The next day, Irene decided that the three of us could slowly return to work. In my case, ‘slowly’ meant that she would follow me for the next few days and look at my hands. We took the model of the government complex and left it for Beryl, who almost started crying, seeing the previously unknown architectural styles. I left for her a corresponding book, a move that, from the perspective of time, could have been disastrous if not for Beryl's sheer willpower to put it aside until she finished the project for us. She promised to deal with it as quickly as possible but was uncertain how long it might take. She took a guess and told us that it shouldn't take more than one week. Considering everything, that was the best time estimation we could get, so we left her and nearly a third of the guild working on the project. Besides, I was more than sure that Beryl played it safe with that week-long time frame.
Irene told me that she moved my office to the empty rooms inside the gatehouse to the Upper Castle. Once we got there, I created a war table, which simplified the work of the officers caring for routine reports. After the two days I was gone, my document tray held roughly four documents. With Irene smiling victoriously behind my back, I quickly dealt with the papers, and we left the room with the last document. It was a report about Ebonrock that I had asked Eva to prepare. My hunch was accurate; the person in charge should be replaced as quickly as possible. We teleported to the garden and sat near one of the small huts, from which we had a nice view over the garden lake and HMS Victory at her harbour. I once again looked over the short but painful-to-read report and gave it without a word to Irene.
"I hope you arrested that man." She put away the report with anger and disappointment painted on her face.
"Not yet. I just learnt that information as well," I admitted, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds lazily traversing it.
"If Amber had seen this, she would already have ordered to kill that man. You know what I feel now."
"I am aware of that. To be honest, it's not the worst idea at all. I sometimes wonder how stupid can people be?" I exhaled heavily. "They saw the fate of those involved in various crimes. Many of those bandits paid with their lives. Yet, somehow, someone thought they could get away with those very same crimes..."
She simply nodded but saw my face clouded with a growing anger that was cut and swiftly replaced by the coldness of my voice. "I made my decision. He is going to hang like all other slavers. People trafficking, embezzling funds... I think there is no need to bore everyone with the entire list of accusations. After all, we can only kill him once."
"I do not pity him. Is it possible to find and save the people he sold to slavery?" Irene asked with a sad voice.
"Most of them. If I have to, I will send Dahlia and Auburn to investigate," I promised, noting her weak smile. "He will confess the names of other criminals before his death. All of them will face the consequences."
"Mhm... I think Dahlia and Auburn would gladly hunt down some slavers." Irene shrugged. She wouldn't object even if I sentenced them to the most gruesome tortures before the most painful death imaginable. "Who will you put in charge instead?"
"Pfff... To be honest, even a potted plant would be a better and far more responsible ruler. If I didn’t have Guardsmen there, I would probably appoint a Shadow Fenrir. Or a horse."
"So the highest ranking Guardsmen in the area..."
"Hahaha. I wouldn't mind, but some might be offended, learning they are being compared to a horse," I laughed and saw her grinning.
"Horses are very intelligent and loyal!" She pretended to be offended.
"Well... If we put it this way, they really make excellent candidates for the city lords," I admitted with a faint smile that quickly died down. I rested my head on the wall of the cottage and took a long breath. "I hate it, Irene... I hate giving orders like this, but I know that if I stop punishing such people even once when I find one, such crimes will never stop. I hate it... But, I see the necessity of harsh punishment."
"Theon..." Irene looked away, but I noticed the shame and guilt in her eyes. "I can't find mercy for the likes of him."
"He is detestable, indeed. He captured young women, even girls. He tried to keep a low profile and sold them abroad. I already informed Mia Francesca and told her that my soldiers would find those girls and they might cause some trouble in Hilgvar. I... I wasn't asking for her permission to enter. However, she was so furious to hear about slavery operations that she wasn't paying any attention to the form I used. She just asked me to burn alive anyone involved. So I guess she is your kindred spirit."
"I always liked her." Irene nodded and rested her head on the cottage wall as well. "Why is there so much evil?"
"I don't know..." I sighed. "To put it simply, people become evil for various reasons. Greed, envy, hubris, obsession, lust... The philosophers tried to look at the people and often said that evil has its roots in hatred. But in my opinion, which would be discarded by many, an uncontrollable hatred is already a symptom of evil. Something deeper is an impulse for that hatred."
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"Makes sense..." Irene agreed after a moment of considering my words.
"Let's take a look at Jukk'nala. He had a well-thought-out plan; everything was prepared in advance, and even I was willing to listen to him. But the moment he spotted Lavender, everything stopped mattering for him. He hated Dryads so much that he simply had to kill her. To his very last moments, he couldn't comprehend why I defied him and protected her. On his very last breath, I saw this immense hatred in his eyes. He still wanted to kill her even while he was silently begging for his life."
"Hmmm... I hate slavers probably as much," Irene slowly admitted and looked at her hands. "Does it make me evil?"
"That is a complicated question, my Dear. The short answer is no." I put my hand over her shoulder and pulled her to me.
"And what about the long answer?" Irene asked me quietly as she leaned over me.
"Do you sentence anyone to death just because someone accused them? No. Do you act in the confinement of law? Yes. But beware not to let that hatred take control of you. Don't let fear consume you."
"*sigh* You are right."
"Again, the answer is no. You are not evil, Irene." I rubbed her arm with gentle, calming strokes.
"Thank you..." She folded her legs and trembled, cuddled into my side. "I still have that nightmare, and it haunts me so often recently..."
"Yes." I hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "Just remember that no one can take you from me. No one."
"I know, and you probably don't even know how much that means to me."
I said nothing back and simply kept her in my arms. For a while, we sat just like that. I enjoyed the silence and her closeness, but in that cosy, private moment, I felt a strange shift. Today, as never before, I felt that I was really in a new, strange world. A world I didn't fully understand, full of magic and monsters, people and gods. But I wasn't alone... I had family and friends… and I had become a King of the vast kingdom. It wasn't exactly by chance, and absolutely not because I strived to be a king. No. It was the accidental tool of my choosing, accepted by my patron. Eriar, unlike the other deities of this world, was not only not playing the same game as others, but we were both on the same page about cheating. So there I was... With an unspeakably beautiful Elf in my arms, with Machiavelli's Prince in my mind, fighting and killing in the name of the deal...
No, Irene. You were not evil. I am. I should have been better than this; I should have tried to avoid the bloodshed. I should have found another way to bring justice and order. I would have been called a monster by the family I once had and the very family I entered that deal to grant them eternal happiness. But that old life ended, and most of my memories were stolen or most likely destroyed. There was no going back, so here I was. An avatar of wrath, a deathbringer, an executioner of the wicked, and a self-righteous tyrant... No, Irene... You were not evil. I am. But it was your kindness that made me more protective of you all. It was the hope in Amber's eyes that could quench the flames of my wrath. It was Luna's uncertainty that always forced me to think of better solutions. It was Hestia's care that always contained my impetuosity. It was Lavender's gentleness and compassion that made me more forgiving. No, Irene, none of you were evil. I am. But all of you have the power to seal that evil inside me.
I am aware that I'm fully capable of wreaking unspeakable evil. I'm not mad or naïve to believe that being chosen by the angel made me immune to becoming evil. I never embraced that evil, but I accepted it looming in the dark corners of my soul. But now, in this new world, that evil awakened. It waited too long, pushed away, or put on a leash and kept in line. And while I was fighting to contain it, it had finally found a way out. However, that evil was not some free-willed entity but a part of me. I was fully responsible for everything I have done and won't pretend otherwise. It was I who unleashed the Legions upon this world. It was I who ordered the execution of all deserving criminals. But I hardly regret doing it. After all, I was a Human. A creature of contrast capable of benevolence as much as cruelty. Nothing much changed after I was transferred to this body, a Dungeon Core whose powers were so absurd they bordered the realm of gods of myths and legends. But that body was still controlled by the same mind. A mind that accepted the necessities of evil to allow those who relied on me to be safe.
I heard the voice of Galahad in my mind reporting in.
"Our armies quenched the rebellion. The last bastion of the last army of Cridia was captured, and its defenders killed," I announced to the wind. "The fortress was razed to the ground, and every noble who supported that rebellion was captured. I deprived them of their titles and properties. The families of those most guilty will be expelled from Arcadia. Others will be publicly executed."
Irene was silent, torn by the conflicting emotions, but in the end, she just nodded. The 'war' was over, but even before it ended, the news about the fate of those who defied me quickly reached the furthest ends of Arcadia. The people were terrified, not only by the stories about them but by the merciless onslaught carried out by my Legions, abandoning their plans to join the rebellion. As long and wide as Arcadia was, no one was left to contest my power and dispute my right to rule. The time of fear and war was over, and it was time to show them the time of happiness and abundance.
"I am going to appoint the Lords of the North, East, and South Provinces of Arcadia. But we have time... Years of peace will be secured and guarded by my Immortal Legions," I said with a strangely light voice.
"What about Berna? Isn't that our problem as well?" Irene tilted her head back and looked into my eyes.
"Yes and no..." I smiled coldly. "I will use Elisabeth's hands to drive them to collapse. They won't be able to fight the war of attrition that my Legions can. Before they realise it, it will be Elisabeth who will rule Berna as its queen."
"Do you think she can be a queen? Your queen?"
"No, Irene. She wouldn't stand the life you, my Queens, have chosen. But I believe that she can be a good queen of Berna. Far better and more fair than her father. She will put an end to slavery and other disgusting 'traditions.' And there will be no one to oppose her. No one would dare to defy their own Princess. They wouldn't dare to oppose their own 'god' who accompanies her." I looked down into her big blue eyes. "The Bernans started an unnecessary war, a war they couldn't win. They will ask for peace and beg for mercy, but for what they have done, I won't stop until their rulers are punished. I will finish what they have started."