He Died and Receive an Overpowered Tyrant System

The Dark Truth about Duke Gustave's Dominion

"Who are you?! You don't look like one of the villagers!"

One of the soldiers drew his sword threateningly and prepared to charge Jasper, who fired the shot. However, Albarest stopped him.

"Stand down."

"Sir?"

"That peculiar weapon and fashionable military uniform, there's no mistaking it, you're from the City of Eighbury. A rebel state!"

Hearing that, Jasper and Mike's eyes widened in surprise.

"You already knew our existence?"

"Yes, Duke Gustave had told us everything about the state of Eighbury recently, the way it turned into a rebel state. But that city will burn by the power of Duke Gustave and will be overrun by His Grace troops when they march in winter."

"Is that so? How convenient of you to tell this to an enemy. Thank you for that, I can go away with that vital information." Jasper mockingly said. 

The fact that he told him that Duke Gustave will plan an invasion to the City of Eighbury is not very wise thinking. Jasper laughed inwardly.

"Hmm, I don't know how the information about the City of Eighbury has been leaked but it seems that we don't have a choice here but to fight for our lives and flee," Jasper stated calmly as he swept his gaze to the line of soldiers whose eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Since we've been exposed I think it'll be better to introduce ourselves, don't you think?" Mike said to Jasper with a wink.

"I agree," Jasper said and introduced himself. "My name is Jasper, one of the Protection Squadron working under Volksfuhrer, supreme leader of the United National Socialist Party."

"I'm Mike, likewise."

"United National Socialist Party?" Albarest repeated the word. So the name of the rebel party is UNSP. "What is your goal?"

"We are formed to achieve a noble goal of reuniting the humans and demi-humans, creating prosperity, peace, and equality whose basic aspects of the Crentis Kingdom have been stolen by the Empire. You, treating these villagers harshly goes against our ideology." Jasper answered.

"Hmmph. Okay. We, the humble and loyal knights of His Majesty are in the process of delivering punishment to the girl, why did you stop us?"

"I told you recently, didn't I? I wanted to stop you from killing the girl whom I believed my friend here is indebted to."

"You wanted to save the child? How foolhardy."

"..."

While the silver-haired knight was speaking, soldiers moved to surround the Protection Squadron. Once they'd cut off any avenue of escape, Albarest drew his sword.

"Seems like you were here to infiltrate the city and gather intelligence, it's too stupid of you to have shown yourself and compromising your mission." Albarest guessed.

They were encircled by swords on all sides. However, it didn't look like they felt cornered in the slightest. After all, combined, they have 29 rounds of bullets and the number of soldiers surrounding them is only 13, if they decide to kill them, they can execute it swiftly.

"Who cares about the mission when we are fighting for our people?" Jasper said.

"People?" Albarest frowned.

"In the City of Eighbury, the word such as demi-humans is not used as it serves as a derogatory term for them, in the city we called them mankind."

"Such a utopia you got there…"

"Well honestly speaking, we can kill the soldiers surrounding us with ease." Jasper waved his M9 Beretta, "So to prevent further bloodshed why don't you and I come to an arrangement?" Jasper grinned as he spun the pistol around on his finger.

The soldiers who circled them hollered at them.

"What did you just say? You can kill us?"

"That bluff won't work on us dumbass."

Mike glared at the man who said "dumbass.". He aimed his pistol and shot him. A hole was created in the center of his face, blood gushed out from the hole as the soldier fell down to the ground, creating a crimson puddle in the cobblestone road.

The soldiers who just witnessed their comrade who got killed by an unknown weapon fell into panic.

"Wha???"

"He killed him?!"

"Sir requesting permission to attack!"

"I'm gonna kill you!!!"

Albarest was shocked too, seeing a weapon from a rebel's hand that released an invisible projectile was unheard of. What is that weapon?

He calmed himself and gave out his orders.

"No, stand down!" Albarest reluctantly said.

"But sir?"

"I said stand down! You've provoked them so it's obvious that they'll retaliate. Let me handle this, stand down." Albarest said.

Unable to get what they wanted because of an order from the higher-up, the soldier gave up on the idea of killing them.

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Albarest continued.

"You made your point, you can clearly wipe us all with your weapon. So you're saying that you want to come in an arrangement. What is it?"

"You're an easy one, Sir Albarest. Okay, let me state my demands. It's simple, promise me that you won't hurt the girl anymore and I'll come along peacefully. What do you say? Not a bad offer, right?"

"..."

Albarest hesitated, his sword still pointed at the Protection Squadron. After a moment, he called out to his subordinate holding Amelia's head down.

"Very well. I accept your condition...Release the child."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Make it snappy." The soldier did as he was bid. Seeing that, Jasper tossed his pistol off to the side.

"Mike, you handle it from here." Jasper briefly said as he was being approached by the guards.

Now that he was unarmed, the soldiers rushed at him, kicked him to the ground, and cuffed him with iron manacles. Making sure that the iron manacles were secured around Jasper's wrists, Albarest gave an order.

"We're going back to Count Grebel's castle. Bring him. And the corpse, clean it."

"Yes, sir!"

Clapped in chains and in the custody of Albarest, Jasper was carted off to Castle Grebel.

…

A few minutes earlier, back when Jasper stopped Mike from rushing out.

"W-Wait, you're going to what?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna let them capture me on purpose, you return to Eighbury to report the plan to them. We're on an espionage mission. If I let them catch me, I'll be able to make it all the way into their base without lifting a finger. I can't pass up on an opportunity like that. Oh, don't be worried. Despite my looks, I'm pretty good at jailbreak."

"But why not Saiki? She's a trained assassin and can sneak up in the palace easily?"

"No, you go with her back to Eighbury. I don't want that orphaned child to take any more missions. Even if she was acknowledged by the Volksfuhrer we can't ignore the fact that she came from our enemy."

This was how they decided Jasper should allow himself to be captured in order to sneak deep into enemy territory.

Mike and Saiki, who'd been left alone in the village, helped Aida carry Amelia back into the inn. Amelia's wounds were brutal and would likely leave a lifelong scar. Fortunately, though, her breathing eventually stabilized, and she drifted into a quiet slumber. Aida dropped to her hands and knees, thanking Mike and Saiki between relieved sobs.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you…! You saved my daughter…!"

"I'd like to thank you, too. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't been here…," the old man who'd first introduced the mother and daughter added.

However...after seeing what was in the cellar, Mike had no desire to accept their gratitude,

"...I don't need your thanks." The Protection Squadron officer decided to cut right after the chase. "Not when you were planning to kill and eat us."

Aida's and the old man's faces went pale.

"Wh…?"

"H-How do you....?!"

"We found the cellar," Saiki answered.

"I'm so sorry."

"I don't need your apologies, either. I just want to know why." Mike pulled out his pocket note and fountain pen from his pocket. Ready to take note of the mother's answer.

"...It's a simple thing, really. It was the only way we could survive." the old man answered.

"There's nothing else to eat in town to eat, see."

"Hmm hmm," Mike mumbled as he took note of their answer, they clearly resorted to cannibalism.

In a resigned tone, Aida explained to Mike what had happened to the village.

Originally, Yutia Village had made their living harvesting grain. They hadn't been rich by any means but were blessed with fertile land, so they were able to live modest lives free of want. However, once Gustave was granted control over the domain in recognition of his efforts destroying the Kingdom of Elba, everything went to hell.

The duke ordered the land was to be made into "a garden befitting His Grace's majesty," decreeing that all towns and villages in the domain undergo beautification projects. The citizens were forced to rebuild their old houses, repaint them at regular intervals, install glass windows, and wear tailored outfits the likes of which were normally reserved for nobles. All the expenses for their fineries came out of the citizens' pockets, of course.

Such imperatives quickly drained the coffers of the people. Complicating things were the regular inspections by the soldiers. These check-ins meant the commoners couldn't get dirty, preventing any decent fieldwork from getting done. While their expenses increased, their productivity dropped off a cliff. As a result, the people fell into famine and destitution.

Then, to make matters worse, Gustave decided he wanted to build a monument and give it to the king to commemorate his rule of the Kingdom of Crentis. He immediately commissioned a sixteen-foot-tall solid gold statue of King Philip III.

However, the heavy taxes its construction demanded would have been crippling in the best of times and marked the final nail in the coffins of the commoners. The people of Yutia were no exception.

All of which are needed and mandatory to be done despite the loss of the Kingdom of Crentis two years ago, which completely suppressed the people of needs by hyperinflation, exploitation, discrimination, oppression. In short, they are living their lives at the worst of the worst.

"At that rate, the only fate that awaited us was death by starvation. But the mayor gave us an order...He told us to ply travelers with alcohol, offer them lodging, kill them, strip them of their possessions and partake of their flesh."

"..." Mike was struck speechless by Gustave's atrocious governance. No matter how hard the commoners worked, there was no way they could pay for a gold statue, cosmetic upkeep on their villages, glass windows, and fountains while still having enough to feed themselves. The situation was impossible no matter how hard you looked at it. Compared to the City of Eighbury who is developing fast and making its people happy there are still things that one can't just do.

The sins of the village had committed were utterly inhumane. They were the acts of savage beast who had cast aside morals and reason.

Mike sighed dejectedly after hearing their stories. "What happened to the Kingdom of Crentis? Why are the people here, humans and demi-humans, being oppressed after the war?" He said to himself.

"Why…? Why did this happen to us…? Our houses were run-down, our clothes were shabby, and we were always covered in dirt...but sharing a simple meal with our families was all the happiness we needed...Just that was enough to make us joyous from the bottom of our hearts. But now...not even our smiles are our own."

There was nothing to smile about, no happiness to be found. Yet they'd been forced to spend their days beaming. It had stretched the old man's spirit to its limit.

That was why.

"I'm just...so tired…"

"Sir?"

The old man pulled a dagger from his coat pocket and stabbed himself through the neck. Or rather, he tried to. Saiki had grabbed it by the blade in the nick of time.

"Please...don't stop me. Just let me die."

"That's not gonna happen! You will miss the beautiful world Volskfuhrer had promised to us."

"That again...that false hope...why does fate want me to suffer…?" The old man spat the words like a curse. Mike responded by shaking his head.

"No, it's not false hope. There is hope in that city. Volksfuhrer promised liberation of the Crentian people throughout the nation! They are now making movements to the south, absorbing them!" Mike stood as he orated the words of Ernest. "There are 37 million people in the Kingdom of Crentis, 98% of those are commoners, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, magicians, who don't realize they have the power to change the country! So don't lose hope, you can be with us if you want to, bring all the villagers and migrate to the City of Eighbury where you can start all over again and regain your original smile."

"Do you believe him?" The old man asked, his eyes beaming for hope.

"Yes, he has the power to do so," Mike assured the old man.