CH 151

The first thing that people felt when Barth Baltic entered the assembly hall of the House of Peers was a weird sense of alienation. The assembly hall of the House of Peers was quite large, with extraordinary splendor; after all, it was where the people who held authority in the empire and were considered the empire’s limbs gathered.

However, it was a place that was made for humans.

The mere presence of Barth Baltic, a four-meter tall giant who had a soaring horn that could almost reach the sky and a white beard that came down to his chest, turned the assembly hall into a completely unfamiliar space for the nobles.

Even the chairman Rhymer, who had made numerous speeches at the assembly hall for decades felt like he was back in the old mythological era upon seeing Barth Baltic enter the assembly hall.

Rhymer swallowed a gulp with an uncomfortable expression.

“Regent Barth,” Helmut opened his mouth with a stiff expression on his face, since he hadn’t expected Barth to show up in person. “When did you come to Torra…”

Barth Baltic ignored Helmut and walked toward the platform. It felt as if the entire assembly hall shook every time his thumping footsteps echoed throughout the hall.

Many nobles had their mouths wide open, since it was their first time seeing Barth Baltic. This was only natural, since Barth rarely showed himself in public. At most of the events, he was represented by Pavan Peltere, the Captain of the Order of the Capital. The only time Barth Baltic made a public appearance was when he occasionally trained the army.

Most people who saw Barth Baltic had similar thoughts.

‘He looks much older than I had thought.’

He seemed a little different from the rumors about his appearance: he had a long white beard, wrinkled face, age spots, and a slightly bent posture. Many people would say that he looked quite old even if he was a human, not from a different race. However, the muscles wriggling under his exposed skin showed that he was still quite active as a swordsman.

Following Barth, heavily armed knights entered the assembly hall with expressionless faces. The symbol of sun engraved on the fluttering cloaks behind their backs suggested that they belonged to the Order of the Capital.

The knights of the Order of the Capital were the most talented people that Barth Baltic had carefully selected from within the empire, regardless of their descent, region or race.

If the Order of the Capital’s intent behind entering the assembly hall was to take over the House of Peers, the nobles would have no choice but to die at their hands.

However, rather than being frustrated upon seeing Barth Baltic, Heretia quickly noticed that Captain Pavan Peltere was absent amongst the Order of the Capital.

‘It’s strange that Pavan Peltere isn’t here when Barth Baltic has made a public appearance…’

Barth Baltic stood on the platform, and Helmut quietly stepped down to let him speak. At this point, Helmut’s relationship with Barth Baltic was completely over.

Barth glanced at the nobles and opened his mouth.

“I remember when I once kicked a dog to death.”

The nobles were perplexed by the rather absurd remark made by Barth Baltic. They blankly stared at Barth, since the first thing he said after showing his face in such a serious situation was about him killing a dog.

But the following words spoken by Barth were enough to make the nobles shut their mouths real quick.

“That dog was the very last dog left in the country where I lived. That dog was eating my mother’s face. I knew that it had no choice and that it was desperate, but I still ended up kicking the dog out of anger. The dog soon died while bleeding through its mouth.”

Barth glanced around at the nobles with furious eyes.

“Have I ever mentioned how my parents, my race, and my country were destroyed?”

He had never said it out loud, but it was all recorded in history. Hornsluine was the last race to resist the gods, but failed. There was no other race who challenged the gods and failed after that, since a human succeeded in resisting the gods and wiped out all the gods.

And that man was the emperor.

According to the records, the gods destroyed the Hornsluine using rain.

“Red rain poured all over my country for seven days and nights. Those that were soaked by the red rain turned into monsters as their bodies twisted or new body parts grew. Everyone killed each other, since they couldn’t even recognize their parents or children, and the only thing remaining was an endless desire to kill. That happened all over the country. The mutation began as soon as even a single drop of the red rain touched those of my race.”

Barth, the last surviving member of the Hornsluine race, tilted his head to reveal his neck which was full of indelible tooth marks and scars.

“Ah, yes… I’ve never told anyone how I survived, have I? The only reason why I didn’t die there along with my own people was to become an entertainer for the amusement of the gods. They wanted to leave at least one witness to watch the price of rebellion—because punishment without any witnesses is meaningless.”

Barth calmly talked about the destruction of his own people. Not a single noble could open their mouth in absolute silence.

“I, and my kind, were dogs that were kicked to death by the gods. We bled to death just because we bared our teeth against the gods. I didn’t think that what we did was worthy of our entire race being destroyed, so I thought about the reason why the gods would destroy us like that. And I came to just one conclusion—it was the same reason why I kicked that dog to death.”

Barth flanked around at the nobles once more.

“Because I was angry, and because I could.”

Barth came down from the platform and began to walk in front of the nobles.

“Then the emperor appeared. The emperor killed the gods like they were dogs because he could. How could I not admire someone like him? I followed the emperor around and worshiped him like a hero and a king—in exchange for mocking the dying gods. I willingly protected him behind his back, even taught races that had nothing to do with me, and took the position of the Great General of the Imperial Army when he asked me to.”

At that moment, the knights of the Order of the Capital inside the assembly hall stamped their feet in unison. Barth Baltic slowly walked in front of the nobles and came to a standstill right in front of Heretia. Barth Baltic then looked down at Heretia, who was so short that she couldn’t even reach his waistline.

“I’m old and exhausted, but I still have the power to kick and kill dogs who can’t even acknowledge the favor I have done for them.”

Heretia tried her best to not be overwhelmed by Barth Baltic, but it was not easy to do so.

“You let the empire fall apart despite your power,” Heretia said.

At that moment, one of the knights from the Order of the Capital took a step forward. It was Ledna Loen, the Deputy of the Order of the Capital. Heretia frowned upon seeing Ledna’s face. Like her brother Lenly Loen, her hair was also a dazzling white color. However, Lenly and Ledna were walking on completely different paths from each other.

“Regent Barth Baltic is just a soldier, and it is the rule for the soldiers to not intervene in politics of the empire. That’s why we have left it to the House of Peers and the Church. We don’t think we’ve ever gone against our duty as soldiers. But have you all done your duties?” Ledna asked.

“The Regent Barth Baltic is also the Grand Duke,” Heretia answered.

“And that is not a position the Regent had asked for. It was automatically passed down to the Regent as the next person in the hierarchy, since Harmon Helwin, the Grand Duke at the time, was involved in treason. At that time, the Regent cleared up the mess and severely convicted those who were involved in the treason. Since then, the House of Peers has always had the authority to elect a new Grand Duke at any time.”

But the House of Peers had never done so. Ledna skipped a few words, but Heretia could easily tell what she wanted to say. Ledna’s words were not wrong, but those who were under the slightest suspicion at the time after the emperor’s assassination had no choice but to remain quiet, since they would be swept away like autumn leaves whether they were nobles or not.

Anyone who dared to mention the election of a new Grand Duke would have already been killed by then. It could be said that the House of Peers had no fault, since such a situation had lasted for forty eight years.

“Didn’t he spill the blood of the innocents on the imperial soil?” Heretia asked.

“Spilling blood to prevent the division of the empire is something that was done by His Majesty as well. You’re not going to deny the fact that many kingdoms had been overthrown during the founding of the empire, are you?”

“He moved the military in favor of the Church’s private sanctions.”

“The empire serves His Majesty, and everyone who serves His Majesty serves the Church by agreement. Is it wrong to put His Majesty’s will before everything else? Don’t you know what will happen if a soldier makes his own judgment and takes care of things in their favor?”

Ledna Loen’s answer was without any holes.

Heretia’s face became distorted, since she felt that Ledna’s excuses were all sophistry—Ledna was distorting the history of Barth Baltic not doing anything and the Church worshiping false values as if it all had a noble meaning.

Heretia grit her teeth, since she knew that dirty deeds had been done through the Order of the Capital, who held the second highest amount of power within the empire.

So, Heretia threw a rather provocative claim that was impossible for Barth Barthic to avoid.

“He tricked the Captain of the Imperial Guards to move the army at the time of His Majesty’s assassination.”

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It was a straightforward remark that did not leave any room for Barth to avoid or ignore. The nobles watched with bated breath. Heretia’s remark was a dangerous one, one that might get her killed for being involved in treason.

“We looked through all the letters that were sent and received at the time. We even looked at the secret letters that had been stamped with His Majesty’s Imperial seal. Written on the letter that only Winoa Weaver could open was Barth Baltic’s order to move the troops for…”

“And what’s wrong with that? The Regent had the authority to command the entire military. The Order of the Capital was moving, and I bet there are more than a hundred stamped letters commanding the troops to march. But in the end, the direct responsibility for His Majesty’s security lay with Winoa Weaver…”

“You’re right.”

However, at that moment, Barth Baltic suddenly opened his mouth. Baltic Barthic spoke as he glared at Heretia with his decrepit eyes.

“That was my order. I helped Gerard Gain to enter the Imperial Palace.”

The entire House of Peers fell into silence. Even the sound of hearts beating seemed to have stopped. Not only Heretia, but even Ledna Loen hadn’t expected Barth Baltic to suddenly say such words.

However, Barth’s expression remained completely unchanged.

“So you’re saying that you were involved with His Majesty’s assassination, and…”

“I knew that Gerard Gain, that bastard, would stab the emperor to death. I had been watching him for a long time.”

Heretia looked at Barth Baltic in silence, fear slowly taking root inside her. She couldn’t figure out with what purpose Barth Baltic was saying this. Considering the way he had dealt with those involved in His Majesty’s assassination case so far, Barth Baltic should have nothing to say even if he was killed on the spot.

“It would have been nice if I could end him with my own hands, but I thought it would be better for him to be stabbed to death at the hands of his own child.”

“How dare you!”

One of the nobles from the meritorious faction stood up and shouted as if he was having a seizure.

Barth Baltic glared at the noble, causing the noble to immediately collapse into his seat while breathing heavily.

That marked the end of the nobles’ resistance.

With everyone remaining silent, Barth Baltic glanced around the House of Peers. The nobles felt as if they were being cut by his sharp eyes.

Heretia bit her lips when she felt the atmosphere of the Order of the Capital.

‘Barth Baltic insulted His Majesty and confessed his crime of treason, but there is no agitation among them?’

Only Ledna Loen was calmly placing her hand over the handle of her sword. The Order of the Capital was already showing their loyalty toward the Regent, not the emperor.

‘I guess it’s only natural.’

Many people went on and on about loyalty to the emperor, but it has already been almost fifty years since the emperor died and turned into a corpse. Most of these people were those who had never even seen the emperor when he was alive. Just like the Templars, they had only been educated with techniques that were close to brainwashing.

“I pity you all,” Barth Baltic said.

People were taken aback by Barth’s words.

‘Pity us? All of a sudden?’

Barth Baltic continued to speak with trembling lips.

“I wonder if all of you would still be able to worship the emperor like you do now even after his identity is revealed. I want to make all of you suffer by telling you just how meaningless your loyalties are, but it would be quite entertaining for me to see you realize that for yourselves.”

Barth Baltic turned his back on the nobles after only leaving those ambiguous words behind.

“Where are you going?” Heretia shouted hastily.

“To do what a soldier has to do. Haven’t you heard that the foreign enemy that is threatening the empire is coming?”

‘He is planning to stand up against Juan? As the Regent?’

Barth Baltic’s decision meant that the Order of the Capital would fight the forces of the east, south, and north. It would only be a matter of time before it spread to a large-scale civil war.

Heretia, who had tried to bring Barth Baltic down politically before such a situation came to be, started becoming desperate. Heretia followed after Barth in a hurry. It was not like she had any plan, but the only thought she had in her mind was to prevent a civil war.

However, loud roars and shouts were heard as soon as Barth Baltic opened the door of the assembly hall.

Heretia flinched and stopped. Outside the assembly hall were the citizens of Torra, who were gathered together to shout a slogan.

“We demand justice for His Majesty!”

“A bastard from the heterogeneous race who betrayed His Majesty!”

Splat! Crack!

Food waste such as tomatoes and eggs flew toward Barth Baltic’s feet. The Order of the Capital seemed to feel that it was unpleasant and uncomfortable, but no one moved without Barth’s order.

Barth glanced at the crowd and whispered to Heretia who was standing next to him.

“Do you see anyone amongst them who is truly demanding justice for His Majesty?”

Heretia remained silent.

“I spent almost fifty years helping the emperor create an empire for the humans and spent yet another fifty years defending it. I’ve been fighting for all of you for a total of one hundred years.”

Barth Baltic picked up a bruised apple that was rolling at his feet and took a bite.

“But the only thing that I got in return is a label and an insult about me being from a heterogenous race.”