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Chapter 249: Reason for Avoidance and Rising Above It

We finally arrived at the fortress city. Alright, let’s do this — says me, the guy who hated stepping foot here.

We alighted from the horses, paid our fees to the gatekeeper and went through the formalities. The waiting time varies depending on the season and time, but since there weren’t that many people around, we only waited for a short while.

The adventurers only needed to do the necessary procedures once. Once registered, they only had to show their guild tags and commission tickets to the gatekeeper and that’s it, they would be able to enter the fortress city. They don’t have teller windows here. That’s all they needed to do, unless they got delayed because of a problem or two.

Urk. The plaza makes me wanna throw up; the folks here make me sick.

「Jean, you look pale. 」
Ash looked scary while commenting that.

「Don’t mind me, I’ll be fine after we get past the plaza. 」
Ruta~. I clung to Ruta and ended up getting in his way as we walked. I thought I’d prepared myself well mentally, but it wasn’t enough, apparently.

「Oh, right. So Jean’s already here when the baron was executed, huh. 」
Retze remarked. He’s as perceptive as ever.

「Ah, yeah, he was. Yeah, that must’ve been too much for you. 」
That’s Dean talking. Yes, you’re correct, that’s the first time I saw someone die.

Ah, no, actually, I fled halfway through so I didn’t actually see it. Sorry, this might be offensive for the guy who was executed, but maybe that final, decisive moment of death must’ve been miles better for him, perhaps a relief, even.

I probably wouldn’t be too affected if it was a normal execution, but what I saw was too grotesque — the arms and legs that had been chopped off were replaced by sticks and branches. I couldn’t forget the people who thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle as if it was an exhibition — it was gut-wrenchingly devastating.

A simple execution was far from enough for those who wished for his demise, precisely because he was already within an inch of his life. This is especially true for nobles that abused the commoners — they must be thoroughly degraded before the commoners would be satisfied. Think of it as their way of venting their frustrations. In extremely harsh cases, the noble would be paraded like a real spectacle around towns and villages.

Those who had oppressed and killed the commoners were being punished — what comes around goes around, as they say. For a moment, the citizens would feel the sense of liberation and the joy at the reversal of their roles and positions.

If that sort of reaction — that sense of joy in someone else’s misery — is just an isolated case of an individual, then that person should be rebuked but no, that practice of degrading someone or taking their life is more commonplace in this world than you think. If I were to renounce the practice, then I have to change the kingdom, no, the entire system of this world. I don’t even have the slightest inclination to do something so taxing, so I guess I’m not in the position to judge the folks here for the values that they have.

The incident when Shiva dealt the final blow to one of their pursuers helped me realize the reality of the world I lived in — that her response of taking a life was something understandable in this world where killing was something commonplace.

Ugh, I don’t want to see everyone’s faces right now. It scares me that I might overlap their faces with the people I saw during that execution.

「Jean, an honorable nobleman will never abandon his pride and dignity, even if he is unjustly accused and sentenced to death by his political enemies. A monarch or ruler cannot create a system that would cater conveniently to every single citizen they govern. However, as long as they rule in justice and virtue, people mourning for their death would never face ridicule or contempt. 」

Mm, Ash gave a lengthy speech.

「Both townspeople and the farming villagers were living while being boxed with harsh limitations. Joy and hatred will spread like wildfire among them all at once, so they’ll feel the same emotions simultaneously. If someone with a different sense of values gets thrown into the mix then that’ll be scary. 」
Retze.

「There is violence in numbers, if I may say so. 」
Butler.

「We adventurers break out of the mold, though. 」
Dean.

「Breaking outside the mold is a good thing after all! 」
Chris.

Somebody patted me on the head. This hand must be Dinosso, huh. Oh, come to think of it, I couldn’t keep up with the values of other farmers — children are treated like expendable goods among them — so that’s why I ended up completely siding with Dinosso’s family.

Well, my world is already small and narrow anyway. As long as the people around me have good values, then to heck with the majority of other people. I was starting to get embarrassed now that I feel better.

Yeah, I’ve become quite spoiled, huh. Get a grip, Jean.

「Jean, look. They’re selling the fortress city’s specialty. 」
I lifted my head when Retze said that. The mouthwatering aroma of meat being grilled wafted.

「…My Master is such a simple guy. 」
I can hear you loud and clear, Khan!!!

…Wait a sec, is that a pig nose skewered on a stick!? The impact of the sight is quite shocking, but hey, that’s the specialty of the fortress city!!

「I’ll buy you one so cheer up, alright. 」
Eh, Retze, wait, I’m not really keen on having that! I was about to protest, but Butler already took a half step forward and Retze gave him the reins before heading into the shop.

「Here you go. 」
With my heart pounding, I accepted the food — what he handed me was some melted cheese and egg sandwiched between slightly hard bread.

So the pig nose wasn’t the specialty, huh…

「Unlike in Canum, the monsters that appear here are mostly monsterfied chickens. 」
I see. Yeah, it’s just as Butler said — there were a lot of stalls selling roasted chickens, either half or whole.

「They also have lots of wild boars! 」
Thanks to Chris’s words, I realized that it wasn’t a pig’s nose, but a wild boar’s. Didn’t matter, the impact was still terrible.

The meat they have in this city is superbly scrumptious and it’s also abundant, so maybe that’s one of the reasons why many people visit the fortress city. There are also a lot of places where you could eat outdoors, probably because there are many adventurers and merchants coming here.

I munched the bread Retze gave me while curiously looking around me. Nope, the reason I cheered up lies on my freshly adopted perspective and attitude, not because of the bread, alright.

Ah, but it would’ve been better if the eggs were half-cooked gooey goodness. Yeah, they also cooked their eggs here until it’s well done, huh.