Decisive Speech

"Good afternoon my dear citizens! I am here today to announce once more important news. Some of you probably already know the man in chains kneeling next to me but for those who don't know...His name is Hills Medde, also known as Fierce Scar, a minor noble from Longsong Stronghold." Roland said aloud while standing straight with his hands behind his back, facing people who have heard that he was going to give a speech in the afternoon. He could tell that there were much more people than previously, visibly seeing that people start taking him more and more seriously.

Even the whispers when he stopped talking for a moment were very quiet, not interrupting him.

"This man along with 5 more men from Patrol Squad committed treason just yesterday night against the entire town. Their plan was to set the granary afire and force everyone here to take refuge in Longsong Stronghold, however, our reserves of ores and gems wouldn't be enough to feed more than half of the population! More than half of the population would starve to death because of 6 men!!!" Roland shouted and swung his fist with an upset expression.

"?! WHAT?!" Everyone's face immediately distorted in panic before anger took over but no one actually dared to shout that he should be hanged since he was still a noble.

"They can't be real! Not only they are ripping us off all these years but they are also trying to make us starve to death?! What have we ever done to them!"

"Please! Calm down, you all will have your chance to release all that anger. The granary is intact and all food is safe!" Roland's words despite not being very loud to overthrow all the voices managed to silence everyone once again.

"Long live Your Highness!" Someone shouted and raised their fist high and others slowly joined.

'Shit...I feel like some third-rate villain in a movie, trying to manipulate people but I am not really lying to them so whatever...'

"All of you are being lied to! The prince you follow so much is actually cooperating with a witch! Maybe she is even controlling him and devils already took our this damned town!" Hills shouted, silencing the crowd.

"You-!" Carter wanted to step forward and deal with him but Roland raised his hand for him to stop and ignore Hills' words.

"Why would we believe a traitor who was prepared to kill hundreds of people without remorse?!"

"Yeah! You dare to say something about devils when you are the real demon here!" People instantly started shouting at him and their earlier anger resurfaced.

"I cannot be controlled since I have God's Stone of Retaliation on me and even if I was collaborating with a witch...so what?" Roland's words shocked people and also silenced them.

"S-So what?! They are incarnations of demons!" Hills said while gritting his teeth.

"The incarnations of demons, huh? My people! Anyone! Anyone who was ever hurt by a witch without any reason, please raise your hand!" Roland shouted with a stretched-out arm towards the crowd.

People were slightly caught off guard by Roland's question so they started looking at each other before quietly whispering to each other but no one raised their hand. The atmosphere suddenly changed to an awkward one but Roland quickly broke it with another question.

"Now...Anyone who was ever hurt by nobles of Longsong Stronghold or those who already abandoned us to take refuge there, please raise your hand!"

People's eyes widened before almost everyone slowly started raising their hands.

"I lost my sister because she caught a noble's eye..."

"I lost my father 2 years ago when we were starving at Longsong Stronghold..."

People started whispering what happened to them between themselves.

"And who is now evil?! Are the witches evil when none of us were ever hurt by them?! Or are the corrupted nobles real evil who constantly try to oppress you and take advantage of you?! Why do witches live in hiding? They can be dangerously strong...so much that we can't comprehend their power but if they truly wished only for our death, they would have long united and waged war on the church! What if one of your daughters or sisters awakened as a witch but behaved the same. Would you just sell your relative to the church?! Would you sell the one you have spent numerous years with? The church is saying that they protect us from witches but we don't need any protection from them!"

"I would definitely rather cooperate with witches instead of those nobles from Longsong Stronghold who only wishes us dog's death by starving!" Roland shouted with a serious expression while pressing his right fist on his heart.

A silence took place, however, it wasn't a bad kind of silence. The people had trouble absorbing all information at once but it was clear that they were somehow agreeing with Roland even if reluctantly.

"Within this small town, under my rule, I will only punish sinners, those who have committed crimes! I have had enough of both corrupted nobles from Longsong Stronghold and the church! Even if a witch was to walk here on the streets, as long as she wouldn't have committed any crime, I wouldn't care about her presence! We don't have time to be afraid of witches when we have a clear sight of our real enemies! The months of the demon are slowly approaching and we are more than ready to face those beasts." Roland said, pointing at the west where the wall stood tall.

Although no one dared to give their verbal support, most people nodded their heads with serious expressions when Roland mentioned the months of the demon.

"Lastly, I am sure all of you know that nobles can buy their way out of the crimes they committed, however, as I said before...I'VE HAD ENOUGH! Nobles were always the ones judging you, today, you will get to do the same and judge them! You people will decide this traitor's punishment! You may also choose to let him go, it's up to you all!" Roland said, once again shocking the crowd.

"Let me go! I will reward anyone who will vote in favor of my mercy!" Hills shouted with an excited expression when he heard Roland's words, thinking that he was stupid.

"*Your Highness, was this truly a good decision?!*" Carter immediately whispered with a worried tone. Roland just smiled upon seeing some people hesitate a bit.

"Feel free to choose whatever you want but remember...the change won't come to you, you need to make the change yourselves. If you wish to no longer be oppressed by nobles, this is the first step to a prosperous life, the first step to a new life, new age. Will you decide to ignore a few gold royals and build a new future for yourselves and your children or will you accept a few gold royals and live like you used to before I arrived? A few gold royals will only last you up to 3 years and then what? What about the future of your children?"

...

"Hang the traitor!"

"Burn him at the stake!"

Colors from Hill's face quickly drained when he saw how they started shouting for his death.

"*Heh, Carter, I leave the rest to you*" Roland smirked while looking at Hills's expression of despair before slowly walking away, letting Carter take over.

[ +1 CHA, your speech made a huge impact, it is yet to be discovered if positive or negative but people respect you more and see you as their true leader who cares about the well-being of all people equally.]

When Roland arrived at the workshop, he already saw several new parts for creating additional muskets lying on the desk, most likely brought by Anna since only she and very few people knew about his plans.

"Are you sure that was a good idea? You have publicly said that you basically don't mind cooperating with witches...From their faces, I have seen that people agreed that their real enemies aren't witches however this is only a temporary solution." Nightingale appeared behind him and asked.

"Yes, solution until the enemy disappears, however what if those witches helped them defeat those enemies? The enemy of my enemy is my friend...they will come into closer contact with witches during the months of the demon and they will learn that they are just like them, only with strange powers, nothing more nothing less. Please trust me...I know you are concerned for Anna and Nana's safety but I will protect them. Also, I know for sure that this small town can change how people think of witches. They had no direct contact with the church and only heard the rumors spread by them, their faith in the church is minimal, most likely even lesser than their faith in me after today's events. Plus, my new recruits will be the first to accept witches in the Border Town, hehe." Roland said with a slightly evil laugh at the end.

"Hmm...What makes you so confident? They are after all still fighting for you to protect this town and because of generous rewards, nothing more." Nightingale asked with a curious expression.

"You will see in a few next weeks!" Roland said with a confident smile, finished putting together the parts of the original musket.

"Alright...Can I have a little bit of that Ice cream again?" Nightingale eased up and asked since she didn't understand what Roland was doing right now.

"...Ask a maid named Nina, don't you dare mention my name and that I ordered her to make it for you. You have to convince her on your own...and no weapons or threats!" Roland glanced at Nightingale to see if she is serious before replying with a tired tone.

"What do you take me for?! Still, thank you." Nightingale raised her voice, clearly offended before she disappeared, leaving only her thank-you words.

'It's time to start building obstacles and traps, we can't possibly protect the entire wall so we need to direct those demonic beasts to a few sections where I can plant some traps with gunpowder. I can also try spreading salt around those traps to prevent snow from accumulating on them. I should also do the same on the top of the wall to prevent any meaningless injuries. To be honest, I even thought of creating a hole in the wall to bait them all to one place but I guess that's too risky.'