Earth: The Second

Udeka's Judgment

Quitting his spectator’s role, Roberto asking straight to the point over Thomas’s statement to the Duke. Thomas told him the incident that happened previously. 

First, Udeka comes with his soldier with an announcement, he said that the village area will be acquired by the city, to become a new district. Turns out, those ideas are rejected by the people. Before the Duke’s visit, villagers have started a gathering, and demand that the Duke would stop that idea. 

They asked him what would happen if the fields are destroyed? Since that is the only source of these people’s income, they basically are going to become homeless if his decision continues. 

Together, they are confronting Udeka and told their objection. At first, all of them are voicing their aspiration in peace, but the Duke thinks otherwise.

For Thomas, that day feels like the usual days, when his father leaves the house to work and would come back in the late afternoon. While his father told him to not following him today,  Thomas got curious and tail his father without him knows it.

That time, Udeka comes with riding a horse, together with dozens of soldiers. he seems reluctant to step down from his horse, and instead, commands their soldiers to keep the villagers away at certain meters.

“My Lord! Please hear what your citizens wanted!” some of them started shoutings and pleaded. From his hiding, Thomas still remembers how Udeka’s expression is. He clearly showed uninterestedness toward the people in front of him.

“How noisy! Don’t ever hope a pathetic squeal like that would be enough to hinder me! As you Lord, I demand your obedience!” screamed Udeka. Of course, the people grew more angrily toward his behavior. Some shouts are getting louder, while some people are started to move forward, only to be pushed back by the soldiers.

“I said shut up! You grateful commoners!” shouted the Duke. “I don’t need livestock that won’t listen and talking back! Don’t you realize how people like all of you are just wasting food and space? Moreover, you people are breeding like crazy! Don’t you know that you are just increasing my workload!?”

At that moment, Udeka just spraying the people with his typical children’s tantrum. The villagers that are present are looking at each other.

“My Lord! We hope you would reconsider, and comes out with better plans. The fields around here are flourishing, it will be a waste to use the land for building instead,” Thomas’s father steps forward.

For a moment, there is silence between villagers and the Duke. Udeka looked at the people under him, with a nasty look. And then, he sighed.

“I don’t care anymore. Black Claws! Do your job!” shouted Udeka.

From the very end of the group, 5 figures with black hoodies appear. Four of them are males, and one is female. All of them have swords or knives in their hand.

Each one of them, is a Black Claws member, with Boss as their leader. 

While some of the villagers are starting to step backward, probably afraid of what those swords would do, Thomas’s father still stands on his ground.

Boss approaches him. That man is still not budging, even in front of Boss’s lumbering presence.

“Brave fella,” commented Boss.

Suddenly, a sword pierced his stomach and comes out his back.

For Thomas, suddenly all time is stopping. He sees with his own eyes, how the blood is gushing out from his stomach, just like cattle in a slaughterhouse.

And when the time has rolled back, the other Black Claws members already barring their fangs to every other villager. They swing their swords, stab, killed, and destroy their property. Some are started to run away, but they are easily caught by the adventurer’s combat abilities. 

In the end, forty-two people died that day. Five of them are arrested randomly as the ‘initiator of the uprising’, although that was not true, Udeka needs a black goat that he can report back to the capital.

No one from those captured people is returned to the village.

“And that is what happened,” said Thomas to the knight. “My father, and everyone else’s too, is dead. Some of the people here have never seen their family since that incident, and all of us are in constant threat from the duke that always labels us as ‘seeds of rebellion’ and needs to be ‘disciplined’,” added him for the last time, and he returns to his seat.

Previously, Roberto has sheathed his sword while listening to Thomas’s story. He feels a conflict inside his chest. Which one of them is telling the truth?

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he speaks. “I know that you have never seen me before. I’m a Knight from the capital, who goes by the name Robert. I arrived at the request from the Duke, that asked me to accompany him for the social welfare discussion over the village.”

Robert paused for a moment to take a glance at Udeka from the corner of his eyes. Udeka himself is trying his best to looks calm, as he wipes the sweat on his forehead.

Robert returned to his speech, “But when I arrived, things are a bit different to what I would expect. From my point of view, instead of working together to improve the social condition of the villages, the villagers instead, are conveying their demand to the Duke. As the discussion goes along, it turned more into a judgment, where one party seems to try to deny all the accusation.”

Glaring at him, Adma feels that the speech that Robert gives may give them a chance to get the upper hand in the situation. But for this moment, he hoped that this Knight is the kind of people that used common sense, instead of superficial values like nobility.

“My question right now is simple. Which stories are the true ones?”

Right after Robert asked that everyone in the venue is shouting at the same time. even if those shouts are mixed with one another, the context is all the same. Thoma’s story is true, exactly as he said, and Udeka is mixing the truth with a lie.

“Father never came home!” screamed one of the children, the same child that joined Thomas’s resistance.

“Bring my husband back!” a middle-aged woman also screamed his sorrow.

Roberto lifts his hand up, asking them to quiet down. “The law of the Kingdom grants the nobles with an obligation that everything they do is for the glory of the Kingdom itself. One thing that I realize, is that I have seen how some of them are used those obligations as a means to make themself richer. Believe me. It’s not as rare as you think.”

Robert turned around to face the group in front of him. “I want to apologize to everyone for how our system is designed in the first place. While I can’t change everything myself, I have tried my best to reduce the amount of those nobles, the ones who use their obligation, not for the kingdom or people, but for themself instead. Therefore, I’m going to ask Lord Udeka, the complete report of the said incident.”

Adma does not show it, but he has smiled inside. Robert has become a surprising factor that he does not expect, and probably for the better. That Knight knows about the corruption in the government and seems sane enough to fight them from inside of the system.

Meanwhile, Udeak feels like he is just struck by lightning in the middle of the day. What he knew, is that his subordinates are making the report with many things are not listed, such as the number of soldiers, weapons, and even the details of their operation on the scene. The only important piece that they write, is about the five citizens that have been captured, listed as ‘rebels’, and sent to the prison in the capital.

“Why would you listen to them? Don’t you know how these people are working together to bring me down?” confront Udeka to Robert. He is sweaty even more than before, his face clearly showed how he feels threatened.

“One thing that I learned from the rebels, is that they are formed together with the same goals in mind,” replied Robert. “Either it’s money, or political power, they all set the same goal, and gather as one banner.”

“Then should not you catch these people first!?” Udeka is half-screaming. Stressed out, he even grasps a part of Robert’s armor.

“I only caught the rebels who have lifted their sword to hurt another citizen, and the one who is brave enough to attack the capital,” replied Robert. “Besides, if your story is true, a one-time delay of the discussion is not a problem right? Since I wanted to review that one report.”

Udeka feels a strength started to leave his body. How did it come to this? What will happen if Robert really found an error in that report? He can imagine how they will take Udeka to the Capital, where he would be judged. If he is proven guilty, then everything would be crumbled to dust.

His mansion, his food, his money, his women… everything would be gone in a flash. And he won’t let that happen.

“We will return for a few days to review the report of the incident. If I found anything suspicious on the Duke’s report, my messenger would inform you about your demand from this discussion,” said Robert.

Father Risto, Thomas, and Adma, both showed a satisfied faces. 

“Um… I… Thank you…” Thomas wanted to reply, but he can’t form better words since he feels too happy.

“Thank you very much for receiving our demand. We hope that we will hear good news soon,” added Adma.

Everything seems to have ended peacefully. Both parties have reached the same conclusion, and cheers coming from the people who watched the discussion. Udeka’s crime has been unveiled and it’s probably won’t take long until he is judged by the people at the capital.

Adma himself feels refreshed. He was relieved that this time, he doesn’t need to kill. This is why he uphold his no-killing principal, because people like Robert, are the one which will bring change to this country.

But that peace did not last long.

A swift sound of an arrow, flying like a whistle and pierced right through Robert’s armor.

The next moment, the body of that Knight falls to the ground.

Adma, Thomas, and Father Risto were startled. But Udeka? He is nowhere to be found.