EP.288 The Blessed Nation, The Cursed Humans - 11
Right after I declared my intention to destroy this country, a brief silence fell. Immediately after, Yuel tried to clap her hands together. It was a movement ingrained in her body, so she was quite fast.
However, a shut-in who hasn't even learned Qigong isn't faster than me, who can read minds.
I flicked my finger. Right before they could touch, a single card wedged between her hands. The sharp card cut the Saintess's hands. The Saintess let out a groan.
"Ugh!"
"Stop using cheat skills! Invincibility is cowardly!"
8 of Diamonds. All things thin and long.
Pulling a wire from it, I swiftly wrapped it around Yuel's hand and yanked it. The sharp wire dug into her flesh and seized her hand. Her arm was dragged towards me. Meanwhile, I pressed down hard on her shoulder so her body couldn't follow.
"Grr!"
"Just in case, let me say it again: the Princess is here! We can't use the 'let's all die together' tactic anymore!"
The Saintess tried to use her strength, but it was laughable. I'm a healthy adult male who has at least learned basic Qigong; I won't lose in strength to a shut-in Saintess. Yuel's subdued body trembled.
"...Impossible. You, who have lost all your power, cannot destroy the Military Nation."
"You don't need power to destroy the Military Nation. Since long ago, it wasn't power that brought down promissory notes, but distrust. Credit is that important."
The method is very simple. I told you. The most fatal poison among poisons is neurotoxin.
I whispered into Yuel's ear.
"With Captain Abby's help, I'm going to make all the signal soldiers come out of their rooms. I'm giving freedom to all the signal soldiers existing across the Military Nation."
"You can't! Signal soldiers are bound by the rule that they must not leave their windowless rooms. They won't break the rules just because a mere signal soldier orders them to!"
"But what if it's not a mere signal soldier? What if it's an order coming through the communication module, no different from the Command Headquarters' order?"
Just because the true identity of the Command Headquarters is a collection of signal soldiers, it doesn't mean a signal soldier's words immediately become the Command Headquarters' order.
For it to become the Command Headquarters' judgment, the relevant signal soldier must relay the information to other signal soldiers. The relayed information is processed through numerous signal soldiers and modules specialized in specific value judgments, and then returns packaged as an order from the Command Headquarters. Just like a human brain.
Therefore, a mere signal soldier cannot impersonate the Command Headquarters' order.
However, a powerful signal soldier can resonate with and control nearby signal soldiers.
"Looking at the signal soldiers up there, every single one of them is incredibly naive. The best canvas to draw on is unstained pure white. What if Captain Abby and I get our hands on the upper modules? We liberate the nearby signal soldiers one by one. How about it? Can you picture the painting now?"
"...Are you planning to mentally contaminate them?"
"I suppose that's what you call it. I was going to call it liberation from oppression."
Kya. My chest feels completely clear. I now understand the feelings of a third-rate villain who blurts out all their plans at the final moment.
What? Giving the enemy a chance to turn the tables by blabbing my plan? Who cares about success or failure? I'm having fun right now!
She would have laughed it off if it were empty words, but because the future I spoke of is feasible, it must be even more terrifying. Yuel, who until now seemed to have given up on life without any lingering attachments, felt a sense of crisis from my words.
"Do you think I'll... just stand by and watch?"
"And if you don't, what will you do? Pray? Unfortunately, as long as your hands are tied, you won't have a chance to do that. You shouldn't have unclasped your hands for prayer in the first place."
The Saintess's ability is nothing more than the reproduction of the miracle the first Saintess performed. Because it's a miracle, it's special, but at the same time, obvious. Her arms are subdued, and since she's with the Princess right now, she has no means to threaten me.
Ah, come to think of it, the Princess's hands are free, right?
"Princess, could you come here and hold this wire? I suppose I'll need your hands to take this woman out of here."
"M-me?"
"Yes. Even I can't climb a ladder while carrying a resisting woman. Especially if that woman has the mindset to fall and die with me."
The Princess was suddenly terrified.
"You want me to escort someone like that...?"
"You roughly know it too, Princess. You cannot 'intentionally' attack anyone. It's similar to the reason the King of Dogs cannot harm humans. Of course, it's less absolute compared to the King of Dogs, who is a conceptual being."
The Princess didn't fully understand the latter half, but one doesn't necessarily need to understand to be persuaded. The Princess hesitantly reached out her hand. I kept applying force until the Princess grabbed the wire. Yuel might not be able to attack the Princess, but she could probably pull her arm away.
Hmm. If I just wrap this wire around the Princess's neck, she wouldn't even be able to pull away... No. If I did that, the Princess might die in an unexpected accident, and above all, Xiaty would try to beat me to death. Cancel that plan.
"We go out and show them the corpse of the Military Hero. Reveal the true identity of Heavenly Communication Aemedes. Meanwhile, we liberate the signal soldiers one by one. The signal soldier system that the Military Nation took pride in will become the target of distrust. The signal soldiers are just mere girls, and the orders given down until now were actually fabricated among themselves! The distrust we spread will seep in and eat away at the Military Nation!"
"That kind of..."
"That kind of thing! I'll do it! I do it!"
It can't be helped. This is like an occupational hazard.
I listen to the desires of humans. But the Military Nation is not human, so I cannot hear its desires. And to the citizens of the Military Nation, it's a truly damned country.
From a collective subjective perspective, the Military Nation is better than the Kingdom. Most of those who have experienced both evaluate it that way.
But the Military Nation is an oppressive country. It robs humans of their right to choose, their responsibility, and their sin. Therefore, all the misfortune the citizens of the Military Nation possess is entirely the Military Nation's fault. Gradually, sin accumulates, and while it clouds over without being resolved...
"You looked at me and called me a destroyer of civilization, but my position is different. In my eyes, you're just a human who invented the machine that kills humans the longest and most efficiently in the world. Unfortunately, that machine is beyond my understanding."
"We cannot return to the age of barbarism! Humans are not beasts!"
"Is it because it's mentioned too often? Quite a lot of people seriously believe that, but in truth, if you peel back just one layer, it's immediately revealed. Humans are originally beasts."
That's why I exist.
Fear and horror flash across Yuel's face. Somehow knowing about me, she held more fear than necessary.
'No. This country is my only legacy. The child made by him and me, the child of us two! Even if it perishes buried in history, it must not be devoured by barbarism...!'
But right now, Yuel has no means of resistance. Over ten years of seclusion, drowned in sorrow. No one remembers who she is anymore, so no one will come to protect her.
It was when Yuel's eyes were stained with despair.
"Um... Huey-nim."
The Princess carefully raised her hand. She had the expression of someone who didn't know what to do, like a person about to make an unreasonable request. Since I can read minds, I know that when I usually hear words like this, they end up opposing my opinion.
Why all of a sudden? I was puzzled, but since the Princess still had important things to do, I answered gently.
"Yes. Please speak."
"Do you really have to reveal it in that way? It's too rough."
"Pardon?"
What is she talking about? Is there a gentle attack in this world? You can't stab an enemy's throat gently, can you?
It seemed my feeling of absurdity seeped into my expression. The Princess, still intimidated, spoke stubbornly nonetheless.
"The Military Nation is certainly a heartless country. But countless people have adapted to the Military Nation's system and live following its orders. If you reveal all the secrets that move the Military Nation at once... uncontrollable chaos will come."
"Of course. Wasn't that the goal from the beginning? The more chaotic the Military Nation gets, the safer we become."
"If that happens, many people will suffer. Right now, the Military Nation is about to start a war against the nations. In this situation, if you recklessly dig up the Command Headquarters, the military will collapse. Historically, the collapse of a large armed group has always led to the suffering of the people. Even Duke Shay, who loves peace, wouldn't want that."
You fool. I know that too! That's why I brought the regressor along!
A regressor who only pursues the best outcome would have left the Military Nation alive, for better or worse. What the regressor wants is a moderate level of chaos that would be advantageous to her. If left alone, a disaster will come, but if everything is overturned, there will be too many variables. She probably plans to stop the conflict, preserve humanity's strength entirely, and then pour everything into the fight against the weakened King of Sin.
But that shouldn't happen! In many ways!
I don't know what kind of messed-up future that would be, but probably in that future, I'll be the King of Sin!
"Huey-nim, you said it. That we don't know the Military Nation. But what I wanted to change was the heartless Military Nation devoid of mercy or kindness. I believe that if there is kindness in the Military Nation, it could become better."
"So, is the Princess planning to be kind to the Military Nation as well?"
"I-it's not that grandiose. But if I want kindness, I have to show kindness first. The Military Nation desperately needs a single chance."
A deaf person cannot speak. If they cannot hear sounds, they cannot learn how to make sounds.
By a similar logic, the bloodline of the Grandiomor royal family cannot feel hostility towards others. Since no one has ever shown hostility towards her, even if she learns what it is, she cannot familiarize herself with it as an emotion.
Is that why? The Princess, a mere human, ended up spouting the absurd story of forgiving the country.
But...
I grabbed my head and screamed.
"Aaaaaah!"
"H-Huey-nim?! What's wrong?"
"Damn it. Of all people! Of all people, the Princess! Are you asking for a further extension here?"
Humans can find their own king. Therefore, they do not need a King of Beasts.
They made that claim and drove out the King of Humans, but eventually, all Kingdoms fell. Humans, who needed something to rule them, now each worship different things.
But the Princess still remains. And the Princess, who hasn't learned hostility, did not hate the Military Nation. As a result.
"Are you trying to become the King of the Military Nation? You're really restoring your position in a unique way! To become a king by parasitizing the country born from the destruction of your own country!"
"Y-yes? It's not necessarily..."
"Don't brush it off with 'not necessarily'! Even if you don't think that way, it ends up the same! There is possibility in this country, and you want to see more of that possibility, right?"
Ugh. Are you still saying you don't need the King of Beasts? If the opponent is a monarch, that request is valid.
But there's a problem. According to the regressor, the King of Sin will awaken in the not-so-distant future. Probably, the time left for me isn't that long either. Granting an extension like this...
Thinking about my future that is to come!
"Well, it doesn't matter."
It doesn't matter.
I'm not a prophet, and the future I haven't seen with my own eyes is none of my business. I'm still bound by those detestable prophecies, but I won't limit my present actions out of fear for a future that hasn't come yet.
That's the way of the civilization that prophets love. Because it's not my way.
I don't break the law out of fear of the military police who will come someday, and I don't stand by out of fear of things going wrong. If I can do it right now, I do it.
"Really?"
"But that's not the problem. Princess, there is no way to achieve your desire."
Only what can be done. I'll pass on bashing my head against something impossible and getting hurt.
"Yuel's power starts and ends with the signal soldiers. But the only power the Princess has is avoiding hostility? What if, the moment we leave here, Yuel calls an angel to kill us, or communicates with other signal soldiers to move troops? You have no means to resist, Princess. It'll be the same as the previous Military Nation."
"We can persuade Yuel-nim and get a promise! Since Yuel-nim is a rational person, she'll accept it!"
"She absolutely won't. An eternal nation must not have a king. That's why Yuel created the signal soldiers and desperately, even if it was a facade, built a kingless system. To add something like kindness according to the Princess's will, the Princess's will must be much stronger than the other signal soldiers. Like the relationship between a king and a vassal."
"Ah..."
If there's no way to achieve it, no matter what you do, you won't achieve it. Even if the Princess has the ability to avoid hostility, it's not omnipotent. Without an ability suited for the system, the Princess's cries will not be heard by anyone.
"It would be better if the Military Nation completely collapsed, you know? If chaos comes where guns and swords are aimed in all directions, the Princess's bloodline will stand out the most."
"I don't want that to happen!"
"I'm sure you don't. Anyway, you roughly understand what I mean, right? If so..."
It was when I shrugged my shoulders, trying to make the Princess give up.
"Your Excellency."
Captain Abby called me quietly.