Do Your Own Revolution

#017.

“Underground passage?”

The day I was caught by Maximilien.

I revealed to him the existence of a secret passage that could lead into Belkers territory.

‘Originally, I was planning to make Irene go berserk when all the Elcidore Knight Order had left, and then look for an opportunity.’

She is the possessor of an immense power that would later cause the ‘Black Sun’ incident.

Despite not even being ten years old, Irene had that potential.

Being young, it would have been easy to induce her to go berserk, and if she died along with Elcidore, that would have been perfect, but…

‘From the moment I was captured by Maximilien, this plan was over.’

I had begun to be suspected, and Lupeon wouldn’t leave me be.

So instead, I planned to use this Revolutionary Army.

“Originally, it was an escape route I devised for my own escape. It’s a direct route from the center to the outskirts of the territory.”

“So we climb up that route in reverse and attack Elcidore?”

“Exactly.”

“Stop spouting nonsense.”

Upon hearing this, Maximilien snorted at me.

“You’re Elcidore’s trained hound. You’re an enemy who deserves to be torn apart right now. And you want me to believe you and follow the route you’ve shown to enter Elcidore territory? Have you lost your mind?”

“Then why did you keep me alive?”

Maximilien hesitated at my question.

But it didn’t matter.

I knew what I needed to say.

“It’s because the emperor assassination operation was canceled, isn’t it? Am I wrong?”

“……”

Maximilien’s eyes narrowed at my words.

‘Seems like I’m not wrong.’

Before the main story began, the Revolutionary Army was nothing but a ragtag group of misfits except for its founder, Maximilien.

What they had prepared by gathering all the capabilities of such a Revolutionary Army was an event that occurred 5 years before the story began. ‘The Emperor Assassination Plan.’

Of course, in the main story, that operation ended in failure, but the changes that occurred to the Revolutionary Army afterward more than made up for that failure.

“The only group that attempted to assassinate the emperor. That fact alone would significantly increase the Revolutionary Army’s presence.”

From that incident onward, the Revolutionary Army would step up from being a mere rebellion organized in a moment to become a major force threatening the empire’s foundation.

“Numerous talented individuals wanting to change the empire would concentrate on the Revolutionary Army, opening the floodgates for the Revolutionary Army’s organizational systematization and talent recruitment. In other words…”

After taking a breath, I spoke slowly toward Maximilien.

“Whether the result was success or failure, the emperor assassination operation was an operation that had to be carried out.”

“…!”

However, I had informed him about the presence of an internal traitor, and the existence of the traitor was true.

Maximilien’s conviction had cracked, and the emperor assassination plan was canceled.

They had gathered all of Revolutionary Army’s total force for this plan, yet that goal had disappeared in an instant.

“Right now, the Revolutionary Army needs something else to turn its prepared blade toward. If they disperse now without doing anything, the Revolutionary Army will never again achieve this level of organization.”

After saying that, I asked him in return.

“Am I wrong?”

“…Hmph, what an impudent brat.”

It was a reaction I often saw in the game.

When he responds like this, it means I’m half right.

“You’re right. I had stirred up the entire organization for the plan and even gave a grand speech, but in the end, we had to scrap it.”

“……”

“In that situation, I caught you like a drowning man clutching at straws, and that led us to where we are now.”

In other words, he had been waiting for me to make this proposal.

‘Despite having the knowledge of a possession victim, I was still played.’

Crazy bastard.

While thinking that, I said to Maximilien.

“However, this plan isn’t without weaknesses.”

I didn’t engage in half-baked psychological warfare or number games.

There wasn’t time, and I was the one at a disadvantage.

“There’s only one secret passage leading to the mansion. It will take time for the entire Revolutionary Army to use it.”

“Hmm…”

“If Elcidore notices the invasion and starts to surround us during that time, you’ll be eaten alive instead. Then it’s all over.”

After saying that, I waited for Maximilien’s response.

Then, after a moment.

“Then, we just need to make sure they don’t notice, right?”

“…Yes?”

Maximilien grinned and said to me.

“In that case, we have a way.”

“A way? What is it?”

At my question, Maximilien chuckled and waved his hand.

“Listen, kid. No matter how much information you provide, you’re still a potential enemy. Why would I reveal that? Just know that we have a way.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Why not join the Revolutionary Army? I’d welcome you anytime…”

“I’ll tell you the location of the secret passage. That concludes our deal.”

“Ah, this kid. Playing hard to get unnecessarily…”

With a mischievous smile, Maximilien kept poking my shoulder.

In the main story, Eugene and Maximilien often talked like this.

Whew, that was dangerous.

I almost called him master.

***

“I heard they had a way, but I never thought they’d use this method…”

Rewinding to the present.

I was dumbfounded watching the chunks of airships falling from the sky in one mass.

“An air squadron with one mage assigned to each airship… They’re using the whole thing as bait?”

Dozens of mages capable of using defensive magic formulas, and dozens of airships they were riding.

They used all that tremendous manpower and equipment as bait to divert Elcidore’s attention, and in that gap, they infiltrated through the underground passage.

I could understand using bait.

What shocked me was those mages assigned to the bait role.

That absolutely insane mindset of carrying out what amounts to a suicide mission without any hesitation.

‘Well, come to think of it, the Revolutionary Army was full of such crazy people.’

They don’t hesitate to face death to save their comrades.

They jump into dangerous situations without any reservations if needed for the operation.

They were truly brave warriors worthy of being the protagonist’s companions, lacking nothing.

That was the true strength of the Revolutionary Army, and the driving force that would allow them to overturn the empire in the future.

In four words, revolutionary spirit.

It was the ‘unbreakable will’ that was essential for any RPG protagonist.

While I was thinking this, the entire Elcidore castle where I was standing shook greatly.

Along with the sound of magic circuit activation that split the entire sky, two massive magic circles spread across the heavens.

The blue thorny vine pattern, and the red wing pattern.

Lupeon, the head of Elcidore, and Maximilien, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, had clashed.

“Sh*tty reincarnation difficulty for real.”

Muttering that, I entered through the mansion’s back door and headed to the basement.

A battle between two absolute powerhouses, Lupeon and Maximilien.

And I had to slip through that gap and secure the variable that would decorate the end of this battle.

That variable’s name was the Black Witch, Irene.

She was located in the experimental wing in the mansion’s basement.

Looking at the two magic circles clashing in the sky, there wasn’t much time left.

***

“Ugh, aaaaah?!”

“Save me…! Save meeeee!!”

In the dark laboratory.

The researchers were trying to flee in a hurry, but unfortunately, not many succeeded in escaping.

“Kuh, keuuk…!”

Black tentacles stretching out from the darkness pierced their bodies, dragging them into the deep prison basement.

After some time passed with spine-chilling screams echoing.

From the deep darkness underground, snow-white bare feet appeared.

“Hun… gry……”

It was a black-haired girl.

A girl who looked to be barely ten years old, with black eyes gleaming through her disheveled long hair.

However, what sprouted from her back was something incomprehensible to the human mind.

Hundreds of teeth moved grotesquely, chewing on the bones of the researcher they had just taken.

But whatever had sprouted from the girl’s back wasn’t satisfied with its hunger, as it rolled dozens of eyes scattered across its body, searching for the next prey.

At that moment, the laboratory door that had been confining her opened.

A small light appeared in the middle of the blood-soaked dark laboratory.

As if uncomfortable with the light they were seeing for the first time in almost a year, the things growing from the girl’s back slightly shrank back.

“Irene.”

However, soon after.

When a familiar voice was heard from that light, Irene’s expression immediately brightened.

“Waaah…!”

It was a voice she hadn’t heard for months.

The voice of a friend she thought she would never meet again.

The voice of the only being who had comforted her endless loneliness and hunger.

“Eugene!”

Irene called out the boy’s name.

A boy with black hair similar to hers was approaching her.

“Is it Knifehead?!”

“Perfect timing! Contact the Count! Pl-please! That monster…! That monster has escaped from the experimental wing…!”

“She didn’t escape.”

When other researchers hurriedly approached the boy, he slit their throats with the dagger he was holding.

“I set her free.”

Saying that, the boy kicked the bodies of the researchers he had killed, pushing them toward the girl.

“Eu, Eugene. This is, well…”

Like a zookeeper feeding prey to a beast.

When Irene hesitated, Eugene slowly approached and placed his hand on her head.

“It’s okay. You can eat.”

“…!”

Seeing the boy’s bright smile, life returned to the girl’s hollow face.

He smiles at me.

Even on the day I was despised as a monster, even after seeing this monstrous evidence sprouting from my back.

He even gives me food!

He doesn’t say eating people is wrong!

Rather, he permits me to eat people!

With a happier heart than ever before, Irene ate people.

She was filled with satisfaction and fulfillment she had never felt before.

After her hunger had somewhat subsided.

The boy tore off a gown from one of the dead researchers and wiped the girl’s face.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“That’s good. We have quite a long way to go.”

A long way to go?

As Irene tilted her head, the boy said to her.

“Let’s leave this place together.”

And at the boy’s single sentence, a bright smile bloomed on Irene’s face.

“Y-yes!”

“But before that, there’s something we need to do.”

“What is it? What do I need to do? I’ll work hard!”

“That’s good to hear.”

Pleased with her energetic response, the boy stroked her head once more.

“To leave here together… we need to kill everyone here. Every single person, without exception.”

Words that would have horrified anyone else who heard them.

But the boy, undeterred, asked Irene again.

“Can you do that for me?”

“Yes!”

Irene didn’t hesitate for a moment.

“Good girl.”

As soon as he heard her answer, the boy took Irene’s hand and led her.

The result of the Elcryer family’s horrific biological experiments.

An aberration created by mixing human and monster.

A monster who had been imprisoned underground due to her danger, never to be released to the surface again.

The girl who would later be known as the ‘Black Witch’ emerged into the world with a bright smile.