Chapter 193. Crime and Punishment.

One thousand five hundred people gathered around the central plaza, while behind Flor, several hundred creatures stood in an orderly manner. At first glance, it looked like a war between monsters and intelligent races was about to start. 

Flor spoke aloud in this tense atmosphere, her tone firm and without a hint of nervousness. "When I first opened this town, I set a list of rules that were easy to follow. I was understanding and tried to accommodate you intelligent races because I want us to coexist. I want this town to be the beginning for relations between monsters and intelligent races while all of us guard the creature that gave me this chance to begin with." 

Flor pointed behind her at Liu Shu. "She is the one that gave us this little paradise. So, in order for all of you to not be looked at wrongly by her, I set rules to follow." Flor raised her tone, as her anger couldn't help but mix with her calm tone. "And yet you ignored the very few rules I set!?" 

Thinking of the Lignified Houses suffering for a few months, her voice boomed outward. "DO YOU THINK THAT I DON'T DARE PUNISH YOU IN LARGE GROUPS!? THAT I WON'T MOVE IF YOU ALL COMMIT THE SAME WRONG!?"

The pressure from the Rose Fairy Queen was strong enough for the grand majority to feel like they were standing before a prime predator, not the usual gentle and easygoing Rose Fairy Queen. 

A Sylvan in the mix took in a deep breath and walked forward. "Queen Flor!" Flor looked over and saw the same Sylvan woman who helped her that day she acted a few months ago. She had met with her in the past, developing something similar to friendship. "B-Before you follow through, can I ask what happened?"

Flor took in a deep breath and looked at the mass of people before her. "One of the rules I set, one of the FIRST rules in the list, stated clearly NOT to hurt the Lignified Houses and to take care of them. They are gentle and soft beings that are allowing all of you to live inside of them basically for free…" Flor looked at them, wind starting to surge around her again. "And yet, when I was checking on them, FORTY FIVE of them told me that they have been abused!" 

A few people in the crowd flinched and started trying to move away slowly. Flor didn't care since Liu Shu had already locked on everyone who was a culprit.

Wert looked at Flor with a surprised face and then at the crowd. 'Abusing those trees… No wonder Flor is so angry. They are big ol' softies that listen as long as you are gentle with them.' Wert remembered how he planned and transformed his office with the tree's help and smiled a bit. However, remembering how those beings had been, in Flor's words, abused, he also started to feel slightly angry. "Flor, you say abuse, but what did they do exactly? Can you know?"

Before answering Wert, Flor sneered and said. "All of you who are trying to flee. I know who you are, so don't even think you can escape this forest. If you leave now, you will be killed." 

Around ten people who were nearly Level 20 stopped moving slowly and tried to flee in different directions. Flor spoke to Liu Shu. "Catch them."

Without a second of hesitation, as many roots as people fleeing burst from the ground, coiling around them and squeezing quite tightly. 

"AHH!"

Their screams of agony echoed together with the sickening sounds of bones being crushed. The roots then moved down and waited for the Rose Fairies to arrive and take the crippled people. 

Some people frowned at the brutality, while others were stunned about the roots that appeared. The high levels around were especially stunned as they had felt a terrifying strength coming from those roots. 

Wert looked at Liu Shu with a heavy heart. 'She is much stronger than I expected. It seems that creatures below Level 20 are nothing but little bugs that she can squash at will.' 

Once those people were thrown before Flor, the Rose Fairy Queen began listing their crimes. "Their abuse takes into account the following: Forcefully changing their rooms by breaking down parts of the tree instead of allowing it to transform naturally; illegal farming of their sap and selling it in the shops of the city under the disguise of farmable <Golden Sap>; using their walls as practicing walls and attacking them daily, abusing their regeneration factor; unleashing their anger on them; and finally, trying to sexually assault them by forcing the tree houses to create either male or female sexual organs."

Wert and even Delia, who was listening silently from the sides, opened their eyes in stupefaction. Most of the residents have been law-abiding and obedient, so when they heard what other people did to the houses that have been taking care of them during the last months, their blood naturally boiled. 

The Sylvan who had stepped forward to ask shouted. "SLAUGHTER THEM! FILTH OF THE SOCIETY!"

Some people in the crowd clicked their tongues. "No wonder Queen Flor was so angry."

Another Sylvan sighed. "Angry? I am glad that she didn't go on an indiscriminate slaughter. Those trees are basically the Life Tree's children, and they were abused that badly." 

"Scum." Another spat. "They had a luxury that others dream of, and instead of taking care of them, they did all of that? Ridiculous, they make us Intelligent Races look retarded!"

Wert walked to Flor's side, and Flor looked at him. "Are you going to stop me?"

Wert's lips arched. "Stop you?" He shook his head and shouted. "Explorers! Arrest all the people that Queen Flor points at and carry them here! We don't want scum like that living in our town!"

"YES, SIR!"

The answer was enthusiastic, and Flor lifted her hand like an executioner blade. "Liu Shu, help me find those who are the culprits, we'll weed out the bad seeds from the roots today. None shall remain in our town." 

Liu Shu hummed. 'Okay.' 

Then, each time Flor pointed at someone, she spoke of their crimes and provided proof for those that she had it for. For the rest, she just trusted Liu Shu's judgment. 

"W-Wait, I didn't do anything! I am innocent!"

Some people tried to claim innocence. However, Flor spoke to them in the same emotionless way. "You have been illegally harvesting their sap. Do you swear that we won't find anything if we go to your room?"

Flor already knew that below her bed, Liu Shu had found a jar of the Sap. Therefore, his answer mattered very little. The woman shouted. "That sap is one I bought! I didn't harvest it, I promise!"

The Rose Fairy Queen shook her head. "There are signs of damage in the <Lignified Tree>'s trunk walls that make up your room." 

The woman's face crumpled. 'How do they know so much? Isn't this an impulsive gathering?' 

In the end, Liu Shu ended up pointing at 64 people. Flor spoke. "These are all the criminals. The rest of you who had committed very minor offenses won't be punished this time around. However, that's because this is our first mass punishment. We don't want to punish those who did petty crimes this time around with execution. From now on, read the law list closely and follow it. There are not many, and failure to follow it just means that you are not fit to live with us."

The sixty-four people tried to struggle, but they could not get rid of the roots that were tying them down. Flor spoke. "The punishment for those who hurt our houses and abuse them is… become their fertilizer. Your bodies shall be a compensation towards them. Your goods will be sold in our new shop called <Punishment Tree House> at a cheap price." 

The people around paused and widened their eyes. Becoming tree food was basically one of the worst ways to die. 

Wert blinked twice and looked at Flor's emotionless face. "Um. Really?"

Flor tilted her head and looked at Wert. "Any problem? They abused them. It is only right that they return the favor by becoming their nourishment." 

Wert coughed, trying to hold back his lips from arching in amusement. "No. Go ahead." 

'It is nice to have such a decisive City Lord. Tsk, tsk, Mareful's City Lord is so against harsh punishments that I almost gave up on punishing people.'

When the sixty-four people began being dragged away by the ants toward the <Lignified Houses> and <Lignified Inns>, they started struggling more than ever in their lives. 

"Wait! Please forgive me! I will never do it again!"

"Help! Someone help! These monsters are trying to commit torture!"

"Kill me! I don't want to be eaten alive!" 

Their laments were loud, making some people cringe. However, the ants dragging them didn't even change their pace. Once they were close, they threw them there, and a few roots appeared from below, dragging the people into the ground and silencing their pleas for help.

Flor spoke. "I can guess that some of them were your relatives or friends. That you never expected them to end up like this. Therefore, those who have relations with them and can prove them can come to the <Punishment Tree Shop> and get some of the items from their deceased relatives." 

She added. "The children that might've been orphaned will be taken care of by us and fed until they grow into people who can depend on themselves for survival. We will educate them and build a tree for them to live until they are adults." 

Flor sighed and looked at the uncomfortable crowd. "Just… follow the rules, and this won't happen ever again. It's not complicated. Read them, and you'll see that they just summarize into 'Be a good citizen and pay your bills' and not much more." 

Some people carried the law leaf around, so they took it out and reread it. As Flor said, it was all things like. "Don't damage the house; murder is prohibited unless it is in self-defense; don't steal other people's property; don't stay in the city illegally…" 

They were very simply written, clearly done not with the intention of tricking others but to be understandable. Semantics mattered little, as common sense was more prevalent in law enforcement. 

Flor then flew above them and bowed. "I am sorry for snapping like I did. These tree houses have taken care of us, Rose Fairies, so we consider them something like brothers and sisters. Hearing that they had been mistreated… I just couldn't swallow the insult and be civilized and calm." 

The crowd was not expecting an apology, so they were gladly surprised. Some people shouted. "Don't worry, Queen Flor!"

"That's right! They deserved it!"

"Whoever attacks defenseless trees deserves to be punished!"

Flor nodded and flew away. "You can all return to your daily activities. Oh, and we will be increasing our number of tree houses and other establishments! We are expanding." 

People's eyes lit up, and they went away quickly to inform their connections about it. During the next day, the news of the <Golden Sap Town> expansion swiftly spread.