I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 705

“I will embrace anyone, regardless of who they are or what dark past they hold,” I declared.

“No matter what darkness or ugliness they committed in the past, if they look in the same direction as me under my banner, I will try to talk to them, understand them, and embrace them.”

I continued, speaking to the Emperor who was looking at me with a silent gaze.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m giving them a free pass.”

“…Then?”

“I will remember clearly. Their darkness, their ugliness, their mistakes. As they are.”

The Emperor frowned, as if he didn’t quite understand.

“‘Remember’?”

“For example, Father.”

I stared intently at the Emperor.

“You are now looking in the same direction as me. You are my understander, my helper, and my supporter.”

The Emperor gestured with his chin, as if to tell me to continue.

I smirked, curling up the corners of my mouth.

“But you have killed countless people in the name of protecting the Empire. Even within the Empire. If it was for a purpose, you didn’t even bat an eye as you massacred, sacrificed, and burned people.”

“…I did. So?”

After taking a breath, I got to the point.

“I will record all of that history, and make it public.”

“…What?”

“I will engrave the names of all the innocent people you killed in the history books, one by one.”

The Emperor looked at me with a bewildered gaze. I was relentless.

“The evil deeds you committed. The brutal tyranny you committed in the name of protecting the Empire.”

“…”

“I will record it without embellishment. As long as human history continues, even a thousand years from now, even ten thousand years from now… the world will remember clearly.”

I whispered softly.

“As long as human history continues, be criticized. This is the punishment you will receive.”

“…Ha. That’s absurd.”

The Emperor scoffed.

“That’s not a punishment at all!”

“…”

“You’ll leave my evil deeds in history, and have future generations throw stones at my grave? Is that all? I will live the rest of my life on the throne, eating well and living peacefully without any guilt. Even if I am criticized in the future, what kind of punishment is that for me personally?”

“That’s right. Perhaps this is the weakest punishment.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“But it is also the most powerful punishment.”

The Emperor gritted his teeth.

“You…”

“It’s not just you, Father.”

I raised my voice.

“All the previous emperors, and all the neighboring countries. I will dig up and expose all the hidden and concealed evil deeds. Not the history that has been edited to be palatable like now, but the shameful and uncomfortable truths will be revealed in broad daylight, to the whole world.”

As my intentions became clearer, the Emperor clenched his fist with his only hand and trembled with anger.

“You’re going to expose the flaws of your father and your ancestors, passed down through generations, with your own hands? You’re going to tarnish the reputation of this country and cause a bloodbath yourself? Is that your goal?”

“Yes.”

“You are the next Emperor. In the end, you will have to bear all the flaws of your predecessors! The whole world will curse you, and demand payment for past grudges. And yet!”

“I am prepared for it.”

“That’s truly the nonsense of a fool who doesn’t know the world or politics! No, you know it well, yet you’re advocating such a futile ideal, so it’s truly a crazy act!”

The Emperor pointed a finger at me.

“An emperor who reveals his own weaknesses and begs to be stabbed! The whole world will come at you with swords. You and this country will be torn to shreds and destroyed!”

I nodded.

“If a country is destroyed just by admitting its past mistakes, then it deserves to be destroyed.”

“What…”

I didn’t back down, and a clear emotion flashed across the Emperor’s face.

It was fear.

The fear of realizing that the son he had decided to pass the throne to was truly a madman who could destroy his own country if it was to uphold his beliefs.

“I will acknowledge all the mistakes this country has made. If there are things that can be apologized for, I will apologize, and if there are things that can be compensated, I will compensate. And then I will move forward. No.”

I smiled brightly.

“Only then will a true new era begin.”

“Ash…!”

“This is my view of the Emperor.”

I will embrace.

No matter who they are, no matter what mistakes they have made, if they look in the same direction as me under my banner. If they have the will to understand and talk to each other. I will embrace them.

But, however.

That doesn’t mean I’m issuing a free pass.

I will specify all of their mistakes and sins. I will never clear their sins for them.

Forgiveness and revenge are not my place. Because I am not a god. Because such things are not something that can be done on behalf of someone else.

I will only remember.

I will never forget, and I will write it down and continue it.

History.

Because I believe that continuing is the most powerful weapon that people can use in the world of people.

‘This is the basic principle that I, as Emperor, will lay down.’

I will face it directly.

From the world, from the past, from the future.

I will not turn away. I will not ignore it. I will not hide it.

I will embrace it, but also embrace the pain. If necessary, I will give rewards and punishments without embellishment.

The task of correcting the distorted history of this empire, which has massacred citizens, trampled on neighboring countries, and burned other races like firewood, and the world that has condoned this barbarism.

Only when this is done can we move on to the next stage… only then can we truly move into the next era with the people of this country, the people of other countries, and those of different races.

To do that, I want to reflect on all the mistakes and evil deeds of this country, thoroughly and on my own.

‘…Well, it’s not like I’m just going to take it lying down.’

It is true that the Everblack Empire, as the world’s leading superpower, has committed the most evil deeds, but it is not as if other countries have not done the same. It’s not like other races haven’t done the same either.

If we dig into what the Empire needs to apologize for, the rights and wrongs of other countries with intertwined interests will inevitably be revealed.

If we issue the bills, there will be errors that can be resolved mutually, and even if there is a final bill to pay, it can be replaced by future win-win agreements and treaties.

‘What I want to focus on is not this messy political story.’

What the Emperor fears is not this calculable financial loss either.

Prestige.

The Everblack Empire, which has suppressed the whole world with its power as the ruler of the continent, losing its dignity as a superpower.

He is worried because my declaration, that I will reveal my own weaknesses to the whole world before I even become Emperor, seems like political suicide.

“I worked so hard to make you a flawless Emperor…”

The Emperor’s voice lost its strength.

“To reveal your own weaknesses, and to become a scarred Emperor who begs to be stoned…”

“Yes.”

“To acknowledge all those mistakes? All that ugly past, all that darkness, this country… you will bear it?”

“Yes.”

I affirmed.

“I will not hide. I will face it, even if it is painful.”

“…”

“The darkness of the people I love. The ugliness of the country I must rule. The history of this world stained with disgrace – I will embrace it all and look at it straight.”

The Emperor looked at me with trembling eyes. I nodded.

“The history of people that continues, not only the bright side, but also the dark side. Everything.”

Silence flowed.

After a long time, the Emperor, who had been catching his breath by the window with the afternoon sun behind him, finally opened his mouth.

“…I tried to cut out the world covered in dust and soot, and feed you only the palatable parts.”

His voice was old and tired.

“You’re going to cram the whole world into your mouth and try to digest it, even if you get indigestion… I really don’t know if you’re broad-minded or just reckless.”

“…”

“You know better than anyone else. How weak your ideals are. That the world is much more cruel than you think, and that everyone is waiting to tear you apart like wolves.”

The Emperor shook his head.

“No matter how white and clean a flag you hold, the moment you pass through the battlefield, that flag will be covered in blood and ashes. You should already know that.”

“…”

“Yes, you know it, but you’re still going to try to walk that path.”

As I stood firm, the Emperor let out a long sigh.

“History belongs to the victors. It can never be complete. If you’ve seen the history books left in the current Empire, you’ll know that there’s almost nothing that is detrimental to the Empire. It’s all about praising the imperial family and extolling their achievements.”

“…”

“You will try to write history from a fair perspective, but in the end, you are a person born as the son of the Emperor. A person who was born with everything. The history you are trying to write will also be from the perspective of the victor.”

“I know. But I can try to be fair.”

Ideals do not exist.

But the effort to reach ideals does exist.

“And as it happens, I have the right person.”

“The right person…?”

The Emperor raised his eyebrows in bewilderment. I continued.

“The only imperial soldier who defied you, Father. The person who officially acknowledged the massacre committed by the Imperial Army for the first time.”

My former lightning mage, who was the commander of the 2nd Division of the Imperial Magic Corps.

“Jupiter. She has an adopted daughter.”

“…Jupiter Junior, is it.”

“Yes. Junior is an Imperial, but she is also a Camilla Kingdom citizen. She lost her family and hometown to the Empire’s bombing, but grew up as an Imperial. She is still an outsider who is struggling with her identity.”

I also knew that Junior was very interested in history, and that she had been keeping a diary and recording her life every day.

Whether it was because she had a limited time to live, or for some other reason, I don’t know.

I had already marked her as the person in charge of this project from the beginning.

“We will gather scholars from all over the world, centered around her, and establish a foundation that can look at the history of the world from a neutral perspective. The first project will be the history of the destroyed Camilla Kingdom.”

And it will also be the history of the Empire’s invasion of the Camilla Kingdom.

“A history foundation that cross-verifies events by faction, and records only the neutral truth as much as possible, without embellishment. Its name will be.”

Taking the name of the officer who defied the Emperor for the first time in the history of the Empire…

“I will name it the ‘Jupiter Foundation’.”

“…”

“After overcoming the global crisis of the monster invasion, in order for everyone to move into a new era together. The first project I will undertake after becoming Emperor. It is the project of compiling world history and fostering historians.”

The Emperor closed his eyes tightly, perhaps feeling dizzy from my not-so-subtle taunting.

“So, Father. I’ll warn you in advance. I will tarnish the faces of all the previous emperors. Of course, as I said repeatedly, you are no exception.”

“…”

“If you are not confident that you can handle such a future, quickly remove me from the position of Crown Prince. Or, pray that I will fall and die during the remaining ten defense battles.”

Then the Emperor let out a sigh that seemed to make the ground sink.

“How could I do that, you damned son…”

The Emperor, who had wiped his face several times with his only hand, muttered with difficulty.

“…Before I gave birth to you, I received a prophecy from the guardian spirit Everblack. Half of it is definitely correct.”

The Emperor shook his head and lamented.

“I have no choice but to pray that the other half is also correct…”

I was curious about the content of the prophecy, but I decided not to ask.

It didn’t matter.

Because I had already decided to walk the path I had chosen, according to my own will.

‘Well, that’s all in the future.’

I spouted high-sounding, pretentious ideals, but this is also something that will happen after surviving the last war with the monsters.

But if this winter ends, and the world is not destroyed, and I survive and become Emperor… many things that will surprise the world will unfold.