Chapter 3 – Story 116: Battle of Holmenia 9 – Incitement (End)
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“It looks like you had your turn stolen from you, eh?” Solon teased Marchronis in a corner of the square, which was overflowing with the people’s fervor and mania.
In response to that, Marchronis revealed a wry smile on his scarred face, shrugged his shoulders, and grumbled, “It was my big chance to put on a show at long last, but I suppose it cannot be helped. In the end, I only rose to the rank of company commander aide. Compared to such a humble post, that man is an officer of the Black Wall.”
It wasn’t as though Souma had marched into the city without any plan whatsoever to rile up the residents of Holmenia so that they’d fight against Romania’s army. The one playing the main role in inciting the people was a Holmean who had been fighting for his country all this time. There were likely family members of soldiers who had lost their lives in the battle against Souma and his troops. Souma intended to ignite their will to fight against Romania, but he could easily imagine that the bereaved families would get infuriated instead, even while being scared of getting killed by Souma’s men.
Because of that, Souma had consulted Solon on how to tackle this issue. As outcome of their discussions, Marchronis’s men had blended in with the crowd as fake applauders. They were currently raising their voices louder than anyone else, demanding to bring down Romania and fight alongside the Divine Son of Destruction. And it was also the role of Marchronis’s subordinates to raise their voices in protest against Souma’s insults which turned into an opportunity to inspire the people.
However, the one actually protesting against it was Adomius. This was something completely unexpected. After all, Adomius was an officer of the Black Wall, which was hailed as Holmea’s strongest army corps. Not a single soldier in Holmea could ignore Adomius in his black armor. His words carried weight because he was an officer of the Black Wall.
Solon used the cane in his hand to point at Adomius, who was currently shouting in the middle of the excited crowd.
“That person is perfectly aware of the role he has to play.”
He not only opposed Souma’s slander, but he also provoked the people and declared that he’d fight alongside Souma. It was quite clear that Adomius had fully read Souma’s aim and was deliberately going along with it. Yet he was the same guy who had loudly demanded to lop off his head back when he was taken prisoner.
However, probably because of some sort of change in mindset, Adomius had completely stopped asking for his own death ever since the meeting with Ponpius, where Souma had demanded the capitulation of Holmenia. Reaching that point, Adomius apparently became supportive of Souma to the degree that he felt no problem entering under Souma’s command, seeing how he willingly pushed Souma’s agenda.
Marchronis could fully relate to this new attitude of Adomius.
“Elder Solon, wouldn’t he be a great asset to resolve the pending issue that has been plaguing us for a while now?”
The pending issue mentioned here by Marchronis referred to the chronic lack of human commanders in Souma’s army. At this point, several thousand human soldiers were obeying Souma. In addition, the number of human soldiers under his command had rapidly grown after he conquered Holmea’s west.
But, when it came to commanders capable of leading those soldiers, Marchronis and Setius were the only ones. Moreover, these two had only commanded small units as a company commander’s aide and a platoon leader. Leading several thousand soldiers was a first for them as well.
Because of that, they were still struggling with how to move the soldiers most efficiently. Given that state of affairs, discovering new human personnel capable of commanding soldiers had been an urgent task for some time now.
Based on those points, Adomius would be the perfect candidate as a former officer of the Black Wall, and no one would doubt his abilities and career. Furthermore, his support for Souma despite his past experiences with Souma’s army would likely have a significant influence on the future rule of Holmea, too.
Solon purposely widened his eyes at Marchronis’s suggestion, acting surprised.
“Have you been told to welcome that man, Sir Human General?”
Solon calling him not by name but by title carried the meaning of him asking Marchronis whether he’d really be fine with having his current post threatened by someone with higher abilities and a more impressive career than him.
Perceiving that meaning, Marchronis answered, “I’m simply doing it because no one else can. To be frank, being the human general is beyond my capabilities, I think. I’m not getting younger either, so I had been considering retiring and spending the rest of my life as owner of a small bar in Bolnis with the bit of money I saved up.”
Marchronis scratched his head, looking troubled.
“I wanted to leave the rest to Setius, but he also lacks the knowledge and experience to act as general. Even though I’d love to teach him, I’m in the same position as him. But, if that man is around, he will become a good example and a fine rival for Setius.”
Solon cackled at Marchronis’s response.
“Trying to obtain skilled personnel without sticking to weird prejudices or your own post is the most important quality for someone serving as a general. Sir Human General, you have been carrying out your duty as a general properly.”
“I feel humbled for you to have such a high opinion of me,” Marchronis said while bowing his head.
◆◇◆◇◆
Instigated by Souma, the people formed up a line with Adomius at the front and started to move. Their destination was the armory located near the royal palace.
Guided by Adomius, the people flooded into the armory while shouting, “Hand us the weapons to defeat Romania.”
The former Holmean officers and vassals watched this spectacle with their faces being ghastly pale. There existed cases where weapons had been handed out to residents to make them fight during times when a castle was attacked by enemies. But this was basically a last resort in a dire predicament. Usually, the people in power were reluctant to hand weapons to the common folk.
Moreover, the same also applied to the residents. They were working hard and paying their taxes because they received protection from those in power. Being forced to fight the enemy was something they only did very unwillingly. After all, they’d constantly ask themselves why they had to fight.
However, the people heading into the armory while roaring fervently weren’t like that. They were taking the initiative to loudly demand weapons.
Faced with that reality, the former lords and officers of Holmea uniformly asked themselves whether this couldn’t be labeled as bona fide rebellion. Nothing was as scary for them, who belonged to the ruling class, as an uprising by the common people.
Furthermore, the man called Divine Son of Destruction wasn’t talking about a siege defense that relied on the city’s wall, but about leaving the capital to fight Romania’s army on the open field. If the flames raging within the people were to spread across all of Holmea, it’d turn into a disaster for the ruling class. It was quite likely that they’d turn their fangs at Holmea after repelling Romania.
For this reason, they had frantically begged Souma to close the armory and have the people go back home, even if he had to use force. But Souma had refused this with the following words.
“If the people start an uprising, the target of the uprising is at fault.”
Modern Japan acknowledged the right of demonstration for citizens who were unhappy with the government. Moreover, commentators in various media would usually point to the problems within a government whenever the population of foreign countries would rise in rebellion. Hence, the idea that a people’s rebellion always originated from issues within the government or ruling class had taken firm root within Souma.
But the former officers and vassals of Holmea, who weren’t aware of this, fell into panic after hearing these words from Souma. In their eyes ,his attitude appeared to be overwhelming pride, as he was able to make such a statement despite such a rebellion-like spectacle taking place in front of him, and an arrogance as if the furious people were merely dancing to his flute.
Without being aware that they were thinking about him like that, Souma climbed the wall at a place where he could overlook the armory together with Shyemul and stared down at the citizens below. The people had already opened the armory and started to carry out one weapon after another.
But, even if it was the armory of the royal capital, its stock wasn’t infinite. On top of that, it wasn’t just the defeated soldiers and young men who had rushed over to get a weapon, but even children, women, and the elderly. The armory was emptied out in the blink of an eye.
The people were unable to settle down despite all weapons having already been handed out. They went into nearby houses, tore down the furniture, and started to make a fuss while holding impromptu clubs in their hands.
Watching their behavior together with Souma, Shyemul uneasily commented, “But, Soma, is it really going to be fine with these guys?”
All of the zoan were hunters, and men as well as women would fight on battlefields as warriors. As such, they didn’t feel uncomfortable about the people rising up to fight for themselves. But, as far as Shyemul was concerned, the screaming residents seemed rather unreliable as warriors.
But that was no wonder. After all, many of them were ordinary people who had never held a weapon thus far. Only their numbers were big. Currently, they were fervently screaming and roaring after having been incited by Souma, but it was unclear how they’d react once the real battle started. In the worst case, it was possible that they’d throw away their weapons and run away as soon as they saw the enemy.
Of course, Souma was also aware of Shyemul’s worry.
“That’s why I intend them to lend my strongest power so that this won’t come to pass.”
Shyemul lightly cocked her head in confusion.
“Strongest power?”
Souma meaningfully smiled at that and answered, “Yep. ――The power to match thousands.”
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