Chapter 80: The Execution Game

“What do you think, even my prison clothes are custom-made.”

In the room where he was under house arrest, the third prince, Weneg, said proudly, but Nguyen remained silent and kept his sad eyes fixed on him.

The prison uniforms were basically one size fits all, but not enough to cover Weneg’s obese body.

“What the hell, have a laugh. It’s the best joke I’ve ever heard.”

“…… with a boneless man.”

Now I must go to the scaffold and behead my lord’s son. It was no laughing matter.

“Don’t lie to me. I hear you’re ridiculously cheerful in private. Which is the real you and which is the mask?”

“…I don’t know. I switch too much and I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’ve decided that they are both me, or so I think.”

“Yes. People can’t be so simple that they can be expressed in just one word.”

Weneg had eyes that looked somewhere far away.

“This may sound like an excuse… No, no matter how you look at it, it’s just an excuse, but please bear with my complaints.”

“If it’s okay with me”

Weneg nodded lightly, and I think he meant to, but the flesh in his throat just quivered.

……It’s not that I didn’t want to work hard on my martial arts and studies. When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a splendid king.

But when I try to do that, the people around me stop me.

“His Highness does not have to do such a thing.”

“Everyone can feel at ease when the king stands firm.”

At the time when my father was a war-loving muscle daruma, I could only think that his sense of values ​​had collapsed, but there was no way a kid about five years old at the time could make an orderly counterargument.

I nodded with a dissatisfied face, and ended up living surrounded by maids playing around.

I wanted to run around outside with boys of my age, but at some point it didn’t matter anymore. At ten years old, I’d be a splendid erotic kid, laughable.

You might think that it would have been better if I hadn’t started studying until I was able to express my opinion, but by that time, along with my useless flesh, the useless pride was already clinging to my body.

I didn’t want to be scolded by my tutor, I didn’t want to be seen out of breath after a short run. I was afraid of everything, and in the end I couldn’t do anything.

In hindsight, the cronies must have been the breath of Arsames’ maternal relative Shinsei.

My brother had an eye disease and was ordained, and the throne was within my reach. Of course, a younger brother born of a legitimate wife would be in the way.

Killing them would be quick, but if they find out, the whole family is doomed. It’s a bit roundabout, but I think it’s a good way to corrupt them. It’s funny that I should say this.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Arsames was manipulated in this assassination scandal, but I’m sure he had the support of his relatives.

Otherwise, it would be too early to bring together the leading powerful clans just because they made the relief of their rights and territories conditional.

He will never be able to get his head above his mother’s family’s head again. The many reforms spun out of his brilliant mind will be crushed in favor of the interests of the powerful family. If he tries to force his way forward, he will have to kill all his relatives.

There are only two paths for him: a quagmire of humiliation, or a horrific pool of blood.

……I think it’s just a little pathetic.

From the window of the palace, I leisurely watched as he was made to practice swordsmanship while crying because he didn’t want to.

I envied him, but I wonder what I was like from his point of view. I wonder if he envied me for being in a position where all I had to do was to play with tits in the harem.

….. I don’t want to hear about it now, though.

“… I said it myself, but it turned out to be just a complaint.”

Weneg muttered to himself.

“My first and last job is to die. By the way, I heard you went all the way to a country town in the kingdom to make a sword, can it really cut?”

Nguyen stood up without a word and flashed a flash at a vase on display in the corner of the room

Pulling out, slashing, and putting in. The movements were fluid and vivid.

After the metallic sound of putting the sword in, the vase slipped diagonally and shattered. If the blade had not been so sharp, the jar would have shattered before it was cut. This performance was more than enough proof of Nguyen’s skill and swordsmanship.

“I have even tried it live several times with the body of a sinner. Whether it’s the neck or the torso, I can cut it off with no problem.”

“Oh, oh. I hate torso rings. ……”

Nguyen’s confident smile is actually scary.

There was a loud noise, and without knocking, a grim-faced knight entered the room.

“It’s time to go. Get out.”

Nguyen suddenly struck the man. Before he fell, he grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to the ground.

“Is that your attitude towards the royal family?”

“What the hell are you talking about, that guy is a criminal …….

Before he could finish speaking, he grabbed his head and slammed it against the wall. Gun, gun. Twice and thrice.

After the man’s gaze began to wander aimlessly through the air, Nguyen said in a terrible voice.

“Apologize. I will not tolerate disrespect to royalty.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Nguyen kicked the man who was forced to say sorry in a dazed and groggy state of consciousness. The man hit his back hard against the corridor wall and seemed to pass out.

He snorted and closed the door vigorously. He no longer cared about the rude knight.

“You’ll be hated for doing that.”

Weneg said with a wry smile.

It’s not like I’m not happy just a little bit. There is no one other than Nguyen who would be angry for my sake.

“Then, I will guide you to the venue.”

“Oh, please guide me to Hell.”

The two of them nodded to each other and walked through the strangely quiet hallway and boarded the carriage.

A scaffold was set up in the capital’s square. More than 10,000 people gathered that day.

The roar, cursing, and cheers that erupted upon seeing the carriage. It’s supposed to be just a sound, but it makes me feel like I’ve been hit by a tsunami.

“So they all want me dead…”

Weneg looked out through the small window of the carriage and said in a trembling voice.

“They’re  just bored. Today, even if it was Arsames-sama on stage, people would have come.”

“……You’ll be hated for saying that. I’m so worried about you, I can’t even die.”

Haha, Weneg gave a dry laugh.

“Speaking of which, what happened to my hidden property? Do you still have it?”

“It’s not something you can use just for sword making. Also, about 9,700 gold coins…”

“I see. I’ll give it to you. Use it as you please.”

“Huh!?”

Nguyen shouted in a crazy and pompous voice. A knight’s annual salary is a few gold coins. Even though he received nearly 9,000 coins, he was more terrified than happy.

“You can take it and run away, or you can use it in a national crisis.”

“…I understand, I’ll take care of it.”

Nguyen deeply bowed his head.

The cursing outside was getting even louder.

Die, die, die

Kill, kill, kill.

How many can answer when asked what Weneg’s sins are?

“We’ve got to go. If we don’t, we’ll have a riot on our hands.”

“Yes……”

We get off the carriage and go up to the execution platform. The wooden stairs creaked and screeched.

Nguyen hoped that the scaffold would break down and the execution be canceled or postponed, but there was no way such a miracle would happen.

Weneg sat on his throne in the center of the execution table. The executioners assigned to assist him tried to hold him down, but Nguyen refused and pushed them away.

Weneg sits down, and Nguyen draws his sword and swings it. It was exactly like a seppuku posture.

I am about to die. My mind was strangely calm. No cursing or angry voices could be heard, only silence around Weneg.

For ten years, we have been fighting a futile war.

While most of the people were suffering from hunger, he was the only man who repeatedly ate and ate. By executing Weneg as a symbol of laziness and corruption, Arsames probably wants to appeal to clean politics in the future.

…it’s okay, I’m going to die. In return, I’ll leave you to take care of your country instead.

A smile naturally appeared on his face. At that moment, the sword was swung down.

Nguyen felt little resistance. Only the feeling that he had harvested life remained in his hands.

The head fell off with a sticky sound like a wet rag.

It is the manner of execution to hold the head and show the people that you have killed them, but Nguyen did not care, wrapped the head in a cloth, and quickly climbed down from the execution table.

“……eh?”

A question mark in the minds of 10,000 people. It was a very abrupt end, different from the previous executions.

A headless corpse sitting on the scaffold and bleeding. That is the symbol of the new era.

Weneg is dead. Nguyen left. There was no one anywhere for the people to ask what to do now.

Nguyen then buried Wenegu’s head with dignity.

The grave, which had been dug deep into the ground and simply placed a stone on top, was decorated with flowers picked in the field.

Only Nguyen knew the location of the grave, and he never told anyone for the rest of his life.

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