War?
Angelidis perks up her ears when the old man starts broaching the subject of the Final Crusade. He continues with a somber tone.
"That is also the purpose of today's march. Many of you must know why they've held today's statue march weeks earlier than usual. If anything, I commend the consistency of their hatred. They normally hold the march at the same point in each month, almost to the day.”
He laughs slightly, melancholic.
“Today’s march however is not merely to proclaim their supremacy as the ones in the past have been. It is to tie human supremacy to the war effort, to the very Final Crusade itself. They're not wrong either… This war is a purely human supremacist endeavor."
To this statement, the audience starts murmuring. Angelidis, Dzan and Sigvor have discussed this very topic with Ajax and Shaula earlier so they aren’t flabbergasted by this revelation. Though this war may be one that was a long time coming, a truly inevitable conflict, it is also a project of human supremacy.
The three of them look at him in awe. They, as well as Ajax and Shaula, are impressed that he would be so bold in public about the war, while clearly in opposition towards it. Surprisingly, laws have not been passed yet about speaking anti-war sentiments in public. He can say his peace on the matter of the war without fearing legal reprisal.
"This Final Crusade is an extermination campaign that will wipe out the demon and dragon races in their entirety. But, that's not what these human supremacists believe, at least not just that… They know that the church is also going to be wiping out the draconid and beastkin nations on that continent as well. To the very last man, woman and child…"
The demihuman crowd goes silent at that. Public announcements haven't been made about what the fate of their kin on that continent will be. Perhaps most have simply not given it too much thought, because they already knew deep down what will be done.
"Do any of you think choosing Hideza was a coincidence? The statue marchers, the guards, as well as that special player in the background, are making their intentions clear for all of us to see!"
He doesn't name the Baron outright for fear of creating an iron tight conviction of lése majéste. But, many in the crowd already know the identity of that special player. The crystal magic was a dead giveaway, the Baron clearly wanted the demihumans within his city to know what his reign will be like.
His father was never one to support human supremacist groups as overtly. Some silent donations were the extent of his aid. This statue march proves how far the Baron is willing to set aside the demihumans living in his city.
"Hideza is the epitome of their intentions for our kind. Those who will not serve them will be annihilated. Many of our kin can guess such a thing without being told. That's why recruitment is so low among our kind."
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Dzan perks up at those words. His expression changes to one of confusion and fear. Sigvor notices his face, but doesn't know what's bothering him about what the speaker had said just right then.
"So now the church and this city are mostly abandoning their efforts to recruit us. They still need some front line infantry and suicide squads, so they can't have none of us enlisting. We simply aren't integral…"
Dzan's expression falls once again as he grits his teeth. He thinks about Malia and her brother Ket.
So, that’s why they've…
The draconid points towards the marchers and the guards protecting them.
"The church is working on recruitment for their kind, the commoner humans. The human race will be the spear that serves in this war, for the purpose of upholding their racial supremacy. They will be the soldiers who fight for the Federation's supremacy. That is the purpose of this march. That is what they, the marchers, are trying to stoke."
Ajax and Shaula are somewhat shocked by this revelation. They had always assumed that the military would focus their recruitment efforts on the demihumans, enticing them with promises of good careers and good futures.
But, they were not too far off. Plenty of human commoners are amenable to those incentives. They might live better than demihumans, but it's not like they're all living like the nobility. There are many of them who live homeless as well.
If humans who support the war effort as a project of human supremacy were to enlist, there would be less chances of traitors or dissenters in the Federation’s army. A belief in something greater than themselves is a powerful disciplining tool.
Like their faith in their racial supremacy for example, Shaula considers.
Finally, and perhaps most critically, humans would not view any of the races on that continent as they view themselves. Those races are not human.
The soldiers who believe that they can wipe out as many as they want to because their enemy isn't human will face minimal psychological repercussions. Those soldiers will be key to ensuring the war succeeds and concludes as the church wants it to.
"The news will spread about how the human supremacists marched for Hideza and her wish to exterminate all demihumans who would wish to be free of humanity's chains. Many human supremacists in the city will associate the Final Crusade with their own efforts to return our races to a state of bondage.”
The crowd is silent as he pauses. His ability to sway the emotions of those listening to him is quite masterful. He even uses his pause to hit hard the emotional impact of his words.
“Soon enough, the church will make a decision about what they're going to do with the beastkin and draconid nations. Mark my words: They'll confirm an extermination campaign for the demihuman nations as well."
Angelidis, Sigvor and Dzan frown in disgust. Angelidis in particular does not want her brothers to be involved in a war of such a purpose. Regardless of the hatred that the federation has towards the Empire, killing their own kind would hurt their minds, their very souls.
"Then, the humans will enlist as soldiers for the war effort. They will train in combat. They will travel by ship or by air. They will plunder the Empire's cities and exterminate billions. As if to remind our kin living in this continent about what they are willing to do to make sure we know our place…"