The courtyard remained frozen in a tense silence for several long moments.

Hajin stood before the trembling clerks, waiting for the townspeople to answer his question, but the residents only stared back at him with wide, terrified eyes. They were just as afraid of him as they were of the men bleeding out on the ground.

"I understand your fear," he said, breaking the silence while meeting their fearful gazes, "a new ruler can easily be just as terrible as the rest."

He slowly raised his arms, purposely showing the terrified crowd his empty hands, "but by the end of today, I promise that view will change," he stated, "even if it is only a little."

He gestured toward the sobbing clerks who were currently groveling at his boots, "so speak your mind," he urged, his voice softening, "these people have made you suffer for years. What punishment do they deserve?"

A full minute passed without a single response from the crowd and Hajin let out a quiet sigh, starting to lose hope that any of them possessed the spine to fight back.

Then, the sick young girl finally stepped out from the shadows of the alleyway, walking forward on trembling legs while clutching her rags as she stopped a few paces away from him.

"Hello, My Lord," she croaked, her voice dry and rasping as tears welled up in her feverish eyes, though she refused to break eye contact for even a single second.

"They took my mother as payment for our winter taxes," the girl whispered, her soft very clear to everyone listening. She pointed a shaking finger at the fat clerk on the ground, "he told my father she only had to work at his estate for a single month to clear our debt, but she never came back."

She took a shuddering breath, her small hands balling into tight fists at her sides, "we found her body dumped in the southern drainage ditch two weeks later," she continued, her voice rising in pitch as her rage broke through her grief.

"Then my father starved to death giving his last rations to me, all because this disgusting pig raised the taxes again just to pay for a new carriage!"

The fat clerk whimpered in fear, pressing his face harder onto ground as the surrounding crowd began to murmur in rising anger.

"And when I caught the fever, he came to my alley!" She screamed, stepping closer and practically spitting at the cowering man, "he offered me a single loaf of bread and told me he would finally feed me if I just slept with him!"

She fell silent, her chest heaving as she gasped for air through her rattling cough. Despite the tears spilling down her dirty cheeks, the raw hatred burning in her feverish eyes never wavered as she looked back up at Hajin.

"And that is just the tip of what these fuckers have done to this town," she forced out, her voice remaining perfectly steady despite her rattling cough.

She did not wait for the surrounding crowd to answer his question, choosing to boldly answer it herself, "so what do they deserve? Anything less than death would be insulting."

Hajin looked at the girl, a dark, genuinely creepy smile slowly forming on his face. He reached his hand out toward her, watching her instantly flinch backward, clearly expecting a violent backhand for her blatant disrespect.

Instead, he gently rested his hand on top of her matted hair, giving her head an encouraging pat.

"You are very brave, and incredibly strong," he told her honestly, dropping his hand back to his side, "it takes a lot of strength to step forward right now."

He turned away from the terrified clerks, casually tapping the ring resting on his pinky finger, "Vella, come out please."

A burst of light flashed directly in front of him, quickly materializing into the form of a tall woman with dark violet hair. Vella let out a loud, exaggerated yawn, stretching her arms over her head as her boots touched the blood-soaked ground.

"Have we finally arrived?" She asked sleepily, before pausing to look around at the dozens of headless bodies scattered across the square, "...huh, what exactly happened here?"

"This place is in a much worse state than we expected," he told her while she rubbed the sleep from her eyes just as the smell of the town finally hit her, causing her nose to wrinkle in disgust as she took in the buildings and the sick residents watching them.

"What the hell?" She muttered, her eyes wide with disbelief, "this is the region you are supposed to rule?"

He reached over and pinched her cheek, pulling it tight enough to make her wince, "be nice, these are my people now."

"Ouch, ouch, okay, I am sorry," she complained, rubbing her cheek the second he let go.

He gently pulled the coughing girl closer to him, gesturing toward her face, "can you use your healing magic on them?"

Vella leaned forward and placed a glowing hand over the girl’s chest, her eyes tracking the flow of mana for a few seconds before she pulled back.

"Yeah, this fever is an easy fix for me," she noted, looking back out over the crowd gathered around the square, "but there sure are a lot of them."

"That will not be a problem," he promised, a smile touching his lips before turning his attention back the clerks, "now then, for these remaining clerks..."

Before he could even take a step forward, the young girl suddenly grabbed his arm, "not that one," she said quickly, pointing her finger at the youngest clerk kneeling at the far edge of the group, "he is very kind and intelligent."

Marrick froze in place as Hajin’s cold gaze slowly shifted toward him, the clerk keeping his face firmly pressed against the ground.

"He tried to sneak us extra rations when the others were not looking," she explained, her grip tightening on Hajin’s coat, "he is the only reason some of the children even survived the winter."

Hajin stared down at the young clerk for several long moments before letting out a quiet hum.

He stepped past the sick girl and stopped directly in front of the kneeling clerk, "what is your name?"

Marrick swallowed hard, keeping his head bowed low to avoid looking directly at him, "Marrick, My Lord."

"This girl speaks highly of you," he noted, his eyes narrowing, "so what exactly can you offer me?"

"My knowledge, My Lord," he answered quickly, frantically scrambling up from the ground without waiting for permission. He ran up the steps into the registry building, sprinting back out a few seconds later to present Hajin with a thick ledger.

He nervously held the book out toward the young lord with shaking hands, "I have quietly documented every single stolen tax record the lords committed over the last four years."

Hajin took the ledger and flipped it open, a genuine smile replacing the cold look in his eyes as he scanned the handwriting. "Very good," he stated, casually tossing the book into his inventory, "that is one issue down then."

He slowly turned his attention away from Marrick, his eyes locking onto the three remaining men frantically pressing their faces against the ground.

"Now then," he murmured, raising his hand to summon his chain, "for your punishment."