Those under the age of ten will be in the care of a state managed orphanage, those aged eleven to thirteen will be entrusted to the church. The difference between both of those are whether or not they could marry and create a family in the future. For those that entered an orphanage, this is possible, but not so for those who entered the church, as they will need to detach themselves from the secular world. Furthermore, if there are pregnant women or women that are not yet one month from her childbirth, they, too would be entrusted to be watched by the church. If in the future, they conspire for a crime, then at that time, they will be “dealt with” …… Currently, I am only able to do this much.
「I am…… against this guilt by association system. Only the people who committed the crime who should be judged. Even if they are the criminal’s relatives, it is surely a mistake to put innocent people to death. In addition, I also feel the same for public execution. The death penalty, as a verdict for a heinous crime, will lose its deterrence value. That’s why, I don’t want to turn such a death penalty into a public spectacle and want to quickly reform the citizens’ minds who thought of the death penalty as a show.」(Souma)
「It is already your country. You can do whatever you like with it.」(Georg)
「……Then I shall do so.」(Souma)
「……Your Majesty, is it painful to rob people’s life?」(Georg)
Was I making quite a bitter expression on my face? Georg spoke out as if he noticed it.
「Of course there is no way that it is not painful. Just by one decree, numerous lives could be snuffed out. I am crushed by this sense of responsibility. Just half a year ago I was still a commoner, you know.」
「I have heard about this from Princess’ letter. Yet, the Princess gave high praises to Your Majesty as a King amongst Kings. She wants to devote her body and soul to support you.」
「Liscia…… has frequently supported me. However, I must make a decision that will make her really sad. I must have you…… die.」
I put my hand on my forehead and let out a groan.
「Your plan is splendid. I have heard about it from Hal’s dad…… Glaive. To gather all the dishonest nobles into one place, even their hidden assets, and catch them in one go. Even those that were missed by Hakuya and I, a plan that doesn’t leave much to desire. However…… since we couldn’t release this information officially, your treatment, will be the same as the dishonest nobles.」
There are two reasons why I couldn’t make an official statement about this. The first reason is that there were casualties in the battle between the Royal Army and the Kingdom Army. Unlike the battle at the Crimson Dragon Castle-Town, where the only casualties on Royal Army side was just one battleship, at the battle on Randell’s outskirts, there were quite a few victims that had fallen on both sides. Although, it could be said that Georg had deliberately incited the battle for this country’s sake, surely the families of the victims wouldn’t agree with this.
The second reason, is that Zem, which was paying the ransom for the captured mercenaries would have its sentiments towards Elfrieden deteriorate even more. At the present stage, Zem would regret dispatching their mercenaries to the losing side as the revenge for our discontinuation of the Zemish mercenary contract. However, if they know the secret connection between Georg and me, then Zem would have thought that they had been set up by the Kingdom (although, it was Georg’s own arbitrary actions). Their national sentiment towards the Kingdom, that was already bad, will become even more worse. This is a situation that I want to avoid.
That is why we arrived at this situation, I couldn’t make an official statement about Georg’s plan. But then, Georg had already been aware of this since the beginning. But he decided to purposely take this literally to the grave. An obstinate person. Really…… a foolish one.
「Hey, are there no other ways besides this? Is this your wish? To suffer even infamy, have a double suicide with the dishonest nobles, are you satisfied by this!?」(Souma)
I stood up and banged at the cell’s bars.