Gallows Square

The exact location of Legal Square was at the southeastern corner of White Queen District, where it intersected with Lloyd District. "Lloyd Prince Avenue" connected the two areas.

A very long time ago, this had been the location of the Law Court of Avalon Kingdom.

Even after the Law Court was later abolished and its functions merged into the Law Court, and the Minister of Justice became the administrator of the Law Court... the residents still called this place Legal Square.

Iver did not walk to Legal Square. Instead, he took a carriage there with "Anne Alexander" and his son.

"Let me quiz you, Annie."

Iver sat in the carriage, interlocking his fingers around Lu Lu's hand beside him.

To keep her from getting bored and also to ease her stress, Iver casually asked, "Do you know which district Legal Square belongs to?"

"...Lloyd District, I suppose."

Lu Lu froze for a moment before realizing that "Annie" was calling her name.

She answered without hesitation, "After all, it's on the eastern side of Lloyd Prince Avenue."

"But actually, in the eyes of Lloyd District's residents, Legal Square has never belonged to Lloyd District."

"...Huh?"

Lu Lu paused. "Why?"

"Because its wide, level ground is entirely paved with marble, and it has many pure-white buildings serving as official landmarks. That doesn't fit with Lloyd District's 'harbor district' style at all. Instead, it's more similar to the streets and architecture of White Queen District."

The biggest difference between Red White Queen District's two halves was the color of the roads and buildings. The buildings in White Queen District were mostly white, and its roads were white or gray-white. Red Queen District, on the other hand, favored brown, dark brown, and reddish brown.

"That does seem to make sense." Lu Lu nodded thoughtfully.

"However, from another perspective, White Queen District's residents don't acknowledge Legal Square as part of White Queen District either."

The corners of Iver's mouth lifted into a slightly malicious smile. "Because it's too filthy here—the environment is dirty and stinking, and public order is a complete mess.

"Starting with the previous King, Tudor III, people preferred to call it Gallows Square—"

Why? That question had only just surfaced in Lu Lu's mind.

But the next moment, her pupils began to tremble violently. Not long after Mr. Fox finished speaking, she saw two densely packed rows of gallows standing across the marble square.

Two rows of corpses hung silently from them.

Exactly forty corpses, no more and no fewer.

Around six or seven of them already showed obvious signs of decay, with mosquitoes and flies buzzing around their bodies. The rest of the hanged corpses were still relatively fresh, dead for no more than two days at most.

Most of the clothing on the corpses was in tatters. Many had obvious bloodstains and mangled flesh on their faces and bodies. Some had their abdomens hollowed out, while others were missing limbs. It was impossible to tell whether the damage had been inflicted before or after death.

Though hanging was supposed to be more civilized than beheading, a faint, lingering smell of blood permeated the square and seeped into the carriage.

Lu Lu instinctively tried to pull her hand free from Iver's grasp and cover her mouth. She was afraid she might be unable to stop herself from vomiting and appear rude.

—But Iver was holding on tightly, and she couldn't break free.

Instead, he gripped Lu Lu's hand even more tightly, squeezing until she felt a slight pain.

Yet because the pain distracted her, it slightly dispelled the intense discomfort in her heart.

"Are you all right, Annie?"

Iver asked with "some confusion" and concern, "Have you never been to Legal Square before?"

"...This is the first time I've seen so many corpses."

She murmured softly, "I've seen quite a few dead people. I got used to dealing with death a long time ago..."

It was just that this was the first time she had seen such a "cruel death."

She had thought she would vomit, but in the end, she didn't. At that moment, Lu Lu felt only a wordless visual shock.

"Every Sunday is execution day. We missed execution day... On Sundays, many people who are off work and have free time come to watch the executions. That's also the day pickpockets are most active."

As Iver spoke, the carriage passed a corpse hanging high above them.

Lu Lu's astonished and somewhat fearful gaze turned toward its hideous face. One eyeball was missing, and half its face was covered in blood.

Leaning close to her ear, Iver maliciously pointed at the corpse and whispered, "Look, this corpse is still fresh. It died no more than two days ago. Otherwise, there would be maggots in its eye socket... Its eyeball was probably stolen and sold on the black market. Some rituals performed by Demon Scholars require a man's left eye—you can see the tear in his crotch. The thing inside was probably stolen too.

"Looks like thirty-three people were executed this week. The other seven corpses were left over from last week."

"...Is that a lot or a little?"

"For this era, it's perfectly normal."

Iver answered only half the question.

Fourteen years later, the execution rate on Glass Island had dropped considerably.

But that wasn't because public safety had improved... It was because the Mining Area collapse seven or eight years later would require more laborers.

"Fifty years ago... oh, more than thirty years ago, that was the peak of executions. Even minor crimes like theft were punishable by death, and death wasn't the end, nor was it the harshest punishment—there were many forms of cruel torture inflicted while people were alive, and some after death as well.

"Queen Sophia abolished thirteen forms of cruel capital punishment, including beheading, and retained only hanging. She also greatly reduced the severity of punishments for other crimes... Many offenses that once carried the death penalty now resulted only in exile, imprisonment, or hard labor. During wartime, there was even a chance to earn merit and atone for one's crimes..."

As Iver spoke, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.

"Sir."

The coachman said gruffly, "How do we get to that bar you mentioned?"

"Oh, we're almost there," Iver replied warmly and good-naturedly. "Just let us off here."

"Then you'd better watch out for the Strangulation Gang."

The coachman offered a kind warning. "Also, it's five Copper Coins to come this far—I'll give you half a coin's discount."

Avalon's Copper Hourglass did not have "one" as its smallest denomination. Beneath that were half-Copper Coins and quarter-Copper Coins, measuring two-thirds and half the size of a Copper Coin respectively.

These were relatively uncommon fractional coins. The quarter-Copper Coin had stopped being issued twenty years ago. The half-Copper Coin had also stopped being issued five years ago, with only existing stocks still circulating in the market.

But this was fourteen years ago, when the half-Copper Coin was still a fairly common denomination.

Upon hearing this, Iver looked at Lu Lu.

Lu Lu stood there blankly for a moment before realizing that she might be holding the money. She searched for a while, then produced a Red Coin and stepped forward to hand it to the coachman with both hands.

That Red Coin was worth ten Copper Coins—twice the price.

"No need for change, sir."

She said earnestly, "Thanks for the effort."

"You're truly beautiful and generous, ma'am."

The coachman offered a compliment, then happily pocketed the money and drove away.

Only after he had left did Iver approach with a broad smile.

"You do remember that everything here is false, right?"

He spoke softly.

"I remember." Lu Lu nodded, her expression complicated. "I just feel... even if they're false, what I'm feeling right now is real too. I don't know what I can do... so I could only give him some money."

"That sounds a little too much like the Dedication Path, my dear Annie?"

Iver said it mildly.

"I don't care." She answered without hesitation. "Like all the children born on Glass Island, I was educated in the Path of Authority from a young age, but I still chose the Path of Beauty. Because I only want to do what I want to do... the things I feel I ought to do.

"I simply like this path's principles, and I like its mystical arts. It isn't because of the Extraordinary Ability it grants me, and I have no intention of binding my personality and my life to it."

Lu Lu usually seemed indecisive and lacking in confidence, but when discussing this topic, she appeared to have touched upon some sensitive point and poured out a great deal that Iver had never mentioned.

"...That won't be easy."

At that moment, a cold, childish voice, deliberately lowered, suddenly came from behind them.

A young newspaper boy who had stared fixedly at them without moving ever since they got out of the carriage suddenly approached and spoke softly with a mocking edge. "You're walking down a path that is innocent and romantic, yet extremely dangerous.

"The path of transcendence is destined to require abandoning one's humanity... Mrs. Lu Lu."