once things quieted.
But in the outer plazas, murmurs were already rising.
These were people who had already lost faith in the king once.
It was far too late for countermeasures now.
"Empire plot? You expect us to buy that?"
"We saw the monster with our own eyes—who made it is obvious."
The king and ministers' tricks no longer held sway.
The pent-up fury had reached its breaking point.
It started with small protests in the plazas.
People brandished torches, chanting "Hand over the king!"
Crude slogans scrawled on scraps of torn cloth in their hands.
"The palace made the monster!"
"The Sword Lord saved us!"
Soldiers blocked the march, but their blades remained sheathed.
They still couldn't cut down the masses indiscriminately.
But in that moment, an old man stepped forward from the crowd and dropped to his knees.
"Those bastards fed my son to the monster! Just kill me here!"
His wail shook the throng, and stones began to fly.
The shield-bearing guards were pushed back.
"My sister's gone missing too! I'll protect my family, not the king!"
The moment that rift became visible, the protest turned to clash.
Spears met torches, cheers soured into the reek of blood.
The people waited no longer.
The small spark erupted into an inferno in moments.
The king and ministers tried every trick to quell the unrest.
They released grain stores first, hoping to placate.
The people hurled stones: "Charity now, is it?!"
They mobilized the army for suppression.
Some royal guards defected to the masses, sparking clashes right before the palace.
Certain ministers accused each other of collusion, demanding purges to root out traitors.
Others fled with their families and fortunes, only to be caught and dragged back by the people.
They shifted blame, countered with their own agitation, mixed coaxing with crackdowns—but every effort collapsed.
In the end, rebellion broke out.