Chapter 52

Evernatten (4)

TL: Neria

RW: Aster0x

KOR Check: Neria

Desir let out a small yawn as he stretched, stiff and sore from the long hours . He glanced over at Lord Wilhelm . Unlike Desir, the lord gave no indication that he was at all tired from another long day .

Silently, Desir continued to watch Lord Wilhelm . His diligence was unsurprising; Desir had known him to be a hard worker from the very first day . But now, he saw Wilhelm in a new light . ‘To think, he was such a man…’ . Indeed, Desir was certain that if the records of the Holy Nation hadn’t been lost, Wilhelm’s name would’ve found their way into the history books .

He swallowed his bitterness at the last thought . With the dearth of information about the Shadow World, humanity had been beaten badly over the last several centuries . Desir felt even more impressed by Wilhelm; given that half the continent was presently swallowed up, clearing a Shadow World this long ago must’ve been extremely difficult . ‘To think, he was able to perform such a feat without any prior knowledge or any modern technology . Incredible . ’

And yet, despite having such a singularly talented man, the Holy Nation had still been utterly destroyed . Desir stopped himself from shaking his head . ‘How stupid they are…gone because of a stupid religious ideology . ’ In the modern era, what once was the Holy Nation of Artemis was a land shrouded in a dark fog; a land swallowed by a single Shadow World, with the exception of Orrane Province, where Desir’s party was currently located .

Contemporary history knew of Class 3 and below (indeed, humanity owed its current record against the Shadow Worlds partially to the fact that no Shadow Worlds of Class 1 or 2 had appeared in recent memory), but records existed of even bigger, even more dangerous Shadow Worlds . The Holy Nation had been destroyed by one, evidently: a Class 1 Shadow World .

Desir let his thoughts wander back to the present . ‘The Church of Artemis, huh?’ While the Holy Nation had been destroyed, their religion survived, continuing to the modern Western Kingdoms . In fact, Priscilla, one of the Final Six, was a member of the Church of Artemis . ‘But their beliefs are very different from these…’

Desir’s thoughts drifted again, back to Wilhelm . Although Desir’s talk with Jefran had been enlightening, he had found no clues or hints for his current quest, the vagrant problem, and therefore, it was most likely irrelevant .

‘So Wilhelm is a man who is infinitely devoted to his people . Although he belonged to the Church of Artemis, he put the lives of his people above his religious beliefs . He possesses a powerful military here in Evernatten, and rules it with an innovative management system . ’ Desir quickly went through the positive qualities of Lord Wilhelm . ‘But something went wrong with the vagrants . So what choices did he make?’

A sharp rap on the door interrupted his thoughts . He heard the scritching of Wilhelm’s pen stop . “Come in . ”

A female knight with sharp eyes and long hair tied tightly behind her head opened the door and stepped through . It was Eyulan . Desir’s mouth tightened ever so slightly . He still vividly remembered the withering glare and harsh insults she sent his direction when he had first met her while visiting Ajest .

She stopped in front of the lord, and kneeled in a gesture of respect . A cool, sharp voice rang out . “For the honor of Evernatten!”

“Raise your head . ”

She looked up at Lord Wilhelm . “Knight Eyulan Lilistick greets you, my lord . ”

“Speak . ”

Desir noticed her eyes briefly flicker to Desir, before returning the Wilhelm . He pretended not to notice, too absorbed with paperwork .

“I am here to make my monthly crime report . Captain Ajest apologizes that she is unable to appear in person . She says she is currently too busy handling other matters, and asks forgiveness . ”

“I understand she has been working hard lately . Report back to her that it’s alright if she’s busy . ”

“Thank you for your understanding, my lord . ” From her pocket, she pulled out small stack of paper . “My lord, all the fine details are written here in this report . In the last month, we have 7 cases of murder, rape, arson, and other serious crimes, and 50 additional cases of misdemeanors . ”

Desir winced mentally . The crime rate was quite high .

“Excluding 1 serious and 12 minor offenders, the rest were vagrants . ” The subtext was clear . In her eyes, the vagrants were responsible . Wilhelm nodded . Eyulan continued . “And this . ” She pulled another document out . “This is a public statement, a request to exile all criminals . ”

Desir couldn’t stop himself from looking up . He saw the corners of Wilhelm’s lips twitch, before the lord spoke . “For what purpose are you giving me this?” His words had the slightest tone .

“My lord, I must deliver to you the will of the people . ”

Wilhelm took the documents and placed it on top of his desk . Without even glancing at them, he simply said, “As always, criminals will go through the proper legal channels, and be punished accordingly . ”

“Forgive me, my lord, but I must speak . I believe the current measures we are taking are far too soft, and therefore ineffective . We need stronger measures . ” Eyulan’s delivery showed her belief in her words . “While Captain Ajest has managed to sharply reduce the number of crimes within Evernatten, she cannot change the nature of vagrants . They are ungrateful, and cause harm to our people . In particular, many crimes have been reported from the slum city they have set up . ”

“So are you telling me to exile all the vagrants then?”

“No, my lord . However, I do believe that your grace and generosity need not extend to criminals . ”

“I will take this into consideration then . You may leave . ”

Eyulan lowered her head again, before turning around and leaving quietly . As she left, Wilhelm took the statement she had delivered and read through it .

Desir sighed internally . Exile, in this winter, especially when they had nowhere else to go, would’ve been no different from death .

“Desir, I’ve heard rumors that you’ve been working on this vagrant issue . ”

“Yes, my lord . ”

“Then you must know a lot about them . What do you think of Eyulan’s suggestions?”

“I believe her words are reasonable . ” As much as Desir did not want to admit it, reworking public safety was only a half-solution . Despite everything they had done, the progression of the main quest remained stuck at 30% .

Wilhelm paused briefly before responding . I do, however, believe it’s a bit excessive to punish them so severely . ”

“Excessive, huh…?”

The lord lightly tapped the sheet of paper . “Even I must acknowledge that the crime rates of the vagrants far exceed those of everyone else . While our knights are working hard on a solution, there are limits to what they can do . I believe, unfortunately, that I must take stronger measures .

“I’ll have a quick demonstration, that my grace and generosity have limits . I have accepted these vagrants into Evernatten, and I believe that in return they should show some respect . I cannot let my people continue to suffer because of my selfishness . ”

It pained Desir to admit, but Wilhelm was not wrong at all . “If you will do so, consider deporting those with a death penalty . I believe it would set a sufficient example . ”

“I was planning on doing so . ” The lord spoke, with a sudden conviction .

‘What!?’ As soon as he finished speaking, an announcement had rang out . It was all Desir could do to hide his panic . He had thought, if the vagrants were responsible for Evernatten’s problems, one possible solution would be simply to remove them . While he was personally opposed to this approach, he had to admit that it would likely work . However, as soon as he suggested exile, the quest progression had actually declined, which could only mean one thing .

Removing the vagrants was not the solution . He was following a path opposite to clearing the Shadow World . That meant that Wilhelm must have chosen to exile the vagrants in the past .

[It is a time of chaos . In such troubling times, the people have cried out for a hero, and they have been led to the Unique Hero: Wilhelm Evernatten . He accomplished many incredible feats, earning the nickname ‘Saladin . ’]

[But that was history . His title of Cardinal has been long forgotten, and his loyal knights long disbanded . ]

[The Fallen Hero, Wilhelm Evernatten . All he had left was his hometown and a fragment of his old blazing conviction . When he returned to Evernatten, he hoped to protect his territory from the barbarians, and accepted all vagrants, out of compassion for the people . ]

[Alas, reality would not accommodate his noble ideals of protecting everyone . At times, one must sacrifice the few to save the many . And so, as ruler of Evernatten, he made up his mind . ]

[But his decision did not address the root problem . ]

Ideals . Conviction . Barbarians and vagrants . It all began coming together for Desir .

Wilhelm Evernatten: the lord who lived for his people . He accepted any and all vagrants, but problems of public order & food stocks arose from his decision .

‘Historically, he must have not known about the barbarian invasion either…’ Desir had discovered the barbarians’ plans, and taken appropriate countermeasures, because he was familiar with their habits and mindset . But in the real history, Wilhelm must’ve been blindsided by the attack . Bloody Falcon Claw would have stolen what he wanted and burned down the rest, exactly as planned, which meant that the barbarians would have re-initiated their war with Evernatten, which would have required the whole military of Evernatten to fight against the barbarians .

‘With no food and no knights available, the vagrant problem would’ve been impossible to deal with . ’ It all made sense now . The cruel reality would’ve become apparent to Lord Wilhelm: his ideals were merely illusions . He would’ve abandoned what remained of his pride, by abandoning the vagrants .