Chapter 571
Ludwig never enjoyed slaughter.
To be precise, he feared it.
Still, Ludwig fought because he believed it was something he had to do.
That's the kind of person Ludwig is.
If there's a clear and precise goal, he doesn't hesitate to run towards it, even if it's frightening.
But.
In situations where there are no clear and precise answers, Ludwig loses his way.
Until now, Ludwig had relied on the help of his friends for such problems.
Delphin Izzard.
Ranian Sesor.
Not to mention Scarlett and Louis Ancton, as well as the other classmates in Class B.
Someone else would make the decision for him, and Ludwig would follow that path.
But now, Ludwig was alone.
And he had to face problems with no clear answers.
There are no rules or theories in the vague notion of living a virtuous life.
That's why Ludwig couldn't tell which among those living in despair he needed to raise his hand against.
There had never been a reason to establish such a thing before.
Ludwig's sense of justice was solely about punishing blatant evil.
The mastermind of all these troubles, the Demon King.
The monsters that seek to destroy humanity.
In the presence of clear enemies, Ludwig's unbreakable will shone brightly.
But in places like this.
In the refugee zone filled with people fighting to survive in chaos, neither good nor evil, Ludwig couldn't tell what to choose.
Ludwig thought the battlefield was dreadful.
"Give me just one more piece! Just one more piece of bread!"
But this scene, where people were fighting over a single piece of bread, was truly horrifying.
Ludwig walked through the refugee zone filled with shanties, accompanied by a patrol of the security forces.
He had to become accustomed to the pervasive poverty, stench, and the smell of hunger that clung to every corner like grime.
More than half of the people who hid in the alleys between the shanties did so simply because they saw the uniform of the security forces.
If they had nothing to hide, they wouldn't need to hide at all.
Had they all committed some crime, or were they planning to commit one?
Ludwig clenched his teeth as he looked at the hidden adults and children in silence.
It couldn't be.
In the refugee camp, which was no different from a lawless zone, the security forces punished most crimes with extreme measures.
Even if they had done nothing wrong, they would avoid them for that reason.
Indeed, Ludwig saw a security force member slap a young boy in the face simply because he had bumped into him while chatting and patrolling with Ludwig.
When Ludwig saw the boy trembling on the ground with a bloody mouth, his face drained of color.
He didn't know what to say to the security force member who smiled sheepishly, as if hitting the boy was a gentle act because it happened in front of Ludwig.
When Ludwig realized that slapping someone was considered a light punishment, he had even less to say.
Witnessing such events was a series of painful experiences.
There were two security force members currently accompanying Ludwig.
"Hmm…"
The one in charge of the senior soldier role, Sontein, stopped in the street and stared at something.
"I think we should go over there."
One of the security force members pointed in a certain direction beyond the shanties.
"Is there something over there?"
"It smells like grilled meat."
"You're right. And there seems to be smoke too. But why…"
Seeing the bewildered Ludwig, the guardsman shrugged.
"Why would there be meat here?"
"…"
Ludwig wasn't so clueless as to not understand the meaning behind those words.
——
A short while later.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
The emaciated group, with only bones remaining, stared at the ground with their sunken eyes. The guardsmen clicked their tongues, watching Ludwig retching.
"It's a common occurrence."
The other guardsmen were neither surprised nor shocked.
They eat because they're hungry.
It's a natural thing.
In desperate situations, cannibalism sometimes becomes the only choice.
The calm attitude of the guardsmen, unfazed by the situation.
And the eyes that swallowed saliva from afar, watching the contents the guardsman had spilled.
Ludwig gritted his teeth as he saw those gazes.
This was beyond difficult.
It was painful.
——
Cannibalism was punishable by death.
No matter how starving they were, it could not be forgiven.
If punishment for that act were not carried out on the grounds that it was an unavoidable choice, people would think not to avoid it in the future, but to avoid getting caught.
In that case, cannibalism would become an accepted culture in refugee settlements.
It's not that they're killed because the crime is heinous and unforgivable evil.
Some crimes could ruin the entire refugee settlement.
Ludwig knew that help was needed in the refugee settlements.
He thought there must be something he could do.
He hoped that even through small acts, he could find his purpose in life.
"…"
But where was the smallness in this?
Some people might deem these acts easier than risking their lives on the battlefield.
Ludwig found the battlefield easier.
It was more comfortable.
In this horrifying place, where everyone became each other's enemy due to the single enemy called hunger, it was the most challenging job for Ludwig.
He wanted to run away.
For the first time in his life, Ludwig harbored such thoughts.
——
Ludwig saw and felt how absurd it was for the military not to starve in the allied forces' base.
He couldn't help but understand why the allied forces' regular soldiers continued to be replenished.
Because they wouldn't starve to death before being trampled by monsters.
The soldiers at the Serandia allied forces base would undoubtedly live comfortably during the winter.
He couldn't help but feel how important that 'eating' was in the matter of sustenance.
There was only one problem.
Starvation.
But the numerous derivative problems caused by that issue didn't end with cannibalism.
"…What is this?"
"I don't know."
Looking at the object, something made of bone fragments haphazardly connected, which Sontain had found while searching a shack, Ludwig felt an indescribable disgust.
He couldn't even tell what bones they were.
A guardsman who sensed something strange from the murmurs of many people in a corner of the shack had entered and brought out the object.
Seven people in the small shack were praying to this bone fragment idol.
Naturally, it didn't resemble the holy symbols of any known gods.
Heresy was rampant.
It was impossible to treat the Hero Religion, which believed in Ellen Artorius, as heretical.
However, not only the Hero Religion but also strange superstitions of unknown origins were occurring throughout the refugee settlements.
"Are they worshipers of the demon god?"
One of the guards asked as he looked down at the trembling heretics who knelt before him.
"Oh, no, we believe in our savior, Estar, who will soon manifest before us…"
They were heretics who believed in an unknown deity.
"Salvation is near…"
Ludwig seemed to lose all his strength.
"What shall we do with them?"
"There's no need to kill them all."
Did this mean that they would spare some of them?
-Thunk!
"Kuh… Kukkkk…"
It turned out they meant to kill just one.
"Do not believe in heresy."
The guard left those words behind and turned away.
It wasn't a law that sentenced them to death.
Just one guard.
People's lives hung in the balance, dependent on the guard's judgment.
“Damned bastards…”
“Divine retribution will come.”
As Ludwig and his comrades turned their backs, curses rained down upon them. The other guards didn't even react, as if they were used to it, and left their posts.
——
“It's better not to think of them as human beings.”
The senior guard who had been judging whether to kill or spare the refugees, Sontain, who was equivalent to Ludwig's superior, said so.
"It's better to think of them as insects."
"But still, how can…"
So, did I fight and lose my arm to protect these insects?
Did the allied forces lose their lives and friends to protect these insects?
Is it acceptable for the guards here to easily trample and kill these precious beings they consider insects?
Are the allied forces dying for mere insects?
Do you have the right to make such a judgment?
Ludwig wanted to explode with anger, but he couldn't bring himself to say those words.
What else can be done?
Everyone knows that if their hunger were resolved, none of this would happen.
But isn't it because they can't solve the problem that all of this is happening?
The answer is simple.
But there is no path to that answer.
"If you don't think like that, you won't be able to do your job."
Sontain looked around.
He spoke quietly, looking at the hiding adults and children.
"We may think of them as insects, but they see us as monsters."
Monsters that kill insects.
That's all the guards were in this place.
"Don't approach them carelessly."
"…"
"There have been countless cases of people who got too close and ended up dead."
The guards are a collection of monsters.
The refugees have no reason to like the guards who treat them worse than dogs.
Countless guards have died, thinking themselves different from the others, showing compassion, only to be stabbed in return.
Just as the guards execute the refugees on the spot, the refugees kill the guards as well.
The guards treat the refugees harshly, and the refugees take revenge on the guards, leading the guards to take even more extreme actions.
This vicious cycle of hatred was the current situation in the refugee camp.
Ludwig nodded to Sontain's words, his expression heavy.
——
A well-crafted law is not necessarily maintained.
As long as there is power to uphold the law, it can be maintained.
It doesn't matter if the standards are vague.
It doesn't have to be fair.
Even if the law becomes so vague that it can no longer be called a law, it doesn't matter.
No matter how fair and noble a law may be, without the power to enforce it, a powerful authority, it is not a subject of trust in the first place.
And so, the foundation of the law itself lies in power, not in the perfection of the law.
The refugee district blatantly displayed this reality.
The situation, which merely suppressed the refugees with violence, was bound to reach a breaking point someday.
If someday the anger and hatred of the refugees surpass the threshold that can be suppressed by force, the authorities will be overthrown.
The law, having lost its only supporting force, will become meaningless, and chaos will ensue.
Starvation.
Cannibalism.
Heresy.
Murders by the guards.
And.
Attacks on the guards.
-Whack!
“Die, you devil scum!”
Ludwig caught a fist-sized rock flying towards his face with his left hand and looked at the boy who disappeared into the alley, spewing words of hatred.
Startled by Ludwig's reflexes, Sontain quickly calmed down and stared at the alley.
"Shall we chase him?"
"It's alright. I was the one attacked after all."
-These days, even a moron can be a guard!
Hearing the echo of the boy yelling at him from the alley, Ludwig bitterly laughed.
Not only those who attacked directly.
Eyes peering from the corners of gambling dens and alleys.
He could feel the murderous intent and hatred mixed in those gazes.
No matter how arbitrarily the guards beat and killed someone, they didn't punish the gazes themselves.
It wasn't because they couldn't make those eyes pay for their sins.
It was because they couldn't kill all those who had such eyes, as it would require destroying the entire refugee district.
Ludwig shook his head while holding the rock that had flown at him.
If he got used to this job, he would have to kill refugees like the other guards.
After his probation period, Ludwig would have to participate in such private punishments.
Could he do that?
Was it even the right thing to do?
No matter how much Ludwig thought about it, he couldn't handle such a job.
Fighting wasn't allowed, and all he could do was maintain order by beating and suppressing the helpless under the pretext of keeping the peace, and sometimes meting out summary executions.
It might be better to return to the temple and stay quietly confined to the dormitory.
Or perhaps look for other things he could do elsewhere.
In the end, Ludwig couldn't help but reach such thoughts.
But leaving this place wouldn't make its tragedy disappear.
Turning away because it's hard to endure is not the right thing to do.
He couldn't know what was right, but Ludwig couldn't help but know that one thing.
——
Patrolling was, quite literally, walking around various places, detecting abnormalities in the streets, and taking action on the spot.
The patrol led by Sontain, who guided Ludwig, didn't only involve violent acts that killed refugees.
Retrieving abandoned corpses in alleys and identifying the deceased.
Mediating minor disputes to prevent them from escalating into violence.
Watching for thieves at locations where food was distributed.
Listening to the refugees about the street conditions and checking for overall situations or organized crime groups in the area.
There was even the task of safely returning a lost child crying on the street, to their parents.
Many refugees were afraid of and detested the guards, but not all of them.
'If only we did tasks like these, it would be fine……'
Ludwig smiled as he watched a child, holding their mother's hand, wave wildly at him as they walked away.
Executing refugees was an extremely extreme situation, and it wasn't a frequent occurrence.
There were trivial matters and important, necessary tasks to be done.
Not every task was perilous.
Ludwig walked the streets with Sontain until their patrol was nearing its end.
"That area is off-limits. No need to patrol there."
"…There's a barrier?"
Ludwig saw a cordoning line within a certain alleyway.
It seemed an entire area had been closed off.
Within the cordoned-off area, Ludwig quietly observed gray smoke rising into the sky.
A fire was clearly burning.
"Is there a reason for the cordon?"
"There's an outbreak of infectious disease."
"…An infectious disease?"
"It's common. Epidemics break out fairly often."
"Isn't it dangerous? With people densely gathered like this, if an epidemic spreads…"
Even with the cordon in place, if the disease started spreading, it would create a massive problem.
Not just one or two people dying, but thousands would perish.
No, the epidemic itself wasn't even the issue.
"Shouldn't the priests… come?"
It was the priests' role to cure diseases.
Even if they lacked the capacity to heal one or two wounds, priests should be deployed for major issues like epidemics.
However, the priests did not come, only the area with the outbreak was closed off.
In response to Ludwig's words, Sontain quietly stared at the smoke rising from the sealed-off area.
It was undoubtedly the smoke from burning corpses.
"The power to heal diseases is the divine authority of the Goddes of Purity, Tu'an."
"Then the priests of Tu'an…"
"Many have died."
"Pardon?"
"You know what treatment they receive now…"
"Ah…"
"People hate not only the priests of Tu'an and Als, but all priests of the Five Great Religions, as the situation worsens."
The two gods who granted relics to the Demon King.
The persecution of their faiths had intensified since the Gate Incident.
Priests would come for epidemic treatment and refugee relief activities, but the hatred towards them had already gone too far.
Those in need of help hate those who would provide it.
Thus, even amidst raging epidemics, the moment the priests of Tu'an entered the massive refugee area, they had to worry about leaving alive.
Ludwig could only learn from Sontain's words that countless priests had indeed died.
That's why the priests couldn't easily enter the refugee area.
The epidemic was left unattended.
"Of course, they must have requested cooperation from the Holy Knights, as it would inevitably become a major issue if left unchecked. So, priests with concealed identities will handle the epidemic purification activities. The response may be delayed, but it's not neglected."
"…I see."
To save people, one must even hide whom they serve.
"Let's finish our patrol here. You can go straight home. I'll report to the Captain of the Guard."
"Ah… All right. Good work."
"Ludwig, sir."
Sontain quietly called out to Ludwig, who was about to leave.
"…You don't need to do things like this."
Implying that he was not suited for such tasks.
That someone who had returned from glorious deeds didn't need to engage in such miserable and repulsive tasks. Ludwig couldn't respond to those words.
——
Ellen and Heinrich decided to patrol the outskirts, dividing their efforts between the north and south.
In short, Ellen couldn't even step beyond the main street.
With a pale face, Ellen hurriedly returned to the temple and gently placed me, who she had been holding tightly, onto the bed.
"…"
-Meow
Although Ellen was wearing a hood to conceal her face, everyone had seen her holding a cat.
Honestly, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
As they walked along, the children would ask, "Sis, can't I have that?"
"Can I have it?"
"I'm hungry."
Ellen's face turned pale blue as the children persistently followed her.
At least it was just the children.
When adult men and women began to approach with their mouths watering, Ellen hastily turned and walked away.