◈ 386. [Side Story] Purpose and means
“No, think about it, Lucas.”
I smiled and opened my mouth.
“It’s not just a simple self-destruction. If we target and deploy them, the monsters will be effectively lured away, and it is also effective for concentrating crossfire on our side.”
“… .”
“Is that all? Imagine dropping these prisoners behind the monsters. I can reverse the direction of their advance. We can even control the speed of their advance!”
“… .”
“The applications are endless! Think about how effective this condition is, ‘Even if there is only one person, the monsters are unconditionally attracted’… … .”
“Lord.”
Lucas usually never interrupts me, but this time he cut me off and entered.
“You’re not talking about efficiency, are you?”
“… .”
“You treat people’s lives as expendable items that can be used and thrown away. this is… It is not like a lord.”
“What is different?”
I raised one corner of my mouth and smiled as I glared at Lucas.
“Whether people’s lives are treated as expendable or precious, the result is the same. Over five hundred people died in this battle alone. Including the deaths of the salvation army, there are more than 600. The number of wounded cannot be counted. Everyone died and was injured like this while fighting according to my instructions.”
“… .”
“Anyway, people die when they fight monsters. If that’s the case, I’d rather be more efficient and throw people who deserve to die anyway. Then you can save more people who don’t have to die. is not it?”
“They deserve to die?”
“Then look at these bastards.”
I gestured towards the prisoners trembling inside the iron bars.
“They’re the damn task force bastards who kidnapped me and tried to destroy this Crossroads.”
“… .”
“All of my colleagues tried to kill us and died on the contrary. Let’s sell only these four survivors. They are living well in prison. Don’t you deserve to die enough?”
“They surrendered. Even within the 1st team of the Aegis task force, they are support groups, so they are not the ones who directly harmed our front line.”
Lucas retorted to me in a calm voice.
“You know that many of the special forces are forcibly conscripted and forced to carry out their orders. The Shadow Unit, dedicated to our frontline, is also from the Special Forces.”
“… .”
“They are also members of the task force, and they are just following the orders of their superiors. As prisoners of war, they deserve a court-martial for their wrongdoing.”
“Lucas.”
I made a short declaration.
“I am the law here. I am the principle and principle here.”
“… .”
“I am the commander who holds the life and death rights of the monster front here. I judged that these guys deserved to be executed, so I decided that the method of execution for these guys would be ‘bait for monsters’.”
Lucas stared at the prisoners behind the bars for a moment.
“… Let’s take a hundred steps and assume that these people deserve to die. And I will assume that this ‘new method’ of your lord is very effective.”
Lucas looked at me again with staring blue eyes.
“After that? What are you going to do when there are no more prisoners to use?”
“… .”
“Are you going to sentence me to death even if it’s not a crime worthy of death? Are you going to kill all the envoys from the neighboring countries who were arrested as suspects, the soldiers who violated military discipline and drank alcohol, and the shoplifters who stole bread because they were hungry?”
“… .”
“What is the standard between ‘those who deserve to die’ and ‘those who do not have to die’? Are you saying that your lord will decide all of that?”
at last.
Just as the other three fronts of the Empire have done.
“Are you going to maintain the battle line here by differentiating and selecting people and then burning ‘unselected human lives’ to your lord like that?”
Kill ‘those who do not need to be protected’ for the sake of ‘those who need to be protected’.
The monster front here will also walk the same path.
I didn’t deny Lucas shook his head slightly.
“Lord. No one wants to die in this world. But if someone must die nonetheless, it must be a choice they made of their own will.”
“… you mean then All of my people who have died… … Did you die of your own will?”
When asked with ridicule,
“I don’t know if everyone is like that.”
Lucas nodded slowly with a serious face.
“But at least I am fighting for my life on my own volition.”
“… .”
“And the reason I’m willing to risk my life is here on the monster front… … And it is because the flag raised by the lord has meaning beyond simple survival.”
Lucas took a step closer to me.
“Who made me believe that the soldiers here are not fighting for mercenary money, but for something nobler and more dignified? You are the lord.”
One more step.
“Because this Kaiju Front is a place that protects the whole world, it should be a place that protects everyone, not a specific country, so even the person who declared the line of independence from the imperial family! You are the lord.”
One more step again.
“The person who taught us that people are not a means but an end… … He is none other than the lord.”
Lucas, standing right in front of me, asked in a voice like blood boiling.
“That’s why we were willing to fight, get hurt, and die for the people behind the wall and for the people next to us. But you want to overturn all of this?”
“… .”
“Then what have we been fighting for all these years? What did the dead comrades and subordinates die for?”
The corners of my mouth twisted.
“… What did you die for?”
I got up from my chair.
“Don’t ask me the opposite, Lucas. You died for ‘what’, so what’s left?”
“… !”
“What does the cause matter? What does the banner matter? The justification, the will, the sound of catching floating clouds! What is the point of dying?”
I grabbed Lucas by the collar and screamed.
“Someone dear to me is dying! Colleagues who laughed and chatted! The soldiers who believed in me and followed me! die! die! I mean dead!”
They were possessed by my banner and died.
Under the pretext of protecting the world, the precious lives of individuals evaporated.
“No more. I will no longer just watch my people die.”
“… .”
“Select people if necessary! Differentiate! Consuming it as a means, not a purpose! Even if you burn the rest of them as bait!”
I gnashed my teeth as I glared at Lucas like I was going to kill him.
“I will not let you die.”
“… .”
“You don’t let me die. Never more.”
Lucas looked at me as if he felt sorry for me, then
said, “Lord.”
He spoke slowly but with a firm voice.
“I do not agree with this method.”
“… Are you rebelling against me now?”
“No sir. It is not a protest.”
Lucas smiled faintly.
“I’m just following the will of my lord.”
I stared blankly at Lucas’ smile and crumpled my face.
***
Lucas was imprisoned intact.
I decided to keep it locked up until the end of this defense battle. The reason was that it might interfere with my operation.
“This operation has already been confirmed. I will definitely take a test using death row inmates as bait.”
After calling the rest of the main party members together and explaining the outline of this defense battle.
“If you rebel against my orders, know that you will be locked up next to Lucas… Any questions?”
Looking back at the main party members, Evangeline, Damian, and Junior looked at each other. and.
“Eight!”
Evangeline first raised her hand and said.
“Please put me in jail too.”
“… what?”
“I am willing to die in order to follow you and protect your future path.”
Evangeline got up from her seat and packed her things.
“So I can’t follow this path. This is not your way.”
“… .”
“Please put me in jail. Instead, please reconsider this operation one more time. Seniors.”
Stunned, I looked at Junior and Damian.
“Are you of the same opinion?”
Junior and Damian also nodded slowly.
“after… .”
I let out a long sigh and gestured to the guards outside.
“It is a crime to rebel against the commander. Put all three of them in the central jail.”
All three hands were handcuffed.
Evangeline bowed her head to me and was the first to be dragged away without a word.
Afterwards, Junior came in front of me and spoke softly.
“majesty… sorry.”
“what? Because you didn’t follow orders?”
“no.”
Junior spat out in a tone that sounded like he was sincerely sorry.
“Because I couldn’t lighten the load while you were suffering this much… sorry.”
“… .”
I blankly looked at Junior’s back as he was being dragged away.
After that, Damian came in front of me.
“Prince.”
After not being able to speak for a while, Damian raised his hand in the air in front of my chest and said,
“Get better… get better… .”
He said that and waved his hand round.
Demian’s palm imbued with divine power left a white trail in the empty air.
It was ridiculous, so I laughed without even realizing it.
There are no injuries on my body.
I mean, I don’t get sick anywhere.
***
Next defense.
The scheduled date when the monsters rise out of the Black Lake. morning.
All of the heroes didn’t follow my orders, so they sent out with only soldiers. Loading four prisoners onto a wagon with sturdy iron bars.
We arrived at the forward base through the teleport gate.
The restoration of the outer wall had not yet been completed, and only one newly built gate was placed in the bleak outpost.
Exterminating the monsters here is not the goal.
Today, the purpose is to test the practicality of this human decoy-cum-bomb.
Each of the four prisoners will be loaded onto a barrow cart and placed at a point in front of the forward base to test their pulling power and killing power.
I said while looking at the stage information window.
“It will take some time before they show up.”
The monsters are scheduled to appear around noon. It’s early in the morning, so there’s still time.
“Everyone take a break and have a meal.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
At my instruction, the soldiers began to sit down and rest comfortably throughout the advance base. Simple meals brought from Crossroads were rationed.
I also slowly chewed a sandwich with smoked ham and cheese between pieces of bread. Ham and cheese are salty, probably because they are preserved foods.
Then a soldier came up and asked.
“Come on, Your Highness.”
“Why but.”
“Shall we bring meals to the prisoners too?”
“… .”
“Don’t you know that? It is customary for condemned prisoners to be given a proper meal prior to execution.”
I snorted. Anyway, this guy’s world has such recognition for nothing.
Apart from my reluctance, I was not poor enough not to provide one last meal to those who were about to die.
I nodded and watched the soldiers tending the prisoners push sandwiches into the bars.
With bombs and detonators strapped all over their bodies, the four prisoners accepted the sandwiches with haggard faces.
The screaming for help had already ended, and the four people who had given up on their lives had a disheartening conversation.
“Hey guys, look over there. It bloomed.”
One of the prisoners chuckled. The other prisoners also looked in that direction.
Right next to the outpost were forests and fields. All the gray plants that had been spread out desolately throughout the winter had buds.
The weather is still chilly.
Among them, one of the impatient buds was putting out a pale pink petal.
“Don’t you remember that time when you eat while looking at flowers?”
“when? During the Zodiac Spring Festival?”
“okay. In front of your house, spread a mat under the hedge with magnolia and forsythia in full bloom… … .”
“The day the thief stole our bags because we all fell asleep after drinking?”
“crazy… Hey. How many years ago was that already?”
“It was really fun then.”
“Funny bitch, my first paycheck was in my bag at that time, wasn’t it?”
One of the prisoners, who had been giggling, muttered as he looked at the petals.
“It is spring.”
“I know.”
“Today the weather is good… .”
I silently chewed the sandwich in my hand as I listened to the conversations of people who were about to die.
“… .”
knitted
Sandwich was filthy.
