Free Web NovelChapter 394: Chapter 391: Let Us Be Terrifying
"What? A security review? Who’s conducting it? Who even has the authority?"
With drooping eyelids, the Discipline Head took out a document. It was from the Empire Army’s Special Powers Management Division... The document demanded that all teachers on the enclosed list undergo a security review and withdraw from the Magic Guild.
The first name on the list was Caroline.
"The number of mages on the Valois side of the battlefield has been increasing recently. Given the special nature of our academy, assessing the stance and security of our teaching staff is a necessary measure during these special times." The Discipline Head recited the official line, his face devoid of expression. "As for you... you’re from the Valois Kingdom, and your teacher is Master Kano."
"According to our intelligence, Great Mage Kano now wields considerable... influence in the Kingdom, beyond the Magic Domain. We don’t wish to make things difficult for you, but after a comprehensive review... congratulations. You’re at the top of the list."
"And if I refuse?"
"The Empire respects every mage. We will neither trouble nor coerce you. However, should you refuse, your teaching career at this academy will be over."
Caroline’s eyes welled with tears. "When I first came here, I saw an inclusive campus where students, regardless of their station, all had the chance to learn magic. Although its foundation wasn’t as deep, its graduates had infinite potential..."
"Now, you’re mass-producing tools of war, sending those half-baked mages to the front lines to kill or be killed."
The Discipline Head had come from the battlefield and was unmoved by Caroline’s speech. "Past, present, and future, the founding principle of the Empire Royal Magic Academy will never change. Every action this academy takes is in service to that principle."
Caroline said through clenched teeth, "I understand. I’ll submit my resignation."
"That won’t be necessary. You may leave at any time."
The office door slammed shut, only to open again. The Dean of Academic Affairs entered, glancing over his shoulder at the former colleague who brushed past him. "Caroline?"
Seated firmly at his desk, the Discipline Head crossed the first target off his list. "Lady Caroline has resigned. I’ll need you to find a substitute for the courses she taught."
"Don’t bother," the Dean said casually. "We can reallocate her class hours to courses the Empire needs more urgently, further shortening the training cycle for Casters."
In truth, the academy’s suspicion of Teacher Caroline was not entirely baseless. Although Kano, as the head of the Tower of Stars, had always maintained his neutrality, his students, it seemed, were anything but simple.
In the National Assembly, defeats in the war had led to the collapse of the previous cabinet, and with it, the "Radical Faction" that held power lost its support. However, the "Royalist Faction" soon discovered they had miscalculated. Replacing the Radicals was the even more extreme and fanatical "Mountain Faction."
They were led by Maxim, known as "Rock." These members of the "Friends of Universal Love and Equality" club also likened themselves to the unyielding stones of the assembly—all the stones, stacked firmly together, formed a mountain that would be a bulwark in the crisis.
"To hunt down, imprison, and swiftly try roving bandits and traitors; to execute all traitors who collude with Exiles and the enemy nation;
"To treat merchants who hoard goods and speculate on prices the same as traitors; to have all strategic materials, chief among them grain and ammunition, seized by the state and rationed by a specially formed committee;
"To distribute weapons to all able-bodied citizens of Valuva, mobilize them to form the National Guard, call for the formation of National Defense Armies throughout the land to assemble in Valuva, and incorporate them into the National Guard." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
This was the three-point platform that made the Royalist Faction’s vision go black. For them, every single point had to be opposed, yet the reasons for their opposition could never be spoken publicly:
First, the one in daily secret communication with the exiled Nobility and even the Empire, the one who prayed day and night for a ’celestial army’ to descend, was none other than Charles XVI himself. Rumors about this had been circulating for a long time, and his Courtiers and Personal Guard could all testify that they weren’t rumors, but facts.
Second, the second point of the platform struck at the very lifeblood of the great merchants. Times had been tough lately; was it easy to make a... fortune? Now everything was to be state-controlled, and they were even going to arrest hoarders and speculators. How dare they!
Finally, since its inception, the National Assembly had done little to improve the Kingdom’s situation; it had, in fact, made things worse. The more ’respectable’ members of the Royalist Faction were terrified of what might happen if those ’unrespectable’ so-called ’passive citizens’ got their hands on weapons. They feared the masses might get "overly emotional" and stage a spectacular repeat performance of past uprisings.
The three points of the platform were interconnected. If the first two couldn’t be implemented, there would be no way to change the Kingdom’s current state of food shortages and military defeats. And without the third point—the creation of a new armed force loyal to the citizens to replace the old army—the resistance to implementing the first two points would be impossible to overcome.
Yet on the distant outskirts of Valuva, black smoke was already rising from villages, and the rumble of cannons was drawing near. The number of representatives who insisted on opposing the platform dwindled, while the people’s clamor in support of the Mountain Faction grew ever louder.
The current point of contention was whether implementing the first two points would lead to miscarriages of justice and false accusations, causing the innocent to suffer from blind and misplaced fury.
A representative from the Royalist Faction was concluding his speech. "Gentlemen, no matter how dire the situation becomes, we must ensure that public power remains in the hands of active citizens. The power that guards civilization must be wielded by the civilized.
"In fact, as you have all witnessed, with the continued chaos in the provinces and the Royal Capital, revenge killings against the wealthy by ’passive citizens’ and the sans-culottes are already on the brink of spinning out of control. If they get their hands on weapons, any rational person can foresee the tragedy that will unfold. We must prevent it at all costs—we must stop them from creating more terror."
On his side of the chamber, representatives applauded. "Well said!" From the Mountain Faction’s side came a different cry: "Bullshit!"
"Order! Order! The floor is now open for... Mr. Pascal to speak!" The speaker announced, seeing a representative who rarely spoke request the floor and pausing for a moment to recall his name.
As the young man rose, he was met with a chorus of boos from the opposition. He muttered something under his breath and then snapped his fingers. It wasn’t a crisp snap, but a sharp crack that assaulted everyone’s eardrums.
"Magic!" "That kid’s a Mage!" Some of the ’older representatives’ then recalled that this young man had once represented the Magic Guild at the Third Level Estate Assembly, making him something of a ’veteran’ in this place. He seemed to be an ally of Rock, but during the period when Maxim was lying low, this Mr. Pascal hadn’t stood out either.
Her senior was here to refute the Royalist Faction’s claims, and he began with a pure ad hominem attack. "That gentleman who just spoke, and all who applauded him, are cowards! Utter and complete cowards! Enemies of the Kingdom!
"Our country is being ravaged by the enemy! Our citizens are suffering from hunger and cold, facing the terror of our foes, and yet you fantasize about your own compatriots inflicting terror upon you!
"If you haven’t colluded with the enemy and haven’t hoarded goods to speculate, what is there to oppose? This is not just something we must do; it is the only thing we can do.
"We demand the death penalty for anyone who refuses to serve or to provide weapons. We demand that citizens be properly instructed to lead these various activities. We demand that envoys be sent to every department to convey the directives announced here.
"Only by executing traitors can the living make fewer sacrifices, and only then will the sacrifices of the dead have value! Only when they are fed and clothed will the people have the strength to live on and the courage to resist the enemy. If there are still bastards who would criticize us, and potential traitors who are afraid, then let them talk.
"Let us become the terror, so that the people may be spared it!
"Let us be courageous! Let the alarm bells become the trumpet call to charge the enemy! Onward, and ever onward!"
He had never spoken like this before. With his neck strained and his chest puffed out, under the effect of a spell he had cast on himself, he looked like a flushed, crowing Rooster.
And yet, this slightly comical image won over the crowd. They saw not a cunning, slick politician, but a fervent youth with a heart dedicated to his country.
Seeing the centrists begin to waver, the Royalist Faction grew anxious. One with a quick mind found a new angle of attack: "You’re a Mage! This is the Magic Guild interfering in the Kingdom’s affairs!"
Pascal immediately pulled out his badge and, in full view of everyone, shattered it with a spell. He raised the shimmering dust and declared, "I hereby withdraw from the Magic Guild and all other Mage organizations! I have always been a citizen of Valois, and I am willing to give everything for my country!"
And it wasn’t just him. The Magic Guild’s main hall in Valuva was suddenly swamped with Mages, all demanding to have their memberships annulled so they could join the National Guard. freewebnøvel.coɱ
When the Minister of Internal Affairs received the news that the National Assembly had passed all of the Mountain Faction’s motions, his head swam. In the eyes of the court, the Mountain Faction were just sans-culottes who had taken seats in the assembly, maniacs who wouldn’t rest until they had smashed everything to pieces.
He hurriedly knocked on the door to His Majesty the King’s study, but there was no response.
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?" The minister then realized the Guards were gone as well. When he boldly burst in, he found only an empty study. On the desk sat a miniature model of a new type of execution device, along with a blueprint hand-drawn by His Majesty. It read:
To the Guard Captain
Since it can efficiently execute insurgents, it is a good tool for stabilizing public morale. But I must point out: the angle of the blade needs to be increased to ensure a clean, swift cut when severing the neck...
The minister then rushed to the royal bedchamber, but it too was empty.
