Return of the Fallen Volume 5 Chapter 3
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch3
“We are finished with this phase and by your will, we will be moving on to the next one.”
Inside the palace, a woman had just finished reading out loud through some keynotes. Several soldiers lined the room silently, waiting as their king sat atop his throne, listening to the details.
Garn nodded along in a good mood. Ever since his weapon had been completed he had been cleansing the land of magical beast daily. Initially, things were going accordingly, however after the smarter beast caught wind of what he was doing, they began to rampage and run wild. Some fought while many others fled in every direction. Garn could crush many but two hands can’t hold all the water and many beasts evaded even he.
Garn had then proceeded to not only send his armed forces to corner and kill all of the vile creatures but he also put notice to all of the guilds. Mercenaries and Adventurers found the reward too tempting and a hunt across not only Treia but Jin and Maoudou commenced. Even some of the smaller kingdoms got in on the action and sent smaller armies to rout out the beasts. With the king’s permission of course.
The king of Jin was absolutely furious and sent many envoys and protested Garn’s actions. He felt as though he were being humiliated. First, due to Garn’s weapon, millions of beasts fled and crossed into not only his kingdom but the others as well before they fled to every corner like an invasion. King Tobern was having trouble dealing with so many beasts and the casualties were piling up on his side.
Not only did Garn cause these beasts to flee to his land but Garn wouldn’t apologize either. Jin was a kingdom filled with adventurers and mercenaries, said to have the second biggest army in all the land and 1st to have the biggest private armies. It was the private armies that were the problem. They were owned and operated by the nobles but the nobles would not order their armies to fight unless there was some benefit. The king of Jin, Tobern could order the nobles and force the armies to fight but at the same time according to law, each noble would have to personally be compensated for the use of their armies. Tobern though was not one to empty his coffers just to help save his people and line his nobles with more of his own gold Zeni.
This caused resentment to simmer underneath from both sides.
Then the next news. King Garn offered rewards to not just his people but any who would fight to destroy Magical beasts. The nobles who originally wouldn’t step in found the reward from Garn very attractive and jumped on the opportunity. This caused the people who were being killed left and right to finally find hope and praise the nobles who stepped in to save them while denouncing the king. Because of this, Tobern lost his patience and sent a large part of the nation’s military to destroy the beast and regain some sort of face.
This worked for a bit until rumors spread to the people as to why their king finally moved. Whispering on the streets was common and filled with anger.
He wouldn’t pay to save us but instead, he’d do it to look good. This was the thought that went through their head.
A group of national soldiers overheard this and in anger, killed the citizen who said it. It was at this time that a nobles army was coming by and they had watched the whole situation unfold and stepped in. They killed that group of national soldiers and word got back to the king.
Given the situation, everyone believed the noble’s army was in the right and held favor from the people. Nobles and citizens alike asked for leniency from the king but the king was rash and had been agitated because of Garn’s actions. In his foolish wisdom, he ordered that the soldiers who killed part of the national army were traitors and sentenced them to death but he didn’t stop there. King Tobern also ordered for the noble who lead them to be killed and his family title to be redacted and all of his land and wealth to be confiscated.
This caused a domino effect. The citizens were devastated and found comfort in fury. A rebellion broke out. At first small but then the king ordered his army to march on them and route them out. The nobles, whether they were good or bad, found it opportunistic or not rose up as well. The thought was a simple one. If the king would kill them and strip their families of all wealth title ad lands for doing the right thing, protecting the citizens that make up these lands, then why wouldn’t Tobern find some other outrageous reason to trample them down next.
Paranoia and fear crept into them and they went into action. The small rebellion that was the first sign of smoke became an engulfing inferno once the nobles stepped in and full-out civil war broke out. Some of the nobles were still on the king’s side and found the rebellion from the nobles a disgrace and joined their king while the other nobles came together to fight the injustice that was king Tobern. All of this was stacked on top of the invading Magical beasts and the results of this all combined became a chaotic mess of mass proportion.
Tobern’s fury was split in three ways. The stupid insignificant citizens that rose against him over a few deaths. The cowardly worm nobles who dared betrayed him and Garn. Garn who started all of this. This was the way king Tobern thought and his mind began to darken further. He began contemplating if he should send out Bozek. Were he to use him, things may become worse. Bozek was at the 5th stage and those that could stand up to him in Jin could be counted on one hand.
Tobern spoke to his council and they all advised against using Bozek. Even they found it to be drastic. Were Bozek to step out, king Tobern may never get the people back on his side. The next option was to use the heroes that were summoned but again that was thrown out the window. The heroes were inexperienced and were still quite weak. Not only that though, but they would also refuse to kill citizens as well, and again, Tobern would never get the people back if he used heroes.
The next option was to ask for help quelling this rebellion. His counsel told him to seek help from Garn. They all saw Garn differently than how Tobern did and looked at him in a good light. Tobern outright refused and said he would kill the next man that spoke of it. The only other option was the young king, Brian of Maoudou. He was barely 20 years old but was considered quite intelligent and cunning. In the Feya continent, there wasn’t a bad word spoken about him and he was considered to be a kind yet calculating king.
One could hear his words but never truly know what he was thinking. Tobern looked down on the idea at first. Having someone so young coming in to help save his own kingdom. In the end though, his council convinced him. To prevent useless deaths and loss of gold Zeni. Putting the kingdom back in order and destroying the invading Beasts, this was the best option.
Tobern finally reached out to Brian but the unexpected happened. There was no answer. No matter from envoys or from long-distance communication devices, Brian had refused all of them. After that, King Brian cut off all communication from Tobern and even closed his countries borders, cutting trade as well.
This shocked not only Tobern but his council as well and beyond. The nobles on both sides actually began to worry as 30% of Jin’s food came from Maoudou. With this cut-off, a food shortage would soon follow. Without food, armies couldn’t march, and without armies, who would defend and attack the enemy. So many became confused by this move and were baffled. As a result, battles became scattered as the higher-ups scrambled to preserve food and increase their storage in case the worst happens.
All the while, Beasts roamed across the land freely, unimpeded and unchecked. Only when they came face to face with an army did they back off. After nearly a month of no communication, Brian finally contacted Tobern and told him he would help under one condition.
The condition being that King Tobern sells 1/3 of Jin, a large slice of his country to the kingdom of Maoudou or rather directly to King Brian himself.
King Tobern flipped his shit and declared war on Maoudou that instant but of course there was no way he could send an army on empty stomachs. In the end, Tobern became quiet and the chaos continued to spread. Soon famine was on the horizon. Not because there was an actual scarcity of food but rather because the king and the nobles hoarded it for war. Add to that that Magical beasts were roaming free, eating, and destroying farmlands, leaving devastation in their wake. If something was done soon, the country would crumble without even fighting back.
Tobern became desperate and relented. Opening up communications he was ready to reluctantly take the deal.
To his shock though, Brian denied him. Telling him the price had now been lowered by a quarter. Tobern flipped his shit again and cut the transmission. Every day he heard worsening news and reality hit. His kingdom was dying. Tobern lost hair and thinned out. His weight dropped every day and his appetite disappeared entirely. He could no longer sleep and he for the first time in his life felt his age. Every day, every single day, the reports of thousands of death and city’s defending themselves desperately echoed in his mind until finally, it happened.
“My king, we, Teshar, the city of Teshar has fallen.”
10 days later it was announced throughout all of the kingdoms of the Feya continent that King Tobern of Jin sold 1/3 of his lands to the kingdom of Maoudou.
This sent shockwaves through the continent but that wasn’t all, just 3 days later even more shattering news came out.
King Brian, in just three days, personally led a part of his army and pushed back all of the Magical beasts. All of the weak ones died in that time while the smarter ones fled to other lands. The rebellion that had stalled for quite some time, seeing Brian crush the Beast with such ease, surrendered to him and the rebellion was finished just like that. Brian also took things a step further. All those that rebelled against Jin, Brian allowed them to join Maoudou and occupy the new portion of Jin he had just acquired.
Tobern became furious once more but he found after everything that happened had sucked him of all his energy. He only sent envoys to protest Brian’s moves but nothing else beyond that.
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Back in Treia, Garn had just finished listening to all of these details nodding along.
“Good, the beasts are being eliminated.”
The woman who just gave the report scrunched her brows momentarily but quickly went into the next topic but Garn had noticed.
“Speak, what’s wrong?”
The woman hesitated for a moment before she spoke her thoughts.
“Your majesty, are you not worried that the King of Maoudou has just expanded so abruptly?”
“Is that all you’re concerned about? In the end, he’s just an upstart with some brain. He’ll soon realize that taking in so much land at once is actually a curse rather than a blessing. Taking land isn’t just taking land, you take the people in as well. Different cultures, religions, getting such things to suddenly mesh with your own is no simple task. The boy just put down a rebellion but it wouldn’t surprise me if more follow in his new land. After all, who says the citizens that live there will just comply with a new ruler. Maybe they wish to be with their people back in Jin, is someone going to stop them from leaving. This only breeds more problems. That’s why it’s better to remove the problem before they rise.”
The woman before Garn felt cold in her heart and swallowed hard at Garn who just stated that so calmly.
“But your Majesty, the new weapon they used to put an end to it…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Garn cut her off.
“Hmph, who cares what new weapon they have. How can it even begin to compare to my Iselda. Nothing can compare to its powers, absolutely nothing.”
The woman couldn’t argue and was about to excuse herself when she felt something at her side. She quickly pulled out a small mirror-like object that flickered and glowed.
“My, King, a message from one who carries your medallion.”
Garn nodded at the woman and she then tossed it into the air. The mirror-like object hovered in the air before projecting a video. Garn became slightly surprised to see this person.
“Muteki, it’s been some time. What of your mission?”
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