Chapter 26: Kagard’s Masacres

When Count Kagard was dragged out of the rubble by a giant stone hand, he found himself surrounded by nothing but corpses.

Teresa, along with two Golems and the Ling tribe members, had disappeared somewhere.

He didn’t want Teresa to witness what was about to happen. So, her departure was a relief to him.

However, there were still some things Yang Hao needed to clarify.

After all, the charge of massacre couldn’t have been falsely pinned on him so easily. It had to have actually occurred for it to be recorded and used as an accusation against him.

A massacre that never happened couldn’t be a crime attributed to him. No one would be that foolish.

In other words, the massacre charge against him was real. But the perpetrator wasn’t him. Though now it hardly mattered.

Still, Yang Hao felt the need to understand. At the very least, he needed to know who had previously massacred the people of Kagard.

Or rather, whom the people of Kagard had massacred.

---

Meanwhile, Teresa was humming a tune as she searched the ruins of the church with the Golems and two members of the Ling tribe.

She knew exactly what terrifying thing Yang Hao was about to do next. To avoid making things difficult for him, she had found an excuse to leave.

But really…

“This man… Sigh! Even when he was forced to leave home by the Little Witch, he got me involved in this mess and still thinks that as long as I don’t see it, it’s fine? I don’t know whether to call him naive or foolish. But seriously? After all this time being in a relationship with the Little Witch, they haven’t even kissed? Sigh.”

Teresa was constantly troubled by the fact that Yang Hao seemed to see her as someone who needed protection.

While this made her happy, it also left her feeling frustrated.

The Purple-Clad Princess was not someone who needed coddling. She didn’t want to be the protected one. She wanted to be someone who shared the burdens equally.

This was why she was so troubled. And it was also why she supported all of Yang Hao’s decisions.

Because her man had indeed accumulated too much pressure, and besides, the people of Kagard were problematic from the start.

“Considering how skillfully they robbed the Ling tribe in the forest, who would believe they hadn’t done similar things before?”

Teresa glanced back at the Ling tribe members and then at the corpses scattered around.

“In other words, something like a massacre must have happened in Kagard before. But that’s not my worry. What we need to focus on now is buying time for our evacuation to the Elven Kingdom.”

Only a fool would rely on the hope that the enemy’s main force didn’t notice us.

What did they do? They just took down an important town in a count’s territory, and likely killed more than thirty percent of its inhabitants in the process, didn’t they?

In this situation, if the Roman Empire’s army didn’t respond, the empire would probably collapse on its own within half a year.

Therefore, assuming that the enemy would definitely pursue them, figuring out how to delay the enemy’s stay in Kagard Town was a crucial task.

What should be done?

Teresa was somewhat troubled. Just then, she noticed that someone nearby seemed to be alive.

“Oh?”

Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be one of the Church of Light’s priest’s attendants.

Intrigued, Teresa walked up and squatted about two meters away from the attendant.

She signaled the Ling tribe to have the Golem pick the attendant up, and as the Golem approached, the attendant, who had been playing dead on the ground, began trembling violently.

“Spare, spare me—”

As he was lifted, the attendant pleaded, dropping the dagger he had been clutching, but still holding tightly to the holy book essential to clergy.

Theresa looked at the attendant and suddenly realized something.

For the now faction-divided Roman Empire, no faction would willingly take responsibility for the Massacre of Kagard incident. In other words, if the Roman Empire’s army and the Church’s Holy Guard clashed in Kagard Town while atrocities were still occurring, the empire would be embroiled in endless arguments over whose fault this was. And they might not even rescue the survivors, as they would first need to find someone to take the blame.

This wasn’t a simple matter that could be passed off onto the Regent King.

This was a massacre by the demon folk from the Monster Forest, bypassing the border to attack a count’s town, and neither the Church nor the military district arrived in time to prevent this atrocity.

One of them must take the blame, but which one? This could lead to arguments lasting a day, two days, or even a month, or two months.

‘By then, it wouldn’t matter who took the blame, because by that time, Yang Hao and I would probably be settling down in the Elven Kingdom, worrying about our daily meals. Hmm… Alright, let’s do it this way.’

Thinking of something pleasant, Teresa showed a charming smile.

“Use your divine spell. Send an urgent message to both the Roman Empire’s army and the diocese’s St. Peter’s Cathedral. I personally guarantee that as long as you do as I say, you can leave this church alive.”

This made the attendant extremely distrustful, but after the stone giant put him down and Teresa used her divine spell to sign a contract, the trembling attendant pressed his finger on the magically appearing contract.

The divine power of the Church of Light within him fused with Teresa’s contract upon contact.

In his eagerness to save his life, the attendant didn’t notice that, after a brief pause, Teresa directly absorbed his divine power for her own use.

‘So this is how I can restore my Lord’s power.’

Just as Teresa was marveling at this, a wisp of golden light suddenly burst from the attendant’s hand. The golden light rose high into the sky and then split into two, one heading north and the other south.

The attendant then nervously asked if he could leave. Teresa smiled and nodded.

He ran. He bolted through the remaining windows of the church as fast as he could.

Then he was smashed into a pulp by a stone giant outside, dying without even knowing what had happened.

“Oh dear, oh dear. After all, I only allowed you to leave the church alive. What happens after you leave the church? Hehe, you can ask the Ling tribe.”

Teresa smiled as she watched the gruesome scene. She knew this would make her look like a despicable woman, but…

It would be too strange if the woman living with the Regent King were an innocent, sheltered baby, right?

“So let me be that despicable woman.”

She hummed a tune as she turned and left with her people.

---

Meanwhile, Yang Hao had hung Kagard III on the tip of the church cross that still stood above the collapsed bell tower. He listened calmly to Kagard III’s pitiful pleas.

“Your Majesty, Regent King, spare me, please spare me! There was indeed a massacre in Kagard, but it’s not what you think. Please spare me, I will certainly argue for your innocence in the Imperial Council, please spare me.”

There had been two massacres in Count Kagard’s territory.

The first happened after Yang Hao and his sworn brother defeated the barbarians of Kagard and pursued the main force for a more significant victory. The frenzied Kagard people massacred the barbarian families living within Kagard’s territory.

Blood flowed like rivers for miles around. The victorious Kagard people slaughtered all the old, weak, sick, and disabled barbarians. When the logistics troops arrived later, they couldn’t find a single clean stream to fetch water for cooking because every river was filled with human heads and blood.

This was the first massacre in Kagard. As a result, tens of thousands of barbarians in Kagard were wiped out, leaving only the Kagard people. The fields became exceptionally fertile due to the barbarians’ corpses.

The second massacre occurred shortly after the establishment of the Roman Empire, during the time Yang Hao was meeting with the merchant ships from the great nation of Isugard across the sea.

The people of Kagard entered the Monster Forest near the north, lured out some primitive demon folk, and during the March 1st celebrations, they killed them.

Their antlers and other unique body parts were cut off and sold to the diocese for countless gold coins. Some demon folk, who resembled beasts, were bled and butchered to be made into jerky, a favorite delicacy of the Kagard people.

No wonder Narujia said the Kagard people always had a rotten stench about them.

No wonder the charges of the massacre pinned on Yang Hao were so heavy and real.

Yang Hao, reflecting on this, reached out and cut the rope suspending Kagard III in mid-air.

“Ahhhh—”

With the rope cut, Count Kagard III was impaled on the tip of the church’s cross, his screams echoing as gravity took its toll. The intricately decorated and uneven edges of the cross’s tip entering without friction ensured Count Kagard III’s death was especially agonizing and drawn out.

Yang Hao sat by the cross, contemplating the bloody scene outside the church. He instructed the Listening Clan to use the Golems to take away all the food, resources, and necessary medical supplies they could find during this time.

He had to admit, the Golems were incredibly useful.

They could fight in battles. Under the control of the Ling tribe, they could transform their backs into baskets to carry supplies and wounded people. They were nearly omnipotent warriors, except for being unable to cook or cast spells.

However, they required the presence of the Ling tribe to operate, and after this, they would likely return to their forest homes to continue their lives. Yang Hao and Teresa would have to struggle to reach the Elven Kingdom’s border.

Such outliers needed to buy time.

“Your Majesty!”

Just as Yang Hao was lost in thought, a loud, awakening shout brought him back to reality.

He turned to see three humans who had come with the Ling tribe.

The man leading them was still wearing the uniform of the chief doctor of the Red Cross. He looked gaunt, with bloodstains all over his clothes, indicating he had been through a tough battle.

Yang Hao lowered his head and took out the surgical kit from his coat.

“Is this yours?” he asked the doctor, tossing the kit to him.

The doctor caught his surgical kit, fell to his knees, and began to weep, recounting all the atrocities he had witnessed over the past year. But for some reason, Yang Hao could only think about a future of ordinary days with Teresa.

“Your Majesty… please come back… please burn this corrupt empire to ashes… don’t let these human-shaped beasts harm kind people anymore…”

The doctor, who introduced himself as Joseph, was in tears, his body convulsing uncontrollably. He coughed, possibly due to the overwhelming emotions from recounting his year’s worth of grievances, and suddenly fainted.

Joseph’s wife and daughter clung to him in a panic, while Yang Hao signaled for Narujia to help them.

After placing Joseph’s family on the back of a Golem, he turned his attention to the major task of dealing with this town.

At that moment, Teresa returned.

Upon her return, she first glanced at the three people on the Golem’s back in surprise, muttering, “The chief doctor didn’t run?”

Then she walked up behind Yang Hao and, in front of the Ling tribe, said, “I just captured an attendant, then I had him use divine magic to notify both the military and the diocese to come and handle the mess. Now what are you going to do, naughty puppy?”

Her intentional use of commanding language caused the Ling tribe chieftain to turn pale.

What was this woman doing?!

Summoning two reinforcements from the enemy, wouldn’t that make their escape even harder?

What was she thinking, trying to have them all buried in this town with the enemy?!

This was utterly incomprehensible.

Narujia’s gaze at Teresa was filled with intense distrust. But unexpectedly, Yang Hao showed no reaction to it.

He simply responded with an “Hmm,” and then said, “General Dreycar’s army and Archbishop Peter’s Holy Guard will certainly blame each other, but if the situation in the city isn’t dire enough, they might still abandon the city’s rescue and directly track our escape route.”

He turned to look at the leader of the Listening Clan and gave his command.

“As we leave, leave some magic in the Golems so they can operate mechanically, blocking all the city gates. Then have the Golems attack every living person except us. Every single one.”

As long as there were enemies, massacres, and residents in Kagard Town, both the Holy Guard and the military would be forced to get bogged down in the town, prioritizing the elimination of the Golems before considering the pursuit of the culprits.

With that decided, he got up to leave.

As he departed, he took the hand of Sister Teresa, who outwardly appeared carefree and cheerful, but was in fact nervously looking down at the ground.