Chapter 21: Kind and Cruel
‘Hurry up and choose!’
I blinked and looked straight ahead. These mercenaries were incredibly slow. They should choose faster, yet they were frozen like ice. It was also amusing that the soldiers were just as stiff.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Why do we have to be like this?” Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“This is why you shouldn’t associate with barbaric and uncivilized northerners… We helped you all, but you treated us like this. Without mercenaries like us, you’d have been shipped off to the monsters!”
The villagers gathered in the village square murmured upon hearing those words. The remark was an insult to everyone living in the North.
“But doesn’t the Heilon Duchy also pay the mercenaries a price commensurate with the risk?”
I replied nonchalantly, stating the truth. These people acted as if they were genuinely here to help the North, which they were not.
It was no coincidence that many mercenaries, adventurers, and even merchants had gathered in the high-risk northern territory. Abel was cold but fair. If these people took the risk of confronting monsters, he would pay them a corresponding reward. Additionally, the materials dropped by the monsters they captured belonged to them, which they could sell to merchants for a profit. The rarer the materials the monsters dropped, the more money they would make. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. There were even quite a few people who came to the North solely for these rare materials. In the end, everyone gathered here was pursuing their own interests. There was nothing wrong with that. The Heilon Duchy needed forces to protect the territory, and the mercenaries needed money.
“Ha! A brat who doesn’t know anything about the world. If the mercenaries are suppressed like this, who will fight in the North from now on?”
“I’m not trying to suppress mercenaries. I’m making you pay.”
I added calmly, “The right price for your crime.”
Of course, the punishment was well-suited to their case.
“If you continue to refuse to make a choice, I will choose randomly.”
“LET GO!!” The mercenaries kept struggling.
I looked at their rebellious behavior and felt a bit irritated. The weather was very cold, and I was pretty sure the people gathered in the village square did not enjoy standing outside their comfortable homes in such weather. I didn’t like it either. In fact, my body had been trembling since earlier. This case should have been resolved quickly, yet these mercenaries seemed unwilling to choose and kept resisting..
Well, if they did not want to choose, I might do it for them.
A good idea crossed my mind. I thought that dividing them into two groups would be effective. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com. Although the numbers were odd and somewhat unbalanced, it was better to pair them as two and three people and quickly decide their punishment than to wait for them to choose on their own.
As I finished pondering, I noticed that everyone was strangely quiet, and it felt like the ambient temperature had dropped by about two degrees.
Then a cold voice came from behind me.
“What are you going to choose?”
I clicked my tongue lightly upon hearing the familiar voice. Now I understood why the temperature seemed to drop around me.
Looking back, I saw Abel standing with his arms folded. His expression showed that he was not in a good mood, and, in line with this, I felt as if a cold wind was continuously sweeping through the area. Behind him stood Jeron, who looked at me with an apologetic expression.
I sighed inwardly. To create such an atmosphere simply by appearing, he was indeed the master of the male protagonist.
“Duke, why are you here?”
The villagers looked at Abel with a mixture of yearning and fear. Meanwhile, I felt annoyed. Why did he come here when he had ordered me to handle this? Was it because he didn’t trust me? Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“I don’t need a reason to visit my estate.”
Right. Then he should have come here himself from the beginning and not ordered me to do it. Why bother asking me if he was going to come here anyway?
Of course, I couldn’t say this to the intimidating Duke who held my fate in his hands, so I just smiled like a child on the outside.
“Is that so?”
What a beautiful life.
In any case, Abel’s presence was so intimidating that the mercenaries, who had been shouting until now, fell silent as if they were exhausted.
“So, what option did you give them?” Abel asked me after lifting me up.
“From which part did you hear?”
Abel laughed harshly at my question. Just looking at that smile, I could see that he was in a foul mood.
“From the barbaric and uncivilized northern people.”
Uh-oh… They were doomed.
If it had been before, they might have been considered lucky and ended up half-dead. But because they had spoken out of turn, they were now facing a far worse fate. Even beheading would have been a better outcome. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
I wriggled in Abel’s arms to find a more comfortable position and then replied, “I told them to choose between two punishments: going outside the wall naked or having their reproductive organs cut off.”
“I like both of those options.” Abel lightly stroked his chin. “Then why give them a choice?”
“Well,” I said, “doing both seemed a bit harsh. It was just my consideration.”
I was here on behalf of the Duke. If the punishment were too severe, Abel, who had delegated the authority, could have been criticized.
“It was a useless consideration.”
Abel raised the corners of his mouth coldly. It was a smile that made people flinch and step back, avoiding his gaze.
“Fiona, haven’t I always told you—”
Abel approached the mercenaries while carrying me. As he got closer, their faces grew even paler.
“I don’t need trash that dares to touch my people in my territory.”
With an icy tone, Abel stomped on one of the mercenary’s hands.
“AAGHH…”
Although I couldn’t see exactly what kind of expression Abel had, a chill ran down my spine. My shoulders trembled, even though I knew the hostility wasn’t directed at me. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
Abel looked down at the mercenaries with his usual arrogant gaze. “You dared to call the territory I rule savages. It would be impolite if the punishment didn’t meet those expectations.”
He then turned around and decisively ordered his men.
“Apply both punishment. Cut the body parts that doing the crime, after that, kick them out of the wall.”
“Ye..yes My Lord.”
Finally, Abel recited in a low voice.
“This is the northern way you called uncivilized. Start the execution.”
“Yes!”
Abel walked out of the village square while still carrying me. As a result, I couldn’t directly see the end of the mercenaries who had harassed Sigren and the northern people. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes while still in Abel’s arms in this bloody situation.
This whole mercenary fiasco was already tiring for me, and with Abel’s involvement, I felt like I was being emotionally torn apart by a tiger. And indeed, he was like a tiger. If Abel were compared to an animal, a white tiger would be the best fit—one as white as snow.
“Fiona.”
I was a moment late, lost in thought.
“…Yes?”
“From now on, don’t worry about unnecessary concerns.”
I couldn’t help but smile inwardly. Ha, that was right. My worries were truly useless. I felt that it was because I had to decide someone’s fate for the first time. Moreover, if I hadn’t been ordered to make such a decision, I would never have tried to do it in the first place. However, as a mere citizen, I had no choice but to accept the command, swallow all my questions, and calmly respond to the words of the most powerful person. Now that I had his permission and reassurance, I decided to cast aside my worries and act more boldly next time. Read the translation only on itsladygrey.com.
“Okay.”
Also, as a way to keep myself in check in the future, I resolved never to turn Abel into an enemy in this world. No matter how you looked at it, he was much more dangerous than Sigren, the main character.
So in the end, what was the real reason Abel, with his difficult personality, had come all the way here?
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