"You can enlist as many men as you want from the Traditional Army, but try not to bite off more than you can chew." Minos spoke.
"No worries. I'll only take as many people as I need."
"Then I wish you well. Here's hoping the entire Thousand Forest Continent becomes a safe haven at your hands."
Sending Asumi off with a smile, Minos waited until she went out of range before clearing his voice and speaking again.
"Ryold, send a few of your strongest Forbidden Soldiers to guard her, and make sure they don't reveal themselves. This journey is a chance for Asumi to be reborn, so unless she's at death's doors, leave her be."
"As commanded, your Majesty." Ryold said, appearing from the shadows.
It turned out he had been in the room the whole time, in fact he was guarding Minos 24/7, which was bad news for any would-be assassin.
"Also, what's Suki up to? I haven't seen him in a while."
"He's been hiding away in his mansion, lying lifelessly on his bed." Ryold answered.
"I've done what I could for him. If he can't fix his mentality, then I suppose he just isn't meant for greater things. How about Nufes?"
"The former first prince? He's still tucked away in prison, looking disheveled and broken. It seems he still hasn't gotten over his loss."
"Is that so? Shame, he could have done so much more with his life. Also, have you prepared the records like I asked?"
"Of course." Ryold replied, tapping his spatial book and revealing thousands of dense files.
Upon closer inspection, one would realize each of these files recorded the information about different prisoners, from the pettiest criminals to those who had committed horrific crimes.
The files also naturally recorded what crimes they committed, as well as the 'evidence' for their guilt.
"Tsk, the corruption really is much deeper than I thought. Look how many innocent people they've locked away." Minos said, a lot of the so-called evidence being so hole-riddled that it only took a glance to realize the inconsistencies.
"What kind of justice system is it where one can pay out of guilt? Or even buy others into it…"
"Those damn bastards! They've completely ruined the kingdom's name!" Ryold said with rage.
The Nine-Tailed Emperor had expressly forbidden him to get involved in the kingdom's governance, so despite being aware of a lot of these things, there was nothing he could do.
"They've ruined nothing, just upheld an age-old tradition… But it does seem like I was far too lenient with the Minister of Law. It looks like he'll be the first to get a replacement."
"Talking of replacements… Henroz Jedion, former third-tier judge, imprisoned for 50 years on charges of tampering with evidence and bribery."
"From my recollections, the Jedion name doesn't belong to any big clans…" Minos spoke.
"You're right your Majesty. It should just be a commoner name, of course most commoners don't have last names, so he should be a rare outlier who managed to jump beyond his rank." Ryold explained.
"Then it seems he's another victim of the hierarchy. The evidence for these charges are clearly forged, and yet no one spoke a peep for him… Though it's unlikely they would target him for no reason, so he must have been someone's scapegoat."
"It seems we don't only have innocents to release, but criminals to charge. This is going to be a lot more complicated than I first imagined… Sephra." Minos called.
"Yes, your Majesty?" Sephra asked, entering the room.
"Cancel my up-coming appointments. Tell everyone I'll be busy for the foreseeable future."
"As commanded." Sephra replied, bowing out of the room to get the work done.
"As much as I feel for those innocent, this project will likely take months, possibly years, to get through. Are you sure you want to waste your time like this?" Ryold asked, re-appearing from the shadows.
"Waste? Ryold, as king, it's my most fundamental duty to protect my subjects, so how could you call this a waste of time?"
"They've been harmed, so I will bring them justice, no matter how long it takes me to do so." Minos replied firmly.
"It's my mistake, your Majesty. It seems my edge has also grown dull with age… The people are fortunate to have a ruler like yourself." Ryold spoke, feeling ashamed of his previous words.
Smiling, Minos didn't say anymore, just moving onto the first file in this stack, Ryold understand this and vanishing to give him space to think.
'Each file here represents a life, a future, a family, so for all those charged wrongly, let me return everything owed to you!'
…
"Henroz Jedion, wake up!" A prison guard shouted, causing the middle-aged man tucked in the corner of the dark cell to suddenly flinch, clearly having PTSD over the loud shouting.
"D-don't hit me? I've done nothing wrong…" Henroz spoke weakly, still huddled into a ball.
He can't remember all the times the guards had beaten him for no reason, but this time he had truly done nothing, he hadn't even opened his mouth these last few days.
"Relax boy, no one's here to beat you, in fact it's your lucky day." The guard said with a smirk.
"L-lucky?" Henroz replied, not believing these words for even a second.
"That's right. On the royal pardon of his Majesty himself, you Henroz Jedion have been deemed innocent. Your sentence ends here."
"... You're lying, you must be lying!" Henroz said, the words so shocking that he simply couldn't accept them.
He had already spent 12 years tucked away in this gloomy place, and after so much time, he had long since accepted his fate.
It was only unfortunate his health was getting worse, and his cultivation was quite poor, so he wasn't sure he could survive the next 38 years.
He only felt sorry for his family, for leaving them alone to fend themselves, when it was his sole duty to protect and provide for them.
But now, out of the blue, he was told that he was innocent, and not just by any court, but at the words of his Majesty himself!
As he thought this, he suddenly remembered that the new king had come into office just a few days ago, and he had even heard parts of his speech, repeated by other prisoners.
Of course, just like them, he thought it was all empty words to generate some support, but it seemed he had completely misjudged this new ruler!
"Praise his Majesty, praise!" Henroz shouted with tears in his eyes, kneeling down and repeatedly slamming against the hard floor, so much so his elbows and forehead started to bleed.
"Calm down. What am I meant to say if you end up bludgeoning yourself to death?" The guard said, forcefully ripping Henroz off from the floor.
"Where is the king? I want to worship at his feet and thank him for not forgetting about me!"
"You? Forget about it. If you really want to thank the king, then work hard and make the kingdom more prosperous." The guard replied, shaking his head.
As the two walked towards the prison's exit, Henroz quickly realized that a few other people were following along with him.
And when he looked into their eyes, he saw a similar excitement and hope, the very same emotions he was currently experiencing.
'So it wasn't just me? The king has let a lot of people go! But why, why would he spend so much time looking through the records, just to release us…?' Henroz couldn't help but think.
As much as he valued his own life, he had to admit he was just another pog in the machine, and an easily replaceable one at that.
For the king to spend his own personal time to prove not only his innocence, but others as well? Simply speaking, it just didn't make any sense to him.
In his mind, the king had much bigger problems to handle, and he would never waste his brain power on nobodies like themselves.
'Maybe this king really is different… Maybe his speech was true!' Henroz thought, his eyes glowing brighter and brighter the more he did so.
As he was thinking this, the bright light of the outside world quickly singed his eyes, waking him from his reverie.
Looking up at the bright blue sky, a few clouds gently floating past, his tears that he had barely suppressed came flooding back out.
He had never quite appreciated the beauty of the world, but after more than a decade of darkness, he realized just how much he had taken for granted.
"Beautiful, isn't it? Well you're free to go." The guard said, his job stopping at the prison gates.
"Go? Go where? What do I do now?" Henroz asked, having no idea what to do with himself.
He had already spent so long apart from the normal world that he had forgotten how things worked, or what to even do with himself.