7 – Judgment, and Purification (2)

Even in the Middle Ages, it was absolutely forbidden for a ‘noble man’ to kill a person at will, unless he was a ruler or an agent entrusted with that authority.

Because, a society that allows people to kill people ‘as they please’ becomes completely uncontrollable.

If this is allowed, the nobles will be able to exploit beyond imagination by using ‘deprivation of life’ as a means of exploiting commoners.

Right now, when the Belgians ruled Kongo, there is a record that a mad emperor named Leopold was thinking about how to legally exploit the inhabitants of Kongo.

As a result, the good Leopold-chan offered a ridiculous quota, and if he couldn’t achieve it, he terrorized and exploited it in the form of cutting off his arms, legs, and neck.

And thanks to that, Kongo dedicated a huge amount of goods to Leopold.

Having legalized the deprivation of life in this way, that kind of exploitation is always possible.

Therefore, in some cases, it is possible to deprive serfs or citizens of their lives through ‘an act of suing a commoner even if he is a nobleman’.

Therefore, for me, the successor, to think of killing Bayleaf without seeing, trial, and approval is an act of disregarding all these tacit rules of governance.

At first, I also intended to report to Baron Creutel and dispatch an ‘inspector’ to investigate the case.

Then, after the inspector’s investigation, that baileef would have been decapitated.

However, there are only a few more years left in this estate, and that corrupt duck friend tried to throw a serf girl owned by the lord, Baron Creutel, to me as a plaything.

Even, Ella’s younger brother is in a situation where he has committed a crazy act of deliberately working harshly to kill him…

I could kill that son of a bitch on the pretext of dishonoring the nobleman by giving me a serf owned by a baron as a plaything.

At the same time, if I show such determination, the baron won’t be able to tell me to go to the academy anymore.

The eradication of corruption is a huge achievement.

Ah, but the baron could be politically purged if he doubted my intentions for ignoring procedure.

If it’s the baron in my memory left in this body, it’ll be fine because they won’t purge me with this problem.

I first gathered the serfs from the surrounding villages in front of Bayleaf’s house.

And he just said one word to them.

No, the memories and emotions of the original owner that remained in my body began to shout.

His regret, obsession, resentment, and incompetence.

If I felt the gratitude he sent me for letting me get rid of those shackles, would it be because of my mood?

Putting those feelings behind, I spoke in silence.

“Nasiel von Kreuttel, as the legitimate successor of the estate, was inspecting the estate and heard from a serf named Zacri that the baileefs of this village were illegally stealing the property of the serfs. So, a little while ago, I went to Bayleaf’s house to check if it was true.”

When I finished speaking, the serfs began to mumble.

After raising his hand to calm the murmur, he spoke again.

“As a result, I found out that he stole the grain and precious livestock that contained your sweat and blood.”

After saying that, a friendly atmosphere began to circulate among the serfs, who had been creating a heavy atmosphere just a moment ago.

The expression on my face, which was anxious about what I would do as the lord’s son, suddenly changed to an expression of anticipation.

I gave him a break and made me look forward to my next words.

“Although I am a noble noble with blue blood, I am noble because I have a contract to protect you. That contract must be kept, so any bailiffs who break this promise will be purged. I will return the grain and the livestock that you wrongfully took away.”

After those words, there was silence among the serfs.

One of them raised his hand.

“Me, Bocchan.”

“Oh, yes, tell me.”

The man who raised his hand hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Are you really going to give it all back?”

“Nothing left, everything. Because that’s what Ciel von Kreuttel is supposed to do.”

After those words, there was a moment of silence, and then the serfs shouted with joy.

“hurray!!”

“I don’t know how much grain and livestock will return, but where is this!!”

“Long live Baron Creutel, Long live the young boy!”

Seeing the farmers happy made me proud.

When I first came to this town, I had no choice but to find a way not to go to the academy.

But in the process, I saw the horrors of serfs being exploited by the corrupt bailiffs, and now I’m about to wield the blade of corruption that I can wield.

And I felt that the serfs who were so innocently happy were really beautiful.

And the fact that all of this is the result of my own thoughts and direct movements was a genuine joy and a sense of pride in my heart.

Ella looked at me with sparkling eyes.

Will I, an aristocrat who works for the exploited people like myself, already be seen as an object of admiration for this child?

Is it delusion of grandeur to think that it could look like a prince from a fairy tale?

Then I looked at the serfs in front of me and said in a loud voice:

“Follow me, I will go and get back what you have stolen!”

***

Upon arriving at Bayliff’s house, the serfs immediately broke down the gate of Bayliff’s house.

Then, he dragged Bayleaf and his family out into his yard.

The bailiff, who had enjoyed the luxury of riches earned through dishonest methods just a little while ago, and now began to tremble in front of me like a wet duckling.

Beside him, Bayleaf’s daughter and wife also looked at Bayleaf and me and signaled with their eyes, ‘Please help me, I’ll do anything’.

Of course I didn’t care about that.

“Ella, go with Balt and search for a place where Baileef might have hidden it. Half of the serfs stay here, and the other half locate the warehouse and report back.”

At those words, Baileif must have intuited his end, and just lowered his head and began to look at the ground.

It was only then that he did not know if he regretted what he had done or because he was unfair, but he began to shed tears and apologize in front of the serfs who had been harmed.

This was funny again, just like in a historical drama, a servant who was dragged to death by the king said, “Your Highness, please save me!!” because it looked like it was screaming.

After a while, Ella, Balt, and the serfs sent to find the warehouse returned.

Ella and Balt brought back documents that Bayleaf must have hidden in their hands.

The documents contained information that was truly beyond imagination.

Widows and orphans who could not pay the death tax, a tax that did not exist, were sold to mercenaries as toys, or openly paid to some nobles.

In addition, by deliberately incurring debt, some of them even made them slaves in their own houses, cultivated land directly owned by the lord, and embezzled 30% of the yield from the land.

And in the name of the lord’s order, every year the serfs were levied one chicken per person…

Simply lending farm equipment, having them use a waterwheel, and embezzling grain would not even be included in the axis of crime in front of these crimes.

After all, I tried to order Balt to kill him with a knife, but it didn’t work. This scum should be killed as painfully as possible.

Having done such a thing, wouldn’t it be better to die at least as painfully as possible to pay the price?

But that’s it, and what I have to do now is to return the goods to the serfs first.

“Everyone pay attention.”

At those words, all the attention of the serfs was on me, and they were looking expectantly.

“I could see that 90% of the wealth that Bayleaf Mars had was unjustly exploited from you. All of this wealth is yours, so of course it will go back to you. Also, the sin of exploiting the authority of my father, the lord, is really serious. So baileif mars.”

I couldn’t speak for a moment.

No matter how much he kills me, I have never killed a single person with my own hands while living in Korea.

I felt a little, no, a big hesitation in saying ‘kill him’.

However, no matter what, I am the one who has to live here from now on, and this order is a process I must pass through in my life.

Therefore, I spoke in the most solemn voice.

“I will be executed by stoning on the spot. And his wife, Beth, and daughter, Bella, will be found guilty through a thorough investigation in the barony’s court and punished according to the baron’s orders. Aren’t you all dissatisfied?”

To that, none of the serfs answered.

Instead, he expressed his displeasure by quietly picking up a stone from under his feet.

“Tie Bayleaf Mars to a pole over there and beat him to death.”

The serfs quickly grabbed Mars by the feet, dragged him off, and tied him to a post.

After being tied up, there was silence for a while, and no one dared to throw stones.

It must be because they also have a feeling of avoidance of the action of hitting someone to death with a stone.

If so, I must throw the first stone so that they can start at the same time as the responsibility I have to bear to live in this world.

When I was about to throw the stone, I saw the stone flying behind me.

The stone didn’t hit hard, but it flew towards Bayleaf’s forehead and landed on it.

Looking in the direction the stone was thrown, there was a weeping Ella.

“Zach!! Zach died because of you! this bad”

Another person threw a stone this time.

Looking back, it was a grandfather who looked like he was in his 60s.

“Because of you, because of you, Bayleef Mars, because of you!! my son is dead My son starved to death because you took all the wheat he worked so hard to harvest!”

And now stones began to fly toward the bailey like a cascade of water.

Every time Bayleaf was stoned, he said, ‘Please help me. sorry. He shouted ‘Boyfriend’, but no one paid any attention to him.

I just hoped the stone would fly away, hit him, and pay for his mistake with death.

After throwing stones for 30 minutes, Bayleaf did not react to the flying stones.

When I put my finger under his nose to see if he was dead, he was barely breathing.

I got some cold water and splashed it on Bayleaf’s face to wake him up.

He was trembling as if he wanted to live right in front of me, but of course I couldn’t let him live.

I just woke you up to suffer as much as possible until you die.

Read at noblemtl.com

Just as I was about to signal to throw stones again, Balt came up to me and said,

“Brother, soon that child will die. However, it should be the ‘noble’ who finally punishes the corrupt official who disturbs the baron’s estate. So, Bocchan.”

Balt handed over the sword he was wearing to me.

I drew the knife and hesitated for a moment, but then I made up my mind.

Yes, in order to survive here, I can’t help it, I think I’m killing human trash called a violent sex offender and a human trafficker…

I lifted a sword that felt very heavy.

Then, he slashed Bayleaf’s neck with one knife, separating his neck and shoulders.

A large amount of blood gushed from the cut baileef’s neck, soaking my face and clothes.

The blood of the wicked man who had been alive a while ago was much hotter than he thought.

Yes, it was as hot as if it were going to be warmed up, but was this hot heat really the will to live?

You won’t know if you ask someone who’s already dead.

***

The next day, I declared that I would return the seized property to the serfs, and immediately returned to the baron’s mansion.

On the way back, many thoughts came to my mind.

I was afraid that I would be scolded by the baron if I went back, and I was at a loss as to how I should adapt to this world in the future.

Occasionally, the ethical consciousness I felt in modern times caught my ankle, but this time was subtly painful.

‘

Because it was as if my other self kept harassing me, saying, ‘With what qualifications do you take a person’s life?’

Anyway, I returned to the mansion after a short but really long schedule.

Upon returning to the mansion, the baron’s butler gave me a letter.

There was only one line written in the letter.

[Return to the office early tomorrow afternoon]

It was a flat sentence, but it seemed to have a lot of meaning in it.