Do Your Own Revolution

#111

The Korhonen autonomous region, located in the north, was originally a military city built to defend the coast.

A fortress established to block foreign tribes invading along the northern coast.

However, when the Monster War broke out, an anomaly appeared in this quiet fortress city.

A rupture opened deep in the northern coast.

‘W-what the hell?!’

‘Monsters are rising from the seabed!’

‘Mage! Call a mage! Hurry…!’

Though it was just an average-sized rupture in terms of size, the Empire soon realized the gravity of the situation.

The only way to close it was for an elite group of mages to enter the rupture and destroy the rupture stone that formed its core.

However, the location of the Great Rupture that appeared in Korhonen was in the deep sea.

With existing technology, it was impossible to even approach the Great Rupture that had opened at the bottom of the ice sea, let alone enter it.

The rupture activated underwater kept spewing out monsters, and there was no way to stop it.

From the Empire’s perspective, it was a situation that forced them into an endless war of attrition.

Eventually, the Empire built a great wall to block these monsters’ invasion and entrusted its defense to the Count Korhonen family, which was a prestigious military family.

And in that process, the Count Korhonen family acquired all governing rights of the north.

By now, they had become the rulers of the north, encompassing all the snow-covered regions of the Empire’s northern territory.

“However, isn’t food self-sufficiency impossible in the north due to geographical characteristics?”

“Y-yes…”

“So our Imperial Army created and maintained supply lines to maintain relations with Korhonen…!”

…Just as Colonel Sandal’s three-hour-long lecture on Korhonen history was about to continue.

“A-choo!”

“Oh my, seems the fireplace was lacking fuel. Just a moment…”

Irene’s sneeze timely interrupted it.

“Well done, Irene.”

“Huh? What did I do?”

“Something big. If it weren’t for you, I might have died from neurosis before even reaching the mansion.”@@novelbin@@

“???”

At that moment.

Clank-!

“Ugh?!”

As the tracked vehicle jolted after hitting a rock, Private Chern, who was on duty, let out a groan.

“The road is quite rough. Isn’t that right, Private?”

“N-no, sir!”

Quite?

While I was thinking that, Sandal gave me an apologetic smile.

“I have no words for transporting a hero of the Empire in such an old armored vehicle. Usually, we should have called for a ceremonial vehicle to escort you separately…” ꞦΆℕồʙƐ𝙨

“No need. There’s no need for such formality.”

It’s much better than walking.

Besides, bringing a delicate thing like a ceremonial vehicle to this snowfield?

When even the armored vehicle’s heating system isn’t working properly and needs to be preheated with magic?

I guarantee the engine would die before even starting.

As I was saying this, Colonel Sandal, who had lit the dead furnace, opened his mouth while looking at me.

“I received the telegram from headquarters well. A large-scale amnesty… quite an interesting move from the central government.”

“Have you finished the selection process?”

Instead of answering my question, Colonel Sandal pulled out documents from inside his coat.

“This is…”

“It’s a list of prisoners incarcerated in the northern prison. Background, occupation before imprisonment, family relations… We’ve gathered most of the relevant information.”

Quick work indeed.

Taking the documents, I immediately checked the profiles of those listed.

‘An ideologist imprisoned during Revolutionary Army activities. A noble who fell after losing an internal faction fight. A journalist who criticized magic nobles and the Empire’s ruling system. A professor who spread subversive ideology to students…’

Political prisoners from various backgrounds and all walks of life.

A faint smile appeared on my face as I looked at the list.

‘While the Margrave’s words piqued my interest, this is the real reason I accepted the invitation.’

The reason I came to the north.

More precisely, the reason the Emperor sent me here.

It was related to the ‘Imperial Assembly’ that the Emperor said he would revive during the last royal audience.

An advisory body that gathers representatives from all walks of life to hear their voices directly.

The important thing here was these ‘representatives from all walks of life who represent the citizens.’

‘While it was quite comprehensive in range, when you think about it, it wasn’t that broad.’

Administrators, businessmen, politicians, ideologists, religious figures.

Most of those who would participate in the Imperial Assembly would be intellectuals who prided themselves on having studied somewhere.

People who were intellectuals but not nobles, those caught in between.

But the real problem lay elsewhere.

‘There’s no talent. Seriously none.’

‘That’s understandable.’

Well. In the current Empire, the life paths of the intellectuals I mentioned earlier typically split into two branches.

First, those who stuck with magic nobles to exploit citizens, only to end up like hedgehogs during this popular uprising.

If not that? Those who bet their lives on the Revolutionary Army, only to perish miserably and cross the rainbow bridge during the recent capital raid incident.

In a situation where you die whether you work for the citizens or exploit them, how could proper human resources remain?

So even if the Emperor ambitiously wants to create an assembly, there aren’t enough highly educated non-noble talents to fill it.

‘Even recruiting officials and soldiers is difficult due to lack of people, let alone politicians and intellectuals.’

That’s why the Emperor focused on this place, Korhonen Prison.

Businessmen and administrators who fell out of favor with magic nobles.

Knights who lost in internal faction fights within the Knight Order.

Revolutionaries who joined the Revolutionary Army only to be abandoned by the Republic’s wishes.

The imperial order given to me was to check all of these people and deliver those talented enough for the Imperial Assembly back to the Empire.

Someone who could gather citizens’ opinions and deliver them directly to the Emperor.

Creating a ‘people’s faction’ that would oppose magic nobles while filling the void left by the Revolutionary Army.

“I should warn you in advance that persuasion won’t be easy.”

“I’m sure it won’t. But what can we do?”

Gotta do what needs to be done.

Adding that, I tucked the documents Sandal handed me into my coat.

Meeting them would come later.

The urgent matter now was meeting the Margrave who had called me here.

Clank-

As we were talking, the half-track armored vehicle running through the snow jolted once.

A sharp metallic sound came from under the vehicle.

We had moved from the snow-covered ground onto a metal surface.

“We’ve arrived.”

When Colonel Sandal, who had leaned out the window, gave a hand signal, the iron gate blocking the armored vehicle slowly opened.

The city gradually revealing itself beyond the concrete walls.

Looking at the cityscape covered in metal structures and the great wall surrounding the city, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

[The Empire’s Steel Fortress.]

Korhonen City, which I had only seen in setting descriptions.

The steel fortress located at the northernmost point of the continent was looking down at me with an imposing appearance befitting its name as a fortress.

***

Click- Click-

Two automatons guided me with regular mechanical sounds.

A mansion more austere than Elcidore’s, modest in size.

Walking on the marble floor without even carpeting, Margrave Korhonen’s private room soon came into view.

“So you’ve come.”

When I opened the door without warning, a voice came from inside the room.

A voice that seemed blocked by something, with a metallic sound bubbling up from within.

Without showing any discomfort at the jarring sensation, I entered the room, and a man sitting in a chair waved at me.

“Forgive the rudeness of not shaking hands. Having sent puppets as far as the capital, it’s quite difficult to move my body.”

“It’s an honor to be invited, Your Lordship.”

After finishing the ceremonial greeting, I raised my gaze to look at the Margrave.

The ruler of the north. The so-called Great Ruler of the North.

However, the Kassel Korhonen I saw was slightly different from the image in my head.

“Cough! Cough!”

Small in height with a slight build.

A mask made of iron and white robe, gloves on his hands.

The intermittent coughing and the unsettling voice of the Margrave himself.

He seemed more like a patient suffering from illness than the Margrave who oversaw the north.

“Sit here. Having a guest after so long, I find myself more excited than expected.”

Following the Margrave’s invitation to take a seat in the chair opposite him, I observed his private room.

‘Stained cloth placed beside the bed. Incense burning throughout the room. And…’

The smell of perfume strong enough to hurt my nose.

It was a stopgap measure to mask the stench, just as lepers typically do.

“Were you contaminated by the rupture?”

At my question that came without warning, Margrave Kassel shrugged with a slight smile.

“You’re more perceptive than I expected.”

“It occasionally occurs in soldiers who’ve fought monsters. While treatment isn’t difficult…”

“In my case, it’s already too late.”

Saying that, the Margrave took off his gloves to show his hands.

Blackened dead hands and necrotizing tissue.

And pus and discharge flowing from within.

‘That explains why he covers his entire body with masks and cloth.’

Probably his whole body is in that condition.

The Margrave Korhonen who guards the northern great wall is slowly dying.

“…On my way here, I occasionally saw automatons. They were all remarkable works.”

“Thanks to the efforts of the autonomous region’s technicians.”

“But it’s Your Lordship who controls them, isn’t it?”

I looked at the count’s right arm that was still glowing brightly.

A thousand automatons guarding the wall.

The seven stroke magic imprint that controls them simultaneously and protects the north was Margrave Korhonen’s ‘Steel Puppeteer.’

‘Korhonen’s cold is severe, almost unbearable even for human bodies.’

Especially guarding the high great wall would be even more so.

An extreme cold where you’d freeze to death just standing still, let alone stopping monsters climbing the wall.

Therefore, the count decided to maximize the use of the Korhonen family’s magic imprint as puppeteers.

‘Allocating all the power of the seven stroke magic imprint to maintain the puppet control technique.’

Thanks to this massive technique imprinted in the mansion, Korhonen could become a massive military force commanding a thousand-strong puppet army.

Magic noble interference and monster invasions.

It was an ingenious solution to block both simultaneously and maintain Korhonen.

However…

“Because of that, I missed the timing to treat my chronic illness.”

The center of the collective technique was the chair where the Margrave sat.

The moment he leaves his private room, controlling the puppets becomes impossible.

Therefore, the count had endured for decades sitting in this cramped private room.

‘He’s insane.’

An unbelievably reckless method.

But the fact that Margrave Korhonen would unhesitatingly do such a crazy thing probably means he loves his citizens that much.

A city maintained by the sacrifice of one hero.

At its end, I came to visit this city.

“Don’t you have an heir?”

“I did. A child with high magical power aptitude and intelligence.”

Past tense.

The Margrave spoke with a troubled expression.

“He’s unable to move due to the same illness as mine, and his older brother is moving behind the scenes, which is the problem.”

The Margrave had two sons, and the heir was the second son.

But the first son was the problem.

The first son who desired magic noble authority and awaited the hero’s death.

He was arguing that after his death, the northern defense should be entrusted to the Round Table.

‘Handing the north over to magic nobles, what nonsense.’

However, the Margrave didn’t have much time left.

His heir who inherited his illness was on the brink of death, and his remaining son was eyeing his position.

In such a situation, the Margrave intended to draw me in as a variable to deal with his son who belonged to the magic noble faction.

“The truth one must know to become the Empire’s master… was that just a lie to draw me in?”

When I asked, having grasped the count’s intention, Kassel slowly shook his head.

“It’s not a lie. Despite appearances, I know quite a lot about this Empire’s blemishes.”

“Blemishes?”

“Yes. For example…”

Trailing off, Kassel raised his hand to point at my right arm.

“That your ‘Wings of Crimson’ is an imprint directly bestowed by His Majesty to Maximilien.”

“…”

“Or the fact that Maximilien, the Revolutionary Army supreme leader, was Lord Andrei’s son.”

“…Wait. What did you say?”

What nonsense is this now.

At words I’d never heard or seen in the original game, I doubted my ears for a moment.

“Information about your power, the reason His Majesty favors you, the past before you were born… The information I can provide is far more than you think.”

But sadly, I don’t have much time left.

Saying that, the count asked me.

“What do you think? Brigadier General Eugene Lorentz.”

“…”

“Do you feel inclined to accept this old man’s deal?”

Two eyes behind the mask were staring at me.

‘And here I thought he was just a patient, to think he’d come at me like this.’

Tightening the loosened strings of tension, I met the Margrave’s gaze.

Kassel Korhonen.

Though old and sick, he was still the ruler of the north.

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