Vote for Your Knight! - Chapter 4
“Bahahaha!”
The Lord of Pius burst into laughter, holding a flyer for the upcoming ‘Cartamen’ competition that his men had torn off.
“Cartamen! Can you believe those fools are organizing such a grand tournament?”
Moreover, the Princess herself came all the way here to ask him to participate.
‘She must be fuming right now, regretting dragging herself all this way.’
But what could she do? The Princess won’t go to the execution ground just to catch a lord.
‘She’ll probably leave in a huff, wounded pride and all.’
Just the thought of it vindicated him to no end. This was in revenge for the Emperor’s order to ‘obey imperial law’ not too long ago.
‘How dare he ask me, the master of the sea, to manage my harbor according to his laws?’
He was going to make sure that every arrogant bastard like that was punished, and the execution he was about to perform was just that.
‘Though it’s a shame to waste such a beast of a man who managed to kill 15 pirates by himself despite being an ignorant former slave.’
But at times like these, one must lead by example. The lord looked at the dark-haired condemned man.
He was tall and lean, with a bronze-toned firm body and well-defined muscles in his long arms and legs. He was strikingly handsome, even as he was chained to the large wheel on the execution platform. However, the vivid scars scattered across his body revealed the hardships of his past.
‘If you want to kill me, do it quickly, and shut your filthy mouth.’
The man thought to himself. This man, who seemed unafraid of death, was a former slave turned mercenary. Employed by Lord Pius to eradicate pirates, he found himself facing execution for the crime of releasing all the hostages captured by the pirates instead of bringing them to the lord’s castle.
‘This is ridiculous, a death sentence for freeing his own people who weren’t even his enemies.’
The man scoffed.
‘Well, I suppose I did defy the lord’s orders.’
The hostages were supposed to be quietly brought back as his slaves—those were the lord’s orders. But despite opposition from the other soldiers, the man released all of them.
‘It was easy to convince them.’
All he had to do was physically persuade (?) them. Sure, he knew he would face retaliation from an ill-tempered lord for such actions, but the man did as he pleased.
‘It wasn’t out of pity or a sense of justice.’
It was just that it brought back memories of his childhood.
“Thank you for rescuing me and my young grandson from these bandits. I’ll definitely repay this kindne… ugh!”
Even now, when he closed his eyes, he could feel his grandfather’s hot blood splattered on his face.
“Stupid old man, thought we were going to save him.”
“We’re just taking a few people to sell as slaves, haha!”
“Still, this young one here will fetch a pretty penny.”
He lost his grandfather, someone he believed to be his savior, and was sold as a slave.
The hostages captured by the pirates shared the same fate. They looked at him as if he was the savior who would bring them freedom. With relief, tears streaming down, they repeatedly thanked him, bowing their heads.
He couldn’t bring himself to let down their expectations.
He couldn’t stand hearing Pius’s soldiers snicker and sneer.
So, he did what he had to do, knowing full well the consequences.
‘Although I never expected to be accused of colluding with pirates and being sentenced to death over it.’
The man chuckled at the absurdity of it all.
The enraged lord shouted, “Him, that man! Begin his execution immediately!”
The executioner lifted a massive hammer, intending to shatter the man’s limbs before pushing the wheel out to sea.
At that moment…
Clang!
The man forcefully tore his bound arm from the wheel, narrowly avoiding the hammer that slammed into the spot where his arm had been. As the wheel wobbled, he used his body to shatter it.
Pieces of the large, thick wheel rolled off the platform as the execution grounds echoed with screams.
Without hesitation, the man leaped into the crowd of onlookers.
“What–what’s happening! Seize him, quickly!” the lord shouted.
The executioner and soldiers lunged for him, but he easily took them down.
‘We barely just caught him in a surprise attack with dozens of soldiers, and now he’s escaping again!’
The lord gestured to an underling at his side.The underling dragged a child from the crowd of onlookers and held a knife to his throat.
“Eugh, aah!”
At the child’s cries, the condemned man looked up.
“If you don’t stop there, I’ll kill this innocent child in your place!” the lord shouted.
‘This lord sees the lives of his subjects as less than ants.’
He was really going to kill that kid.
‘But what does that have to do with me?’
I’ve done enough to help people—do I need to risk my life again?
He thought so, but couldn’t bring himself to take another step.
Meanwhile, the soldiers took that chance to surround him.
‘S**t.’
The man chuckled helplessly, raising both hands. Upon surrendering, the soldiers rushed in, tightly binding him.
The lord yelled, “Crush that bastard’s entire body with a hammer!”
It meant he wouldn’t have a painless death. The man was bound again and thrown onto the execution platform. The shadow of the hammer loomed heavily over him.
The man’s eyes met the frightened child’s. He chuckled as if to tell the kid not to worry.
Whack!
At that moment, the hammer came down on him
