Section 186 Observation

The city of Fornoros is in chaos.

The battle that took place in Eagle City, even from the most severe point of view, was just a coup. What Fornoros faced was a real battle. When breaking through the city walls and pursuing the scattered enemy, plundering naturally happened. It is true that officers at all levels tried their best to stop all this, but rather than saying that they were for the sense of responsibility and discipline, they were for the purpose of gathering the morale of the army and avoiding the soldiers being distracted for robbery and thus missing the fighter's opportunity.

But the overall situation was settled last night. For ordinary soldiers, even if they didn't know that Byron committed suicide by drinking a bomb, they at least understood that the last defense of Fornoros, that is, Byron's central castle, had already opened the door to surrender. For this half night... the upper class had no intention of restraining military discipline and everything was as good as they wanted.

However, after dawn, the matter ended. According to an unwritten unspoken rule in the army, unless the superior publicly promised to let the plunder, the matter could only be done at night. At this moment, when Ashu Rufate took the little girl to stroll the streets of Fonoros City, the situation was under control. By chance, one or two soldiers wearing armor and weapons could be seen wandering around, but there was no large-scale action.

However, the traces left clearly indicate what happened. On both sides of the street, the original shops were almost destroyed. The doors were broken and something could be seen everywhere. Apart from the sight, a large open cash box was lying next to a broken door. This cash box was the type commonly used by merchants, strong and bulky. Its lock was smashed violently and threw it on the side of the road - of course, the things in the cash box had been looted.

A little further away, there was a store that was facing them. The store door had also been smashed open, and fragments of enamel can be seen inside and outside. This store should be a store selling enamelware, but now it is not to mention money, even the four large vases placed next to the store have been broken.

On the edge of this store, you can see the black of the beach, which is still emitting a strong smell of blood. Large groups of flies are hovering on the black marks.

Ashu Rufat held the little girl's hand and felt the little girl's hand trembling slightly. However, it was just a slight trembling. The little girl's steps were still stable. If it weren't for holding hands, no one could see any changes in her body.

They turned a corner and entered a civilian settlement. The situation here is much better, at least there are no obvious signs of damage.

In a house on the side of the road, a face was observing the two outsiders through the window. After seeing the armor on Ash Rufate's body, the window was suddenly closed and a clear "bang" sound was made.

This is not the only sound. In the distance, the sound of doors and windows being closed one after another.

"Did you feel it?" Ashu Rufat asked softly. "The malice in those pairs of eyes. What do you think if you reveal your identity, what would the people here think of you?"

Although the specific consequences may be difficult to say, no matter how you think about it, it is not a happy consequence.

"Do you feel that the people here... to us, but the enemies. For them, we are the enemies who come here, kill their lords, destroy their cities. They are the invaders."

"But... wasn't the war initiated by Byron?" asked the little girl.

"People will only see the facts that are beneficial to themselves." Ash Rufate replied. "Most people are like this. According to the book, a person can see the nails in the eyes of others, but cannot see the pillars in their eyes. Different positions will make many things impossible to say. From your perspective, Byron is a traitor who violates the ethics of the monarch and ministers, a villain who splits the country, and it is natural to destroy him. To them, Byron is a kind and wise lord. I ask you, do you think you are wrong, or are these people wrong?"

The little girl found that she could not answer this question.

"It's the fact that neither side is wrong, it's just that the positions are different. Everyone will instinctively choose their own way forward based on their beliefs. When these roads collide, once there is no coexistence between the two roads, what determines whose path is more correct? Words, theory, or things like that are so powerless. If you want to quickly solve this problem, the only way is violence. So all problems are solved. We don't need to convince anyone, just let the person who holds the objection disappear directly."

The little girl didn't say anything. Ashu Rufat didn't look at her face, but if he saw it, he would definitely be able to tell the look on the little girl's face, but he was definitely not agreeing.

When he walked around the corner, a stone flew over from somewhere. The little girl only felt a black shadow flashing in front of her. Ashu Rufate's hand had appeared in front of her. Before the stone hit her face, it was picked up by Ashu Rufate. It was actually not a stone, but a fragment of a brick. If this irregularly shaped broken brick hit the little girl just now, at least it could smash her into a big bag.

The figure flashed around the corner in the distance and disappeared in an instant.

"For example, what are you going to do in this situation?" Ashu Rufat asked.

"Slowly... rely on time to waste all this." The little girl replied. This is a standard answer, and this is how Jiana taught her.

"It's very good to say, time can sometimes smooth out hatred," said Ashu Rufate. "But the premise is that there is no new hatred. Do you think your rule is better than Byron?"

"Why can't I be better?" the little girl asked back. "I will choose the most suitable governor..."

"It's not that I questioned your vision and Ellenn, but because you can't do better than Byron. You should know that Fornoros is Byron's old nest, and he really invested a lot of money here. What he did is by no means what you can do. Do you know that in order to win people's hearts, he exempted almost all the taxes in the city. This is a real benefit. Byron's actions were not in vain. You may not know that in the previous siege, the militia in this city were the most resolute and thorough resistance, and also made our army pay the greatest price... This is the heart of the people, although it is just the heart of a city. Byron relies on the position of the Regent to steal the treasury to do this, and how can you do this?"

"I'm too..." The little girl actually wanted to say that I could do it, but she found that Ashu Rufate was really looking at her. Under Ashu Rufate's gaze, the unyielding anger in her heart suddenly disappeared.

"Yes, you must do it, maybe it can do it. But I ask you, why can they enjoy such treatment? Just because they are full of hatred and hostility towards you? Those who obey you have to bear higher taxes, and those who are hostile to you can enjoy such treatment? Are you encouraging everyone to be hostile to you? Besides, what are you doing? Are you fighting a traitor to regain a piece of territory, or are you trying to raise a group of old men?"

"But...they..."

"Their hatred is not worth mentioning. Because you are much stronger, because your army has conquered here! Their resistance has been shattered. At this time, they maintain such hatred... it is stupid. Because of the hearts of a city, how can they fight against a country?" Ashurufat threw the stone in his hand aside. "Have you noticed that their eyes are like... they are full of hatred. But he has been defeated, why isn't he full of fear?"

“…I don’t know this.”

"Because of insufficient violence, powerful violence can make people full of fear and even dare not hate. But half-baked violence will have such an effect." Ash Rufate replied. "This is also a kind of stupidity. They regard you as enemies, but they still expect you to treat them as subjects. It is this confusing understanding that makes them do such things." After saying that, Ash Rufate stepped on the irregularly shaped broken brick with his feet. The broken brick made a crisp sound under the iron boots, and was instantly stepped into pieces.

"What do you... want to do?"

"Put my sword at the gate of the city as a measure of height. Men above this height will be beheaded. All women and children will be demoted to slaves and taken away and sold. All property in the city will be confiscated and real estate will be auctioned." Ashurufate said calmly. "You need this city, but you don't need this group of hostile thieves in this city."

The little girl took a deep breath. The words that Ash Rufate spit out in her mouth may be calm, but they are almost beyond her tolerance. This behavior is simply crazy. Ash Rufate is not a crazy person, but the little girl has no doubt that he will do such crazy things.

"Do you... don't have sympathy?" Finally, she suddenly said. The two of them had become a state of walking side by side at this time. The little girl didn't dare to look at Ashu Rufate's face again, and Ashu Rufate didn't look at the little girl either.

"There is sympathy, but I never take them to the battlefield." Ash Rufate replied. "War is a terrible thing, because it can't tolerate even a trace of sympathy."

"Is there a...a second solution? The second solution that can solve the current situation."

"It's a pity, no." Ashu Rufate replied.

"Can I ask... what is the real reason?" the little girl asked. "They said you have not been able to break the city for a long time and cannot make meritorious performance in front of me, so they are angry and crazy. This is the real reason why you want to massacre the city."

"What do you think?" Ash Rufate replied.

He even refused to defend himself. The little girl suddenly remembered what Rotia said before. Why is this happening?

"You would agree with Garunas doing that, why are you so resistant to my plan?" Ashu Rufat asked suddenly.

"Garunas didn't do it in his own country. He targeted the Tiberius, our enemy country!" The little girl tried her best to control her emotions and said.

"Her Majesty, I believe you made a mistake. This is the enemy." Ashu Rufate's voice sounded cold and distant, making her unable to help crying. "The people here are all people of the empire. They are people of Byron, not yours. It takes time to influence them, but now you have no time."

"Why don't I have time? Ashu Rufate!" the little girl suddenly said in a very gentle voice. It was no longer the queen's voice, no matter how majesty the monarch and ministers were, only an ordinary little girl's unwilling voice. "Can you tell me the truth? Don't think I don't understand anything!"
Chapter completed!