The Heavenly Demon Can’t Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 222

More and more people joined the crowd.

At first, people were worried about Jacqueline. But as the crowd grew, they became angry and looked ready to attack Roman Dmitry.

People kept coming into the square.

They stopped a few steps away from Roman Dmitry and his soldiers, like drawing a line in the sand.

You could feel the tension in the air.

A man stepped out from the crowd and spoke loudly for everyone.

“Jacqueline is a hero of Redford! Why are you treating him so badly?”

“Everyone here knows that Jacqueline robbed Count Rondon’s carriage and stole gold coins.”

Roman Dmitry spoke calmly. He didn’t seem scared by the angry crowd. The citizen’s face turned red, showing he wouldn’t give up.

“Count Rondon is a traitor! He betrayed our country! We’ve seen and heard things. We know Count Rondon is secretly working with the Dmitry family. The gold coins were Redford’s money. He was trying to sneak them out to Dmitry. Jacqueline just used the traitor’s money for a good reason. You are a foreigner, you can’t punish him for that!”

“Yes!”

“Let Jacqueline go now!”

The people moved restlessly. They were less afraid now, and their eyes looked angry and ready to kill.

One robbery. People had died. They saw that the nobles’ soldiers could be hurt. They thought that because there were thousands of them, they could beat Roman Dmitry and his small group of soldiers.

That’s what they thought was obvious. They didn’t know that one person could kill many, many people.

They were blind. They were foolish. Even though they could see and hear, they didn’t see or hear the truth.

Roman Dmitry spoke.

“Where is the basis for your claims?”

“What basis? What we know is the basis! Everyone knows Count Rondon is bad. And after you came, he tried to secretly move a carriage with 100,000 gold coins. Not just 10,000, but a huge 100,000 gold coins! If that much money isn’t for running away and betraying us, what else could it be for?”

“So, you are guessing?”

“Don’t change the subject! We are not guessing. We know this from what we’ve seen!”

Traitor. 100,000 gold coins. Roman Dmitry. Because of the three words, people thought Count Rondon was trying to betray them.

Roman Dmitry smiled slightly. He knew they couldn’t answer his question about guessing.

“Because of you, innocent people are dead. The soldiers and knights with Count Rondon did nothing wrong. But you killed them because you thought you were right, even without proof. This is more than just stealing. People died. And you just keep saying the same thing over and over like birds. You have no proof, but you say you are right. You have no proof, but you say Count Rondon is a traitor.”

He took something out of his pocket.

He untied the cloth that held the documents and threw them to Jacqueline.

Plop.

“Read it.”

It was a surprise. Jacqueline and the crowd were confused. What was this paper? Jacqueline paused, unsure. Roman Dmitry looked at him, telling him to read. Jacqueline quickly picked up the paper. Then, as he slowly read, his face changed. He looked shocked and terrified.

“…W-What is this?”

Jacqueline stammered, confused. His eyes went wide as he looked from the paper to Roman Dmitry.

Jacqueline’s eyes moved quickly as he read. He couldn’t believe it. But the official stamp on the paper showed it was real.

“Read it,” Roman Dmitry said again.

Jacqueline swallowed, his throat dry. His face was white, as if he couldn’t face what he was reading.

“…Golden Bank says in this paper that Roman Dmitry from the Dmitry family paid back 110,000 gold coins. This was money that the Kingdom of Redford owed to Golden Bank, and Roman Dmitry paid it for them.”

*Plop.*

He let the paper fall. He looked at Roman Dmitry, not believing what he heard. Roman Dmitry said calmly, “You said the 100,000 gold coins were to betray the country. But this paper shows the truth. It was money to pay back Redford’s debt. A few days ago, Golden Bank told Count Rondon he had to pay soon. So, Count Rondon borrowed 100,000 gold coins from me. If the carriage had arrived where it was supposed to, we wouldn’t have had to pay extra money, 10,000 gold coins, as interest. That’s the truth you refused to see.”

“That’s not true!” Jacqueline yelled. He couldn’t believe it. It made no sense for Roman Dmitry to lend so much money. And why would Count Rondon pay Redford’s debt? Count Rondon wasn’t the good person people thought. He was bad and only cared about himself. Everyone knew that. The rumors about him showed what he was really like. So, this paper must be fake. There was no other explanation. Jacqueline’s neck muscles stood out with anger.

“Do you think I’m stupid? I know what you’re really planning! This paper is fake! Count Rondon is bad. He doesn’t care about our country’s problems. People are starving, and he even made people lose their jobs because of fights between rich traders in Redford. He made so much money, but he did nothing for us. He just lived in luxury, things we can only dream of, like that big party he had for you.”

He remembered the party. He couldn’t take it anymore. He was so angry at Count Rondon’s rich lifestyle.

Then, Roman Dmitry asked, “Golden Bank can tell you if this paper is real. But I have a question for you. You guessed that Count Rondon was sneaking money away to betray us. Where is your proof that Count Rondon is a traitor like you say?” Jacqueline’s eyes showed a sudden change, like a wave hitting him.

People called Earl London “trash,” but where did this terrible name really come from? It wasn’t that he wanted to be seen as a bad person. When nasty rumors started spreading like weeds in Redford, Earl London chose to stay quiet. Perhaps he thought the truth would eventually come to light on its own. But the real beginning of his bad reputation was a sneaky plan by his rival, Dread Baron. Dread Baron was a businessman who competed with Earl London.

Dread Baron and Earl London argued over who should control business in the capital city. When Dread Baron started losing the fight for money, he made a plan.

His plan was to use people’s love for their country to make Earl London look bad.

Earl London’s father was known by everyone as a hero who loved his country. But Earl London, his son, didn’t show his love for the country as much as his father did.

So, Dread Baron spread rumors that Earl London was only interested in himself and his own wealth.

At the same time, Dread Baron pretended to be generous. He gave money and food to the people, acting like he cared about them.

It seemed like a believable story.

Dread Baron would wake up early and give food to people, winning their favor with a fake smile.

Because of this, people started saying that supporting Dread Baron’s company was good for Redford.

If that was all he did, Earl London probably wouldn’t have bothered to destroy Dread Baron’s company. But Dread Baron was secretly doing terrible things that no one could imagine.

He was involved in human trafficking and drugs. He sold the people of Redford, who were looking for work, to the Chronos Empire by making deals with them.

The truth about Dread Baron probably wouldn’t have stayed hidden for long.

Eventually, the truth would have come out. But before that could happen, Earl London destroyed Dread Baron’s company and took it over.

This made Earl London look like a bad guy.

Ordinary people thought Dread Baron was a good person.

Even though the truth was different, people naturally criticized Earl London for destroying a “good” person.

That’s how the rumor of Earl London being a traitor began.

He didn’t actually do anything to harm the country, but people only looked at the surface and criticized him.

One year passed, then two years.

As time went on, this idea became firmly planted in people’s minds.

Even when Earl London did normal business deals, people would point fingers and say that a greedy traitor was doing something.

Roman Dmitry spoke up.

“Has Earl London ever done anything truly evil? His fight with Dread Baron wasn’t evil. It was just like competing with someone at work. It was a normal thing. And even though Earl London didn’t have to, he paid off all the debts that Dread Baron left behind. Why do you think he did that? Was he trying to impress people? No. People were already criticizing him, so his reputation wasn’t a big concern. He did it because he cared about the people who supplied goods to Dread Baron.”

The truth was right in front of their eyes.

But people were prejudiced.

Some might say that the person who lied, or the person who didn’t explain things clearly, is to blame.

But is that really fair?

Before judging too quickly, they should have looked at the facts.

If they had looked into Dread Baron’s actions, they would have seen that he was evil. And Earl London clearly followed the right steps when he took over Dread Baron’s company.

How could he be evil? Just because he did something out of sight, people labeled all his actions as evil.

That’s how Earl London’s reputation was made.

One thing led to another.

“If anyone can show clear proof that Earl London is a traitor, I will release Jacqueline from here. Why do you call Earl London trash? Because he spends a lot of money? Because he throws parties? He’s just using his own money in normal ways. Even if Earl London only cares about himself, that’s not a good reason to criticize him for not sacrificing himself.”

People’s prejudice limited their thinking.

Just like how Demonic Cult Scholar Yoo Hyun and Earl London thought the other person was poor and needed help, the people of Redford thought that because Earl London was rich, he must be doing illegal and evil things.

Both were just misunderstandings.

The world I live in is different from the world others live in.

Even if I would have done good things in the same situation, other people might choose to do evil things.

“I’ll ask again. Is Earl London really the traitor you’re talking about?”

These words confused the people.

Roman Dmitry’s words were right.

Is Earl London really a traitor?

When they thought about it, they didn’t have any real proof.

They called him evil just because he destroyed Dread Baron, who had been kind to the people. From that moment on, they didn’t like anything he did.

The reason why Jacqueline started the riot was also strange.

Earl London was just spending his own money, but she was angry that he was spending too much.

The citizens of Redford looked embarrassed.

They had attacked the carriage and killed innocent soldiers.

Even after seeing blood and death, they had told themselves that they were doing the right thing. But if Earl London wasn’t evil, then they had no excuse for their actions.

They had become murderers.

They had committed murder because they blindly believed in something that wasn’t true, just to protect their own interests.

The truth was terrible.

Roman Dmitry was a hero who had solved Redford’s debt problem.

Earl London wasn’t trying to betray the country, but was trying to do something good for it. Yet, he was attacked by the citizens.

Their beliefs had fallen apart.

Their anger faded away.

But no one could accept the truth.

They weren’t sure if they could take responsibility for their mistakes if they put down their weapons.

Then, Roman Dmitry spoke again.

“There’s a place called Annabelle Orphanage in Redford. You all probably know it. You call Annabelle, the head of the orphanage, a hero of Redford, just like Jacqueline. She takes care of homeless children and helps people in need. But have you ever wondered where Annabelle Orphanage gets its money? Annabelle is just an ordinary person. Isn’t it strange that she has been able to help people for so many years?”

They questioned the actions of the “evil” person.

But they didn’t question the actions of the “good” person.

People thought of Annabelle’s orphanage as a safe place simply because she was doing good things.

The people were confused.

Why were they talking about Annabelle Orphanage now?

A worrying thought started to form in their minds. Then, Roman Dmitry said,

“The person who gives money to Annabelle Orphanage is Earl London, the same person you call trash.”

The hidden truth was a story that was very different from what people had seen and heard.