Chapter 710: A Cruel Reality

Henwell ultimately suppresses his killing intent, but he still refuses to hand the strange weapon to the Lady of Calamity.

As long as Blind Steve does not have that weapon, the husband-and-wife assassin duo poses no threat to Henwell's safety.

While Henwell negotiates with the Lady of Calamity, Solomon holds a secret meeting of his own.

They discuss how to deal with Henwell's group and the Lady of Calamity's people once they enter the ruins.

The three groups travel toward Thorn City, each hiding its own agenda.

They remain on the main road. With the various documents held by the Lady of Calamity and the King's Shield, they encounter no obstruction.

Half a month later, the caravan reaches its destination.

The region lies more than a hundred kilometers east of Thorn City and nearly two thousand meters above sea level.

It is a barren highland. Although some land is farmed, it yields only one crop each year.

As a result, much of the small plateau depends on pastoral herding.

The towns lie far apart. Their stop is nearly a hundred kilometers from the nearest settlement.

Late spring is giving way to early summer. The grass is lush, cattle and sheep gather in herds, and wild animals are a common sight.

The vast sky and open land naturally lift the spirits.

After days on the road, Solomon decides to rest the group in Sweetwater Town.

Sweetwater is a medium-sized town with fewer than five thousand residents and several small villages scattered around it.

Most visitors are merchants buying livestock, particularly horses and mules.

Henwell's party clearly has not come to trade, so the local residents immediately take notice.

A pastoral life makes the people here direct, even wild.

They can move elsewhere with their herds at any time, so the region has friendly locals as well as violent men who moonlight as bandits.

Several groups begin watching Henwell and the others not long after they enter the town.

Now the Lady of Calamity's influence proves useful.

Her identity as Lady Thatcher comes with a lordship granted by King Baleqi himself.

That barely makes her a noble, but her wide network of connections matters far more.

She also maintains a good working relationship with the local knight lord.

After Sir Dimoson arrives with his men and invites Lady Thatcher to his estate, many of the hostile eyes watching them disappear.

No matter how wild the locals are, they have no wish to offend their lord.

Traveling merchants may be unable to deal with them, but that does not mean they can do as they please.

Bandits in this trade need keen eyes. They must spot the easy marks worth robbing.

They must also recognize those they cannot afford to provoke, lest they be rooted out completely.

Lady Thatcher's reception makes it clear that she is not someone they can touch.

Even so, someone will always risk everything for a big score and dream of retiring afterward.

There will be trouble, but the many guards in the expedition will teach those gamblers the danger of taking a reckless bet.

The next afternoon, Henwell wanders through the town and sees a crowd gathered around an execution platform.

He joins the crowd and pieces together what happened from the conversations around him.

An old woman is kneeling on the platform.

The executioner announces her crimes. She offended the constable and the mayor, so she has been sentenced to hang.

A young woman nearby stares in shock. "Only because she chased away a dog?"

A resident corrects her. "That was the constable's hound. She hit it with a stick. Of course she has to be punished."

Another resident adds, "Sir Dimoson himself gave that hound to the constable. It has noble blood."

The young woman still cannot believe it. "But it's only a dog, and it wasn't even injured."

"She was only protecting her granddaughter. They're executing her because she hit a dog?"

Henwell answers calmly, "Of course that's not enough. They also need to sell her granddaughter to display the constable's authority."

"Only then can these wretches be warned never to damage any property belonging to their lord."

The chestnut-haired young woman stares with wide eyes. "Is there... Is there no law here?"

Miller, standing beside Henwell, gives a cold laugh. "Heh... This is the law."

The young woman protests. "That's a human life. How can they do this?"

Miller replies calmly, "This is nothing. I once saw a serf hanged for splashing water on a nobleman."

"Do you know what happened?"

"While the serf was hanging, the commoners and other serfs even lifted the poor man's feet slightly."

The young woman looks baffled. "Why?"

"To make the 'criminal' take longer to die. It was a cruel death that lasted around twenty minutes."

"The condemned serf first soiled himself. Then, under the pressure, his eyes came out of their sockets and hung against his face."

"When his son came to collect the body, the spectators beat him so badly that his stomach eventually swelled like a ball."

"He wailed for days before he died."

"Do you know why?"

"His organs had ruptured. Blood and damaged tissue collected inside him until his belly swelled into a sphere."

Daisy asks numbly, "Why... Why did they do that? Why would they help the nobles hurt one of their own?"

Miller shrugs. "I do not know. Perhaps they held a grudge against him."

Henwell states a more terrible truth. "Because it gave them something to watch. Everyone in the territory is required to attend an execution."

"Most nobles use death and fear to intimidate those beneath them and preserve their rule."

"By prolonging an execution, the people get a longer break from work and more entertainment."

"Hurting one of their own lets them vent their anger and briefly forget their exhausting labor and brutal punishments."

"The noble lords are also pleased to see it. The crueler the execution, the more secure their rule becomes."

Daisy feels her entire worldview breaking apart. None of this fits what she believes about life.

She murmurs, dazed, "It shouldn't be like this. People should be equal. Laws are supposed to help everyone live better and make life safer."

"Law should restrain evil. Why has it become a breeding ground for evil? Why does something like this happen?"

Miller chuckles. "The world is the same everywhere. The law serves the nobles. It exists to protect their rule."

Daisy objects without thinking. "No. Peace Haven is different."

Then she pauses. "A friend of mine visited Peace Haven. Its laws are strict. No punishment may be carried out without evidence."

Miller's face darkens. "Peace Haven is the same. I came from Peace Haven. The lord of Blood Hill can also decide life and death with a word."

"Even warriors who bled in battle for him can be coldly executed to protect the interests of the rich and powerful."

Daisy growls, "You are lying!"

Miller glances at her. "Have you ever been to Peace Haven? I have. I came from there."

Daisy says nothing. She glares at Miller like an angry young lioness.