Chapter 214: A People Problem
Sarcho didn’t seem to fully understand.
"Do you mean that defying the will of God is the way to follow them?"
Without saying anything, Owen only smiled.
Sarcho thought for a moment. It didn't entirely seem like nonsense. While gods appeared almost omnipotent, they weren’t.
'What foolish thoughts.’
Sarcho traced the emblem of the Angry One on their chest, but still, the thoughts lingered, and they couldn’t help following them.
'The Angry One says we must all fight with our lives, but also to prosper our descendants. If everyone truly risked their lives, there would be no prosperity. There's always a contradiction. Priests like us must find the balance.'
Sarcho said, "Even if it ultimately aligns with your god’s will, you defied them initially, helping both me and the Angry One, assuming there truly was no other intent."
"There is no other intent. So I guess you could see it that way."
"In that case, I owe you an immeasurable debt. Not just for saving my life."
"Life?"
Owen clapped softly.
"Ah, you consider them as two separate things, don’t you?"
"Pardon?"
"I gave you information about the Independent Republic of Collegoton's Revolutionary Party trying to get in contact with the revolutionary faction in Rubeil, and I saved your life. You see them as two separate issues."
"Is it not?"
"Not at all. Both stem from the same problem. You seem less smart than I thought."
Sarcho decided to not take it personally.
"Please explain."
Owen said, "The one who targeted your life was the republic's information office."
"I know. It's the aftermath of my past actions."
"Your past as a spy of the Union Kingdom? Hmm, that might be a problem that needs addressing someday, but not this time."
"Didn't you hear the entire conversation?"
"That intelligence agent might have said so, but how did the agent know about it? Although they said they investigated, they didn't say how they found out."
Owen tapped the window frame where he sat.
"Meaning, someone released information to have you killed."
"...Who?"
"Dain wouldn’t be the only one who knows the truth about you."
"There would be more who are suspicious, and some comrades definitely know. To increase the number of revolutionary comrades, I had to contact those related to the members of the first revolution."
"Among them, who is in the information office?"
Sarcho thought for a moment.
"...Rolz?"
"You've finally got it."
Sarcho furrowed their eyebrows. Sarcho knew Rolz well. When the second revolutionary party was formed by Dain and Sarcho, Rolz was recruited by Dain. Rolz was a retired Human officer and was competent enough to become an officer as a Tailless class. But Rolz wasn't just competent. Rolz was a passionate revolutionary supporter, and during the formation of the revolutionary army, they ventured into risky battles just like Sarcho did. No one doubted their devotion.
"There’s no way Rolz would do that."
"Why? Because Rolz is a true comrade?"
"Yes."
"They would do anything for the revolutionary, so Rolz wouldn't threaten you, a revolutionary member?"
"That's right."
"But you're wrong. You're seeing people too one-sidedly. Rolz wanted to kill you for the revolution."
Sarcho dusted off the fur on their head out of habit. For Bugbears, flicking dust or water off their fur was a reflex, similar in meaning to a human shaking their head in disbelief.
"That's nonsense."
Owen snorted.
"Accept it, youngster. You didn’t almost die because of your past mistakes. For people like Rolz, you were merely an obstacle stopping the consolidation with another revolutionary faction. The Independent Republic of Collegoton may be filled with hope, but a little look outside reveals numerous problems.
“Just because you aren’t subject to the power of the Angry One doesn't mean you're guaranteed survival. The Union Kingdom is a powerful country, isn’t it? They're at war with the Empire beyond their borders and internally disrupted by revolutions, but there's no immediate collapse in sight."
"...Is that what you think too? That I should die for the revolutionary party?"
"Me?" Owen replied, "Of course not. If I did, why would I have saved you?"
Owen continued, "You must survive for the revolution."
Sarcho said, "I have no strength. I'm neither smart nor wise like other comrades. Unlike Dain, I don't have the charm to influence someone, and I'm nowhere near as strategic as Rolz."
"What a foolish thing to say."
"What?"
"Do you think all those people followed only Dain and her comrades?"
"Yes, I have no strengths."
"No, you know how to discern."
Sarcho asked, "Discern?"
"Knowing what's right and what's wrong. In modern terms, knowing justice."
"Everyone knows what justice is."
"No, they don't. They've only heard of it. Seeing a fisherman doesn't mean you know how to fish, does it? Seeing a printing press doesn't mean you know how to print. To say you know something, shouldn't you have at least tried it? You know what justice is and have acted upon it. People who were unaware of justice wandered, and then they followed you when they saw you."
Sarcho tried to refute, but hesitated. After hesitating a few times, Sarcho simply closed their mouth. Sarcho couldn't fully agree with Owen's words, but they couldn't immediately find a counterargument.
Sarcho said, "Elder, I am too burdened with sins...to be righteous."
"Who isn't? Or..." Owen said, "Are you afraid of being called a hypocrite?"
Hearing that question, Sarcho admitted the truth of it.
Sarcho realized that even if their tarnished reputation didn't represent them correctly, it was okay. That wasn't the important thing.
"...If Rolz truly thinks that way, we need to stop them."
"Even if the revolutionaries lose to the Union government?"
Sarcho said, "When armies of people clash, it's a result of human actions. But when divine armies clash, it goes beyond human fate. Above all, countless people who could have lived will die."
A battlefield where people fought was brutal, but a battle where gods intervened was incomparably destructive. Countless lives were crushed under the feet of giant guardians like ants, and just as many were plucked out by the disasters caused by apostles.
The value of life would become equivalent to dust, replaced by fanatical sacrifices to the gods.
Sarcho added, "And I don't think the revolutionaries will lose."
Owen then said noncommittally, "Well, we’ll see about that."
"Do you think Dain is also part of this plan?"
"I don't think so. Dain created the information office, but because she trusted Rolz, she didn’t control it properly."
"There's still hope. Then I should go to Dain..."
Owen waved his hand, "That would be dangerous."
"Oh, right."
"The intelligence agents are already close to Dain under the pretext of guarding her, so do you think you would be able to approach her? They wanted to kill you. There's nothing that says they won't do the same to Dain."
"What do you suggest then? What should I do?"
Sarcho recalled the scene of this old Lizardman facing the intelligence officers. He seemed old, but he wasn't really old. He was armed with surprising skills and technology, so who knew what other powers he had at his disposal.
'Should I suggest killing Rolz? Or should I say we need to meet the Rubeil revolutionaries first?'
Both seemed plausible. If it were this Lizardman, Sarcho believed that he would be able to assassinate the intelligence officers and their leader, Rolz, on his own if Sarcho somehow managed to lure Rolz out.
As a result, there would likely be absence in the information office, and there would be difficulties in securing human resources. However, it was better than allowing this land to become a playground for the gods.
Alternatively, they could first meet the Rubeil revolutionaries.
'It would be nice if we could resolve it through conversing, but if not...'
If a terrorist act occurred against a major figure like Hwee Juran Muel, the relationship between the Independent Republic of Collegoton and the Rubeil Revolutionary Party would significantly get worse. Then, naturally, the negotiations would be stopped, just as Owen and Sarcho intended.
Though Sarcho didn't love the idea of resorting to such violence, Sarcho knew they might have to.
"First off..." Owen said, "Do what you originally intended to do."
"...Pardon?"
"You were going to establish a state religion in the assembly, right? You wanted to either leave it undetermined or keep it as the order of the Angry One."
"That is true…but I can't determine that on my own."
"Don't people trust you?"
"Not everyone."
"Then make it everyone."
Reading Sarcho's tense look and wild imaginations, Owen added, "Without resorting to unthinkable tricks you've never tried before, start with what you can do."
***
After Owen vanished, saying that at this rate he would be discovered by his disciples and that he needed to move, Sarcho did as Owen had advised.
Fortunately, it seemed that the loss of two agents was a significant blow to the information office, as they didn't directly approach Sarcho again, and by Sarcho’s own initiative, they mobilized security forces to provide protection for themself.
Meanwhile, Sarcho also tried to sway people's hearts as Owen had suggested. Initially, Sarcho used simple logic. Sarcho argued that if they joined hands with the revolutionaries influenced by the Devil, they would face severe punishment, a perspective that any priest affiliated with the order of the Angry One would naturally say. However, this argument didn't work that well.
To start with, Collegoton had always been the least faithful in the entire Union Kingdom. It made sense as their ancestors were immigrants who left their distant homelands or those who lost their roots, simply attending the rites of the order of the Angry One as a city custom, believing in the Angry One just because.
For the immediate moment, they wouldn't betray the faith they held for a long time, but considering substantial benefits through the Ruebeil Revolutionary Party and the peculiar ability of Night Sky to convert apostates, prospects didn’t seem bright.
'Trying to move people with the clash of two religions...seems impossible.'
Therefore, Sarcho introduced a new card. It was secularism. They needed to separate religion from life, and the battle of the gods shouldn't interfere with human conflicts. This new concept intrigued many, and only then did they start to listen to Sarcho.
Sarcho grabbed onto this new opportunity.
'Now I have to talk about how terrifying the gods are.'
About that, Sarcho knew better than anyone else.
On the day of the unity festival when everyone wore black robes, Sarcho had to deliver a commemorative speech, but Sarcho began their speech in a way no one expected.
"Two years ago, on Unity Day, I hold greater responsibility than anyone for the 817 lives lost."
And with that, Sarcho's confession began. Sarcho revealed specific details of capturing the revolutionaries and how the Fang agents of the Union Kingdom and the priests of the order were intertwined with that matter. Sarcho also stated that it wasn't merely part of the Union Kingdom's revolutionary hunt, but a revelation from the Angry One.
'By telling this story alone, there will be those who will turn against the order of the Angry One.'
Sarcho defended the Angry One by saying that it must have been an inevitable act on the Angry One's part to counteract the terrifying Devil. Therefore, the fundamental issue was that people were being used in the gods' conflicts, and people should get out of those fights and resolve people problems instead. Only then would the same tragedies be avoided.
"...With that, I will conclude my commemorative speech."
The crowd was silent, and Sarcho closed their eyes for a moment and waited.
Sarcho believed that they could be dragged off the stage or hit with stones the next instant. However, when Sarcho opened their eyes, they heard the sound of applause.
Foll𝑜w current novels on fre(e)w𝒆bnovel