Chapter 51

The last part of the previous episode has been revised. Please read it once and come back. Thank you.

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Honestly speaking, I was aware that it was somewhat excessive behavior. Even if it was a method that existed within the system, abusing it to carry out executions disguised as trials definitely crossed the line. There is no law in the world that allows people to be killed based solely on the instigation of a lawyer, without the presence of essential prosecutors and judges. Of course, this includes the laws of our kingdom.

Not even the right to request a retrial or the basic right to speak, which are guaranteed to everyone, were respected. Nobles were killed indiscriminately. Even if viewed negatively, there’s nothing much to say. How will future generations evaluate this incident? Massacre? Systematic slaughter? Suppression of opposition through force?

Well, they’ll find a way to describe it. It’s an undeniable fact that we used military power to override the rule of law and conducted a North Korean-style people’s trial. There will likely be long-lasting repercussions.

Collective trauma among bureaucrats, the formation of a flawed political culture, the weakening of the judicial system—there might even be a tradition of hanging anyone who displeases us first and asking questions later. While solutions can be found if handled well, we’ll have to deal with headaches for decades.

But if I dare to explain why we did this, I’d say: There was no other choice. “If I hadn’t done it, the soldiers would have carried out a massacre with the citizens. The capital would have been drenched in blood.”

As everyone knows, we were all driven mad by the truth of the war. We executed orders without hesitation upon receiving a letter to seize the capital before the negotiation delegation returned. I myself almost castrated the Crown Prince and beheaded him before being stopped. At least a third of our army was in a similar state. Seriously.

Of course, there were those who, like the subordinates who stopped me, clung to some shred of reason. But they were in the same boat. They barely held back, but deep down, they were desperate to kill everyone. The only difference between us was whether we swung our weapons immediately or not.

The resentment of having ten years of life, ten years of opportunity, stolen from us was that immense. The nobles and the royal family had exploited everything we had, and we were driven to the brink of madness, craving revenge.

Our lives had already been trampled by the nation. Whether it was rebellion or riot, we just wanted to vent our suffocating frustration. The commoners felt the same. The resentment of having property, family, rights, and freedom stolen under the pretext of war was no small matter.

Even if they couldn’t match the soldiers who fought, everyone wanted to pay them back. We had widely publicized the truth of the war to justify the new coup, and that sentiment would only spread, not diminish.

“We needed to release the pressure. Even if it was illegal, it had to be directed in a controllable way.” It was like a bomb with its detonator already triggered or about to trigger. To minimize the damage, we had to create an outlet to lower the explosive force.

So, I chose the extreme measure of a people’s trial. We placed the punishment of nobles under central control but in a way that would satisfy the soldiers and the people. Even if it was illegal and brutal, I wanted to prevent them from completely breaking out of the system and running amok.

I wanted to stop the enraged masses from witch-hunting and killing at will. So, I ignored norms and gave them decision-making power, deliberately preparing several cruel execution methods instead of hanging or the guillotine.

The intention was to let them feel some relief by watching the nobles scream and die in agony. To let their miserable deaths console the tragedies of your families. It worked. Our soldiers happily chanted for executions every day in the square.

Not just soldiers, but officers too. From lieutenants to generals, they all gathered to watch the executions when they weren’t on duty. There were no witch hunts or indiscriminate massacres. Only the guilty were cleanly dealt with. The process was horrific and problematic, but we managed to minimize collateral damage.

“Now that it’s done, it’s my job to clean up.” But the political cards we spent for this trial were significant. The question now was how to recover.

* * * * *

The day after the public trial, in the conference room. We sat around the table, smoking heavily and shuffling through documents, the excitement from the previous day gone.

“Venting was good, but now we’ve lost the hostages and communication channels. Local territories have slipped from our influence.” “Soon, there will be succession ceremonies everywhere. We’ll have many hostile lords.”

Killing the capital’s nobles was good. They were all accomplices who had hidden and exploited the royal family’s madness for years. A group of lunatics who even attempted assassinations abroad to keep secrets.

At this point, distinguishing between the main culprits and mere collaborators was meaningless. It was better to consider them all active participants and execute them, except for a few who were too valuable to kill.

“Here’s a map marking potential hostile territories, excluding those aligned with our faction.” “At least three near the capital?” “It’s likely to increase. Children whose parents were killed won’t submit willingly.”

The problem was their value. Due to the kingdom’s culture of many family heads living in the capital, the nobles of Rahator were involved in interactions with local territories. Now, with them gone, their families in the territories would inherit their titles.

These families, filled with hostility towards us and with no means for us to coerce them, were a problem. “Can’t we label them all as traitors and deal with them?” “In name, yes. But we’d need to subdue them first.”

I’d love to behead them all. After all, they were accomplices too. They obeyed the royal family’s madness, enjoying privileges and living luxuriously in their territories. They exploited the people under the guise of war, sucking them dry. There was no reason to spare them.

Administrative issues made it hard to wipe them all out at once, but the best course was to purge them as quickly as possible. But there was a problem. Their armies were still intact.

“We previously conscripted a large number of private soldiers, but many remain. At least 100,000.” “I’d say 150,000. If they conscript locals or hire mercenaries, it could increase.”

Unlike the royal territories, which were continuously drained of manpower, the noble territories preserved their manpower pools. They could maintain their military strength and even sustain a long-term war.

Their private armies were varied in training and equipment, but their numbers couldn’t be ignored. If they all rose up and marched on the capital, the central army couldn’t stop them. Half would be destroyed, and the rest would collapse from casualties.

“Is there a chance the front-line armies might join them? Most officers are from noble families.” “No, that’s unlikely. We’ve been reorganizing and stripping command from many units.”

At least the front-line units couldn’t interfere. The largest, the Western Front Army, was halved due to reorganization and consolidation on their way back from the Empire. The other half couldn’t move too far from the front to guard against the Empire.

Even if they did, the Northern Army under Mauer would block them. We could use recently co-opted local forces to buy time while the central and northern armies executed a pincer movement.

“How will neighboring countries react?” “They won’t move. The kingdom’s size makes it hard to interfere just because of internal chaos.”

External threats weren’t a major concern. “The Albione Republic? They’d definitely stir trouble.” “True, but even if they invade, they’ll only skirmish along the southern coast. Local forces can handle them.”

With peace established with the United Empire, only four countries could threaten us: the Albione Republic to the south, the Caledona Kingdom to the west, and Ormera and Kailas Kingdom to the east. Caledona and Kailas are small nations with less than 30,000 troops, so they’re negligible. Ormera is somewhat larger but too busy with Albione to bother us.

At least during internal consolidation, we don’t have to worry about external invasions. “Good. Then this is what we’ll do.”

After analyzing the situation, I stubbed out my cigarette and declared. With the temporary decline in central administrative power and lack of stamina for a prolonged conflict due to large-scale purges, there was only one way to quickly end the civil war.

“Make an example of a few big shots. The rest will quiet down.” Show them the consequences of rebellion, and they won’t dare resist.