I Heard You Wanted to See Whose Gun Was Stronger. Got Your Answer Now?

Half an hour later.

The dark clouds blocking the sun were scattered by the smoke of gunpowder rising from the ground.

Golden sunlight spilled over the land once more.

Not only did it melt the snow that had fallen overnight, it also made the north wind less bitter.

The serfs, wrapped in military greatcoats,

learned for the first time that winter could actually be this warm!

Except for...

Kanel himself, and those landlords.

Forced to crawl out of their air-conditioned rooms, they stood in the snow, shivering like stray dogs. No, they were worse off than dogs.

At least dogs had fur.

All they had was bloated, greasy fat.

Fat they had literally "stripped" from those skeletal serfs!

It was the best evidence of their crimes, of all the ways they had "devoured people."

Crunch, crunch-

A major crunched through the snow and appeared before the landlords.

"Sir, I want to report something. It was all Kanel's idea! He forced us! We had no choice!

"I'll tell you anything you want to know! Please, give me something to wear. It's too cold! I really can't stand it anymore! Please!"

The instant the major appeared, a balding, middle-aged man trembling with cold raised his right hand and spoke shakily, his teeth and tongue battling one another.

Hearing the balding man's words, the other landlords, their faces purple from the cold, immediately spoke up too:

"Yes, yes! It was all Kanel! It's all his fault!"

"Sir, have pity on me! Give me something warm to wear!"

"It's so cold-"

"We wanted to persuade him to surrender earlier, but he insisted on resisting! It had nothing to do with us!"

"Kanel forced all of us!"

"Please, just give me one more layer!"

Once, who knew how many serfs had pleaded desperately with them in the freezing winter, looking just as they did now, or even more abject.

And what had they done?

Those serfs who had long since frozen to death in the bitter winter probably could not answer that question!

"So you're Kanel?"

Ignoring their pleas, the major walked straight up to Kanel, looked him up and down with disdain, and asked:

"I heard you wanted to see whose gun was stronger, yours or the president's. Got your answer now?"

"Huh?"

His head already numb from the cold, Kanel had not heard what was being said at all.

Aside from panic and fear, only bewilderment remained in his terrified eyes.

"Didn't hear me? Then I'll do you a kindness and say it again!"

The major repeated himself.

"I didn't! It wasn't me! I never said that!"

Kanel hurriedly shook his head in denial.

But although Kanel denied it, the other landlords, eager to earn merit-or rather, unable to bear the cold-would not let him deny it at all. They hurriedly spoke up:

"I can testify! He said it!"

"That's right! We can all testify!"

"The president's gun is stronger after all!"

"He also said that even a pig in the president's seat would do a better job than Sankara!"

"???"

The moment those last words came out,

the major froze.

Not just him-the other officers and soldiers nearby froze as well.

The next second,

everyone turned toward Kanel with eyes so furious they looked ready to devour him!

"Whew-"

The major kept taking deep breaths, trying to suppress his fury that way.

Quite clearly, however, he failed!

Because-

Bam!

"Aah-"

His face twisted with rage, the major drove a heavy punch straight into Kanel's piglike head.

Several teeth flew out of Kanel's mouth as he toppled to the ground, rolling from side to side in pain, howling and screaming without pause.

"I was going to take pity on you and give you something warm to wear so you could live to see the president. Now it seems there's no need!

"The president said that if you dared to put up armed resistance, we didn't have to take you alive anyway. So whether you live to see the president is down to your luck.

"But with all that fat on you, you probably won't freeze to death anytime soon, right? Keep it up. I have faith in you!"

With that, the major turned and walked away.

Several soldiers carrying military greatcoats left with him.

Huh?

Watching the major walk straight away, along with the military greatcoats growing ever more distant,

the landlords were dumbfounded!

Wait!

You never said we had to keep freezing too!

"Hey, hey, hey-sir! You haven't given us our coats yet!"

"I don't want to die! I want to live to see the president!"

"Kanel said all of that himself! It had nothing to do with me!"

"Please, give us something warm to wear! Sob, sob..."

They hurriedly pleaded, and one of them even burst into tears.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot about you!"

Hearing the landlords' pleas, the major stopped, turned around, and looked at them.

After a moment's hesitation,

the major finally waved at the soldiers, signaling for them to toss the military greatcoats they were carrying to the landlords.

"Thank you! Thank you! May you live to a hundred, sir!"

"God will surely bless you!"

"You're such a good man! A truly good man!"

"Sob, sob... Thank you so much!"

Seeing the greatcoats the soldiers tossed over, the landlords immediately scrambled for them. Those who snatched one hurriedly wrapped it around themselves, while those who had not kept scrambling.

The scene

looked very much like when they themselves, protected by their guards, had held bowls of leftovers and tossed the food onto the ground, spoonful by spoonful, then watched a group of starving serfs crawl on the ground and fight over it.

Only now, they were the ones crawling on the ground and fighting!

"When you get to court later, don't go saying I mistreated you.

"Besides, you were the ones who insisted on wearing so little. All I did was invite you outside.

"Funny, though. It's so cold out here, yet you wore so little indoors, as though it wasn't cold at all. Could it be that you aren't afraid of the cold?

"Maybe I simply shouldn't give you these greatcoats after all? It might be better to hand them out to other people who feel cold."

The major mocked them, feigning ignorance.

Of course he knew why the landlords had worn so little indoors. He was only saying this to toy with them, and to get in a few jabs at them as well.

"Huh?!"

But the landlords genuinely thought the major intended to take the greatcoats back, so they hurriedly pleaded:

"No, no, no, no! I'm cold! I'm really cold!"

"We only wore so little indoors because there was air conditioning!"

"That's right! It wasn't because we weren't afraid of the cold!"

"Please don't take the coats away! Please!"

"Heh!"

With a cold laugh, the major ignored them and turned to leave.

Kanel, the landlords, and some others who had been arrested for resisting were also loaded onto military vehicles and taken away together.

Only a group of police officers and a few officials remained, responsible for cleaning up the mess and handling the aftermath.