VOLUME 1 CHAPTER 3: A GENERAL WHO IS UNWILLING TO BE AN ACTOR IS NOT A GOOD KING!

TL: Don’t expect this to be anywhere near as fast as anything else I’m doing. The word count for this is lower than any other project I’m doing but this is the hardest because the author writes in a way that is a pain to translate.

France, Paris

“Bread! Bread!”

(TL: You have no idea how tempting it is to put in croissant or baguette instead…)

Just a few months ago, the streets had been a battlefield just like now. The rebellious mob was easily 4 times the size of the regular army Tu had under his command. Tu had now divided his army into several small squads and they lay in wait at several key junctions on the way to the Palais des Tuileries for the mob.

Though they were in a rush, all the cannons and the soldiers in their torn and tattered uniforms were in position on the roofs of the buildings, using what cover they could from the sparse trees.

Unable to find the newly ascended king, the mob was unwittingly headed for the direction that Tu had predicted while the remnants of the nobles that had been raided by the mob were trembling as they held their breath and waited.

Government was completely paralysed and the officials were all scared out of their wits while the vastly outnumbered police had long since withdrawn before the crazed crowd.

“Down with the king! Down with the king!”

The reddish hue of the setting sun shone down on the crazed mob, leaving multiple shadows that made it seem as though their numbers were several times more.

“Bread! Bread!”

In the months before, everytime the people of Paris took action, they would be met by the battle-hardened troops and so they made little progress each time. If it weren’t for the Prussian attacks that led to the rearming of France, the revolution would have succeeded long ago.

Tu was very particular with his battle preparations. Even though he does think of this as a game, he is the kind of person who prepares fully for anything. In just a few hours, he had laid out the preparations to turn the place where his army would face the mob into a real battle field.

Yet, Tu was not amongst the troops that lay in ambush nor did he prepare himself to see the tragic sight of war which he had seen many times before.

“Your majesty, why did you pull back with these troops? Those rebels have not yet…”

“Murat, numbers are not everything.”

After setting up the ambush, he told them he would be inspecting the other troops but had pulled back and was now watching over the battlefield from a position that was not too far off with some of the light cavalry.

It did indeed seem weird for him to be slacking off in some suburban district while the mob was rampaging about in the city.

Tu was riding leisurely about on his horse, pacing the streets they were in. The cavalry behind him however, were all battle ready and stared at the farmhouses about them with a gaze filled with battle-lust.

All the buildings were sealed from within and the commoners that were uninvolved with the revolt could only bunker down and hope for the chaos to pass without involving them.

— This is good. Now all I need to do is wait for the time when the cannons fire.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uncle? Can you help me find something?”

Completely outside of Tu’s expectations, a little farm girl with long, wheat coloured hair tied back in a braided ponytail fearlessly approached Tu.

Her eyes were filled with tears, perhaps she was crying because she had lost something.

Because this is a game, literally anything can happen? This might be some small easter egg from the developers…

“Your majesty?!”

Ignoring Murat’s surprised cry, Tu dismounted and walked over to the little girl and knelt down beside her.

“Uncle will help you out. What is it you’re looking for?”

“3 small wooden blocks… Jeanne d’Arc was using them to make a big wooden house.”

So it’s just a couple of wooden blocks. But where was this little girl’s family at such a dangerous time?

Speaking of which, was it me, or did I hear this girl call herself Jeanne d’Arc?

“Your majesty? The battle is about to begin, what are you doing there?”

Tu gestured to Murat to get him to shut up, and then he rubbed the little girl’s head.

— I don’t really care if it’s the saint from a few hundred years ago but this little girl’s 3-D model is really cute huh…

“Where is your daddy and mummy?”

“Daddy and mummy are at home waiting for Jeanne to go back. Jeanne is such a bad girl, *wu* *wu*…” The little girl said tearfully in a delicate voice.

“Don’t cry don’t cry, uncle will help you find them, those uncles over there will help too.” Tu said as he pointed at Murat and the rest of the light cavalry

Murat was bewildered at Tu. It was about to become a field of slaughter soon nearby where the ambush was yet and his king was giving grand, rousing speeches and giving proper commands just a short while ago but yet he was like this now.

“Oh, aren’t they here? Don’t cry, little Jeanne.”

Tu had only turned about and found that 3 rectangular wooden blocks behind him.

— Red white and blue?

“Red… White… Blue…”

When Tu put those blocks together, a familiar sight greeted him. Except that the France now was not using the so-called tricolore.

(TL: Napoleon restored the tricolore to prominence. Previously it was red. The Bourbons used white.)

— Was this tricolore a gift from the saint who saved France? I must say, this little easter egg is pretty interesting huh…

*Boom*!

A single shot rang out and shattered the silence, with scores more following shortly.

“Troops! Advance with your king!”

“Uncle! Thank you!”

After he stuffed the wooden blocks into the little girl’s hands, Tu mounted his black warhorse and charged forth toward the battlefield.

…

Even if he knew it was a game, even if he had seen this many times before, Tu was still not used to the scene of carnage that was now before him. Tu, who was supposed to be the ultimate commanding officer, was not there then. If he had been, would he still have been able to give the order to fire?

The sound of cannonfire had receded and shrapnel littered the wide, spacious streets that were dyed red with blood. The mob had been scattered and in just the span of half an hour of fighting, only a few rebels, who were unable to move due to severe injuries, were left in the street.

— When Tu had made his move, fear fill the eyes of the rebels who saw him.

— This was the king they had declared they would bring down, and they would be at the mercy of whatever actions he would take next.

Very shocking actions.

“Your majesty, the rebels have been cleaned out!”

A fairly young officer excitedly reported to his king. He looked like the sincere and honest type, though a little dull, and seemed to think that his king was here to inspect the glorious deeds he had achieved.

“Who ordered you to open fire?!”

Yet he did not receive a word of praise. Instead, he was being yelled at by the young king who had dismounted quickly. The young officer was at a loss and could not understand why the king who had resolutely issued the order to fire had now become a pacifist.

Tu raised his hand up high, as though he was about to slap the young officer.

*Pa*!

The palm did not land on the officer, instead it landed on the king himself. The burning sensation on his face did not stop him from continuing as he continued walking and faced the stunned troops.

“Your majesty…?”

What followed was even more shocking for Tu ran over to the streets that were strewn with corpses with a look that was filled with despair and sorrow, as though his heart was being torn apart.

“Uwaa… Why! The people were not the ones in the wrong, it was all me!”

Right before the surviving rebels and the troops, tears streamed down the face of the king that was not yet a mature man as he held up a hand that was caked in fresh blood.

“It’s my fault! It’s all my fault! I couldn’t feed and clothe everyone! it’s all my fault!” He cried out, as though he were drowning in sorrow.

— Though it’s a game, I still must do my very best. That said, the last time I cried was probably in primary school.

“Your majesty?”

The brown haired young officer from before had been transfixed up till now by the tremendous show of emotion from the king and only just now regained his senses and asked his king.

— Just then, the king stopped crying.

“You, are all soldiers who should protect France! Remember that!”

Tu slowly got up, and though he didn’t seem to need it, he used both hands to press against the ground as he did so and when he completely stood up, his hands were steeped in blood.

“Now your king has the blood of the people on his hands just like you. He could have stopped this but he didn’t, remember that! We are the army of France and we will never point our guns at innocent French citizens ever again!”

Most of the troops did not seem to understand what he meant nor what their king was planning, though they did listen obediently.

“The army of France…”

“Treat the injured people.”

“But your majesty! …”

“Except for the true enemy, I do not wish to punish any innocent civilians…”

— In the past, the army would always swear fealty to the royal family… Yet, what was this king doing?

“Take those trai… People to the hospital!”

Tu stopped his speech and calmed down his emotions with difficulty while those rebels who were unable to retreat were put on stretchers. All were dumbfounded at the young king.

The next day, this news spread throughout the streets of Paris.