Summoning the Great Union: A new front

Chapter 24.5- Aftermath of the war

A/N: The Papaldia Arc is finally finished. Peace.

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Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, special prison

The prison was dim, and no sound from outside could reach them. In the otherwise suffocating silence, the only sound came from the intermittent drip-dropping of water. Outside the cell, there were a number of men dressed in black suits; within the cell, there was a woman restrained with an iron collar and chains.

The woman glared at the men so hatefully it almost seemed as though she were going to lunge at them any moment. One of the men took a step forward and addressed the woman.

"Long time no see. Not since... the empire formally declared war. Miss Remille."

Remille turned away from Yuriy's gaze and hung her head down.

"......How disgraceful." She truly looked pitiful now. But, when she put that admission into words, her life and upbringing as part of the imperial family and the pride they gave her sparked a flame of anger within her. "Do you think this insolence will be allowed? To hold captive a citizen of the Papaldia Empire, a superpower, and a member of the imperial family, no less... Do you really think you will be forgiven for this?"

She was, of course, well aware of her position at the present, that she was completely out of luck and out of time. However, her pride would not allow her to admit it, and she did everything she could to project this brazen façade.

"You are all from outside the civilized areas. No matter how many barbarians a superpower kills... For something as little as that, for you to look at me with those eyes! Me, the royalty of a superpower! You will not be forgiven for that!"

Yuriy darkened in anger. "Like I thought... from where I'm standing, the only uncivilized barbarian I see is you."

"Gh-!!!" Remille was so overtaken with fury that her face became distorted. "I am kin to the emperor! Those I ordered to be executed... those who died were only commoners!!!"

"So what?! Do you think your sins would be forgiven for that reason?! Do you think people of other countries are things without hearts, without feelings?! They all had families!!! How many people do you think wept because of your actions?! How many lives did you derail or cut short... did you ever think of that?! I've said enough, the president has spoken, you are to be detained and sentenced before the Supreme Court and await trial. I sincerely hope you are sentenced to death by firing squad."

Remille was silent for a time, then began to sob hysterically.

"Ah... Aaahhh! Uaaaahhhhhh!!!"

Deciding to end the conversation here, Yuriy gave the order to the accompanying policemen.

"Take her!"

The former noble Remille was bound and escorted out by the Vespechann police.

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Where did things go wrong... She constantly thought back to what she had done.

In order to achieve control by fear and compel absolute obedience, Remille chose to use slaughter, one of the methods to subjugate an enemy country, and one that had been used any number of times by the empire. An uncivilized island country to the south, Balusa, had one of its towns conquered and a few hundred people put to death. It may have seemed extreme from one perspective, but, as a result, they surrendered quickly and only those few hundred people were sacrificed. If instead Balusa had fought back, they would be expected to lose tens of thousands of lives. Therefore, one interpretation was that the executions were a mercy in order to save tens of thousands of lives.