Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 446 Audrey and Two Choices
Medici and Sasriel tacitly made final preparations for the changes to come. In the days that followed, Medici was in charge of the front lines of the war, while Sasriel was in charge of logistics and other related work.

As planned, the reform plan has two parts. The first part is naturally the formal uprising of the resistance army led by Medici, fighting for change, for equality and justice, and thoroughly reforming the Kingdom of Rune from the bottom to the top.

The other part was handled by Rolin, who would lead a group to give the Augustan royal family a little surprise, stop Augustus's plan to become inhuman, and incidentally carry out the decapitation operation.

Ultimately, the reason Rowling didn't directly subdue Augustus and then implement reforms from top to bottom wasn't because he couldn't, but because that approach would easily result in incomplete reforms.

However, this does not mean that Rowling cannot carry out a decapitation operation, taking down Backlund at the very beginning of the change, leaving Rune leaderless.

This will not affect the effectiveness of the reform, after all, a decapitation operation is different from a top-down reform.

Before that day arrived, Rolin, who had returned to Backlund, did not rush to see Medici to discuss the official launch the next day. Instead, he went to see an old friend first.

The person Rowling met was none other than Audrey Hall, the Lady of Justice of the Tarot Society, a friend he had met shortly after arriving in the world of the Lord of Mysteries.

Rowling met the other party as Lucifer.

"Your Highness Lucifer, what brings you here?" Audrey asked, looking at the angel who was both strange and familiar.

The reason Audrey felt unfamiliar with Lucifer was that she had not officially met him before, while the reason she felt familiar with him was that he was not unfamiliar with the members of the Tarot Club.

"Audrey, I'm curious, between justice and class, which would you choose?" Rowling looked at the blonde girl in front of him and asked with a smile.

"What?" Audrey clearly didn't quite understand what this meant.

“Come with me for a walk. There are some things I feel you need to see for yourself so you can make a choice that truly aligns with your heart.” Rowling smiled, offering no explanation, and said in a rather enigmatic manner, “Because you are Jack’s friend and a member of the Tarot Club, I’m willing to give you a chance.”

Audrey's expression remained puzzled, but although she was naive, she was not stupid. Even if she didn't quite understand what was going on, she had already realized that Mr. Lucifer across from her might be talking about something important.

So Audrey hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Very well, Your Highness Lucifer, it is my honor to accompany you on a walk. But please give me a few minutes; I need to ensure my maid doesn't suspect my disappearance..."

“No need.” Rowling smiled and snapped his fingers. A figure that looked exactly like Audrey appeared next to Audrey. Of course, it wasn’t a real person, but a very realistic phantom.

“She will stay here in your place, and no one but a demigod can detect it,” Roland said.

Upon hearing this, Audrey glanced at her own phantom with curiosity for a few moments. Finally, she nodded without further hesitation and said, "Okay, then I have no problem."

The two then left Audrey's house. Since Rowling could use his portal abilities, going anywhere was naturally not a problem for them, so they quickly arrived in the East End. Starting from the East End, Rowling took Audrey to many places, such as slums and factories of various wealthy merchants, showing her countless people of all shapes and sizes, all with withered faces, as if they might collapse at any moment.

Audrey, who had a cheerful expression at the beginning of the journey, became increasingly silent as she met more and more people.

Finally, Rowling took Audrey back to her room, and looking at Audrey's complex and sorrowful expression, he said:
Do you think they deserve to die?

“Of course they shouldn’t have died, that’s not right! Why, I don’t know…” Audrey bit her lower lip. After joining the Tarot Club, she was no longer as naive as before and had become aware of some of the darkness that existed.

But before today, Audrey had only learned about those dark and cruel things in newspapers, in her father's intelligence reports, and in the opinions of other people; she had never actually come into contact with this side of things.

So today's journey had a huge impact on Audrey. This girl, who seemed naive and even otherworldly because of her background, realized for the first time just how cruel the world could be.

"Do you want to change all of this?" Rowling was not surprised by Audrey's reaction. He simply looked calmly at the noblewoman in front of him and asked.

"Can I change all of this?" Audrey looked up at Rowling, her tone urgent and her eyes filled with confusion.

She certainly wanted to change all of this, but she didn't know how.

“Of course you can, at least you can participate in this change and become a part of it.” Roland smiled, but his words were not gentle, even cruel: “But this will require you to pay a huge price. It will require you to give up everything you have now, and even betray the noble family you belong to.”

Audrey was stunned. She clearly hadn't thought about this at all, and she stood there frozen in place.

"Of course, no matter what you choose, change is inevitable, and it won't change because of your choice. Of course, you can help it proceed more smoothly, or you can create some minor obstacles for it; it all depends on your choice." Roland spoke unhurriedly. He wasn't worried that Audrey would leak the secret, after all, leaking secrets in the face of absolute power was meaningless.

Even if Augustus knew everything now, so what? They couldn't even defy the will of the gods, let alone the will of Rolin.

"...Your Highness Lucifer, what do you want to do?" Audrey realized something, but she didn't know what she was feeling at this moment—was it tension, vigilance, or some secret joy?

"We are simply preparing to change all of this, or to put it bluntly, we will completely overthrow Augustus's rule, from the bottom up, from the inside out, and thoroughly change this corrupt society." Roland said calmly and without hiding anything.

"And you have two choices. First, inform your parents of our upcoming actions and have them report it to the Augustan royal family." Roland smiled at Audrey, whose expression was complex, and said slowly and deliberately.
"Secondly, assist us in taking down all the nobles of Backlund."

Although taking down Backlund wouldn't be difficult given their overwhelming strength, the relationships among the nobles are incredibly complex, the kind that even Rolin finds troublesome to look at. In this situation, a professional is naturally needed to assist them.

(End of this chapter)