Chapter 137

“What? The Holy Empire Army?”

“Yes, my Lord. They claim to be near our city, Lime.”

“Oh… They’ve finally arrived! Open the castle gates immediately and welcome them.”

The lord of Lime spoke with joy. However, the courtiers began to express their concerns.

“But my Lord, their movements seem suspicious. There’s an ominous air about them; it feels like they’re planning something.”

“Indeed. Besides, they are still soldiers from an enemy nation. It seems too dangerous to welcome them too readily.”

Opening the castle gates wide and welcoming them, especially with the military forces approaching, was an incredibly reckless move.

Nevertheless, the lord responded resolutely to such worries.

“There’s no need to fret. Even if they are enemy soldiers, Duke Ocleang is among them. I have a personal acquaintance there; nothing is bound to happen. Open the castle gates and welcome the soldiers. Did we not agree to this beforehand?”

He had prepared to cooperate with the Holy Empire Army under Duke Ocleang’s directive. Given the widespread noble purges happening in the capital, Pare, the lord concluded that the only trustworthy force under the current situation was indeed the Holy Empire Army.

As a result, the lord welcomed the Holy Empire Army without any preparations.

However, at this very moment…

Facing the approaching military forces by opening the castle gates, what they encountered was…

Nothing but one-sided slaughter and pillaging.

“Take everything visible! Food will be stored as military supplies! All money and valuables will go towards the military fund! Take what you can carry!”

“Yes, Commander!”

What happens when soldiers armed with swords are exhausted by hunger?

They transform into an uncontrollable band of thieves.

Not mere dozens or hundreds, but an immense horde of thousands upon thousands of thieves.

And now, this gigantic band of robbers was devouring everything in their path towards Pare, following an ‘order.’

This city that had welcomed them by throwing open the gates,

Including Lime.

“Kraaaaaaak!!!”

“Ah… No! This can’t be happening… Kueeaaah!!!”

“Pl… Please spare me… Please… spare me… Kyaaaaah!!”

Armed elite soldiers numbering from thousands to tens of thousands.

At this point, there was no way for a single city lord who welcomed them unprepared to stop them.

“Wh… What is the meaning of this! Didn’t the Holy Empire promise to aid our nobles?”

“The plans have changed. There was an order from the Commander to pillage everything in sight.”

“That… That’s absurd! Summon Duke Ocleang right now! Did he permit this to happen!”

“That man is already dead. How can you summon one who is dead?”

“Wha… What? H… He’s dead? How… how could Duke Ocleang… Kuheeeek!!!”

“Everything in this city will be put to good use. Now, farewell.”

The commander of the Holy Empire cleanly beheaded the lord.

In but a few days, the lively city was thoroughly pillaged and destroyed by the Holy Empire Army.

Most of the resisting citizens were killed, and even those who survived found themselves in a desperate reality, having nothing left.

And…

The Holy Empire Army, unstoppable like a swarm of locusts, was now marching on with the food and supplies they had seized toward the west.

To where their final destination, Pare, lay…

*

“This… This can’t be…”

The sight of the city of Lime before her eyes.

The monarch of this nation, Queen Louis, was struck with deep shock at this moment.

Months ago, she had briefly stayed in this city on her way to the Holy Empire under Duke Ocleang’s guidance.

At that time, this place was full of life and vigor, abundantly maintaining its prosperity even amidst difficult times.

Yet now…

Before Queen Louis stood a city that no longer had any trace of that vitality.

What remained were remnants of a once beautiful past, now a city blackened and burned.

And the sight of people who had lost their homes and wealth, ensnared by despair, was all that remained.

Whether commoners or nobles, it made no difference…

“Khuh…”

The horrific scenes brought on by the ravages of war.

And as Queen Louis watched, she knew.

The cause of this war lay not with another, but with herself.

‘…It’s because of me… If I had just done a little better, none of this would have happened…’

She was aware of her own incompetence and powerlessness.

But… the fact that so many were suffering because of her weakness only intensified her pain.

As she silently walked along the road, mulling over the inescapable agony, she suddenly noticed… the figures of those who had come to await her.

The Pirate King and his subordinates started to come into view.

“Ah! Chomski. Welcome.”

In this dire situation, Elkana smiled brightly, alongside other pirates from the cooking team led by Franklin.

They were cooking porridge with some crops they had salvaged from somewhere, with residents holding empty bowls in front of them, clutching their growling stomachs.

All of them wore faces tired from hunger and fatigue.

Seeing them, Queen Louis quickly began to find her role among the cooking team.

Having washed the crops alongside Ambyasha, Queen Louis cut them up.

Though she felt completely powerless as a queen,

At least in this moment, here,

She didn’t want to appear powerless, as she could do something for those who suffered.

‘I’ll do what I can… It’s much better than being ensnared by despair and doing nothing…’

*

As in Pare before, Franklin and his gang were engaged in relief efforts.

Honestly, from our current position, it wasn’t something we needed to do at all, but I didn’t actively stop them.

There was no reason to prevent them from doing what they enjoyed, and besides, it was the simplest and most straightforward way to soothe the people’s sentiments.

‘Twas an act initially started out of necessity, but… it seems to have turned into a habit.’

No matter how you put it, we were pirates.

Criminals who made a living through pillaging.

Ideally, it should have been us who carried out what the soldiers of the Holy Empire had just done, but now we were in the absurd situation of engaging in relief efforts that were unplanned.

Somehow, it felt increasingly like we were disqualified as pirates.

It wasn’t bad in itself, but I wondered if this would become an obstacle when we returned to our true profession later.

With that in mind, I decided that once this mess was over, we should leave this miserable land as soon as possible, and so I started a brief conversation with Napoleona.

“I expected some horror, but this is beyond anything. I thought it wouldn’t be this bad…”

“The sight of a starving army is just this. If the commanding officers die or flee in such circumstances, they become bandits in action and name. If such a thing happens at sea, then they would be called pirates.”

“…I suppose you’re right… Anyway, aside from the pain in my heart, I think we can manage to douse the urgent fire with this.”

“Hmm…”

Napoleona spoke with bitterness.

To which I nodded slightly in agreement.

The indiscriminate pillaging by the Holy Empire Army was aimed at extinguishing the urgent fire of dwindling food and military supplies.

However…

Their actions should also help us to extinguish our urgent fire.

Right now, they had completely crossed the line into rampage.

If Duke Ocleang had been around, he might have somehow controlled this, but that brat had already been sent to the other world by Magellan.

Without a brake, the madness only worsened…

And there was no one who would dare to board such a runaway ship.

Due to Robes Fiora’s blunders, at least the absolute worst case that the Revolutionary Army had to worry about—where the military of the Holy Empire and the local lords of the Kingdom of Frantz came together—had somehow been avoided.

“With this, we needn’t worry about the lords aligning themselves with the Holy Empire.”

“That should hold true. No way they’d ally with those totally out of control like bandits.”

“Then… it seems it’s time to move on to the next phase. Prepare accordingly as planned.”

“I’ll count on you, Pirate King.”

The plundering conducted under the pretense of securing military supplies by the Holy Empire Army.

And, this indiscriminate looting could be seen as leading to a breakdown in military discipline within.

No matter how numerous they are, a military without discipline is bound to reveal its weaknesses.

And that was precisely what we aimed to exploit.