Chapter 34: Execution
"The weather is amazing today. Perfect day for an execution…"
Sarah commented as such while looking up at the sky. There was not a single cloud present and the sun was at its high, a complete contrast to the past two days.
"It sure is"
Victor nodded to that and then looked around. He couldn't help but notice a record number of people gathering to witness the execution. The square at the city centre was even overflowing with them onto the neighbouring streets.
"How can he be late? Sigh…"
He looked at the time on his pocket watch and was a bit dejected with the fact that the president who is supposed to give a speech before the execution begins is starting to run late.
"Move! MOVE ASIDE!"
Suddenly aggressive screams telling people to move could be heard.
A circle of bodyguards were pushing through the crowd protecting… nothing? No, the president is there! He was just a bit too short to be noticed at first.
"I hope I am not too late"
The president in a hurry walked up onto the podium. There was a stool already prepared for him and he did not hesitate to climb it. He now was on the height level with Sarah and Victor who were standing behind him on his left and right respectively.
"Akhem!"
He cleared his throat and since it was augmented by the magical device called... ehhh… umm… noraphone? Anyway, it was loud enough to be heard by everyone gathered and the president looked with pride at the now silent crowd. He seemed ready to give his speech.
"People of Catrin! I know you suffered a lot over the past few days but it ends today with the execution of these two…"
He spread his arms wide, putting the crowd's focus on two large stakes on the sides of the podium. Tied to each were two men beaten beyond recognition and although it was their execution they seemed barely aware of it. They honestly looked like they were about to die even without being burned alive but that hardly mattered to anyone.
"Those terrorists endangered our safety! Remember the Korin cliff? That's what those people were planning on doing to our beautiful city! To our homes! To our families!"
The 'revelation of truth' caused a lot of gasps in the crowd. Was the situation that serious? Then maybe the harsh policies and searches were justified? Of course this only convinced the people who heard about most of the recent events from the heavily censored newspapers or the word of mouth but that was more than enough.
After all, the people who suffered the most were just criminals from the Coln district. Only tramps and gangsters live there, no?
Church of Purity? They were only allowed to operate fully in the Coln district.
Police brutality? What do you mean? The policemen are always polite as long as you don't live in the Coln district.
Deaths? I mean the poor people die quite a lot after all, sad but I have not heard about a single death outside of the Coln district. Aren't you exaggerating?
In short the grass on the other side of the fence is a lot greener. The people who live in the Coln district and those who don't could be said to live in two separate worlds with two separate ways of treatment and sadly when people think they are not affected by a certain issue they tend to quickly turn apathetic. This fact was obviously exploited and with some empty threats it ensured that no one outside of the Coln district would look at what happened saying that it was unjustified.
"Sigh…"
Right after saying that however the president turned… sad? His expression looked more like he was about to take a dump but maybe from the distance it would convince some people that he was in fact sad.
"Before we proceed with the execution however I must address a very serious matter… I came to learn that some people during this crisis abused their given authority. They dealt harm to the citizens of the Republic! I will not point to names but know this… They were already identified and charges for their crimes will be put in front of them! Justice will be served!"
The president said so while the two people most responsible for the harsh dealing of the situation were right behind him, not to mention most of the policies implemented during the lockdown of the city had to be first approved by him. Most people however did not know that and those few who did would not dare to criticise them publicly. It is easy to make for example a journalist who decided to be a bit more vocal disappear.
So this on the other hand at the very least appeased a bit of the anger of the people from the Coln district and what remained switched most of its target to 'policemen who abused their authority'.
Who were those people? Who knows. Will they actually be charged? Of course not or alternatively some scapegoats will be presented or a joke of a sentence will be given out. Corruption at its finest and sadly the entire Republic could be said to be the same.
What happened in the Coln district was not a one off instance of abuse and it was definitely not limited to one district or a city but the entire country. Discrimination based on wealth could be said to be interwoven with the culture of the Republic which makes sense when you consider the fact that the country was established by merchants.
"On that note… Let the execution begin!"
The president finished his speech and soon fire overtook the two men. Screams of pure agony filled the entire square and maybe even the entire city. The president however did not as much as look in their direction but still looked quite distressed.
He noticed on his pocket watch that he was late for a meeting.