Your head is worth 1 ton of gold

Previously on Revolution!:

Molan: I will show you the world!

Molan: Wait here, I’ll be back.

Elven king: With the powers of my mother, Last Order, and the techniques of my father, Accelerator, and my training under Saitama, I give you the One-Accelerated Railgun-Punchhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Molan: I’m taking her out of here!

-1 minute later-

The human world was in chaos after the Oracle Plenary. The attack targeted at The First Prince of Txarango, William, and Molan’s rampage on the delegates had combined body count of 1,073. Of these, many were successors to their respective thrones, regents, and even present rulers. With their passing, the political situation in numerous countries turned bloody, and there were also many international skirmishes and incidents. The worse, however, was the loss of 567 talented individuals; military experts, educators, magic researchers and many more who were leading professionals or researchers of their respective fields. This loss was an unrecoverable one for the world and it is estimated that human civilisation will be static for at least 50 years.

The culprits for this incident were 2. The first was the green haired elven youth who plotted the assassination of Prince William; he had no nationality, no identity and was identified as a terrorist and destroyed in the Plaza by the emissary. The other was a black haired youth who killed 1,073 delegates; his name is Molan Faburando, no nationality, aged 16, identity is unclear, with no evidence of being accomplices of the green haired elf, currently on the run, originally thought to be a student at St Txarango but investigations showed that St Txarango had expelled him 2 days before the Oracle Plenary and lost all data on the youth. What has been established is that Molan Faburando is a terrorist who infiltrated Txarango many years ago, and is now sentenced to death. All nations have issued a joint warrant for arrest and if anyone has any information pertaining to him, they can provide it to law enforcement authorities and receive an appropriate reward.

On top of it all, the control magic used by the elf brought great terror to the populace as whatever information was available showed that the logic and mechanisms behind that spell was fundamentally different from any branch of modern magic. This meant that it was most likely a relic of ancient times, a time where demonic beasts roamed the land; could this spell’s return mean the return of demonic beasts as well? Rumours spread like wildfire across the world, and there were even religious fundamentalist organisations that carried out acts of terror in the name of the Demon King. In just a matter of days, many incidents happened that caused heavy casualties, so serious a threat they became that many nations came together to establish the [International Rules of Engagement for Anti-Terror and Anti-Fundamentalism Organisations], known as the [Double Anti Rules], to allow national security agencies to work together and share information. At present, there are already 27 nations who have included Double Anti Rules in their national legal system.

“The continent is in total chaos, thanks to that I’ve only slept for about 10 hours these few days. Administrative work never seems to end,” William laments as he sets 2 cups of coffee on the desk, and picks 1 up, “Just as I was about to take a quick nap, you came barging into my study.”

Molan picked up the other cup and took a sip, but clicked his tongue and said, “Nasty, much worse than the last time.”

“I made it myself this time, I can’t let the servants see you after all.”

“I am a wanted terroist after all.”

“Your head is worth 1 ton of gold now.”

“That’s a lot… You wouldn’t happen to be lacking 1 ton of gold right?”

“Haha, I would never kill you, but I don’t really want to see you either. If people get wind of your presence here, other nations can legally send troops marching into my castle on the pretext of killing you and violate Txarango sovereignty. I think I’ll probably have to take back what I told you before, that the castle is always open to you.”

Though he was told that he was unwelcome, Molan didn’t seem to mind. He shouldered Shuoxue, and walked about the study.

“Right,” he said, “The eagle-eyed uncle who caught me the last time, I didn’t see this time.”

“Jeb has been transferred to the Double Anti Organisation. There is information that the largest terror organisation ‘Demon Lineage Sect’, has infiltrated Txarango.”

“It’s good that he’s not here, uncle’s eyes are too sharp. He would definitely detect me and that would be troublesome.”

“If you came back… What about Tina?” William asked all of a sudden.

Molan stopped walking.

“You finally asked about her. I was going to beat you up once I saw you.” He stared at William with murderous eyes, “Whether it’s Txarango or humanity or double-anti or terrorism, it’s all ln you. All this happened because you did not protect Tina.”

“If I weren’t tight on time, I would have given you a good one already,” Molan said with his teeth clenched.

William only remained silent.

“Supposedly, she is being treated. Where, I don’t know; how is she, I don’t know; how long more, I don’t know either. Tess refuses to say anything and I cannot get anything out. After so many days, wouldn’t the corpse be rotten by now? Maybe there’s hope? Maybe she can be saved? Perhaps if god himself descends.”

Ke ke. Molan laughed dryly as he talked on.

“I’ve already prepared myself for the worst, you probably should too, though you will probably be alright, seeing as you still have the mood to make coffee.”

“…”

“Seriously, why don’t you just chase everyone away and just leave the 2 of us alone here, and then we can fight to our hearts’ content. It’s killing me to hold back.”

“… About Tina,” William said softly, “It’s my fault, I’m sorry.”

“Hmph.”

Molan scoffed at William, and resumed walking.

“Have you thought about what to do from now on?” William asked.

“What about what to do?”

“You are a wanted fugitive in all human nations, and now you have escaped the forest of the elves and invited the wrath of the king of elves. You have no safe place, how are you going to live from now on?” Seeing that Molan did not reply, William continued, “All records of you in Txarango has been destroyed, the headmaster has also arranged it such that no one will admit that they remember who you are. And as for your wanted posters, we did some amendments so the likeness isn’t too high but it’s for the best if you act prudently and avoid places with a lot of people and interact with as few people as possible. I can provide you a safe house, and ensure your safety and secrecy–”

“Stop stop, you don’t need to go to such an extent. Just give me some money, enough for me and Tess to fool around with for 10 days. Of course, I won’t return it but thereafter, I will wipe my own bottom and not bring trouble to Txarango.”

Seeing Molan pushing himself too hard, William laughed bitterly.

“If I were you, I would have stayed in the forest of elves.”

Molan glanced at William.

He had not told William that Tess had only 10 days to live, as he would have to reveal the secret about Shuoxue as well.

If Tess could live a long and full life, Molan would also have chosen to stay in the forest of the elves alongside Tess as he waited for Tina. Then, if Tina were to be saved, he would either enjoy having 2 flowers in both hands and deal with shuraba everyday, or perhaps Tina would leave the forest and come back from time to time, only to see him flirting about with Tess and then he will have to deal with shuraba. If Tina died, then he would erect a small tombstone for her and burn some incense paper and light some candles for her every year while he hugged the tombstone and cry painfully. And then, when he is done crying, he will go and seek comfort from Tess and hold her hand as they return to their blissful lives together. Molan felt utterly disgusted at himself when he imagined how he would act in each circumstance.

(TL: There is no satisfactory English translation of shuraba that brings out the essence of the phrase sadly.)

But he had no opportunity to be a disgusting fellow, as Tess didn’t have much time left.

What to do after Tess dies? He felt he had to erect a tombstone for her as well, and would probably build it together with Tina’s, so he can save himself the trouble of having to separately burn incense paper. Then after that, he would roam the world, and kill for a living; walking the same path as the Sword Saint, as he awaits the day he is finally killed or captured by anti-terror forces. Then, the world will cheer as his head rolls down the stage.

“Alright, how much do you need? I’ll do my very best to help you.” William opened his drawer and took out all the gold pieces within.

Molan counted for a bit, “10,000 pieces.”

William’s hands which had started counting the gold stopped short, “Wh, what?”

“10,000 pieces.”

“So many?”

“Female clothing is expensive, and I can’t let her wear stuff from street stalls, no?” Molan shook his head, “It has to be the very best.”

“But, 10,000 pieces…”

“You said you do your very best.”

“Right, I said it,” William rubbed his temple as he sighed, thought for a moment, and pulled out a stack of paper and passed it to Molan, “Use this.”

“What’s this?”

“One hundred gold certificates, issued and stamped by the Txarango royal family. I promise you can exchange each certificate for 100 gold pieces. When you pay using these, even other nations’ merchants will recognise it.”

“You all finally progressed to paper money huh.”

“Paper money? That’s correct, you can see it as paper representing money… Un?” William stroked his chin, “You’re right, if I circulate gold certificates amongst the populace, then we can avoid using expensive materials like gold for money.”

“Eh, un, have fun thinking about that. I’ll be going off first.”

Molan’s face darkened again, and he stuffed the gold certificates into his shirt pocket, held his sword and leapt out of the window without waiting for William’s reply. By the time William rushed forward to the window, there was no longer any sign of Molan anywhere in the castle.

Tess was in a dream.

This was the 7th dream that had the same contents.

In her dream, she was in a dark sinister throne room with stone pillars. Armor littered the ground. Cobwebs covered the hanging lamps. Everything seemed to have died out as the quiet was too deathly and empty.

A certain ruler was pinned to the throne. The blood that flowed out was already dark red and had flowed to the other end of the throne room, forming a long carpet.

The ruler, who had armor-like scales, and a snake tail with an edge sharp as a sword, sank into eternal sleep. The icy sword fell to the ground, the white light it emitted was slowly dimming.

A golden spear pierced through his body, pulverising all of his 5 hearts, and now he would no longer roar. The scales peeled off his body like a pupa’s chrysalis, revealing a weak skinny youth.

Tess held the spear from the other end, and cried in silence.

People rushed in from all directions and surrounded Tess as they celebrated the great moment. They hugged and danced and sang and thanked the gods for the miracle and favour they granted them.

A deafening noise sounded as the throne room began collapsing. The forgotten youth lay on the throne, like a pathetic little dog. His breathing was slight, his colour was gone, and he close his eyes tiredly, never to open them again.

This day would be remembered in history, as the day that humanity, with the help of the emissary, triumphed over the demon race yet again.

As she awoke from the dream, Tess found herself in a spacious carriage. The sounds of a bustling crowd sounded from outside the window, but it sounded as distant as that of another planet. She leaned her head against the door, like a puppet that lost its strings.

Not a single person notices, as the world follows its predetermined fate, ignoring everything in its path, as it slowly turns.