Bab 54: Chapter 53: A Speech
The outskirts of Nisir.
A water convoy, guarded by nearly a hundred soldiers, is heading towards His Majesty's summer resort.
Apart from the wagons carrying the water, the carriage in which Brother Henry is riding alongside.
And I was riding on a horse next to it.
I am to see my brother off halfway through the transport of water.
"Fuumu."
"What's the matter, brother?"
"Lucas looks good riding a horse."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, it's quite impressive. Do you ride regularly?"
"Yes, to a certain extent. The Empire is a nation of 'warriors'. Even brother was trained from childhood to be able to ride a horse.
"Still, those who cannot ride well, are not able to do well. Oscar and I are not good with horses."
"Brother Oscar too?"
I was wondering if that was true ....
Oscar is, in a word, a "Gentleman" kind of a person.
He's not very good with horses, which might make sense.
I was talking to my brother about various things when suddenly, the soldiers escorting the water began to rustle.
"What's going on?"
My brother, who was in charge of the transportation, asked his subordinates.
The soldier replied with a frown.
"I'm sorry, sir. There's sand and smoke coming from the south. It's probably ...."
My brother and I looked south at the same time.
From beyond the horizon, a group of people were approaching us, creating a cloud of dust.
It came in a straight line towards us and quickly surrounded our ranks.
"Bandits?"
Brother's tone changed.
His expression tightened, and his brow wrinkled to the point where he could hold a piece of paper between his eyes and not lose it.
"Didn't expect them to be here."
"Leave it to me, brother."
With that, I jumped off my horse.
And walked up to the man who seemed to be the leader of the hundreds of bandits who surrounded the halted column.
"What do you guys think you're doing?"
"Heh, such an ostentatious escort, you must be carrying something of great value."
"..."
I turned around.
Certainly, to deliver the goods to his Majesty, the number of soldiers escorting him was greater than the usual convoy.
It was a misunderstanding on their part.
I turned around and locked eyes with my brother Henry.
We smiled at each other.
"If you give us the cargo, we'll at least spare your life. Hmm?"
The man tapped his longsword on his shoulder and said with a grimace.
I ignored his "suggestion" and pulled Leviathan from my bracelet.
The Demon Katana tugged at the light blue light.
The moment I pulled it out, I could see that both friend and foe had taken notice of it.
"What? You gonna do it?"
"—Fuumu!"
I took a step forward and instantly cut down the three bandits behind the man.
The three of them fell down, letting go of their weapons, looking as if they didn't know what was happening.
"..."
I looked around.
Because it happened so quickly, neither friend nor foe could react.
"Hey! Y-You guys! Do it now!"
The first one to come to his senses was the leader of the bandits.
And as soon as he gave the order, all the bandits attacked me at once.
Forgetting about stealing the cargo, they attacked me.
As expected, I was able to get their attention, so I wielded my Leviathan and cut down the bandits one by one.
As I am still the Prime Minister, I am in invincible mode will all SSS abilities.
With one slash per bandit, I cut them down one by one.
It took me less than thirty minutes to cut down all three hundred bandits.
After defeating them all, I ordered the soldiers to bind their arms with ropes and restrain them for the time being.
Brother Henry got out of the carriage and came to my side.
"Amazing, Lucas. I didn't think you'd be able to take them all down by yourself."
"If we cause any damage, it will delay our delivery to you, His Majesty."
"Umu. But still, you're very good."
Brother then nodded and complimented me.
I looked at the man who was tied up and had his knees forcefully held.
The man was bleeding profusely from his shoulders and glaring at me.
After looking at him for a while and thinking about it, I asked him.
"What's your name?"
"Jerry Eisen-sama, the White Tiger. Remember that."
Jerry's reply was vigorous.
"Jerry. Do you know what you've done?"
"Haaa, I know what I'm doing because I'm in this business. I am prepared. Ain't too scared of that."
"Good resolve, but it's pointless."
"What?"
"By the way, how many people have you killed as a bandit?"
"Ha! What's the point of asking that? If you plan to add to my list of crimes, give up. I'm going to be executed anyway. If you want to kill me, kill me now!"
Jerry said all at once.
The expression on his face is a face that looks as if he really isn't afraid of dying.
... Fumu.
I thought about it for a while and then changed the subject.
"This convoy is carrying a gift for the Emperor. In other words, it's an imperial gift. What do you think will happen to people who try to steal the emperor's property, so to speak?"
"Soo…"
"You'll get the maximum punishment of cutting your body into pieces."
"How ...isn't it?
Jerry was clearly confused, perhaps because the words were unfamiliar to him.
"It's a method of execution in which the torso is sliced up and down, not the neck. If you avoid the heart and cut the torso, you won't die right away. It takes about thirty minutes for the victim to die in agony."
"..."
Jerry felt puzzled.
"The pain of being cut in two is three minutes. And then, slowly, you lose the ability to move or even struggle. But the pain stays with you."
"..."
Jerry went pale, his teeth didn't meet, and he began to quiver.
"How many people have you killed?"
"I-I didn't kill any...."
In an instant, his lips became pale and he answered in a trembling voice.
"Why?"
"We had a ... famine a long time ago. Our Governor did nothing to help us. We found ourselves in a situation where we couldn't make ends meet, so we turned to this kind of work. ..."
"You mean you were unwilling to do this?"
"That's ... true. No one likes to do this kind of work if they can work properly. ..."
Jerry, who answered, gradually turned his head down.
The words were full of emotion.
I paused for a moment and then asked with a straight face,
"Do you want to start over?"
"—-!"
Jerry looked up and stared at me with a look of disbelief on his face, not knowing what had just happened.
"S-Start over!?"
I looked around Jerry.
He and his subordinates were all staring at me with the same look.
"If you're just a bandit, I can have you sentenced to a term of service."
As Minister of Justice, I spoke while remembering the Imperial Law.
Not just for bandits, but for young people who are considered to be barely worthy of death.
"The punishment is to literally throw you into the army and make you fight in the frontier. Depending on the merits of your service, your crimes may be cleared up and you may even be promoted."
"Well, is there such a thing!"
Jerry's eyes light up again. He bit into my speech.
"I have no reason to make this up—so, if you do well in the war, I'll remove your name. So what do you want, a do-over? Or death?"
When confronted with the two options, Jerry and his men.
Without hesitation, they bowed to me with such force that they slammed their foreheads into the ground.
As it was, I split up some of the soldiers and sent Jerry and the rest of the bandits to Nisir.
After seeing them off, my brother, who had been silently listening to me the whole time, said.
"You're quite a speaker, aren't you?"
He said to me.
"Really?"
"The way you threatened him about cutting the body, frightened him, and then tore it all down at once was brilliant. But is it really worth the trouble?"
"People are treasure and hope, brother."
"Even with them?"
"Even that one."
"Fuu, it's great that you can say that much.:
After parting ways with my brother, I returned to Nisirs' compound, arranged for additional soldiers to escort me, and took care of Jerry.
Jerry and the others were pleased.
What I offered them was a chance to turn their lives around, so to speak.
Of course, they could die, because they were fighting as soldiers.
But the Empire is a nation of warriors, and merit surpasses all achievements.
If they could survive and make a mark in the war, it would not be a dream to become a nobleman.
Jerry and the others all thanked me persistently for offering them a second chance to turn their lives around.
After that was taken care of, Cecily, the reception maid, came into the study.
"Master. There's a man here to see you who calls himself Lawrence."
"Lawrence, huh. Send him in."
"Very well, sir."
Cecily left and Lawrence came in a few moments later.
As soon as Lawrence entered the room, he got down on one knee and bowed to me.
I got up from my chair and pulled Lawrences' arm to stand him up.
"Are you feeling okay now?"
"Thanks to His Highness the Thirteenth, I'm fine now. I don't know how to thank you for coming to my rescue in person."
"Don't worry about it. What are you going to do now? How would you like to be my subordinate?"
"I'm sorry. But I am someone who is serving Pascal-sama."
"..."
I frowned.
And I said exactly what I was feeling at the moment.
"I am disappointed in you."
"Eh?"
Why so suddenly? Lawrence had such a surprised look on his face.
"You are a capable man. Don't be modest. I've done a lot of research."
"Ha. ..."
Lawrence bowed his head.
"You are a capable person who can do a lot for the people. So why are you so obsessed with something you don't need?"
"Because betraying Pascal-sama is ..."
"You don't wish to be the traitor, you say. That's self-interest, isn't it? It's called valuing one's reputation."
"!"
"If Pascal is a man who does something for the people, that's fine. But he's a man who doesn't give a damn about the people. You know that, don't you?"
"..."
"I'm saying I'm disappointed that you would go back to a man like that because you don't want to be called a traitor. That's why I said I was disappointed."
I sighed.
"Forget it, you can go wherever you want."
Right after I said that and turned myself around, Lawrence quickly got down on his knees.
He put his hands on his knees and slammed his head on the floor.
"What are you implying?"
"I was ... I was wrong."
"..."
"Your Highness is right, I was ... thinking about my own fame before I knew it. Before I knew it, I was ... no, that would be an excuse."
"I was awakened by His Highness' speech. His Highness is the one who should truly be served. Please allow me to join your direction, even though I am a man like this!"
I beg you! He slammed his forehead on the floor with a thud.
"You work for the people, do you not?"
"Yes!"
"All right, I forgive you."
"–! Thank you very much!"
The status in the corner of my eye was still stuck at SSS, though.
Well if it wasn't, the status would have gone up for sure.
Such a man has joined me.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone