536 – The Lie That Will Determine the Lives of a Million
Son Ohchun was feeling the fear of rising to a high position in real-time, completely unrelated to his efforts.
“Listen, protesters! His Highness the Crown Prince has come here personally to hear the request for the Emperor’s deposition!”
“I am Pake Hiuqmag, the rightful heir to the throne of the Holy Central Empire, and the only one capable of granting your earnest plea.”
“Whoa!”
“Are they really going to depose the Emperor?”
“I can’t believe it. We could actually bring down the Emperor with our strength…”
Son Ohchun nodded solemnly at the protesters, who were purely expressing their astonishment.
He asked the crowd again, “Who is your authority figure? If there is someone leading this revolution, let them step forward to ensure success.”
“It is an honor to meet Your Highness. I am Jezel, currently notarizing the duel between the citizens’ justice and the Emperor’s tyranny as the Empire’s duel witness.”
“I see. You live fearlessly, as if you have multiple lives. That kind of guts is necessary to even speak of deposing the Emperor. And the others?”
“I’m Isabel, responsible for… supplying the Revolutionary Army.”
“And I’m Son Ohchun. Um… that is… well… military matters. Right, I’m in charge of the military.”
“So you’re the Grand General leading the Revolutionary Army.”
“Huh? Wait, really?”
“It’s only right that the Grand General leads the military. However, until the succession of the throne, there are nobles and high officials in the Empire. So, keep the Revolutionary Army well-managed, return civilians to their lives, and agree to appropriately reduce the remaining military forces through suitable discussions.”
The Crown Prince’s swift acknowledgment thrust Son Ohchun to the forefront of the retinue filled with various masters and officials.
“Is that beastman the Grand General commanding a million soldiers?”
“Well built. He’s not weak.”
“Such determination without beast transformation. Not bad.”
“But why does the territory not seem to be felt?”
“It’s likely arrogance, believing the likes of us are not worth competing against. The beastmen’s ferocity has been famous since the legendary Son Wukong.”
“Indeed. I wonder what kind of skills they are hiding to match such arrogance.”
Suddenly, Son Ohchun had become the hidden Grand General!
“Hey, sir! Isn’t this a bit much? Shouldn’t I honestly say I’m not that amazing and would rather not be embarrassed now?”
“Are you saying that sincerely?”
“Ugh. What’s with that look? There’s no need to glare at me just because I made a legitimate complaint.”
Jezel glared at Son Ohchun and sternly chastised him.
“The little lady is being led to the Emperor and is at death’s door due to treachery. We have turned against the Emperor to protect that unconscious child right now.”
“…Even so, this is too much for my capabilities…”
“Too much, is it? If you want to relieve your heart’s burdens by revealing the truth, have you thought about what might happen after?”
“Wouldn’t the misunderstandings clear up, even if I face a bit of embarrassment?”
“The Revolutionary Army is nothing. Even if a million soldiers gather, the common folk will still be common folk. There’s no reason Your Highness, a future Emperor, can’t do what Abama did. It might even be permissible to kill Oknodie.”
“…!”
“There is also this line of thinking. If I could use the Revolutionary Army to take the throne, then my siblings could do the same. I would have to kill the Revolutionary Army and the princesses that could threaten the throne to eliminate future troubles.”
“Th-that far!”
“They are capable of that much. The Empire is a country where the Emperor can push his adopted princess into jeopardy or at least allow it to happen.”
Son Ohchun couldn’t say “That’s too much” against Jezel’s assertions.
He felt deep down that her words were not mistaken.
How weak his excuses sounded to him.
“I have risked my life. If the Revolutionary Army collapses, the first person to be killed by the Crown Prince will be me, the leader of the New Revolutionary Army, Jezel.”
“I’m sorry… I hadn’t thought deeply about it.”
“I understand. It’s tough to take responsibility for just one person’s life. Being the head of a family, the boss of a business, a knight in charge of a manor, or a mayor and lord responsible for a city and territory—all of them aren’t easy. A million soldiers can’t simply be shouldered.”
“So, I have to do it, right?”
“Of course. In fact, I’m grateful that you have shown this burden.”
Jezel’s expression softened considerably.
“That means you feel the weight of the lives you bear and hold a sense of responsibility. You’ve given me the assurance that you are different from politicians who betray the hopes and trust of many for their selfish gain, corrupt officials or unscrupulous nobles.”
“Ha… This bastard is trying to weasel his way to a heartfelt moment suddenly.”
“But you were touched, right?”
“Yeah, I was.”
Son Ohchun grinned.
Jezel also smiled, for the first time amidst the pressing current events.
“There are those oppressed because the era they were born into is flawed. The culprit who caused the wrong era stands right before us. Those who would seek to bring the wrong era back again are waiting for the time when they can show their cruel claws under the guise of being comrades with us.”
“To sleep with the enemy, huh? I heard that from Duke Andersen. There are times when uncomfortable rest has to be taken to survive.”
“You’ve learned a good lesson. Son Ohchun, the only person capable of achieving that intimacy is you. So please act with all your might as a formidable figure that even the Empire’s strong cannot underestimate. A Grand General with the experience to lead a million soldiers.”
Jezel extended her fist.
“I will become the second revolutionary. You, please be the Grand General who bears the lives of me and the Revolutionary Army.”
“Ah ha ha! As expected, a learned person has a way with words. How could I refuse such a thing?”
After meeting with Jezel, Son Ohchun’s mindset completely turned around.
Lies are bad.
Liars are not welcomed.
Society says so, but there are plenty of people who amass illicit gains while telling lies and making excuses.
I don’t aim to live a life like theirs.
But now, within Son Ohchun’s inner world, the locked door of his moral compass, which had had an obsessive rejection of falsehood and evil, was swung wide open.
Lies can be weapons too.
As a means to save lives, not to amass wealth.
Now, for the precarious and radical Revolutionary Army, I will become a liar to save Oknodie.
“When that little rat wakes up, I need to show him a self he won’t be ashamed of.”
Oknodie is not just a bad kid; he’s a scary kid.
So what if he is?
No matter how bad and scary he is, he took care of them as peers in admission.
He cherished even the smallest bond without discarding it.
Yes, Oknodie had realized long before that, just as there are lies that save lives, there are also evils and fears that help people.
It’s bad but good.
It’s scary but kind.
If this is Oknodie’s way of expressing goodness, then I will prove that my goodness is no less than his through the Revolutionary Army.
“General Son Ohchun. I understand the duty as a general of the Revolutionary Army to lead the revolutionaries, but you cannot manage all these many revolutionaries alone. Shall we not divide the leadership of the 900,000 troops?”
“There are monster legions outside the walls, and armies in the border regions looking to exploit the chaos in the Empire. It’s not good for the Revolutionary Army to remain in the capital for too long.”
“If the Seonhwang steps down, you should at least achieve one merit for the newly succeeding Emperor, Crown Prince Pake. Your courageous decisions and concessions will give strength to the Imperial Family, and His Highness will surely not forget your merit.”
While discussing cooperation, the results brought about would uniformly lead to the scaling down and breakdown of the Revolutionary Army.
Son Ohchun realized what path he must insist on.
“Is that all of your limits?”
“…!”
“Pathetic. The limits of humans, not beastmen.”
With an expression as though he had become the greatest general in the world, Son Ohchun held his head high with overwhelming audacity.
“Do not assume the limits of an Empire general reflect my own. Even a million soldiers are far from enough. The Revolutionary Army must seize at least half the world. The military size should also exceed ten times what it currently is.”
“Are you insane?! Where would you find the supplies for that many troops, and what of a military that refuses to disband after achieving the goal of depose the Emperor—what would such a military even exist for?”
“Don’t you realize? Using the opponent is not something only you can do.”
Just as the Crown Prince allied with the Revolutionary Army for the sake of the Empire’s authority, the Revolutionary Army merely allied with the Crown Prince out of necessity.
The Crown Prince could declare himself an enemy at any time, depending on the circumstances.
“You’ve crossed a line.”
“Do you have the strength to enforce that arrogance?”
The high officials following the Crown Prince released their murderous intent towards Son Ohchun all at once.
Son Ohchun received all that murderous intent without a single hair on his body standing on end.
If he wasn’t afraid, it would have been a lie.
But he was the liar responsible for the lives of the Revolutionary Army.
This lie had the lives of more than a million people riding on it.
“The Crown Prince will be saddened. He will have no one to rely on but the Revolutionary Army after losing his retainers.”
Son Ohchun activated the function [Mimicry].
It was nothing more than a basic function spun off from the doppelganger technique, the signature move of the demigod Son Wukong.
However, in the past year, as a first-year student at the Gift Academy, Son Ohchun had followed those he aimed to surpass, and they weren’t weaklings.
The Dark Trading Company’s dark merchant.
The Duke of the Western Alliance.
The Lonely Eastern Swordsman Sing.
Experiences accumulated from directly and indirectly encountering numerous strong individuals enhanced the metrics of his ability, [Mimicry], adding to the moments and elements that constituted each moment.
[The Killing Intent of Sing]
[The Venom of the Duke]
[The Composure of the Dark Merchant]
With the aspirations of the next generation of masters, who could boldly address high officials as mere trifles.
The sincerity behind Son Ohchun’s [Mimicry] and [Lie] was fundamentally different from the experience points automatically collected by the Forbidden Research Institute with a click or a button.
[Son Ohchun’s aura overwhelms the murderous intent of the high officials.]
If Oknodie had been there, he would have surely witnessed the notification saying the high officials unknowingly retreated.
Son Ohchun’s aura, his [Mimicry], and the lies responsible for the lives of a million revolutionaries created a resolve to show a figure before the waking Oknodie that wouldn’t be ashamed!
