Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 393 Reasons for Killing
The specific selection process cannot be made out of thin air. Lucia is waiting for a statistical result.

About a quarter of an hour later, Rosalind, commander of the 9th Storm Legion, who was also responsible for the logistics and garrison of the Northern Expedition, walked in with a document.

"Your Highness, the statistics on the people rescued in the recaptured areas have come out."

"Since our army conquered Odysseus, we have opened warehouses and distributed supplies wherever we go, so that the rescued soldiers and civilians will spontaneously gather in the direction of Guntherfred. As of this morning, our army has basically gathered all the surviving soldiers and civilians within a radius of 5,000 miles."

"According to statistics, there are 4,677 soldiers from the Northern Border Legion, 8,540 private soldiers from various noble families, and 528 fire monks. Excluding the seriously injured and our regular reinforcements, there are still 11,000 people with combat effectiveness."

"As for civilians, a total of more than 120,000 people were rescued, of which two-thirds were in Guntherfred and the surrounding 17 prisoner camps. According to the interrogation of the prisoners, the giant army used this place as a 'grain reserve', so most of the soldiers and civilians were temporarily saved. The rest of the area was ravaged by the giants. Almost nine out of ten houses were empty, it was a horrible sight."

Hearing about a tragedy thousands of miles away and witnessing it with one's own eyes, and personally participating in the statistics and governance, are two completely different things. The army stayed in Guntherfred for only three short days, but during these three days, even with Rosalind's well-tempered character, she felt like she was in hell and was suffering.

Along the way, the Northern Expedition witnessed hundreds of so-called "feeding pits" - the giants would look for slightly soft soil on the ice field, dig large pits with a diameter of more than 100 meters, and then drive their favorite women and children in, roast them with flames, and then jump in to feast on them.

The huge pits that were burned black and hard were like festering sores on the earth. When the army walked past the pits, all they could see were countless piles of broken bones and flesh. The extremely low temperature of the ice field could not prevent the spread of the burnt stench. Wild dogs within dozens of miles would follow the smell and try to find their own dinner in the giants' leftovers.

As for those towns and cities that were once inhabited by people, they were reduced to food bowls and toilets where the giants could unleash their bestiality at will. If the Northern Expedition Army had not been composed of elite soldiers selected from hundreds of miles away, and if Lucia and several generals had not attached great importance to the psychological counseling of the soldiers, this horrific and extremely dirty scene alone would have been enough to destroy the spirits of the soldiers.

From a completely objective and neutral perspective, Lucia has no right to condemn the giants.

In the past, when Odysseus swept the north with his sword and Gefrei rode his horse into the royal court, their methods were probably no less cruel. Marica, the eternal queen who maintained a kind image to the world, was also treacherous when facing the surrendered giants. She dug out the eyes of the evil god in their abdomens and personally cast a divine curse, destroying their minds while also causing their bodies to shrink. To this day, the mountain goblins, who are descendants of giants, still play the role of livestock in the Golden Dynasty.

But since Lucia came to the North, she had no intention of being a completely objective and neutral saint who viewed all races in the world as equals.

It is fine to treat all races equally without distinction of superiority or inferiority - but that applies to the people under his rule.

In Rodel, he was willing to play against Marika and Radagon for the Son of Evil Omen, for the alien slaves who fought bloody battles in the arena for people to watch and were whipped in the workshop, including sub-humans, orcs, hybrids, and of course trolls.

The rescued slaves arrived at the Far Eastern archipelago, participated in labor and completed their promotions. They became his people and would not be any different from other free people under the rule of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty.

But in the North, he didn't care whether the giants had been persecuted by Marica in history, or how miserable the ice trolls, their descendants, lived under the continuous raids by the Northern Garrison.

He only cares that the North will become the northern border of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty in the near future. The people of the North, no matter they come from the Golden Tree, the Samir clan or the Storm Survivors, will become the new people of the Ancient Dragons.

Since they had chosen to become his enemy, occupy his land, and massacre his people, he would not mind returning the suffering to the Giant King's Court a hundredfold.

You said that the Arctic Ice was originally the inherent territory of the giants passed down from generation to generation? Sorry, everyone knows that the entire border area is the inherent territory of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty. Helarius and Platon Sanx are not the gods and kings of the Ancient Dragons, but the only supreme gods and kings in the whole world.

Although the North was once occupied by rebel giants for a period of time, as early as the Age of Recovery, most of the North was recovered by Odysseus, the Storm King, a subordinate of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty. The remaining remnants suffered a round of attacks from the Golden Dynasty, and instead of surrendering, they rebelled and massacred the people of the upper country. Who else should we kill if not you?
Therefore, Lucia never intended to argue or condemn anything in front of the giant.

When an irreconcilable war breaks out between countries, tribes, and civilizations, it is very simple to just exterminate the tribe and destroy the country.

Just as the giant had no intention of reasoning with the food on the plate, Lucia had no interest in reasoning with the corpse.

"How long can the remaining supplies feed these soldiers and civilians besides our army?" Lucia put down the documents in her hand and asked.

"According to the minimum standard for maintaining life - ninety days," Rosalind replied. "This is the result of the maximum estimate. Most of the nearby supplies were destroyed during the giant massacre. If there are still small groups of survivors coming to seek refuge in the near future, this period will be further shortened."

Lucia's expression remained unchanged, she just nodded and said, "Then according to normal standards, in order to ensure that everyone has enough food and warm clothes, the existing supplies and food can only support one month at most, right?"

Rosalind's expression changed slightly when she heard this. "Your Highness, you are compassionate and want to do your best to help these refugees, but the supplies are so tight right now. If we ration them without restriction, in half a month we will—"

"I want to do my best to help them, Rosa, but this is not a decision made out of mercy." Lucia said lightly.

As I said, during the war, he must be responsible for every decision and every soldier, so every decision he makes is the calmest judgment after careful consideration.

"What do you know about Pollelius?" he asked.

Rosalind was stunned for a moment, then answered truthfully, "I only know that he is the leader of the twenty original flying dragons of our dynasty, one of the most powerful heroes a thousand years ago, and his strength is comparable to that of the two priests."

"But it seems that he had a disagreement with the two majesties at the end of the Star-Moon Age and left the Sky City. During that time, he once occupied the top of the Giant Mountain, but was later defeated by the Giant King's Court. He retreated to the Frozen Lake and relied on his followers, the Samir people, to confront the Fire Giants."

"After the Forbidden War, he proclaimed himself the 'Ice Dragon God' at the Frozen Lake. As a result, the High Priest revoked his name in Fam Azra for a time. It was not until the Dragon Tree War that he came all the way to help. The High Priest made an exception and restored his name before his death. Since then, he has had no contact with our dynasty until today."

Lucia nodded and said, "You already know a lot, but there are still two things you don't know."

Rosalind was stunned again. Although she didn't know why His Highness repeatedly mentioned Borelius on the issue of refugee resettlement, out of her unconditional loyalty and faith in Lucia herself, she still bowed her head and said, "Please enlighten me, Your Highness."

(End of this chapter)