Chapter 3 – Story 115: Battle of Holmenia 8 – Incitement (Middle)
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Souma’s voice wasn’t loud by any measures. However, it carried surprisingly far, reverberating into the last corner of the square.
Yet, the citizens of Holmenia ended up completely confused after hearing his words. They would have understood, if he had demanded from them to submit to him as a price for repelling the invaders. They would have understood, if he had told them to accept his rule in exchange for his protection. After all, it was very natural for the people of this world to be ruled by the strong and received their protection in return.
The people, who were unable to fight, cultivated the land with their spades and hoes while paying taxes to the king and his knights. On the other hand, the king and his knights, who couldn’t cultivate the land, would protect the people by fighting with their swords and spears. This was the common social contract in all nations of this world. No, you could even call it the structure of this world.
But, the man called Divine Son of Destruction said, 「at that time」. In short, he didn’t mean the time after he had driven away Romania’s army. He had asked what they would do when he was fighting against Romania’s army.
Just up until recently, he had said that he would drive away Romania. That he would save them. Yet, he was now asking them such a question with the very same mouth that had promised them protection.
The inhabitants of Holmenia were unable to understand Souma’s intention behind this and thus it was only logical to them to be confused.
Souma asked them once again, “What are you going to do when we’re fighting?”
However, the people could only remain bewildered as they didn’t have an answer at hand. This confusion manifested as a stifled stir on the square.
After letting them whisper for a while and making sure that no one would provide him with an answer, Souma raised his voice as if to drown out all the noise.
“You were chased away from your land by Romania! They stole the land which your fathers and mother as well as their fathers and mothers cultivated while sweating blood for it! They razed down the houses which you built in order to protect your families from wind and weather! And they’re right now still devouring the grain you put so much effort into growing!”
Souma listed the cruelties of Romania’s army while filling his voice with fierce rage and irritation. Having all those tragedies thrust at them once more by Souma, many people hung their heads in shame and frustration.
Yet, Souma didn’t even think of giving those people a rest.
“And that’s not all! Some among you likely had their fathers and mothers killed by them. Some among you likely had their wives and daughters raped by them. Some among you probably saw their husbands and sons taken away as slaves with ropes tied around their necks.”
Souma stopped his speech for a moment and then, after taking a deep breath, shouted out loudly, “And right now Romania is trying to march into this place to make you experience the very same!”
After those words Souma fell silent as if to let his words sink deep into the hearts of everyone. Yet, not a single person raised their voice. No matter how long he waited, all the people looked at the ground while avoiding speaking, as if to not make eye contact with Souma.
Souma scornfully barked, “And despite all of that, you’re simply waiting for us to get back everything that was taken from you!? You’re just waiting without doing a goddamn thing by yourselves!? You’re going to do nothing but silently watch things unfold!?”
Seeing the people still not saying anything in response despite having gone this far, even Souma felt like he was being filled with silent rage.
“You watched your parents, siblings, lovers, and friends being stolen, killed and violated in front of your eyes, and yet you’re just waiting for fodder to be thrown in front of you? Do you know what you call creatures who act like that?”
But, not a single person answered his question. After looking all around himself, Souma spat out with clear disdain, “That’s the behavior of pigs.”
The people stirred. Yet, Souma slammed an even harsher rebuke at them.
“You won’t do anything despite your important people being stolen while you yourself are killed and devoured. You’re merely waiting for your turn to be devoured while hoping for free food and shitting. If that’s not what you call a pig, what else is it then!?”
Souma got even angrier at the people who had been remaining silent all this time.
“Look at the people of different races around me!”
He pointed at the people, who were close to his pedestal, with an exaggerated gesture.
“They had their land stolen by your Holmea, just like you now experienced through Romania. Some of them lost their parents and siblings. Others were hurled into the cesspool called slavery!”
At that point, Souma tightly clenched his right fist and thrust it out in front of him so that everyone could see it.
“But, they didn’t give up! They didn’t yield! They continued to fight!! Even though you slandered them as beasts, they never became pigs. That’s why they’re here. Right here!”
Souma’s eyes gleamed with respect and reverence as he proudly talked about the other race who were with him, but in the next moment that expression changed into one of contempt again and he shouted, “And yet, what about you people!? Many of you insulted those of other races as brutes and animals. You called them filthy, foolish, savage, and ridiculed them as lowly beasts! But, you yourself are actually inferior to animals! Your dumb cattle! You’re nothing but pigs!”
After rattling this down in one flush, Souma’s shoulders were heaving up and down. He waited for his breathing to calm down a bit and then he returned to a somewhat calmer tone, asking, “I’m going to ask you once more: what are you people going to do while we’re fighting against Romania’s army?”
Casting a sharp and stinging glare at the crowd around him, he further asked, “Are you pigs?”
Even so, the people remained as silent as before. But, it wasn’t as though they didn’t feel anything either. No matter how much they might have been oppressed by the people in power thus far, they too were human. It was unthinkable that they’d feel nothing when being insulted as cattle and pigs.
It was a humiliation.
They had suffered terribly because of Romania and fled into the capital while barely staying alive, and now they were slandered as pigs. Anger and discontent welled up in their chest as they asked themselves how much more scorn and pain they would have to suffer.
But, they had no target to vent their accumulated emotions. Usually, they should confront Souma who had slandered and scoffed at them. But, doing something like this would be close to suicide.
The current society was one where everything was decided by military might. And the one being the most powerful in this place was Souma who had the warriors of different races under his command. If they opposed Souma, they’d be simply slaughtered as they didn’t possess the power to fight back.
Considering it like that, it was reasonable that no one could raise their voice in protest. But even so, the indignation nesting in the hearts of the people hadn’t vanished at all. It was like a fire which was smoldering inside a completely airtight space. If something were to trigger the insertion of fresh air into that place, the seeds of fire would expand explosively.
And that trigger was pulled.
“I would like you to not take us lightly!”
The one stepping forward and saying so was Adomius, a regimental commander of the 「Black Wall」.
“We were defeated by you. But, that doesn’t mean that our spirit has been broken! I’m a knight! My sword, on which I vowed to protect the people of Holmea while offering my life to the country, hasn’t been broken yet!”
Adomius yelled while raising a fist overhead and proudly pushing out his chest.
“I am no pig! I am a person! A human!”
Next Adomius addressed the people of Holmea around himself, “Don’t you feel vexed to have all this said about you!?”
And then he spotted a few men who appeared to be remnants of the defeated army at a glance, pointing at one after the other.
“You guys! That outfit…aren’t you subordinates of Viscount Guts!? You over there, you’re a night of Earl Plenas, no!? The man over there, I have seen your face among the men of Baron Pilgrit!”
All of it was guesswork. Even if he might be an officer of the 「Black Wall」, it didn’t mean that he’d remember the faces of knights who were under a completely different chain of command. However, some people apparently had an idea what he was talking about even without being singled out by him, as one could tell from the shock on their faces.
“I hear the lords I just named heroically fell on the plains of Calireya while trying to save Holmea and its citizens! Yet, you people are shamelessly showing such disgraceful behavior, even after being slandered like this!? Are you actually men!? Or people!?”
Adomius audibly turned his whole body towards Souma.
“His excellency Darius was furious over losing his standing because of you! I do resent you for having killed my comrades as well! But, if you say you will save the people of Holmea――,” Adomius, who had his sword confiscated, thrust his clenched fist towards Souma while making sure to have the inner side of his wrist pointing towards the sky. “――I, Adomius, will fight together with you!”
A palpable silence fell upon the square. Not a single person uttered a word, as if they were all basking in the after-glow of Adomius’s declaration.
A short while later, that silence was disturbed by a man who seemed to have just recently come back from a battlefield, going by his appearance.
“Don’t screw with me! You think I’ll let you hog all the limelight!? I’m going to fight as well!”
With that man as a start, other men, who used to be soldiers and knights, raised their voices.
“How dare you call us pigs!? I’m going to show you that we are no pigs!”
“Even without being told by you, I was planning to wallop those Romanian shitheads a good one!”
“I’m going to do it as well! Hey! You guys! Aren’t you pissed!?”
Lured in by them, not only the knights and soldiers, but even the men among the residents of Holmenia stood up.
“I’ll fight for the sake of my wife and brats!”
“If I’m going to cower in a corner after being told all that, I cannot call myself a man anymore! Don’t you think, folks!?”
“If you don’t stand up here, I’m going to chop off the thing dangling between your legs!”
Moreover, once the elderly also stood up while clamoring that they’d fight as well, the women kicked the butts of the men who hadn’t spoken up thus far. On top of that, they started to talk about fighting themselves as well.
As if to take in their fighting spirit, Souma widely spread his arms. He closed his eyes for a while, basking in the ecstasy and loud voices that seemed to shake his whole body.
Seeing him like that, the crowd felt an attraction as if being pulled by something, unconsciously stopped getting all excited, and fell silent. And then, Souma slowly opened his eyes in front of the square which had become deadly silent, took a deep breath, and stated, “Only cattle lives without fighting for its survival! If it’s just fighting for the sake of survival, even beasts are capable of as much! But, it’s people who try to fight for the sake of someone, for the sake of their own pride, or for the sake of an yet unknown future! Only people!”
The people felt something hot stir in their chest due to his words which appeared to drive the passion, which he had earlier absorbed, back into them. But Souma didn’t stop at that. Instead he fanned those flames of passion and craze.
“Very well! If you’re people, you can take each other’s hands, walk shoulder-to-shoulder, stand together, fight together, and die together! If you’re people like us!!”
The people’s hearts leaped in joy when Souma praised them, whom he had slandered as pigs, to be people equal to himself.
“Proud people of Holmea! Brave people of Holmea!” Souma thrust his clenched fist high into the sky, “Fight together with me! Together with the 『Divine Some of Destruction』 Souma Kizaki! If you do, I shall bring death and destruction upon the atrocious invaders of Romania! And I shall bring you victory without fail!”
The square in the capital was enveloped by a cheering that caused the air to tremble.
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