Chapter 72- If You Can’t Defeat Them, Join Them

Chapter 72: Chapter 72- If You Can’t Defeat Them, Join Them

Chapter 72- If You Can’t Defeat Them, Join Them

Rize looked at Yelena as she continued eating her cake. This demon of battle that would tear her enemies limb from limb as if they were nothing looked so excited, enjoying her sweet treat. The sheer contrast between the Royal Phantom and this woman was baffling. If he didn’t know the kind of things she did, he would’ve thought she was just a nice and sweet lady.

’That is why you can’t trust anybody in this world. They’re all batshit crazy.’ He thought to himself as he sighed. Then, he remembered a question he wanted to ask.

"Why did the Empire hide this from everyone?" Rize asked.

"Because it would only create turmoil in the Empire. People will never have the full picture of what happened, so they would assume, and when billions of people start assuming."

"It would only create large misunderstandings." Rize finished her words as he looked down. ’It makes sense for the empire to hide it since they want to keep things stable. However, that still doesn’t excuse the fact that they did such a thing.

"What did they even do all that for? Why attack these people in the first place?"

"We didn’t really attack them," Yelena replied. "The area where they live is within our borders. The Sagardian Mountains belong to us, and when we went there to further explore them, we discovered a huge cave system that ran under the mountain range for thousands of miles," Yelena said. "These cave systems were filled with Essence Stones and other rare ores. Purely mining them would give the Empire an astronomical amount of resources."

"... Is that so?"

"It would be beyond foolish not to try and mine these cave systems," Yelena said. "However, naturally, the Zatharis, who are the natives of that area, didn’t want that to happen. They deem these cave systems to be the Divine Gift of the Goddess upon their land."

"I kind of expected that their anger and hatred were fueled by religion," Rize replied. "The way they spoke made me feel like it’s something far bigger than them that they’re fighting for."

"It is," Yelena said. "They are ready to die for it. For them, life is meaningless if they don’t fight for what they consider divine. We talked to them, tried to negotiate deals, but they refused."

"And of course, the Empire wouldn’t just give up on such a treasure trove of resources."

"The resources there are worth the battle and the blood," Yelena said. "Even if we are just a bunch of greedy bastards, many would do the same thing presented with that choice," Yelena said. "Those who try to pretend like they have moral superiority when they would immediately throw away those principles with the right circumstances should never speak."

"..." Rize looked at her before he pursed his lips. As much as he wanted to disagree with her, Rize knew better than to pretend like he was morally ’sound’. In his own eyes, morals don’t really exist; it is just a fancy word that people use to pretend like they’re better than others.

Those who wouldn’t do something bad and say they wouldn’t would still do it if the circumstances are right.

’A man wouldn’t kill an animal. But tell that man that killing this animal would give him anything he ever wished for, and suddenly, morals don’t matter anymore.’ Rize thought to himself as he stared at Yelena.

"Either way, it doesn’t matter if you or I disagree with what His Majesty decided to do. Our jobs are to simply follow orders and do what they task us to do." Yelena replied as she crossed her arms. "There is never a point in trying to go against the violent current."

"..."

"Anyway, things are expected to start moving tomorrow. His Majesty ordered us to increase security around the borders of the city and the main Plaza." He said. "He is going to speak to the people today."

"Is that so?"

"Her Highness will be attending too, so you must remain vigilant and aware, Rize," Yelena said as she finished her coffee.

"..."

’I can already tell things will be really messy.’ Rize frowned. It didn’t take a genius to imagine how the situation would be tomorrow. An angry crowd and a King who wouldn’t apologize for what he did, as he sees it to be the right thing.

That is a recipe for disaster if Rize had ever seen one. As he fell into deep thought about all the possibilities, Yelena stood up from her seat. She looked around her for a moment and then back at Rize.

"I’m sorry to cut our conversation short; I have to go now," Yelena said. "But it was nice getting to know you."

"Likewise..."

Yelena turned around to leave, only to stop for a second and look over her shoulder.

"Oh, and one last thing."

"Hm?"

"I expect to see some great things from you. Don’t disappoint me."

Those words sounded quite simple, and one could even say they were friendly. However, Rize instantly knew what she meant, and he felt a chill run down his spine. That wasn’t a mere compliment; she was going to test him and keep an eye on him...

Before he could even say a word, Yelena had already disappeared from sight as if she had never been there, leaving the boy alone on the patio.

"This woman..." He muttered. "Good to know she seems to be exactly as the book says. Extremely terrifying and extremely unpredictable."

Yelena was also a key character in the future, so knowing she was considering him a ’friend’ was somewhat relieving for Rize.

"War... Retaliation... Revenge... Lies..." He leaned against the chair, staring at the blue sky. "People scheming in the shadows and controlling the narrative. It is really messy and really screwed."

Just thinking about it gave Rize a headache. He didn’t like this overarching political war between all these sides. Yet, he was diving headfirst into it all. Venera, his employer, had her own goals that made escaping this dark world impossible.

’As they say, if you can’t defeat them... Join them.’