What Gapon indicated as the target for execution was a young girl.
　Looking at her innocent face, she must be around ten years old.

　The girl was dressed in a tattered, filthy piece of cloth.
　And she was tied to a wooden board with a rope.

　But her pale chestnut hair and beautifully clear blue eyes had a graceful look to them.
　The child was staring straight at us.

　The imperial government is going to kill even a little girl like this?

　Filia's eyes widened, as if she couldn't believe it.

''What crime is this child guilty of?''

　To Filia's question, Gapon replied without any expression on his wrinkled face.

'This child is the daughter of the rebel Polos, Your Highness Filia.

But he didn't do anything to himself, did he?

'That's right, Your Highness. However, Polos and his men have awe-inspiringly plotted to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor and His Excellency Chancellor Stras, and have actually killed many in the holy Imperial Palace. Being the daughter of such a rebel is a crime in itself.

That's not right!

　Filia stared at the girl.
　The girl stared back at Filia and me as if to say, "Help me,

　The daughter of Count Polos, huh?
　In other words, she's the Count's daughter.
　No wonder I thought she was so graceful.

　Polos, the leader of the July Party, was the person I defeated.
　As I say, one of the reasons why this girl is about to be killed is because of me.

　However, the girl seemed to think that after seeing the exchange with Iris and the others just now, we would be able to understand the conversation.

"I don't want to die...

　The girls could make their case to us.
　Filia bent down and asked the girl.

"What's your name?

　I panicked and tried to stop Filia.
　Hearing her name would transfer some of my emotions.

　That's no good.

　This girl is going to be put to death and die in just a few minutes.
　And Filia herself is the one who is supposed to kill him.

　But I wasn't able to stop her in time.

My name is Esther.

　The girl said in a beautiful voice.
　Filia smiled.

Yeah. That's a good name.

　Then Filia patted the child's head lightly.
　Then she stood up and stared at Gapon.

'I couldn't possibly kill such a little boy,'

'But it is by your Majesty's command. Although you are the Acting Emperor on this occasion, I cannot reverse this decision. Do not forget it.

This boy has done nothing wrong!

''Those killed in the Imperial Palace had done nothing wrong, but they were killed unreasonably by the July Party, Your Highness. Among them could have been His Highness and Soron the Magic Swordsman.

　So Gapon cut off his words and looked at us.

''In that incident, many servants who faithfully served the imperial family, as well as not a small number of nobles, were killed. In order to redeem their regrets, and to prevent the same tragedy from happening again, we need to annihilate not only the leaders of the July Party, but also their relatives as well!　This child may be a harmless, lovable child now, but he will surely try to avenge his father, Poros. But in time, he will surely seek revenge on us to avenge his father, Poros!

　Filia tried to argue and almost opened her mouth.
　But then Filia stopped.
　Because I tapped her on the shoulder.

　It's not good to blatantly criticize the government's policy, no matter how much Filia is an imperial princess.
　No, I should say it's bad because she's an imperial princess.

　There are a lot of bureaucrats and military personnel in this place.

''Filia-sama, please leave this place to me.

'Will Solon help this girl?'

　I whispered.

'Do you really want to help this girl, Lady Filia?　She's the daughter of someone who had nothing to do with Lady Filia and also tried to kill her.

But I still can't wrap my head around what I'm seeing. So, Solon you have to help her.

"If Lady Filia so commands, we will do our best.

　I said.
　To be honest, I didn't feel like I could convince Gapon of anything.
　If I tried to force myself to help them and failed, Gapon and his friends might find out, and neither I nor Filia would be safe.

　For now, I'm going to try to persuade them with a twist of logic.

''To me, though, it seems like the better choice is to save the life of such a little girl and show the people the mercy of His Majesty the Emperor and His Imperial Highness. That way, fewer people would think about standing up to the Imperial Government.

'I see your point. But it is not for you to interfere. Besides, mercy won't save the country. What you need is a lash and a stick.

But you see....

Are you only planning to disobey His Majesty's wishes, Sorcerer Solon?

　When the emperor's orders are brought up, I am forced to keep my mouth shut.
　Execution is inevitable, eh?

　I decided to make a practical suggestion to Gapon.

'Following the lead of Your Highness Iris, Filia-sama seems to have lost her cool. Therefore, I will act on behalf of Filia-sama and carry out this girl's execution.

It would make sense for His Highness to go himself, though.

My sword is also Filia-sama's sword. Therefore, when I swing my sword and kill people, you can assume that Lady Filia is also swinging the same sword and killing people.

It's a strange theory, but all right.

　Surprisingly easily, Gapon nodded.

'Instead, I'd like Your Highness to watch Solon execute this girl without closing his eyes.

　Filia looked at me anxiously.
　I promised Filia that I would help this girl, Esther, out.

　The trumpet sounded to signal the execution.
　I drew my treasured sword, the tetracord, and thrust it into the young Estelle's chest without hesitation.

　Oh, and I saw Filia gasp.

　Without a voice, Estelle collapsed, and bright red blood spurted out of Estelle's chest.
　As it was, Estelle's body twitched lightly for a while, but eventually the movement stopped.

　When I turned around, Gapon's deep, absorbing colored eyes were staring straight at me.
　As if to probe my innermost thoughts.

'Hmm. Magic Swordsman Solon. I had expected you to try to save this little girl's life.... But that's a brilliant swordsmanship, almost instant death. This girl would have died without suffering.

''It's not easy for me to kill such a young child, though. But this child is the daughter of a traitor. As long as she can't escape death by order of His Majesty, it can't be helped.

　I looked back at Filia as I pulled out my blood-soaked treasure sword tetracord and released it.
　Filia was staring at me with a stunned expression.

　I think it was too irritating for Filia.
　A girl even younger than herself had died in front of me.

　Nope.

　To be precise, I just made it look like she died.
　Count Polos' daughter Esther is still alive.

　I was probably the only person here who knew about it.