Chapter 15: Rondor’s Executioner – 3

I must have been out of my mind.

Clatter.

I tossed the spoon into the wooden bowl and sighed.

Even though it was still morning, I must have sighed hundreds of times already.

It was because of what happened yesterday.

“Sigh…”

I got swept up in my emotions and made an absurd suggestion.

I have no idea what got into me.

I volunteered to be the executioner for Vivian.

Which means I might soon have to kill someone.

Just imagining it made my heart race.

I don’t want to kill anyone, and the thought of it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Vivian probably felt the same way, which is why she hasn’t signed the execution order yet.

But when I saw her getting ignored by her knights, and then saw her crying because of it, I couldn’t just stand by.

I even provoked her competitive spirit so she wouldn’t cry, but she ended up bursting into tears because of one lousy knight, which only made me more irritated.

That’s why, caught up in my emotions, I made that ridiculous proposal.

She looked so unstable by herself, so I said I’d kill the criminal with her.

“Sigh…”

I always thought killing someone was something I’d only have to do after I became the family head.

At the very least, I figured I wouldn’t have to deal with it until I was 18.

But here I am, far away from home, about to do it at 14… No, since I’ll be 15 soon, I guess I’ll do it at 15.

All of this because of Vivian.

Why do I feel so sorry for her that I’m going this far?

I can’t even understand my own feelings.

It’s just confusing.

When I think about what she did to me, I don’t even want to see her face, yet I keep taking care of her.

Am I going to keep acting like this the whole time I’m stuck here?

I really hope not.

I wish something would happen to finally sever this connection.

I sighed again and picked up my spoon.

For now, I decided to set my worries aside and focus on filling my stomach.

Thud!

The table shook for a moment.

Three boys suddenly sat down around me.

These three were now so familiar to me.

Day and night, we stuck together so much that I remembered their faces better than my own brothers’.

Valon, Wallace, and Martin.

Even after sitting down around me, they didn’t say a word.

They just glared at me with looks that could kill, creating a tense atmosphere.

I sighed for what must have been the umpteenth time and asked them.

“…It’s morning. Can we at least eat first?”

Contrary to my expectations of getting some kind of response, the three stayed silent.

Noticing the unusual mood, my hand, which had been shovelling food into my mouth, froze.

I glanced around and asked.

“…What’s going on?”

The three boys exchanged glances, as if they were passing a mission to one another.

“Ahem.”

In the end, it was the chubby Valon who cleared his throat and opened his mouth.

“Uh, about what we talked about yesterday.”

“?

Seeing my confused expression, Valon frowned and leaned in closer.

“You know, when you told me to try using an axe.”

“And?”

“…Were you serious?”

An awkward silence hung over the table.

I looked between the three of them, half-expecting one of them to suddenly crack a joke.

But nothing happened.

They were waiting for my answer.

Was I serious?

I started to wonder if they were serious.

What’s going on?

Completely baffled, I asked them in return.

“What are you guys up to?”

Valon, as if that was the end of it, turned to his friends and said.

“See? I told you. There’s no way he was serious. I said we shouldn’t do this.”

Wallace stopped Valon, who was already getting up to leave.

“What are you doing, giving up so soon? Just sit down.”

This time, Wallace cleared his throat and asked.

His tone was gentler than Valon.

“You know, after the sparring yesterday, when you told Valon to try an axe and told me to ease up? What was that about? Were you serious, or were you messing with us? Were you actually giving advice?”

When I stayed silent, still suspecting their motives, Wallace, feeling guilty, added an excuse.

“We’re just confused, that’s all. You sounded like you were giving us advice, but the things you said were so ridiculous. What’s with ‘ease up when you strike’? Shouldn’t you hit hard so it actually hurts?”

I hadn’t intended to respond, but I couldn’t hold back anymore after hearing his stupid question.

“…It only hurts when you get hit hard with a wooden sword. With a real sword, it cuts through because of the blade’s weight. Why would you need to use extra strength?”

“Huh, really?”

“Besides, when you try to swing hard, your stance gets bigger. It makes your next move obvious. Who wouldn’t dodge that?”

“You dodged my strike? I thought I was fast enough…”

“…Then you end up stumbling when you miss. You really are the dumbest idiot I’ve ever seen.”

Wallace, instead of getting upset at my insult, smiled in admiration.

“See? I told you. He was seriously giving us advice.”

Valon’s expression softened a bit.

He stammered like Vivian and asked.

“So, should I really try the axe? You were being serious with that advice?”

“…If you’re just going to swing a sword like an axe, you might as well use an axe.”

“Actually, I’m more comfortable with an axe. My dad’s a carpenter, and I used to help him out sometimes.”

I looked Valon up and down.

What does this guy even think with?

“If you’ve swung an axe before, then use an axe. Why are you sitting here holding a sword?”

“Isn’t a sword stronger?”

“…Forget it. I’m done talking.”

Pimply-faced Martin chimed in too.

“Hey, Kailo Alan. You didn’t give me any advice. What about me? Got anything for me?”

“You… Sigh, forget it.”

“What? Why!”

Clatter!

I tossed the spoon back into the bowl and stared at them.

Only then did they seem to remember the usual dynamic between us, blinking at me in confusion.

“Why are you guys acting like this all of a sudden?”

I asked.

Valon, with his greasy hair and dirty fingers, ran his hand through his hair as he answered.

“…We should be asking you that. You’re the one who gave us advice yesterday.”

“You looked so ridiculous that I just gave you some pointers.”

“Weren’t you extending a hand for us to make up?”

“…Make up? When you guys were ganging up on me like you wanted to kill me, and now you want to make up?”

“You were beating us up like you wanted to kill us too. Let’s call it even.”

“Are you just going to hit me again after this?”

“Unless we are an idiot, do you really think we would pull that crap on you again? We are not ready to handle the consequences of revenge.”

I continued to glare at them with a displeased look.

It seemed like they had something up their sleeves, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

After complaining so many times that their father was killed by our family, it didn’t make sense that they were now suddenly asking for reconciliation.

Especially considering the fights we’ve had over the past few months.

A relationship patched up with just one casual piece of advice from yesterday?

As if reading my expression, Valon spoke up.

“Let me be honest here.”

“…?”

“…I don’t really hate you that much.”

His confession was so ridiculous that I let out a hollow laugh.

“Then why did you beat me up? Do you know you knocked out one of my molars?”

“I just thought it’d be fun to beat you up. When else would I get the chance to hit a noble?”

There was not a hint of regret in Valon’s tone.

Wallace and Martin both nodded in agreement.

It was absurd, but oddly enough, I liked that they at least owned up to it.

I said to them,

“You claimed you wanted to avenge your father.”

Wallace snorted.

“That’s bullshit. I hated my father.”

“In fact, I’m glad he’s dead. He used to beat my mother and bully my younger siblings. Before the war, he was drunk all day, and shortly after the war started, he died. It’s been six years, so I barely even remember him anymore, to be honest.”

I looked at Martin and Valon.

They showed similar reactions.

“There weren’t many people who liked their parents in the Punishment Unit. Do you think we committed crimes for no reason?”

“We just needed an excuse to beat you up. Some of the guys here are orphans. They probably don’t even know who you are.”

Thinking they had resolved the situation by telling the truth, Wallace quickly tried to act friendly, putting his arm around my shoulder.

I pushed his arm away and said,

“You smell, don’t get so close.”

Wallace’s face turned slightly red with embarrassment, but he replied as if nothing had happened.

“Nobles really are different, huh? So, should we make peace?”

“When else would we get to make friends with a noble?”

Martin added.

-Thud!

I stood up from the table.

Valon, Wallace, and Martin exchanged glances with each other.

But I was still deep in thought.

It seemed like they had already sorted things out among themselves and come to me after making up their minds, but to me, it all felt so sudden.

Still, I was starting to get tired of fighting with these guys.

Vergor’s advice kept echoing in my head.

Just yesterday, Vivian told me that I’d be stuck rotting in this place for the rest of my life.

That meant I’d be here for a long time, and I couldn’t keep fighting like this every day.

Even wars only lasted a few years, and the actual fighting only took place on a handful of days.

But I had to be here for years, fighting battles every day.

It was impossible not to get exhausted.

I couldn’t even sleep deeply because I had to stay on guard.

It seemed like they were in the same situation too.

“…Sigh.”

But that didn’t mean I was ready to just shake hands and laugh it off right here and now.

I needed time.

Time to figure out if they were being sincere or not.

So, without agreeing or refusing their offer, I left the room.

Valon, Wallace, and Martin just stared at my back as I walked away.

***

A few days passed.

Late at night, Vivian sat at her desk.

The candle flickered weakly, casting a dim light across the room.

In front of Vivian, who was taking deep breaths, lay an execution order, and in her hand was a seal.

Death.

To Vivian, it was still a heavy word.

Having lost all the people she loved to death, its weight hit her differently.

Once she crossed this line, there was no turning back.

Just as her dead family wouldn’t come back, she wouldn’t be able to take back someone else’s loved one.

What if one of the condemned was innocent?

Could she really bring herself to end someone’s life?

Doubts kept swirling in her mind.

‘But even if I’m scared, I have to do it. Otherwise, the adults won’t take me seriously.’

Vivian repeated those words to herself.

The voice hadn’t faded with time.

She took a deep breath and brought the sealing wax close to the candle.

As the wax began to melt and soften, Vivian slowly dripped it onto the document.

She had to press the seal before the wax hardened.

But as before, her arm started trembling.

“Haa… Haa…”

She was about to kill someone.

She was about to take a life.

This truth would never change.

She would be a person who had killed someone.

-Tremble, tremble…

Like stuttering speech, Vivian’s hand continued to shake.

She had steeled herself a hundred times, but her hand wouldn’t move.

It hovered in the air, going back and forth, as if caught in a push-and-pull.

‘I’ll be the executioner.’

That was when Kailo Alan’s voice echoed in her mind.

He had said it with an indifferent expression.

‘Then we’d be killing them together.’

Vivian was surprised by how much strength those words gave her.

Gradually, the trembling in her hand subsided.

She wasn’t alone.

They were in it together.

A magical phrase that halved the weight of guilt.

“Hoo…”

Vivian composed herself.

-Press…

She pressed the seal into the wax.

The sun of Rondor was imprinted on the execution order.