Chapter 327
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Early the next morning, Kiriya was jolted awake by a tidal wave of shouting.
He sat upright at once.
Through his energy perception, he clearly sensed a massive concentration of life signatures gathered outside the Imperial Palace, and his eyes immediately sharpened.
’What now? Did the Empire’s die-hard loyalists come back for another round? Are Najenda and the others really that useless? They couldn’t even hold things together for one day?’
With that thought, Kiriya quickly dressed and stepped out of his room, only to run into Esdeath and the others, who were already fully dressed as well.
"What happened?" Ryuu asked.
"There are a huge number of people gathered outside the palace gates. No idea what they’re doing."
Kiriya shook his head.
"Oh?"
Esdeath’s eyes immediately lit up as she licked her lips.
"Did those stubborn Imperial loyalists come back?"
"I’ve had a full day to rest. Perfect timing to stretch a little."
"I don’t think so."
Jeanne shook her head.
Her perception was also extremely sharp, and she could not sense any large-scale fighting among the people outside.
"We’ll know once we take a look."
Kiriya moved first, with Ryuu, Jeanne, and Esdeath following close behind.
When they reached the palace gates, they finally understood what all the commotion was about.
Honest was being publicly tried.
Najenda, Liver, and many of the civil officials they had met earlier sat upon the main platform, while the presiding official was reading out Honest’s crimes one by one.
In truth, the recitation was almost unnecessary.
The citizens themselves knew better than anyone what Honest had done, because they had suffered under him personally.
Countless people had died directly because of his persecution.
Far more had lost their homes, families, spouses, and children because of the disastrous policies and atrocities committed under his rule.
Beneath the Imperial Capital’s prosperous surface, at least half the suffering and death could be traced back to Honest in one way or another.
Across the Empire, there was no telling how many people dreamed of tearing him apart with their own hands.
The tens of thousands gathered here were more than enough proof.
Every pair of eyes fixed on Honest contained the same unmistakable hunger—they wanted to devour him alive.
If elite soldiers had not been holding the crowd back, the people genuinely might have rushed forward and torn Honest apart piece by piece.
Honest himself, however, remained remarkably calm.
Even as a prisoner, even knowing there was no longer any chance of escaping death, he refused to lose his dignity in front of what he considered mere commoners.
He had wept, begged, and screamed in despair before Kiriya because Kiriya was an absolute powerhouse—someone above him.
Humbling himself before such a person might have bought him a chance to survive.
But these peasants?
They were unworthy.
"That’s enough, Field."
Honest sneered at the presiding official.
"Stop wasting your breath."
"You want to kill me, don’t you? Then do it. My head is right here."
His gaze swept contemptuously across the furious crowd.
"Stop letting this rabble bark like dogs and defile the sacred grounds of the Imperial Palace."
That arrogance and contempt cut deeply into the people below.
They surged harder against the soldiers restraining them, immediately placing even greater pressure on the defensive line.
"Wow, lively crowd."
A voice suddenly rang out.
It was not particularly loud.
Yet the entire square fell silent almost instantly.
Everyone turned toward the figure standing on the platform, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound.
The newcomer was Kiriya... or rather, one of his Shadow Clones.
"Don’t mind me. I’m just here to watch."
Kiriya waved casually, found himself a chair, sat down, and drew his sword to start trimming his fingernails.
His behavior was completely relaxed.
Nobody else dared to relax.
The citizens fell silent.
The soldiers stood ramrod straight.
Even Honest, who had been overflowing with pride only moments ago, suddenly looked as humble as a stray dog.
Field visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
He bowed deeply toward Kiriya’s clone before continuing.
"The criminal Honest deceived the Emperor, persecuted loyal officials, abused the people, and slaughtered the innocent..."
Field proceeded to list eighteen major crimes in one uninterrupted series.
Finally, he raised his voice.
"The evidence is conclusive."
"By authorization of the Supreme Provisional Council, Honest is sentenced to death by lingchi."
"Sentence to be carried out immediately!"
For a moment, the crowd was stunned.
Then deafening cheers erupted throughout the square.
"YES!"
"Don’t waste the meat! Save me a slice!"
"Me too! I’ll eat it with my drinks!"
"Hahaha! Father, that old bastard is finally finished..."
The last voice broke into sobs.
Unlike the celebration below, Honest’s entire body turned ice-cold.
He had already expected death.
In fact, his earlier insults had been deliberate.
He had wanted to enrage the crowd enough that they would break through the soldiers and beat him to death on the spot.
It would have been ugly, but at least it would have been quick.
Najenda and the others probably would not have bothered stopping them either. He was going to die regardless.
But Kiriya’s sudden appearance had stabilized the situation immediately.
In the end, Honest still had not escaped the punishment he feared most.
"Hey."
Kiriya glanced toward Najenda.
"Are your executioners actually skilled enough for this?"
"It’d be pretty embarrassing if he died halfway through."
"Don’t worry."
Najenda sounded completely confident.
"They’re professionals."
"Oh, good."
Kiriya nodded.
"If he starts fading too quickly, let me know. I’m pretty good at keeping people alive."
His reputation for healing with Forest of All Things was extremely well established back in the Dungeon.
"Haha, no need."
Najenda hurriedly waved him off.
"If the executioner heard you say that, he’d probably panic about you stealing his job."
That was finally too much for Honest.
He began slamming his forehead against the ground, desperately trying to kill himself before the execution could begin.
The guards beside him had been watching closely, however, and immediately restrained him.
They even stuffed a rag into his mouth.
Kiriya walked over and gave Honest an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
"Hey, buddy."
He raised his voice cheerfully.
"Hang in there. Don’t embarrass yourself now."
"Mmph! Mmph!"
The moment Honest saw the familiar veteran executioner stepping onto the platform, his composure completely shattered.
He began whimpering and begging for death like a terrified dog.
The sight delighted the crowd.
A cheerful atmosphere immediately spread through the square.
Amid Honest’s muffled groans and the spectators’ enthusiastic applause, Kiriya returned to Jeanne and the others.
Najenda and several more people came with him.
Liver and Bulat were there as well, along with Akame and Kurome.
"You’re leaving?" Najenda asked.
"Yeah."
Kiriya stretched casually.
"We’ve already collected pretty much everything worth collecting."
Jeanne and Ryuu immediately gave him exasperated looks.
The way he said it made them sound as though they had stripped the entire Imperial Palace bare.
In reality, they had only taken some gold and jewelry, along with medicinal formulas and intelligence records.
Those things were valuable, certainly, but compared with the full resources stored throughout the Imperial Palace, they amounted to little more than a drop in the ocean.
Najenda and the others understood that too and merely smiled.
"What are you planning to do next?" Bulat asked.
"Hunt some Danger Beasts and use them for training."
Kiriya shrugged.
"And visit a few people to collect medicinal ingredients."
"Will we see you again?"
Akame suddenly asked.
"Oh?"
A dangerous gleam appeared in Esdeath’s eyes.
"What’s this? Little girl already missing a man?"
Everyone immediately gave Kiriya slightly strange looks.
’Seriously? They’re children.’
"No."
Kurome exposed her older sister without hesitation.
"Big Sis just wants to eat meat again!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
A cool, taciturn beauty who also happened to be a bottomless pit whenever meat was involved was surprisingly adorable.
"That’s all?"
Kiriya waved grandly.
"Then come with us."
Two extra little freeloaders were hardly enough to trouble him.
"Don’t forget those medicinal ingredients."
Standing atop the back of a large flying Danger Beast, Kiriya called down to Najenda and the others.
"Don’t worry!"
Najenda waved back.
The others did the same as they watched Kiriya’s group ride the Danger Beast farther and farther into the distance until they finally disappeared beyond the horizon.
Only then did Najenda turn around.
With firm, determined steps, she began walking back toward the execution ground.
Kiriya had already handled the hardest part.
What remained—they would have to accomplish themselves.