NOVEL NEXT Chapter XXVIII – Bless them which inform you.
With their introductions to Brown done, Kyauta and Vaiz left the room to accommodate themselves with the rest of the freemen, and to also make arrangements for their accommodation. Ayomide went out to help them, leaving the old acquaintances Brown and Tubman alone to catch up.
The two abolitionists sat across each other, with tea on the table to fuel discussion. Brown began, after putting down his cup and clearing his throat, their catching-up. “So… General Tubman. We haven’t seen each other for a long time.” Brown was a gentleman, not of the snobby noble kind but of the learned kind, who always made sure to have an air of humble formality. “We last met… I believe somewhere in the spring of 1858.”
“Yes, before you went on your divine mission to free the slaves.” It felt odd, for Tubman, to be talking about time. “I’ve seen the Lord, Mister Brown, and He has told me that we’d surely meet again. I thought that He was referring to Heaven, but…” She looked once more again at Brown, in disbelief. “God’s plan is mysterious as it is grand.
“Indeed, it is.” Brown did hold hope in his heart that he’d finally get to pass on to the afterlife after his mission on Gemeinplatz was done. He missed his family, whom most had already gained admission the Pearly Gates. “I assume that there was good reason for the absence of General Tubman at Harper’s Ferry?” He slowly shifted the topic to a sensitive question that had been bugging his mind since his capture at Harper’s Ferry.
“You have done more in dying than a hundred men would do in living. I wouldn’t have been absent if I could have helped.” Tubman took a sip out the tea to ready herself for the next part. “Truth is, I can’t recall much of that time. All I remember is a vision, of a wilderness. There, a serpent raised its head amongst the rocks there. Its head was that of an old man with a long white beard, looking at me wishfully. Two heads rose up, younger than he. A great crowd of men rushed to strike down the young heads, followed by the old one. I didn’t get what this meant, until I heard news of your capture and the death of your sons.”
Brown wasn’t, despite what might one initially assume, the type to seek signs and fall into superstition. Even then, he couldn’t ignore such clear symbolism. “A snake… I remember another too, in Maryland when we were setting up the house for the raid. Annie, my daughter, she and I were sitting one afternoon when we saw two wrens at the door.”
“I approached the birds and their nest, only to find a snake poised to attack the bird’s young. I killed the snake, to protect the nest, and I thought of it to be an omen of success in our upcoming fight for the slaves.” Brown thought of the snake as having represented the evils of slavery, soon to be crushed before it could inflict further damage upon the innocent. It seemed, however, that the snake had been the one to bite him in America.
Tubman had another idea. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” She quoted a relevant passage from the Gospel of John (3:14 to be exact). Tubman thought that, like the Savior, Brown had found salvation in his death. They had another chance to right what was wrong, this time in another world. “I think it is clear what the Lord intends.”
Brown fell silent. He had already decided that his journey to another world was a divine mission, on the first day he arrived in Gemeinplatz in fact. These revelations didn’t do anything but further steel his resolve. “I have had no doubt about that, General Tubman. Faith is dead without works; we shall strive to work wherever we are.”
“That’s the spirit, God bless you. It’s good to see that old John Brown ain’t dead.” Tubman had been worried about the mental and spiritual state of Brown, considering how she herself had a hard time adjusting after being thrust into a foreign land.
“Speaking of dying, how did America fare after I left it?” Brown had wanted to learn more about this from Jacob, but the old man had rudely cut their conversation (and Jacob’s neck) short. “I heard, from Sir Jacob who you might know, that there has been a civil war of some sort, and that the Northerners won.”
“Ah, yes. I was intending to get there.” Tubman rocked back and forth on her chair as she reminisced what had happened a while ago for her. “As I’ve said, you did what many couldn’t by dying. Those ‘masters’ in the South were pretty afraid of a thousand more John Browns springing up and inciting rebellion in their lands. Eventually, after the election of a president who opposed the expansion of slavery, the Southern states decided that they’d band together and secede rather than let the African be free.”
“In my younger days, I had vainly thought that emancipation could be achieved without much bloodshed.” Brown couldn’t help but heave a deep sigh in reaction to the stubbornness and cruelty of his countrymen. “The fact that the Lord hasn’t cracked the earth under us is only a sign of His mercy.”
“Amen.” Tubman couldn’t help but agree, she herself wasn’t sure how God hadn’t lost His patience during the American Civil War. “Hundreds of thousands bled, to keep the Union intact. It was like Armageddon came to America. I fought there too, and in the end we did end up winning the war over the Confederacy, but not the war over liberation.”
“You didn’t win the war over liberation?” Brown was so shocked that he slammed the tea cup on the table. “What happened? Was slavery not abolished after all that bloodshed?” He was about to start preaching about eternal damnation if that was the case.
“You see, the old form of slavery was abolished. By a new amendment, in fact.” Tubman paused a bit, trying her best to remember it. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Tubman simply quoted the Thirteenth Amendment, not adding any further commentary.
“…except as a punishment for crime where the party shall have been duly convicted?” Brown could guess where this was going. “This makes the abolishment of slavery useless if states can hand out arbitrary punishments to put the freemen back into bondage!” Tubman didn’t respond; Brown understood that his guess was correct. “Oh, may God save our souls…”
Brown looked the most troubled he had been since he had arrived in Gemeinplatz. Even the bear attack hadn’t angered him this much, for a bear attacking was a part of its nature while humanity could choose a better way. “So, hundreds of thousands died, only for…” He couldn’t continue. It was too much for him.
John Brown wept, for there were no more ferries to raid.
Brown wanted to burn down the entirety of Congress, unfortunately for the millions in bondage but fortunately for the job security of congressmen, he was currently not in America. He’d have probably burnt down the rest of the country in righteous fury if he learned that the Thirteenth Amendment still worked the same way in the 21st century.
“Excuse me, General Tubman.” Brown got up from his seat. He wiped a few of his own tears with his hands. “I- I need a moment to calm down and pray to the Almighty.”
“No problem, Mister Brown.” Tubman got up as well. She also needed a moment of prayer.
The old man stormed out the room, determined to not let reconstruction in Gemeinplatz not go the way it did in America.
6th of Summer, 5859
Casamonu, Empire of Gemeinplatz
Kim Seong-min was back at the Count Leon’s mansion, though he hadn’t planned on being back here so soon. His sister Do-Yun sat beside him while they watched the summoned people fill the grand hall, the siblings surrounded by the mercenaries Kim had brought over from Korea. The count’s summon had reached far and wide, and the high-ups of the duchy had made sure to answer the call swiftly in hopes of currying favor from their liege.
Kim was introducing the newcomers to his sister as they came. “This one’s… he’s the son of some local merchant. I don’t remember his name.” He wanted his sister to be ready to take over the company in case of an emergency, or at least help out with his work in the future. Do-Yun wasn’t interested in politicking, but she was interested in court intrigue.
“Oh, he fits the role of a nameless background character perfectly!” commented Do-Yun. The merchant’s son probably would have a few objections about that if he could understand the Korean language. “And who are those… Chinese guys?” Do-Yun’s eyes followed a group of newly arrived men in white robes.
Upon the mention of the Chinese, Kim became a whole lot more dismissive and his mood suddenly got a whole lot worse. “They’re just the cultivating loonies of Long Dong’s sect.” It had been a while since he had seen Dong’s men. “Apparently he went out of isolation after hearing the count’s summon.” He kept a close eye on the sect members, who were standing around and talking to others in the hall. Kim had a bad feeling about what Dong might be planning.
“Make way for the Pavise Hero, Iwagaya Takafumi!” Kim’s thoughts of suspicion were interrupted by the pompous entrance of one Japanese man, with an iconic pavise attached to his shoulder, and his harem of demi-humans. Everyone in the room groaned as they saw him enter. “So, what do you blue-blooded freaks want?” The room ignored Takafumi, and continued chatting away with each other.
However, someone else followed Takafumi. “Make way for the Dungeon Hero, Jonathan Brown!” He too, had a harem of demi-humans, though this harem was a bit smaller compared to Takafumi’s one. Everyone in the room, especially Takafumi, groaned in great annoyance when they saw him enter. The room then continued to ignore Brown.
“Look at the new kid on the block, stealing my spot.” Takafumi walked up to Brown. They proceeded to argue verbally while everyone in the room did their best to continue ignoring them.
“That Pavise Hero sure is lively today.” Kim leaned back on his chair as if he was watching a game of football. He wished there was some popcorn he could snack on while watching them argue.
“He has the energy of an arrogant antagonist.” added Do-Yun. “Jonathan seems to minor to be an antagonist though, maybe he’d be a bully in the background.”
“Don’t underestimate that Jonathan guy.” said Kim, stopping his carefree leaning. “He’s only been in Gemeinplatz since the beginning of this spring, but he has already managed to become important enough to be summoned here.” Kim was a bit of an egoist, seeing himself a bit above everyone else, but he was also a businessman. The pragmatic, businesslike side of him felt danger when he was faced with Jonathan. “Jon must have a cheat skill allowing his ascent, but I have no clue as to what it might be. Presumably it has something to do with dungeons.”
Before Kim could audibly theorize further, the room suddenly calmed down. He stopped to look around to where everyone was looking at: the door. Count Leon had arrived.
“Make way for His Excellency!” The servant beside Leon entered the room, further announcing his arrival. Everyone important in the room obliged as they took a seat around the large table that covered the hall. Their servants stood beside them, there not being enough seats to seat all.
The count slowly made way for his position at the head of the table. He leisurely sat down, not because he was at leisure, but because he wanted to project an image of being calm and having the situation under control. “Now, you might be wondering why I have gathered you all here today. Some of you may already know the reason as to why.”
“You have probably heard of the incident involving the uprising at Azdavay.” The hall was quieter than quiet at the mention of the exodus. “Do not worry, we’ve already arrested and dealt with the perpetrators. However, the fugitives remain at large, and they have captured a copper mine in the Curry Mountains, wantonly executed one of my knights, not to mention that they’re holding the knight’s family hostage.” Leon’s servant took out the letter from Sir Baha, and read it out loud. Sounds of shock and disdain reverberated throughout the room.
“These fugitives must be stopped, before they grow bolder and threaten to throw our entire county into anarchy. For the sake of the commonwealth of the realm, I ask you to lend the aid you’ve promised for anti-fugitive action.”