“But aren’t we outsiders anyway?! If those vampires are at each other’s throats and we get paid for it, isn’t that beneficial for the Resistance?!”
After a short interrogation, Failor, the beastman who lured Eleonora on Ludrik’s orders, finally burst out in frustration, feeling wronged.
At first, he tried to play dumb and change the subject, but as Kanak’s attitude shifted towards guilt, Failor’s ire flared up.
“Really raising some fresh idiots here.”
There are depths to the floor. Aria couldn’t help but admire despite her momentary anger.
If Failor, the bug that sold Eleonora, was to be torn apart right then and there, it would still be an understatement. Even Aria, who prided herself on having discarded all notions of morality, could not help but feel a sense of respect for the extraordinary audacity on display.
In the face of irrefutable circumstantial evidence, Failor’s argument was surprisingly simple yet innovative.
“It’s true I got paid by the Security Maintenance Force to lure Eleonora, but she’s not part of the Resistance nor is she a beastman, so it’s not a problem. If the incident caused by handing over one outsider turns into a civil war among vampires, that’s even better for us! It’s also true I fabricated orders about retrieving the cart, but for the reasons above, that’s not a crime.”
“That’s the defendant’s statement.”
Kanak smacked his forehead in disbelief at the miraculous logic he just witnessed.
Though Aria may be a madwoman, she wouldn’t make a fuss over something that wasn’t worth her time, Kanak thought. Despite having barged in here several times before causing chaos, it turned out there had been justifiable reasons every time.
So when Aria burst in holding the blood-soaked Eleonora, Kanak was already thinking about which of his subordinates caused the mishap this time that made her come in yelling again.
‘There’s got to be a limit, though.’
From the Resistance’s perspective, Aria was no easy target either. If it were someone manageable, he might have just dealt with them, but she was well beyond that level.
From the moment they first met, Kanak suspected she was stronger than Ludrik, who used to lead their vampire group, and lately, she appeared even more powerful. It was hard to gauge just how much strength she was hiding.
Plus, while brute strength was one thing, her insufferable personality made her even more troublesome. The Resistance had much to protect and lose; investing efforts against a single fierce vampire was simply too costly.
At least, up until now, there was a chance for compromise. On the surface, it seemed like it would be utterly impossible, but Aria tended to be unexpectedly rational and reasonable as long as boundaries were respected.
The fact that they had been offered a favorable exchange from the beastmen’s side was another reason not to be hostile.
In a grand scheme, it seemed minor, but getting food for a decent price in return for labor had surely been a net gain.
Thus, maintaining a friendly relationship with Aria seemed to be the best option.
That was Kanak’s judgment, and he hoped this incident would also resolve smoothly.
‘This is an unexcusable situation.’
Normally, Kanak should have persuaded Aria to minimize the incident.
He was not on the side of justice but rather of the beastmen. Unexposed faults should be buried, and his subordinates’ errors should be resolved with minimal expenditure; he couldn’t just give everything away.
But Failor’s self-destructive confession crossed a line that was too far.
Luring Eleonora, a Dragonkin girl providing labor, and selling her on fabricated military orders?
To make matters worse, claiming innocence even after that girl was badly injured?
There was no way to cover this up, making it seem like the Resistance had grievances against not just vampires, but also internally.
‘I’m going to lose it.’
Honestly, Kanak felt a sense of grievance as well. It’s not like a commander could keep track of every single soldier under them.
Sure, saying “commander” was a metaphor; the Resistance wasn’t that massive, but it was a fact that Kanak couldn’t perfectly grasp and control every underling.
Resistance soldiers were often reinforced from external sources, and Failor had only recently joined them. The manpower coming in was selected by outside beastmen and not something Kanak could control.
However, that excuse wouldn’t fly with Aria. Now, it had all gone too far for any consideration of leniency, and he had no choice but to administer a punishment she’d find acceptable.
Of course, even fabricating orders was a major crime.
Failor had thought he could earn big money assuming that Aria and Eleonora would be eliminated by the Security Maintenance Force, with no witnesses left behind; it was far from a point that could bring a smile.
“Is there more to hear?”
Aria interjected, pressing with a form of question.
Kanak sighed. He didn’t want to reveal secrets to outsiders, but he saw no other choice.
“Failor, you are sentenced to execution under military law.”
As Kanak threw a dagger in front of the kneeling Failor, a glimmer of interest sparkled in Aria’s ice-cold gaze.
‘What’s your plan for his death?’
In the Mist Labyrinth, one cannot inflict direct and physical harm to another. Even for military law, executing someone to hang them by the neck does not constitute an exception.
But that also meant the organization of the Resistance could not function.
Internal threats are scarier than external ones. Strict military laws require penalties for violators to maintain order and discipline.
To enforce that, what needs to be done?
From the beginning of their establishment in the Mist Labyrinth, the beastman Resistance adopted one drastic measure.
“Chief!! Not that!!!”
“Failor, it’s an order. End your own life.”
“What’s a filthy vampire girl to do—GRAAAH!!!”
Failor grabbed the dagger and stabbed it into his own neck.
Seeing the spraying blood like a fountain, Aria’s expression transformed from ‘Will he even listen?’ to pure shock.
Nearby beastmen tensed up in unison. But Aria’s change of expression had nothing to do with hunger.
“…Magic? Domination?”
Aria blinked, astonished.
Clearly, Failor hadn’t intended to take his own life. Yet, contrary to his mockery towards Aria until the end, his hand had chosen to pierce his own throat.
An undeniable force was at play here.
It’s not common to possess such a powerful control to command someone to commit suicide. Among those rare methods, one relatively popular option is the enslavement magic employed on slaves.
“Aha! No wonder you recognized right away that Eleonora wasn’t enslaved; this is your specialty!”
Aria nodded in understanding.
This was a loophole. If the orders were given directly through a slave contract, it wouldn’t involve inflicting physical harm.
With this method, controlling others inside the Mist Labyrinth without facing any penalties would indeed be possible.
Aria gave genuine praise to the beastmen’s ingenious strategy of leading their own kind like slaves.
“…To belong to the Resistance, you must bind a domination contract with the leader. It’s been that way since my predecessors’ times; this is how we maintain military law here.”
“Interesting. I’ve seen something quite fun.”
Kanak sighed. He didn’t want the methods related to the Mist Labyrinth’s rules to leak externally, but with no other choice, he had to comply.
All he could do now was hope that this level would satisfy Aria.
“The traitor is punished. Are you satisfied now?”
“What are you talking about? There’s still one more left.”
However, Kanak’s fleeting hope crumbled, as Aria’s voice, which had been joyfully bouncing just moments ago, turned icy cold.
The fluctuating red eyes and her expression stripped of emotion terrified Supply Officer Clever.
One more left; he wasn’t so foolish as to not grasp the implications of that comment.
Aria wanted Clever’s death.
Even though he hadn’t directly participated in the incident, he was to pay with his life for the oversight of changing orders suddenly without questioning, for allowing an incident that could have been prevented to escalate.
However, this was a part Kanak found hard to concede.
Being blinded by greed and secretly colluding with vampires certainly warranted a death sentence under military law, but it was too harsh to take a life simply because he failed to report properly due to inconvenience.
Moreover, wasn’t the supply line already overstretched? If he cut off the supply officer’s life, the ensuing tasks would be impossible to handle.
“I’m sorry, but can you bear with not punishing the supply officer? Of course, I’ll be issuing separate discipline.”
“Bear with it? You want me to leave alive the one responsible for turning Eleonora into that mess?”
Aria laughed, as if she heard a fine joke.
She seemed amused by the absurdity of it all.
But when a few seconds passed without Kanak correcting his statement, she suddenly stopped laughing and lowered her voice, looking serious.
“Don’t kid with me. Just because you patched her up, does that mean it’s over? Then I should go out on the next expedition and break the limbs of every beastman that steps out of the forest, right? If I heal them, it won’t matter, will it? Huh?”
Though Aria spoke with blatant threats, none of the beastmen dared to speak up. All that could be heard in the uncomfortable silence was the soldiers nearby awkwardly lowering their gazes.
No idiotic beastman would be dumb enough to interrupt when witnessing someone’s inevitable doom.
With Kanak, the decision-maker, right in front, what could a mere soldier add?
Besides, everyone knew she was serious; if she threatened, she really would follow through without caring what they stood to lose.
It was obvious that anyone who stepped forward would just become the first target for her rage.
But there was also one beastman who could not avoid answering.
With power and position comes responsibility. In the end, Kanak had to bear the brunt of this disaster.
He found himself at the mercy of Aria, who was now looking for something to pick a fight over as if she would kill someone at a moment’s notice.
“In exchange, I will pay in another way. What will satisfy you?”
“…Hmm, really? You want me to choose?”
As Aria received a blank check, her eyes narrowed. Though she hadn’t blurted it out impulsively, Kanak inwardly regretted whether this was the best course of action.
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