Chapter 220 - The Golden Rule (4)

5

I looked at the girl.

The scenery shifted abruptly: from the snowy street where Marchioness Snow Rabbit brought down her whip, to the cave where Viscountess Pure Black God tore into human flesh, to the battlefield where Viscountess Giant Shrimp Roe drove troops forward, slaughtering soldiers and civilians alike.

"Kill them! Don't leave a single one alive!"

A general's competence consists of two things: skill at killing people and a lack of hesitation in doing so.

Viscountess Giant Shrimp Roe was a competent general.

"This is a land of traitors. We cannot permit information about our operations to leak. Peasants, paupers, regardless of status, sex, or age—kill them all and silence every witness! I'll take responsibility."

Thousands of cavalry pursued and killed the rebels.

Surrounded by soldiers, the townspeople's shoulders shook with terror. Some really had plotted treason against the kingdom. Far more had simply accepted that, since their lord was starting a war, a war must be starting.

"Spare us, my lord! We're just country folk! We don't know anything!"

A politician's competence lies in distinguishing friend from foe and looking after the former.

Viscountess Giant Shrimp Roe was an incompetent politician.

And humans become cruelest when they are competent in one respect and incompetent in another.

"Burn it."

The village went up in flames.

The palisade built to protect the villagers instead barred their way. The kingdom's soldiers raised their long spears, stabbing at anyone trying to squeeze through the stakes and pushing them back inside.

"O God!"

Forced back into their hometown, old people and women suffocated in black smoke.

Soot clogged the village headman's aged lungs. Should he have defied his lord's command to join the rebellion and started a rebellion within a rebellion? Would being cut to pieces by his lord's army, rather than the kingdom's, have been a more luxurious death? He could not know, even in his final moments.

Had he ever had a choice?

"Please save us, O God..."

A god was there.

Viscountess Ja Sujeong sat in the crown of a distant tree. As she herself had proclaimed, she was [the god who never regresses]. More precisely, she was [the god who, even when she regresses, never acts for anyone].

Immovable.

"Viscountess."

With my wrist held in the god's grip, I pleaded.

"Please help them. This is unjust."

"I know."

"Why should General Giant Shrimp Roe live while they die? Why must they alone die in agony?"

"Adviser."

I activated my aura and tried to break free of her grasp.

But Viscountess Ja Sujeong, with her gentle touch, would not release my wrist.

The god's grip was stronger than my martial might.

"There is no reason anywhere why it should be so. A reason why someone must live, someone must die, and someone must suffer? Nothing like that could possibly exist, could it?"

"Then..."

"And yet you people often seem to need a reason to assign blame."

Ash shed by the burning village drifted into the forest.

Viscountess Ja Sujeong raised her index finger and gently caught a gray speck.

"You cannot accept that the world moves along by mere chance, can you? There must be malice behind your misfortune, manipulation behind someone else's good fortune. Therefore, you deserve sympathy, and others deserve every curse in the world. Isn't that so? Yes."

The scenery around us changed again.

"You are right."

The kingdom's Grand Assembly Hall.

"I shall make you right."

The witnesses Count Fang-Tower Tiger had requested entered the assembly.

The elderly person who had lost a granddaughter was only the first.

The count seemed to have marshaled all her power—no, her faction's power—to find the victims. Among them were descendants of displaced people who had lost their hometowns to General Giant Shrimp Roe.

"Your misfortunes did not simply happen. They happened because I stood by and condoned them."

The assembly descended further and further into pandemonium.

Count Fang-Tower Tiger led the denunciations of Viscountess Ja Sujeong. Behind her, many nobles castigated the viscountess.

"Viscountess Ja Sujeong committed none of these crimes herself!"

Count Fang-Tower Tiger declaimed.

"But she shielded the criminals. Nor did she act in ignorance; she did so knowingly. Why does she protect Marchioness Snow Rabbit? Why does she shelter a mere cannibal? These people committed manifest evil. Is the viscountess who shields them not herself an utter villain?"

Though Count Fang-Tower Tiger dared not say it aloud, the list of criminals also included the Sun King seated on the throne.

The monarch had been secluded for no less than sixty years. Under the Sun King's reign without governance, landowners exploited peasants without restraint, and nobles squeezed their subjects without interference. Throughout those sixty years of neglect, uprisings and rebellions had been nurtured across the kingdom.

"..."

The Sun King sat alone on his throne, enduring the silence.

And was he the only one?

The Idle-Eater Duchess, who had lived a thousand years as an ascended human, had committed countless massacres over those thousand years. Not one of the six dukes had never killed.

Among the hundreds of nobles in the kingdom's vast Grand Assembly Hall, there was not a single human being who had never made even one victim.

"It is Viscountess Ja Sujeong's fault!"

Count Fang-Tower Tiger would be no different.

A hardy warrior, the count had personally taken up the commander's baton and led several battles. It was inconceivable that no lives had been unjustly lost on those battlefields. She had ruined people's lives. Destroyed people's families. And thus bore the burden of their misfortunes.

"What's more, the viscountess even called the perpetrators themselves [lovable]! Ha! How can she so shamelessly flaunt her love for criminals? Even repenting of her past, correcting her errors, and joining in the restoration of the kingdom's morality now would hardly suffice, yet she dares to love criminals!"

Count Fang-Tower Tiger attacked Ja Sujeong. In truth, however, she had stabbed every royal and noble present—and, above all, herself.

"The viscountess is a criminal!"

The count felt no pain.

Like a hunting dog licking the blood from its own wounds and growing intoxicated, she tore into Ja Sujeong again and again.

"Yes."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong, who surely knew all of this better than anyone in the world, did not retort, ["But aren't you just as much a criminal?"]

Nor did she declare, ["We are all equally guilty."]

"That's right."

She merely agreed.

"It is my fault."

The young god willingly accepted the accusing fingers and the victims' screams as though drinking a sweet beverage.

"I am the criminal."

The evil god was enjoying herself.

"So I must be punished."

Perhaps Count Fang-Tower Tiger had concentrated too much on her oratory.

"..."

Had she paid a little more attention, she might have wondered why the nobles in Viscountess Ja Sujeong's faction offered not a single word of rebuttal.

"...? What?"

However little authority the king possessed, the sovereign was still master of the royal lands. He had rights guaranteed by law. There had been ample opportunities to halt the count's speech and side with Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

Yet the Sun King did not defend the beloved consort he had found for the first time in sixty years.

"What is the matter, Count? I just said that I agree with your views."

The Idle-Eater Duchess was a mass murderer. And a duchess. More than that, she was a powerful figure who regretted not a single one of her murders and massacres.

She enjoyed her own rule of deciding people's lives and deaths by rolling a die. She had done so since long ago and intended to continue into the distant future. Only one thing about her had changed: Ja Sujeong alone, of everyone in the world, was now exempt from her die.

Yet the Idle-Eater Duchess did not protect the pet she had taken in for the first time in a thousand years.

"You agree with my views..."

"Everything is my fault and my responsibility. I am a criminal, and therefore I deserve punishment."

Marchioness Snow Rabbit, who had killed a child when she herself was younger, was now the head of her marquisate's house. House Rabbit had monopolized the northern port of the royal capital for generations. Thirty percent of the waters of the great river flowing majestically through the heart of the kingdom belonged to her. The marchioness had a great deal of money.

Viscountess Pure Black God, a former cannibal, knew well how to use her notoriety. She had removed the mold entrenched deep in her territory. She purged landowners who owned windmills and executed local magnates who controlled waterways. After bringing all the territory's windmills and waterways under her house's ownership, she offered their use to peasants for a pittance. The viscountess had a great deal of rice.

Viscountess Giant Shrimp Roe, formerly a commander in the royal army, had once planned a rebellion within the royal capital. She remained skilled at killing people. How to divide a united enemy, how to collapse a cohesive territory, how to annihilate well-trained soldiers—she understood every maneuver necessary for war. The viscountess had a great many stratagems.

"... So you concede my argument?"

"Entirely."

Yet none of them protected their master.

Unless they lacked love for their lover and loyalty to their master, there had to be a reason why every one of them remained silent.

"As I am a criminal of such heinousness that the kingdom's history offers few parallels, I shall submit a bill."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong had ordered their silence.

"Clerks, please distribute the prepared bill."

Had the count paid a little more attention.

However famous Viscountess Ja Sujeong was as [the crazy bitch of the royal capital], surely she would not keep smiling throughout a flood of witnesses testifying against her. The count might have suspected, just once, that the very clash taking place in the assembly was [what Viscountess Ja Sujeong wanted].

"A bill...?"

"Yes. I am submitting this bill as my faction's adopted policy."

The count had suspected nothing.

"The bill is called the Golden Rule."

And so she had been hunted down.

"My dear colleagues of the Noble Assembly."

Documents were distributed to the nobles.

SPLASH!

Royal clerks hurried back and forth through the amniotic water. Papers were handed out equally to members of every faction: the Performance Faction, the Bedrock Faction, the Inner Capital Faction, the Nonhuman Faction.

"Some may ask."

As the highest-ranking people in the kingdom turned the pages, Viscountess Ja Sujeong calmly began her speech.

"Does this age truly need a new duke?"

Some nobles did not read the documents. No, they lowered their gazes as though even looking at them were dreadful. Among those nobles were the Duchess of Amusement, the Duke of the Peerless Sword, the Duke of the Inner Capital, the Duke of Bedrock, and the Duke of Black Dragon.

It meant that the bill had already been discussed among the dukes.

"My answer is clear. Yes, a seventh duke is necessary."

"..."

Among them, the Duke of Myriad Gods led the Religious Faction, the same faction as Count Fang-Tower Tiger. The count turned her head dazedly and looked up at her faction leader.

The Duke of Myriad Gods, who resembled the Inquisitor, beamed.

"My apologies, Count! My dear older sister asked me to keep it secret!"

"..."

Only then did the count understand.

How witnesses and evidence connected to Viscountess Ja Sujeong had been gathered so easily. Who had orchestrated today's political victory.

The kingdom already belonged to Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

"If there were no particular problems in our present age, then yes. There would be no need to establish a new ducal title."

The god who had seized the kingdom from the shadows spoke.

"But rebellions, reactionary movements, and the stench of rot have piled up far too high. Have they not, esteemed colleagues of the Noble Assembly? Hundreds of thousands of commoners have been implicated in rebellions alone, and millions of subjects have lost their loyalty to the kingdom. Someone must take responsibility for this age."

An impatient noble began with the summary on the bill's final page.

"The way to take responsibility is simple."

Then, unable to understand it, the noble returned to the first page.

"Those sacrificed by the kingdom's administration over the past sixty years. Those unjustly implicated in rebellions whose lives were ruined. The families and descendants of those whose lives were ruined. Soldiers sacrificed by unjust orders. Those deprived of their homes by resettlement policies. Those who, through the neglect or tacit consent of royals or nobles, had their property seized, suffered damage to parts of their bodies, were forced to leave their hometowns, or lost relatives and friends. Those subjected to racial discrimination. Mine slaves and serfs. To cite specific examples: the two orders to subjugate the Golden Dragon, the one civil war, the three rebellions by noble houses, and the turmoil caused by rebel groups such as Red Nails over the past sixty years. Subjects unwillingly sacrificed to these things."

In other words, every citizen of the kingdom who had been unjustly sacrificed.

"The kingdom acknowledges full responsibility toward them and shall entrust the fulfillment of all that responsibility to the seventh ducal title now to be established."

In other words, Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

"The principle for fulfilling this responsibility is as follows."

The kingdom's nobles looked at Viscountess Ja Sujeong.

"Anyone whose life was ruined by the kingdom may transfer to the seventh duke as much pain as they have suffered."

Torture.

"The method of discharging this responsibility is as follows."

The nobles in the viscountess's faction bowed their heads.

"Subjects wishing to take revenge upon the seventh ducal title may name the principal culprit who ruined their lives and demand that they attend the execution of the Golden Rule. To cite a specific example, a free commoner named Namseok may compel Marchioness Snow Rabbit to attend as a witness."

Revenge.

"And no matter how much pain that subject inflicts upon the seventh duke, the witness may never stop the subject or interfere with the execution of the Golden Rule. The witness is permitted only to watch the Golden Rule being carried out."

The price of sin.

"The time and place for fulfilling this responsibility are as follows."

The reason this particular day was an evil god's trauma.

"Every year on December twenty-fourth, the day the year-end Noble Assembly adjourns. Beginning at midnight on that day, the seventh duke shall make one clockwise circuit of the royal capital. The starting point shall be Platinum Square in front of the Platinum Tower, and the destination shall also be Platinum Square. During this circuit, any citizen of the kingdom, regardless of sex, age, or status, may approach the seventh duke and demand the execution of the Golden Rule."

Today was December twenty-fourth.

"I shall determine whether that subject is entitled to execute the Golden Rule."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong had [Glacier Dragon’s Breath].

She could watch another person's past unfold before her own eyes.

She could know whether the kingdom truly had ruined that subject's life.

"If they are entitled, I shall determine exactly how much pain they suffered, and therefore how much pain they may return to me. An arm for someone whose arm was severed. An eye for someone who lost an eye. For those for whom once is not enough, until it is enough: the next year, and the year after that, continually."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong had [Golden Dragon’s Eyes].

She could discern the colors and magnitude of another person's emotions.

She could know how much that subject had suffered because of the kingdom.

"As my body will be damaged during the execution of the Golden Rule, and I will probably become unable to walk properly, I shall designate someone to support me. Whoever has inflicted pain upon the greatest number of subjects shall support me."

Viscountess Ja Sujeong had asked every powerful person she met to love her.

She had demanded nothing else.

Now, when their beloved lover bled, they would have to smell her blood from closer than anyone else.

"I hereby place this bill on the agenda. As leader of the Mirror Faction and head of House Ja Sujeong, pursuant to the rights guaranteed to every noble by the Founding King, I lawfully request that you decide this proposal by vote. If passed, the Golden Rule shall take effect tonight."

The assembly fell silent.

The sound of flowing water echoed.

Outside, December snow was probably falling.

"My dear colleagues of the assembly."

The Kingdom-Toppling Duchess.

The noble who would become the seventh duke smiled brightly.

"Now, let us punish the criminal."