“In a manner befitting the City of Law……?”
Dario questioned my words.
Perhaps something like this had never happened to him before, or perhaps he had simply never experienced it.
“But that is the most appropriate method. Even those of you who live in the slums should know that much. Old woman, the same goes for you. Is that not right?”
At my words, everyone nearby nodded in unison.
“Y-yes, certainly……!”
“But there is no one here to enforce the law. What do you intend to do?”
A man who appeared to be an ordinary citizen asked me.
“Why would there be no one? I am here.”
“Are you saying that you can enforce it? How?”
Before I could answer, Ravenwood spoke up beside me.
“Then let us hear him out. Can you not see? The Executor who arose in this twisted city wishes to speak with us.”
As though proving that the effects of incitement were not absolute, Ravenwood personally stepped forward in my defense.
“What? An Executor? That cannot be!”
“But if that is the case, then who else resolved what happened to us? We can hear his claim before deciding what to believe.”
The citizens exchanged opinions. Dario must also have realized that the current situation made no sense. A faint crack appeared in his expression, and beads of cold sweat ran down his face as an added bonus.
‘Because his incitement did not work properly.’
I slowly lowered the sword I had leveled at him and spoke.
“Dario, you are deceiving these people. You claimed to be a citizen, but frankly, that part does not matter.”
“E-excuse me?”
“You said that you were grateful because I had saved you, did you not?”
“O-of course. If you saved me, then it is only proper that I thank you, is it not?”
Dario replied with an aggrieved expression.
“Indeed…… Let us suppose that this was a domain ruled by the Conductor of the Flesh. In a place like this, Dario, it is strange that your condition alone should be so extraordinarily normal.”
For an instant, everyone around us froze. At my observation, the citizens examined their own clothes and bodies.
The difference between Dario and the ordinary citizens?
It was obvious enough that no one needed to point it out.
The only reason it had gone unnoticed was Dario’s innate skill, ‘Inciting Voice.’
The moment I pinpointed the issue, the entire area fell deathly still.
“C-clothing does not m-matter, does it?!”
“No, it does. Now, everyone. Do you know about the one who ruled this place, the Conductor of the Flesh?”
At my question, the citizens tilted their heads. Perhaps wondering what I intended, Ravenwood chimed in from beside me.
“What does that have to do with that young man Dario, Little Fox?”
“That is precisely what makes it strange, old woman. Its authority detects living humans nearby and turns them into instruments for its symphony…… So answer me, Dario. Why are you the only one unscathed?”
In my words, the citizens either tilted their heads in confusion or sighed.
“Little Fox, surely……?”
“Yes, old woman. It is exactly what you think.”
Of everyone present, only old woman Ravenwood had understood the situation. The rest seemed unable to grasp the meaning of what I had said.
‘So this still is not enough to deal the decisive blow……!’
Dario’s expression was twisting, but the effect of his incitement had not been dispelled. In other words, exploiting a gap this small was not enough.
‘Then I have to present one more piece of the situation.’
Let us try it. Just as I thought.
With that in mind, I lowered the sword I had been pointing at him, jabbed a finger in his direction, and opened my mouth.
“Dario, from this point onward, I will hear your defense. As I bear the duty of an Executor, it is naturally my right to do so.”
[Supplemental Interrogation Commenced: Refute Dario’s claim!]
[Due to the effect of ‘Objection,’ the level of ‘Inciting Voice’ decreases!]
‘Well, would you look at that.This brainwashing even has levels? That was close.’
This was definitely one of the areas in which reality differed markedly from the game. I had already encountered several patterns that had never existed in the original, and the effects of Objection, though hardly new to me, were remarkable.
‘I have already experienced it several times, but it is still fascinating.’
The ability given to me was omnipotent, yet not omnipotent. It possessed definite restrictions and remained confined to the range of what I could conceive.
Therefore, my only choice was to recall the days when I had been a streamer and make the most of every memory of talking my way through impossible situations.
Carefully, I sought a flaw in Dario’s words.
“I am the one who has been wronged! I understand that you are an Executor. I understand, but! I was only able to crawl out from between the rubble after that monster died!”
Still wearing an expression brimming with resentment, Dario raised both hands and cried out as though pleading his case.
“Is that so? Hmm, in that case, I suppose it is not entirely implausible…….”
At the appeal in his voice, the people around us began to stir and waver. Even Ravenwood answered in a tone of uncertainty.
“I could not make so much as a sound until that conductor died with a horrible scream!”
“Little Fox, perhaps you truly have misjudged him…….”
Just as Ravenwood nodded along with Dario and tried to persuade me.
“Wait.”
I issued the warning in a calm yet solemn voice, as though settling the crowd.
“What did you just say? ‘Until the conductor died with a horrible scream’?”
“Y-yes…… I-I still remember that terrible sound!”
Dario desperately made excuses, sweat pouring from him, but all I could do was let out a quiet scoff.
“How unfortunate, Dario.”
He was human too. When a person talked long enough, something strange was bound to slip out.
And now was the moment his tongue had betrayed him.
“There happens to be a fatal hole in the performance you thought was so perfect.”
“F-fatal? What are you……!”
Dario’s eyes trembled faintly.
Without giving him a chance to continue, I pressed the attack and shouted to the crowd around us.
“Everyone gathered here, did any of you hear the monster scream when it died?”
At my question, the people looked at one another and merely tilted their heads.
“No…… I did not hear anything like that.”
“Everything suddenly went quiet, and then my mind became clear.”
“Perhaps the Executor is right……?”
Of course. I had killed it both physically and within the world of the mind, but the crucial point was that the citizens had remained its prisoners until it died completely.
In other words, even if it died, there was no conceivable way they could have heard it. Not if Dario had been caught by the conductor and turned into one of its artworks.
“Dario, you were also one of the artworks preserved by it, were you not? You are skin and bones, yet life remains in you. And at the same time, you claim that you heard the sound? Do not make me laugh. No ordinary civilian could hide within the domain spread by the conductor.”
I lowered the finger I had been pointing at him and leveled the sword in my other hand.
“The only ways to evade its authority were to be one of its kind, or else to be under the protection of an existence even higher than it was.”
I drove the point home, leaving Dario no escape beyond the bounds of logic.
“That concludes my rebuttal. Do you have any further defense?”
At my question, Dario lowered his head.
“No, of course you do not.”
He had never been a ‘citizen of the slums’ to begin with.
He had likely intended to hide among the citizens, incite them, and use them as sacrifices once more.
The only fortunate thing was that I knew exactly who he was and had been able to stop him.
“G-ghhh……! Where in the world did an Executor like you come from!!”
Veins suddenly bulged across his skin as he roared, finally exploding in rage.
[Objection Successful!]
[You have dismantled your opponent’s logical flaw!]
[Dario Brandon’s skill, ‘Inciting Voice,’ is nullified!]
The System flashed crimson as it displayed the warning. I found myself grateful that the logic behind it was messy enough to qualify as a tutorial.
I knew how difficult a properly designed mystery game could be. How many times had streamers suffered through puzzles and deduction games?
‘Harder problems will come someday…….’
For now, I would do what I could.
“Now then, Dario Brandon. It seems that your connection has been severed, so do not waste my time with pathetic pleas for mercy. The sentence is execution.”
“W-wait!! I am a member of the Unpardoned! Y-you are an Executor too, so you must know! If you kill me!!”
Dario gave me a foolish grin as though he were warning me, but in truth, none of that mattered.
“Unfortunately, that is no threat at all. Truly regrettable, but if they valued you, they would never have allowed you to be driven into a situation like this. Do you still not understand, Dario?”
I spoke his name as though intimidating him.
When one considered the facts, he was little more than a disposable pawn. There was no reason they would entrust an important agent with a mission in such an isolated place, and the role I remembered him playing was no different.
He was not important enough to yield any meaningful information.
His unique skill was merely needlessly effective.
After explaining all of that, I delivered my final warning.
“They used you.”
“Th-that, that…… That cannot be trueeeeeee!!”
Perhaps the truth had struck him harder than expected. He staggered backward, fell to the ground with a THUD, and gave me a delightfully comical reaction.
The game had never shown anything like that.
‘Now then, what should I do with this bastard?’
……I could simply cut off his head, as I had first intended. However, as I looked at him, a rather good idea came to mind instead.
I lightly cleared my throat and pronounced my decision to him.
“Hmm…… Dario, stand up. As an Executor, I find you unquestionably deserving of death for the crime of attempting to sow chaos. However, I am willing to grant you one chance.”
The people around us jeered at my words, but I paid them no mind.
“Under the solemn laws of Salus, the City of Law, I hereby pass sentence upon Dario. The sentence shall be…… penal labor for the restoration of the slums.”
“Little Fox, what are you saying!”
Ravenwood, who had been listening beside me, raised her voice first as though the punishment were entirely inappropriate.
That was understandable. After all, this man had tried to incite them, and no one knew what he might do next.
The gazes of the citizens around us were utterly different from before.
Previously, they had regarded Dario as nothing more than ‘another young man from the slums.’ Now, that was no longer the case.
The atmosphere had turned completely hostile.
“S-so he was never one of us?”
“That cannot be! I remember…… Dario was……!”
Most of the slum dwellers looked deeply confused. That was only natural. Anyone would feel that way after learning that someone they had believed to be family, someone with whom they had shared the same pot, was nothing of the sort.
“Dario, answer me! Tell us that you did not do it!! Tell us that you were not the one who drove us into this!”
“No, that is not…… true, is it?”
The slum dwellers spoke as though they could not believe it. I understood their reaction.
‘Still…….’
At first, I had thought only of killing him. However, now that things had come this far, I intended to take a different path.
“Everyone, please calm down! I fully understand your anger and disillusionment. However……!”
I clapped lightly to draw their attention, then opened my mouth.
Who was I?
Was I not a streamer who had spouted every kind of sophistry imaginable at people?
Recalling my long history of smooth-talking as a broadcaster, I began to persuade them.
“I, too, wish to condemn him. However, I believe that everyone gathered here understands that I cannot do so.”
I lightly cleared my throat and once again reminded the assembled slum dwellers of their circumstances.
“The slums lie in ruins. The buildings have collapsed, and supplies are scarce…… Even though the monster who ruled this place is gone, you will struggle to survive even the next few days. However.”
I paused, then grinned as I seized the collapsed Dario by the collar.
“To use the slums as a base of operations and rebuild them, we will need his abilities. Would you not agree?”
His abilities were genuinely versatile. That was why I believed that he should be kept alive.
“Little Fox, surely you cannot be saying that in your right mind?”
Ravenwood sneered in disbelief, and I answered with a light shrug.
“I am perfectly sane, old woman. I intended to work him to the bone from the beginning.”
I immediately turned my head, glared at Dario, and spoke.
“Dario, choose. Be torn limb from limb by this furious crowd, or work faithfully and earn a pardon for your crimes.”
At my words, Dario’s pupils shook. He, too, seemed never to have imagined that survival might remain an option.
“Th-that……! U-understood! I will do anything!!”
He had no choice anyway. He knew that better than anyone. Now that he understood that the Unpardoned had abandoned him as well, I held all the leverage.
“Good. Then the sentence is final.”
I declared to the slum dwellers around us.
“I sentence the criminal Dario Brandon to ‘penal labor for the reconstruction of the slums’! He will carry out the duties of restoring the destroyed slums and procuring supplies, and if he entertains even the slightest ulterior motive…….”
I reached toward his forehead and activated the skill.
“Sentence Enforcement.”
[Searching for a target for the Brand of Sentence Enforcement….]
[The target of the brand has been selected!]
[Target: ‘Agitator’ Dario Brandon]
“Aaaagh!!”
The Brand of Sentence Enforcement was engraved upon his forehead, and I whispered in his ear.
“As you can see, if you even think of doing something foolish, I can stop your heart as well. Not just your body.”
“E-eek! I…… I understand!”
Of course, it was only a bluff. It was a leash meant to deceive him and force him to obey me.
Silence fell over everyone at my actions, but before long, they erupted in cheers of victory.
“The Executor of the slums!”
“Our new Executor!!”
The people in their worn, ragged clothes chanted toward me.
“Now, now! Everyone! Dawn is not over yet! Let us hurry and set the village in order!”
Having successfully subdued even the man who would have interfered, the interminable day had finally come to an end.
[Your own new law has been established in the ‘Slums’ and the ‘Lower Court’!]
A familiar message.
Now, the rest would somehow work itself out after I got some sleep.
When I opened my eyes tomorrow, even more terrible things might be waiting for me…… but at least for now, I felt as though I could sleep in peace.
The still-dark dawn sky showed faintly through the holes in the cavern ceiling, and I quietly closed my eyes.