Chapter 385: The winner Doesn’t Pay The Price (2) |
Yevkarina didn’t know what to say because she knew everything. The late Father Bishop knew it as well. I was just reminding her of it. The winners would never pay the price, it didn’t matter whether it was on Earth or on this continent. It was a constant that applied everywhere.
‘It is indeed.’
There wasn’t anything simpler than that. No matter how much we tried to make ‘encouraging good and punishing evil’ sound good, we would still end up living by the rule I had mentioned earlier. Yevkarina looked as if she agreed with me even though she was biting her lips and glaring at me.
Naturally, I continued talking with a smile. “Am I wrong?”
“...”
“You seem like you don’t want to answer, but I’ll take that as a positive answer. As I told you just now, we are the same. If you had won this battle, I would have been the one who would pay the price. Thinking about it that way, though, it’s a bit disappointing. Ha…”
“I’m different from you. Y-you’re a piece of trash,” Yevkarina remarked.
“Do you hate your own kind?” I asked.
“I’m not a piece of shit like you! You wicked fraud,” she insulted.
“Stop bullshitting, you scumbag! I’m not talking about the process. I-I’m talking about your tricks. You lack ethical awareness. There’s a reason why continental law and war regulations exist. F-Father Bishop isn’t that kind of—”
“Are you talking about Father Bishop, whose head you shattered with your amazing skill with blunt weapons? Oh, man. In case you misunderstand, I didn’t disregard the war regulations. All I did was give him a nice bottle of wine,” I interrupted her.
“You know that’s not what I—!”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about as well, Yevkarina. I never went against the war regulations. Even if I quietly controlled Father Bishop from behind the scenes, you know that doesn’t go against the rules. You’re the one trying to justify it. You keep telling yourself that I’m a shitty person to make yourself feel better, and that’s why you keep criticizing me,” I explained, interrupting her again.
“Ptooey!”
“Doing that will make you feel a bit better. If you and I weren’t the same kind of people, you wouldn’t have participated in this war. You would have stayed deep inside a forest somewhere and studied ethics. In the end, you’re no different from the others.” I pointed out.
“I did it for the Republic and the Commander!”
“Ah…”
“...”
“...”
“So that’s what it was. Hahaha.” I laughed.
“What are you…” Yekarina trailed off.
“So it was true. What you said just now is the truth?” I questioned.
“W-What do you think you’re…”
“Everything I said just now was just a joke, so there’s no need to be confused. I guarantee it. You and I aren’t the same kind of people. I acknowledge it. You don’t make a move based on your own personal interests,” I added.
Yevkarina seemed confused as she looked at me. She was a completely different person from Lee Ji-Hye and me. One’s unique habit and nature wouldn’t always tell me the answer, but she was definitely different from me.
‘You have a strong sense of responsibility.’
She frowned at my sudden change in attitude, and the way she started to look nervous told me that she finally realized her mistake. The logic I used just now was to get her worked up and to figure out her weakness. I had to do it to find a way to control her.
“You’re really amazing. Truly. Hmmm, that’s understandable. I think I understand why that demon summoner Jin Cheong appointed you to such a high position. It would’ve been really troublesome if we were in a different situation. You would have minimized the damage to your troops and persevered while gaining the upper hand bit by bit. Your goal wasn’t to win the battle. I think I finally know…” I explained.
“W-What?” she asked blankly.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the demon summoner wasn’t expecting you to win in the first place. He just wanted you to hold off the elves. I’m not sure about this, but he seemed like he wanted to avoid getting into a fight. Basically, he just wanted you to maintain the line until they have conquered Castle Rock,” I replied.
“...”
“And you messed up that mission completely. Your failure is understandable in my eyes because you didn’t know that I was in the Everia Kingdom, but the demon summoner will be pretty disappointed. Why do you look so surprised? I’m sure you’re aware by now that the demon summoner isn’t really expecting much from you. That’s why you didn’t get any reinforcements,” I continued.
There was actually a more complex reason why they didn’t get any reinforcements. I was sure that Yevkarina knew that as well, but...
“That’s not true. The front lines—”
“I know you didn’t have enough soldiers, and you weren’t in any situation to come all the way here. It seems like he doesn’t think of you as much as you think of him. It’s sad. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than a one-sided love,” I interrupted.
“Do you really think that I’ll—”
“Of course, you won’t betray him. Hahaha. You must be misunderstanding something, Miss Yevkarina. I’m not trying to cause some trivial conflict. Just think of my remark just now as a bad joke, even though it’s undeniable that you and this army had already been abandoned. It’s a fact, but I will never use lowly methods like that to cause mental issues for other people. As an envoy chosen by the light, it’s not how I should act. Yes, it’s not how I should act,” I said.
“...”
“Why should I suffer when there’s a more reasonable method to go about it? Now that we’re on the topic, there was something I wanted Father Bishop to do for me. I even prepared a position for him. It’s a very important task, but someone shattered the honorable priest’s head, so that position is open now. I know you’re sad because you have been abandoned, but you still need to work. Don’t you agree?” I asked.
“Kill me…” she said.
“Did you even hear what I said?” I asked.
“I don’t care, and I don’t want to know what kind of shitty thoughts you’re having toward me, so just kill me right now,” she said.
“Why do you keep me telling me to kill you? You should hear me out,” I suggested.
“Kill me! Just kill me!”
“We have a lot of prisoners, Miss Yevkarina. Many people have surrendered. The same goes for the priests of Varian,” I started.
“You…”
“It’s a huge problem for us because it’s not exactly a good thing for us to have so many prisoners. They can backstab us at any time, after all. In addition, it would be a lot of work to procure supplies to feed them. I thought about how nice it would have been if they were to disappear, but it’s not really a priest-like idea. I don’t know the details, but I remember how in the Battle of Changping, three hundred thousand soldiers were buried alive despite surrendering. I’m sure the demon summoner knew the possibility of that happening,” I said.
“Bastard…” she commented.
“I’m not that wicked to do something like that, but the situation could change. If something goes wrong, I may have to make a decision while shedding tears,” I added.
“Bastard! And you call yourself human?!” Yevkarina shouted.
“I’m only telling you the possibility, and you know better than I do that I wouldn’t do something crazy like that, Miss Yevkarina. Politically, I’ll lose many things if I were to do such a thing,” I told her.
“Bastard! Piece of shit!” she shouted again.
“I have been chosen by the gods, and it pains me to abandon those trying to repent. If I were to do such a thing, history would not think kindly of me. Most importantly, my conscience will not be able to handle it. However, I’m sure you know it by now, Miss Yevkarina. You know that I never compromise, right?” I asked.
“...”
“I never compromise. My opponents should be the ones who should get out of my way rather than me. I have already made my decision, so it should be you who should compromise. Look into my eyes…” I ordered her.
She tried her best to avoid my gaze as her hatred slowly turned into fear.
“Do you really think that I won’t be able to do it?” I asked.
“...”
“I warned you, Miss Yevkarina. I did. Reject my offer, and I will abandon half of the prisoners. You’ll be executed as a demon servant. Then, I will look for another competent person and make the same offer. If they reject me as well, then I’ll abandon the rest,” I warned her.
“You… People like you…”
“You dragged them here, Miss Yevkarina. We should let them go back home safely. They just got dragged here, and they all have their own families,” I added.
Yevkarina had no choice. I looked straight at her and saw her eyes quivering. I was sure she was thinking about other ways to go around it.
‘I don’t think I need to explain her role…’
I was sure she was aware of her role all this time.
“Should I make it easier for you to make a decision? I think we should find out whether there are other demon servants among the prisoners. I’m pretty sure that at least a third of the prisoners had been tainted by the demon. We have to hurry and purify them. Yes, we must hurry,” I said.
“W-Wait!” Yevakrina exclaimed.
“Have you made your decision?” I asked.
She couldn’t answer, but she had basically made up her mind because I could see it in her body language. Her eyes were shaking, and she was biting her lips. Thick beads of sweat were rolling down her neck, and her breathing was starting to get rough.
“I won’t compromise,” I growled.
It couldn’t be called the decisive blow, but my growl had to be pretty effective because she nodded without saying anything.
“You made the right choice,” I told her.
“You evil bastard…”
“Hey, that’s blasphemy, Miss Yevkarina.” I pointed out.
However, she seemed to be in too much of a daze to listen to me properly.