Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 173

173: An Explanation of the Rebellion Incitement Plan, Using Locally Sourced Seeds

“So, we’re relying on the disinformation unit again.”

“Yes, we are.” I nodded at Liz’s words.

I had summoned her to my room and given her a brief overview of the plan to incite a rebellion in the Perte Empire, using the disinformation unit.

Then I handed her the documents.

“Considering the current situation with the Perte Empire and the Human Alliance Against Demons… it’s crucial that this rebellion is at least somewhat successful…”

“Read the documents.” I watched her as she read.

My dark elf is so cute.

After a while, Liz, having finished reading, looked up, her expression grim.

“The incitement of the rebellion itself will probably succeed. But… with these forces… it’s not enough. They can’t win against the Imperial Guard. They won’t even inflict any significant damage.”

“They can’t win.” I nodded in agreement.

“…What are you thinking?”

“Next, this.” I pulled out a second document from the folder at my feet.

“A second attempt? That won’t work. Just increasing the numbers… huh?” Liz frowned as she read.

“Several members of the Imperial Guard… will join the rebellion? No, this is too optimistic. The Imperial Guard would never betray the Emperor.”

“They are a function of the Imperial Guard. But they are also human. —Human, with loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor hammered into their very bones.” I smiled.

“And they are also human, with the bonds of their fellow Imperial Guard hammered into their very bones. Comrades who have suffered together since childhood. A bond so strong, even the disinformation unit cannot break it.”

“So…”

“But they are human. …They have families. The Empire gathers its resources from all over the nation to ‘create’ the Imperial Guard. …All they need are the strongest warriors. Children who are deemed unfit are left with their parents.”

I smiled, a wry twist of my lips.

“They are those who have approached the limits of humanity without abandoning their humanity. Truly, they are worthy of respect. But in other words, they did not abandon their humanity for the sake of strength.”

It is because people have something precious to protect that they can fight. That they can grow stronger.

“I’ve included the families of the Imperial Guard in the ranks of the regular soldiers who will participate in the rebellion.”

What they should have protected. One of the reasons they had first taken up the sword. A future that might have been, if they hadn’t been captured by the… slave traders.

They would be forced to turn their hands against them. With the blades they had honed for the sake of the Empire.

“…But… they still can’t win, can they?”

“They’ve been given some… acting lessons… with the help of mind magic. —They’re not inciting rebellion. They’re saying, ‘Make this country a better place, for my sake.’”

I had gotten the hint from that manual.

Mind magic was not omnipotent.

The rebellion itself was planned. Though not the Imperial Guard, there were those who were concerned for the Empire, for His Majesty the Emperor, and who were willing to raise their banners, to show their will, even if they couldn’t win. To use mind magic to strip them of their loyalty would only break them.

But to make them remember their feelings for their families, to gently guide the last words they wished to leave behind… if it did not go against their hearts…

“…………”

I pulled out a third document and tossed it to Liz, who had fallen silent, her expression unreadable.

“The Perte Empire is currently unstable, with the aged emperor on his deathbed. As you know, it is not a hereditary system. The discontent is being fanned, centered around the Electors. —The foolish who, in their haste to anoint the next emperor, disrespect the authority of the current one… will be brought to justice.”

I pulled out a fourth.

“In between, we will have a group of ordinary citizens take up arms. To the Imperial Guard, they will be like scarecrows. And that is precisely why they will wonder. —What am I trying to protect, by turning my blade on the citizens of the Empire, who are not even soldiers…?”

Each was a small spark, enough to start a fire. The Perte Empire was a massive state apparatus, so precisely constructed, managed, and operated that the Listrea Demon Kingdom could learn from it. It would not be physically shaken by such a small thing.

But a nation was supported by its people. And you couldn’t control the hearts of all the people.

I pulled out a fifth.

“The slums are also expanding, due to the influx of refugees. We can’t expect much from them in terms of military strength, but this is a spark that will ignite on its own, without our help. Once their wounds have healed a little… they will wonder why their villages were not protected. Well, the real villain is the Lord of Disease, the one who created the refugees, but people can only strike at what is within their reach.”

And as I reached for the sixth, Liz spoke.

“Wait. Master. —How many of these do you have?”

“Twenty-four in total. For now. I’ve been working hard with the disinformation unit!”

“I… should I… praise you for this…?”

“Yes, praise me.”

“Yes… well, good job…” I could sense her hesitation, her doubt as to whether this was truly something to be praised. But I was being praised. I was happy.

“The probability of any one of these succeeding is not high. —But somewhere, someone, will surely think. Precisely because their loyalty to the Emperor has been hammered into them. Precisely because they have been taught to fight for this country.”

It was not malice that killed people. No one had ‘created’ the Imperial Guard with malicious intent.

There was not a single shred of malice in that document.

The thing that had justified the inhuman system of intentionally enslaving innocent children and then rescuing them to gain their loyalty. What they had wanted was simply—

I smiled brightly.

“‘To make this country a better place.’”

“…Um, Master.”

“What is it?”

“Do you know the word ‘villain’?”

Before, I would have smiled and brushed it off. But now, I could smile and nod and say,

“I know it very well. I am a sensible person.”

What I wanted was the same. ‘To make this country a better place.’ With that thought alone, I could devise and command such an operation.

In other words, I, too, was a ‘sensible person,’ of the same ilk as those who had created the Imperial Guard for the sake of the Empire, for the sake of a better country.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, they say, and it was probably true.

And this war was no longer at a stage where we could question the means.

That was all there was to it.