15~Better to Wrongfully k*ll a Thousand Than to Let One Go Free
“Is that so?”
Tillysha placed a hand on her forehead, only to meet Yimi’s gaze. She shook her head to indicate she was fine, though her current state—drenched in sweat, drained of energy, and with her once sparkling eyes now dull—suggested otherwise. No one could mistake her for someone unbothered.
Tillysha was indeed not in her best condition. The recent memories felt like they had been forcibly jammed into her brain, leaving her temples pounding and a lingering dizziness. She was still somewhat immersed in the sudden, intrusive memory.
What baffled her was that this unfamiliar memory seemed to stir her emotions.
She didn’t understand why, since she wasn’t the real Tillysha, and even if the memories were true, why should she empathize with them?
Logically, she should perceive these memories as an outsider, detached and indifferent. After all, she wasn’t the protagonist of these memories, so why did she feel such a strong connection?
Or perhaps, these memories were so heavy that even an outsider like her couldn’t help but feel their weight?
These memories were foreign entities, so her soul should instinctively reject them. Yet, she felt no sense of wrongness or alienation as if these memories were hers all along, slowly surfacing.
Who was the person in those memories?
Tillysha faintly recalled a silver-haired girl about Yimi’s height. Her pure silver hair contrasted sharply with her slightly darkened skin. Her youthful, delicate appearance suggested an age similar to Yimi’s.
However, the Elf Clan wasn’t one to judge age by looks. Judging by appearance, Yimi and this girl were both types that seemed perpetually young, the perfectly legal loli variety.
Tillysha couldn’t confirm whether this girl had awakened yet. After all, some within the elf clan retained their young looks after awakening. Yimi wasn’t a God Maiden, eliminating that issue, but appearances of God Children in God Maiden families could only be chalked up to mutations or divine intervention.
That silver-haired, tan-skinned loli—Tillysha had seen her. She appeared in Ruglien’s Forest of Gluttony when Holy Oblivion was released.
It wasn’t a coincidence; this silver-haired loli knew the original Tillysha.
Actually, it was more than just knowing. From the words the girl had spoken, it seemed they were childhood friends, possibly even raised together, with a relationship deep enough to warrant much thought.
Why they became enemies afterward, Tillysha couldn’t tell. Ultimately, these were the messes left behind by the original Tillysha, and now it was her job to clean them up.
“Is this why you directed me to the Empire?” Tillysha murmured softly, her hand tracing her hair ornament.
She could now preliminarily understand her mission—to clean up the chaos left by her predecessor.
The memories should date back four hundred years, from the time the Demon Race invaded the Elf Forest. This meant the silver-haired girl was of the same generation as the original Tillysha.
Where was she now? Was she still alive?
For some reason, Tillysha felt an urgent need to know.
Glancing down, she noticed Yimi tugging at her clothes. Looking further out toward the plains, dust clouds rose, accompanied by the sound of galloping hooves, growing louder from afar.
The blue flag with the emblem of double-headed flying eagles fluttered in the wind, signaling the arrival of heavily armed soldiers clad in imperial chainmail, riding muscular warhorses at full speed.
“It’s the reinforcements sent from the capital!” Observant citizens immediately noticed the distant army bearing the imperial banner, their eyes lighting up like seeing saviors, they cheered with joy.
In stark contrast, the ragged citizens remained silent, watching the approaching imperial forces without any trace of happiness in their eyes, and instead harbored a subtle fear. They shrank back, inching further away, barely dressed and sitting on the dirty floor, too afraid to speak a word.
“Here! Over here!” A viscount’s steward’s son hollered, fearing the imperial soldiers might overlook him, frantically waving them over.
The lead imperial officer, upon seeing this, signaled to his deputy, who immediately ordered two squadrons of cavalry to flank and surround the gathered crowd outside the city.
“Hey there! You’re reinforcements from the capital, right? You arrived just in time! Those heretics are rampaging and looting inside the city. My father’s still trapped in the inner city! Save him quickly!” The richly-dressed steward’s son seemed to think he had considerable authority and was giving orders to the imperial officer.
Tillysha, who had somewhat recovered, shook her head at the scene.
This landlord’s foolish son had clearly been sheltered in his ivory tower for too long.
Tillysha held no hope for the moral standards of the imperial army. If the soldiers defending the outskirts were already so arrogant and overbearing, how could she expect soldiers stationed inland to be any better?
In this other world, there was no such thing as an army of the people. The saying “bandits are like combs, but soldiers are like sieves” has ancient roots.
Blocking roads at various checkpoints, extorting money to let travelers pass, and arresting them as heretics when refused—what kind of discipline could such army-branded bandits have? It’s more a blessing from heaven if they don’t commit heinous crimes.
“Who are you?” The imperial officer dismounted, his towering figure looking down on the foolish son of the landlord, his nose practically turning skyward.
“We are who else but the residents of Furnace City!” The steward’s son was taken aback by the initial attitude of the reinforcements from the capital.
“Hmph, residents?” The imperial officer’s condescending gaze swept over everyone present. “How do I know you’re citizens of Furnace City within the empire? What proof do you have? How can I determine that you are law-abiding citizens and not bandits who want to take advantage of Furnace City’s calamity?”
“Us? … Sir, how could we possibly be bandits?? We don’t even have a single weapon on us!” The steward’s son hurried to explain.
“Then, what’s this blond woman holding?” The imperial officer narrowed his eyes at Tillysha holding her longbow. A flash of astonishment crossed his eyes as he caught sight of her beauty.
Tch, this remote place actually has such a pretty flower blooming. That’s rare.
“She? Sir, you’ve misunderstood. She’s not with us. Initially, we thought she was part of the reinforcements from the capital, but she’s not. She’s not even a resident of this city! She might even be a bandit from nearby!” The steward’s son quickly distanced himself from Tillysha.
“How ugly.” Yimi glanced at this ungrateful individual and quietly criticized.
The imperial officer focused his gaze on Tillysha, clearly expecting an explanation from her.
“Sir, we are from Coleman Academy.” Tillysha then pulled out her identity card. “We’re students there. We happened to be passing by here when we saw the black smoke rising from the city, so we decided to enter and help save people.”
“You’re students from Coleman Academy??” The imperial officer furrowed his brow. After hearing this young woman was a student at Coleman Academy, his gaze towards Tillysha became noticeably more restrained.
“Yes, the two of us.”
“Are there any other students from Coleman Academy besides you two?”
“I suspect there are none. Only the two of us came on this trip.”
“What brings you to the empire?” The officer asked nonchalantly, feigning disinterest.
“The academy is on break. We’re here on a vacation.”
“As you can see, this isn’t exactly a great place to vacation.”
“The rest will be taken care of by our imperial forces. This doesn’t involve you Coleman Academy students anymore. You should leave.” The officer retorted coldly, with bad attitude.
“And these citizens?”
“We’ll take care of them. It’s an internal matter within our imperial territory, and doesn’t require you outsiders to meddle.” The officer obviously didn’t want Tillysha and her friend to stick around and interfere.
After hearing that, Tillysha didn’t linger any longer. She glanced at the few trembling citizens and the nearly extinguished flames within the city, then pulled Yimi and left.
As for Yimi, she had wanted to leave long ago. After witnessing the behavior of these humans, her impression of humans was nothing but disdain, and she didn’t want to waste any more time with them.
Handing this matter over to the imperial soldiers was reasonable and appropriate. They were merely tourists, after all. To avoid unnecessary trouble, they should stay out of it.
Although the discipline of the armies in this other world might be questionable, this was a direct imperial force loyal to the emperor, so the quality should at least be higher than ordinary armies. And since these soldiers were part of the same nation, they probably wouldn’t go overboard, so let them handle it.
“Alright, let’s go into the city.” Once the two had walked out of earshot, the imperial officer waved his hand and ordered his troops to enter the city.
“Sir, you actually let them go?” The steward’s son couldn’t believe it. “Those two are suspicious outsiders. Shouldn’t we have detained and interrogated them first?”
The officer, having his hands behind his back, cast a glance at the steward’s son, without saying a word.
“Ah, sorry, sorry, I spoke out of turn, I won’t bother you with questions about exterminating heretics anymore…” Sensing the officer’s displeasure, the house steward’s son quickly withdrew.
“Bring them inside too.”
“Yes sir.”
“Eh? Wait, sir, why do we have to go into the city too?” The steward’s son, who was being escorted into the city by two soldiers, was utterly bewildered.
“This is your home, you know it better than we do.” The adjutant grinned. “Help us point the way. We’ll help you clear out the heretics causing chaos in the city.”
“Ah, sure.” The steward’s son nodded dumbly but felt something was off.
“Rest assured, we belong to the Emperor’s army and are here under orders to eliminate the heretic base in Furnace City at all costs.” Once inside the city, the imperial officer solemnly announced.
Upon hearing this, the citizens who were initially still restless gradually put down their guard.
They were worried about what the imperial soldiers might do when they led them into the city, but now it seems all their worries were unnecessary.
This was their own army.
“However, before we take action, I need all of you to help us with one thing.” The imperial officer said expressionlessly.
“We are not familiar with the routes to the inner city. Could you lead us there so that we can eliminate the heretics completely?”
“Rest assured, I guarantee with my honor that I’ll protect you from the heretics.”
Reassured by the officer’s deep voice, the citizens completely let down their guard, without any suspicion, stepping forward to join the front ranks of the troops.
“…” The officer gave a subtle nod to his adjutant, who returned the affirmation and turned around.
The spear cavalry knelt on one knee in the front row, revealing the archers in the back with bows fully drawn.
As the adjutant’s raised hand dropped, hundreds of arrows surged forward.
The startled citizens turned around only to be completely engulfed by the arrows raining down from the sky. Before they could react, they were pierced by countless arrows and fell into pools of bl**d.
“Why……?” The uninjured ones gasped their last questions in despair.
“By order of the Emperor, exterminate all heretics and their hideouts in Furnace City.” The imperial officer watched coldly, his voice firm. “How do I know you’re not hiding heretics among you waiting to strike? The empire can’t afford the risk.”
“Ever since the heretic revolt in Furnace City began, you’ve all been marked as ‘suspects.'”
“For the safety of the empire, please rest in peace.”
“The innocent citizens will be remembered by Kalto and the empire for your contributions.” The officer made a gesture of prayer.
After hearing that, the remaining citizens completely relaxed, trusting him. With no one to object, everyone stepped forward and walked to the front.
“Master, there’s no one left alive.” After ordering the spear cavalry to conduct a “corpses check,” the adjutant reported.
“Listen carefully, there’s been a revolt of heretics in Furnace City, which has wreaked havoc. The revolt has left no survivors in the entire Furnace City except for the Lord’s family.”
“The Lord’s family fought bravely to defend Furnace City until the very end, and they deserve commendations and promotions.”
“Other cities should take this as a warning. Anyone who does not worship Kalto could potentially be a spy for the heretics. With this massacre case as an example, all lords should intensify their supervision over their people.” Carefully drawing conclusions to the rebellion, the officer raised his long sword.
“Now it’s our turn to work. Send those monsters in the city back to their old place!”
Hearing the order, the soldiers acted swiftly. The spear and shield soldiers were in the front row, the archers in the back, and the mages on the side wings, with the officer who was the God Maiden leading the well-trained army from the capital straight into the mansion.
The heretic rebellion in Furnace City would soon come to an end, and the conclusion drawn from fabricated reports was naturally leading.
However, no one would speak out against it, because no one would know the truth.
Even if someone did, that individual would be too weak and powerless against the empire’s ability to label them as rumor-mongers.
Except for the nobility, “Better to Wrongfully k*ll a Thousand Than to Let One Go Free” was the motto upheld in these situations.
