Chapter 9: Priscilla, What’s Your Worth?

Yang Hao ignored the presence of the imperial knights and his former lover, his heart had grown cold toward the Roman Empire. Now, all he yearned for was a serene life with Teresa.

Indeed, he had abandoned the Roman Empire, but the empire, for its own fate, could not relinquish its hold on him.

They had once forsaken him, yet now they were like a starving dog, desperate to beseech his return, hoping he would share with them a portion of his feast.

Although Priscilla was deeply hurt by Yang Hao’s disregard, she knew she had to step forward at this pivotal moment.

“Yang Hao! Please listen to me… The common people of the Roman Empire need you!”

She turned around to implore, hoping the man who meticulously examined the nun for any harm would reconsider, remembering the populace he once pledged to serve.

The man was silent for a brief spell, then he scoffed with contempt:

“The common people? The common people?!”

Letting go of the nun’s shoulders he had been embracing, he reassured her with a whispered “Don’t worry” against her worried face, then turned back and repeated the term thrice in a soft murmur, “ The common people… The common people… The common people…”

As if recalling his own history, he gazed upwards at the sky, now dimming at twilight.

It was a fine day. He had gathered a substantial amount of firewood, and if fortune held, he and Teresa would pass this cold early spring in peace. He had no desire to dwell on the affairs of the Roman Empire any longer.

However, the term common people uttered by his past lover Priscilla, still struck a chord of pain.

Yang Hao bowed his head, observing the trampled grass beneath, and chuckled to himself again, “The common people… The common people. Priscilla, do you recall who it was that betrayed me first? When I led our contingent to the parish for negotiations over border tensions with the Elven Kingdom?”

Before the witch could even utter a word, Yang Hao began his own impassioned monologue, “It was the people. The very people I tirelessly strived to help in every way I could. I established free healthcare institutions for them, set up night schools at no cost, and even arranged insurance and infrastructure for their farmers to combat natural disasters. I created additional job opportunities and endeavored to provide them avenues to rise in status. I spent countless efforts to promote these measures across the country, showing how beneficial they were to the common people. And then? What did they do?”

He shook his head as he continued, “I underestimated these maggots’ fanaticism for religion, their stupidity, their greed. I can understand they saw all these as gifts from the gods. I can understand their ignorance, not understanding the function of dams and underground heating systems due to lack of education. I can even understand them selling themselves for mere copper coins to nobles and landlords, becoming practically slaves for two decades, forfeiting forty percent of their annual harvest. I can understand they didn’t know that the cheap products from factories could provide more essentials during winter, and they simply feared it would lower their income. But I’ll be damned if I can understand how their character can be so vile that they’re worse than dogs!”

Yang Hao’s voice was a suppressed roar, his frustration palpable. With his left hand, the one not clutching the axe handle, he violently grabbed the Night Witch’s collar, yanking her abruptly in front of him, then forcefully thrust her forward.

His bloodshot eyes bore into his once beloved, his teeth clenched in a mix of bitterness and fury at her mention of the common people.

“Do you know that in a village in the north, the people killed a teacher? He had overcome immense hardships to earn his degree, yet chose to teach the ignorant for nearly nothing. And they killed him. For what? All for a mere two silver coins? The two coins weren’t even meant for a single instigator but were instead divided among two hundred families in the whole village. Are you aware that the knowledge a teacher shared was deemed less valuable than a priest chanting a verse from the Holy Scripture? Can you understand that my doctors, who tirelessly worked to save lives, got not gratitude but a dismissive ‘God be above’ as their only thanks? Do you understand this?”

Yang Hao was getting angrier. “Do you have any inkling of how many times these despicable brutes have harmed and betrayed those who sought to aid them? Do you have any fucking idea? No, you don’t have a clue. Ever since the Roman Empire was founded, you’ve barely left the palace. You were absorbed in studying your black magic, in teaching your mage pupils, never truly understanding just how that bunch of animals are. You have no damn right! You have no right to advocate for the common people, Priscilla. Not then, not now. You can’t even look me in the eye. To speak for such creatures that are worse than beasts, what are you worth?”

It was the year 003’s end in the Imperial Calendar.

Yang Hao had led his team to the parish, sacrificing sleep and food, aiming to once and for all solve the border dispute between the Elven Kingdom and the budding Roman Empire.

He was betrayed by tricky villagers, each of the 766 households selling him for the cost of a single penance statement. Printed with the operational factory press of the time, these penance statements wouldn’t even total 5 copper coins.

His entourage, at least, was swayed by gold coins, which was a minor solace for Yang Hao.

But Priscilla?

She spent all her efforts to advocate for the common common of the Roman Empire. So, what was her worth?”