Game Mind of a Medieval Modern Person - Chapter 181



Only Noblemtl

181. The tyrant’s dreamlike voyage is not a good experience, even in empty words.

Even those who were enchanted by epic tales of heroes and beautiful folk tales and harbored romantic feelings had no choice but to abandon their studies once they began life on board a ship.

Poor food conditions, cramped cabins, the stale smell of shipboard life, and decks damp and slippery from the sea breeze.

Despite all these disadvantages, there were only two people who enjoyed sailing.

Either you were truly born to be a sailor, or you were of such high status that you could order around your subordinates without any trouble.

And Karina was clearly the latter.

Karina was busy looking around on the deck with her eyes sparkling.

He didn’t even notice that the sailors who were checking the sail ropes were struggling to get out of their way.

As if that wasn’t enough, he would often grab passing sailors and start a commotion.

“Wow! Did you just see that? There was a big fish jumping out of the water!”

“Excuse me, Princess. That’s a whale.”

“Whale? Is that a whale?”

“Yes. They are the most gentlemanly and harmless of all sea creatures. They are also incredibly good at distinguishing between whalers and non-whalers.”

“I didn’t see it when I first came over!”

“It’s rarer than I thought… Can I go now?”

The sailors, who knew of Karina’s high status, were afraid to even dare to speak to her.

Normally, the sailors would be brave enough to flirt once in a while, but this time it was different. The despairing faces of the new oarsmen took away the sailors’ courage.

The anecdotes involving the new recruits were already famous among sailors.

‘Have you heard? The old guys who came in this time.’

‘what.’

‘He thought that a priest of the rank of a bishop would do a favor for the sake of saving face, so he blocked his way. But he threatened him with a sword and a spear, saying he would give him a job, and then dragged him away as a slave.’

‘What? Is it okay for a priest to do that?’

‘You too, be careful. They say a princess is riding, but she is a noble lady from the mainland, and the bishop is not the type to leave alone those who do foolish things.’

Although the church that serves the light of the stars prohibits slavery and human trafficking, the darkness does not easily disappear.

The labor force, which had to work in harsher and more difficult environments than others, was still an undesirable occupation, and to supplement this, local lords conscripted vicious criminals.

But there aren’t enough criminals in prison to row all the boats.

As a result, the lords of the territories close to the coast, especially those with great interest in shipping and the navy, were desperate to recruit oarsmen. Ship owners and captains were no exception.

Those who wanted to exploit the oarsmen for cheap wages under any legal pretext were always happy to send anyone who violated ship’s discipline below deck, to the oarsmen’s room, filled with sweaty steam and the smell of dried urine.

-You can never be dragged there.

The sailors knew better than anyone how miserable the life of the oarsmen was. Thanks to this, they showed superhuman patience and kept their lust from the objectively beautiful woman, Karina, who was wandering around.

“I have to check the ropes. You should also go inside after having a good time, Princess.”

“The sailors here are really friendly. When it comes to sailors, there are only bad things to say, but I saw them again!”

“…”

Karina, not even knowing that she was being shunned, just laughed and walked around.

The captain looked down at the sight with the navigator holding the key and clicked his tongue.

“It’s nice to see you so cheerful. If you were born a man, you would have been popular with the sailors.”

Then the navigator who had taken hold of the key spoke with his eyes burning fiercely beneath his wrinkled eyelids.

“Hey, can we stop talking about disgusting things?”

“Is it okay to take women on a boat?”

“I’d rather die with the ship than be disgusted by the woman I don’t want to burn.”

“Click click, the other sailors will think differently.”

“Ugh!”

The navigator pretended to vomit, but did not let go of the helm.

Karina was a princess so high up that she couldn’t even dare to gossip on land, but this was on a ship. The captain wasn’t flirting right in front of her, and she could at least exchange dirty jokes with her close sailors.

“But at that level, I guess I just have to worry about my kids…”

But the captain’s attention was focused on another guest, perhaps the most important of all, rather than Princess Karina.

The captain looked at the horizon and asked the navigator a question.

“Is Bishop Nari still a goner?”

Since the captain often acts authoritatively and repeatedly uses oppressive and harsh actions, it is difficult for him to listen to the crew’s stories without any exaggeration.

On the other hand, although the navigator was the captain’s confidant, he often spoke on behalf of the crew, so he often heard rumors, knowingly or unknowingly.

This time it was the same.

The navigator answered with a very serious expression and a shaking of his head.

“Don’t be ridiculous. In my 16 years as a sailor, I’ve never seen anyone suffer from such severe seasickness.”

“Tsk. I’ve seen church elders do that. But Bishop Nari isn’t exactly a saint, is she?”

“To that extent, well. It’s just that it has no connection with the sea at all.”

The captain rested his chin on those words and then came to a conclusion.

“It seems the sea god is very displeased with guests. We should stop by as often as possible.”

“Give the kids time to go to the bathroom. I don’t want to hear any more of that guy’s asshole getting ripped off in the cabin.”

“Oh my. What kind of damning thing are you talking about on a ship with church members?”

“May I ask? Which is better, fucking a man’s asshole or going to the brothel?”

In the end, the one who raised both hands first was the captain.

The captain slapped the mate’s back with the palm of his hand and gestured toward the bow.

“Stop talking nonsense and just hold on to Kinna Dandy.”

“yeah.”

The navigator chuckled and followed the order.

Smooth sailing.

It was a feeling everyone had as they watched the boat drift along the gentle wind on the calm waters.

Except for one person who was stuck in the cabin, groaning in pain.

***

When you dream, there comes a time when you are convinced that it is a dream.

A strange sense of discomfort that is difficult to explain in words continues, or you witness an unrealistic scene from the beginning and your immersion is completely destroyed…

Everyone has different reasons, but when I feel the presence of a peculiar gaze, I determine that it is a dream.

There were no people or even a single animal around me, but someone kept poking me in the back of the head with their gaze, so I couldn’t help but be convinced that it was a dream.

Especially in cases like this, there was a high probability that I would often reminisce about the past, when I was a barbarian.

It was the same this time too.

The moment I dipped my hands into the basin to wash my face, I felt a strange presence staring at me.

Barialdo. There is not a single human figure under my tent, where everyone in the world is busy making a fuss.

Even though my form facing you through sleep has been ruined, I can still feel your gaze, so it is certain.

This was a dream.

It wasn’t a time when a faint spark of hope obscured resentment…

A dream after everything is over.

Chul-chul.

I stared blankly down at the washwater running down my fingers.

And beyond the sound of water drops hitting the surface, the sound of impatient footsteps began to be heard from outside the tent.

They didn’t come in.

“majesty.”

I didn’t answer either.

But the soldiers outside the tent kept calling me and demanding answers.

“The deserters have been captured. Your Majesty must pass judgment on them.”

This is important news that would normally have been delivered by a familiar voice.

The adjutant who always had a hard time accepting my decisions because of his kind and gentle nature.

He may have hated me, but I felt close to him.

At least he was a man faithful to his duty of serving the king.

I asked even though I knew the answer.

“What about the adjutant?”

The soldiers outside seem to be hesitating and uneasy.

This must be an act of cruelty, too. A laugh escaped my lips.

Even if it was just a dream, I didn’t want to torment them any more after all the hardships they had endured.

“I know, so you don’t have to tell me. I’ll guide you.”

But I didn’t forget to point out something sharp.

“From now on, don’t call me Your Highness, just Barialdo.”

***

An irreversible defeat tends to break one’s will.

Until recently, resistance, which had been praised as an indomitable spirit and a model of chivalry, was being devalued as an anachronistic hard-line stance that would kill in one fell swoop.

People who once were outraged by the humiliating demand for surrender now argue for peace negotiations, saying that it is a rational choice to overcome the conflict and seek peace.

Invasion was glorified as conquest, and resistance was condemned as part of a closed cultural rejection that was unable to accept other cultures.

Now people proudly raised their fingers and shouted.

The young king, who was enthroned by the general, thought it was his ability and was childishly obsessed with his power, driving everyone into a painful war.

Rejoice, for the day of just judgment has finally come for the tyrant who, with his paranoid appearance, alienated everyone in the court, cried only for war, and treated the people cruelly.

True monarchs who seek a different path from tyrants will now bring about a new era of peace.

It was clearly something that someone anonymous had shouted, but for some reason, the faces of those people were vividly displayed before my eyes.

Duke Aurene, who considered himself the only loyal subject of the Kingdom of Lavansta, and Duke Deriane, who was coveting the position of number one.

All kinds of scum would have gotten in there and shouted together.

But it was a phrase enough to move people’s hearts.

The majority of the commoners who were trembling at my cruel conscription gave my words their full support. The majority of them said that I had done a good job of killing the tyrant bastard who had been eating the pagans alive and even more viciously.

The same goes for the lords and knights who somehow managed to spread the news that they had killed those who said they would not die.

In the end, they applauded heartily, saying that all the foundation had been revealed.

I understand all of these well.

If you’ve never directly dealt with it on the front lines, it’s natural for you to say something like that.

The problem was the soldiers who were with me. These guys knew very well what kind of enemy the pagans were.

He knew that the pagans were not particularly interested in peace, but rather in taking away the lands of those who had them, that the pagans’ religion was utterly detestable, and that the pagans were not as easy as rumored.

Nevertheless, deserters appeared who advocated peace.

They gathered around their adjutant, purely out of hatred towards me.

The adjutant deserted and then returned of his own accord.

And he proudly declared that his attempt at a peace treaty with the pagans had been successful, and obediently tied up in ropes.

Even in the makeshift court set up to prosecute him for desertion, the atmosphere was quite different.

The adjutant spoke with his back straight, even though he was kneeling and tied up tightly with rope.

“Can’t you win?”

The adjutant pressed home the facts, which were fatally difficult to deny.

“Even if we build up our strength again, we won’t be able to defeat them when they regroup. Rather than that, let’s just open the way. Peace. Who knows? They might change their minds and choose peace. When we went to them with that in mind, they accepted us. They said they were deeply moved by our struggle, and even offered us unusually generous terms.”

The testimony that began while the surviving soldiers watched split the barracks in two.

“You accepted it?”

Half of them focused on the slim possibility of peace rather than continuing the hopeless war.

“gibberish.”

The other half gritted their teeth as they remembered what they had lost.

But even the evil soldiers fell silent after hearing the adjutant’s subsequent words.

The terms of the peace treaty offered by the pagans were certainly surprising.

We will prohibit looting, immediately stop unauthorized human sacrifice, and actively cooperate in reaching an agreement on a governing area…

As the adjutant said, these were certainly unusual conditions.

Even the content requested was only one thing.

Those who invaded the Kingdom of Ravansta and caused countless deaths promised peace, but instead asked for only one thing.

“majesty.”

The adjutant spoke to everyone, his eyes filled with hatred.

“If Your Majesty will convert them by promising to serve their gods, all these conditions will take effect immediately.”

Some were horrified by these words and shouted in a chilling tone.

“That’s ridiculous!”

“You can’t say that after seeing how they treat people!”

But not everyone was driven by hate and evil.

The soldiers who were more than halfway through their turn were looking at the soldiers who were violently resisting with cold eyes.

Some of them even grabbed the harp and hummed softly.

“Then let’s all die together.”

“Fuck. The god over there is stronger. Didn’t the founder god suffer because he’s a cripple?”

When you look at the numbers, the mood has already shifted to that side.

The adjutant, riding on the momentum of the situation, questioned me in a haughty manner as if testing me.

“What should I do, Your Majesty?”

…I smiled.

Not a dream, but just as it was in the past, in reality.

I glanced over the glaring gazes and then took out the introduction.

“As you all know, I am not a direct descendant of the royal family. I am not an illegitimate child of the royal family, and I am merely the son of a lowly serf who has not inherited a single drop of royal blood.”

Bringing up something that everyone has known for a long time but has been kept quiet.

“But there was a reason for him to become king. He became king because no one wanted to be king. He was forced to become king. If he didn’t become king, his family would be harmed. That’s why he became king.”

As always, this time too, I confessed my true feelings openly.

“And my father was among the soldiers I drafted. He was killed in action.”

At these words, several people’s eyes turned perplexed.

“Among the group of refugees I tried to protect until the end were my mother and younger sibling.”

Only then did the eyes that finally understood the judgment of that day look up at me all at once.

The adjutant who had been glaring at me was also caught up in it.

For the first time, the adjutant’s eyes, previously filled with hatred, began to show confusion and understanding.

“So I quit being king.”

Even if this is a dream.

Even if I could go back in time with some miraculous power and face the same moment.

“Just do it.”

My choice doesn’t change.

“majesty…!”

“You may bow your heads to those bastards who killed your parents and family because you valued their lives, but I don’t.”

“Are you really planning to kill us all?”

The adjutant shouted at us with special emphasis.

Us. Yes.

The best chance for the soldiers gathered here to survive was for the king to bow his head and convert.

But I turned down this reasonable and excellent offer.

Then the adjutant shouted the second set of negotiation terms he had been hiding to ‘us’.

“If the king refuses, bring me the head and the body! That is the condition of peace!”

The end of a long war, peace.

The soldiers who felt the sincerity of that sound all made up their minds.

Of the 800 survivors, at least 500, or more, held their swords upside down in hopes of finding peace.

“If there is something you wish to protect even at the cost of your life, come to me! If it’s revenge, I will go all the way!”

Thirst for eternal loss, revenge.

The soldiers who realized the gap that could not be filled with peace also gritted their teeth.

The number was at most 300 out of the 800 who survived.

But at this moment, the one present here is not the king who should be mediating this conflict, but the ignorant and selfish son of a serf.

I drew my sword and shouted.

“Labansta!”

And still shouting at anyone who might be stealing these memories.

“You all owe your lives to the King, so this time I, Barialdo, will take all of your lives for revenge!!!”

Episode 182