Chapter 2075 – 2075. The Fallen Empire
Park Suho was busy preparing for war.
This war was a territory war. Losing didn’t mean losing the city. Even if they lost, there would be a chance to start again. However, he had no intention of approaching it with such a complacent mindset.
He would approach this war with a do-or-die attitude. To that end, he used all the money he had saved up. All the money from Earth and the city budget.
Still, taxes would come in next month, so all he had to do was win. And an increase of 50,000 in population also meant that Park Suho himself would become stronger. If 50,000 people moved into the city, it would develop even faster than before.
‘The area for 50,000 people to live in is already prepared. Food is a bit tight, but… if necessary, I can take out a loan from Earth and bring food. If that doesn’t work, I can borrow from the Solit Republic.’
Modern goods sold well in this world. Especially luxury items like wristwatches were quite profitable.
‘The elves and dwarves have agreed to cooperate… and according to the mages under Count Morck, I need to be careful of the Dread Knights. It seems that citizens from the Empire fear the knights more than nobles. There must be a reason. I’ll have the mages attack the knights first….’
Park Suho skipped breakfast to prepare for the war. There was a lot to do. If it weren’t for the administrative officials helping him, his head might have exploded.
Intense sunlight streamed through the window, hitting Park Suho’s eyes. His concentration was broken. *Gurgle.* His empty stomach was sending signals. Just then, his office door burst open, and a soldier in armor rushed in with a desperate expression.
“Mayor! It’s a disaster! The, the soldiers!”
“Calm down and tell me. What’s wrong?”
Did some of the soldiers cause an accident? Or did a monster enter the city? These were rare but occasional occurrences. As the mayor of Veroprin, Park Suho had built up experience and was ready to handle any problem without panicking. Until he heard the soldier’s report.
“The well the soldiers use has been poisoned!”
“Uh, um. What?”
“The public well used by the soldiers has been poisoned! Currently, 320 have died and 650 are poisoned! The number of poisoned is still increasing!”
“What the hell!”
Park Suho jumped up from his seat. His eyes darted around in panic. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
“Call the priests, call them! No, close the well first! Tell them not to use the water!”
“General Belian has already given the order. Another soldier has run to the temple where the priests are, and the barracks are under control!”
“Damn it. I guess that’s a relief? I need to check the damage myself!”
Park Suho quickly left the mansion and headed towards the barracks. As he moved, he asked the soldier questions.
“When did the well get contaminated?!”
“We estimate it was sometime in the early morning. Those who drank water last night were fine!”
“What are the symptoms of poisoning?”
“The symptoms appeared gradually. Three hours after drinking the water, their bodies slowly became paralyzed and stiff. And finally, they die of cardiac arrest.”
“…That’s a vicious poison. It’s like a poison made specifically to poison a well.”
It would have been better if the poison killed them instantly. Then they would have noticed the well was poisoned right away by seeing the dead bodies.
“Who poisoned the well?”
“I don’t know. The well is in the underground facility in the center of the barracks, and we didn’t have any guards there. There’s no need to go directly to the well to get water, so there are no witnesses.”
Park Suho, the mayor of Veroprin, was a modern man. He used modern knowledge to develop the city.
In Park Suho’s opinion, a good city to live in was a comfortable city like modern Korea. Food, clothing, and shelter. He pursued a city where all of that was comfortable. He provided modern food to the citizens and sold modern clothes and goods. Of course, he also improved the living environment.
One of the things he focused on the most was the water and sewage system. In the process, wells became unnecessary, but… since not all areas had been developed yet, some were left. One of those was the well in the barracks.
He never imagined that some crazy bastard would poison the well in the barracks.
“Lord, this is definitely the work of the Empire bastards. An Empire spy poisoned the well! We need to investigate all the people from the Empire in Veroprin!”
The soldier shouted with hatred.
Park Suho’s head, which had been in a frenzy, cooled down.
‘This is dangerous.’
Veroprin was similar to a multi-ethnic nation today. It was a city where people from all walks of life lived together. The Empire was much larger than the Solit Republic, with an overwhelming population. As such, there were many citizens from the Empire.
The soldier’s ideology was dangerous. If they began to hate and despise people from the Empire, the city would end up in the worst possible way.
“Soldier! Shut up! Your words are an insult to the good citizens! Do you think the citizens of Veroprin would commit such a vile act?!”
Park Suho shouted, his veins bulging in his neck. He, who was usually kind even to beggars, was so furious that the soldier froze.
“I, I’m sorry. I misspoke….”
Seeing the trembling soldier, Park Suho sighed.
“…Haa. Nothing is certain in this situation. Don’t make rash assumptions. If I hear that kind of talk again, I won’t hold back.”
“B-but, Mayor. The rumors have already spread. I only thought that way because I heard the rumors….”
“Rumors… have spread…?”
Park Suho’s head began to throb.
Something. Something was seriously going wrong.
‘…Discrimination. Right. There were signs of that.’
Even though he knew, it was hard to do anything about it.
Even in modern Earth, where the level of education is high, racial discrimination still exists, so why would this world be any different? This world actually had less racial discrimination. Instead, discrimination based on region of origin was severe. Especially, it was common knowledge that people from the Republic and the Empire didn’t get along.
‘It was a problem I couldn’t do anything about, even though I knew.’
He hoped that time would pass, they would assimilate, and it would naturally disappear. Nevertheless, he vaguely expected that a problem would arise someday….
‘I never thought it would happen now.’
It was a situation that made him want to curse.
Park Suho arrived at the scene. The barracks were under control by the healthy soldiers.
A middle-aged man with a receding hairline approached Park Suho. It was General Belian.
“…You’ve arrived, Mayor. I’m sorry. I was too careless. I should have stationed troops at the well. I will accept any punishment.”
“We’ll deal with the responsibility later. Right now, saving the soldiers is the priority. What’s the situation?”
“It’s the worst. 300 have already died. The cause of death is cardiac arrest due to poison.”
“What’s the difference between the soldiers who didn’t die?”
“Those who drank less water or were naturally healthy and strong overcame the poison. The problem is the ordinary soldiers who drank more than a cup of water. Even with individual differences… I don’t think they’ll last long.”
“The priests and healers are working. Don’t lose hope. We have to save even one person.”
“Yes. You are right. I will pull myself together.”
“What about an antidote?”
“It’s said to be a type of poison that hasn’t been known before. There is no antidote… The priests couldn’t detoxify it with their divine power either.”
“……”
Park Suho gritted his teeth.
The situation was hopeless, but the priests and healers did not give up.
“We are using medicine and divine power to strengthen the bodies of the poisoned, helping them overcome the poison.”
“Any other methods?”
“There are none.”
“……Then we have to do that.”
Divine power flowed from Park Suho’s body. Since there was a temple in the city, he could also use divine power.
That day, 755 soldiers died.
The rumors of this tragedy spread widely, and the citizens of Veroprin began to hate the Empire.
• • •
A dinner banquet was held at Count Morck’s castle. It was because the good news that hundreds of soldiers in Veroprin had died had arrived. As a knight, I attended the banquet. Count Morck and his knights were drinking wine, seemingly in a good mood.
“Hahaha! It must be that the Goddess is blessing us! And conversely, she has cursed Veroprin! We will win this territory war!”
“Indeed, your Excellency!”
“It is only natural that a city without history or honor is cursed!”
“For Morck!!”
Everyone was laughing and chatting. I looked at a group sitting a little away from Count Morck. There were six young men and women and two mature women. They were all Count Morck’s family.
‘I wondered why they weren’t sad that the eldest son died, but it was because he had so many children.’
Because of the times, people were used to death. Everyone in this world must have seen a corpse at least once.
‘More than that, Count Morck’s wives… are young and pretty.’
The age difference between Count Morck and them seemed to be at least 20 years. Although I didn’t know the details, they must be wives he had recently taken in. Polygamy was the norm for the powerful people of the Empire.
I made eye contact with a blonde countess.
I was wearing a handsome, 30-year-old man’s mask. It was enough to attract a woman’s attention. I grinned. The woman didn’t look away. Our eyes met, sticky and hot.
It was definitely not a misunderstanding. Because our eyes met occasionally after that.
‘If we had the time and space, I could bang her right away?’
The two men and women had made eye contact, now all that was left was to get into bed together.
In fact, her beauty was not much different from the two prostitutes who came to my room, but the status of a prostitute who could be taken at any time for money and the status of a countess were worlds apart. Of course, the latter was more attractive.
“You’re Sir Daykert, right?”
He was a man 10cm shorter than me. His face was covered in grime.
“……Hmm? A knight I’ve never seen before. Who are you?”
“I’m Nell Cotton. I’ve served Count Morck for eight years. You’re a newbie, yet you have no manners. Shouldn’t a newbie greet the other senior knights first? Did I, an eight-year senior, have to come to greet you first?”
It was a hazing.
I chuckled and threw my glove at the guy’s head, shouting.
“How dare you insult me?! I challenge you to a duel, you goblin-like bastard!”
