Were those words sincere advice or bait to induce me to take action?
Cruel must also know very well that I will not obey his words.
'When I was young, I often played chess with Cruel.'
Because I was too weak to go out of the mansion, I played several board games with Cruel. The best of them was chess.
Inside the game board, there was bait using chess pieces, and outside the game board, psychological warfare using pieces.
'I wouldn't go there.' 'Is that really a good choice?' 'I was a bit surprised by this.' 'An excellent choice.'
Which one was sincere and which one was false? Were those words in front of me really bait or genuine?
Because we had played chess countless times, winning and losing, we knew each other's thoughts to a certain extent.
There's no way Cruel would have thought that I wouldn't think of the possibility of 'bait'. So was this advice sincere?'...Then what do I do? Even if I'm worried, I feel bad, and even if it's bait, I feel bad.
So my choice was made.
'If we're going to follow Cruel's words, it's better to move, even if it's just bait.'
Thanks to this, I forgot about my fatigue. It's been a long time since I ignored the pain, so I took to the streets.
I put on the robe I was carrying and boldly turned around to walk towards the mansion and headed towards the nearby street.
***
It's noisy.
"How long on earth are you planning to put off the revolt!"
"Are you planning on committing a coup?"
It's really noisy.
The type of people who can't see even one inch ahead and squealed with desire. Daniel frowned quietly, as if thinking of these people as the leaders gave him a headache, but then he straightened up as if he had never done that before.
In this situation, raising your voice together will only result in an emotional fight. A voice aimed at persuasion came out calmly.
"The timing is not good. It looks like a war will soon break out between the demon realm and the human world, so we can't take down the Empire that holds the greatest power in the human world..."
"Is the so-called leader of the Revolutionary Army taking the Emperor's side now?!"
"Every time I tell you to prepare to kill the Emperor, which I will do soon, you just repeat that it is not a good time...!
What on earth!
"Aren't you intentionally delaying the action?"
Kwang!
Silence descended. Daniel slammed the table harshly to silence them and lowered his head and slowly exhaled.
The stress and irritation that was rising to the top of his head slowly subsided with each breath. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he broke the silence and spoke.
"... Before, there were people who ran out and said they would kill the Emperor at will."
Those fools were completely exterminated by the Emperor's hand, to the point where it was laughable that they rushed in so greedily.
"Because of them, all the strength we had gained was lost."
"..."
"Did you think that defeating the Imperial Army was everything? If there is someone who really thinks that way, I would recommend that they resign from their leadership position."
Some people flinched as if they had been stabbed.
"It's not just the Imperial Army that's the problem. The Emperor himself is strong. Very strong! No, before discussing his military power, in order to legitimately succeed in the revolution, you must enter through the main gate of the Imperial Palace!"
The methods of those before were wrong from the start.
How could a cowardly attack on the Emperor when he was alone be called a revolution? That was just an assassination, an attempted assassination of the Emperor, and treason by reactionaries.
No matter how many people gathered to kill the Emperor, their cause was ultimately a 'revolution' to create a world without a caste system. Actions that went against it could not be tolerated.
"Do we really have to go in from the front?"
"You are asking the obvious. If you act like a rat, the only thing you will get is a bad image to match."
What mattered was the image. Entering through the front door was also one of the performances for this purpose.
Whether they opened the door or broke it in, entering through the front door became a symbol.
The public was easily swayed by what they see.
So, no matter how you act in the shadows, let's act confidently under the sun. They didn't do anything wrong.
Even if something was wrong, it was only for the greater good.
"What do you think our actions until now were for? To undermine the Emperor's power? Of course, that is true, but it is only an additional purpose. The key is to gain the support of the people of the Empire and lower the Emperor's support."
In the end, the purpose was achieved to some extent.
He gained public support by punishing vicious lords and punishing arrogant nobles who looked down on the people of the Empire. In the process, there was a conflict with the Order of Murderous Knights, and a bomb exploded incorrectly, causing damage to a private house, but all of the resentment was directed towards the Order of Murderous Knights.
It was an unexpected benefit that arose because the ideology of the Revolutionary Army won the favor of the people of the Empire and the bad image of the Order of Murderous Knights.
"The meaning of our existence and the legitimacy of our actions come from the people of the Empire. Without their support, we would be nothing more than a group of traitors and not a Revolutionary Army."
So they had to persuade the people of the Empire. They must convince them and proudly kill the royal family in front of them to be recognized as justified.
Daniel paused for a moment to catch his breath and stretched out one arm.
"It takes a lot of power to reach the Emperor through the main gate of the Imperial Palace, and it also takes a lot of power to kill a person who holds a hero's fragment."
Who was the one who acted arbitrarily and undermined the Revolutionary Army's strength?
He was the one urging the rebellion just like the people in front of him.
So they had no more say than this. He explained it this way, but no matter how thick-faced they were, no one would dare express their opinion.
He won.
"The timing is not good due to the power shortage. So let me ask you. Is there anyone who still thinks that the revolt should be carried out?"
"..."
There was no rebuttal.
Daniel, who had once discouraged the leadership, left the conference room with Paul, who had been watching the situation from the side.
Paul, who was walking down a dark secret passage in quiet silence, quietly raised his head and checked on Daniel. As expected, a deep look of fatigue appeared on his face, as if he had been under a lot of stress during the meeting.
At times like this, he would go to see his mother.
After thinking about that, Paul suddenly stopped in front of the crossroads. Daniel, who was mindlessly heading down the passage back to his dorm, belatedly looked back at him.
"Bye."
"Huh?"
"There is no need for me to lead you down the path you know. I'll go back to the dorm as is, so you can just go straight to your mother."
Daniel, who was dazed as if he had been hit by an unexpected remark, grinned and placed his hand on Paul's head.
"You're all grown up."
"I was already grown up since the first time we met."
"Okay, okay."
The playful smile soon turned into a friendly smile.
"... Thanks."
He'd become quite accustomed to the warmth of others, but it seems he was not immune to situations like this yet.
Paul, who was completely frozen, muttered that he was saying all sorts of things, and eventually, unable to overcome his embarrassment, he ran away and went back to his dorm. Daniel chuckled and walked away.
That smile didn't last long.
'...'
Daniel wandered the streets in a daze. According to the original plan, he should still be with his mother, but he had no choice because he was kicked out.
He felt dizzy. Even though he had gotten angry at his colleagues who were taking care of his mother just a little while ago, his emotions did not seem to subside. The scene he faced was that shocking.
'My mother... was bleeding...'
She coughed up blood. That alone was shocking, but this had been going on for a long time. Even though his colleagues knew about it, they hid it under the pretext of his mother's request.
He understood it with my head. His life revolved around his mother. Even the reason he created the Revolutionary Army was because of his mother, so what could he say? So, if there was a problem with his mother's health, it was clear that he would also wander around without being able to focus.
She hoped her son didn't get hurt. The mental health of leaders is important. So it was worth hiding it.
'But.'
Understanding and feeling were two different things. Was it possible that he devoted so much of his life to his mother and didn't know about it?
Without thinking, he wandered the streets where the festival was taking place. It was said that it was held to show off the strength of the Empire even while it was at war with other kingdoms. If it had been before, he would have clicked his tongue at the waste and bravado of the Empire, but right now he couldn't think about anything.
He felt calm, as if being so excited was a lie, perhaps because he was already so angry. No, rather than being calm, it would be better to say that he was ecstatic.
"... Uh."
As he was just wandering the streets wherever his feet took him, he bumped into someone who was pushed around by the crowd for a while.
The smell of alcohol was wafting in the air. Was he drunk? It was a little unpleasant, but he was about to ignore it because there were so many people.
"Cough."
"...?!"
The other person cried out and spat out blood. Daniel, who realized this fact half a beat later because the other person was wearing a hood, opened his eyes wide.
Even so, he couldn't escape the shock of the truth he had just encountered, and my pale face became even more pale.
"Hey, look at me. Are you okay?"
"..."
"Come on, come to your senses... Ah, doctor. I have to take you to the doctor..."
His hands were shaking. Daniel gave strength to the hand supporting the other person.
Calm down, this person is not your mother. So there's no need to be so upset.
All you have to do is stay calm and take them to a nearby doctor. But...
'Is there a doctor near here? If so, where is it? Wouldn't I waste a lot of time in the process of finding a doctor? And what if this person dies?'
... Shit!
He picked up an unknown patient.
He knew he was overly emotional. But what could he do? If someone with the same symptoms as his mother died today, he didn't think he would sleep well.
'There is only one doctor I know.'
He was the only doctor nearby whose location he knew.
Although he knew it was something he should not do as the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Daniel, who had already been eaten by his emotions before his reason could think and control him, was moving.
***
What is this?
Passers-by on the street were talking about a festival and mentioned a specific street, so I went there, but someone gave me a strong shock to my back and pushed me, causing me to vomit blood on someone else's clothes.
Then that person picked me up and ran?!
The further we went, the more we went to places with fewer people...
Huh? The alley walls cracked, the ground opened, and a secret passage was revealed?
'What is this!'
I rolled my eyes under the hood that half-hidden my face, but when I felt the other person's gaze fall on me, I quickly closed my eyes.
... Let's just pass out for now.
***
He finally committed it.
If others find out, they would discuss his qualifications as leader. Since they were greedy, it was obvious that they will try to bite him in any way possible.
However, it was not yet known and he had no regrets because it ultimately saved the life of the person in front of hi.
Daniel, who had postponed the treatment, anxiously waited for the doctor's words.
"There is no danger to his life. There is no need to take any action. Just let him rest well."
"But the blood..."
"He was a weak person to begin with. It seems like it was a very stressful situation. There are signs of other physical shocks, but they are just things that have already been taken care of or that do not need to be tended to."
"Ah..."
That was good.
His legs lost strength and he fell down. As he wiped his face with both hands and let out a deep sigh, the old doctor asked him a question.
"Did you know better than that and bring him here?"