༺ I Don’t Need a Guillotine for My Revolution ༻
Written by – 카르카손
Translated by – Mara Sov
༺ Civil War Period – Gathering Shadows. ༻
Damien De Millbeau, the second son of Millbeau furrowed his brow at the sight of a party of four riding towards him along the road.
Having suffered a crushing defeat in the battle against Lafayette, and having paid the ransom and tax rights, he was in trouble.
Although he managed to placate his father who was enraged over losing the tax rights, Damien had to plunder the other territories without rest to make up for it.
In the midst of this, as he heard some travelers on horseback were close, he took his Knights and cavalry to rob them as well. But his targets continue to rush towards him, and not away from him.
“Are they mad? Rally our men!”
“At once!”
Of the four, three had come with their swords drawn as the last one stayed behind without a weapon on hand.
While the three could be Knights, Damien had the numerical advantage.
Making light of the threat, Damien was content to let the cavalry and Knights deal with them.
That is, until they were right in front of him
“I am Peter De Casselle, Knight of Millbeau!……Huh?!”
“I am Jerome De Huey, Knight of Millb—Gah!”
His two knights charged ahead, meeting the enemy. And were blown away from a single strike each.
As the rest of the cavalry reeled, Damien saw the face of the man charging from the center and almost had a stroke.
“Y-You! What are you doing here!”
“Ah, sorry about that. I just happened to be passing through.”
The source of his recent nightmares laughed.
“Did you manage to save some money for the ransom?”
The devil smiled.
Damien simply shuddered as every nerve in his body tingled in dread.
—
The situation was resolved in an instant.
When the two Knights in the lead were struck down by Sir Gaston and Francois, the cavalry became disorganized, and as the duo charged in, the cavalry crumbled.
Seeing this, the second son of Millbeau tried to flee as the soldiers behind him scattered without trying to fight back.
I slowly drove my horse to the village.
Eris was already in the center of the village, on her knees with her hands clasped together.
Although she appeared to be praying to a God, she had already told me she relied on her wishes to perform miracles, not a deity.
A moment later.
A beam of light emanated from Eris, spreading around the village.
It was enough to illuminate the darkened sky, but strangely enough, this light didn’t feel blinding.
All those whom the light touched were healed.
“Ah, Ah, a miracle, it’s a m-miracle……”
“A priest……?”
“She’s a saint!”
“Thank you, Ms. saint!”
As the villagers expressed their gratitude and adoration towards her, I realized that Eris was still focused on a villager who was still lying on the ground.
Perhaps the villager died before Eris could use her powers.
As the villagers’ fervor started to get out of hand for a moment, and some even looked ready to touch her, I drove my horse closer to Eris, prompting them to step back.
“Well done.”
As if on cue, Eris removed her veil in frustration.
Her hair glittered in the moonlight, cascading down like a waterfall, and her exposed face was pale.
“It wasn’t that difficult after all, was it?”
“……No.”
For some reason, I didn’t like the sight of her forcing a smile with a pale face full of fatigue.
“As you said, you didn’t become a burden.”
It was stupidly easy to combat the forces raiding the village, making my initial intention of avoiding combat pointless.
Eris’s blessing gave me strength and vigor far surpassing my usual condition, and she herself managed to hold her own against a foot soldier.
Nevertheless, seeing Eris falter as she tried to get up, made me frown as I took some jerky from my pocket and tossed it to her.
“Ah, thank you……”
She looked at me while tearing into the jerky, seemingly hungry after using her powers. It was something rather strange to see.
Since the sight of the villagers, unable to take their eyes off her mystic appearance made me uneasy, I dismounted from my horse and approached her.
“Uh, eh?”
She tried to struggle a bit when I lifted her, but once I got her on my horse and took the reins, Eris calmed down and focused on chewing the jerky.
“So are you alright now?”
“My Lord?”
“……Well, you see. Since you already set the stage, then you should finish it as well.”
“What?”
While she was confused by my words, I rode with Eris out of the village and towards the area guarded by Sir Gaston and Francois.
Damien De Millbeau, alongside his soldiers and Knights, was lying down, injured.
“Ugh……It hurts……”
His two Knights had light injuries from being defeated by a single blow, but Damien had a serious injury from an arrow when he tried to escape from me.
I felt a little lazy to chase after him, so I shot him with an arrow while he was yelling that his life wasn’t worth a ransom anymore, but since I risked danger, I had to get my due at least.
Pulling the arrowhead stuck in his body, I looked at Eris.
The words ‘Get to work’ went unsaid.
Eris looked at me with a strange expression as she finished chewing the jerky and dismounted the horse.
Then, light gathered on her hand and took the shape of a whip, just like the one she used against the footsoldier in the recent battle.
“Huh?”
With a whoosh, the light whip struck Damien who was lying on the ground.
“Ack!”
“Hey, I want you to heal him, not kill him.”
“But I am healing.”
“What?”
I looked on in disbelief as Damien’s pale face regained some color.
Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he was left dazed from the whip strike, but the bleeding caused by the arrow had ceased.
He was being healed……
“……Do you really have to do it like that?”
“Isn’t it fine as long as he heals?”
Eris pulled the whip one more time with a bright smile on her face as Damien cried out desperately.
“W-wait! I’ll pay! I’ll pay the ransom! P-please just stop hitting me!”
“I don’t need it!”
Well, I do need it.
If he’s being such a generous person and offering me free money, it would be rude to refuse him, wouldn’t it?
When I continued to listen to his shouts and the cracking of the whip, I contemplated on whether I should stop this, but you know — He was, after all, getting healed — a group of soldiers approached us.
They had Count Lionel’s coat of arms.
They were late.
“I am Gilles de Lionel, son of Count Lionel! Identify yourselves!”
“I am Pierre de Lafayette, son of Marquis Lafayette. The territory of a fellow ally was being raided, so we came to offer our support.”
“Ah, I see. My apologies, Your Excellency. On behalf of the Count of Lionel, I express our gratitude. However……”
“Hm?”
Gilles’s gaze shifted towards Eris who was busy laughing while whipping the injured soldiers of Millbeau.
“……What is she doing?”
“……”
Thanks to the sacred aura emanating from the whip, it was difficult to believe she was simply beating the injured soldiers.
After an awkward silence, where only Eris’s laugh echoed around us, my face flushed in embarrassment as I replied.
“……It’s a ritual to make those who plundered innocent commoners repent.”
“……Is that so?”
Dammit all.
Why should I be the one shouldering this shame?
Ironically enough, Damien reacted to our conversation.
“Argh! I repent! I swear I’ll never raid again! Please! Just stop–Ack! No more, please! Stop hitting me!”
……Maybe this really was a ritual for repentance?
—-
After the situation had somewhat settled, Gilles de Lionel invited us to the Count’s mansion.
Though I was eager to return quickly to Lafayette, I couldn’t refuse this invitation as it would be dishonorable and rude.
At the dinner, I was able to hear news from the North.
“……You’re saying that His Highness the First Prince has passed away from the plague.”
“Yes. We are trying to seek a truce with His Highness the Second Prince, but it seems to be going poorly.”
Despite the changes I’ve made, the First Prince was still dead, and the Second Prince survived.
This was the future as I knew it.
However–.
“His Lordship Count Lionel is on his way back. I suppose His Excellency the Marquis of Lafayette will be doing the same.”
My father, the ‘Blue Knight’, the Marquis of Lafayette survived the plague.
I bit my lip in silence.
“That’s……Good news.”
“Nothing is decided yet, but if His Highness the Second Prince refuses any compromise, we may need to fight to preserve our titles. Most will rally beneath Duke Lorenne’s banner as he was the closest associate of the late First Prince.”
“I understand. As a member of the First Prince’s faction, I will do my best to support His Lordship, the Marquis of Lafayette, and the House of Lionel to navigate this crisis.”
“It’s reassuring to hear such words from the Acting Marquis who protected our territory.
It seems the rumors cannot be trusted after all.”
He must be referring to rumors of my shameful duel, but I was too busy admiring Eris’s face as she enjoyed the banquet to care about it.
My father’s survival and return meant that I wouldn’t become the Marquis.
Even though I have secured certain matters as the Acting Lord, the Marquis is not a man who cares about my achievements or the family’s reputation.
If he realizes Eris’s value and tries to take advantage of her……
“Ah, I didn’t know the Marquis had such an impressive healer in his employ! The reports I’ve heard are quite remarkable. The villagers are praising her as a saint. Honestly, I’m a bit envious of such a great person being in your father’s employ.”
Gilles’s words snapped me out of my reverie.
“It was indeed a stroke of fortune, my friend. However, if it’s alright with you, may I request you to remain silent on matters regarding her?”
“Why would that be? Surely a woman like her could enhance the prestige of any house……”
“Let’s say that there are some extraneous circumstances. Should you agree with my wish, I’ll give you one-tenth of the ransom extracted from Millbeau.”
“Ahem. Well if you insist, I’ll ensure confidentiality.”
Unlike the neutral Anjou family in the south whom we have almost no dealings with, words from Lionel who is part of the First Prince faction would surely reach the Marquis’s ears.
Since it’s difficult to ensure the villagers’ silence, this measure is temporary, which will buy me some time.
Should my father demonstrate any sort of interest in Eris, I’ll have to leave her in Christine’s care.
The Marquis survived the plague.
Although one would normally be happy if their father returned safely, I could only feel concerned for the future.
Even the sky itself seemed to reflect my current mood.
“……Looks like a storm is coming.”
—-
In the capital of Francia – Lumiere.
A city where ominous rain continued to pour from the darkened sky.
The streets bore the scars of exploitation and poverty, their past splendor nowhere to be seen.
Within a dark building of such a city, a meeting was held.
“The First Prince is dead, and it seemed that this Civil War would finally be over, but to continue this senseless war just to eradicate the remnants of his faction……Perhaps God has indeed taken the last vestiges of sanity from this Kingdom.”
Bishop Arnaud Richelieu, a holy man respected in the Kingdom, sighed tiredly.
“All of those cursed royals deserve to die. They are nothing but rats preying away at Francia! One vermin was taken care of by God, the remaining one must be dealt with by our hands!”
“The royalty and nobles are destroying our motherland. They are enemies of the people. Now all that remains is to shed their blood.”
Journalist Jean Malo and lawyer Benoit Levier also chimed in.
“Well, not all nobles deserve death. The Younger nobles in the south have been acting quite honorably. The new Countess of Aquitaine is supporting trade and charity work, building bonds with the independent cities, and the Young Acting Lord of Lafayette is doing good work out there.”
While the radicals Malraux and Levier scowled at the words of the famous liberal writer Nicolas Brisseau, the leader of the radicals spoke.
“Hah! The Aquitaines merely bought their titles with money, securing a place in this corrupt system! And we all know what kind of person the Marquis of Lafayette is, don’t we?
The sins and atrocities accumulated under the Lafayette name are already too numerous to excuse his son.”
After hearing the rebuttal from the prominent Prosecutor Maximillien Le Jidor, Brissau frowned.
“Though the kingdom may be rotten to its core, it remains strong. Therefore, rather than making enemies of everyone, it would be wise to compromise with those we can communicate with.”
“They are still filthy Blue-bloods! Only when we have torn down the old regime that deserves its destruction, will it become clear that their so-called ‘noblesse oblige’ is nothing more than a mask of hypocrisy! More importantly, we have no more choices but to act now.”
As he spoke, Jidor turned his eager gaze towards Richelieu, the leader of this gathering.
“Despite the long Civil War and this plague, these mad royals and corrupt nobles only want to fill their coffers. We must recognize that no amount of Francia’s blood will change them. If we do not, we will all perish instead!”
Richelieu had closed his eyes as he listened to Jidor’s speech, before slowly opening them.
“Until now, the common people of this Kingdom have been less than nothing in the grand scheme of things. Because of this, they wish more than anything to become something.”
The respected bishop paused for a moment to let his words sink in.
“Prepare yourselves. For when they finally stage another conflict to drink the last drop of Francia’s blood, will be our chance to rise.”
After a heavy silence, everyone stood up and spoke in unison.
TL Note: And the plot thickens!!!
Also also, ain’t Eris-chan a I’ll too happy with dat whip???
Imagine getting cured by pain—AHHHHHH.
I…I have to stop consuming certain types of content….This is not getting gud for mama.
