A young girl, Esther, the countess, was executed.
　There was no room for doubt about that in the ordinary course of events.

　The girl's eyes were vacantly wide open and had lost their light.
　The blood flowing from the large wound on her chest dyed the rag that the girl was wearing red.

'It wasn't supposed to be like this. Solon promised to save her life.

　Filia murmured and crumpled to the ground like a threadbare doll.
　It must have been so painful.
　No wonder the girl who sought her salvation was killed right in front of me.

　I suddenly remembered when my former companion, Shea, had died.
　Shea also turned to me and Creon, "Help me! And then, shortly afterwards, he was slaughtered.

　I had never felt as helpless as I did then.

　Only, this time it was different.
　Estelle is still alive.

　I said to Gapon.

'That's enough. The traitor's daughter has been executed. If you put any more pressure on Lady Filia's heart...'

　I glanced at Filia.
　She was sitting up, her mind so worn out that she couldn't even stand up.

　If I wanted to, I would run over to her right now and tell her that she's okay, but I can't. Anyway, I need to leave.

　Anyway, you need to leave.

　'Well, fine,' said Gapon.

'Well, all right. You are an aide to the Princess Filia, and the fact that you were the one who showed no mercy in the execution of the July Party's traitors.

I won't let Filia-sama kill anyone else today, will I?

Yeah. Even if I tried, I don't think it would be possible with the way things are going. We must be satisfied that the Empire has shown its determination to never tolerate traitors. And it has also served its other purpose.

　Gapon smiled, and then something strange lit up in his dark, dark eyes.
　What was the other purpose?

　I have a bad feeling about this.
　I was worried that Gapon might be aware of the truth about the execution of Esther.

　But that's not possible.
　I thought I had done everything possible to avoid being discovered.

　Without revealing his other objective, Gapon told me: "I'm not going to have you executed.

I've said I won't have you executed, but at the end of the day, I'd like you to give the order for His Highness Filia to shoot all the criminals at once. All you have to do is say a few words. That way, the military's magical strike force will bring the criminals lined up there to a swift death.

　And Filia was allowed to leave as a part of the service.

　Having Filia kill young Esther in the first place was a kind of showmanship.
　Even if it was such a young child, the Empire would show no mercy.
　They would tell her not to rebel against the Empire if she spared her family's life.

　Furthermore, the most important of the criminals, such as Polos, will be executed individually.

　And some of the rest will be disposed of all at once.
　That part of the order was to be given to Filia.

　But Filia shook her head and remained slumped.
　Gapon frowned and whispered to Blatos, an official of the Third Department of the Secretariat, who stood beside him.

　Blados, still dressed in his shabby clothes, declared briefly with a dark face.

'Shoot.'

　At the same time as the words were spoken, the soldiers raised their wands in unison and then chanted briefly.
　In the next moment, countless bundles of magical attacks pierced the bodies of the people being executed.

　One of the July Party leaders, without crying out, quietly lost his life. He must have been prepared for it.
　Another old man was torn to pieces by the magical attack, groaning briefly as he died. Perhaps it was the father of the July Party leader.
　The young woman who had been exposed to the magical attack screamed for help, but eventually her screams stopped and she turned into a silent corpse.
　The boy who had been captured was also killed, crying out in pain and suffering.

　Filia's eyes remained wide open.
　I have to take Filia home quickly.

　I gently walked behind Filia and whispered into her little ears.

'Let's go home, Lady Filia. We don't belong here.'

Solon is it right to kill someone like that?

For the Empire, I think it is.

　After all, Filia's desire to help Esther was also a personal affair.
　The execution of the July Party was a decision made by the imperial government, and also because it was a punishment for a conspiracy by the July Party.

　And since Filia was an imperial family, it might be right to follow what the state decided and execute her solemnly.

　But it's also a natural and very important feeling to have a weak being in front of you who wants to help you, and you want to help them.

　As a mentor, I didn't want Filia to start killing unresisting people as a matter of course.

　So, if Filia wanted to help Esther, I would make it happen.
　It would be a dangerous bridge to cross, though.

　Esther's "body" was about to be cleaned up by one of the prison guards.

　I said my resignation to Blados, Gapon, and Iris, and then casually followed the jailer, taking Filia with me.

　The prisoner entered a deep forest nearby.
　After the figures had disappeared around him, I stopped him and handed him some money.
　It was a bribe to get him to hand over Esther's "body.

　The prisoner didn't say anything in particular and handed Esther over.
　He didn't realize that Estelle was still alive, and he mistook me for a man who needed the girl's body for some reason.
　There are all sorts of strange people in this world, he said only, and then he pocketed the gold coin.

　I sighed.
　Filia next to me nodded her head curiously.

　I'll explain to Filia after we return to the house.
　It will be me, Filia, and Esther who return to the mansion.

　And as soon as we return, we need to "revive" Esther.