Chapter 8: Crime and Punishment (part 4)

Machiavelli had likened fortune to a raging river.

He said that, though the sudden change of fortune cannot be stopped, if one

prepares for that change in advance, its flow can be made less unrestrained and

dangerous.

The important thing was to not be optimistic about one's situation, but to be

resolute and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

In regards to this, Machiavelli said, "Fortune is a woman, and if you wish to keep

her under it is necessary to beat and ill-use her," a way of putting it that would upset

any feminist who heard it. Setting aside his choice of words, in order to ensure that

the roots of calamity didn't remain, I had given the order to strike down twelve

nobles here.

When she heard my explanation, Liscia slowly nodded. "I understand your

reasoning, Souma. What will you do with the Houses of Saracen and Jabana, the ones

you had leave?"

"Allow me to explain that," Hakuya said, stepping forward. "The Houses of

Saracen and Jabana had worked alongside the other twelve under their former

heads, but that connection between them was broken with their deaths. The present

head of the House of Saracen, Sir Piltory, is a fine young man who excels with both

the pen and sword, while the head of House Jabana, Sir Owen, is a sober and honest

hotblooded man. They can be counted on to serve His Majesty without duplicity. I

believe you could see that from the way they acted while being led out of the great

hall."

"...So you showed some discretion about who was to be executed, then," Liscia

said.

"That is correct." Hakuya nodded. "The ones executed were all up to somethingor-another. Now we are investigating their mansions in the capital, collecting

evidence of what that was for each of them. The punishment for the crime and the

finding of evidence are in the wrong order, which is hardly praiseworthy, but I ask

you to understand."

With that said, Hakuya bowed his head.

He was probably trying to back me up. By telling her I hadn't murdered twelve

people on my suspicion alone, he was trying to keep it from doing anything strange

to my relationship with Liscia.

Liscia seemed to understand that, too, so she didn't press the issue any further.

"Okay, I understand the twelve, but what if the other two had agreed with you,

Souma? Would you have killed them, too?"

Hakuya shook his head. "In that event, the plan was for me to provoke them.

Though, if they had attempted to curry favor with His Majesty like the other twelve

houses, we would have had little use for them after this."

"You'd thought it through that far..." Liscia looked at me, scandalized.

No, this sort of plan that involved reading the vagaries of people's hearts is

Hakuya's department, I thought. I don't have that nasty a personality... I think.

Seeing me avert my eyes, Liscia let out a sigh of resignation. "So, what happens to

Carla and her father now?"

"...I'm getting to that." I walked over to stand in front of the bound Castor. Having

seen everything that had just unfolded, he looked dumbfounded. The blade he'd

expected to fall on his own neck had fallen on another's. It was little wonder he was

so bewildered.

"Castor Vargas," I said. "Because you refused to heed my ultimatum, you are

guilty of treason."

Castor bowed his head. "...I understand."

Then he bowed his head even lower than before, grinding his forehead against

the floor this time. "That's why, I beg you. The crime is mine alone. So, please, spare

just Carla."

"You are not the one who decides that," I said coldly. "This is your judgment. Your

crime of treason is plain to see. ...However, as both Piltory and Owen said earlier, I

will recognize your contribution to this country in the more than one hundred years

you have protected it. I have already taken your post, your lands, your assets, and

even your family name from you. Therefore, I will spare you your life, and that

alone."

I turned to Excel, who was silently watching to see how things developed.

"Castor will be left in your custody. However, he is forbidden from entering the

former Duchy of Vargas, and also forbidden from contacting his son Carl, or the

boy's mother, Accela. Excel, your son-in-law is the one who did all this, so you must

keep a proper watch on him."

"Ah! ...Yes. It will be as you command." There were tears forming in Excel's eyes

as she gave me a proper bow.

When she raised her face, I saw her mouth the words "Thank you," to me. I

showed no reaction, moving on to Carla.

Even though her father had been spared, Carla still wore a quiet expression.

"Carla," I said, "you are guilty of the same crime. What's more, you don't have

Castor's distinguished record of having protected the country for one hundred years.

I'm sad to say it, but I don't see any way I could lessen your punishment."

"...I understand," she said quietly.

"W-Wait! Then kill me!" Castor exclaimed, grinding his face against the floor in

desperation. "Carla turned her blade on you at my orders! So let my record be used

for Carla..."

"Take him away."

My attendants dragged him from the room. He kept screaming "I'll take her

place!" until he was out of the room, but I was under no obligation to listen to him.

Once things had quieted down, I continued. "You have clearly committed the

crime of treason. However, if I let the mastermind, Castor, live, it would reflect

poorly on me to kill his daughter. Therefore, I will spare your life, but you will live as

a slave. Your owners will be the royal family—that is to say, Liscia and myself."

The second most heavy punishment in this world was forced labor as a convict

slave. There was no such thing as life imprisonment. Those who became convict

slaves, unless they were granted an amnesty, would be forced to do endless hard

labor in the coal mines. Though, in Carla's case, because I had chosen to give

ownership of her to the royal family, she would be spared the coal mines and kept in

the royal house as a servant who had to be absolutely submissive.

"...Okay." Carla accepted my order, nodding weakly.

Excel was about to say something, but she held it in. She must have decided it

was better than her being killed, at least. Hakuya closed his eyes in silence, while

Aisha was flustered by the atmosphere in the room. And finally, Liscia watched what

I would do in silence, her expression unchanging.

"I will give you further directions later, but, for now, I have an order to give you,"

I said.

"...As you wish."

I walked over to Carla, who was hanging her head, crouched down and

whispered a certain order, quietly, so that only she could hear. Carla's eyes went

wide.

◇ ◇ ◇

When Souma quietly whispered the order, I doubted my own ears.

"If it comes to it, kill me."

When he saw my eyes widen in surprise, Souma needed to me with a serious look

on his face. "Not now, of course. If I become a tyrant, I want you to be the one to stop

me. With your martial ability, you could kill me easily, right?"

Kill him if he becomes a tyrant...?! Why would he suddenly say that to me?!

I kept my voice low, asking him, "Why would you say that? And why to me, of all

people?!"

"Because Liscia and the others might not be able to," Souma whispered, a

troubled smile on his face. "At some point, I found myself surrounded by many

people I care about. Just recently, I got engaged to another person on top of Liscia.

It's Aisha, over there."

He got engaged to that dark elf without me hearing about it? I thought, stunned.

Has Liscia accepted it? Well, knowing her personality, she's probably being pragmatic

about it...

"Well... Congratulations?" I whispered.

"Thanks," he whispered back. "So you see, I have more and more people I care

about. In itself, that's a good thing, but when I think of what would happen if,

someday, I grew drunk on power and become a tyrant... it starts to scare me. If that

came to pass, I worry whether Liscia and the others could stop me like they should,

you know?"

"Liscia would stop you," I whispered. "You know her straight-laced personality."

"Would she?" he retorted, still whispering. "Sure, if I started indulging in too

much debauchery, or started massacring the townspeople, she'd admonish me for it,

but what about if I had a good justification, like I did this time? Individual purges

aren't that much of a problem on their own. But when they happen repeatedly,

eventually you reach a point of no return. When it comes to that, will Liscia and the

others be able to abandon me?"

That's... No, probably not, I realized.

"It's not my place to say it, but... Liscia is head over heels in love with you," I

whispered. "If you fall into hell, I'm sure she'll be right there beside you."

Liscia was too serious and too devoted a girl. Probably, no matter what

happened, she would follow Souma loyally to the bitter end.

Souma nodded. "I know, right? Aisha's sort of the same way. Do you think Juna

would do it, maybe? Anyway, there are a lot of people who would try to suffer

alongside me. I don't want that. If there were a revolution in response to my

tyrannical rule, it wouldn't just be me who got executed, it would be Liscia and the

rest, too. I don't want Liscia and the others to turn out like Marie Antoinette."

Marie... who?

While I still had a question mark hovering over my head, Souma whispered with

a serious look, "That's why, Carla, before those I care about can suffer with me, I

want you to take on the role of putting an end to me."

"...I'm a slave now," I whispered. "If I kill my master, the collar will kill me, you

know?"

"Yeah," he whispered back. "So, please, only do it if you're prepared to die, too.

And, if I manage to hand the crown on to the next generation, I will set you free."

This man... he says the most incredible things as if they were nothing. I was

stunned.

Souma had told me, if he became a tyrant, to become the blade that struck him

down. Then, having killed him, to die myself. By keeping me at his side as his slave,

he was hoping to use me as a personal deterrent against his becoming a tyrant.

"You really... don't show any mercy," I whispered.

"I only hold back for those I care about," he whispered back.

"I meant towards yourself," I whispered. "Though I suppose the meaning still got

through."

I had thought the same thing in the battle with Amidonia, but this man treated

himself far too poorly. If he didn't take better care of himself, he was going to cause

no end of worry for those around him.

Liscia, you've fallen for a real troublesome guy... I thought to myself.

That was right. In order to keep my best friend's love life from a sad future, I

decided to act as his deterrent.

Sitting up straight, I bowed deeply. "I have received your order. Until the day

comes that I must act on it, I will work my hardest for you, praying that that day

never comes."

Souma nodded in satisfaction at my response. "At this moment, we have no work

meant exclusively for a slave. For now, you will join the maid force... But... Well... Uh,

get the details from the head maid yourself."

When he gave me that order, he sounded a bit hesitant towards the end. I

wondered what was up, so I followed Souma's gaze to see a beautiful maid who

seemed to be around twenty years old smiling happily.

When I wondered what it was about her, I realized Liscia was looking in my

direction, an expression of utter pity on her face.

...Huh?