Enlightened Empire

Chapter 415: What Remains of Our Past

After a long march through Antila, Corco and his two subordinates finally arrived at the goal of their journey.

In comparison to Antila's ruins in the outer city, Lord Sucopia's luxurious manor looked like it had just been renovated. Although there were some traces of combat left from the previous day, they were very all rather minor.

By the time Saniya's troops had overcome the outer city walls, Antila's defenders had long been exhausted. As a result, the handful of warriors still stationed at the inner city walls and the lord's manor had only held out for a short while before they had surrendered.

Since the manor was built on one of the few elevations in the entire city, it was possible to overlook the entire city from the extensive front garden. Surely, this would have been a majestic view several months back, with the port on the left and the sprawling city on the east, and the endless fields beyond the wall. Now however, Corco was no longer presented with beauty. All he saw were the consequences of his actions.

From here, the destruction of the city was even more obvious than it had been up close. Apart form the three giant corridors that had been carved through the outer city by the defenders, almost every other house had also been damaged to some degree. For a while, he struggled to find a single building that wasn't partially destroyed. Although Fadelio had said that the fires had been put out already, he could still see smoke rising in several places.

Or maybe that's just homeless people making fires out in the streets, he guessed. Even further in the distance was the mountain of rubble, which had once been the best defensive system south of the Narrows. Further, beyond the wall, the former fields of the city were now just a waterlogged mess of trenches and mud, unsuitable for any kind of farming.

Faced with this depressing view, Corco felt regret for his actions once more. His own decisions had caused all of this chaos, as had his own mistakes. If only he hadn't been so radical in his reforms, the other lords wouldn't have felt forced to rebel. If only he had been faster in his attacks and caught the remnants of the rebel army before they reached Antila, all of this could have been prevented.

However, there was no changing the past, and he didn't think he would change anything anyways, not even if he had a time machine. Instead, he would just have to live with the consequences of his actions.

After he had failed to drive away his dark thoughts with a sigh, he turned around, back towards the manor which housed the main seat of House Sucopia. Nothing would please him more than to just enter the building and leave behind his troubles for some cathartic vengeance. However, before he could enjoy his afternoon with some revenge, he would have to finish his work first. He had never been one to delay his duties, and he didn't want to develop the habit.

"Anything left to take care of before we go in?" he thus asked his attendant. "I don't wanna be distracted while I'm having fun."

Fadelio looked down on the list which contained their itinerary for the day, before he replied.

"There is still the topic of food supply."

Again, Corco sighed, before he looked at the destroyed fields in the distance once more. "Okay, how bad is it?"

In response, Fadelio collected himself visibly as well, and then delivered the bad news.

"In terms of long-term food production, there are some issues. It's still spring, so there is plenty of time to sow the crops for summer harvest. However, all the farmland around the city has been thoroughly destroyed. The trenches and tunnels need to be removed or repurposed as irrigation canals, but the spring water has already filled most of them, so everything is waterlogged now. It seems impossible for us to clean up everything in time for sowing. I suggest we forget about wheat and turn the surrounding land into paddy fields. That way we might have a bit less work, and recover some food production by the fall of this year."

"So it's not that much of an issue," Corco concluded. "Once we take Port Ulta, we can just supply the city from the river until the farms have recovered. At most it'll cost us a bit more money."

However, there is also a massive shortfall of grain in the short term," Fadelio burst Corco's bubble. "Antila's storage is almost entirely empty, and further deliveries along the Uskaylla River from Port Ulta have stopped now that we've taken the city. Although the local population has gone down considerably since the start of the war, feeding the remaining people with our supplies alone will put a lot of pressure on Lord Huaman's logistics system. If we invest too much in this area, it might delay our next march to the east."

"Then delay it," Corco waved away Fadelio's concerns. "We have the war won anyways. I'd rather drag it out for longer than seem callous towards my own people. Not after the reputation as great unifier I've just built. So that's a compromise we'll have to make."

"Very well."

While Fadelio wrote down his orders, Corco looked towards the manor once more.

"So is that it?" he asked again. This time, Fadelio gave the answer he wanted to hear.

"Yes, that is the last item on today's schedule." Fadelio said with a smile, and then pointed towards the manor. "If you want, you are free to go in and meet our honorable guests, master."

Although it was a bit strange for Corco to do his work out in the open like this, he really couldn't stay in his tent any longer. For one, he needed to see the city for himself to get a more accurate picture that wasn't clouded by sycophantic reports. More importantly however, he had come to hold responsible those who had caused this war, and more importantly, had caused the horrors he had seen in Kapra. He would never let go of the chance to administer this justice directly, even if he had to do his work while walking. Finally, they were done with the work, so it was time for the fun part.

As Corco passed through the intricately carved portal of the manor's main entrance, he thought back to the destruction he had seen back in Kapra, as well as the destruction he had just seen on his way here. At the thought of all the pointless blood and fire, his own blood started to boil again.

"What about our guests?" he asked with a grim wrath brewing in his stomach. "Are we sure we caught everyone?"

"Sucopia sent his family to Arguna in advance, but both him and Lord Churici were caught without any resistance," Fadelio replied. "Both were dead drunk when we arrived, and made no attempts to flee the manor. Though I wonder if they even understood that they had lost the war."

"Good, I wouldn't want to deny them the chance to stand trial for their crimes. What about my uncle?"

Although the other two lords were just as responsible for the massacre in Kapra — as well as the tenacious local defense — Corco was still more concerned with Ogulno, his own uncle. After all, the lord of the copper hills had been instrumental in the civil war from the very start. He was the first to organize resistance among the southern lords towards their new king. Not to mention, Ogulno was the only one whose punishment the king had vowed in public. Luckily, Fadelio's words eased Corco's concerns.

"Yeah, he just sat in his room when our troops arrived, and didn't offer any resistance. Although he didn't seem drunk, he has yet to respond to anyone, and neither has he moved. If you want, we can go there right now."

Maybe others would have said 'no need'. Maybe they wouldn't have wanted to embarrass an already defeated foe further, or maybe they would have wanted to appear magnanimous towards their subordinate or family member, but Corco felt a dark pleasure at the thought of the mass-murderer getting his just desserts.

"Yes, please," he thus said, and followed Fadelio up the stairs. At the end of a long corridor was another large, ornate portal, behind which House Sucopia would accommodate only its most important guests. The presence of guards in front of the door, members of Saniya's line infantry, proved that Ogulno was still behind, stewing in his own regrets. Although Corco was excited to enter, something unexpected happened before he could. An unexpected bang rang out from within the room, to everyone's shock. Immediately, chaos erupted throughout the manor.

"Everyone back!" Fadelio shouted as he threw himself on top of his master. At the same time, more guards poured out from every corner of the manor. Meanwhile, the guards at the door entered the room to investigate, panic on their faces. They would be held accountable for any mistake, after all. However, the first shot remained the only one for a long time, and no hidden attackers were found anywhere nearby. Thus, it didn't take long until everyone had calmed down again.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Corco shouted, and stood up under aching pain. He gave his attendant a nasty look as he tried to straighten out his robes again. Once he was somewhat presentable once more, he saw a guard return from inside Ogulno's prison.

"What happened in there?" the king asked, and walked up to the guard.

"Great king, the inside is safe. Though it may be best to see for yourself."

Curious, Corco entered the room, and saw his uncle lying in his own blood. Next to him lay a pistol, the obvious culprit of the crime. Clearly, Ogulno had used the pistol to end his own life. However, for now, the king couldn't consider how Ogulno got his hands on a gun while in captivity. Because despite his best efforts, the lord of the copper hills was still alive.

His breath rattled, as every exhale of air was accompanied by a small squirt of blood that shot out of his neck, as well as a wet sound that made even Corco queasy. At this pace, the great lord would slowly drown in his own blood, and there was nothing anyone could do about it, even if they sent a doctor straight away. Wide-eyed and pale-faced, the lord simply looked up at his nephew, his reckoning.

His eyes told Corco of fear, and pain. Yet even more, they told him of deep regret. After all, Ogulno wasn't some random idiot. He had been a well-respected lord once. However, when Corco first arrived ion the south, he had bet wrong once and opposed the sudden king above his head. As a result, everything had escalated, and finally there had been no way out except rebellion.

Maybe the lord of the copper hills regretted his decisions even more than Corco did.

"What a failure I am. Can't even die right." Ogulno forced a few sounds out of his half-destroyed throat, his words barely audible by now. "Please, end it." he added, and closed his eyes to offer his destiny to the victor.

Although Corco had looked forward to his revenge just moments earlier, he hadn't expected it to look like this. Although he didn't feel the satisfaction he had expected, he didn't feel pity either, nor remorse for any of the pain he had inflicted to the noble lord.

Instead, he only felt a slight sadness over another life that had been wasted for no good reason, and relief that the war would soon be behind them. Silently, he swore that he would no longer allow any more pointless deaths. From now on, he would be more careful, and never again let his political power slip out of his control like it had this time.

With his determination made, he grabbed the pistol he always carried on his waist for protection, and cocked back the hammer.

"At least this one request, I will fulfill you, uncle," he said, and ended the lord's suffering. Although he didn't know it yet, it would be the last shot fired in the southern kingdom's civil war.

Once the deed was done, it took a long time for Corco to compose himself. When he left the room again, the hallway was still crowded with soldiers and warriors, but everyone was dead quiet. Finally, Fadelio had the mercy to walk up and break the silence.

"Master, an arcavian delegation has arrived from Port Ulta. They want to negotiate peace."

However, Corco was in no mood for any more diplomacy, not for today.

"Tell them to wait until tomorrow. Now that we've taken Antila, there's no more need to rush."

As he left the manor, to leave behind the queasy feeling in his stomach, the king wondered if tomorrow, the arcavian delegation would regret their actions as much as he and his uncle had. Just a bit, he was looking forward to it.