The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 204

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 204
The moment the soldiers spotted that scene, a handful of Dieusz Grand Duchy citizens rushed toward the water.
“What do you think you’re doing on someone else’s ship!”
“Right now…….”
The footsteps of those running forward suddenly halted.
When a scuffle broke out between the Dieusz people and those on the vessel, the soldiers aboard simply raised their rifles and drove the citizens into the sea.
Watching the soldiers’ brutality—as though they were dealing with fugitives who had committed the gravest crimes—the stunned citizens hurried toward the dock to haul out the people from Right Island. In that same moment, every ship from the Dieusz Grand Duchy that had been moored in the harbor was locked down with chains.
Their freedom of movement had been stripped away.
They’d read about it in the newspapers, but the abstract fact had never quite sunk in. Now, watching the sailors lose their ships, they felt it in their bones with a clarity no words could match.
A bureaucrat spoke.
“Then, for the next two days, I will issue citizenship certificates to all citizens of the Dieusz Grand Duchy in this harbor. As the rest of the Grand Duchy receives theirs in due course, you can consider yourselves fortunate to register ahead of schedule.”
It was a declaration of certainty: after the war ended, the Rasa Empire would occupy every corner of the Dieusz Grand Duchy.
The moment the bureaucrat finished speaking, the issuance of citizenship certificates began.
Taking photographs one by one and issuing the certificates consumed an entire day. In that time, ships that had arrived at Left Island without knowing the situation—carrying families and colleagues—were also detained, their passengers forced to join the line to receive Second-Class Citizenship Certificates.
The citizens of the Dieusz Grand Duchy realized for the first time that they had never possessed any clear right that could be called “nationality.”
[Rasa Empire Second-Class Citizenship Certificate]
[This certificate must be carried at all times.]
[Upon request from police or soldiers, this certificate must be presented.]
[When leaving your registered address, you must obtain a Movement Permit.]
Every registered address was listed as the name of this harbor.
After the issuance was complete, the soldiers remained in place. The next day, additional bureaucrats arrived and began sorting the citizens of the Dieusz Grand Duchy.
They sorted them roughly by appearance—fishermen, servants, laborers, factory workers, and so on. Once this crude classification was finished and they began loading people onto cargo carriages, families assigned to different vehicles refused to board.
“You have to keep families together!”
“Why would we separate them!”
“I’ll switch places. These are family!”
As those already in the carriages began arguing that they would exchange seats, the bureaucrat shouted to the soldiers.
“We have a problem here!”
Before the words even left his mouth, the soldiers dragged out the Right Island people who had gotten involved in the scuffle. When they began beating them, the Dieusz citizens threw themselves at the soldiers with even greater fury.
“What are you doing!”
“Damn it—if this is what Second-Class Citizenship means, I’d rather die right here than live like a criminal!”
Shouting like this, the citizens rushed in to separate the family being beaten from the soldiers.
Soldiers and citizens tangled together. Gunfire erupted multiple times.
Amid the screams of falling bodies, a Right Islander named Daisy Has—who had seized a rifle—grabbed what appeared to be the highest-ranking bureaucrat, pressed the gun to his chest, and spoke.
“Step back! I said step back now!”
Whether because this bureaucrat held considerable importance, the soldiers took a step backward.
The bureaucrat, now held captive by a Dieusz citizen, spoke with a drained face.
“If you kill me here, there will be serious consequences. It will give the Rasa Empire all the legal justification it needs to attack you—and the entire Grand Duchy—immediately!”
“Shut up! I can just kill all of you!”
“Look around. Come to your senses. Does killing everyone even seem possible?”
At the bureaucrat’s words, Daisy drew a ragged breath and looked out.
By her rough count, five or six people lay fallen from gunfire. The remaining soldiers’ rifles were aimed at her.
There were too many.
Daisy Has had once been a sailor, one of those who lived in the residences of the Lunos Family. When that house fell into ruin, she stole away with its jewels.
With that money, she’d lived quite comfortably until the day April Lunos began accepting sailors again—shamelessness and all, she returned to Lunos Harbor. She had simply missed the sea too much.
From then on, she’d thrown herself into the life of a trading ship, sailing between Right Island and Left Island.
April Lunos had always complained that Rasa had too many people. After hearing it, Daisy came to think the same.
Too many people here.
In any city, on any street, there were always people. Watching them made her think of the Dieusz Grand Duchy—such vast land, such sparse population.
If she killed this bureaucrat here, would that kill every Right Islander present?
Even April Lunos, who had taken her back?
Even as she trembled at her own choice, her forearm held the bureaucrat’s neck in an iron grip.
Whether this man lived or died, she was certain to die herself. She only hoped the Right Islanders over there would live.
As she thought this, a massive warship entered the harbor.
It was a foreign vessel.
Both bureaucrat and soldiers wore expressions of bewilderment—an overseas ship, unplanned for. And worse, it was a Liuru ship—a nation they dared not fight without preparation.
A moment later, several crew members disembarked.
They seemed entirely unprepared for this many soldiers and wore uncomfortable expressions.
The Liuru sailors chattered noisily among themselves. One of them, who spoke the local language, stepped near the bureaucrat and spoke.
“The Lunos Family paid us. They asked us to bring Dieusz citizens home.”
“What…… what did you say?”
“Isn’t this harbor full of Dieusz people? They hired us to take them all. Another ship of ours has already reached a different harbor, filled it with citizens, and set sail. We’re doing the same.”
“You mean to violate Rasa Imperial law just to keep a promise to one family?”
“Liuru has long ties to the Lunos Family. Our relationship with Rasa cannot compare. And more than anything—”
“More than anything?”
“The Head of the Lunos Family paid us well. A great deal of money.”
The Liuru sailor, famous for his love of coin, emphasized the word “great” twice with a satisfied expression.
At this exchange, the Dieusz citizens stood frozen in bewilderment. The Liuru sailor spoke again.
“Come. Our ship. We take you to the Dieusz Grand Duchy.”
As the citizens began to move, soldiers raised their rifles.
“Absolutely not. Leave at once.”
“Give us the Dieusz citizens.”
“As I’ve said, absolutely not. Content yourselves with one ship.”
There were far too many soldiers for the Liuru crew to contend with.
When the Liuru sailors began discussing whether they should give up on one ship and return, resignation spreading among them—
Daisy, still holding the bureaucrat’s lifeline in her hands, spoke.
“What are you waiting for! Get on! Hurry! I’m holding him!”
The Dieusz citizens glanced back at her, then began sprinting toward the Liuru warship one by one.
The soldiers hesitated to fire because of Liuru’s presence, and the Dieusz citizens barely managed to board the vessel.
Once everyone was aboard, the citizens on the ship shouted down.
“Daisy! Hurry and come!”
“Jump! Quickly!”
Then Daisy spoke, her voice trembling.
“I can’t go.”
At her words, the people clung to the Liuru sailors.
“Please come and get her! Tell her to board!”
“You took our money! You have to take everyone!”
Then one of the sailors replied.
“She’s buying us time to sail. We must leave.”
The ship began to pull away from the harbor before they could hold it back.
Watching it depart, Daisy cried out.
“All of you—live! Come back to Lunos Harbor alive! Please…… live!”
Her voice was swallowed by a torrent of gunfire.
The sobs of those departing on the ship mingled with the gunshots.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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