Chapter 209: Daughter of Death (Part 4)
Alcohol was a good thing.
It could make people forget their sorrow, their fear, and their pain.
Although it was only a temporary anesthetic, at least for now, these soldiers were carefree.
The cheap, strong liquor burned as it went down, their bodies quickly warming, but some things couldn’t be drowned in alcohol.
The deaths of so many comrades had left indelible scars on their hearts.
They laughed and celebrated their victory, but tears welled up in their eyes, because who knew when they, too, would die here like their brothers?
Barnal seemed to have recovered his composure, unaffected by the deaths of his comrades or Qin Chu’s earlier words. He called for Qin Chu, Princess Carol, Saint Son O’Niens, and Loseweisse, these important figures from the Imperial City, to give speeches.
Qin Chu, never one for speeches, was about to decline when O’Niens stood up.
Perhaps accustomed to such occasions, O’Niens appeared poised and confident, not the least bit nervous.
He cleared his throat and stood before the assembled soldiers. Although they were comrades who had just fought a battle together, O’Niens clearly didn’t see them as equals.
A hint of disdain could still be seen in his eyes.
He was different from them. Even on the same battlefield, he was still more noble.
O’Niens cleared his throat and spoke slowly, in the characteristic tone of a cleric:
“This victory is due to the protection of the Goddess of Holy Light and the Earth Mother Goddess.”
“Without the goddesses’ protection, we would have no strength or courage to fight against the Demon Beasts. We would have been destroyed under their hooves. This victory strengthens our faith and guides us on the right path.”
“Those who died are regrettable, but it’s only because their faith wasn’t strong enough.”
“The Demon Beasts’ invasion is not a disaster, but a test from the gods. Only the most devout believers can survive this test.”
“Look, not a single member of our Church of the Earth Mother Goddess died in the attack. This is the best proof.”
Qin Chu stared at him, dumbfounded.
Was there something wrong with this guy’s brain?
So many people had just died, they had just won a hard-fought battle.
And he was saying that the victory was due to the goddesses? So all those soldiers died for nothing?
A deathly silence fell over the crowd. No one made a sound. Although the soldiers were drunk, they weren’t completely unconscious.
Their eyes flickered with anger. They had sacrificed so many comrades, endured months of hardship with insufficient supplies, and he was taking all the credit?
Yes, not a single member of the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess had died.
Wasn’t that because, except for him and the Saintess, everyone else had been hiding in the corner, not even facing the Demon Beasts?
And he had the nerve to brag about it?
Did he have no shame?
Saint Son O’Niens spread his arms, as if expecting a round of applause.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Barnal was the first to react, clapping loudly. Led by him, scattered applause finally echoed through the camp.
O’Niens scoffed at their lukewarm response. They were truly uncultured.
After O’Niens left, it was Carol’s turn.
She was much smarter than O’Niens. She didn’t mention the royal family’s role in this battle at all, only informing the soldiers that Malta, the duke’s son who had deserted his post, and Marquis Bunyan, who had embezzled military supplies, along with seventy other nobles, had all been executed, paying the price for their greed.
This news brought a somber silence over the crowd, and many soldiers wept silently. If it weren’t for those greedy nobles, their brothers wouldn’t have died.
Although the execution of those nobles was a good thing, their dead brothers would never return.
Loseweisse had wanted to comfort the soldiers and then preach about the glory of the Goddess of Holy Light and her role as the Saintess, but she sensed the atmosphere wasn’t right and decided against it.
Qin Chu was the last to speak, the grand finale.
After a brief hesitation, he walked into the center of the crowd, a bowl of wine in his hand. The firelight danced in their eyes.
Silence.
A heavy, oppressive silence. Finally, Qin Chu spoke, his voice low and somber, filled with grief:
“Is this worth celebrating?”
“I want to ask you all, was this truly a victory?”
His words echoed in their ears.
Was this a victory? Was this worth celebrating?
Less than seven thousand remained out of a hundred thousand. What kind of victory was this? Were they celebrating the deaths of over ninety thousand of their brothers?
Qin Chu’s voice continued, carried by the wind.
“We lost so many comrades. They can no longer return home, embrace their wives and children.”
“Their lives ended here, their families left without support, to be bullied, even killed!”
“They shouldn’t have died. They didn’t die at the hands of the Demon Beasts, but at the hands of those seventy-six greedy nobles.”
“Even though those nobles have been executed, I still don’t think this is something worth celebrating, because the dead will never return.”
Soft sobs echoed through the crowd. These surviving soldiers knew that Qin Chu was right. This wasn’t a cause for celebration.
Those who died today were their comrades. Tomorrow, it might be other survivors, it might even be them… and their families would suffer the same fate.
Qin Chu took a deep breath and, without saying anything more, poured his wine onto the ground:
“To the fallen warriors!”
Crash!
He smashed his bowl against the ground.
A somber silence descended, their hearts heavy with grief, but their eyes shone with a newfound light.
Carol frowned, wanting to refute Qin Chu, but she didn’t know where to begin.
She knew that his words had struck at the heart of the Empire’s greatest weakness, but she was powerless to change it… A single noble’s greed could lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of commoners. This world wasn’t fair.
At this moment, O’Niens stood up, his face dark. “Hero,” he said, “what do you mean by those words? Are you criticizing the Empire’s nobility?”
“Don’t forget your place. You’re just the Hero, summoned here to fight the Demon Beasts. The Empire’s affairs are not your concern.”
As a beneficiary of the system, a noble and a cleric, O’Niens wouldn’t allow Qin Chu to besmirch the nobility.
Qin Chu smiled. To summon the Hero and treat him as a mere tool against the Demon Beasts was the thought of all the high-ranking officials in the Heavenly Continent, but O’Niens was the first to say it so bluntly.
“Even if those nobles did make some mistakes, they have already been punished. And the punishment was unprecedentedly severe, execution. This is enough to compensate for the lives of ninety-three thousand commoners.”
Inas frantically tried to signal O’Niens with her eyes, but the foolish man ignored her.
“Now, we are celebrating our victory. You shouldn’t be ruining the atmosphere, Hero.”
Atmosphere?
It seemed that O’Niens hadn’t noticed the atmosphere at all.
A small mistake? Was that a small mistake?
The lives of seventy-six nobles, and the lives of ninety-three thousand commoners.
In the eyes of a high-society person like the Saint Son, they were actually equal… No, they weren’t equal. From his tone, it was clear that the lives of ninety-three thousand commoners weren’t worth as much as the lives of seventy-six nobles.
Perhaps this was the true thought of the upper class of the Heavenly Continent?
As a commoner, it was truly tragic.
The people of this world didn’t care about their lives or deaths.
Only a Hero summoned from another world would grieve for the loss of so many lives.
There were rumors that the Hero was a divine emissary, a descending angel.
It must be true. Perhaps only a true angel could have such a benevolent heart.
The oppressive silence lasted for a long time.
Finally, Commander Barnal stood up.
Then, one by one, all the soldiers stood up, even the wounded, supporting themselves with their spears.
They raised their bowls of wine:
“To the fallen warriors!”
“To our fallen brothers!”
The voices of seven thousand men merged together, echoing like a tidal wave, deafening and earth-shattering.
Like an earthquake, like thunder…
O’Niens’s face paled. The light in their eyes frightened him.
The clerics and knights also instinctively shrank back, their throats dry, swallowing nervously.
They didn’t understand why a group of powerless commoners, just shouting slogans, could make them feel so terrified.
They didn’t even dare to look at them.
Crash…
Then, the sound of shattering bowls echoed, one after another.
Every member of the upper class shuddered, their hands and feet cold, their scalps tingling.
All the soldiers looked at Qin Chu with admiration, moved by his benevolence and kindness.
That gaze filled O’Niens with jealousy and rage. He didn’t understand why his speech, praising the glory of the gods, hadn’t moved them. Could it be that these lowly commoners couldn’t understand its meaning?
Every time he gave a speech at the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, it would elicit thunderous applause from the believers!
Seeing this scene, Carol suddenly sighed. She knew that the Empire was about to change!
At this moment, a gust of night wind blew past.
The bonfire before them, the distant flames from the burning corpses, all flickered and dimmed.
The world seemed to darken.
An indescribable coldness approached, and goosebumps appeared on Qin Chu’s skin. A deep darkness was enveloping everything.
Violet’s face changed, and she stood up abruptly, walking quickly to Qin Chu’s side.
A huge phantom seemed to appear in the sky, a beautiful, graceful silhouette, black mist trailing behind her like long hair.
Her face couldn’t be seen clearly, but there was a vague impression that she was a stunningly beautiful woman.
Her appearance was similar to the phantom of the goddess that had appeared behind Qin Chu before, but the color was completely different.
She spread her arms slightly, as if embracing something.
Faint, shadowy figures began to rise from the ground, from the flames.
Qin Chu’s pupils constricted. He saw them. They were souls.
The souls of the fallen soldiers, trapped in this land, now drawn towards the embracing figure.
Shaye’s voice, low and heavy, echoed in the depths of Qin Chu’s mind. He had never heard her sound so serious:
“Be careful.”
“That is one of the strongest among the existing Witches, the Daughter of Death!”
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