Chapter 119

The bodies were extremely tragic, many of them were tortured.

"This place... is simply..." Olivia walked on the street, constantly looking around, frowning.

"Hell on earth..." Elsa's body trembled slightly, she was suppressing her emotions that were about to explode.

As a royal family, everyone here was once a citizen of the empire, a citizen under her rule.

And at this moment, as a member of the ruling class, she was unable to protect these people...

This made Elsa very uncomfortable.

For the first time, she felt so powerless.

Walking through the city square, the two came to the Earl's Mansion in the center of the city. At this moment, the once magnificent Earl's Mansion had become a ruin, and in the Earl's Mansion, there was a person hanging outside every window, and there were more than a dozen corpses lined up at the door, as if welcoming the two's arrival.

Looking at this disgusting and absurd scene, the two felt for the first time what it felt like to be blinded by hatred.

Chapter 13: Aftermath and Settlement (6K)

Count Karls still failed.

Although he told the orcs about the warehouse outside the city where the supplies were stored, and he successfully got the orcs the supplies they wanted, when he followed the orcs back, he saw his family members who were tortured by the orcs and committed suicide because they could not bear the humiliation, and he was left with only the anger after being betrayed.

He rushed to the leader of the team in anger

, wanting to ask for an explanation, but he was knocked to the ground by the orcs before he took a few steps.

"Do you want to know why?" The minotaur said so, looking at Count Karls.

"Because, we noble orcs, there is no need to conclude a so-called agreement with lowly humans like you." As he said so, the minotaur laughed. "You are such a lowly person, you are not even worthy of carrying my shoes, and you dare to make conditions with me?!"

Count Karls' eyes were red with anger, and he broke free from the restraints of several orcs with the power that burst out from nowhere, rushed to the front of the minotaur, took out the dagger in his arms, and stabbed the minotaur.

The Minotaur didn't react for a while. Although he tried to dodge, he was still blinded in one eye.

He roared and knocked Count Karls away, then took out his giant axe and turned him into a pool of sauce.

He couldn't understand why a weak human, after seeing his means and strength, did not choose to surrender to him, but chose to retaliate against him, so he ordered all the orcs to take action and let everyone in the city be buried with his blind eye.

After that, Karls City became a hell on earth.

…

Not long after the massacre, the Minotaur who was about to continue the march received a letter from the rear, asking him to retreat with his troops. Although he didn't know why, considering that his troops had achieved such great results, the Minotaur didn't think much about it, so he led his troops and slowly retreated with supplies.

Because they carried a lot of spoils, the army retreated very slowly, so that it didn't take long for them to be caught up by human pursuers.

In addition to the Imperial Academy student army, the Black Army also came on orders to chase them.

Although the Duke of Antica and Count Kars did not have a good relationship, the people here were innocent. Anyone who saw the tragic situation in Kars would not show mercy to the orc army.

The orc army was still wondering why the humans who were defeated on the front battlefield dared to counterattack. They did not panic in the face of the pursuers, but formed a normal battle formation and waited for the enemy's charge.

The Minotaur, the leader of this group of orcs, stood at the front of the team.

Then, at the moment the two armies came into contact, the Minotaur was killed by the Black Army soldiers.

His body lay on the ground, and under the trampling of the soldiers afterwards, it turned into a pool of beef sauce like Count Kars.

In this battle, the students of the Imperial Academy worked particularly hard. They were full of anger towards this orc army and used fighting to vent their emotions.

Olivia, who was usually very calm, also went crazy in this battle. She fought in and out of the orc army, and at least hundreds of orcs died at her hands.

These orcs were stunned by this fierce offensive. They didn't think why this human army was full of hatred for them, why their previous march was obviously very smooth, and why they were slaughtering them like livestock now when they thought that all humans were weak eggs that would collapse at the slightest touch.

Yes, this is no longer a battle. This is completely a one-sided slaughter of this orc army by humans.

Some orcs who reacted tried to escape, but the humans behind them chased them faster than they ran.

The desire of humans to kill them was stronger than their desire to survive.

In the end, none of this army was spared, and all died at the hands of the chasing troops.

But it is quite regrettable that during this hunt, the students of the Imperial Academy were also blinded by anger, which led to them only caring about venting their emotions during the battle, instead of rationally analyzing the situation. Several students were seriously injured. Fortunately, the teacher in charge of the assessment found them in time and rescued them, otherwise they would probably become the first batch of student soldiers to die in this war.

"So, Your Highness, you know why I said before that it is quite difficult to want peace."

Orson also heard about the tragic situation in Karls City from behind. He led the disaster assessment team and aftermath team to the Earl of Karls overnight.

When he arrived, no one in Karls City was dealing with the aftermath.

"Yeah." Lilia looked at the scene at the city gate with a pale face.

Anyone who sees this tragic situation will definitely hate the perpetrators.

"We are not qualified to forgive them. Likewise, if the orc families lose their loved ones because of us, we will not ask them to forgive us." Orson said this and walked into the city alone. .

He just frowned from beginning to end and showed no symptoms of discomfort.

Behind him, the team responsible for the aftermath had begun to remove the hanging bodies and prepare to transport them together to build a cemetery belonging to the people of Karls City.

Arriving at Count Carls' mansion, Orson sighed.

"Why bother? You picked sesame seeds but lost the watermelons, and made your subjects pay for your sins, you frog in the well without foresight." He said this, complaining about Count Carls' short-sightedness, and at the same time, he seemed to be complaining. Ask yourself why you couldn’t discover these situations earlier.

When Orson brought the aftermath team here, he encountered several soldiers running away on the road.

From their mouths, Orson learned the reason.

They were not the so-called border garrison at all, just a group of peasant soldiers who were temporarily pulled together. They didn't even know each other before joining the army.

However, Count Kars asked them to insist that they were regular troops with military training, and they would not shrink back even when faced with orcs.

Isn't this just bullying an honest person?

Orson also learned about the widespread free-paying behavior among the border counts.

In this regard, Orson could only express his helplessness.

If you are a count in the mainland and there is no military pressure, you can just get some free pay. After all, it is unlikely that the war will reach you.

But you are the earl of the border. The Duke allocates large sums of money to the border every year to help you relieve your financial pressure and use it to form a border defense force.

As a result, instead of forming an army, they enriched themselves.

As a result, when the war broke out, not only the civilians were affected, but they themselves were also affected.

There really is no foresight at all.

The empire is just a group of people who are acting like meat eaters. No wonder some people always say that the empire is going to end.

According to this situation, if it continues to develop like this, if there is a little external pressure or internal chaos, the empire will indeed come to an end.

It can only be said that the orcs are still too weak. Their size cannot even reach one-tenth of the empire. However, the orcs are only one-fourth of the size of the empire. The current group has no ability and attitude. They are all arrogant good-for-nothing lords, and the empire must come to an end.

In the final analysis, it was because of the empire's previous policy that no nobles were allowed to annex each other, so the small nobles no longer had a sense of crisis, and naturally they began to fail.

After all, no matter how badly he behaves, he still has the support of the royal family.

This empire really needs a large-scale reform.

"Oh." Orson thought and sighed.

It was obvious that he only wanted to cultivate Li Teuk well and then started to fail, but now he is becoming more and more aware of the weight of the responsibilities on his shoulders.

Although he can't see some things, it doesn't mean that he can let them go without any worries.

"This city should be used as an immigration city after the war. Residents of nearby villages and towns that were not seriously affected by the disaster can be relocated to the city. People who cannot survive in the western part of the empire can also come here. The barren land is waiting for them. their development.”

Orson said this and started discussing with the officials behind him who were responsible for the aftermath.

"By the way, in your opinion, what should be the better positioning of this city in the future?"

"Should it continue to be the central city of the Count of Karls, or should it be a satellite city of nearby large cities that were not affected by the disaster?"

Lilia was a little confused when she saw that the two people on the side were already discussing post-war issues.

"Are you already thinking about what happens after the war? Shouldn't the top priority be to dispose of the bodies of the deceased?"

Although rationally speaking, people cannot be resurrected after death, but what Orson showed was a bit too unhuman.

Not only was there no trace of sadness on his face, but even his actual actions seemed like he was discussing the division of spoils after the war.

"But when I first came in, I already asked someone to take care of the aftermath." When Orson heard this, he showed a strange expression. "I know that the people here have a very hard life. They have paid taxes to the lord all their lives, but they still have to be defrauded by the lord until they die."

"You should also have heard what we talked about before. This incident was completely a man-made disaster. It was a tragedy created by Earl Carls and those Earls who ate empty wages."

"After a person dies, he is lucky enough to have someone who can collect his body."

Saying this, Orson sighed again.

"Lord Saint, I know that you may not have experienced this kind of tragedy, but don't forget that there were many people like me who were born in such a hell on earth. We must have lived until now. I will never forget what happened back then.”

"We still have to look forward, this

This city will still be inhabited by people in the future, and it may even become a big city. We do this to help the city recover quickly, and for the sake of future generations. "

"Okay..." Lilia nodded after hearing this.

Orson has already thought of a solution for this matter. He plans to write a letter to Lucius tomorrow to find out all these earls who are eating empty salaries.

The Duke's annual financial allocation to the border earls will be cancelled and replaced by permanent troops.

If the border between humans and orcs still exists in the future, the Duke will set up a border garrison directly under the Duke and directly station in the territory of the border earls.

At least it is much better to control the army in one's own hands than to let others eat empty salaries and cause the people to suffer.

As for the soldiers who escaped, although their behavior can be understood, they will also be judged.

No matter in which era, desertion is not encouraged.

...

Another half a month has passed. During this half month, humans have attacked everywhere and expelled all the orcs' troops from human territory and drove the orcs back to the depths of the desert.

And today, a celebration banquet will be held in Phoenix City on the border.

From the time Orson took over as the commander of the frontline to now, the attack from the orcs has been resolved in more than a month, which is much better than Lucius back then.

It was night time, and the guests attending the banquet had all expired.

They consisted of three parts. The first part was the generals of the Duke's direct army. Now that other armies were on standby at the border, they had the opportunity to come back and attend the celebration banquet.

The second part was the commanders of the troops from other parts of the empire who came to assist, but General Jello of Napoli was not seen among them.

The third part was the earls under the Duke of Antica. These people were the focus of the banquet. Orson specifically instructed that none of them should be missing.

"Here, on behalf of my father who is still in bed, I would like to express my respect to everyone present."

Orson said this and raised his glass to the people present.

"Thank you for the collective efforts of the generals and thank you for the strong support of the allies."

But Orson did not thank the earls under his command.

The earls all thought that Orson had forgotten, so a border earl took the initiative to toast Orson.

"Ah, thank you so much, Mr. Orson this time. If it weren't for your timely help, our territory would really be in danger."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Mr. Orson, I toast you a glass." Another border earl also stood up and toasted Orson.

"You shouldn't toast me, you should toast Count Karls." Orson suddenly said something that ruined the atmosphere.

The originally festive atmosphere of the banquet suddenly became cold.

Everyone knew that Count Karls was dead, so what did Orson mean by this?

"Mr. Orson, what do you mean by this?" An earl couldn't help but ask.

"Could it be that Count Karls is not dead yet?"

"No." Orson shook his head to prove to the earls that he was still awake and that what he said just now was not nonsense.

Now, the earls were even more confused.

In that case, why did Orson say that?

"Oh, by the way, I just forgot to thank the earls." Orson seemed to suddenly remember something at this time.

Just when the earls thought that Orson was preparing to ease the atmosphere, Orson's tone suddenly changed.

"You are really the loyal subjects of the Dukedom of Antica!" His voice turned cold, and anyone with a discerning eye knew that he was being sarcastic to the earls.