00092 <-- Episode 92: A Misaligned Heart (2) -->
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Standing in the hallway, Zenon looked dumbfounded.
“… … You were planning to die by the clock from the beginning? That’s why you showed that appearance on purpose?”
“yes.”
Alita nodded as she finished her explanation. Then she looked towards the room where Sung Si-han and Karen were, with a pitiful expression on her face.
“It’s a sad story… … .”
Xenon, on the other hand, reacted a little differently.
“What the hell is that?”
My chest still hurts from the blow Karen gave me. My whole body still aches from the Plague Blessing.
Honestly, I thought I was going to die at that time.
“No, if you were trying to kill me on purpose, why did you act so terribly?”
Alita pouted her lips as she watched Zenon grumbling.
“That could be the case. The guilt is so great that it makes you go to extremes… … .”
It was something that Zeno couldn’t understand. The greater the guilt, the more sincerely one should ask for forgiveness, right?
“What kind of logic is it to show murderous intent with all your might because you don’t deserve forgiveness?”
“Isn’t this a question of logic?”
There’s no way that human emotions can be expressed exactly as they are said. If emotions only flowed according to the flow of logic, why would there be fighting and war in the world? Wouldn’t it be a paradise where everyone understood and accepted each other?
Zeno clicked his tongue.
“I just don’t understand!”
Alita also clicked her tongue.
“Why don’t you understand this?”
They look at each other with eyes filled with bewilderment.
‘Anyway, women! They just don’t add up.’
‘Anyway, men! Are they not delicate at all?’
In any case, neither of them are the parties involved. Zenon and Alita calmed down their excitement and looked towards the door.
It was a room where only Seong Si-han and Karen Inasius remained.
What on earth are the two people talking about when they reunite after ten years?
***
It was a question I had repeated several times already. The excitement and agitated emotions had already subsided.
So Seong Si-han asked calmly.
“So… why on earth did you betray me?”
The tone was so indifferent, as if he was talking about someone else. Karen lowered her head even further.
“sorry…….”
There wasn’t much resentment or anger toward her in Shihan’s voice right now.
That’s why my shoulders felt even heavier. I felt more at ease when I shouted for revenge and poured out my hatred.
But Sung Si-han wasn’t in the mood for that. To be honest, he was more preoccupied with something else right now.
“And by the way, Karen. What did you say last time… ?”
He blushes slightly and mumbles his words.
“Hey, what does that mean… … .”
He looks at Karen, then at the floor, then at the ceiling, and so on, trying very earnestly to avoid talking.
“I, I don’t really know… … .”
What’s more concerning than the betrayal or revenge is the bombshell statement Karen made just before committing suicide.
I never thought of you as a little brother, Sihan… … .
I’m not your sister! We’re not siblings!
Why Levina of all people?
I met you first!
‘… …Karen me?’
It felt like rush hour was unfolding in my head. Something was endlessly complicated, but I couldn’t figure out what was complicated about it.
‘I, I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way… … . Did you just say that out of excitement? But do you usually say that when you’re excited?’
He glanced at Karen, trying to keep a straight expression.
Her face was calm. Karen took a deep breath.
“ha.”
Then he asked a somewhat unexpected question.
“Do you remember, Shihan? The Battle of Mastel Plains?”
“huh?”
Seong Si-han nodded, looking puzzled. Of course, there was no way he wouldn’t remember.
It was early summer in the year 1009 of the Rusclan Empire calendar.
The Imperial Western Army led by Grand Duke Russ, the monarch of West Clanium, and the Revolutionary Army led by Seongshihan and Lilstein clashed at Mastel Plains.
After much bloodshed, the revolutionary forces finally won. This victory laid the foundation for the downfall of the Rusclán Empire.
“With the victory of the two, the revolutionary army took control of West Clunium, and everyone gathered in that city to clean up the mess afterwards.”
Karen told the story in a calm voice.
“That was back then.”
***
These were days when tomorrow could not be promised.
Compared to the mighty Rusclan Empire, the revolutionary forces were extremely weak. They were just struggling to survive from day to day.
But the revolutionary army was not broken. Despite the hardships, they increased their number of comrades, grew in strength, and strengthened their military power.
And in the end, they won. They captured West Clunium, one of the four major cities of the Empire.
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Finally, the flame of freedom began to burn with realism. Now, we had enough power to fight as an equal ‘enemy’ to the Empire.
The revolutionary army has grown large enough to change the world.
This meant that the shoulders of the Seven Revolutionary Heroes who commanded them had become heavier.
The central palace of the Grand Duke of Russ, who ruled West Clunium, the Spear of the Setting Sun.
In a conference room in a magnificent palace built in the splendid Gothic style, seven leaders of the revolutionary army were gathered to discuss their opinions.
A handsome young man with black hair and golden eyes asks a question.
“How is the post-war processing going, Saparan?”
A beautiful young man with blond hair and green eyes answers.
“I left it to Jarrett and DePaul, Lil Stein. They’re both doing great.”
Battles always produce prisoners.
The Rusclan Empire treated most of the revolutionary prisoners with brutality, executing or enslaving them.
The revolutionary army, on the other hand, was more lenient.
High-ranking commanders who were responsible for the war were executed as well, but mid-level commanders and individual soldiers who wanted to convert were accepted into the revolutionary army.
Of course, you can’t completely forgive an enemy who just fought for his life, because it affects the morale of your troops.
So, although they were used as soldiers for menial tasks that others avoided, at least they were not abused or killed. They were even allowed to return to their hometowns if they wanted to.
Jarrett and DePaul, Safaran’s subordinates, were originally people who had been doing this kind of work. This time, too, they were doing their job well.
A man in his thirties with a sturdy build and a beautiful silver-haired girl nodded at Saparan’s report. They were members of the same Seven Revolutionary Heroes, Theorant of the Brain Flower and Sif Queen Levina.
“I see.”
“You’ve worked hard, Saparan.”
No one opposed Saparan’s way of doing things. After all, it was the familiar way they had been doing things.
Suddenly, Saparan’s expression hardened.
“The problem is that I’m not used to it… … .”
With the fall of West Clareum, a new problem arose that had not existed before.
A large number of the Rusclan royal family members who were staying in this city were captured.
Not only those who participated in the battle, but also many royals who resided in West Clunium as civilians lost their status and wealth and were reduced to the status of mere prisoners.
Saparan muttered, looking embarrassed.
“In all previous battles, I have never let a summoner from another world be captured alive. They were too dangerous to be converted and accepted.”
Moreover, since all of the otherworldly summoners who participated in the battle were high-ranking, they were bound to be executed anyway.
“But all the royal family members who have been captured now are civilians. There are many elderly people and women.”
A black-haired teenage boy, the other-worldly savior, Seong Si-han, asked with concern.
“Are you doing your job of identifying them properly, Saparan? It would be a problem if someone gets wronged by mistake.”
The one who answered was also a black-haired Galenite beauty, Karen Inasius.
“Don’t worry about that, Shihan. I’m definitely taking care of it.”
The power of summoning other worlds is latent in the bloodline of the Rusclan royal family. This is common knowledge in Terrano.
However, that does not mean that all royals can use the other world summoning technique.
Although the royal family with strong powers of summoning other worlds is said to have thick blood, this is only a symbolic metaphor and the reality is a little different.
It has already been a thousand years since the era of the first emperor, Rusclán I. Unless the royal family has been inbreeding for a thousand years, the blood of the first emperor is bound to fade.
The blood magic of Rusclan can be passed down to later generations based on the qualities of the individual who received the blood. That is why it has been able to continue steadily for thousands of years.
“On the other hand, the royal lineage is only a paper position that is passed down through the father. So, we cannot know whether they actually have power or not until we check.”
As Karen Inasius says, simply being a member of the Rusclan royal family does not make one a potential otherworldly summoner.
So she and Sapharan had their subordinates search out only those who actually had the power of bloodline magic.
Rustclan bloodline detection magic.
This method of determining whether the power of summoning another world is latent was originally used by the Rusclan Empire for generations.
The otherworldly monsters are one of the most powerful forces in the empire, and it is only natural that they train otherworldly summoners. In order to train them, it is also necessary to identify talented individuals early on.
By order of the emperors of the past, the four great ivory towers of Terranor had developed techniques to detect Rusclan bloodlines.
It has now been turned into a tactic for purges.
Karen continued in a calm voice.
“First, we isolated those whose bloodlines had latent power. However, the majority of them actually did not know how to summon people to another world.”
Not everyone with the talent becomes a summoner of another world.
In the first place, the Rusclan bloodline detection technique only judged the presence or absence of bloodline magic, not its strength or weakness. Even if it was determined that one had the talent, it did not guarantee that one would become an excellent otherworldly summoner.
Also, human talents are not limited to one thing, and there is no rule that says you have to choose your future career based on your most outstanding talent.
No matter how talented you are, is there really a reason to take that path if you don’t want to?
So, even though they had latent bloodline magic or were even talented at it, there were surprisingly many royals who chose a different path in reality.
The muscular giant, Zexenguard, crossed his arms and frowned.
“But Karen, you’re saying that they can use otherworldly summoning magic anyway? If they just learn it.”
Levina nodded.
“There may be differences in strength and weakness, but I think it is quite possible.”
Theorant’s face hardened.
“I guess… … there is no choice?”
Karen and Safaran’s expressions also became gloomy.
“It’s not something I ever wanted to do, but… … .”
“I guess there’s nothing we can do.”
Lilstein sighed deeply and declared,
“We will have no choice but to execute them all.”
The others nodded with reluctant expressions, agreeing with Lilstein’s words.
Except for one person.
A black-haired teenage boy who had been listening quietly suddenly got up from his seat.
“Wait a minute! What are you all talking about?”
***
Seong Si-han made a bitter expression while listening to Karen’s story.
“Ah, I remember. We had quite a fight back then.”
“brawl…….”
Karen shook her head sadly.
“If you remember it as a simple argument… … you don’t understand anything, Shihan.”
***
A shrill scream echoed throughout the conference room.
“Are you all out of your minds? Among the isolated Rusclans, there are children as young as ten! Are you going to kill all of them?”
At the sound of the clock ticking, Lilstein sighed.
“We didn’t come to this conclusion because we liked it.”
The otherworldly monsters that the Rusclan royal family handles are extremely powerful and dangerous. Even if they are old or young, the moment they unleash their terrifying powers, they become their strongest enemies.
“… … You can’t create regrets, right?”
Seong Si-han was impressed by Lilstein’s question.
“You’re going to execute them not because they committed a crime, but simply because they have the potential to commit a crime? Then what about Sword Hier? Magian? Prayer? They too have the power to harm someone. Why should you spare the powerful members of the Empire who converted, but execute the royal family members who surrendered?”
Saparan answered instead.
“The otherworldly summoner is not under control, time limit. The difference is huge.”
The magic of Terranor is by no means weak. By suppressing the power of the opponent, confining them to a designated location, and applying magical measures, it is possible to control a large number of strong people as prisoners even with a small number of people.
However, magic does not work on monsters from another world.
“No matter how much magical action you take, you can’t completely suppress even the smallest amount of magical power. And the Rusclans can summon otherworldly monsters with just that amount of magical power.”
Of course, you can’t control the summoned monster, but from the trapped position, just making it run wild is enough.
“If we were to isolate and properly manage the prisoners of the Rusclan royal family, we would need thousands of troops and dozens of sword-hirers and prayers. We don’t have the resources for that right now.”
The opponent is the Thousand-Year Empire, Rusclan, which rules over all of Terranor. Even if the Revolutionary Army uses all its might, it won’t be enough.
“Even if we had that kind of capacity, we couldn’t guarantee the safety of those in charge.”
If we are not careful, thousands of troops may end up falling prey to otherworldly monsters.
Theorant also joined Safaran’s persuasion.
“What’s important is the safety of our troops, Shihan. Can’t we shed the blood of the innocent for the sake of a sense of justice in front of us?”
Seong Si-han shook his head.
I just couldn’t understand it.
“What are you talking about, Theorant? Since we cannot shed the blood of the innocent, are you suggesting that we shed the blood of the innocent?”
Lilstein, who had been listening silently, interjected in a sharp tone.
“What on earth is wronged about the Lusclan royal family, Shihan?”
Even if they are a young child, if they are born into the royal family, it means that they have enjoyed everything that comes with being a member of the royal family under their parents.
“You’ve already taken all the benefits, so how can you avoid paying the price? What kind of shameless talk is that?”
“But that doesn’t mean that the sins of parents can be atoned for by their children, right?”
The expressions of the other six revolutionary heroes became strange at Shihan’s question.
“huh?”
“What is that now… … .”
Although Seongsihan didn’t know it at the time, here was where the 21st century Korean boy and the Terranor people had a crucial difference of opinion.
“No, then… … .”
Zexenguard asked back, as if he found it absurd.
“Who else but a child can take upon themselves the sins of their parents?”
