<446 - Collaborators of the Three Great Evils>
The winds of the Empire are bleaker than the northern cold.
The lives of refugees are seen as sacrifices to obtain the Evil God’s artifacts, and their designated agents are plotted against to be killed as tools of the Evil God.
The path of the Warrior is more cunning than the winds of the Empire.
As soon as the scheme is realized, a large quantity of property is released, throwing the market into chaos and transforming the refugees from sacrifices into seeds of rebellion, profiting amidst the greater turmoil.
The revolutionary’s rise is more fleeting than the flowing time.
The artifacts of the Evil God, born from exchanges of their lives, have fallen into the hands of the Warrior, and those who cried for revolution have become the sacrificial offerings of the revolution instead.
The Empire’s mouth has been restricted by food shortages.
The Warrior has obtained the artifacts of the Evil God.
The Revolutionary has gained followers through countless sacrifices.
“Only the people gained nothing. Just like the first chapter from [Previous Heroes and the Great Evils of the World], the incident raised by the Revolutionary is always the same.”
Professor Destroyer, with muscles so solid they could burst out of his unbuttoned shirt, looked like he could charm women just by being a beach-ready golden sun. Yet, Ishtar could not dare to perceive him as frivolous.
Only bleakness remained in his eyes.
A mouth that speaks of past disasters.
Even the flower in his hand is a gesture of mourning.
‘How could I dare trivialize in such an atmosphere?’
Even Ishtar, who usually wasn’t concerned about others’ gazes, felt overwhelmed; there was no way Hestia or Oknodie could have been fine either.
Seeing everyone listening quietly, Ishtar thought she surely wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
“Today is the final story of the Revolutionary’s funeral. If among his many revolutions the first was the [Blue Badge Rebellion], then the most colossal and brutal one was the [Purple Carnival].”
The Purple Carnival, an event that occurred just two years ago, came after the Blue Badge Rebellion which happened twelve years prior.
It was a major incident that happened while Ishtar was still active as a Warrior, but too enormous for her as a novice warrior to intervene in.
It was one of the reasons that made her feel the necessity to enroll in the Gift Academy.
“The details were explained in last week’s lecture, so I’ll skip it in case you haven’t forgotten over the week.”
In that moment, a faint sensation of mana distortion was felt from somewhere.
Ishtar and Destroyer turned their gazes almost simultaneously toward it.
While Ishtar only stared, Destroyer accompanied it with physical strength.
[Double Boundary Stabilization Technique]
[Type 1 - Boundary detecting vibrational waves]
[Double Boundary Alteration Technique]
[Trigger Open]
[Type 1 - Boundary of the rushing torrents]
Ishtar was left in shock.
If a living being were caught in its range, they would be crushed, vomiting blood and collapsing from the violent vibrations.
Though there was no blood spilling or footprints left on the air or ground, it held enough power that it would reduce someone inside to a pulp.
‘Someone has frequently fallen victim to ambushes. So it must be that pulling off something so heinous is second nature to them.’
One of the factors that ingrained in Destroyer, a former Warrior, a hyper-awareness akin to a professional illness was undoubtedly the unravelling of the Revolutionary, who was being discussed now.
“The success of the Purple Carnival was a half-success. The Revolutionary’s influence explosively increased in the shadows, and it was a pivotal event that opened their eyes to ways to shake the Empire since the Blue Badge.”
Still suspicious of infiltration, Destroyer continued to speak lightly, shaking the boundaries several times.
Having seemingly concluded his confirmations, he turned the subject.
“In other words, the Purple Carnival was also a half-failure. It devastated the Empire’s economy, inducing the dispatch of high administrators and knight orders to various regions for localized exterminations. Induction was successful, yet extermination failed. The Revolutionary realized the necessity of a bridge.”
“You wanted to gain military force, I assume?”
“Correct. And flowers are not food. Don’t sneakily try to eat the petals, Oknodie.”
“Haight!”
“……?”
What strange and bizarre shout was that?
While Ishtar frowned, Destroyer, now accustomed to Oknodie’s antics, placed the flowers she was trying to eat onto the table.
“This flower’s name is Tulip. It is the hellish flower that settled on the ground after crossing over from the Demon Realm.”
Not just Ishtar, but even Hestia’s eyes widened.
“Of course, you would already know that. It was a major incident that occurred just a year ago.”
The Blue Badge Rebellion twelve years ago.
The Purple Carnival that occurred two years ago.
The major disaster that followed is the major incident from just a year prior.
“[Tulip Wave]. This is today’s midterm exam topic and the last story I will tell you about the Revolutionary.”
“Senpai, wasn’t that incident already fully investigated? It was about the sudden price spike of tulips due to local farmers’ tulip selling, which caused a steep drop in grain yields and created an artificial famine.”
“But no one knows the starting point of all those incidents.”
Professor Destroyer announced a surprise question, as usual.
“Quiz time. The tulips used in the Tulip Wave were of a rare color. What do you think was the reason the very first collaborator sold those tulip varieties to the Revolutionary Army?”
I had never even thought about such a trivial matter.
There was no need to know in the first place.
Warriors were to manage the incidents that arose.
It didn’t matter to understand the causes.
Ishtar had lived with that belief, but Destroyer forced an answer, suggesting it wasn’t enough.
“It must be for the money. The Revolutionary Army must have promised sufficient compensation.”
“10 points.”
“Is it yet another out of 100?”
“You know already.”
“…”
I hadn’t improved one bit since the first day of lecture.
Hestia, who had silently been holding down her seat behind the pondering Ishtar, raised her hand.
“The high-level targets that mercenaries receive assassination requests for are all big shots trying to create their own territories. I think that incident is no different.”
“25 points.”
Although money and power could be part of the answer, their significance was small.
It was even more incomprehensible.
If a poor farmer wasn’t pursuing money or power, what could have motivated them to collaborate with the Revolutionary Army?
‘Could it be… they actually believed in and supported the Revolutionary Army?’
Oknodie gazed fixedly at Ishtar, who was struck with realization as if grading an answer sheet.
“Hehe. You and I think alike.”
“You…!”
“Correct. They supported the Revolutionary Army wholeheartedly!”
Ishtar’s face turned red with fury, feeling she had been outsmarted by Oknodie once again.
However, Professor Destroyer’s response exceeded the expectations of both.
“50 points.”
One can understand a ten-foot river, but the heart of a person is a difficult stream.
In the Eastern Region, the saying about the incomprehensibility of human sentiments had never stung so deeply.
Why on earth did the heart of a mere farmer need to be so complicated?!
“It’s only natural that those like you who only look forward don’t know any better. I too doubted my ears the first time I heard it.”
“Those who live only for today without looking toward tomorrow have no hope. Without hope, they do not dream of change and pour everything into each day.”
“For farmers, today consists solely of sowing seeds and harvesting crops. The only difference between a mayfly and a year-long insect is that the former’s essence remains unchanged.”
But then, one farmer changed.
“Because he fell in love with the Revolutionary.”
“Love?!”
While Ishtar was flabbergasted, Oknodie’s eyes sparkled as if discovering a new dish.
“How does one fall in love with that?”
Oknodie seemed more interested in practical matters than philosophical ones.
Seeing the child’s interest in food that could presumably be approached, Destroyer sighed, resigned to the conversation.
“I hope this isn’t just a pointless tale.”
Ultimately, he reluctantly opened his mouth.
“The Revolutionary, by his very existence, possesses a golden risk level akin to a member of the three great evils. Especially, unless you dismantle the ideologies of those who follow him, the flame of revolution can never be extinguished.”
“And so, after completing ten years of adventuring with Ni’alatotep, he set off on a solitary journey lasting five years, looking for the first collaborators who followed the Revolutionary’s cause, too.”
“Unlike others, the very first to join the Revolutionary Army would have been persuaded by the Revolutionary’s own will and words. If one can grasp that method, they can prevent the birth of the next collaborator.”
For that reason, he utilized the Thief Guild to find one of the initial collaborators.
– The one responsible for settling the Demon Realm’s rare colored tulip on the ground and once a professor at the Empire, Harvest from the Production Department, the first collaborator of the Revolutionary. Am I correct?
– That’s minus 10 points. Out of 100.
– …Did I come to the wrong person?
– A woman who fell in love with the Revolutionary and was then abandoned by him. The person you seek is that kind of individual.
Professor Destroyer’s gaze remained fixed on the yellow tulip in the vase, unwavering.
Not those who look toward tomorrow nor mere mayflies living for today, but those were the eyes of a failure that could only paint the past.
“Therefore, remember well. The story I’m about to tell you from now on. Otherwise, in a world where the three Great Evils will roam, your place will cease to exist.”
Ishtar felt that the words were pointed directly at her.
