"…I could proudly say to you all, the biggest menace of baronies has been dealt with," said Count Darrow from the stage, and the crowd of over ten thousand cheered madly.
I am standing behind Lancel on the stage, and in front of us are thirty-two guillotines, with thirty-two bandits bound to them. The moment those wickedly sharp blades fell, they would be dead.
I don't like the public execution. It all felt uncivilized to me.
Though these bastards deserve to be executed; they have killed countless people, including the children mercilessly.
Count's speech lasted long, and he praised his son's bravery nonstop. He barely mentioned mine and others' contributions; like his son alone had fought all of them.
Lancel, on the other hand, is even more shameless; he didn't speak about our contribution at all.
"How is everything going?" I asked Mage York. "Same as before, protests in seven areas, including one in front of the church," he replied.
I am sure half of those protesting are being led by the church.
The church had been warned to not create any ruckus; it had mostly listened. The protest is its form of protesting and face-saving in front of the public, with the priest promising to do everything in his power to stop the trade with Navr.
Count Darrow wanted to restrict all the protests, including one in front of the church, but I had stopped him.
There should be visible resistance. If we used brute force on everything, it would become even bigger and more uncontrollable; we do not want something like that.
"Execute them," Count Darrow ordered, and immediately all thirty-two blades fell down.
I am seeing the blades coming down and fighting the impulse to look away.
Thud Thud…
A second later. The falling blades decapitated the bandits and the thirty heads rolled out.
There was silence for a moment before the crowd cheered. Loud enough that the entire city could hear them.
These should be executed inside the jail, away from the crowd, but it is a custom in this world. Except for sensitive cases, all the executions are done publicly in the central square of the city.
The speeches continued, while the people collected the heads and bodies. Though they didn't remove them.
They will be there till evening.
I watched the speeches while taking updates from Mage York continuously and also listening to speeches, which didn't end after the executions.
This is a big opportunity for Count Darrow, and he is milking it for all its worth, promoting his son in every word.
Not only him, but others are too weaving the flowery words for Lancel. They have been ordered to do it.
I edited some of these speeches myself last evening. It is my job as an adviser to Lancel.
Over an hour and a half later, everything ended, and we had finally returned to the mansion. I feel really good to be getting away from those dead bodies, which will be burned in the evening.
"How was everything?" asked Count Darrow as he sat in his chair. "There are some protests, but other than that, everything is great," I replied, but Lancel did not seem pleased by it.
"Are you an idiot, Remus? Crush the protests and throw them in jail. A week in jail will teach them a lesson," Lancel ordered in an unusually loud voice, which felt high-pitched.
It seemed like the flowery words of fake glory had gone into his head.
It is said, if people tell you a lie repeatedly, you will believe it as the truth. People praised him as brave and powerful, and he seemed to believe that he was those things.
Not is a coward, who had run away from the battle.
"We shouldn't do it, my lord. The people need an outlet to blow off their dissatisfaction, and we should let them do that. If we get too strict in dealing with them; they will explode, and it won't be containable.
"They won't dare to do anything. We are the lords, and it is their duty to follow our every order."
"If they dared to cause trouble, we will execute them, as we executed the bandits," he said, looking at me mockingly.
I wanted to beat the shit out of this bastard. I mean, hadn't he learned anything? He doesn't even know basic statecraft. Power is not everything. If your citizen is against you, then no matter how leveled you are, you will be toppled.
There are a few exceptions to that, but this bastard didn't fit in any of them.
To be honest, I worry about my future and the city when I hear such words come out of his mouth. He is going to rule this city one day, and he wants to destroy it.
If our enemies aren't for that.
I smiled and turned to his father. Whose good mood seemed to have disappeared.
"We may be the lords, my son, but powers have limits, and knowing them is the mark of a great lord," he said and turned to me, with his eyes serious.
"I hope you know what you are doing, Remus," he said. There is a threat in his voice, but it is less for me and more to console his son.
"I am my lord, and I promise you. If we slowly let them blow off the steam, there won't be any big chaos," replied.
"I will let you handle it, but if something goes wrong, then it will be your responsibility," said Count Darrow. I had to fight with my all, not to stiffen at the moment.
It is this bastard's work I am doing, but to please his son. He is throwing it all at me.
"Thank you for your trust, my lord," I said. I could see Lancel's expressions changing; his anger is all disappeared and now, there is a smile on his face.
"You are dismissed," said the Count.
I bowed to both of them and walked out of the room and directly went to the control room I had set up the last evening.
"How is progress?" I asked the mage as I took my seat. "Everything is great, adviser, aside from the protests at seven places," he replied, and begin to ask him a question in detail.
I didn't stay in the control room long and took the unmarked carriage and moved toward the protest's spots.
I begin to visit them. The arrangements were working as I had expected them to. There are criers and guards, some of them with special classes to spot the miscreants.
There are many classes that specialize in sowing chaos. The guards will need to be alert to spot them.
At each spot, there are twenty to thirty people protesting aside from the church where there are about a hundred.
I am least worried about the people in front of the church as it is their people. Till everything is in control, the church will keep them in control, but the moment things become bad.
These people will be the ones who will become the most dangerous.
Aside from our neighbors, the church is the most dangerous factor. Till now, the neighbors hadn't made any move, and some cities had even started to support us in it.
As I had said, everyone wants the trade.
Count Darrow is not the only one who is thinking about earning a lot of wealth before the eventual fall of the region. Others also think the same and want to gather as much wealth before everything goes down to hell.
"There is a message from your uncle; they are leaving," said Zela in front of me.
"To the port, driver," I said and the carriage begin to move toward the port.
I feel really bad, I didn't get to show any hospitality to Uncle Thompson and Gerald. Yesterday, I had barely spent two hours with them before I needed to return to the office.
My Uncle Raymond had quipped about that in the morning, but I didn't even respond, which made him quite angry.
Thankfully, they were understanding. Still, I want to send them off. It is the least I could do.
Soon, the carriage stopped, but I did not get out. There is still time before they arrive. So, I turned to Zela and once again asked her for reports and not just about the protests, but of the other things, too.
I would be an idiot. If I had looked at only one thing.
I had spread the men everywhere, with one mage on each team. They are keeping an eye on everything and if you think someone is doing something suspicious, they will detain them.
With the count unloading all the responsibility on me; the stakes have become even higher.
I have to be even more careful. I could not make a mistake, or it will be over for me. I have yet become valuable enough for the Count to not fire me over such a mistake.
A little over ten minutes later; a familiar carriage stopped beside mine and I got out.
"I have been a terrible host to you all," I said to them as we walked toward their ship. "You were not a poor host; you are busy at work. It happens, so don't stress too much about it," said Gerald and patted me reassuringly.
"Still, I feel bad. You and Cara had done so much for me when I came to Namdar and I here, I had barely spent a few hours with you all," I said and sighed regretfully.
"Don't worry too much about it, young Remus," said Uncle Thompson, and I nodded.
We talked about something else until it is time for them to leave. They were going to Namdar first, where Uncle Thompson had some business, before returning to the mainland.
Uncle Raymond is going with him; he could go back directly, but hanging back with Uncle Thompson.
I watched them walk the ship through the ramp and stayed there till they disappeared from the view and returned to the carriage, which moved toward the city.
I didn't return to the office and instead continued surveying the locations for a few hours while taking inputs from Zela and giving orders.
It was five when I returned to the controlled room and till now everything is good, but things could turn sour at any moment, and I have to be careful.
It is why I didn't return to the establishment; even when I wanted to. It will just distract me, and I don't want to be distracted when there is a sword on my shoulder.
"There are people gathering in the central plaza," informed Zela.
"Detain them, but ask the guards to not throw them in jail; just keep them in the cell till night, before releasing them," I ordered.
There are certain no-go areas, and the central square is the biggest one. I cannot let them protest in that place; the chances of things getting out of control are very high.
Hours passed, and I had given out many such orders.
Soon it was ten at night, and every protest disappeared. Even the one in front of the church, we had let them stay longer than the other protests, but ten is a limit and they also seemed to understand that.
The guards only bark a few sharp words and hit a few before dispersing.
Though looking at how things went today, the protests will return tomorrow, but that is to be expected.
I didn't go back. There are other things I have too to look for and deal with them as they appear; a slip would be dangerous.
[Adviser Lv. 7]
[Skill Gained: Lords Mood]