My eyes were closed as I listened to the noises outside. Although I hadn’t slept the previous night, I was still wide awake when we heard the marching coming into the miner’s town. It was about five in the morning, and the sun hadn’t risen yet, so it was still dark outside.

There was a retinue of soldiers in armor. With each step, I could hear the clang of a hundred chainmail. As they moved through the town, I could hear them kicking down doors, attempting to round up everyone from the town. At this point, the issue went beyond Lord Reign and me.

“It’s time.” My eyes snapped open, I casually stood up, and then walked out of the building.

I walked into the middle of the street, stopping casually and waiting. A wave of a hundred knights came stomping down the main street. They weren’t on horseback, but they were still a menacing sight with all of that armor.

Although the men had cleared out every building along the way, there wasn’t a single person captured. The men had uneasy looks in their eyes as they walked through the miner’s town, finding every building had been abandoned. The entire place was a ghost town. It was to the point that when they reached the end of the road, right before the mine entrance, and saw me standing there, the men froze. Some even took a step back, confusing me for a ghost.

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The commander was the first to recover. He raised a torch in his hand and took a step toward me, squinting at the darkness that I was standing in.

“Deek Deekson?”

“That’s my name,” I responded.

The man licked his lips and then straightened his back. He had been sent here by Lord Reign and had the backing of Lord Reign’s strength. He had nothing to fear from a minor lord who hadn’t even consolidated his strength yet. As for me, I was just disappointed that Lord Reign was still a coward. He decided to hide in his city rather than lead his men.

“You, sir… are under arrest!” He declared.

“On what charges?” I demanded, not backing down an inch.

My calm demeanor unnerved him a bit, and he leaned over to the man next to him. “Is there anyone else?”

“Not in the houses, sir. His party hasn’t been found, nor have the residents of the town.”

Of course, Lord Reign had ordered the residents slaughtered, so it put an ugly expression on the leader’s face. Their original plan was to blame Lord Deekson for all of this, thus further excusing their arrest and swift execution. Although he had said that he was going to arrest me, he was ordered to cut off my head as soon as I surrendered. There was no peaceful resolution.

“What charges?” The man finally spoke up. “Of course, betrayal of the throne! You’ve killed Aberis Knights! You’ve stolen a slave from Lord Reign himself. You’ve collapsed a valuable orichalcum mine to deprive the country of resources. You’ve also assassinated the king! For all of these crimes, you are sentenced to death!”