A great chaos erupted across the empire following the emperor’s decree.
This began to worsen the already dire situation caused by famine in the empire.
“Kill the heretics!”
“Drive out evil and establish the Lord’s will!”
“For Great Saint Magdalena!”
Hateful and furious slogans echoed throughout both urban and rural areas.
Amidst this, those who followed the heretic doctrine, or were believed to do so, faced plunder, arson, violence, and death.
The call for calm had long since been silenced.
What remained was only the horrific atrocities ignited by raging anger, too gruesome to behold.
Thus, those who supposedly followed the heretic doctrines were ultimately forced to make the decisions they had long harbored deep within their hearts.
“In the end… that crazy emperor has drawn his sword.”
“Weren’t there signs from before? From the moment he ascended to the throne, he was determined to eradicate us.”
“At this point, we have no choice. We must find a way to survive.”
“It’s the Heretic Alliance. In our current situation, our only way out is to lead our families and kin to their territory.”
“But how?.. The distance to there is very far. Even getting close in this situation won’t be easy.”
“As it happens, I know a few merchants. If we charm them right, perhaps we can hitch a ride with their caravan?”
“Hmm… it’s risky, but ultimately, it’s the only option, right?”
“We can’t just sit here and wait to be slaughtered.”
Signs of danger had been evident for some time, and now they were becoming reality.
With their basic property rights stripped away, there was no longer any place for heretics to stand in the Sacred Empire.
At this point, the only path they could choose was to turn their backs on the empire and escape, no matter what, to the territory of the free Heretic Alliance.
And thus began the large-scale escape.
However, as they had expected, many of those escapes ended in failure, and only a few managed to reach the Heretic Alliance’s territory alive.
The majority of people were killed, wandered as refugees, or became bandits, aiming their blades back at their persecutors and causing further suffering.
Thus, the emperor’s decree led to a great tragedy in the empire.
However, at that moment, the true author of this chaos, Emperor Sijip, wore a genuine smile filled with joy.
Just as he wished, numerous seeds of heresy scattered across the empire were either perfectly eradicated or turned back to being true children of the Lord, escaping from evil.
Moreover, in the process, public sentiment, which had been boiling over due to famine and other grievances, quieted down again, and the voices of the lords demanding absurd support vanished.
“This is what it means to kill two birds with one stone. Eradicating heretic forces and successfully restoring order to the empire. Truly, the path I walk is clearly blessed by the Lord.”
Feeling deep satisfaction, Emperor Sijip began to offer his prayers of thanks to his God once more.
Thankful for being able to eliminate those wicked seeds of evil…
Thankful for allowing justice to be established in this land…
*
The Sacred Empire had been swept by a storm of madness.
Yet, even so, the embers of that madness still lingered throughout the empire, and the fundamental issues were still far from resolved.
“Ultimately, we have run out of food in the storerooms, my Lord.”
“The people are starving. What are we to do now?”
With dark expressions, the ministers inquired about countermeasures.
Yet, no one could provide a clear answer regarding the current situation.
Although they could somewhat compensate by driving out those belonging to the heretics as per the emperor’s order and seizing some of their property,
Even the heretics’ situations were hardly abundant, and what’s more, the looting was anything but smooth.
Most raids accompanied violence and arson, often harming not only heretics but also others’ properties.
Additionally, due to the series of events, about 20% of the entire population that believed in heresy either died or fled, greatly reducing the population within their territories.
This meant a reduction in productivity within the territories, indicating fewer hands available for agricultural work.
In short, the situation had worsened rather than improved.
And amid this dreadful atmosphere, the lords didn’t even dare to request support from the emperor once more.
Even if they tried to resolve things amongst themselves, the lack of food was a common dilemma for both sides, leaving them just as lost.
Whether they dug into their pockets or opened their storage, in the current state of absolute food shortage, they found themselves unable to buy food even with money.
Ultimately caught in a no-win situation, the lords could only gaze up at the heavens, feeling despair in this hopeless reality.
Then one day…
As the lords tasted despair, a sudden report began to spread before them.
“My Lord! Food! Merchants are here to sell food!”
“What… what did you say?”
A sudden appearance of a group of merchants.
Accompanied by numerous soldiers, they brought a stern atmosphere, having entered the territory loaded with food on their carts, naturally attracting the attention of starving citizens.
“Who are those people?”
“I don’t know.. But look, it’s food. And a ton of it.”
Endless grains poured into the hands of the starving people.
Seeing this, they were filled with the desire to immediately grab and shove it into their mouths, yet they couldn’t bring themselves to do such a thing.
The soldiers, tightly armed, stood guard over the food.
The moment anyone approached, they looked ready to strike down the intruder.
It was a scene where the pain of hunger clashed with the fear of death.
In this atmosphere, a spokesperson for the merchants raised his voice directly in front of the citizens.
“Nice to meet you. We are merchants from the East, here after hearing that the citizens in this area are suffering from hunger to offer our assistance.”
“Oooh…”
“Help… for us?”
“Does that mean you will share that food?”
The citizens began to display deep anticipation at the spokesperson’s words.
In the heightened atmosphere, he continued to speak.
“However, even we required significant effort to gather this much food and make it here. Therefore, we request a simple treaty with the Lord to offset some of our losses. Once that’s done, we’ll distribute the food immediately.”
“A treaty?”
“What kind of treaty is it?”
His words ignited major turmoil among the crowd.
However, amidst them, voices filled with urgency soon emerged.
“That doesn’t matter! What’s important is whether we can eat that or not, and that’s entirely up to the Lord!”
“We must inform the Lord immediately! And request the treaty!”
In the depths of their agonizing hunger, the citizens had lost the capacity for normal thought.
This situation drove them to desperately seek even the faintest glimmer of hope, leading countless people towards the lord’s castle.
Meanwhile, watching their frenzy…
A deep smile began to spread across the mind of the representative leading this endeavor.
‘Hail Bohemia.’
