Ignoring the fat cook's pleas for mercy, the knights left after confirming that Sir Sophie had indeed been behind it. His death was already certain, though not yet. He would be tried before everyone and then hanged, and Sir Sophie's charge of regicide would be proclaimed alongside it.
"You have committed an unforgivable sin! I hereby declare that you shall be hanged! After death, you shall not be buried as a follower of the Holy Church, but your flesh shall be consumed by flames until nothing remains!"
From the gallows platform, a knight spoke thus to the gathered residents.
"Good!"
"A regicide deserves such treatment!"
"The lords are always wise!"
The common residents shared one trait: they loved a spectacle and feared no escalation. Having long lived under oppression, they had already become numb, and such thrilling scenes could still stir the slightest ripple in their deadened hearts.
Thus, amid the fat cook's desperate begging, the executioner kicked away the wooden stool beneath him. His bloated body dropped at once, while the rope on the gallows remained tightly cinched around his neck.
The obesity he had gained from stuffing himself thanks to his position as a cook became the weapon that took his life. After only a few seconds of struggling, he went still. He died faster than most who faced the gallows.
Seeing the fat cook lying motionless and lifeless, the residents below immediately erupted into cheers. They did not care who had died. They only knew that watching a living person die before their eyes was thrilling, enough to excite their long-numbed hearts.
"He is dead! But though he did this, he was not the mastermind! Sir Sophie! It was Sir Sophie! Sir Sophie was the Black Hand behind this affair! He murdered several collateral heirs of the