Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 157

157

Is lightning scary?

With the drawbridge lowered, the moat neutralized, and even the fortress gates opened, the fortress could no longer hold out.

The Kakanaka barony was shattered into pieces by a single attack.

Jones, the baron’s son, was eventually cut down and stabbed to death amidst the chaos by his own father’s knights, becoming a tattered mess.

Immediately after, Bitri, the knight commander who led the surrender from within, took the knights who had fought with him, went to Zion’s camp, begged for forgiveness, and pleaded for leniency, citing their cooperation.

However, Zion’s chilling reply was all they received.

“Are you trying to bargain with me now?”

“Huh?”

“You should be bringing everything to me, kneeling and bowing your heads, accepting whatever punishment I deem fit. Yet, you dare to bring this up and ask for something in return?”

“Lord Zion?”

“If that’s what you wanted, you’ve come to the wrong place. Go look for it in hell.”

Zion waved his hand dismissively.

Then, the knights standing behind him nodded, seized Bitri and his injured men, and began dragging them away.

“W-Wait a minute! Lord Zion Claussen! T-This isn’t what we agreed on!”

“Agreed? When did I make any promises?”

Zion’s face was full of smiles as he said that – a smile not of pure intention, but one clearly filled with ridicule and mockery.

The moment Bitri saw that expression, he finally realized something was wrong.

“What…”

“It was just bait, thrown out there for anyone foolish enough to bite. But you couldn’t come to your senses and overinterpreted it, foolishly believing it to be true. The power of life and death is in my hands, and I’ve simply decided to take it away. So, you traitorous bastards should shut up and die.”

“W-Wait a minute! Lord Zion! This isn’t right! Lord Zion!”

At the desperate voice calling out to him, Zion paused. After pondering for a moment, he looked at Rishikida, who was standing next to him, and said, “Rishi.”

“Yes, Master.”

“How are traitors dealt with in ‘wartime’?”

“Execution by hanging, without exception.”

Those who harm allies and benefit enemies are executed by hanging, regardless of status, during wartime. This was a universally accepted law.

“Hanging, hanging, you say.”

Zion seemed to be contemplating whether to kill them or not. At that, Bitri immediately recalled what Zion had said just before and bowed his head to the ground.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Lord Zion Claussen! If we have offended you in any way, please forgive us! We don’t want anything. We don’t even need to be knights forever, and you can confiscate our property. We will do whatever you tell us to do, so please spare our lives and the lives of my knights, the lives of those who surrendered!”

“Please!”

As the King’s representative, Zion certainly had the right to make the final decision regarding the disposition of those involved in treason. Therefore, Bitri knew that if Zion Claussen said he would spare their lives, it meant they could unconditionally survive in the name of the kingdom.

“Certainly, thanks to you guys working behind the scenes, we were able to occupy the fortress without a single siege and cleanly eliminate the traitor’s bloodline.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right. So…”

“But you know what? It’s a bit strange. If you were willing to behead the son of your former master for doing something against the kingdom, why didn’t you behead that master when he was doing something strange before?”

“At that time, we had knightly oaths…”

“No, not those oaths that aren’t even worth the name. Let’s talk about what came out of your mouths. You killed Jones out of loyalty to the kingdom, so why were you just standing there dumbly when Baron Kakanaka was openly rebelling against the kingdom? That’s what I’m saying.”

A voice that was extremely cold and chilling.

Bitri, as well as the surrounding knights, trembled, not realizing that the appearance they had thought was merely handsome could change so terrifyingly.

“You didn’t think that driving the docile barbarian tribes into a corner, and filling your own pockets by directly opposing the royal family’s desire to live peacefully with them, would benefit the kingdom, did you? If you did, I’d like to split your heads open with an axe and take a look inside.”

Because he was saying such things with a smile, the people around him genuinely thought he might bring an axe from somewhere and split open the knights’ heads.

“Just die. Wouldn’t it be better to die? That way, you might be able to save your families somehow.”

“What do you mean…”

“Due to a moment of wrong thinking, you failed to make the right judgment, and you couldn’t stop your master, committing disloyalty to the kingdom. Let’s say that with such a guilty conscience, you killed the traitor’s son to show your loyalty to the kingdom, but you still couldn’t overcome your guilt and asked for death yourself.

Then, at least your families will be able to live well without any further questioning of guilt, completely unrelated to this incident. There will be no confiscation of property either. They will live honorably as the bereaved families of knights who upheld their honor, even belatedly.”

“…”

At that, Bitri and the knights lowered their heads and bit their lips.

The reason they turned their swords against Jones was because they wanted to survive, but it was also a decision made for the sake of their families. If they died as traitors, their families would not be able to survive.

“…Really, will you really spare our families?”

“Why? Do you think I’m going to deceive you? Why would I do such a tiring thing? I could just kill you all at once. Right now, I’m giving you the best treatment. Not as traitors, but as knights of the kingdom who can die, albeit belatedly.”

“Kuh…! B-But!”

“Of course, I understand your feelings too. Life is more important than honor. But if you survive, will that really be living? You will still be branded as criminals, and your parents, wives, children, and other people around you who used to live comfortably as knights’ families will be pointed at for the rest of their lives.”

Every word was absolutely correct.

Even if Zion Claussen spared their lives, he would not erase all their sins. Treason is that heavy and serious.

“So, I will withdraw the execution by hanging. Instead, I’m thinking of beheading you, can you accept that? Keep in mind that beheading is a great honor for those who have committed treason. Most ‘traitors’ end up hanging by the neck, and their bodies become a spectacle.”

Of course, there were cases like Sefer Kashgar, who was kept alive under the pretext of investigation to be used whenever politically necessary, but these traitorous knights were not worth it.

“There will be no further negotiations. If you take my hand, you will die honorably, and your families can live honorably. However, if you don’t take my hand, you will gain nothing and become ghosts dancing with ropes around your necks, and your families will all live lives that are worse than death, cursed and pointed at by the world. Choose wisely. Distinguished knights.”

Bitri finally admitted that they could not turn back their lives. He felt betrayed, but he laughed, thinking that even if they surrendered like this, they would die, and even if they fought to the end, they would die.

Still, the fact that their families would suffer no harm, but rather live as usual, made him and the surrounding knights feel a little more at ease.

‘Yes. If they were going to harm even the families, they would have killed them all already. I should take that much as genuine. Zion Claussen, you are truly a terrifying man. To not spare any traitors or betrayers, yet make them accept death willingly with conditions they can never refuse.’

Since he was going to die anyway, he became more rational.

The part where he was not being killed, but rather ending his life by asking for death himself. And the part where his family would no longer be harmed because of it.

Yes, that much was worth dying for. After all, resistance is impossible now, just like inside the fortress. Whether to hang with nothing and have the whole family live an unhappy life, or to die but remain a knight who was loyal to the kingdom in the end, and have the family live as the families of such fallen soldiers.

‘It’s obvious what kind of answer he’ll give. If you nail it down that they’re going to die anyway, people surprisingly make very rational decisions, and they think about those who will be left behind.’

Zion waited leisurely for the answer. It wouldn’t hurt to wait a minute longer for those who were going to die anyway.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll just assume you want to die as traitors and hang you.”

Of course, he had no intention of saying that.

“…Really, will you really present all of us not as traitors, but as knights who died loyal to the kingdom, albeit belatedly?”

“That’s what I said. I swear on the name of the Claussen County.”

Giving some honor to the dead wouldn’t cost money or effort. He just had to talk a little and pretend to offer a silent tribute.

Zion thought so and looked at them, signaling them to answer quickly. After a while, Bitri stood up from his seat as if he had finished contemplating.

Then, he forced open his lips, which would not fall.

“May His Majesty the King enjoy ten thousand years of life. Hispana, forever.”

At that, the other knights also stood up and muttered the same. They had accepted the final condition and taken Zion’s hand, promising to shut up and die.

Zion clapped and praised their loyalty to the kingdom. Then, he erased the ridicule he had been wearing and lowered his voice.

“Although you repent of your sins with death, you were honorable knights in the end. I hope your journey is not too difficult.”

There was no word of thanks. What kind of greeting would you give to someone who told you to kill your master’s son and come running to him, only to be told to go out and die?

Still, he said he would let the families live comfortably as before, so this was the only path they could choose now.

After that, they were executed by Schumacher, the vice-commander, who had been waiting in advance, with the sentence changed from hanging to beheading.

“Although they committed an irreversible sin by following a foolish master, they cut off that bloodline with the blade of judgment and chose an honorable death rather than desperately seeking life, so I bestow a slight favor upon them.”

Vice-Commander Schumacher said so and immediately proceeded with the execution.

Just before their deaths, Bitri and the knights of Kakanaka stared at the tent where Zion was, looking at them. With the meaning of please keep your promise, and the hope that at least their families would be forgiven for all their sins and live on, since they had been cast out like this.

“Execute the sentence!”

The executioner’s blade flashed and flew mercilessly.

And a person’s life fades away.

Zion stared at the scene for a moment before turning his head. He told himself every time that he had to get used to it, but he really couldn’t get used to seeing people die.

Immediately after the war with Nudia ended, he couldn’t sleep properly for days, having nightmares. However, it would be better to watch others die than to watch himself die. And if he had to watch others die, it would be less unpleasant to see those who harmed him die and fall than to see his own people die.

“Rishi.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Where are the families of the knights who just died staying now?”

“They are temporarily gathered in the barracks on the outskirts of the Kakanaka barony, in case they are harmed by the retainers of the man named Jones who died this time.”

“If it’s there, it’s definitely safe, right? I mean, does it look like a solid guarantee that no one can harm them is being maintained, no matter who looks at it?”

“I think so, but…”

At Rishikida’s answer, Zion nodded and showed a satisfied reaction.

“Rishi. I have a favor to ask.”

“Tell me, Master.”

“Can you go and call Trisha?”

Most people would have asked for a reason, but Rishikida was different. Without even a 0.1 second of hesitation, she immediately replied that she would and headed to where Trisha was.

‘Don’t be too upset. I’m still going to keep half of what I promised.’

They will be knights who repented of their sins through death, not traitors who were executed. Yes, as Zion had promised in the name of Claussen.

Perhaps if someone were to write the history of the kingdom, they would be recorded as knights who met the wrong era. However, their families will all lose their lives in an unexplained fire. Whether it was an accident, or whether they killed themselves following their son, husband, or father, I don’t know.

A promise made in the name of Claussen? That was a promise made to allow them to protect their honor and die, not a condition set to guarantee the lives of their families.

‘If I leave them alive, they might come back later saying, “You’re my father’s enemy!” That would be quite annoying.’

If those knights, who are now headless ghosts, appear in his dreams later and ask, ‘Why did you break your promise!’, Zion was going to answer like this.

‘Then why did you only make a verbal promise? You should have written a document, stamped it, and done everything else. What did you believe in this harsh world to just trust what I said! It’s all your fault! I’m not responsible!’

―

“This is the first and last chance.”

“…”

“At the moment when those guys are off guard in the Kakanaka barony’s fortress, we will counterattack them.”

“Will it be alright? Vice-Commander Schumacher and the royal knights…”

“It’s enough to just break their morale. No matter how high-ranking the knights are, it’s impossible to destroy the entire fortress if the soldiers don’t listen.”

Demol, the eldest son of Baron Dionba, encouraged the knights in a strong tone.

The Baralla barony and the Kakanaka barony, which had decided to endure together, had both collapsed in just two days. From that, Demol sensed that it was not enough to just hole up in the fortress and defend it.

They had to strike back when those guys were off guard.

‘I don’t even expect victory. It’s enough to buy time so we can find a way to survive.’

Although high-ranking knights are strong, soldiers are essential to occupy land. If they break the morale of those soldiers and inflict damage to prevent them from moving, it was certain that even a war hero would have trouble acting.

‘Fortunately, Zion Claussen is staying in that fortress to stabilize the Kakanaka territory. In that messed-up fortress that hasn’t even recovered from the battle! It’s a chance, we must inflict damage to make him unable to move!’

If they stay still, they will die. Before they come and smash their heads, they had to go and at least injure their wrists.

“We will launch a night raid today. Everyone should know that and prepare.”

―――――――Afterword―――――――

Recommendations are very good for ultimate skills

Revision―Beheading > Changed from hanging/Hanging > Beheading.