Chapter 97: The Tyrant Victor

Chapter 97: The Tyrant Victor

At that moment, Victor’s mind was entirely focused on the battle with the Merfolk, completely overlooking these matters.

By the time he realized it, it was already too late.

Stirred by a few ambitious individuals, rebellions erupted in various places, rising against his rule.

Especially in the conquered regions, discontent simmered to a boil.

In the end, even his own stronghold couldn’t withstand the pressure and betrayed him, driving him out in exchange for peaceful coexistence with the rebels.

Yet without the monarchy, Machia needed someone to take the reins.

Otherwise, the entire kingdom would descend into chaos, which was against everyone’s interests.

You see, those rebels outside may have lost their noble cause for expelling the “tyrant” Victor, but if they fell into utter chaos themselves, they wouldn’t hesitate to carve out their share.

Thus, they needed a new king to lead the nation.

In a situation where they themselves lacked the qualifications and ability to be king, several prominent families concocted an election system based on ancient models, selecting a person who was reasonably agreeable to all as the “king.”

Naturally, under their guidance, the elected figure was closely tied to their interests, or rather, was one of them.

However, this meant that the nation only seemed united on the surface, while internal strife and division were rampant.

They only united when facing external threats.

On the road, Airael filled Axi in on the history of Machia.

What she recounted differed somewhat from what was commonly known in the human world.

One notable difference was that the expelled Victor had no positive image in today’s human society; he was utterly seen as a notorious tyrant.

His countless misdeeds and crimes made his expulsion seem like a favor to him.

Axi silently listened, not responding.

“Speaking of which, Victor was quite pitiful too; when his father, Alexander the Great, died, he left him a total mess.”

After recounting that part of history, Airael summarized.

While she appeared sorrowful on the surface, in her heart, Airael felt a sense of happiness, or rather, schadenfreude.

After all, she had been quite badly treated by both of them.

And neither had fared well after messing with her.

Now, both were dead, while she was still alive and kicking.

Though many difficulties awaited her, problems often had solutions.

Sometimes, simply being alive was better than anything.

“Where did you hear all this?” Axi asked after Airael finished.

Although Airael sounded convincing, her version greatly diverged from the current mainstream narrative.

Caught off guard by Axi’s question, Airael panicked for a moment.

In her excitement, she had forgotten that the prevailing narratives in human society were quite different from what she knew.

However, after a brief moment of panic, Airael quickly regained her composure, her eyes darting as she explained, “I found this in some ancient texts. Though different from the current mainstream ideas, I believe it has a degree of credibility. After all, people’s words can be fearsome; victors write history! Plus, so much time has passed that things only get exaggerated.”

By the end, she let out a heavy sigh.

Having lived in an information society in her previous life, she was well aware of this intricacy.

Axi remained silent, his head bowed as if pondering something.

Seeing this, Airael didn’t disturb him with further words.

Historical matters are truly tricky if you haven’t personally experienced them.

Airael thought that even she would probably find it hard to accept such a vast change if the roles were reversed.

A notorious villain, established over centuries, turned out to be not so villainous after all—someone must have been deliberately tarnishing his name, which truly gave one pause for thought.

As night gradually fell, Airael and her group had not found a village before darkness enveloped them.

So, they had no choice but to continue camping in the wilderness.

At this point, Axi had already returned to focus after Airael’s words.

He seemed unchanged.

Still doing whatever was necessary, like cooking.

Cooking was a task not only Airael struggled with but also Celia and Aurora.

For them, it was an unnecessary skill, naturally, they had never learned it.

Thus, it fell upon Axi to handle it.

However, Celia and Aurora didn’t remain idle either.

They eagerly took on the hunting duties.

With impressive archery skills, they effortlessly hunted prey.

Airael’s task was much simpler.

All she needed to do was start a fire and wait to eat.

After lighting the fire, Airael and Axi sat together waiting for Celia and Aurora to return.

Their gazes were fixed on the flickering flames.

Suddenly, Axi’s eyes shifted to Airael.

Sensing his gaze, Airael looked back at him and asked, “Something on your mind?”

“Is what you said earlier credible?” Axi inquired.

“I told you that is the truth. Do you believe it?” Airael countered.

“…” Axi fell silent, uncertain how to respond.

“Honestly, whether you believe it or not doesn’t matter anymore. It’s been so long—who really cares what the truth was back then? Even if we learned the truth, so what?”

Airael regarded Axi and continued questioning.

To this, Axi had no answer.

Looking at Axi, Airael felt an ominous premonition rising in her heart and said, “Hey! You’re a good person, but don’t tell me you want to get involved in this mess too?”

“I never said I wanted to!” Axi retorted.

Airael let out a sigh of relief at his words.

“I’m just curious about that part of history.”

Axi continued, “That period must have been humanity’s most glorious time, right?”

“Exactly, humanity was indeed at its strongest then.”

Airael affirmed.

Strong enough that even a victorious battle wouldn’t encourage others to continue fighting against humans.

Otherwise, the Elven Race would probably have suffered worse than the Merfolk now—even if it could be better, it wouldn’t be by much.

As for the current Merfolk, they were on the brink of extinction.

Although she was cheated through the peace treaty, if the Elven Race continued battling humans, the losses would be unimaginable.

“Can you tell me then? Which version is the truth?” Axi asked quite seriously.