Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 242 Rean's Atrocities

"The mainstream opinion in the historical community now says he is great, so I'll agree."

Muirner said it quite nonchalantly.

Caesar chuckled.

"If you consider this professor's age, he must be a firsthand witness to that era, right? You must know more about him, right?"

Muirner paused for a moment, then smiled faintly.

"I don't know much about him, I've only heard some stories about him, which happened during the Great Expedition of Eldaria."

"It's funny, in the early stages of his expansionist war, he was regarded as a foolish, ugly, arrogant and inferior creature in Romania. After he conquered several cities, he was regarded as an arrogant, unreasonable, and ambitious invader. When he came to the capital, the bards in the city began to sing his praises, calling him a hero king who wielded a holy sword, was handsome and majestic, and brought peace."

Muirner shrugged. "I guess that's what they call being opportunistic?"

"Ha, it's all due to the circumstances," Caesar chuckled.

In fact, the war with Romania was quite arduous. At first, he did not intend to attack Romania, but rather to form an alliance with it. This was because Eldaria had just finished its northern expedition and had already annexed most of the human kingdoms. Meanwhile, the demon empire of Savier in the west was uneasy about his rise and had a hidden intention to wipe him out before he was fully mature. Therefore, Rean planned to form an alliance with Romania to jointly resist the demon invasion.

Unfortunately, the elves, being a noble race, were too arrogant and unwilling to form an alliance with a human kingdom. Even at a high-level meeting between the two countries, which Rean personally attended with the entire Empire, Romania sent an ambassador who openly insulted him, the emperor, at the meeting, displaying an extremely arrogant attitude.

There was no other way. What couldn't be obtained at the negotiating table could only be taken back on the battlefield. Less than a month after the meeting between the two countries, Eldaria assembled its entire army, its sword pointed directly at Romania.

The war was progressing far more smoothly than he had imagined. The elves seemed to be a long-lived race with extremely powerful magic, but their longevity also brought them a significant side effect: they were conservative and stuck in old ways, their tactics still based on those of over a hundred years ago.
Moreover, their long period of peace had also led to a decline in their combat prowess. The "Sword of Nature," which was once known as the strongest mage force among the elves, was completely annihilated by Galicia as their vanguard. Only at the very end did they realize that the force they had just killed was actually the enemy's main force.

In less than a year, most of Romania fell, and the army besieged the royal capital, Tinover.

Then, he halted his offensive and, as if in a prank, once again demanded an alliance with Romania, even setting up a negotiating table outside the city and inviting the same elven ambassador who had attended the meeting a year ago.

Now Romania dared not be negligent any longer. The Elf King Freytrius, who had previously looked down on him, personally went a hundred miles out of the city to greet him and invited him into the royal city with the highest honors. When he entered the city, flowers covered the roads and bards sang of his achievements. Although he was an invader, he was treated like a triumphant hero.

He pointed to the cheering crowd below and said to Flatris, "Your people are very friendly," and the Elf King warmly took his hand and said:

"Because they all love peace, Your Majesty."

As for the elven ambassador who insulted him a year ago, he committed suicide at home due to pressure and fear of retaliation.

The demons, who were still observing, did not expect that they would actually form a peaceful alliance with Eldaria and Romania after they fought to the death, so that they could take advantage of the situation. This prevented them from coveting the eastern territories for several years.

"When Rean entered the capital, the whole city celebrated for ten days, it was incredibly lively, everyone was like it was a festival," Muirna said softly.

"It's as if the hundreds of thousands of his compatriots who died because of his invasion no longer exist."

“The village where I was born was also swallowed up by the war he brought. Apart from my parents and sister who were working on research at the time, all my relatives and friends were turned to ashes after his iron cavalry trampled over them.”

Muirna uttered those words so casually, they struck Caesar like a hammer blow. He couldn't help but look at Muirna, seeing that her expression remained calm.

The two stood there in silence for a long while before Caesar finally spoke.

"Do you hate him, Professor?"

Muirner let out a long sigh:
"Do I hate him? Of course I do, after all, he invaded my homeland and killed my family. But... if we look at it dialectically, he did indeed save the Elven race,"

Seven years after allying with the elves, the demons launched a full-scale war. Had Eldaria not struck first, making the elves realize their technological inferiority and allowing them to develop their technology in just a few years, they might have been completely wiped out by the demons. That tyrannical race would not have let them off like Eldaria had. Even if they surrendered, the elves would only face an extremely dark and tragic end.

In the ensuing war, Rean kept his promise and repeatedly sent troops to assist Romania in repelling the demon army, saving many more lives.

Muirner chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Perhaps in my eyes he was indeed a brutal ruler, willing to pay any price for expansion. But in that era, perhaps only a madman like him could lead the world forward. I once harbored deep resentment towards him, but after waking up and seeing his achievements for social development in history books, and witnessing the beautiful world he envisioned, I began to doubt my initial judgment."

"He was the kind of ruler who could bring progress to the world, even if it meant sacrificing countless lives. And I, unfortunately, became one of his victims."

Muirner paused for a moment, then continued:

“I will hate him, but if he needed me back then, I would not hesitate to assist him, suppress my resentment, and assist him until we reach the world he promised.”

"Because that is also my ideal."

Caesar remained silent for a long time, then laughed.

"Professor, you are a great person."

"It wouldn't exactly be considered great."

Muirner smiled helplessly.
"I just feel that sometimes certain things are more important than personal grudges, and I am the kind of person who would give everything for my ridiculous ideals."

"Sigh, I'm quite similar to him in that respect."

“Professor, perhaps only someone like you, born in the same era as him, would have this kind of mentality, to have such a genuine and complex feeling towards that emperor,” Caesar said.

“So I’m an old woman now,” Muirner sighed.

“Alright, I’m getting a little tired from standing here for so long. I’ll go to the restroom first, and then we can go have some tea and rest for a bit,” Muirna said to him.

"Okay, sure." Caesar nodded.

Muirner left first and headed towards the washroom.

Caesar stood there for a long time, watching her retreating figure. Then he raised his hand and whispered in a special telepathic spell:
"Xia, you can go find her now."

(End of this chapter)