3 bar menu

Volume 6 Chapter 2 Part 1

Chapter 2: Liberation

Rumors that Theo Cornero managed to dispel the Demonic Realm around Sistina have naturally reached Laxia as well.

For a while, the residents of the town were filled with joy, but before long they began to realize what kind of person Theo Cornaro was and began to feel uneasiness welling up inside of them.

「It seems that the rebel army led by Theo will invade the city of Laxia. They hold a grudge against this city. They say the city will be burned and all the inhabitants will be killed once they get here… 」

Such rumors began to spread around Laxia recently, and all of these information were also passed to the castle of the Rossini family, where Pederico Rossini’s second son, Juzel, related the latest news to him.

「I can’t believe it… 」

Pederico Rossini repeated these words to himself over and over again.

「I couldn’t believe my ears when I first heard about it as well, but it seems to be true. 」

Juzel said calmly, but whenever he was thinking about what was going to happen next, he was being overwhelmed by a crushing feeling of hopelessness.

「I’ve sent slave ships out to sea about ten times without using decoys, but they’ve all returned safely until now. I’ve never seen anything like this happening before. The local residents are said to be in a festive mood, but it’s more like they’re in a frenzy. It’s almost as if Theo Cornero had completely taken over the hearts of all the citizens of Sistina. 」

「So what if he did?! 」

At Juzel’s words, his brother Doni raised his voice in anger.

「Even if the locals sided with Theo, the soldiers have already gathered. They are well-armed and have pledged allegiance to the Rossini family. All you have to do is kill everyone who joined the rebellion, along with Theo Cornero himself. It’s as simple as that! 」

「I agree. 」

Juzel turned to his brother and nodded. He has many thoughts about this matter, but right now there is no other way to keep the Rossini family alive.

「Dispatch your army and kill Theo Cornero immediately. 」

Pederico put his hand on his eldest son’s shoulder and gave him an order.

「Leave it to me! 」

Doni bared his teeth and nodded, then kicked open the door and violently left the room.

「Brother, I’ll be praying for your success. 」

After seeing his brother off in the corridor, Juzel returned to his father’s office. And after closing the door behind him, he faced his father.

「If Theo Cornero really is just like the rumors describe him to be, then I wonder if brother has any chances of actually defeating him. 」

Juzel said with a somber voice.

「My brother is brave, and the soldiers who swore loyalty to the Rossini family will fight ruthlessly on the battlefield for us to the very end. But the question we should be asking ourselves here is how many of the 5,000 men we have gathered under our banner are going to be truly loyal to us. 」

Many of Theo Cornaro’s bravery have been handed down to the people of Sistina. It may be an exaggeration to put it like that, but if he really managed to quell the Demonic realm that no one else could del with before, then he must be a really skillful warrior in battle.

「The subordinate Lords of our family and their families are allies with us. We can also trust the soldiers gathered from the Rossini manors. The dwellers of the Laxia slums should also realize pretty soon that in addition to us, the hatred of the rest of the citizens of the island will also be directed towards them. What we can do now to tip the scales in our favor though, is to tell all the guests whom we’ve been housing that the time has come for them to repay for the kindness that we have shown them. 」

「I know that your subordinate Lords will not betray us, but what I am the most skeptical about is how well they’ll be able to fight when the day of the battle will finally be upon us. 」

Juzel shook his head. The Lords subordinate to the Rossini family have mansions in the center of Laxia and live luxurious lives. They’ve never experienced actual combat, and he didn’t think that they’re going to be prepared for it. 」

「Yes. That’s right. 」

Pederico nodded his head. He was aware of it as much as Juzel was.

「Even if the slum dwellers are submissive on the surface, deep down they must be hating us and the people of the city center. 」

That’s why Juzel never trusted any of the slum dwellers.

They know no bounds or restraints with their urges to plunder, and his informants were telling him that the people of the island have long since became well and truly fed up and exhausted with their greed. If the inhabitants of the island all die out or leave, they’ll not be able to continue with their plundering anymore, but he didn’t know if any of them actually understood that, and even if they did, their greedy plundering would not stop until someone would drastically shorten the leash they were being kept on. Doing that so far was his older brother Doni’s work, but it doesn’t seem like he was doing all that well on that front.

「They can’t betray us. That’s why we have the 「Omerta」 Banner, after all. 」

「Omerta」, the Banner associated with the Crest of the Rossini family compels the people who’ve found themselves under its spell to be absolutely loyal to the owner of the Crest, which makes them ruthless warriors and killers.

「If they accept the Banner, that is. 」

If you do not accept the Banner willingly, it’s power is not going to be exercised on you. And even if all the people did receive it properly, the power of the Banner loses its effectiveness if the spiritual connection between the Lord and the receiver is severed. Spiritual connection is, for example, respect and awe. In the case of the Rossini family, it is fear. But if that fear had disappeared for some reason…

「You think they’ve given up on us? 」

「I think they did. Not only the residents of the slums, but also the residents of the city center are beginning to move to escape from this island. 」

Juzel approached the window and turned his gaze to the city’s port.

At first glance, the city of Laxia looked as peaceful as ever. However, various news have come to Juzel’s attention through his personal information network.

「If Doni loses to Theo Cornero, is that going to be the end of us? 」

His father was dumbfounded.

「Even if my brother wins, the Rossini family may have no future at this point. 」

Juzel turned to his father and said as such.

「I hope my prediction is going to be wrong, of course. 」
Juzel told that to his father and lowered his head apologetically.

「I hope so… 」

With a sigh, his father approached Juzel and encouraged him to continue.

「Now that the Chaos Vortex has subsided and the sea routes are safe for passage again, the inhabitants of the island can abandon this island and flee to the continent if they want. And without the inhabitants, there is no way for us to govern the island itself. 」

「Does this mean that the Rossini family has actually been protected by the Chaos Vortex this entire time? 」

Pederico groaned.

The Chaos Vortex was a cage that kept its inhabitants of Sistina on the island, preventing them from ever entertaining the thought of escaping. Never in his wildest dreams would Pederico Rossini assume that Theo Cornero would actually come to the island himself, and that he would also achieve what even the old bloodline of the hero Cornero could not achieve so easily.

The Cornaro family had a high reputation on Sistina, and those who opposed the tyranny of the Rossinis have practically deified the members of the old Cornero family as their symbol of hope.

「The wandering Lord Theo took Cornero as his family name because he wanted to follow in the heroic footsteps of the old Corneros, but up until now his words were little more than an empty hoax. But with the dissolution of the Chaos Vortex, he can now proudly say that he managed to do what even the old hero Cornero could not. 」

「A brat like him, a hero… 」

Pederico’s voice trembled.

「I should’ve gotten rid of him when I had the chance. 」

「He was just lucky at that time. 」