Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 84

“After subduing the chaos caused by the Blood Clan, Father stood upon the ramparts, looking down at the freed slaves, and proclaimed, ‘You are no longer slaves.’”

A collective sigh of relief rippled through the crowd.

A group of Thurdret’s soldiers had gathered on one side of the encampment.

Rachel and her followers were moving around, gathering people.

‘Aren’t you curious why Father said that?’

‘Did you know that the capital of Wallachia was destroyed?’

‘Come and listen, and we’ll give you an Oroko gold coin [a valuable currency in the region].’

Rachel, having gathered people through curiosity and the promise of gold, stood on a makeshift platform of wooden planks and began to speak.

The subject of her story was, of course, her master, Edar.

Starting with who Edar was, how he was sent to the Great Plains, how he conquered Northern Wallachia, and how he came to be here, she spoke fluently without pausing.

“Oho.”

“So, what happened next?”

When she started her speech, there were only about a hundred people gathered in front of her.

A tiny fraction of the 50,000 soldiers.

However, as the story continued, the number gradually increased.

The followers kept moving around, encouraging attendance, and some people were intrigued by Rachel’s loud voice, while others were hooked by her eloquence and sat down.

By the end of the story, there were over a thousand spectators.

Clap clap clap—

“Thank you for listening to the end.”

Even after Rachel came down from the platform, few people left their seats.

They gathered and exchanged stories with those sitting around them.

“It’s hard to believe that he defeated the Blood Clan…”

“Right. The Servants are not much different from us, but the Blood Clan are the direct descendants of Vlad, aren’t they?”

“If that story were true, Vlad would not have stood still.”

Listening to the story with interest is different from believing it to be true.

Few of them believed the story to be entirely accurate.

Even though Rachel had embellished it to downplay the status of her opponents.

‘It would be better to portray Laegon and Ugdash as just Elves and Orcs, and Vlad as just a powerful member of the Blood Clan. If I tell the truth as it is, they will think it’s absurd.’

Rachel smiled wryly to herself.

‘I didn’t expect it to be this difficult to convince them.’

She sighed deeply and rejoined the soldiers.

“It may be hard to believe, but the truth is the truth.”

Rachel intervened with those who doubted the story and explained the situations they didn’t understand.

“Think about it. Has there ever been a human lord in the Great Plains before? The fact that Edar is still active as a lord there means that the other races must have allowed it, right?”

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

“Haven’t you heard the story that the Northern Wallachian Allied Forces were attacked by a horde of Orcs?”

“I’ve heard it, but…?”

“You know that a large-scale revolt of Servants broke out in the capital of Wallachia, right? Has there ever been a Servant revolt like that before? Don’t you wonder who led it?”

“Hmm…”

They didn’t dispute the outcomes.

They just didn’t understand the process that led to those outcomes.

‘Their faith is still lacking.’

‘Well begun is half done, right? We can slowly correct it from now on.’

‘Rather, there seems to be a problem with their morality. Knights are nobles after all…’

The Duke of Thurdret’s army was merely a collection of various groups gathered under the banner of Thurdret, so there were many different classes within it.

The people gathered here could be largely divided into knights and mercenaries.

Knights were nobles who had a contractual relationship with the Duke over their fiefdoms.

Mercenaries were free people who were paid by the Duke and served him.

Therefore, their attitudes toward listening to the story were also different.

“How can a slave become a human?”

“Releasing slaves without the permission of the temple is too much.”

The nobles were the ruling class, so they had a natural resistance to disrupting the social order, and they couldn’t comprehend turning slaves, whom they saw as little more than livestock, into free people.

That is why they were so shocked when they learned that the conscripts were of slave origin.

It was as if humans had been defeated by livestock and fled.

‘We need to handle the noble class carefully in the future.’

Rachel watched their reactions with a critical eye.

On the other hand, the mercenaries’ reactions were slightly different.

“Turning slaves into humans… Isn’t he afraid of punishment from the gods?”

“He is a very merciful person.”

“If you immigrate to the Great Plains, are you exempt from taxes?”

Most mercenaries were free people, but occupied a social position between nobles and slaves.

They held the belief that they were superior to slaves, but they also felt a sense of kinship with them.

They were also a class that was often exploited by nobles.

They were quite favorable to the emancipation of slaves and immigration policies.

These two classes had different perspectives, but they also had common ground.

“He has built almost a country from scratch. Who in history has achieved such a feat?”

“Indeed, he deserves to be called an emperor.”

Even with exaggeration, Edar’s achievements were undeniable.

The Great Lord of the Oroko Great Plains, the conqueror of Northern Wallachia, the one who suppressed the revolt of the Servants in Sodomora, and the one who defeated the Duke of Thurdret’s knights—the process may be hard to believe, but the results were clear achievements.

Praise for Edar’s achievements continued among the crowd, and Rachel and several followers walked around with baskets.

“Thank you for listening to the story today. Please accept this as a gift.”

“A necklace?”

A gold necklace that seemed to be shaped like the sun.

The crowd was surprised and accepted the necklaces.

Some bent them, some bit them, and they were surprised again to find that they were made of real gold.

How many people are in the crowd, and he’s giving gold to everyone?

“It’s a necklace made with Edar’s symbol.”

“Hmm…”

Of course, no one refused.

Not because they had goodwill toward Edar, but because it was gold.

It was enough gold to make three or four gold coins, so why would they refuse?

No one wore it around their neck, but they put it in their pockets.

“Find the light when darkness falls.”

Rachel whispered as she watched them.

The people gathered in the field began to disperse one by one.

She sat on the hill and stretched.

“Sister, you worked hard today.”

“Ah, yes, thank you.”

She drank the tea that the indulgence seller, Karamazov, had given her and thought.

‘About 2,000 people listened today. If word spreads, more will come tomorrow. In about ten days, everyone will have heard it once, right?’

Rachel felt proud.

She had been feeling down lately.

The events that took place in the Marquisate of Lozenne made her feel suffocated.

The image of the bishop leading his own people to destruction for the sake of God.

Edar had pointed out that she could become like that too.

‘Avoid doing things that the brothers and sisters will hate… and do things that will help Father…’

The work she did today didn’t require such worries.

She just had to praise Edar as usual.

Thanks to that, the old stuffiness was relieved a lot.

‘I wish it would continue like this… but it won’t be easy.’

She sighed deeply and looked at the city of Kiruna.

‘A metropolis of 800,000 people. A city larger than Sodomora, the capital of Wallachia. In fact, it is even larger than the capital of Germania [a large empire].’

To what extent is the power of the Duke of Thurdret, who owns such a city?

‘The fact that the Duke of Thurdret’s power is comparable to that of a king doesn’t simply mean that his territory is large. It also means that there are many people who follow him to the point of aiming for the throne.’

The number of soldiers alone showed the answer.

Could the Duke gather 50,000 soldiers on his own?

It wouldn’t be impossible if he pushed himself, but there was no need to do so.

Those 50,000 soldiers were a collection of nobles within the Duke’s sphere of influence.

‘The nobles of Northern Wallachia gathered 20,000 soldiers while taking high-interest loans. On the other hand, the Duke is gathering and maintaining 50,000 soldiers without doing such unreasonable things.’

Germania is clearly the largest country in terms of size.

However, if you ask whether Germania’s national power is enough to mobilize and maintain hundreds of thousands of people, it is not.

Then, can’t you see how much power the Duke has?

‘It’s no wonder Father is aiming for Thurdret. If you combine Thurdret with the border lords, including Lozenne, it means that virtually 30%… no, about 40% of Germania’s direct and indirect sphere of influence is 넘어오는 [coming over/being acquired].’

If he expands his power a little more from here, he will exceed the majority.

‘It’s really happening in an instant.’

A thought flowed into her mind as she sipped her tea.

‘Rachel, Father has ordered you to prepare.’

‘The time has come.’

Numerous Horbid followers in the city.

The danger that they might revolt under the leadership of the Wolf Cult.

Edar was wary of this and warned his followers to be careful.

‘The fact that a state of readiness has been issued means that there is a risk of revolt.’

She was not worried.

It is a serious problem for a revolt to break out in a large city, but there were 300 followers in this place, and there were also conscripts.

In addition, the Duke of Thurdret’s army would also be an assistant.

‘Above all, Father is here.’

Rachel, who had risen from her seat, suddenly raised her head.

Another dark cloud formed over the dark clouds over the city.

“That is…”

She sensed the magic power within the dark clouds.

She realized that it was a cloud that had consumed magic power, not rain.

Ordinary clouds only slightly dim the light even when they block the sun.

However, that cloud swallowed the light and prevented it from reaching the ground.

Darkness was rapidly covering the city and its surroundings.

“Gather!”

“Get your weapons and gather in one place!”

She was not the only one who noticed the abnormality.

The followers who remained in the encampment shouted and gathered the conscripts.

The darkness that covered the city was rapidly approaching the encampment.

She quickly ran to the encampment.

Her shadow was consumed by the darkness that was chasing her.

The moment she arrived at the encampment, she was also consumed by the darkness.

“······.”

A moment of silence fell.

Because suddenly nothing could be seen.

Everyone closed their mouths and looked around.

However, there was nothing to be seen, only darkness.

“Can you hear me?”

Rachel muttered.

“I can hear you!”

“Everyone is next to me, right?”

She was relieved.

It wasn’t that she had been blown away somewhere alone.

She exchanged information about the situation with the followers around her through telepathy.

‘It seems to be blocking our vision.’

Someone chanted a spell and created light in their hand, but it could not be seen.

‘What about other senses?’

‘Everything is fine except for sight.’

The followers who had grasped the situation instructed the conscripts.

“No one except the followers should move!”

“Make a sound when you move!”

The conscripts were not afraid and followed the orders.

They had experienced more fear than this when they were slaves.

They did not tremble just because they lost their sight for a moment.

The problem was elsewhere.

“Kyak!”

A scream was heard in the distance.

The owner of the scream was not a follower or a conscript.

It was a scream from the soldiers in Thurdret’s encampment.

“Something, something is attacking!”

“Don’t bite me!”

A bizarre laughter was heard.

Following that, the sound of weapons clashing was also heard.

The screams continued, and the smell of blood wafted on the gentle breeze.

“Hiiiik!”

“Get away! Don’t touch me!”

Rachel strained her eyes and tried to regain her sight.

Judging from the sounds, someone was attacking the soldiers.

She needed to know who the enemy was and where they were in order to respond.

However, her sight did not return.

“It’s coming this way too!”

The attacker soon came to where Rachel was.

Even though she had lost her sight, her other five senses remained.

An unpleasant laughter, a terrible smell of blood…

She coldly raised her iron club and struck the opponent.

Smash!

Something broke and hot blood splattered.

Rachel straightened her posture and focused on her senses again.

Dada Dada—

The approaching sounds were more numerous than before.

‘The opponents are weak. But at this rate…’

If she couldn’t see, she couldn’t move easily.

It was possible to defend, but nothing more.

It would be different if there were only followers, but there were also conscripts who were ordinary humans.

If they scattered in the darkness and a free-for-all broke out, they would not be able to respond.

Rachel gritted her teeth.

‘It’s meaningless to protect only my body.’

The screams heard from all directions tormented her.

Squeeze…

She grabbed the necklace.

The symbol she created, hoping that Edar would become the light that illuminates the world.

The necklace, which was just cold metal, somehow felt warm.

‘Father…’

At that moment, a faint golden light began to emanate from the relic.