"Wow, Eslientum, eh," the young knight-lady gasped in awe. Aelveil never had such beautiful architecture, she thought.
"Eh," the farmer boringly responded in turn.
"It is an interesting town," the other knight commented.
"Well, this is the Authority district, so it's the most fancy, and the one that all traders passing through must pass through. We're finished with the Market district, and I can take you to the Housing district next. The Authority district is limited to viewing from Nigon. Now, the slums... hm, we're not going there."
"What's going on over there?" The male knight pointed towards a crowd gathered at a platform.
"That's the announcement platform. It's also the execution platform. One of those is going to happen soon, I suppose. I heard from Aress, the spellweaver we visited, that the bandits in the area have been imprisoned and a few publicly condemned. Of course, they don't kill them publicly, but instead show who will be killed, then they take them into the dungeon to kill them quickly. The Count doesn't like public violence much."
"Can we see what's happening, Saeva?" the female knight asked.
"Why not? It would be nice to know how many vicious bandits are passing away in the name of the law this time, or whatever announcement the noble Count has decided for us now."
"... Heh, sorry..."
"No, let's watch. It might actually be something important, like a tax on farm produce."
"Just follow the lady," the male knight ordered his younger sister.
"Hmph," the female knight grumbled.
The three Nigon found their way to the middle of the crowd, a surprisingly clear view of the platform. There was a prisoner with a sack over his head and two guards holding him on his knees. The guards, having done this dozens of times before, remembered to take off the sack and present the name, nationality, status, and bounty of the prisoner and allow him words to the public, then put the sack on and return to the prison for his execution via the torture master's black, corrupted spell, Ready Death Orb.
The prisoner had dirty hair, what seemed to be a brownish color that was perhaps obscuring his true hair color, and his skin was a common hue.
One of the guards began the announcement, "Deron the Bear, presumably Central, leader of the Greu Hill's Bears bandit group, bounty of 1 silver bit and twenty-three copper bits. Sentenced to death. Deron, do you have any words for the public to hear?"
"I apologize to my wife and two children, and to my bastard son who was forced to flee from racist Magon," Deron said solemnly, defiance yet lost hope in his eyes.
"Any other?"
"No."
The farmer and two knights saw the scene clearly and heard every word. The crowd wasn't too large, because those that came first saw the prisoner, and left. The show of prisoners has gotten boring to the town, and usually only travelers view the execution announcements. The Barking knights seemed fascinated by this display, because Eslientia is well to look sophisticated outside, but inside, they are horrible. Of course, the knights are oblivious to this. I should tell them about this place sometime, Saeva thought. Saeva being the farmer, if you haven't caught on to that.
"Well, at least it's a real criminal, being immoral against his wife," he female knight stated.
However, Saeva did not respond. She had a pang of hurt in her heart, but a rage of hatred in her head. That Denor, she thought, he deserves this...
"What's wrong, Ms. Flau?" the male knight asked.
"Nothing, um... Kaedon, was it?" she asked in return for confirmation.
"Ah, yes it is."
"Oh, Saeva, do you remember my name?" the young knight-lady asked in chain.
"Yes, your name is Kinea."
"You're right." She gave a warm smile toward her farmer companion. Her brother motioned that they should leave, however.
They left the small crowd and continued with the tour.
"Perhaps I should find that illegitimate son," Saeva Flau thought out loud.
"Hm?" Kinea hummed in question.
"No, nothing."
"Where to next?"
"The housing district is boring, so I'll show you the irrigation system. They still have great decoration and architecture even with irrigation." Saeva piped up her mood. She was sad and relieved, so she might as well seem relieved. A burden was definitely lifted.
After all, a horrible husband will be gone, and she can find the son of another woman and welcome him as her own, as she was trying to do before her husband left her, right when the mother seemed to die in childbirth. Really, she thought, I should be able to find the young boy around here. Blue hair isn't too difficult to spot in a place like this.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
