“Revolution! Revolution! Revolution!”
“Let’s overthrow the wicked Ark!!”
…What?
Pull me down, you say?
Their united cries caused me nothing but confusion.
I stuck to the fortress wall and focused on listening to their chants.
Unfortunate?
Or perhaps fortunate?
I couldn’t detect even a trace of resentment against Artemis.
Half of what I had worried about while descending the Mountain of the Gods turned out to be unnecessary concerns, and my legs felt weak with the realization.
Now, all my attention was on dealing with these insurgents.
“A, Lord Ark!!”
A soldier with a white flag on his back, upon spotting me, called out with urgency clear in his voice.
Judging by his movement toward the Artemis Temple through this gateway, the soldier seemed to be a messenger.
With a face filled with immense relief, he approached me, kneeling on one knee.
“I am Garcia, a messenger from the Third Division of the Outer Castle Guard! I greet you, Priest Ark.”
“I’ve more or less heard the situation. What’s happening inside the city?”
“Approximately 2000 armed insurgents have risen in rebellion in the square! The inner castle security force was quickly subdued by the sudden uprising, and moments ago, the guard force was also overtaken!”
At this report from Garcia, I finally understood why the guard waiting room was inexplicably deserted.
The mastermind behind this rebellion had thought it through.
Upon instigating the uprising, they swiftly identified the forces capable of suppressing them and launched precise attacks.
It’s logical to assume that not just this gateway’s guards but even the inner city’s defensive forces have been defeated.
“But no matter how swift they were, how could trained soldiers so easily fall to citizens?!”
“…Th..that… that…”
“Tsk! We’ll save that for later. So, what’s the situation now?”
“The Silver Knights are engaged in a standoff at the central square.”
“Damn…”
The Silver Knights are a new military organization I established with Athena after the battle at Mountain of the Gods.
No matter how economically developed a city becomes, if its national defense is weak, everything can easily be taken away.
Based on Athena’s classified report indicating that the remnants of the Gigantes from the Mountain of the Gods were growing stronger day by day,
an entire three percent of the city’s tax revenue went towards supporting them.
And their very first mission, meant to protect the city’s citizens, turned out to be having to point swords at citizens of Luna—a scenario that couldn’t be more ironic.
“Alright, Garcia, let’s go inside.”
“Um… I should go too?”
“Obviously, come on!”
I grabbed Garcia’s head in a headlock despite his reluctance to return now that he’d escaped danger and dragged him toward Central Plaza.
The crowd was massive even before we reached the square.
The central square, densely packed beyond logic, resembled a cracked egg.
The insurgents in the square were the yolk.
And the Silver Knights surrounding them were the whites.
The shining armor of the knights clearly communicated their firm determination not to step back, not a single inch.
But their numbers were only five hundred.
Encircling two thousand insurgents made the blockade seem rather lackadaisical to any onlooker.
Garcia pointed at the knights with a trembling hand.
“The knights’ commander insisted on the encirclement despite being outnumbered, though I tried to stop him—it was futile.”
Tattling away like a rat, Garcia.
Under his breath, he muttered ‘idiot’ towards the knights.
Sorry Garcia, but…
The captain acted exactly according to the manual I gave him.
And if you’re calling him stupid, you might as well be calling me stupid, right?
“That was the right decision.”
“Right decision?”
“Of course.”
Encirclement is fundamentally a tactic used when you have numerical superiority.
But thanks to the environment of this world, you can effectively encircle even with a smaller number in certain situations.
Which is exactly the situation of quelling citizens from the same city.
Why?
When the Silver Knights receive their oaths as knights, they are personally bestowed a blessed longsword by Artemis.
In other words,
attacking the Silver Knights means attacking Artemis herself.
Because of this, even though the insurgents have numerical superiority, they can only maintain this standoff and are unable to easily attack the knights.
But this manual also has one fatal flaw.
The knights cannot kill citizens who believe in the Goddess, even with the swords they received from Artemis.
Because, after all, the insurgents who started this uprising still revere the Goddess Artemis.
It’s a bit complicated, but it doesn’t matter.
“Master Priest!”
Gilbert, the captain of the Silver Knights, upon seeing me, quickly approached and knelt on one knee in greeting.
“I thank you for your hard work, Captain.”
“I apologize, my inability has only resulted in me being in this standoff with the insurgents.”
“That’s not true. You’ve acted perfectly according to the manual.”
I patted Gilbert’s shoulder and commended his efforts.
But Gilbert, perhaps feeling that my words were empty, still had a dark expression.
“What I say isn’t empty praise. You’ve acted excellently, Gilbert. You are the face of the knights; showing an expression that dampens morale isn’t appropriate.”
“Yes, Master Priest!”
That’s right.
The true purpose of this manual isn’t suppression.
It’s to buy time until Artemis or I can get involved.
Since our initial response aimed for this perfectly, victory is already ours.
I stroked the bracelet on my left wrist and, under Gilbert’s protection, pierced through the wall of knights to face the amassed insurgents.
“…”
Familiar faces.
Faces I’d encountered regularly when passing through Luna or visiting shops and taverns.
And now that their target has arrived, the ends of the farm tools and weapons pointed at me begin to waver.
Facing them this way in hostility causes a pain like being hit by a fist to creep through a corner of my chest.
If I leave the situation as it is, regrettable or not, the rot will spread.
The root must be removed.
“I am the priest, Ark. The mastermind among you must come forward.”
“Shut your dirty mouth, you traitor!”
“Do you know what losses we’ve suffered due to you?!”
Two insurgent officers facing me sequentially launched accusations.
I only scanned the people around me with my eyes, and it was clear they agreed with the sentiment of their leaders; their firm resolution was evident despite their wavering gazes.
The determination to definitely pull me down.
The insurgent ringleader hidden behind the two officers slowly stood up from where he had been seated.
“Stop. Stop.”
He motioned to calm the insurgents following him and then turned to look at me again.
“It’s been a while, Ark.”
“You’re still recklessly speaking ill of me without proper deference. Clepeion.”
Clepeion.
Familiar not only by face but also a frequent presence on my complaint lists.
He is a trade broker whose business spans so many cities that it seems none do not trade with him.
However, when the cities aligned with Hera executed a policy to sever borders with Luna,
he was among the hardest hit in the trade industry.
He even recently filed a complaint asking to improve relations with Hera after the fourth labor concluded.
Clepeion, the trade broker.
The ringleader behind this uprising.
Thus, his motive was clear without further questioning.
“Regrettably, Clepeion, you mobilized the citizens upon seeing issues with your trade routes severed by the border closure.”
“Hahaha. Would those sitting at desks, stamping ‘under negotiation,’ understand how our blood dries up?”
“That’s overly dramatic. Admittedly, trade with Hera’s domain is tough. However, trade with Poseidon and Athena’s cities is flourishing at over three times the usual rate?”
The border closure with Hera.
Certainly, I can’t say it’s not my responsibility.
However, trade with other cities whose ties we maintain well has increased even more.
Balancing losses with gains—managing that is also part of a priest’s duty.
I’ve minimized the citizens’ damage to the best of my ability, and I take pride in that.
Yet someone greedy like Clepeion ultimately caused trouble.
I love the city of Luna.
I like the city’s citizens to that extent.
However…
I cannot overlook the leader of a rebellion.
“There’s no need for further discussion.”
I raised my right arm high into the sky, high enough for all the Silver Knights encircling the square to see.
And I held up one finger.
Commander Gilbert immediately understood my signal and sheathed his longsword pointed at the citizens.
Following him, all the knights sheathed their swords and instead picked up their 1-meter long batons.
“The moment anyone moves closer, these lives will be forfeit!!”
The insurgent officers used captured security officers and castle guards as hostages, shielding themselves as they placed them before us.
But it doesn’t matter.
The signal to the knights was for one thing:
The flash.
The knights, who knew the power of the Rainbow,
will rush into the fray when everyone is temporarily blinded by the flash, capturing the insurgent commander Clepeion.
I shook my left arm and transformed the bracelet into the Rainbow again.
[Red (Flash) – The sun’s energy rests in the arrowhead, and it bursts with light upon impact.]
Pulling a phantom bowstring, Apollo’s red aura formed into an arrow and settled into position.
Leaning my body back, I pointed the arrowhead towards the high sky.
Now, in the instant this flash is fired, we will end it all.
But my right hand holding the arrow felt as if glued and refused to let go.
