“Estina, do you know your crime?”
Lafeier asked, his tone indifferent, as if he had already sentenced Estina to death.
Neil clutched his stomach and laughed wildly, the sound oozing from his hoarse, broken body like stagnant water, making Estina nauseous.
Back when she first took in this irredeemable scumbag, Neil, she naively thought he just lacked discipline and still held hope for him.
Even though he was a death row inmate, it wasn’t uncommon for such prisoners to have a sudden awakening and find redemption before dying. Besides, he was only thirteen or fourteen.
But…
“I don’t regret it at all. Martha tasted great. Just thinking about it still gets me excited.”
His expression was so calm, his tone so indifferent, that for a moment Estina thought he was talking about some trivial, ordinary matter.
For someone like him, for such pure malice, no amount of torture with branding irons and whips would be too much.
“Sir… I admit my crime.”
At this point, she had nothing left to argue.
A fine and imprisonment—she knew the fine was the real issue.
Once the cook gets the knife, how could he spare the fish on the cutting board?
All she could do was pray inwardly that this new warden would show mercy and reduce the penalty.
“What crime?” Lafeier pressed.
The atmosphere immediately grew tense. Everyone was waiting to see Estina make a fool of herself.
Estina frowned. ‘Is this the warden’s way of humiliating me?’ She wanted to ask, but she didn’t dare. Someone as important as him—she wouldn’t dare offend even if she had a hundred times the nerve.
“Sir, I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have used unauthorized punishment, defying the Empire’s laws…”
Sophia chuckled. “Heh heh, Sister Estina, look at you now! Normally you’re all flattery and smooth talk—how come you’re not making excuses today?”
Rena chimed in. “The evidence is solid. She’d have to have a bear’s heart and a leopard’s guts to talk nonsense now. Our Warden is just and impartial, with infinite insight—he’ll surely make her confess and submit!”
Even Neil, lying on the ground, didn’t forget to let out a sharp, lewd laugh.
“Wrong. Estina, you’re wrong.”
Lafeier said coldly.
“Exorcism requires a business license issued by the Church. You performed an exorcism without a license, violating the Empire’s relevant regulations. You are ordered to write a 3,000-word self-criticism and submit it.”
“Exorcism?”
The crowd was puzzled. What did this have to do with exorcism?
“Yes, exorcism. Dare any of you say that this bastard named Neil isn’t a demon?”
“Chief Guard Estina was so brave, using branding irons and whips to fight this demon to the death, and even using salt water to purify the evil—it’s truly moving!”
“But Estina, your methods were still too merciful.”
“Your iron wasn’t hot enough, and your whip wasn’t hard enough! How could you let this demon have the strength to spout nonsense here!”
Neil: “?”
“This…” Estina couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Her heart, which had sunk to the bottom, suddenly leaped to the ninth heaven, and her expression regained its spark.
She looked at Lafeier, at this new warden who had been in office less than a day, and a vast sense of reverence surged within her.
“Sir, yes… it’s my fault!”
At this point, Sophia and Rena could clearly see Lafeier’s intention.
So they immediately turned their guns around.
“Oh my, it turns out Chief Guard Estina is so glorious and great, sacrificing herself to save others—she’s practically a living saint! And you,” Sophia turned and pointed at Neil, “you demon! You’re not even human, so how can there be any talk of unauthorized punishment?”
“This demon is so wicked! Good thing Lord Lafeier has such keen eyes, or we might have been fooled by him!”
Estina: “?”
‘So you two don’t have any personal grudge at all? You just desperately want to advance, right?’
“Mm,” Lafeier nodded. “Now that everyone has seen this demon’s true face, I hereby pronounce judgment as Warden:”
“Neil, death sentence, immediate execution!”
The words carried an inescapable, terrifying pressure. For the first time, Neil felt what despair truly was.
This instinctive fear that forcibly tore at his heart and pierced the very core of his soul was more dreadful than death or pain!
A warm liquid with a strong, rank smell soaked through his clothes.
“Sir, I… no, please, no!”
Estina stepped forward, raising the baton at her waist and smashing Neil’s head into pulp.
“Hiss… This woman really is ruthless when she strikes.” Lafeier looked at the mess of flesh on the ground and couldn’t help clicking his tongue.
Sophia and Rena, standing by, seemed used to it—they didn’t even frown.
[Ding—!]
[Execution successful. Five senior craftsmen will arrive by train tomorrow.]
[Ding—!]
[Detected a significant increase in Estina’s loyalty.]
[Individual: Estina]
[Title: Chief Guard]
[Loyalty: 42 (Firmly Convinced)]
[Loyalty Change: 11 → 42]
Seeing the message, Lafeier smiled slightly.
Five senior craftsmen in hand, and a Chief Guard won over—most importantly, he had killed that beast more vicious than a demon.
Lafeier was in a good mood.
Then he turned his gaze to another prisoner:
[Individual: Christina]
[Guilt Level: 0]
[Execution Reward: Tempered Fish Jerky * 1]
Lafeier frowned. There was an innocent person locked up here?
And what the hell was Tempered Fish Jerky? Was she a cat-eared girl or a mermaid?
“Estina, what crime has this one committed?”
Estina wiped the blood off her baton and was about to speak when Sophia interrupted.
“Sir, allow me to explain. This child belongs to the cell block I oversee.”
Sophia stepped forward, bowing slightly.
“Speak, Sophia.”
Hearing this, Estina silently stepped back, making room for Sophia.
Sophia—a woman whose every movement exuded elegance and poise, yet her face and eyes were full of frivolousness.
“Christina,” Sophia gave a slight nod. “Sir, this child is named Christina. A half-breed, half-demon.”
Lafeier was a bit puzzled.
A half-breed—the offspring of a human and a blood-race.
The blood-race didn’t refer to a single species, but was a collective term for all highly intelligent creatures that subsisted on blood.
Among them, the three largest races were demon-men, orc-men, and ghouls. Demon-men and orc-men had extremely strong reproductive abilities and desires. If a human woman was unlucky enough to be captured by them, the outcome was obvious.
Half-breeds usually inherited human appearance and the brute strength of the blood-race. In the Empire, male half-breeds were killed at birth, leaving only the more docile and controllable females.
These female half-breeds had a status almost equivalent to black slaves on Earth. The Empire’s industrialization was built on the bones of countless half-breeds.
Still, in the Empire, they could at least survive as slaves. In blood-race territory, they would only be raised as livestock for food.
Half-breeds were usually locked up in prisons for forced labor or sent to blast mountains and build roads. Direct execution was rare.
Lafeier carefully examined this half-demon girl. She wore a filthy, brown-black rag, shackles on her feet, and the blood-red marks from friction and squeezing around her ankles glowed brighter in the flickering firelight, yet her skin was deathly pale. She was so thin that even a light breath could outline her ribs. Her black horns, stunted from poor development, only barely showed as small tips, slightly lifting the rag covering her head. Silver-white hair stuck messily to her cheeks, blood-red eyes cast down to the ground, and countless scars covered every visible inch of her skin.
Sophia seemed to notice Lafeier’s confusion and continued, “She’s not actually subject to the death penalty. Although the prison has the authority to directly execute half-breeds who cause trouble, she—Christina—has voluntarily applied to be put to death.”