Sacrifice
Sacrifice.
The act of giving up something for the sake of something that is regarded as more important.
It is a deed that any human had done at least once in their life, no matter how small or insignificant that sacrifice may be.
From letting your sibling take the last slice of pizza to dying for the sake of your country, sacrificing has many shapes and forms.
Most people consider it as a noble thing to do.
"Sacrifice? You mean you want us to tie you to a burning pillar while the crowd prays to the Goddess or something?"
Of course, there's this type of sacrifice too.
But that's not what I want to focus on.
"Of course not, dumbass. Didn't you get what I said by the end of last chapter?"
"Oh right, I forgot."
In the first place, what constitutes a proper sacrifice? A pure, sincere intention? A desperate mind? The will to do anything? Or is to sacrifice just a means to an end?
My answer to that question is; all of it.
The reason? Because there is no correct answer to this question. Everything depends on your perspective, not just in this particular question, but in all questions you face in your life.
Anyways, back to the topic, what I've realized from the 3 months that I lived here is that everyone sacrifices something in their life.
"Pope, just to make sure, you were born from commoner parents, right?"
"Yes, I was. You got a problem with that?"
"Nah, I just wanted to say that you stink."
"..."
For example, the person in front of me, the pope, came from a prostitute mother and a soldier father. His mother sacrifices her body, and his father sacrifices his life. Their sacrifices made the Pope into who he is today.
And me, as a King, sacrifice my freedom and life for power and dignity. But as someone who came from a rather poor orphanage, being a King is just not my style. Sure the food is tasty and the comfort is top-tier, but other than that, sitting atop an entire kingdom is pretty boring.
Is this how conquerors came to be?
Meh, not my problem.
"Come to think of it, you must have some plans regarding the upcoming war, am I right?" I ask as I took out a small, golden medallion the size of my palm. "I order you as the current King of the Hearts Kingdom, what's your plan?"
"Kugh, that's cheating..." The pope sighed as he said, "I plan to use the power of the people to pressure the other side to—"
"I think I know where this is going, so you can stop now." I said. "It's good, but I have an even better plan. Plus, it's better on the long run."
***
-9 months later-
"Hey, did you hear?" Asked a man to his friend.
"Hmm? Hear what?" The friend replied.
"Today's the day the Pope will exorcise "the Devil's Incarnate", they said. I thought it was tomorrow." The man said as he took a bite from the piece of bread he was holding.
"Oh, King Charles? Never really understood why they hated the guy to be honest. The way I see it, the nobles are just pussies." The friend mockingly said.
"SHHH! What if the guards hear you, dimwit!" The man said as he frantically looked around the park.
" *sigh* You're too uptight my dude, that's why you never get the girls you know?"
"You..."
"Anyways, what has he done this time?" The friend casually asked as he leaned more on the bench they were both sitting on.
"He apparently went and did the 'deed' with the Diamond Kingdom's Queen! AHAHA! Can you believe the nerve of that guy!? They say he did it in front of the whole royal family too! Truly a legend he is!" The man said in a fervent tone with a fervent expression,
Hearing that, the friend's casualness disappeared, replaced by a fervent expression, similar to the man. "HAHA! I see that bastard did it again, huh?! With that, we can say he already conquered all of the royals of all four kingdoms!"
With full smiles on their faces, the two men laughed heartily as they discussed the deeds of King Charles. Though known as "Devil's Incarnate" by the nobles of all kingdoms, for commoners, he is known as the opposite, "God's Representative", they called him.
But even though he was nicknamed "God's Representative"—an unreachable and holy-sounding name, he was more of a friendly guy next door to the commoners of all the four kingdoms.
He wasn't someone who bled for them, nor was he some yes-man who would do anything for the sake of the commoners. He respected the wishes of those who had pride, and gave those to who didn't. He listened to their problems, and gave his own, honest insights about it, even though some didn't necessarily hit the mark, for the commoners it was okay. Because in their eyes, it made him more human, more approachable.
In the short span of 6 months, King Charles took over the world. In a sense.
"What are you two shouting for so early in the morning?" Sternly said a guard who saw the both of them.
"Haha, we were just talking about King Charles my guy!" The man said as he took another bite of the bread on his hand. "Did you hear about what he and the Diamond's Queen did?"
"Idiot, he's a guardsman, of course he already heard about it, right?" The friend said as he looked at the guardsman, who unexpectedly had a furious expression on his face, and was clutching the shaft of his metal spear tightly.
"How dare you two talk like that..." The guard said, gritting his teeth. "Don't you know he's getting exorcised?! Don't you have any respect?!"
The two men flinched in surprise at the guardsman's shout.
"C-Calm down man... In the first place, isn't he just getting baptized by some water or something? Why the shouting?" The friend said, attempting to calm the guardsman.
"Where are you two from?" The guardsman questioned, his tone commanding.
"U-Uh from the S-Spades Kingdom, sir..." The man anxiously said, afraid of the guard, or more specifically, the guard's spear that was shining with a metallic sheen from the morning sun.
"What is your reason for visiting our Kingdom?" The guardsman asked, still in the same tone.
"T-To visit the King, sir. We heard there was some kind of event, b-but we didn't know what it was..." Said the friend before he questioned, "Excuse me for my ignorance, but what does the exorcism exactly do...?"
The guard let out a long, exasperated sigh before speaking woefully, "He gets tied up in a burning pillar... and people will pray to the Goddess..."
"WHAT?!" The two men shouted, expressing their shock.
"That's why we're rebelling." The guardsman suddenly said, further shocking the two. "Afternoon, at the central plaza, the moment King Charles gets tied to the pillar, we get him and run. Sacrifices be damned. Come if you want."
After that, the guardsman left, leaving behind two pondering men.
***
"What? A rebellion?" Questioned King Charles who was lying down at a couch. "Guess I underestimated my effect on people, huh?"
" *sigh* Good thing we placed some spies like I insisted, otherwise our plan..." Relieved, the pope put down the letter on his hand as he sat down on the couch opposite to King Charles. "We just have to do everything a little bit before they start."
"In the first place, why do you always underestimate yourself?" The pope curiously asked as he took a cookie from the bowl on top of the table in front of him. "From creating new gizmos you call "modern gadgets" to war plans and economics—you're a genius for goddess' sake. Won't it hurt to have a little more pride?"
The Pope had always wondered about this for the past six months. From how King Charles controlled the war so that there was little damage to both sides, to how he made new gadgets to make people's lives easier.
"Pope, did you know?" King Charles suddenly asked, "That in order to become a good king, the cowardly Charles read books about all sorts of topics in secret? That in order to successfully win the war, the Lustful Tyrant Charles studied war tactics?"
As he had inherited all their memories, Zach naturally knew all about both Charles'. The "Beta" Charles may have been a coward, but he was a genuinely kind person who only wanted the best for his Kingdom.
The "Chad" Charles may have been a lecherous idiot, but in truth, he was only a lost person who didn't know what his real purpose in life was.
Just like Zach.
"I merely added my own genius to their efforts." Zach closed his eyes and said sagely, "It would be hypocritical of me to overestimate myself."
"But you're already a hypocrite." The Pope looked at him weirdly.
"...At least let me have my moment before I die, you egghead." Zach scratched the back of his head. "Well, the truth is that you can never be too careful, especially if you're weak."
"About that... Do you really have to...?" The Pope gazed down, his face unseen. "Sorry... it's just..."
"Oh? What's this? Is someone getting sentimental?" Zach chuckled, amused by The Pope's actions.
As they both planned and discussed many things for the past months, the two naturally got much closer, and through that, became each other's first genuine friend.
For the Pope, whose life mostly consisted of constantly pushing himself forward to achieve his current position, and add that to the fact of having to pretend to be a devout believer daily, having someone he could banter with and be himself greatly helped him unwind.
For Zach, it was the first time, aside from those he consider as family back at the orphanage, that he could speak his mind to without minding the consequences. Because back in his past life, friend groups are formed based on common interests; and as someone who didn't particularly like nor dislike something, Zach always had to give a half-hearted response in order to not get left out.
An irrational fear that he subconsciously thought about.
'But that's all in the past.' Zach thought. 'I'm my own person now, screw other's opinions. People may hate me and disagree with me all they want, but that's fine! I'm tired of appeasing society's expectations!'
"All good things must come to an end, Pope." Zach stood up and turned around, hiding his face. "We've come so far now, we can't back down."
Zach walked to the door as he steeled his determination. But before he opened the door, he remembered something important.
"Come to think of it, you haven't told me your name yet." Asked Zach, his face still not facing the Pope.
In the Goddess' Church, the Popes' names are kept secret as it is believed that the representative of the Goddess cannot serve the people properly if the public were to know of their name. They are instead referred to as "Pope" only.
"It's Jeff." The Pope, Jeff, mumbled quietly. "My name's Jeff."
"..."
"PFFFTTTT—"
"Don't laugh damnit!! This is why I didn't want to say my name for Goddess' sake!!!"
***
-Afternoon-
-Central Plaza of Aorta City, Capital of The Hearts Kingdom-
All around the plaza, the incessant chatter of people resounded. From the main road, the inside of buildings, and even above said buildings, people can be seen. Whether kid, adult, or old people, all sorts of people from different Kingdoms were present, here today for King Charles' exorcism.
Hundreds of thousands of people were out, such that if you view it from a bird's perspective, all you would see is this packed mess of a crowd.
*HOONNNKKK!!!*
The sound of a trumpet was suddenly heard, echoing throughout the cemented buildings and bringing a stop to the discussions of the world's populace.
"BURN THE PILLAR!" A guardsman bellowed out as he pointed to a thick, wooden pillar situated tightly atop a wide and cemented platform on the middle of the plaza.
*FTOOOOO!*
The sound of an arrow piercing through the air was heard, and said arrow was lit aflame as it hit the pillar, blazing it for all to see.
Sounds of stupor and amazement came from the audience, just in time for a man handcuffed with ropes to step into the platform, accompanied by two guards who were covering their faces.
"WOOH KING CHARLES!!!"
"KING CHARLES IS HERE!!"
Seeing the man, the crowd was exhilarated, shouting and chanting the man's name.
That is until they noticed that he was getting closer and closer to the burning pillar by the second. This was not what they thought it was going to be!
The crowd panicked, shouting and chanting the man's name. But instead of exhilaration, this time it was out of dread.
And just as the man was close to a meter away from the pillar, he suddenly broke free from the ropes and knocked the two guards out by chopping the back of their necks.
Instantly, the crowd was relieved, and they shouted the man's name again.
"KING CHARLES!"
"KING CHARLES!"
"KING CHARLES!"
Hearing the crowd's united cry that even made the ground a bit wobbly, Zach raised his right hand, bringing a stop to the earthquake-inducing yell.
"..."
"..."
Inhaling mightily, Zach calmed his furiously beating heart as he bellowed out, "MY PeOPLE!!"
"..."
His voice cracked.
"PFFT—"
"HAHA—"
"KAHAKA—"
Sounds of loud but lighthearted laughter resounded out, in contrast to Zach's serious and determined face.
'Fuck, that was so embarrassing...' Though what's inside of his head is a different story.
Seeing Zach's serious face, those at the front stopped guffawing, followed by the rest behind them, slowly thinning out the laughter.
"MY PEOPLE!" Zach shouted yet again. "DO YOU KNOW WHY I TRAVELED THE 4 KINGDOMS?!"
"It is to meet new people! To broaden my views of the world!" Zach shouted out his real feelings. "To see the views of others!! And most importantly, TO CHALLENGE MY OWN PERSPECTIVE!!!"
His voice resounded out, capturing the attention of the mob.
"Do you know why the nobles always seem so short-sighted?! So arrogant?!" Zach questioned. "It's because all they do is keep to themselves!! They NEVER try to see what others SEE!!"
The crowd all let out sounds of affirmation as they listened on.
"And you know what?! YOU'RE ALL THE SAME AS THOSE NOBLES!!!" Zach cried out, shocking the mass of people all around him.
"What did you say?!?!"
"I thought you were different..."
"How can you say that?!"
Sounds of disappointment and anger were heard as the crowd quickly jumped to conclusions, booing Zach.
"BOOO!"
"BOOOO!"
But Zach remained undaunted.
*CLANG!*
A loud sound of metal hitting metal suddenly resounded out, bringing a stop to the crowd's booing.
Taking the signal, Zach continued, "SEE WHAT I MEAN?!"
"Is this how you treat me just because I said something you didn't like?!" Zach mocked, "HOW SHORT-SIGHTED! HOW ARROGANT!!"
The crowd went silent, unable to refute a word.
Seeing the plan working, Zach initiated the final phase of the plan.
He took out a sword from the guard who was passed out beside him, it's length the same as his arm, and put it's edge at his own neck.
"LET THIS BE A LESSON!!" Zach said, his arms quivering.
The Pope and Zach's plan was simple.
"TEACH IT TO YOUR FRIENDS, TO YOUR CHILDREN, AND TO YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN!!" Zach said, breathing heavily.
Defuse the war in such a grand way that Zach's popularity would arise, damage the nobles' and royalty's reputation, spend a month living with the commoners to know them and tell them more about the nobles, hold a large event so that many would come, and let the Pope deal with the aftermath.
"CHALLENGE YOUR VIEWS!! DON'T BE CONTENT ON YOUR OWN!!" Zach said, his sword drawing blood from his neck.
Let the public be more aware of the world—That was the goal of their plan.
"AND LASTLY!!-" Zach scanned the enraptured crowd one last time. "Don't be a pussy."
Gazing at a certain place, Zach mouthed the words—Thanks for everything, I leave the rest to you.
*SCHWING!*
The sound of a sword swing reverberated throughout the silent plaza.