<449 - The Catastrophe That Could Have Been Stopped>
“By the name of General Parma of the Empire, I declare. The traitor Harvest has privately sprouted the seeds of the Demon Realm, threatening the peace with a weapon that endangers the empire.”
“Now, I designate the tulip as a taboo species and regard Harvest as an enemy of the empire collaborating with the rebels. If you seek mercy, dispose of all tulips yourself, leave the rebels’ side, and appear before the imperial court.”
The purpose of the general, who led the Great Army of thirty thousand, was clear to Havi.
“Don’t comply! Following them will be the last day for my father!”
“We must go.”
“Father!”
“Don’t tarnish His Majesty’s honor with your pitiful standards!”
Crack.
The retired professor’s stubborn hand slapped Havi’s cheek.
“It was only through His Majesty’s mercy and grace that your grandfather could join the investigation team, and that I was invited to the academy as an imperial professor after gathering and studying the seeds of the Demon Realm.”
“Those torch-carrying fools came to burn the tulip farm, showed any mercy? They planned to erase all of your research!”
“A weapon can help people depending on its use. How can a magic scroll only contain perilous attack spells?”
Harvest gently caressed his daughter’s swollen red cheek and apologized.
“Healing magic. Lifestyle magic. With the lack of magicians and the costs too high, a time is coming when even poor farmers can enjoy the benefits of magic.”
“Father…”
“If His Majesty permits a commoner to join the investigation team, surely the magical society will acknowledge it.”
The retired professor’s dream was finally realized. The fruits of his research shyly bloomed in the world. Now, all that was needed was for everyone to recognize the beauty of that flower.
“Havi. Just wait a little longer. Then you won’t have to worry about what any empire noble thinks when choosing your path to marriage.”
“That’s all your selfishness! Don’t use me as an excuse!”
“Even if there’s a warrior as your match, you still don’t like it?”
“…!”
“Even the empire’s princesses, aiming for your childhood friend Destroyer, won’t be able to take your partner.”
“Could it be that this was your plan from the start…?”
“Insok. The connection between childhood friends leading to pure love is a true path supported by the empire’s long history and traditions.”
Harvest’s kind smile made Havi’s tears flow.
As she comforted her father, hot tears streamed from Harvest’s eyes as well.
In a long while, as a father rather than a professor, Harvest finally felt his joy in fulfilling his role, and Havi realized her own foolishness for not understanding his feelings.
“You must come back safely.”
Havi prayed that all would go well, even as the empire’s army burned the farm and her father was trapped in the carriage, being transported to Jeido.
“Don’t worry. Father will return safely.”
“Thank you for helping my father.”
“What have I truly done? I only provided a little funding.”
The revolutionary’s friendly smile froze.
It was because of the coldness of the dagger aimed under his chin.
“Still, remember this: I cannot condone the misuse of the new tulip species for military purposes against your father’s will.”
“…Revolution doesn’t have to be aggressive. While the draft may lead to such outcomes, Professor Harvest was far greater than we had ever imagined.”
The revolutionary honestly expressed his true feelings.
“A revolutionary invention like this will have a ripple effect once it’s delivered to the public under the name of the Revolutionary Army. The results Havi fears will not occur.”
“Can I trust you? I’m still anxious. What if you are deceiving both me and my father?”
“Havi, if I lie, you may stab me with that dagger at any time. If you still cannot trust me after all this, it’s better for you to kill me now.”
“…!”
“I won’t evade. If it’s your decision, the daughter of Professor Harvest, and if the future of the revolutionary army cannot gain public recognition, I shall take my own life.”
The revolutionary held Havi’s hands in his, gradually lifting the dagger towards his own neck.
“Go ahead and cut my throat. Or stab straight to my brain. Either way, it’s a sufficient outcome. Come on!”
“Are you insane?!”
Havi twisted her body and pulled the dagger from him.
The revolutionary was serious enough for droplets of blood to surface on his neck.
“I believe you. I can trust you now.”
“Watch. The revolutionary army will change.”
The revolutionary army can change.
The revolutionary proved that himself.
But the empire could not.
“Aah, aaah…!”
A week later.
The imperial newspaper published the charges against the traitor Harvest and news of his execution.
“How could this happen?! This is impossible. My father responded to the empire’s call because he intended to use the tulips for the world’s advancement!!”
“Calm down, Havi. This won’t change the situation. If there’s a force that can help your father, please let us know immediately. Our revolutionary army will assist.”
“The Association, yes. There’s the Magic Association. We need to contact the professors at the academy! Or at least the members of the investigation team!”
Havi gripped the pen until blood formed and tirelessly wrote letters.
Letters requesting support for her father’s exoneration and the movement to reveal Harvest’s innocence were sent to the revolutionary army in the hundreds.
But no one helped Harvest.
“It seems unlikely that the situation will change before the execution day.”
“It’s not over yet. There’s one person remaining. If he is the one, he possesses the power to even alter the imperial emperor’s will!”
“Remarkable. There’s someone of such power. Who could that be?”
“Destroyer. The greatest thief in the world, a comrade of the legendary warrior Ni’alatotep, and a member of the Warrior Party—he’s my childhood friend. Destroyer will surely help!”
Destroyer.
Her childhood friend with whom she had spent her youthful days.
As Havi secretly cheered him on while hearing tales of his adventures in far-off lands, she wondered if a hero who saved the world still shared a bond with her.
Yet that was all there was.
He was the last lifeline Havi could cling to.
“I’m sorry.”
The revolutionary bowed his head with a solemn expression.
“I’ve located Destroyer’s whereabouts, but he has avoided contact with the revolutionary army and has gone missing.”
The thread of hope was severed.
Harvest was ultimately condemned to the gallows.
“Havi… Don’t worry about your future livelihood. The revolutionary army will not abandon you, considering the potential that Professor Harvest had shown us.”
“Did you predict it would come to this?”
“I only hoped it wouldn’t happen.”
“Was this also one of the sacrifices?”
“It was a sacrifice I never desired.”
“What will the revolutionary army do now?”
“The professor is dead. But we learned that tulips are the answer. It will take time, but we will start the research again. And someday, we must mass-produce them.”
“…as a substitute for magic scrolls?”
The revolutionary looked solemnly over the ashes of the burnt tulip farm.
Ashes scattered by the wind dusted his face.
“I will follow Havi’s will.”
“If you wish to follow my father’s dream, then I will proclaim once again a dream of peace and expose the empire’s vile actions while directly delivering tulips to the public.”
“If you wish for my father’s revenge, I’ll make the revolutionary warriors fight with tulips held aloft along with their swords and daggers.”
Unlike the empire, the revolutionary never pressured her.
He always sought her permission and asked for her acknowledgment.
Now that the esteemed professor Harvest was gone, he maintained that respectful attitude even towards the daughter of a notorious traitor who could easily become a burden.
He genuinely revered the father and daughter.
Even when the empire, the magical society, the Gift Academy, the comrades from the investigation team, and even her childhood friends abandoned her.
Only the revolutionary.
Only this man.
The man who once dreamt of the same ambitions as her father.
“Father’s dream has ended. That dream was directly buried and burned by the empire’s hands.”
“…”
“Thus, I believe it’s now your turn to fulfill your dream.”
“Havi…?”
“I don’t care if it’s used as a weapon. No, I will wield it. I’ll definitively prove the cost of the peace they rejected with my own hands.”
Tears streamed down Havi’s face.
Just like the day she had to send her father away.
Only this time, the person staying by her side was the revolutionary.
“Havi’s dream, and your father’s revenge—I’ll help you, and our revolutionary army will assist.”
The Magic Association turned a blind eye to Harvest’s death, and the academy did nothing to stop it.
The century’s inventor, who dreamed of peace in the world.
The dream of retired professor Harvest was tarnished by being the demon realm’s lackey, a fallen researcher’s treason.
The young maiden, possessing nothing but a small innocence, had her pure affection marked by being the daughter of a stubborn father so devoted to research.
“Thank you, revolutionary.”
This entire situation was a catastrophe that could have been stopped—if only he had trusted the revolutionary army just this once.
