Old Ford was highly efficient.
In just two hours, nearly three thousand subjects had gathered in the massive plaza in front of the castle.
Ethan stood on the balcony of the main castle building, looking down at the dense crowd below.
At the edges of the crowd, the castle guard maintained order. Children were held in their mothers' arms, standing on their tiptoes to peer toward the center of the plaza.
In the center of the plaza, twenty-three prisoners were chained together in a line, kneeling on the stone floor.
They were dressed in rags, their hair was matted, and while some bowed their heads and trembled, others held their necks stiff, their faces masks of numb despair.
Ethan made his way down to the center of the plaza.
"Young Master." Carl, the Captain of the Guard, stepped forward and pressed his right hand to his chest. "Everything is prepared."
Ethan nodded, his gaze sweeping across the row of prisoners.
Twenty-three men, varying in height and build, but all with something similar in their eyes.
Fear, despair, or a hollow acceptance of their fate.
He withdrew his gaze and looked at the crowd.
Nearly three thousand subjects were gathered in the plaza, a sea of heads, yet it was strangely quiet. Everyone watched the young master in the center, waiting for him to speak.
Ethan didn't waste words; he simply nodded to Carl.
Understanding the signal, Carl turned and waved his hand toward the clerk beside him.
The clerk stepped forward, unfurled a parchment scroll, cleared his throat, and announced loudly, "Today, on the sixteenth birthday of the heir to House Leo, Young Master Ethan Leo, we shall dispose of the serious offenders within the territory to uphold the law!"
"Bring the first man, Thomas Claude!"
Two guards dragged a middle-aged man from the line and forced him to kneel in a cleared space in the center of the plaza.
The clerk opened another parchment and read aloud, "Thomas Claude, formerly a miller in the southern region. After last year's autumn harvest, out of greed for three sacks of wheat from his neighbor Hans, he broke into Hans's home at night and bludgeoned the couple to death with a hammer, including their seven-year-old son. The following day, he staged the scene to look like the work of bandits. After an investigation, bloody clothes and stolen goods were found in his mill's cellar. According to the laws of the territory, a life for a life—he is sentenced to death by beheading!"
A commotion immediately broke out in the crowd.
"That beast!"
"Hans and his family were such honest people, how could he do it?"
"He didn't even spare the child! He deserves to die!"
Ethan walked slowly toward the prisoner named Thomas.
Thomas knelt on the ground, his entire body shaking, muttering incoherently, "Mercy... Mercy, Young Master... I wasn't thinking straight... I..."
Ethan ignored his pleas, his eyes falling on the man's neck.
He raised his right hand.
A guard nearby immediately handed him a greatsword. The blade was heavy, its edge gleaming with a cold light.
Ethan took the sword.
As soon as the sword was in his hand, a strange sensation flooded his body.
Weight, center of gravity, the angle of the edge, the optimal trajectory for a swing... all this information surfaced in his mind like instinct. He could even feel exactly what angle and force were needed to sever the cervical vertebrae most cleanly.
This was Weapon Master.
Ethan's mind steadied. He gripped the hilt with both hands and raised the blade high.
Under the sunlight, the blade reflected a blinding glare.
"Mer— Agh!"
Thomas tried to say more, but Ethan's sword had already fallen.
The blade cut through the air with a low whistle, striking Thomas's neck with precision.
Thomas's head tumbled to the ground, and blood geysered from the stump of his neck, splashing onto the gray stone floor in a shocking display.
The corpse slumped forward, twitched twice, and then moved no more.
The crowd was silent for a moment before erupting into thunderous cheers.
"Good kill!"
"The Young Master is mighty!"
"That's how it should be!"
Ethan stood where he was, letting the blood splash onto the tips of his boots.
He looked down at the corpse on the ground, then at the sword in his hand.
In the upper left corner of his vision, the system panel quietly appeared.
【Life Energy +1. Current Life Energy: 4.】
The clerk continued to read for the second prisoner.
"Second person, Pete Shaw, formerly a blacksmith in the eastern village. Two winters ago, he broke into the residence of the widowed Lady Martha at night, violated her, and threatened her into silence afterward. Lady Martha took her own life in shame and indignation, leaving a suicide note to expose the crime. Upon verification, according to the laws of the territory, those who violate women and cause death shall be sentenced to death by beheading!"
A burly, bald man was dragged into the clearing.
Unlike the trembling miller before him, this blacksmith was much tougher. He knelt on the ground, looked up, and glared fiercely at Ethan, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"You little brat, you kill me, but sooner or later you'll—"
Before he could finish, Ethan's sword fell.
Another clean, decisive strike.
【Life Energy +1. Current Life Energy: 5.】
The crowd erupted in cheers again.
"Third person, Marcus Joe, formerly a tax official of the Eleventh District. Taking advantage of his position, he repeatedly falsified tax records and embezzled a total of three hundred and seventy gold coins. Furthermore, on the eve of last year's audit, he committed arson, burning down the accounting office and causing two innocent clerks to perish in the flames. According to the laws of the territory, those who embezzle public funds and commit arson and murder shall be sentenced to death by beheading!"
A thin, middle-aged man was dragged up, his face deathly pale, the crotch of his trousers already soaked.
"Young Master... Young Master, I was wrong... I'll give all the money back... I..."
Ethan didn't look at him, he just raised his sword.
The sword fell, and the head was severed.
One by one, the prisoners were dragged to the clearing. The clerk's reading, the crowd's cheers, and the criminals' deathbed wails or curses intertwined.
Ethan swung his sword again and again.
Blood gathered into streams on the stone floor in the center of the plaza, winding and flowing.
The air was thick with the heavy scent of blood. Some subjects began to gag, but even more were full of excitement, as if watching a grand performance.
The rules of this world had changed the moment he closed his eyes under the wheels of that truck.
Without strength, the luxury he enjoyed today could vanish tomorrow.
Kill.
...
Finally, the twenty-third person.
The last prisoner was dragged into the clearing.
He was a young man, looking no more than twenty. He was shaking like a leaf as he was dragged up, tears and snot covering his face.
"Young Master... Young Master, I beg you... I... I was forced... they forced me..."
The clerk's voice rang in his ears: "Twenty-third person—Cole Benny, formerly a farmer in the northern village. This spring, burdened by gambling debts, he sold his own biological daughter to human traffickers for five gold coins. His wife tried to stop him, and he strangled her to death with his own hands. After a neighbor reported him, the traffickers were caught and confessed to the crime. According to the laws of the territory, those who traffic humans and kill their wives shall be sentenced to death by beheading!"
The cheers from the crowd were even more intense than before.
"Worse than a beast!"
"He even sold his own daughter?"
"Kill him! Kill him!"
Ethan's sword rose.
Cole looked up, his face stained with tears, his lips trembling as he tried to say something.
The sword fell.
【Life Energy +1. Current Life Energy: 26.】
Twenty-three heads rolled in the pools of blood.
Twenty-three corpses lay across the center of the plaza.
Blood soaked every crack in the stone floor, glinting a dark red under the midday sun.
The crowd was boiling.
Cheers, shouts, and applause surged like a tide.
"Young Master Ethan! Young Master Ethan! Young Master Ethan!"
Countless subjects waved their arms, their faces filled with fanatical expressions.
Ethan stood in the center of the bloodbath, holding the hilt of the sword with both hands, the tip resting on the ground.
"Today, I execute these wicked men not only to seek justice for the victims but also to warn everyone," Ethan's voice was loud, carrying across the entire plaza. "Within the territory of House Leo, anyone who betrays the family, breaks the law, or harms the innocent—regardless of their status or background—will receive the harshest punishment. There will be no leniency!"
"No leniency! No leniency! No leniency!"
The cheers were deafening.
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