Roderick's Panic

"Yes, I will carry out your orders immediately. In this matter, I handled things somewhat too harshly. Perhaps I should have spared his life then."

"Brooks was a scoundrel, but he was also a fearless brute. A man like that could actually have been trained into an excellent warrior." Roderick reflected on himself.

At this point, Roderick could not quite understand why he had been so determined to put the man to death that day. Even after Brooks had openly backed down, he had provoked him step by step, ultimately ending it with murder.

"Roderick, as a knight, I cannot compare to your excellence. Even your father was not as valiant as you."

"But the negative emotions accumulated in your heart through long years of battlefield slaughter will directly affect your state of mind. They may even erupt in this manner."

"You did not kill him outright because of your rank and formidable strength. Instead, you found evidence of his crimes. Only after obtaining an excuse, even if it came from repeatedly provoking him, did you deal with him for violating military discipline."

"Though the result was still Brooks's death, it showed that you retained the most basic rationality and had not been completely clouded by the savage emotions of slaughter."

"I am not pleading for those nobles. I am worried that you will fall into the curse of killing. In the future, you will encounter even more troublesome nobles. Cutting them down with a single stroke is the simplest, harshest, and most satisfying method, but it is also the worst solution."

"Other than earning others' hatred and hostility, you will solve nothing."

"Roderick, when you are not fighting, do not let slaughter and brutality occupy your heart."

Mayor Mareb's entirely reasonable words left Roderick drenched in cold sweat, as