Standing in Front of the Lion’s Cage

It had been a few days since we'd returned from to the royal capital

Parnam from Van.

Right now, I was beneath Castle Parnam in front of the dungeon. With

only candlelight for illumination, it was gloomy. While you likely could

infer this from the fact it was inside the castle, a lot of people of high status

had been put in here. Most of the inmates were political prisoners.

I was in that underground dungeon, facing a certain individual across a

set of iron bars.

After some silence, I spoke to the person in the cage. "This is our first

time meeting in person, I believe. I am the provisional king, Souma

Kazuya."

"It is an honor to meet you," said the beastman. "I am Georg Carmine."

With those words, the former General of the Army, the man with the

face of a lion, Georg Carmine, bowed his head deeply.

While I was seated in a chair, Georg sat directly on the dungeon floor

like a general from the Warring States Period might sit when greeting his

master.

"I congratulate you once again on your recent victory," Georg said, his

head still bowed.

Georg had been imprisoned here a few days before our return. Up until

then, he had been under house arrest at his former castle Randel, so he must

have been gathering information.

"Raise your head," I said. "It's hard to talk when you're like that."

"Ha ha!" Georg laughed.

I looked straight at Georg as he raised his face. He had a muscular

physique and stood nearly two meters tall, so even though he was kneeling,

his eyes were at roughly the same level as mine while I sat in a chair. On

top of that, the ethos he exuded as a veteran warrior made him appear all

the larger.

Magnificent. That was the word that best suited this warrior.

What I felt while talking to him over the Jewel Voice Broadcast is

nothing compared to this... I thought.

I struggled not to be swallowed up by the atmosphere that surrounded

Georg. This feeling was similar to what I'd felt when Gaius had been

closing in on me. This man had an incredible sense of presence, and yet he

was the youngest of the three dukes. Castor was around 160, while Excel

was over 500.

"Aren't the apparent age and actual age of the three dukes kind of

reversed?" I asked. "Oh, and mental age, too."

When I said that, Georg gave a hearty laugh. "You could be right.

Generally, they say that the longer-lived a race is, the longer it takes them to

develop mentally and physically. For most the long-lived races, if you take

their actual age, multiply it by around one hundred, the oldest a human or

beastman generally lives to, then divide by the longest that race live to, you

get a good estimate of their mental age."

I see, I thought. In this world, where in Japan we might say "Cranes live

for a thousand years, turtles for ten thousand," they could say

"Dragonewts live for five hundred years, water serpents for a thousand,"

when talking about long life. (Though, in this case, they actually do live that

long.) In other words, taking Castor as an example, 160 * 100 / 500 = 32. If

I look at it that way, his impulsiveness makes sense, maybe... Wait! Huh?

Hold on?

"By that reasoning, Excel's mental age should be over fifty, shouldn't

it?" I asked.

"...There is an exception to every rule," said Georg.

"Don't blatantly look away."

Apparently even Georg, who didn't seem like he had to fear anyone, was

hesitant to touch the topic of Excel's age. I could relate.

After talking carrying on with that sort of aimless conversation for a

while, I cut to the heart of the matter. "I had a lot I've wanted to ask and

hear from you once we finally got the chance to meet."

"Ask away," said Georg.

"Before that," I said, "won't you meet with Liscia?"

Georg silently closed his eyes.

It seemed that just once after returning to Parnam, Liscia had asked to

meet with Georg. However, Georg had shouted at her (or, to be more

precise, he'd had the jailer relay the message) and chased her off.

"What business does a woman who will soon be queen have visiting a

convict?!" he had shouted.

Liscia had an overly serious personality, so she'd taken those words to

heart, and never attempted to visit again. Then, as if seeking a distraction,

she'd immersed herself in work.

"She's putting on a tough face, but... I know she's not fine," I said.

"The princess and I had our last parting during the ultimatum," said

Georg. "There is no need for words between us now."

"You mean when she cut her hair?" I asked.

"I saw her determination and resolve in that act," he said. "As a person,

as a woman, the princess has grown into an individual who can stand on her

own two feet. I don't want her to dull that resolve by clinging to a dying

man."

He's rejecting Liscia for her own sake, huh, I thought. Honestly... What a

stubborn old man.

"I, too, have something to ask," Georg said.

"What?"

"What has become of the soldiers in the Army and Air Force who

rebelled against you alongside us?" he asked. "And what of the nobles who

engaged in corruption and then rebelled?"

"In recognition of their valor in the Amidonian war, I have pardoned the

soldiers of the Army and Air Force for their crimes," I said. "The House of

Vargas rebelled against me, but I must consider their accomplishments up

until the time of the former king. I have decided that only Castor and Carla

will be judged for their crimes. I abolished the Duchy of Vargas, but I

allowed the disowned eldest son to inherit the family name, and granted

him just Red Dragon City as his fief. Though, that child still being young,

his mother Accela and their steward Tolman will assist him in his duties. As

for Castor and Carla themselves, to repay Excel's accomplishments in the

war effort, I have heard her plea and, at a later date, I will judge the two of

them personally."

Georg closed his eyes and remained silent. How must he have felt

listening to me?

"Now, as for the corrupt nobles... I abolished their houses, confiscated

their domains and assets... and had them executed," I said. "For those who

acted directly, I did so publicly. For those who were merely implicated, I

did so privately."

Under current law, treason was a crime that carried a death sentence for

relatives of up to three degrees of consanguinity. If, like Georg, they had cut

ties with their families properly, their uninvolved relatives wouldn't have

had to get involved, but the vast majority of the corrupt nobles had

neglected to do that. They must have thought they couldn't lose.

Worse yet, in addition to treason, they bore charges of corruption,

bribery, collaborating with Amidonia, misdeeds within their own fiefs

(under the protection of their own status, they'd engaged in murder, rape,

theft, etc.), and so on. Anyway, they had broken the laws like crazy.

For those whose only crime was treason, like Georg and Castor, I still

received petitions to spare their lives, but for these people, I actually

received petitions calling for me to murder them more brutally than I did.

"The system of collective responsibility is supposed to hold their

families responsible for not stopping them, right? Isn't three degrees of

consanguinity a little much?" I asked.

"There is nothing else to be done for it," said Georg. "If humans or

beastmen live to see their great-grandchildren, they've lived a very long

life, but there are races that live to see their great-great-grandchildren and

greater's faces while still being active. Because of that, the punishment had

to reach farther."

"Still, too many innocent people died!" I cried. "Hakuya and I worked

like madmen, and we were just barely able to reform the law to only cover

two degrees of consanguinity in time. We also stayed the execution of

everyone under the age of thirteen, and had them placed in the care of

orphanages or the church, but that was the best we could do..."

Those under ten had been placed in an orphanage run by the state, while

those who were between the ages of eleven and thirteen had been left with

the church.

The difference between the two was whether they would be able to

marry and have families of their own in the future. For those in the

orphanage, it was possible, but those given to the church would be cut off

from secular life and be unable to marry. Furthermore, among the people

implicated by association, there had been a woman who had given birth less

than a month ago, so she had also been left with the church along with

someone to watch her. If she tried plotting anything untoward in future, she

would be dealt with then. That was about all I could do right now.

"I'm... opposed to the system of collective responsibility," I said. "The

only ones who should be judged for a crime are those who commit it. Even

if they are related, it's wrong to execute an innocent person. And publicly,

at that. In order to judge heinous crimes, and as a deterrent against them, I

can't let go of the death penalty. That's why I don't want that penalty to be a

public spectacle, and I want to reform the minds of people who see it as

one."

"The country is already yours," said Georg. "I believe you should do as

you see fit."

"...I will," I said.

"Sire, is it hard on you, taking the lives of others?" asked Georg.

I must have looked pretty anguished, because Georg said that as if trying

to comfort me.

"How could it not be?!" I burst out. "On my orders, countless lives

vanish. The weight of that responsibility feels like it's going to crush me.

Up until half a year ago, I was just an ordinary guy, damn it!"

"I've read about it in the princess's letters," said Georg. "She praised

you as a king among kings. She wants to support you, with all her body and

soul."

"Liscia is... doing a good job of supporting me," I said. "But I have to

make a decision that will sadden her. I... have to kill you." I placed my hand

on my forehead, speaking in a low groan. "Your plan was brilliant. Hal's

old man... Glaive told us everything. By gathering all the corrupt nobles in

one place, we were able to round up all of them and their assets in one fell

swoop. It was a splendid plan that filled in a number of gaps Hakuya and I

had overlooked. But... because it can't be made public, I have to treat you

the same as I did the corrupt nobles."

There were two reasons it couldn't be made public.

The first was that there had been death caused by the fighting between

the Forbidden Army and the Army. Unlike the Forbidden Army's losses in

the battle at Red Dragon City, which were limited to one warship, the battle

outside Randel had seen losses on both sides. If we publicized Georg's true

intent, the bereaved wouldn't accept it.

The second was that relations with Zem, who had been forced to pay a

ransom for their mercenaries, would worsen even further. The way things

stood now, Zem were regretting that they had sent mercenaries to the losing

side in order to take revenge for my canceling of our contract.

If they learned that Georg and I had been secretly working together, Zem

would think the kingdom had set them up. It was actually Georg who had

done that on his own, but I could hardly blame them for feeling that way.

Their feelings towards us were bad enough as it was. They didn't need to be

made any worse. That was to be avoided.

That was why, as things stood now, Georg's plan could not be made

public.

All of that said, Georg himself must have been aware of that fact. He

had been fully aware of it, and was literally trying to take the secret to his

grave. How stubborn. He really was... an idiot.

"Hey, was this really the only way? This was what you wanted? To sully

your own name, and commit a double suicide with the corrupt nobles, are

you satisfied with that?" I rose from my chair, slamming my fist into the

iron bars. "Where was the hurry? We could have taken our time to purge the

corrupt nobles! The same goes with Castor! He believed that you had some

idea, followed you to the end out of friendship and became a traitor for it! I

had jobs I wanted you to handle after the war, and now my plans are all

thrown off! Sure, handling it all in one go was a big deal, I'll give you that.

The country's been cleaned up a good deal, and Hakuya's and my stock has

risen, making it easier to implement my policies. But, still, it's meaningless

if you lose you for it! Do you have any idea how much it hurts a state to

lose talented people?! It sure as hell isn't equal in value to getting rid of

some corrupt nobles!"

"..." Georg's eyes remained closed as he listened to me in silence.

I pounded on the iron bars once more. "Answer me, Georg! Are you

really satisfied with this?!"

"That goes without saying," Georg calmly replied. "From the roots of a

great tree that I thought, like my own body, would only wither away and

die, I now see new growth sprouting. All I can do is pray for it to grow up

well."

"Even if it knocks down that great tree as it does?!" I yelled.

"That is the joy of seeing the next generation grow up strong," said

Georg. "In time, you will come to understand it, too, sire."

"...Will I really?" I asked.

"When a child is born to you and the princess, I guarantee it."

I slumped back heavily onto my chair. Feeling strangely enervated, I

asked him the last thing that had bothered me. "Please, tell me this... Is this

something you came up with entirely on your own?"

"What do you mean by that?" Georg opened his eyes and asked.

Don't play dumb with me!

"This is the first time we've met," I said. "Yet you have a strangely high

opinion of me. You're trying to leave this plan in my hands, as well as

Liscia, who you love like a daughter, in my hands, and the future of this

country in my hands, too. It's just wrong, no matter how I think about it.

Where did that loyalty come from?"

"Is learning of your unusual talents from the princess's letters

insufficient as an explanation?" Georg asked.

"Yeah, it's insufficient," I said. "I can't see you embracing this loyalty to

a bunch of words on paper. If you were going to martyr yourself for

something, it could only be for the House of Elfrieden."

Now that I thought of it, something had been off from the very

beginning.

From the moment I'd taken the throne, the path I had needed to travel

down had seemed to have been prepared for me strangely well.

I was suddenly given the throne, I was entrusted with all of the power to

control national policy, even given an engagement to Liscia to bolster my

legitimacy, and then at some point, the corrupt nobles had been smoked out

for me. When I looked back, I could see everything had been moving to

make things easier for me. If that was the will of someone... there was only

one person who could have done it.

"Was this plan done on that person's orders?" I asked.

"...I will remain silent."

"Answer me," I ordered. "What does that person know, and what do you

know?"

I waited for Georg to speak, but he had nothing to say to me. It was so

silent in the dungeon that I could hear the ringing in my ears. I realized I

could wait forever, and it wouldn't do me any good.

"Why won't you answer me?" I demanded.

"When the proper time comes, I am sure that person will tell you

themselves," said Georg.

I rose to my feet, pulling a small bottle from my pocket and placing in

front of Georg. "Poisoned wine. While I may not appreciate the form it

took, I can't publicly execute a man who tried to martyr himself for his

country. Also... I'll be offering the same to those who want to martyr

themselves for you."

It must have been the work of Georg's strong personality, but there were

more than a few soldiers and officers in the Army who'd said they would do

just that. His former second-in-command, Beowulf, as well as a number of

high-ranking officers, had demanded they receive the same punishment as

Georg. Furthermore, even among the soldiers of the Army and Air Force

who had had their crimes forgiven for their distinguished service in the war

against Amidonia, there were those who'd had to be restrained after they

attempted to commit suicide in front of the castle after demanding their

commander's life be spared. Honestly... I was sick of all these people

wanting to die.

Georg took the bottle and said, "Thank you," his cheeks loosening

slightly. That menacing lion face of his now looked like that of a happy old

man. Georg opened the bottle, holding it up in my direction. "Sire. I ask that

you take care of the princess for me."

"I can promise you that," I said. "Liscia is already an irreplaceable

member of my family. 'Protect your family, come what may'... No matter

what happens in the future, that is one belief I will never change."

I knew the pain of loneliness, and I would protect my family, no matter

what might come.

No matter how inefficient that might be.

Perhaps sensing my resolve, Georg nodded with satisfaction. "It relieves

me to hear that. I will always there, praying for the Elfrieden Kingdom's

glory and for Your Majesty's happiness and good fortune, from the shadows

beneath this nation's grass and leaves. Now... I am sorry." With those

words, Georg downed the contents of the bottle in a single gulp.

With time his body began to tilt to one side, then the bottle fell from his

hand to shatter on the ground.

With the thud that followed, the dungeon was silent once more. Having

fallen over to the side... Georg's face seemed to be smiling in satisfaction.

I stood, turning my back to Georg's cell, and walked away.

Step, step, step, step. A few echoing steps later, I turned back just once.

"...Don't make me carry all of this burden."

I faced forward and began to walk once more. I didn't turn back again.

The next day, Chris Tachyon's new program ran a story with the title

"Former General of the Army Georg Carmine Takes His Own Life in

Prison."