Chapter 65

The next day, I set out for the town with my maid, Jiji.

We wandered around, taking in the sights of the town.

Almeria Province, the capital Nishiru.

As a capital, it is several times larger than a regular town.

Divided into four districts, the scale of the town can be gauged from the fact that four magistrates are needed to govern the east, west, south, and north.

To be honest, it has been quite a while since I entered the fief, but I still haven't toured all of Nishiru.

To understand the daily lives of the people, I wandered around the town like this.

"Master, it seems to be quite lively over there."

"Hmm. Is there some kind of spectacle?"

Jiji noticed and pointed. It had the typical atmosphere of something happening, with a crowd gathering.

I approached the crowd and asked a nearby man.

"What's all the commotion about?"

"It's an execution. They say a rapist and murderer is going to be hanged today, so everyone has come to watch."

The man answered excitedly. I thought, "I see."

Executions are often carried out in public.

For traitors, it's done to set an example, and for crimes that arouse public anger, it's done to satisfy that anger.

This time, it's the latter. For a rapist and murderer, it makes sense that it would be a public execution.

I understood the situation, and there didn't seem to be any need to watch further.

I am the Minister of Justice, with the final authority to approve the annual summary executions.

I've been in this position for a few years, and I'm not in a position or have the interest to watch executions anymore.

Just as I was about to leave the scene with Jiji—

In the square where the crowd had gathered, the platform for the execution was surrounded.

The magistrate, the executioner, the criminal, and those restraining the criminal ascended the platform one by one.

The magistrate was in formal attire, as the law stipulates that he should be for executions.

The executioner was a muscular man with his upper body bare, holding a well-honed sword that looked sharp even from a distance.

The criminal, with his hands bound behind his back, was forced onto the platform and made to kneel.

Boos and jeers came from all directions.

Everyone knew the criminal was a rapist and murderer, and he was being treated as an enemy of society, with insults being hurled at him from all sides.

The magistrate stepped forward and raised both hands.

The jeers subsided.

Once it was quiet, the magistrate turned to the criminal and spoke in a clear voice.

"Are you Craig Hall? Do you have any last words?"

"――!!"

The criminal, who had been kneeling with his head bowed, looked up as if he wanted to say something, but only a groan escaped his throat.

"It seems you have nothing to say. Then—"

The magistrate signaled the executioner.

Those restraining the criminal pressed him down from both sides, forcing his head down.

The executioner raised his sword.

"――――!!"

The criminal groaned even more, as if he wanted to say something.

"……Bahamut"

"Hmm?"

"Can you translate?"

"Of course."

After Bahamut answered, the criminal's groans were translated through Bahamut.

"I am innocent! I was framed!"

"――!"

The executioner raised his sword—about to bring it down!

"Stop!"

I shouted and simultaneously kicked off the ground, leaping straight toward the execution platform.

The executioner's sword did not stop.

I drew Leviathan from my bracelet and released a slash.

Kiiing!

A clear sound rang out, and the executioner's sword was split in two.

The neck of the man—claiming his innocence—remained intact, unharmed.

"Who are you!"

The magistrate questioned me.

Like Pascal, he didn't recognize my face.

"It doesn't matter who I am. This man is innocent."

"Are you helping him escape! Show yourself! Show yourself!!"

Strictly speaking, it wasn't an escape, but the magistrate, looking somewhat flustered, shouted.

Then, ten soldiers ascended the platform and attacked me.

"Hmm."

Swinging Leviathan, I cut through all the soldiers' weapons.

With a return swing, I cut their thighs and shoulders, taking away their ability to fight.

"What—!"

"Wow, that was amazing!!"

The magistrate was shocked, and the crowd cheered.

"What just happened, that was incredible?"

"He took down ten in an instant."

"I couldn't even see how he did it."

Amid the cheers, I turned back to the magistrate.

"Stop the execution."

"Y-You, do you know what you're doing?"

"This man is not the criminal."

"What are you saying! It's already been determined—"

"I have evidence."

"——What?"

I shouted, and my voice echoed around, silencing the crowd in the sudden turn of events.

Perfect, I saved the trouble of quieting them down.

I looked around.

In the front of the crowd, a middle-aged woman who looked like a typical "auntie" was standing.

"Miss, I have a favor to ask. Can you come up on the platform?"

"Me?"

The woman, looking curious but also intrigued, climbed up the platform.

"What do you need?"

"Please examine this criminal. Check his body."

"Huh……?"

Despite not understanding, the woman approached the criminal.

The magistrate tried to stop her, but I stopped him by pointing Leviathan at his throat.

The woman approached the criminal and examined him closely for a while.

"What a surprise! This person is a woman! She's been dressed as a man!"

When the woman said this, the crowd became even more agitated.

"……"

The magistrate's face turned pale.

"You did a good job recognizing she's a woman. That's impressive."

The woman, having confirmed her suspicions, said with a typical "auntie" flair.

Ignoring her, I glared at the magistrate and asked.

"A woman can't be the rapist and murderer, can she?"

"W-Well, that's not—certain—"

"The criminal's name was Craig Hall, right? It sounds like a man's name, doesn't it?"

"That's—"

"Anyway, it's not uncommon for someone to take the place of the real criminal."

Having been the Minister of Justice for a long time, I've come to understand various "tricks" used in the field.

Criminals with money at home often bribe officials to swap places with someone else before execution.

Of course, this can't be done with traitors or famous criminals, but it's not uncommon otherwise.

Naturally, the magistrates who oversee the execution are also involved.

I glared even more intensely at the magistrate.

"Have you been paid?"

The magistrate turned even paler, saying "Ugh."

The crowd's mood changed.

The hostility and anger that had been directed at the rapist and murderer, an enemy of society, gradually shifted toward the magistrate, who might have let the real criminal escape.

Feeling this shift, the magistrate was at a loss for words. However, he couldn't admit to it.

"N-No, that's not true. I don't know anything."

"Really?"

"Yes! I don't know anything!"

"Then what is this?"

I swung Leviathan and cut the magistrate's clothes.

Without leaving a single scratch, I cut his clothes, and something fell onto the platform.

It was a glass bottle containing a liquid, as Apophis informed me.

"This is poison, the same poison used to silence her."

"T-That's not true—no, it's my medicine!"

"Is that so? Then drink it. If you drink it and nothing happens, I'll believe you."

"Ugh—"

The man was at a loss for words.

The crowd began to stir.

"Hey, drink it!"

"It's your medicine, right?"

"Prove your innocence in front of everyone!"

The magistrate hesitated.

"Hmph."

I snorted, approached the magistrate, restrained him, and poured the medicine into his mouth.

Apophis, who is knowledgeable about poisons, confirmed that it would make the person unable to speak for a few days.

So I forced him to drink it.

Then—

"Cough... cough... ugh... aah..."

The magistrate immediately lost his ability to speak.

"Corrupt magistrate!"

"Seize him!"

"Where is the real criminal!"

The crowd's anger, now fully directed at the magistrate, was unmistakable.