Chapter 15

Dozens of soldiers, including myself, stormed into the banquet hall, pointing weapons in all directions. Some had guns, others had spears and shields.

Then, an elderly man with a pale face pointed at me and demanded, “Who are you?!”

His attire, with gemstones on every button, clearly indicated he wasn’t from an ordinary family. Normally, I would have bowed and asked for his name.

But I ignored him. I walked over to a noblewoman nearby, grabbed her shoulder, and moved her aside.

“Ahhh!”

“Excuse me.”

I picked up the food from the table she was blocking and tasted it. It was luxurious.

The meat was fresh, tender, and perfectly marbled. The sauce complemented the highest quality beef, something I had never tasted even in my own territory.

How much would it cost to eat such a meal outside? Probably my entire month’s living expenses.

And these bastards were eating like this during wartime, while the siege was ongoing.

“Who are you?! How dare you ignore Duke Barellmont! Do you not know manners?!”

Moreover, this texture couldn’t come from preserved ingredients. They must have used freshly slaughtered livestock.

Which means, while the commoners were starving, they were feeding and raising these animals.

They probably replaced hay with grain, and a cow’s appetite is ten times that of a human. For the sake of a banquet, they starved over ten commoners.

Their greed is more important than the lives of the lower class… It’s just disgusting. Both the royal family and the nobles. I can’t believe I risked my life for these parasites.

“State your name and rank immediately and kneel—”

—Click.

“Shut up, old man. Before I put a lead bullet through your jaw.”

I pressed the pistol under his chin, and he quickly quieted down. I sighed and looked around before speaking.

“Who are we? Former Northern Army, now the Revolutionary Army. We’re here to overthrow you.”

I showed them our armbands, and some fainted on the spot. This must be their first time experiencing such fear.

I wanted to send them straight to the goddess, but I ordered them to be detained as valuable hostages and criminals.

They must be executed officially in court.

“And I am Lieutenant General Karolus von Roytel, leader of the Revolutionary Army. Have you heard of the Deputy Commander of the Northern Army?”

“Roy…tel? The Wolf of the North?”

“I’ve only heard rumors, but I never thought he’d appear in person.”

The nobles panicked at my name. My reputation hadn’t faded. Some even remembered me by my nickname.

They stuck me in the snowy plains since my lieutenant days and gave me such a weird nickname. Useless bastards.

“Lieutenant General Roytel, was it? I remember you. I personally commended your efforts.”

And even our damned ruler, Karl VII, recognized me. He stood up from his table and approached me with the queen.

“Didn’t you swear eternal loyalty to me when I awarded you a medal? Where did that loyalty go, to commit such violence?”

“Violence? That’s a funny word. It was you who made us this way, Your Majesty.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Are you denying it now? How pathetic. You know the cause of the Revolutionary Army, yet you act like this.”

My words were polite, but my attitude was anything but.

I stepped right in front of the king. My tall, battle-hardened frame towered over his bloated body.

Karl VII, who tried to intimidate with his presence, was instead overwhelmed and stepped back.

“It was just a tiny trinket! A small ornament for a woman’s head!! And for that, you made our sacrifices meaningless!!!”

I dropped all formalities. I grabbed the king by the collar and pointed at the queen.

“Ten years and seven months! That’s how long my soldiers and I fought in that hellish snowy plains!! Over ten years enduring the biting cold, slaughtering the Imperial Forces!!

Do you even know how many comrades we buried there?! Of course not! You were too busy with operas and banquets to read the reports!! Our deaths were just another loss to you and those noble parasites!!”

I let go of his collar and pulled out a notebook from my pocket. A small notebook I’ve had since I first became an officer.

Its thin pages were filled with tiny writing, front and back.

This was my diary.

A report for myself, documenting everything I experienced on the front lines. A record of my life, written to keep my sanity in the harsh battlefield over the past ten years.

I never intended to write so much, but over time, it became this thick.

“Everything that happened in the North is written here. Do you know what’s recorded the most? Deaths from freezing! Frozen to death before even fighting the enemy, frozen to death after exhausting themselves in battle!

Clothes and weapons were always in short supply, and food was scarce due to the weather. Every day was like extreme survival training. On days with blizzards, officers and soldiers alike would hold funerals for their comrades!”

Otto, Virek, Kastin, Oscar, Trowi, Becken.

The soldiers I first commanded didn’t last more than a few months before becoming corpses.

They muttered, “Lieutenant, it’s so cold,” and lost their lives before my eyes.

But I couldn’t do anything. All I could do was hold their cold hands and weep.

And this memory isn’t unique to me. Anyone who’s been in the Northern Army has experienced it.

That’s why we united through pain and endured, focusing only on victory.

“But we endured. No matter how hard it was, we gritted our teeth and held on. We fought for the kingdom and our families, telling ourselves it was our duty. We suppressed the urge to desert with patriotism and loyalty.

While you and the nobles partied in the rear, enjoying chicken and beer, we fought for the kingdom’s duty!

But you disgraced our devotion. You trampled on the loyalty and sacrifices of the Northern Army over ten years, treating it like trash. All for a mere trinket!!”

I grabbed the queen’s hair, removed her wig, and took the tiara from her head.

A luxurious piece with diamonds and gems set in a golden frame.

In another life, I might have called it pretty, but now it only disgusted me.

I couldn’t stand the thought that we were treated like disposable tools for such a toy.

I handed it to Lieutenant General Baden, who had come to sell it abroad, and glared at Karl VII again.

“You cut military funds to decorate the queen? You abandoned the entire snowy plains for a tiara? If that land was so easily disposable for your royal luxuries, why did we have to defend it?!

If you could trade a natural fortress like the snowy plains for farmland in the Great Plains, why did we even start this war? You should’ve just negotiated with the Empire and given them some land!!

That’s why we raised the banner of revolution. That’s why we turned our guns around and came here. You abandoned your duty as a ruler, so we’ll take it upon ourselves! To ensure the sacrifices of tens of thousands of soldiers weren’t in vain!!”

After my passionate speech, I grabbed a nearby wine bottle and chugged it down.

I threw the empty bottle to the ground, shattering it, and declared to the cowering royals and nobles.

“From today, the Royal Capital Rahator is under the control of the Revolutionary Army. All administrative systems and public institutions will be under our management, including the kingdom’s government.”

A declaration to seize the heart of the kingdom and take control of its governance. Essentially, we would rule the kingdom instead of the king.

Some looked rebellious, but no one dared to speak up. The gun barrels were too close to defy the tide.

“Furthermore, all excessive entertainment activities, such as banquets and operas, are banned until the war with the Empire is over. We cannot waste resources on such unnecessary things when the military needs support.”

Having banned the luxuries the upper class enjoyed, I gave a final warning to the high and mighty as I left.

“Prepare yourselves. You’ll pay dearly for the comfort you enjoyed at the cost of our blood.”

And the banquet hall doors closed.

No one could leave.

At 8:37 PM that day.

The Revolutionary Army’s flag was raised atop the Royal Palace’s clock tower.

The civil war, which lasted just over two months, ended with the North’s complete victory.