Chapter 3 – Story 119: Battle of Holmenia 12 – Mask
<– Previous Chapter | ToC | Glossary | Next Chapter –>
“Well done!!”
Souma’s voice reached the people of Holmenia as they hung their heads in shame, their faces full of regret and anguish. Wondering what was going on all of a sudden, the people sluggishly raised their heads, just to discover Souma shouting towards them while bending his body over the guard rail of the gate’s tower.
As Souma sensed the gazes of the people below gathering on him, he inhaled deeply, mustered as much power as he could in his voice, and repeated the words he had used before.
“You truly did well!!” and as he perceived how his words caused an atmosphere of relief to spread among the people, he further continued, “You took revenge with your own hands! By your own will! At this point, you are no longer disgusting pigs. You proved that you’re proud humans! You’re noble and brave humans! And you carried out justice!”
Confirmation, confirmation, and more confirmation. Souma was diligently feeding their confirmation bias. And in return, the people of Holmenia kept staring at Souma, soaking up every word he threw at them. Their faces were brimming with delight and relief as if they had found an oasis while being close to dying of thirst in a desert. Souma thrust out his right fist, which he had held close to his chest, so as to draw their eyes to it while going on with his speech.
“All of you! You really did well!”
And as soon as he said that, Marchronis’s subordinates, who had slipped in among the people of Holmenia as hired applauders, simultaneously threw their arms in the air and started to loudly cheer. Inspired by that, former Holmenian knights and soldiers alike raised their voices. Because of that, Holmenia’s people also began to raise their voices. Timidly at first, but soon they grew passionate, and at last they yelled as though they were competing to be the loudest.
Souma raised his arm once to get their attention.
“But, you mustn’t forget! Many of your brethren are still suffering under the occupation by Romania in this country! Your land and families are still in the clutches of Romania! And although you drove them away for the moment, Romania’s army is still nesting in this land!” Souma took a short break to allow the people some time to process what he had said, and then he added, “But, fear not! You have no reason to be afraid of them anymore! After all――” Souma pointed at the big flag held up by Morad behind him, “――this flag is with you!”
His words were accompanied by a particularly strong gust of wind sweeping in from the side, causing the flag to flutter furiously, as if to show the symbol at its center to the people of Holmenia.
“I promised you victory, and I delivered! I am with you, so follow me, the Divine Son of Destruction!”
The people couldn’t help but let out voices of admiration and awe in response. But Souma didn’t leave it at that. He widely spread his arms with the flag fluttering in his back and declared, “And you also have comrades at your side, even if they might have a different shape!”
Matching Souma’s declaration, the zoan who were surrounding Romania’s army, the dinosaurians who had been attacking the Romanian soldiers alongside the people of Holmenia, and the elves and dwarves atop the rampart all threw their arms in the air and roared. Their voices dragged the people of Holmenia into a maelstrom of craze and enthusiasm…
“It’s time, my friends! We shall chase the enemy out of our country!”
…and that’s why the people didn’t notice how Souma didn’t say Holmea or your country, but our country.
“Come on! We will take back our country!”
All people roared and cheered in response to Souma’s statement. Without a single one of them realizing the meaning behind his wording, they raised their arms and voices as if trying to make their throats grow hoarse while being swept along by the mania. On top of that, Marchronis gave it the finishing touches.
“Listen! We’re going to rescue our brethren who are being tormented by the Romanian invaders!”
Marchronis pointed at a flag which he had a subordinate soldier hoist for him. It was a simple military flag. What was drawn on it was confusing, but it was clearly the same seal of Aura as the one drawn on the big flag.
“Let everyone know that this is the flag of those who saved everyone from the terrible clutches of Romania! Tell everyone that this mark stands for those fighting alongside everyone! And tell them that the people of all the different races are comrades who are fighting by our side!”
Marchronis’s subordinates followed up on that.
“This is the flag of the man who saved us!”
“The other races are our friends! Drive away Romania together with them!”
“I’m going to tell everyone about this!”
“Hurry and spread the news about our friendship with the other races and the meaning of this mark!”
While shouting like that in a jumble, they distributed simple military flags with Aura’s seal scribbled on the cloth to the people of Holmenia. And literally everyone who received one triumphantly held it up with their faces beaming in mirth while those around them stared at them, their eyes full of envy. Soon, many people swarmed towards Marchronis and his men, wanting their own flags, but they hadn’t prepared enough flags to give one to everyone. For this reason, some of those who didn’t receive a flag drew Aura’s seal on a suitable cloth, such as their own outfits, and tied it to their spear’s handle or club.
Souma watched all of this happening from the gate’s tower. By now, the girl in white was already gone from the scene below.
As always, that thing only came here to toy with and sneer at others.
Souma ground his teeth in disgrace and humiliation.
“Hey, Soma,” Shyemul called out to him from behind.
However, that voice was unusually filled with hesitation. Souma had informed her in advance what would happen today. Since he’d be conquering Holmea next, it was indispensable to make the people appreciate the unity between humans and other races. Moreover, he had to give the people of Holmenia confidence so that they’d fight. For this very reason, he had sent Jahangil and his dinosaurians to assist the people of Holmenia in addition to making them win against a small number of enemies that had been split off the main force by the zoan first. Thanks to that, the people gained the confidence to fight against Romania’s army, and they also realized that they had to form a common front with the other races.
Shyemul had been definitely briefed about all of this beforehand, yet she felt like that wasn’t the whole picture when it actually happened. And even if she ignored the potential ulterior motives, she still couldn’t help but sense something dark and stale from Souma’s back. Something that she couldn’t believe to originate from the Souma she knew. Hence, she instinctively called out to him. But, at the same moment, Shyemul believed that it’d all be needless anxiety, that Souma would immediately turn around and respond to her with his usual smile. She truly believed so.
And yet.
Just as Shyemul called out to him, Souma’s body trembled with a start. And far from turning around, he covered his face with both hands without responding to Shyemul. Feeling uneasy about Souma’s unexpected reaction, Shyemul tried to approach him. But, before she could, Souma thrust out his right hand, stopping Shyemul from coming close.
“What’s wrong, Soma?”
Shyemul was surprised by the rejection she hadn’t seen coming. But Souma didn’t answer. He merely continued to take slow and deep breaths while covering his face with his left hand. After a short time, Souma finally lifted his face toward Shyemul, who felt nervous, not knowing what to do.
“Sorry. It looks like I got a bit too tense.”
With those words, Souma turned around. It was the same old Souma with his somewhat unreliable, timid smile.
“Are you really okay?” Shyemul asked worriedly.
“Yes, everything is fine,” answered Souma. “Rather than that, let us hurry. We must order the pursuit of Romania’s army.”
As soon as he finished his phrase, Souma started to walk away as if to flee the scene. Shyemul was about to go after him, but hesitated for a moment. She had a hunch that something had happened, and she couldn’t afford to overlook it. However, despite having attended Souma for many years, she was one of the zoans who struggled to read the subtleties of a human’s emotions in their expressions and gestures. Even though she sensed that something had happened to Souma, she couldn’t say so with certainty and thus failed to find the words to probe into it. And in the meantime, Souma had already started going downstairs.
Shyemul convinced herself it was just her imagination and quickly chased after Souma. But if she had gotten a good read on humans at this time, she might have received the following impression from Souma as he hid his face: “He was just like a masked actor who had fixed his mask as it was about to come off during the play.”
Following Shyemul, the zoan guards and Morad also left. However, soon the now-empty platform of the gate tower was filled by a girl’s giggling. Yet, there was no one remaining there to hear it.
<– Previous Chapter | ToC | Glossary | Next Chapter –>
Translation Notes: