Chapter 87 : Chapter 87

Chapter 87. Fairness, and Still Fairness

“Kill him.”

Eli’s voice was not loud, yet the entire slave living quarters fell into dead silence.

“M-My lord?!” The color drained instantly from Huck’s face.

The shrewd calculation in his eyes shattered into pure terror.

It was as if all the bones had been pulled from his body. He threw himself forward, snot and tears streaming down his face as he clutched desperately at Eli’s mud-spattered boots, his forehead banging against the cold ground again and again.

“My lord! My lord, spare me! I lost my head! I deserve death!

I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong!

I’ll never dare do it again!

For the sake of this being my first offense, please spare this worthless life of mine!

My lord —!!”

His shrill wailing sounded all the more piercing in the deathly still air.

Behind him, the members of the Eighteenth Squad lost all the grievance and blind fervor that had filled their faces.

It was as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over their heads, leaving behind nothing but pallor and bewilderment.

A-Tu, the young security patrolman who had been called forward, was completely stunned as well.

He looked at the lord’s terrifyingly calm face, then at Huck sprawled on the ground, bawling like a heap of mud.

His throat tightened, and his stomach churned. He had never seen the lord like this before.

This was not the decisive knight who slew without hesitation on the battlefield, but a kind of cold authority, hard and immovable as stone.

“A-Tu!” One of the older security patrolmen beside him saw him frozen in place and broke out in a sweat.

He lowered his voice and urged him on. “Do it! The lord is watching!”

Ulu, who had chosen Huck to be a squad captain, was ashen-faced at this moment as well.

He knew that he could no longer escape the blame for poor judgment and inept management.

Seeing that pleading was useless, Huck suddenly threw up his head, his face smeared with tears and snot.

“My lord! My lord, spare me! I have something to say! I have important intelligence!

Someone told me to do this! He paid me!

He told me to stir up the new slaves and throw Obsidian Territory into chaos!

I’ll tell you everything! Just spare my life!

Please, please —!!”

A wave of commotion swept through the crowd.

The members of the Eighteenth Squad looked at Huck, and their expressions shifted in an instant from confusion to utter fury.

So they had merely been fools he used for his own ends.

Once the fever of the moment faded, reason returned. Their immense rage made them want to rush forward and tear apart this lying bastard.

Something flickered in Eli’s eyes. He already had a suspicion in his heart.

He had simply not expected Sabda’s reach to extend so far. He needed this intelligence, desperately.

But not now, and not in this way.

He, Eli Pendragon, lord of Obsidian Territory and Lucerne City, had just issued a public order: execution without mercy.

Once the order had been spoken, it was like water poured out onto the ground. It could not be taken back.

Under the gaze of thousands of eyes, he absolutely could not show the slightest wavering.

“A-Tu,” Eli said, his voice still steady. “What are you waiting for?”

“Come over here and hold him down!” Seeing the situation, the older security patrolman barked at once.

Together with another companion, he lunged forward. One seized Huck’s left arm, the other his right, and they dragged him away from Eli’s boots by force, pinning him to the ground on his knees.

Huck twisted and writhed madly, shrieking all the while. A dark wet patch spread rapidly through his trousers, and the stench of urine filled the air.

The enormous commotion drew the surrounding slaves in from every direction.

They packed the area three layers deep, inside and out, sealing it so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Countless pairs of eyes were fixed upon the pitiful wretch kneeling at the center, filthy with his own fear.

The hand gripping A-Tu’s wooden club shook like a leaf in the wind.

This was completely different from keeping order or shouting at lazy men.

This was killing a man.

“A-Tu!!” his companion urged again, his voice strained with anxiety.

A-Tu suddenly squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again, he took the heavy knight’s sword handed to him by a guard.

He gripped the hilt with both hands and raised it high, trembling all over.

“No —!!!” Huck let out one final, shrill scream.

The blade came down.

A dull thud rang out, followed by the crack of splintering bone.

The head did not go flying as expected.

A-Tu had no experience at all. His strength and angle were both off.

The heavy edge of the sword buried itself deep where Huck’s right shoulder met his neck, catching fast in the bone.

Blood erupted like a fountain.

“Ah —!” The surrounding slaves broke into terrified screams.

Quite a few staggered backward in horror, and some vomited on the spot.

A-Tu stared at the body as blood poured wildly from it. A vast wave of nausea and terror swallowed him whole.

“Ah!!”

Letting out a beast-like roar, he almost shut his eyes again and swung the sword with all the strength in his body.

Crack!

This time, the blade finally severed the neck.

A head caked with mud, blood, and a frozen expression of horror rolled heavily onto the ground.

Silence.

The thick smell of blood spread through the air, pressing down so heavily that no one could breathe.

Expressionless, Eli stepped forward. The sole of his boot sank into the blood-soaked mud.

His gaze was icy as he slowly swept it across the dark mass of people before him.

“All of you!”

“This man,” Eli said, lifting his foot and lightly tapping Huck’s severed head with the toe of his boot.

“Huck! As captain of the Eighteenth Squad,

he should have led you in diligent labor and obedient conduct, exchanging work for food, warmth, and hope!”

“But what did he do? He stirred up conflict! He inflamed hearts! He sought to reap without labor!

He even tried to challenge the rules I laid down and destroy this hard-won order!

A man like this—”

“Should he be killed or not?!”

After a brief moment of dead silence, a voice like a thunderclap rang out first.

“He should be killed —!!!”

It was Scarface, the captain of the Seventeenth Squad.

His face was flushed red, and his roar was filled with fury and absolute loyalty to the lord.

“He should be killed!”

“Well killed!”

“Anyone who disrupts order deserves death!”

The slaves of the Seventeenth Squad seemed to have found their backbone. They all roared at the top of their lungs, their voices full of shared outrage and lingering fear.

Immediately after them, the old slaves from the other squads—those who had been in Black Territory longer and understood both the rules and the lord’s methods—joined the shouting as well.

“He should be killed!”

“The lord is wise!”

“This is the fate of anyone who brings chaos to Black Territory!”

The cries rose wave after wave, spreading rapidly through the crowd.

Those new slaves, crushed by overwhelming terror and the pressure of the crowd, began to murmur their agreement as well.

“H-He should... be killed...”

“Good.” Eli raised a hand, and the boiling uproar subsided.

“In my territory, there is only one rule, and that is—”

He paused, speaking each word distinctly.

“Fairness! Fairness! Still fairness!”

“Merit must be rewarded! Fault must be punished!

Huck’s fate today is the fate of those who destroy fairness and incite disorder!

I hope every one of you takes this as a warning and does not follow in his footsteps!”

Eli’s gaze swept over the entire crowd once more.

“Long live the lord!” Scarface was the first to raise an arm and shout, his voice hoarse yet feverishly fervent.

“Long live the lord!”

“Long live Pendragon!”

The cries erupted instantly like mountains collapsing and seas overturning.

The living quarters, which had only just passed through unrest, now seemed suffused with a strange kind of unity, rigid and seamless like a single slab of iron.

Eli’s gaze settled on the members of the Eighteenth Squad, whose faces were pale as earth. Punish the entire squad?

That would only create new fear and resentment.

They had been the ones incited. Foolish, yes, but not guilty enough to die.

“The Eighteenth Squad,” Eli said, his voice softening slightly.

“As this is your first time in Black Territory, and you were deceived and misled by another, your circumstances may be taken into consideration.

This time, the matter will not be pursued.”

The members of the Eighteenth Squad jerked their heads up. Their faces were filled with disbelieving joy and the relief of having survived disaster.

Quite a few went weak in the knees and dropped straight to the ground, shouting incoherently.

“Thank you, my lord, for your mercy! Thank you for sparing our lives!”

“However!” Eli’s tone shifted. “Failure to restrain yourselves is also a fault.

From this day forward, this month’s rations for the Eighteenth Squad will be reduced by twenty percent. If there is another offense, the punishment will be severe!”

“Yes! Yes! Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord!”

Though their rations had been cut, compared with losing their heads, this was already mercy beyond measure.

“As for you,” Eli said, turning his gaze to Scarface and the Seventeenth Squad behind him.

“The Seventeenth Squad remained orderly, argued its case with reason, and contributed to the defense of order.

Ulu.”

“Here! This subordinate is here!” Ulu, pale as death, threw himself at Eli’s feet. His forehead pressed hard against the ground, and his voice trembled on the edge of tears.

“My lord, I misjudged a man and failed in management. My crimes deserve death!

Please, my lord—”

“Silence.” Eli cut off his lengthy plea at once.

“Your dereliction of duty will be dealt with later.

For now, increase the food allotment of the entire Seventeenth Squad by twenty percent. In addition, issue them sufficient fresh thatch and wooden planks.

They are permitted to reinforce and partition their lodgings themselves.”

“Yes! Yes! I will see to it immediately! Thank you, my lord!” Ulu felt as though he had been pardoned from the scaffold.

“Wait.” Eli stopped him.

Ulu’s whole body stiffened, and he nearly dropped to his knees again.

Eli’s voice remained flat and calm. “After this is done, go to Captain Buck and receive ten lashes. Think carefully about where you went wrong.

If there is a next time, you can go to the lowest level of the mine and dig stone.”

“...Yes! I accept the punishment! Thank you, my lord!”

Ulu’s body trembled violently for a moment, yet he felt a strange sense of relief.

Ten lashes in exchange for his life was worth it.

He dared not delay another instant and hurried at once toward the warehouse.

At last, Eli’s gaze fell upon A-Tu, who stood drenched in blood, the knight’s sword in his hand still trembling faintly.

And beside him were the several security patrolmen splashed with blood as well, their expressions equally complicated.

“A-Tu.”

“M-My lord!” A-Tu snapped upright at once, his voice hoarse.

The sword clanged to the ground from his hand.

“You,” Eli said, looking at his ghastly pale face and the young features streaked with blood.

“And the rest of you. Today, you carried out the law and upheld order. You did well.”

“Take your brothers in the security patrol to the warehouse. Each of you may draw one set of leather armor and one short blade. From this day on, you will maintain order in full gear.”

Eli’s voice carried an unquestionable note of approval.

“You have earned it.”

“T-Thank you... thank you for your grace, my lord!”

A-Tu and the other security patrolmen stared blankly for a moment, and then an immense surge of emotion flooded their hearts.

They all dropped to one knee, their voices thick with feeling.

Eli said nothing more.

He turned and walked toward the path that had opened of its own accord through the crowd.

Countless eyes followed him, their gazes laden with every kind of emotion, as though they had taken on substance.

They watched that white-haired figure of his

step by step

disappear in the direction of the lord’s keep.