“My crime?”
A bright light erupted inside the room, blinding those present, the smell of burnt flesh quickly spread around and when the guards regained their vision, they instinctively recoiled, where Ran had been standing a few seconds before, was now a huge pile of corpses.
Still wearing their armor, some in better condition than others, nearly 200 bodies were piled up there in a vision of horror. Everyone was shocked silent, staring at the multitude of lifeless charred remains. Blood slowly began to flow from the mound, soaking the carpet and forming a growing pool.
On top of this morbid pile Ran appeared, standing and glaring at the butler.
“You seem to have misunderstood me," he said, "I have not come here to confess to a crime, I have simply come to report the facts.”
He plunged his hand into the bloody heap and pulled out Gliver's head, eyes rolled back, a hole protruding from his forehead.
"This man tried to massacre a village, I stopped him, even a blind man would see the villain in the story."
He threw the head which rolled along the morbid heap to stop in front of the butler. The latter tried to move backwards but stumbled awkwardly, ending up with his butt on the ground with a panicked yelp.
"But what's the use of arguing with a buffoon like you, I've asked for an audience with someone else today."
He turned to the princess who still hadn't said anything.
" ...How much.” she began.
“Pardon me ?”
“How many people do you think you saved ?”
Ran frowned, pondering the meaning of her question
“About seventy villagers directly, hundreds more indirectly, because he would never have stopped there and you know it.”
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Her face darkened.
“I understand what you did, Ran, and why you did it. However... Because of you, thousands more may die”
She stopped for a moment.
“...If the murder of a marquis goes unpunished…It will be the perfect opportunity for traitors and nobles to rebel !”
She was exclaiming her point like she was revealing some grandiose conspiracy but one only needed eyes to see the situation in the far south and the assassination attempt to see that tensions between nobles and royalty were reaching a breaking point already
“So what ? Should I have let them be slaughtered for the sake of a fake peace ? Then maybe I shouldn't have saved you so as not to displease them, what do you think?”
The princess stood up suddenly.
“You know very well what I mean, it's out of gratitude for your actions that your head hasn't rolled to the ground like Gliver's.”
Silence invaded the room and a coldness ran through the assembly.
“Oh ?... Would you like to try your luck ? “
A frightening aura emanated from Ran and the guards hurried to form a defensive line in front of her highness, pointing a row of halberds at him.
Yet the princess held his gaze without flinching, keeping a determined look on her face.
The pressure kept building up until Ran relented with a grunt.
"Fine princess, I wasn't trying to provoke you, but my point still stands.”
Ran sat down and the uneasiness in the air dissipated a little, as much as the still towering mount of flesh allowed anyway.
"Even if what you say is true, my death wouldn’t change anything, if we are here today it's because the crown has let the nobles run around for too long. This revolt that you fear is only a matter of time at this point.”
The princess sat down and closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed.
"I know fairly well that the present situation is due to our inaction, but you DID accelerate things, I hope you didn’t come here without a plan for what comes after I assume ?”
Ran nodded.
“Take the lead, announce that Gliver is dead, killed by monsters. Have his house searched, you'll probably find documents linking him to your assassination attempt or to his dealings with the empire.”
“That’s unlikely, even if he was a human waste, he was careful enough not to leave any traces.”
“Doesn’t matter either way, it's enough that the other nobles think we may have something. They will scramble to cover up the case and hide their involvement.”
It was an interesting plan, and as long as the truth didn't come out, Ran was a free man.
“So you're asking me to lie to my people, to cover up the murder of an esteemed nobleman and let the culprit walk out the front door ?”
Ran smiled and bowed slightly
“That's right.”
The princess chuckled.
“You're quite daring I see, it's an interesting plan I agree….but if the truth comes out, I won’t be able to protect you.”
“Yes, I can't ask for more.”
“So be it, now go away before I change my mind.“
The butler seemed to want to protest but closed his mouth when he saw the princess staring at him.
A new flash of light appeared and the pile of corpses disappeared.
“Thank you very much, Highness.” Ran insisted on the last word.
He bowed again and took his leave. Stepping out of the house without anyone stopping him, and the wide doors closed behind him.
He breathed a long sigh of relief once outside, his little stunt had paid off, he had secured peace...For now at least.