ALL NOVEL
Chapter 69: The Roman Highlight
Giraud’s clerk was stupefied.
Governor-General Giraud, didn’t you declare with great conviction that you’d live and die with the city? You went out to find reinforcement and encouraged our people to fight to their dying breath.
Why are you thinking of fleeing in the middle of the war?
Giraud stared at the clerk as if he was an idiot.
I was determined before because I thought Venice could be defended! Now that Venice’s downfall is inevitable, am I to await my death here instead of running?
As long as she escaped to a safe place with the massive savings she had accrued over the years, she could start a business and live a comfortable life as a tycoon.
Die for my country? You must be kidding! Anywhere is my country as long as I have money!
Unfortunately, Giraud encountered a hurdle in her escape plan.
In the first place, it was not easy to escape from a battlefield where two armies were clashing, not to mention Venice was still plagued by a heavy storm. The canals were overflowing, boats were capsized, and corpses were strewn around the place.
More importantly…
“We’re surrounded?!” Giraud opened her map and felt light-headed.
The Khitans had captured Venice’s strategic locations right from the get-go, making it impossible for them to slip through. It was also doubtful whether they could force their way out.
Giraud felt her hands and legs turning cold.
She spent a long moment in thought before coming to a decision.
I shall head to the underground cellar!
The underground cellar was constructed as a way to seek refuge from disasters. She didn’t think that a day would come where she would really need it. As long as she used the resources there sparingly, she should be able to last a month…
Of course, there was a prerequisite…
Giraud sharply eyed the people around her. I can’t have so many people with me.
【My host, you’re already on shore. Why are you walking around instead of resting?】
【I know I said that those scenic spots in Venice are must-go places, but you don’t have to do that in the middle of a storm.】
【Besides, aren’t you here to look for Vernier’s family members? Somehow, you don’t seem to be in a hurry to look for them.】
Having one fourth of the screen was much better than having a latency of 9999. However, System 12345 couldn’t help but notice that Shu Yichao’s situation was a little different from how it had imagined it.
【My host, I must be seeing things. You can’t be… brandishing a scimitar, right?】
And I saw something red splashing across the screen, though it was quickly washed away by the rainwater…
On top of that, System 12345 also noticed a few other details—Shu Yichao was dressed in armor, riding on a steed, and armed with a scimitar…
The truth couldn’t be clearer.
My host isn’t here to visit Vernier’s family members; he’s here to fight a war!
【Uhh… Is Venice being at war part of the plotline too? Ah, it really is. Venice was at war with an enemy state when the latter sent a squad to infiltrate the city and carry out acts of terrorism. In the end, everyone worked together to bring down the enemy state.】
【I guess it makes sense for you to don your armor and fight… You’re here to protect Venice, right?】
【…】
【Right?】
【…】
【My host, can you hear me?】
An ominous feeling crept over System 12345.
Wait, does it go both ways? Just like I can’t hear my host, my host can’t hear me too?
【My host, if you can hear me, can you give me a heart?】
Shu Yichao kicked a room door open, sending the soldiers, who were trying to jam it shut, flying.
“Playtime’s over!”
【…】
Goddammit! My host really can’t hear a thing at all! Doesn’t that mean that I have been talking to myself like a madsystem all this while?!
System 12345 felt light-CPUed.
I’m knee-deep into my internship, only to realize that I haven’t been communicating with my host all this while…
…
Meanwhile, in the underground cellar…
How much time has passed? What’s the situation in the city?
Governor-General Giraud sat in her little room with a blanket wrapped around her, looking like a wary cat.
Next to her room was a room covered in litter, giving off a terrible stench. The nobles, who usually carried themselves with poise, had drunk themselves silly, staggering aimlessly around aimlessly. They hadn’t been like that at the start.
Back then, Governor-General Giraud schemed most of her subordinates to their death before seeking refuge in this underground cellar with her remaining aides. She thought that the Khitans would leave shortly after killing and plundering, and it would be safe for her to come out then.
However, being in a dark underground cellar slowly eroded their sense of time and rationality, especially when the servants they had sent to scout the situation never returned. Despair was slowly seeping into their hearts, taking them over.
Before they knew it, they had already succumbed to resignation and alcohol, their usual dignity crumbling away. They thought that they should make the best out of whatever time they had left.
Had it been in the past, Governor-General Giraud might have stepped forward to berate them. But now…
Glug glug glug!
A fever had made Giraud’s body weak and her throat hoarse, but it didn’t hinder her from taking huge gulps of alcohol. She picked up a mirror, and with the dim light of an oil lamp she saw her wretched state.
Damn it!
If only I knew, I would have never allowed Vernier to attack Morea! How am I to know that our usual maneuver would end up bringing the devil upon us?
Is Venice really going to be erased like that?
Giraud closed her eyes and sighed in resignation.
Then, she suddenly opened her eyes.
She heard busy footsteps, followed by the sheathing of blades, the slitting of throats, and the mucky sound of stepping on something viscous…
The Khitans are here! They have found the underground cellar!
Her face that had reddened due to her fever slowly turned pale. An indescribable surge of despondency surged through her being in a flash.
Despite my best attempts, I still can’t escape the end.
Giraud reached under her bed and pulled out a small crossbow. With trembling hands, she pulled its string back and loaded an arrow into the groove before aiming it at the doorway with bated breath.
The footsteps grew closer.
Crrk.
As soon as the door opened, Giraud pulled the trigger.
Shoooo—Ying!
Shu Yichao caught the arrow between his two fingers and tossed it aside. He looked at Giraud and nodded in satisfaction. “Tsk tsk, finally a big fish!”
“Caesar, who did you catch?!” Sophia called out as she rushed over.
“Who else?” Shu Yichao chuckled. “It’s Venice’s Governor-General!”
“Really?!” Sophia first looked at Giraud, then she hugged Shu Yichao’s arm and looked at him with twinkling eyes. “Caesar, can we hang her to death?”
“That goes without saying. It wouldn’t be complete if we miss the Governor-General after hanging so many Venetian senators to death.”
Seeing Shu Yichao and Sophia communicating using a language that she didn’t comprehend, Giraud’s heart swiftly swelled in fear.
I don’t want to die. I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!
“Esteemed Caesar…”
She tried to put her glib tongue that had stoked much enmity around the world to use, but an Elite Horse Archer with a huge physique first smashed a punch into her face to knock her silly before tying her up.
Then, he pulled her toward Venice’s famous St. Mark’s Square.
Along the way, Giraud noticed that many crosses had been erected along the streets. The usually lofty senators who commanded the regional markets were hanging on the crosses, basked under a light drizzle.
The center of the city was dyed blood-red, with corpses lying everywhere. Crying prisoners were silenced by angry roars before being escorted off.
It’s over. It’s all over.
Giraud’s final sliver of hope was quelled. She knew that it was over for Venice.
Four copper horse statues towered in the St. Mark’s Square, and beside them was a massive wooden cross.
There was no doubt for whom the cross was for.
“It’s finally time for the highlight of the Roman expedition—hanging Venice’s Governor-General!” Shu Yichao excitedly rubbed his hands together.
As the noose tightened around Giraud’s neck, her eyes began to roll upward. She struggled violently as she desperately tried to breathe, but no oxygen was getting into her lungs. The feeling of suffocation only intensified with time, despite her best efforts.
In the end, her legs fell limp.
The dominant power of the Adriatic Sea, Venice, was over.
【This…】