This was enough to get at least a slight reaction out of each of them. Sharun Charleville’s eyebrows merely twitched a little, but Jula Lacramanus stared at me like she couldn’t believe I’d learned their plan. Luida Gudinveil must’ve been hearing this for the first time, because her eyes went wide as she studied the reactions of the other witches. I’d remained suspicious of Luida until now, but it seemed she hadn’t been involved after all.
“I want the documents. Give me the written declaration that your families signed while selling out our kingdom to crusaders. That’s how you can stop the massacre.”
That was the reason I’d come here today.
There were some among the witches, such as Lyrica Kuklillison, who belonged to minor families and hadn’t committed any crime worthy of an execution. I didn’t really want to kill them along with the rest.
“The evidence will be like a salt that wilts the parasitic weeds known as witches. I will, of course, make the documents public. Witches as a whole will be recognized as traitors to our kingdom and persecuted for it. You’ll lose the ability to ingrain yourselves in any city ever again.”
They’d sold our kingdom to save themselves when not just one nation, but the entire Shanti race, was in a state of peril. They’d betrayed our kind by thwarting the efforts to protect us, and they’d done it knowing that their fellow citizens would be enslaved and treated as subhuman cattle. Witches were already hated, but now they’d be abhorred above all else.
“You don’t have anything to lose from this deal, and it’ll spare me from having to spread exaggerated tales of your evil deeds. Think carefully before you decide. That’s all I had to say.”
With that, I stopped talking.
The first to reply was Ghulah Temper. “I can’t accept it. This talk of crusaders is nonsense.”
She was a mature woman with short hair. I could just picture her being popular with members of the same sex during her days at the Cultural Academy.
“Then you’ve made your decision? Did you think it through?” I asked. “Remember, the deal is designed to benefit you, not me.”
“Y-Yes...”
Fool.
Sharun Charleville, who was to my left, spoke next. “Don’t listen to her. She’s no more than a manager who oversees our longshoremen. Forgive her.”
Although she ranked below the Marmoset whose head I’d slammed against the table, I judged she was the oldest here.
“Yuri, may I ask you a question?” Sharun Charleville continued. “Are you offering to pardon all of our kind, besides the six of us here, in exchange for those documents?”
What a stupid suggestion. Of course not.
“Kill the six of you, then pardon everyone else? How stupid do you think I am?”
Maybe it was down to the convenient lies I’d told Keagul earlier, but it seemed some of them were still feeling optimistic. In her mind, it might’ve been normal for a witch to commit all kinds of awful deeds and never face any consequences. That was only because of the rights the late queen had granted them. They couldn’t expect anyone to protect them now that they’d killed the queen themselves. It was as though they’d barely understood what had kept them safe.
Still, parasites didn’t like to think of themselves as parasites. They believed they were self-sufficient people surviving thanks to their superior talents. They’d deluded themselves into thinking that their own wisdom, ability, and competency were on par with those of chieftains, only to succumb to superior might when put to the test—thus creating their current predicament.
“Take Cursefit here, for example,” I said. “She’s guilty of using the second order to invade the royal castle. That’s high treason by her and her army. This old woman has no legal defense. The penalty for high treason is death. But can the rest of you claim that you made an earnest effort to defend your queen? The invasion of the castle was awfully well timed.
“No, it wasn’t just the Cursefits. Each and every member of your families is guilty of murder, instigation of murder, or abetting murder. Or I can just as easily charge them all with robbery and extortion. Either way, they’ll have to answer to accusations at trial. Obviously, I’ll replace our current judges with some more level headed people beforehand. Don’t think the old corrupt judiciary can save you.”
Whether they understood the weight of their crimes or not, their close relatives would probably all be executed.
“Even the Gudinveils will face trial,” Myalo added. “We make no exceptions.”
I expected Luida Gudinveil to say something in response, but she remained quiet.
“I’m against this. This may be our downfall, but I can’t allow witches to lose their honor so completely. If you’ll make all our relatives face trial even after we cooperate, then it’s out of the question.” Vivila held an embroidered handkerchief stained red with blood to her nose as she spoke. It was hard to make out her muffled words.
“That’s because you don’t have children. You can’t understand how the rest of us feel,” Sharun retorted. It sounded like she was trying to provoke Vivila.
“What do you mean?” Vivila replied, sounding offended.
“I’ve borne five children,” Sharun continued. “Those five all have children of their own. I’ve got more grandchildren and great-grandchildren than I can count on my fingers. If we include branch families, then I’ve got more relatives than anyone can count. Most of them haven’t done anything particularly bad...besides perhaps collecting a little protection money and skimming a few profits here and there. The question of whether our children will live or die means everything to us.”
That sounded reasonable.
“Yuri, if you’re offering them fair trials, then I trust you won’t punish them excessively? And when the most powerful witches are dead, you won’t lay claim to all our assets, then demand that our children find some other way to pay their fines?”
Sharun Charleville’s questions felt a little desperate. She wanted assurance that her fortune could be used to pay off whatever massive fines and compensation were demanded from her descendants. If I started levying fines after I’d already taken away all their wealth, the surviving witches wouldn’t just have to rebuild from scratch—they’d have to work their way out of debt. They’d be financially ruined.
“I won’t do that. Rest assured,” I said.
“Yuri...” Myalo said.
“It looks like Myalo has something to add.”
“I intended to confiscate the major witch families’ assets.”
It wasn’t what any of them wanted to hear. But since I was entrusting Myalo to clean up after the witches were dealt with, the decision was going to be hers.