Chapter 53 - Volume 4 (1/2)

What can you do when you are faced with a provincial war you can neither avoid nor win and lose everything even if you do win? All the while the government is favoring the other side?

The answer is simple. Destroy the game itself.

The concept of war of this world was but a mockery of what Isaac considered to truly be war.

How can there be my team, an enemy team, rules which both sides must follow, and an umpire who oversees the entire battle and determines the winner in a war?

This is not a war but a mere sport in which one puts their lives on the line to play.

That’s why it’s easy to destroy the game. The game cannot start if there aren’t any players to compete in it. Removing the players was simple enough. They were stationed in the middle of the slums that 30 thousand people once called home – the Meta District.

No matter how small of an area these 30 thousand people occupied in the slums, 2 thousand men were nowhere near enough to fight the fire, which had expanded across the entire district. The slums never had proper facilities to deal with the fire, and with the lack of manpower on top of that, the slums may as well have been a giant stack of firewood.

Burning the Meta District wasn’t a plan that Isaac had haphazardly concocted at a whim, as he kept one old habit from the time he lived as a soldier.

Wargames. A game which all military officials must learn. A game where the partic.i.p.ants a.n.a.lyze their position, authority, the designated battlefield. You study the strength and level of allies’ training and the terrain. You create an imaginary foe under specific conditions and form a plan to best deal with them under those circ.u.mstances.

You trust nothing and formulate plans after plan to best retaliate against attacks.

Burning the Meta District was one of Isaac’s old wargames where he drew up the hypothetical of fighting against an overwhelming force where retreat was not possible. Isaac gave up on the game halfway through, wondering why he was even cornering himself to this point. Isaac simply picked up from where he left off and adjusted the plan accordingly.

There was one condition which followed Isaac’s plan: that he could not be found out no matter what. But the method of siege warfare approved for the Marquis made it far easier for Isaac. By providing them with a landing zone, a base camp, and even the date of the invasion, all Isaac had to do was think of how to block out all the escape routes and annihilate the enemy.

The disaster which struck Meta District shocked everyone. It was a catastrophe where nearly two thousand people burned to death.

The Marquis was. .h.i.t the hardest by this. When he heard the news that his cherished Order of Heavy Combat Knights was completely destroyed without a single battle, he fainted on the spot.

The main fire which consumed Meta District finally petered out around noon the next day. Only ashes remained where the slums used to be.

“I guess the Meta district was pretty large, now that we have a clear view of it.”

“…”

Even now, there were still smouldering flames which still burnt in the area, and gray smoke billowed into the air each time the breath of the wind blew.

Civilian s.h.i.+ps going to and from Port City were floating in the lake, witnesses to the aftermath of the firestorm in the Meta District.

Isaac snickered as he watched the entire area from the rooftop of a building. Soland, who listened to isaac’s snicker, seemed somewhat disturbed.

Although he admitted to himself that this was necessary, Soland still felt disheartened to see the district, which he ruled over after painstakingly rising through the ranks, turn to nothing.

“Seems like the fire’s almost gone, so we better extinguish the remaining fires. Why don’t you look for some lucky survivors while you’re at it? And don’t forget to pick up all of the knight’s equipment on the way. We’ll need to send them back to the marquis. I hear they are rather expensive.”

“I thought there weren’t supposed to be any knights who survived?”

“Huh? That’s why I told you. Find the survivors and gather their equipment.”

“I’ll form a search party led by the North Bears.”

Soland caught on to what Isaac was implying and backed off with a bow.

Mercenaries didn’t need to be considered at this point. The knights, on the other hand, were professional soldiers. According to the rules, the army was still considered intact even if only a single knight survived. No matter how close to death the survivor was, if the knight was alive, the Marquis could still proceed with the battle and fight for a conclusion whether it was victory or defeat, which would spell Isaac’s doom. Therefore, no knight could remain alive.

With Soland gone, Cordnell and Isaac’s hubaes came up as a group with a stiff face.

“We’ll be leaving.”

“Hm?”

“I never thought Sir Isaac would be such a cruel person. I cannot see myself working under such a person.”

Kalden’s announcement was met with Isaac’s serious tone.

“Hey! Watch your mouth. You’re making it sound like I set fire to my own city.”

Isaac’s hypocritical criticism was met with the look of disdain from the group.

“Do you really think you can hide that secret when the fire investigation team from Gabelin comes to investigate? The secret will be found out. Even if it didn’t, the Marquis will likely send out another army, and once they find out that you started the fire, the Marquis will want your head.”

“We’ll find out about that once the investigation starts. So you’re really leaving?”

“Yes.”

Cordnell replied, and everyone around him nodded in agreement. Isaac shrugged.

“Well, I won’t stop anyone if they want to leave this place, but do you think you can handle it? There’ll be rumours following you no matter where you guys go.”

“What? What rumours?”

The group looked surprised, and Isaac made a commotion as if he didn’t know.

“Isn’t that obvious? You guys stayed here while everyone else evacuated. And even you guys, who are considered my administrators, suspected me when the fire began. What do you think it’ll look like to those on the outside? There will be rumours about you wherever you go. That you aided in burning the city down.”

“I, impossible! Since when did we help that happen?”

“That’s just how the world runs; you are guilty by a.s.sociation. Well, I guess you can convince them that you weren’t a.s.sociated with the fire with enough evidence; the only thing is that you’ll have to do that every time you meet a new person. But it’ll still be better than working for someone like me right?”

“We’re innocent!”

Isaac nodded to Selia’s cry as if he understood.

“That’s right! It’s really frustrating when people wrongly blame you for something you’ve never done.”

Selia’s mouth went agape like a goldfish, unable to utter a word. Cordnell quickly regained his composure and shouted out.

“Then what will you do about the Marquis? You may have bought time until the results of the investigation comes, but even if the fire started as accidents as Sir Isaac says, the provincial war will still continue. What are you going to do if the marquis sends another army? What will you do then?”

“I wonder? I guess the war would continue, but I’m betting that it will never conclude.”

“What?”

Everyone was thrown in confusion, unable to understand what Isaac was saying. Isaac’s eyes turned to the Meta District, and the four’s eyes followed with him.

“I wonder how much it’ll cost to rebuild the Meta District.”

The four faces went pale after hearing Isaac’s words. They could already picture the rudimentary plan for removing all the debris and reconstructing all of the buildings. The time required to clear the debris, the time required for reconstruction, the cost of the raw materials, labor costs, and the administrative manpower needed until the project was finished. On top of it all, there was the issue of taking care of the refugees while the construction was in progress. They could come up with a giant list of everything that’d cost money and could only sigh at how much it’d be.

There was no way Isaac was going to do it himself, so the job would naturally fall on them.

“Make an estimate of the costs for reconstructing Meta District on top of the compensation we will need to pay for the refugees.”

“… It’ll be an astronomical sum of money.”

Reconstructing a city wasn’t going to happen in a day or two. The longer it took to rebuild, the exponentially higher the cost would be.

“Selia.”

“Huh? Yes!”

Selia shouted out in surprise, not expecting Isaac to call out her name.

“Send a message to the Marquis.”

“… A message?”

“Yes. The message will be something along the lines of ‘the mistake your army made caused a fire, turning the city to ashes. There are many refugees. How will you take responsibility for this?’ And add the estimate along with the message.”

“B, but what will you do if the investigation team determines that it was our act of arson?”

“I’m sure the marquis will still claim credit for causing the fire, even if there is proof that I had gone insane and started the fire myself.”

“Huh? How could that be?”

There was no reason for the Marquis to admit to the mistake, especially when they’d be gritting their teeth and scheming for revenge.

The four looked with doubt in their eyes. Isaac snorted and lit a cigarette.

“People can live with or without laws, but they shouldn’t let laws dictate their lives. If you look at the rules of the provincial war, it will state that whoever wins the war must pay for all the damages caused to the civilians, whether it be financial or bodily harm.”