"Warriors, knights, noble aristocrats, God has witnessed your bravery!"
"God has commanded me, the humble servant of His divine messenger, to grant the highest reward for your bravery!"
"That is, the devout, those loyal to the Great Emperor, the incorruptible, the faithful, the capable... shall receive another life. They shall be reincarnated!" The Emperor smugly added more than thirty additional conditions...
Hert was dumbfounded. No wonder the man could be Emperor while he could only be an adviser.
Yet not a single listener grew impatient.
The nobles, knights, soldiers, and even the accompanying merchants, dancers, peddlers, chefs... covering the mountain were all calculating how many requirements they still failed to meet.
Some smiled, some showed disappointment, and some clenched their teeth in secret.
But even more people looked delighted while harboring seven parts doubt in their hearts.
The Emperor apparently intended to use deception to give everyone the courage to break out.
His Majesty the Emperor looked over the crowd and found that forty percent of them actually believed him.
It seemed he had done quite well as Emperor.
Thirty percent did not believe him at all, while another thirty percent were half-convinced and half-doubtful.
He clapped his hands.
Soon, soldiers carried three coffins into the square below the palace steps.
"Here lie three knights who were brave, upright, honorable, compassionate, kind, generous, merciful... Their deeds were enough to move anyone. They had never harmed a single innocent person. Before going to war, they distributed their family fortunes among the farmers and the poor."
"On their own lands, they strictly upheld the knightly code. The farmers fondly called them Sir Knight and regarded them as their protectors, rather than loathsome tax collectors."
The Emperor tirelessly recounted the deeds of the three men.
In truth, many people had heard the names