“Everyone, look here! There’s a slave who dared to touch my belongings.”
Davis pointed to the side as he spoke in front of the gathered slaves.
At the spot he pointed to was a girl tied up, someone Beatrice knew very well.
Evan, Evangeline.
In that moment, Beatrice thought she must be dreaming.
Evangeline had said she would go outside today to see the sun.
And she promised to show her the painting first when she returned.
But, why was Evangeline tied up over there?
Why was she bound and gagged like a slave who had committed a crime?
It wasn’t just Beatrice who was shaken.
Evangeline had recently gained notoriety among the slaves, so all the gathered slaves wore expressions of confusion about what was happening.
And it seemed one of the older slaves couldn’t just stand by and watch; he stepped forward cautiously and spoke to Davis.
“Um, Master. I’m sorry for overstepping, but there may be some mistake here… that child has a good heart. She would never steal, so please check again…”
Davis glanced at the old man and muttered.
“If you were another slave, I would have punished you immediately for speaking out of turn. But you’re too capable of a slave to kill just like that. I’ll let this slide this time because of your competence. However, there’s nothing to check again. There’s clear evidence.”
Davis spoke in a firm voice as he pulled out a book from his robe.
Seeing the book, Beatrice involuntarily swallowed.
It was too familiar to her.
The book she had cherished, which Evangeline had said she would fill with drawings of the sun on the last page.
Davis snapped his fingers while holding the book.
At that, a small magic circle shimmered above the book, and at the same time, a similar magic circle appeared in a flash of red light on Evangeline’s bound hands.
Davis held Evangeline’s hand and showcased the glowing magic circle to the old man as if to say, “Look at this.”
“I made it so you could see it with your own eyes. Do you see this magic circle? This is the evidence I mentioned. I placed a simple security spell to ensure that anything taken from my tent would only show a magic circle to my eyes. And today, it seems this little rat has it.”
At those words, Beatrice grasped why Evangeline’s theft, which had gone unnoticed until now, was revealed today.
Ironically, because Evangeline had collected 100 coins, when she went to ask Davis to let her out, she was caught stealing.
If she had known that beforehand, could she have stopped Evangeline?
The thought crossed her mind, but it was too late.
Moreover, with the evidence right before them, it was almost certain that Evangeline would have to face punishment.
Therefore, the only remaining option was to plead for mercy from Davis.
Perhaps the old man realized that, as he wore a serious expression and pleaded with Davis.
“…That child has made a mistake. Still, Master, I hope you can show some mercy. It’s not even a valuable item; it’s just a single book. Isn’t it too harsh to punish a child for such a trivial matter?”
However, upon hearing the old man’s words, Davis questioned back.
“A trivial matter? How is this a trivial matter?”
It was a voice so chilling it felt like Beatrice’s heart might freeze.
“Though I’ve imprisoned you all in this underground mine and made you work, I’ve tried to treat you as humanely as possible. I haven’t forced you too hard, nor neglected your meals. Isn’t that right?”
“…That is correct, Master.”
“And yet, instead of being thankful, this girl dared to touch my belongings. I was considering whether to kill her when she was still in her mother’s womb, but I showed grace and let her live.”
Davis murmured that while looking down at Evangeline with a freezing gaze.
“Of course, I wouldn’t want to kill my property—my slaves—for trivial reasons, so I might have considered forgiving her if that were the case. But the crime this girl has committed is far beyond that.”
At those words, Evangeline’s eyes turned towards Davis, as if asking what other crime she had committed.
Then, Davis ostentatiously pulled a pouch from his pocket and addressed the slaves.
“Do you see this? Today, this girl collected 100 coins and asked me to let her outside for 5 minutes. I clearly stated that I wouldn’t change my mind about that. If she collected them through legitimate means, there wouldn’t be a reason for me to refuse. But…”
Davis paused for a moment and pointed at Evangeline’s magically marked hand for the slaves to see as he continued.
“Can a thief who steals collect coins in a legitimate manner? Naturally, she must have stolen from other slaves.”
“Mmm, mmm—!!!”
At his words, Evangeline, who had been quietly bound, began to squirm and protest in frustration.
But with the gag in her mouth, only muffled sounds were produced, and Beatrice shouted to express her injustice on Evangeline’s behalf.
“No, it’s not true! Eva collected coins by drawing for others—”
Yet, as if dismissing her words, Davis snapped his fingers.
And a flying piece of cloth interrupted Beatrice’s words, completely sealing her mouth.
“How noisy. Who said it was okay to interrupt?”
“───!!!”
As she struggled with her mouth covered, a rope soon flew in to bind her arms and legs, leaving Beatrice completely immobile.
But it was still all right.
There were more than a few who knew Eva hadn’t stolen the coins.
If those people testified to Evangeline’s innocence instead of her, that would suffice.
Beatrice thought that way, but then realized.
Davis had no intention of forgiving Evangeline at all.
“This girl is not only a thief of my book but also a very bad thief who has stolen your coins.”
She realized that in this underground mine, the important thing was not the truth.
“Do you understand?”
Davis asked the slaves.
It wasn’t a question.
It was a demand to declare Evangeline a thief who stole coins, regardless of what the truth was.
For Evangeline and the slaves who knew her, it was a deeply unjust and infuriating matter.
“……”
None of the slaves could open their mouths.
They could not speak the truth.
Davis’s eyes warned that he would not let anyone who defied him go unpunished.
Beatrice could only stare blankly at the silent slaves in coercion.
“I’m glad to see that you all seem to understand my words well.”
As silence descended around them, Davis clapped his hands once in satisfaction and spoke.
“Now, I’m going to decide how to punish this thief… I suppose I’m not the only one who was harmed by this thief. So this time, I’ll allow you to punish her directly.”
Davis said this as he pulled out a large sack.
Then, snapping his fingers, he lifted the bound Evangeline up and tossed her right into the sack.
Though her face was hidden inside, Beatrice could tell from the movement of the sack that Evangeline was struggling in fear.
Feeling that fear, it felt as though Beatrice might choke, but the scariest part was still about to begin.
“Now, anyone who was robbed of coins by this thief can come forward and strike this sack containing the thief with this club.”
“……”
Davis gripped a club and said it.
Of course, no one stepped forward.
Because no one had their coins stolen by Evangeline.
“How strange. There should be someone. Or are you planning to protect this criminal? That would be a problem.”
Davis looked at the slaves with cold eyes.
“I want this mine to run smoothly, so I won’t tolerate a slave protecting a criminal.”
It was a blatant lie.
Beatrice remembered what the old man had told her about Davis’s character.
He had said that Davis wanted to control everything according to his own will.
Thus, Davis’s intention was undoubtedly to prevent the slaves from rebelling against him.
“Well, if it goes on like this, I’ll have no choice but to replace all of you.”
Beatrice understood that Davis’s words were indeed true.
No slave would ever leave the mine alive.
“Then ‘replacement’ means nothing but death for a slave.”
Davis was indeed the kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to replace all slaves that wouldn’t follow his will.
And the other slaves realized that too.
The fear of potentially dying spread like wildfire among the slaves.
“I—I know! You were robbed by that little girl! Hurry up…! I don’t want to die!”
“What’s wrong with you? Ugh, wait…! Don’t push me…!”
One terrified slave was shoved forward by another trembling slave.
It was a familiar face to Beatrice.
It was the bald slave who had first asked Evangeline to draw for him.
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