The commander of the fourth unit and his favorite soldier are just standing awkwardly waiting for me to ask them why they'd walk into my tent without notice. He was glaring in my direction, but he wasn't mad at me, there was something else he wanted to talk about. She avoided looking at me, anywhere near me really. She fidgeted with her arms and looked at the floor to her right.

"Your grace, he's attacked another soldier." He gave me the reason at the same second I had figured it out myself. "I understand that you believe he is not a threat, that we can simply put up with his mistakes but this is the fourth incident this week."

"I'm pretty sure I told you I didn't care whether it was the one-hundredth mistake, I'm not going to let him off easy." I've repeated this to him every time, but it's clear he won't give it up. Even if I threaten him he probably won't back down.

"I know, your grace, however, this time he has crossed an unforgivable line." Why's he looking at her after saying that? Oh. So that's why he's mad.

"What reason is that, exactly?" I'll let him say it, just to make sure.

"He has lashed out at my finest soldier."

He and her are clearly in disagreement about whether this actually means anything. Not even a moment passes and she's already defending the old man and he's looking at her like she's mentally unwell.

"Your grace, I beg of you!" Her voice invites me to believe her. I wonder how she's here involved in some random battle and not giving speeches at the Kranenderf. "He simply struck me by accident! I have not been severely harmed! I beg of you to take mercy on him, allow him to live!"

"Please! If I had not dragged you over here, you would have apologized to him for 'getting yourself hit'!" He raised his tone at her in a way I'd never heard him speak when I was near. In the same way all of my commanders love to scream at their soldiers but act like saints when I take a tour of the encampment. It's obvious that he doesn't just want the old man dead for the sake of it.

"He is delirious! A sad old man reduced to nothing by this war, and you want to take what life he has left because he is unhappy with his current state?" I couldn't tell why she cared. Not that I know her, but not many soldiers here are the empathetic type.

"Congratulations, then, you are supporting putting this 'sad old man' out of his misery by simply letting me exact punishment on a soldier who has bruised you!" This apple is helping me distract myself from the affair in front of me, though, so I don't have to sit through an argument better left for before they enter my tent. He's only getting louder with every line.

"His life is all he has left! I hope that his delusions are of a world where he is treasured! Where he is able to live out the life that has been ruined long ago! Let him wander hopelessly, at least he will not suffer anymore!" She, however, still has that same voice. She's doing the thing where the first and last parts of her sentences are the loudest. I'm pretty sure it's effective because if it wasn't me listening to this, whoever was would be moved to tears.

"You truly are better suited as a devotee than a soldier, but you chose to remain here despite everyone around you advising otherwise. This is the choice you have made, and I will not allow your ideals that belong elsewhere to interrupt the decisions that must be made here." That little thing people do when they go back to speaking in a low tone of voice, they think it makes them sound more serious. I speak and people listen whenever, so I guess I'll try that out.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I'm almost done with my apple, but they're both staring at me. Is there a reason...? Oh, right, they want me to solve this. I'll get to it after I finish with this annoying skin.

"Alright," He still had that same glare. Resilient. That's nice. "You want me to do what, clear you to kill him?"

"Nothing so crude, your grace, I do not wish to be rid of him for the sport. He shall simply be put to death quickly by our executioner." His gaze softens, he probably realizes that I'm going to give him what he wants. Now she's the one glaring, but unlike him, she's actually ticked at me. I want something out of this though, I don't like sitting through arguments if I'm not going to get anything from it.

"How about this, I'll kill him myself." He looks surprised, but he won't say no, not when I'm agreeing with him.

"If it is so ordered." He might be struggling to hold back a grin, but I don't care. I just don't want to hear about any of this again.

"Great! Just tell me where he is." He's pointing straight out of the tent instead of saying anything. This happened in the executioner's square? That's hilarious.

I didn't expect her to not follow me, it just means I'll be arguing with her on the way there.

"You're truly going to murder him?" She's clearly done with the pleading voice. "In broad daylight, you are going to slaughter an old man, one who was your own soldier?"

"Yeah, that's about right." At this point I'm biting into the core, it's time to throw it on the ground.

"You lied, did you not? You appeased his demands, and now you will work with me to find some way to ensure his safety! Truly brilliant, I could tell that he would not give in, even to you, but I am glad you decided to trick him."

"No, I'm gonna kill the old man."

"For what purpose? What affront has he committed? I am the injured and I have cleared him of all responsibility, I have absolved him, and still, you wish to bring about your own justice?"

"Mm-hmm." I wonder whether I'm up to launching myself at that wizard tonight. The commander of the first unit says that they're planning to attack our camp soon, so I might just be able to wait for them.

"Why? Why do you simply agree with the woes of a man who only advocates for his death out of a misinterpretation of my interests? This poor soul means nothing to you, so just let him be!"

"I mean, he is old and crazy. I don't want old and crazy people working for me, they just sit around, do nothing, and then get in some incident that I have to hear people scream about."

"And who is to blame for that state?"

Well, if she wanted to interrupt me, she truly knows how. Threatening her would work better in this case.

"What do you think you're gonna get, huh?" I was looking at her but she was no longer glaring at me. She knows what she did. "I've made a decision. If you've even been a soldier for a week you know the answer to this question: do I ever go back on any of my decisions?"

"No, you do not, howeve-"

"Yeah, I'm the one who drove him crazy. He stood there yelling at me because I wouldn't spare some villagers in this supposed sanctum of nature out in the middle of the vast north like I was going to change my mind. So I had my men go pick up his wife, what was her name, Francesca? Then, I brought her here and had them hold him down and watch as I beat the life out of her. That was the only person he cared about, he wouldn't even shut up about her while trying to argue with me. How many family members do you want to watch die?"

Thankfully she's not speaking anymore. Looking to the side again, I'm pretty sure I see a tear or two. What a shame.

"Now go back to your groom and thank him for protecting you."

He's just standing there flailing, babbling about something I couldn't care less about. He keeps on saying my name and then his dead wife's, mixed in with some other words I only hear from the bishops on Preightfiel.

I'll have to call in the seamstress to make me a new coat after this. At least I made the gloves red.

Of course, everyone else gathers around the moment I shove my fist through his stomach. Rumors about me being a maniac are already giving me trouble with Dad, and I'd rather not get screamed at after winning another battle. I'll just give him some poetic line.

"The weak and the damned are not alike, they are one and the same. You tried to challenge my authority, but you were too weak." I leaned in before the last line. "I do hope this hurts."

He's just sitting there lying on the ground, still babbling. Somehow through all of this, he's kept his creepy wide smile on his face. Even while choking on his own blood, he's looking up and grinning from ear to ear.

Well, one less future argument I have to sit through.