Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“The camp is on fire! I wish all of those abominable human soldiers would burn to death!” Someone from the crowd suddenly rushed towards the river and pushed one of the soldiers into it.
He then stole the sword of that soldier with his other hand, immediately turning around to slash the throat of the chief supervisor! One by one, the other slaves followed his lead and wrestled the supervisors beside them to the ground.
If they had been ordinary slaves, with no formal military training, then even if they revolted, it would be difficult to organize an effective resistance within such a short amount of time. In that case, if they had attempted to do so, they would have been defeated by these well-trained troops in an instant.
However, this was not the case, as the slaves who started the revolt had planned it out meticulously. Thus, they were able to easily kill the trained soldiers. Even the blood knights were quickly dealt with!
“Kill them all! I won’t be a slave!”
“For freedom!”
“We must avenge our brothers and sisters!”
Jorkins picked up a rock and smashed it into the head of a middle-aged human, whose head caved in immediately. The blood splattered all over Jorkins’ face. As it did so, Jorkins recalled the deaths of his father and brother, which only fueled his rage.
It felt as if all of the grievances and fears that he had accumulated throughout the past few years converged, and he howled out loudly. Then, countless other orcs joined his howl.
The chaos quickly spread through the surroundings, as all of the orc slaves continued to kill their human guards and steal their weapons. In fact, the entire canal project region was out of control, as tens of thousands of orcs slaves rushed out of the river area towards the camp.
Once the arrived there, they killed the troops stationed there, then armed themselves with their weapons. Several of the leaders brought men down to the other canals to liberate the other slaves.
It was clear that this slave rebellion would be a sensation all over the Crete Empire. Specifically, the slave rebellion of millions of slaves would bring a storm to the Crete Empire, which had been peaceful for many decades.
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Capital of the Crete Empire
A drizzling rain was falling upon the city. Inside the palace, a fierce quarrel was taking place.
Allen, the messenger of the Holy Seville Empire, had reached an accord regarding the border trade regulations, as well as a series of bilateral collaborations with the Crete Empire. Yet. they remained at an impasse over the issue of slavery.
Allen had delivered a handwritten letter from Lion Emperor Will of the Holy Seville Empire to Emperor Zolman II of Crete. He had passed along the word that Emperor Will hoped that Crete would abolish the Orc Slavery Bill. In this case, the slaves would either be given corresponding rights, or the Holy Seville Empire would accept these slaves for an appropriate price.
Emperor Will hoped that Crete and Holy Seville would severely crack down on the slave trade between both sides. Only then would a measure of equality and fairness exist between the humans and the orcs. This would also enable the facilitation of smooth trade and fair regulations between the two countries.
However, this request was strongly opposed by the nobles of the Crete Empire. Duke Tembor, in particular, completely flipped out. He said that, although the other conditions could be fulfilled, this one was absolutely impossible.
The reasoning he gave was that the canal investment had been going on for three years and involved the interests of many people. In particular, this project was promoted by Prime Minister Tembor himself. As a result, he had gained a lot of public support from the nobles and the upper class.
Hence, if the Orc Slavery Bill was abolished, it would deal a severe blow to his authority. As such, it was absolutely impossible for Tembor to allow the passage of Allen’s proposal. This was why Tembor had voiced such vehement opposition to it.
Allen stood in the middle of the hall, which had long tables that were filled with Crete’s nobles on both sides. Emperor Zolman II sat on the throne, like a statue.
He was idly watching the dispute between the Prime Minister and Allen. The friendly scene of peace and harmony was gone. Clearly, the Emperor was almost a complete puppet in Duke Tembor’s hands.
As the aristocrats on the sides were having hushed discussions, Allen pointed at Duke Tembor, agitated. He then said, “My apologies, Duke, but in order to cooperate with the Crete Empire, we must have a guarantee that every orc in the Crete Empire will receive fair and equitable rights.”
He paused for a moment, then continued. “As I can’t see any trace of goodwill in your Orc Slavery Bill, it appears that you are simply using orcs as slaves, treating them as mere property or goods. Furthermore, within the Crete Empire, there are all sorts of measures that discriminate against orcs. As such, we can only cooperate when we are all on an even playing field.”
Duke Tembor completely tore off his amicable mask and arrogantly ripped Emperor Will’s letter to shreds. He then disrespectfully tossed the pieces onto the ground, saying, “Sorry, I don’t think you know where you stand.”
Duke Tembor then turned and looked around, spreading out his hands. “Humans are the lords of this land. You orcs are just some barbarians on the borders. In fact, you are weak races that are unworthy of even our consideration!”
Duke Tembor looked at Allen, then added, “Did you forget how our iron steeds crossed the Red River Plains and destroyed the Kingdom of Menkaure? The fire in the capital of Menkaure burned for three days and three nights. We gallivanted through your lands, while your people cowered like pigs!”
He gave him a withering look, then continued his tirade. “The weak are not worthy of discussing equality with us. We have shown you our generosity and toleration, however, you are ignoring our goodwill. Report back to your Emperor, then hopefully he will be able to face reality.”
When Duke Tembor finished speaking, the nobles on both sides roared with laughter. They were looking at Allen as if he was a clown, all of them snickering among themselves…
“How dare the orcs try to impose conditions upon us?”
“Yes, we have already been so magnanimous, but these animals actually want more?”
“If they annoy us, we can always slaughter our way into their lands again!”