In the clearing before the slums, a throng of ragged individuals gathered.
At the center of the clearing stood Womek, restrained by magical chains that bound his limbs, flanked by the executioner and an indifferent maidservant, their demeanor strikingly cold.
In the Dead Sea borderlands, there is no formal execution ground; death can occur anywhere, rendering every location a potential site for execution.
The current situation bore an unsettling resemblance to a church trial of heretics, a macabre spectacle intended to intimidate the common folk.
Sorrow and anger manifested as helpless sighs upon the faces of the impoverished, unable to bear the sight of a comrade facing imminent death.
"For the sake of obtaining forged residency credentials, you dared to attempt the assassination of the dragonborn lord! Such audacity! Reveal the instigator behind the assassination!"
The maidservant adopted a lethal expression, her whip descending repeatedly upon Womek, leaving him bloodied and bruised.
Though his flesh appeared mangled, the injuries were not severe; the maidservant had held back her full strength.
This was a directive from Chu Yan—do not kill the man.
Voices rose from the crowd:
"Womek, divulge the name of the person who commissioned you! Even if you do not know the financier, revealing the intermediary may grant you leniency!"
Womek, resigned to his fate, spat blood in the direction of the maidservant, only to receive a mocking stroke of the whip in return.
As another lash marked his flesh, he paused before declaring:
"It is merely death; there is no distinction! The common man here has no future! Even if I betray the one who sent me, the outcome remains unchanged! I will not grant you, the powerful outsiders, any satisfaction! It is you who have confined us here!"
The maidservant shook her head and replied:
"A dog bites the wrong person yet perceives itself as valiant.
If you had truly been bold, you would have kidnapped the baron, compelling him to forge residency credentials for you. Then I might have admired your courage.
To rely solely on assassinating a newly arrived dragonborn lord for such credentials—ha!"
The executioner said nothing, her gaze fixated on the array of filthy weapons nearby.
From the outset, Womek's assassination was destined to fail; even in the absence of outsiders, Chu Yan could have handled it himself, and the promised reward for the assassination was merely a ruse.
The true purpose was to bring these weapons into the executioner's sight.
As for who would be implicated, the executioner's intelligence was incomplete, leaving her unable to deduce the situation, only able to surmise a conflict between Chu Yan and the local nobility.
Womek, from the moment he was used, was already a loser; the commissioner viewed him merely as a disposable tool.
At that moment, a carriage approached rapidly.
Baron Pige rushed down from the carriage, his cane bending slightly under his weight.
With a sycophantic expression, he hurried towards the executioner, only to be halted by the maidservant's bloodied whip.
"Dear Executioner, I heard of your assassination attempt and rushed here at once, only to find these wretched commoners so recklessly defiant!
If you plan to patrol outside the wealthy district, do let me know, and I will immediately arrange for a guard escort. I fear that if I do not send enough men, these opportunistic commoners will dare to offend!"
Faced with such open disparagement, the onlookers could only seethe in silence, spitting in frustration before turning away, preferring to ignore the sight.
The maidservant, Bird Feather, discerned the insinuation in Baron Pige's words.
He implied that the lord lacked capability, unable to muster even a squad of guards.
Seeing that Tiffany had no intention of responding, she spoke on her behalf:
"Dear Executioner, you have come for the dragonborn trials, and do not require flattery from him."
"Indeed, indeed!"
Baron Pige nodded repeatedly and continued:
"However, managing Extreme City is also my duty. Previously, I cooperated with the lord and relaxed my authority, but it seems he underestimated the shamelessness of these wretches, nearly causing a grave error!
Now that the assassin has been captured, I shall execute him to serve as a warning to these blind commoners!"
Once again, this implied that Chu Yan was incompetent; of the first three sentences he uttered, two were little more than reports of his shortcomings.
Though Baron Pige phrased it subtly, its impact was negligible.
For the current executioner was a usurper, specifically targeting Chu Yan...
The maidservant gazed at the self-important Baron Pige, feeling an inexplicable twinge of sorrow.
"What are you waiting for? Quickly eliminate this wretch! Do you wish to allow him to continue besmirching the esteemed eyes of the executioner?"
Baron Pige urged his subordinates.
Just as a swordsman prepared to strike, Chu Yan returned to the makeshift execution site.
"Hold! The executioner has yet to issue her order, so what gives you the authority to command?"
As he passed by the maidservant, he effortlessly approached the executioner, who made no move to impede him.
This scene left Baron Pige taken aback, and as he attempted to draw near once more, the maidservant struck him in the gut with her whip. The portly baron fell, howling, and struggled to rise with the steward's assistance.
"This strike is a warning; the next time, it will be your neck."
No one paid heed to the baron's plight; meanwhile, Chu Yan sought to buy time for Jeanette, stating:
"Dear Executioner, I have just confirmed a matter; I shall send someone to investigate the source of the assassination commission, and results will be forthcoming soon."
Beneath the executioner's black steel mask, her rosy lips bloomed like a vibrant red rose in the snow, she replied coldly:
"How long will it take? I have little patience to allow an offender to linger."
Upon hearing Chu Yan mention "capturing the issuer," Baron Pige forgot his pain, beads of cold sweat cascading down his brow.
Once more, he exclaimed: "Did you all hear that? Do you wish to provoke the executioner's impatience? Kill that wretch!"
Suddenly, a slender, violet-hued poisoned needle pierced Baron Pige's cheek, rendering him speechless and his face stiffened.
The executioner turned, her fingertips glowing with a purplish light, her voice as frigid as a winter gale:
"Such a small baron to revel in issuing commands, heedless of the warnings!
Has the remoteness of the Dead Sea caused you to forget the rules among nobles?"
In the distance, a commotion arose.
Jeanette rode in on horseback, cradling a young girl named Dura, while a string of bound captives trailed behind, dragged along by her steed.
These were individuals she apprehended in a dilapidated tavern; pressed for time, she lacked the opportunity for discernment and used a brute-force approach to bind them all together.
After all, Womek could identify them.
Dura called out:
"Brother Womek, quickly tell us who commissioned you! Do not complicate matters for Sister Jeanette; she has been trying to help us become self-sufficient, but your actions may endanger her and implicate her friend who manufactures weapons!"
Jeanette: "..."
Chu Yan: "..."
His eyelids twitched; little sister, is it truly wise to utter such words in front of the executioner???
Womek had yet to confess, and now you have inadvertently revealed Jeanette!
Dura and Jeanette's appearance undeniably swayed Womek; he ceased resisting and identified the issuer of the assassination task.
Jeanette extracted the issuer from the throng and, after a series of threats and intimidation, the true mastermind behind the scheme was uncovered.
It was Baron Pige and his loyal steward.
"Baron Pige, do you have anything to explain?"
the executioner inquired, her dragon-mask adorned with a ruby that radiated a crimson glow from its eye sockets.
"Mmm...!"
Baron Pige's tongue and vocal cords were rigid, rendering him incapable of uttering a sound; he struggled to gesture at his mouth, unable to form a single word.
The executioner suddenly let out a cold laugh, taunting:
"Silence shall be taken as acquiescence; Bird Feather, execute them both."
The maidservant acted with remarkable efficiency. Though she longed to critique Tiffany's subtle antics, such discussions could wait until they were alone.
For now, she needed only to act.
The baron's guards attempted to resist, but after one fell to Bird Feather's swift strike, the rest ceased their opposition.
The last sounds that escaped Baron Pige and his devoted steward were those of their anguished screams, akin to the cries of pigs being slaughtered.
Their heads fell, suspended high as a warning.
"Little lord, I expect an explanation regarding these tainted weapons by tomorrow."
With that, the executioner and the maidservant returned to their quarters.
...
Upon returning to the room, the first to speak was Bird Feather, who reminded:
"Miss Tiffany, your position as the executioner has begun to overstep its boundaries."
"Not merely overstepping; I find it exceedingly delightful~"
With that, Tiffany unfastened the imposing dragon skull mask and proceeded to remove the executioner's uniform.
Bird Feather was momentarily at a loss for words. This act essentially aided Chu Yan in completing his trial, akin to a referee stepping aside to allow the coach to take the field.
"We must return in a few days; we cannot linger too long at the Dead Sea border... Are you going out? Why are you changing back into your regular attire?"
Tiffany had already buttoned the last of her blouse, primping before the mirror, and nodded:
"Yes, you mentioned previously that coordination and compliance between superiors and subordinates is one of the challenges of the family trial, correct?"
"Indeed, but what does that have to do with your departure?"
Tiffany recalled that Isar had mentioned how Chu Yan would be sent to the Dead Sea border, undoubtedly a scheme orchestrated by certain members of the family, while the nobility of the Dead Sea shared this attitude.
It seemed that the higher-ups were in collusion, having no intention of allowing Chu Yan to complete his trial satisfactorily; from the very beginning, this was never a possibility.
"If I eliminate all the 'subordinates' here, causing all who defy the lord to vanish, would that not significantly enhance the level of coordination between superiors and subordinates~?"
Now, the executioner's garments had been discarded.
She was Tiffany, not the executioner~
The violet-eyed dragonborn beauty smiled, finally donning silk gloves that enveloped her delicate, pale hands.