## Chapter 719 – Paladin Kim Kat

“Don’t you dare cry in front of me.”

—Kwaang!

I slammed the holy sword Vygale into the ground.

“Do you think you have the right to cry, you wretches? Those who should be crying are the people who were deceived and killed by you, and their families.”

The ones who truly deserve to cry are the victims who died here.

“That’s right…! You speak the truth…! It’s all our sins! But we!!!”

The village chief swallowed his tears and buried his face in my instep.

“We couldn’t choose such righteousness…! We are people too! Every time we harmed the victims, we thought of the families they would leave behind! But, but…!”
“Dare you say you couldn’t help it in front of me?”

They couldn’t help it.

That was the gist of what the village chief was saying.

The lives of the villagers were being held hostage. The Manticore had slaughtered the residents, killed those who tried to escape or harbored other intentions, and killed more people as examples whenever such a thing occurred.

Thus, these residents had become slaves of the Manticore.

An inhuman village that succumbed to the monster’s threats and subjugation. They maintained their lives by offering outsiders as sacrifices.

“Yes…! We couldn’t help it…! Otherwise, we would all die!”
“Yes, you would have died. That’s why you’ve been sacrificing people.”

If they didn’t do as the Manticore said, they would all die.

“Then why.”

But a question arose.

“When the paladin came, why didn’t you help him solve the problem?”
“That, that’s…”

Paladins are strong.

If they had helped him and started a revolt, they might have been able to overcome this situation and kill the Manticore.

However, the residents did not do so.

Was it because their will to resist had completely disappeared? Or because they couldn’t be sure that the paladin would help them?

“Answer the question. Why didn’t you seek the paladin’s help when he came? A fully prepared paladin could have fought and defeated the Manticore.”

Or perhaps.

Was it because they couldn’t guarantee victory?

“Because… if the Manticore found out we sought help…”
“It would kill all the villagers?”
“Yes… And we didn’t know if he would help us or not… And if we fought and lost, we would all die…”

If we ask for help, it might kill us. We don’t know if the paladin will help us or not. Above all, there’s no guarantee we’ll win the fight. And even if we do fight, there will be many casualties.

The village chief answered that they couldn’t fight because of that.

“Hmph.”

Cowardly.

“Hehehe.”

And calculating.

“`After weighing everything,` you decided the paladin wasn’t worth it, is that what you’re saying?”

I said, looking down at the village chief’s face.

“If we made the wrong choice… we would all die… We couldn’t help it…”

The village chief, hesitating for a moment, insisted again that he couldn’t help it.

“Selfish.”

Such a selfish calculation.

“A selfish decision made ignoring those who died because of you, thinking only of your own safety.”
“That, that’s…”
“If you wanted to overcome this situation, you should have made a decision, even if sacrifice was expected.”

Becoming slaves was unavoidable.

If your life is held hostage, humans become weak and can only be swayed by the person holding the lifeline.

However, that doesn’t act as a get-out-of-jail-free card.

“But you didn’t.”

If you’re human.
If you know this is wrong.

You must resist.

“Village chief. You just made the `easy choice`.”
“…”

The village chief, with his head bowed, remained silent.

“If you just cooperate with the Manticore, no one dies. You just have to keep sacrificing outsiders and keep living. Frankly, not many people would be able to stand up strongly when threatened with annihilation. Especially if they are weak.”

That’s natural.

“So you have lived like that.”

So they lived like that.

“But even when an opportunity to overcome it came, you didn’t even think about seizing it because there was no guarantee and sacrifice was expected. Why? Because you didn’t want to be in danger. Everyone can live if you just sacrifice outsiders instead of risking danger.”

Threats are no excuse.

“You should have made a decision, even if it was just to think of the people you had killed. At least that’s what you need to do to atone.”

More than resolving the situation, more than the lives of the victims.

They prioritized their own lives.

“As much as you sacrificed the lives of others, you should have been prepared for sacrifice as well.”
“Why…!”

The village chief cried out again.

“Why!! Why!!! Why did we have to make such a choice!! We lived without doing anything wrong until the Manticore appeared, why!!”

Until the Manticore appeared, they were innocent.

“It’s unfair!!!”

Unfair.

“Just because that monster appeared…! Why are we forced to make such life-or-death choices…! We lived well among ourselves, without committing any sins until then…!!!!”

The village chief wailed, saying it was unfair.

Because of a monster that suddenly appeared, they were forced into an inhuman life and became corrupted.

“Humans cannot be free from external forces. It’s not just the Manticore. The situation of the world always forces humans to make choices. That is the world and life.”

I said, looking down at him.

“Do you think you can whine just because you’re innocent and haven’t done anything wrong?”
“…”

Being innocent and not having done anything wrong doesn’t mean you can live happily without any worries. The only place I know like that is Teletubby Land.

This world is not a paradise for Teletubbies, and the people who live there are not Teletubbies either.

This world is not an ideal world.

Unfair things happen all the time.

And if you’re human, you have to stand up against that unfairness.
Because that’s the only way to become a Teletubby.

Ah. Here, Teletubby is just a symbol.

Anyway, if you turn away from unfair things, abandon judgment and morality for reasons you can’t help, and do evil, it’s no different from being a heretic.

“That’s why you are Guilty.”

I declared.

“Guilty…”
“Tell me, village chief. Since the Manticore appeared, have any villagers died from other monsters? Have bandits or looters raided and harmed you?”
“That, that’s…”
“Tell me!!!!! I asked if there were!!!!!”

Fueled by bursting anger, I shouted.

“N, no, there haven’t…!”
“The Manticore enslaved you, but at the same time, it protected your lives!! Village chief! Wasn’t it because you thought that was comfortable and chose it easily!!!!!”
“…!”
“Everything you’ve said is just an excuse!!! And yet you dare to insult the victims by crying!!!”

These bastards just made the easy choice!

The choice to just kill outsiders rather than risk danger!

“I, I… couldn’t make such a choice…!”

The village chief, with his face soaked in tears, cried out as if wailing.

“More important than the lives of travelers we didn’t know were our villagers…! The paladin is right! We didn’t try to take risks! We didn’t want to risk our lives and endanger the villagers for something uncertain!”

Honest words.

“It’s true that we made the easy choice…! It’s true that we thought about it calculatingly…! I’m sorry! I apologize! I know my sins!!”
“…”

Yes, this is what it means to be a `weak` human.

In the end, what’s important is not outsiders, but themselves and their people. Because they are still human, they feel guilty when they kill outsiders. They know they shouldn’t do this, but they do it because they don’t want to die.

Only the strong can shout about morality and justice.

However.

Corruption is not excused just because you are weak.

The village chief’s soul is wrong.
That’s why he’s Guilty.

“Village chief. I understand your weakness. I understand the circumstances that led you to say your choices were unavoidable. However, you know very well that it is still unforgivable, cowardly, selfish, and deserving of damnation.”
“…I know.”

The village chief, covering his face with his hands, answered while crying.

“You know it’s wrong, you have guilt about it, and you told me everything. Why did you make these choices?”

—A moment of silence.

“Just… just, I wanted to atone…”

The village chief wanted to atone.

“Good.”

Then, as a paladin, as a seeker of Fusion Confucianism.

I must give an answer.

“The equipment the paladin used. And where are all the belongings of the people who have been sacrificed?”
“…They are in the cave where the Manticore resides.”

A kind of trophy?
It seems they’ve been collecting them there.

“So, when someone comes to the village, you go there to inform the Manticore hiding there.”
“…”

The village chief nodded.

“Is there someone specifically assigned to the task of delivering news there?”
“…Yes.”
“Stand up.”

As I instructed, one of the young men who had been kneeling stood up cautiously.

“Come forward.”
“…I understand.”

The young man who answered came forward.

He also had a resigned face, and his voice lacked strength.

“And the person in charge of mixing the drugs. Stand up and come forward.”

Another young man stood up.

“The person in charge of guiding outsiders to the village, stand up.”

A middle-aged man stood up.

“The one who introduced the village to them while concealing the truth, stand up as well.”

Another young man stood up.

I made the residents I had called out kneel next to the village chief.

—Thud.

And I drew the sword I had stuck in the ground.

“Whatever the case, the Manticore came tonight.”

I was in a room with Lisha when the Manticore came.

“That means you informed the Manticore that we were here. It means you sold me out and put a knife to my throat.”
“…”

They say they ignore people who seem strong, but did the residents or the Manticore misjudge? Or did they become more confident after eating the paladin?

I can’t know the truth about that, but it was true that they put a knife to my throat.

“…That’s right.”

The village chief readily admitted.

“So, I will execute the five of you myself. The village chief as responsible for this incident, and the other four as those most deeply involved.”

I came here as a paladin, and I must avenge the paladin and handle the aftermath.

On top of that, I became a target of the village and the Manticore.

「So this was something I `had to` do.」

“Those who wish to atone. Do you have any objections?”
“…No.”
“No.”

The resigned village chief and the four young men shook their heads.

“I will highly commend you for trying to accept punishment quietly.”

In the end, they resigned themselves, atoned, and tried to accept punishment. They were cowardly and selfish, but they still had guilt.

From a Fusion Confucian perspective, it means they haven’t forgotten the human heart after all. The criminals I’ve seen would rant and rave until the moment they died, saying they weren’t at fault.

It’s a contrasting situation.

—Sreung.

I raised the holy sword Vygale, the holy sword that cuts off delusion and establishes righteous justice.

“…Paladin-nim.”
“Do you have something to say?”

The village chief said quietly, with his head bowed deeply.

“The others besides us… will you spare them?”

The last question.

Seeing that he thought of the residents until the moment of his death, he was a very responsible person. It was a problem that it went wrong.

“I will not punish the children.”
“…”
“The remaining people will be transferred to a nearby church, and they will be informed of this incident and receive just punishment.”
“Then… will they be executed there?”
“Who knows.”

I heard from Saintess-nim that the Bronze Celestial Knight Order has a labor system to punish criminals in addition to prisons.

Even now, many criminals are doing labor in the Order’s manors and relief facilities.

“I executed the ringleader myself, so the rest is up to the church’s judgment. Still, a paladin died. About half of them will die here.”

The Order will judge about the paladin.
Those who don’t die will go to the labor camp.

“Since we’re going that way anyway, to put it nicely, it means about half of them will live.”
“That’s…”

The village chief, raising his head, smiled sadly.

“…I’m grateful.”
“Yes.”

—Deonggeong!

Thus, I beheaded the five ringleaders, including the village chief.

The swordsmanship that reached the level of a master executed the executions very cleanly, and it took less than 3 seconds for the heads of the five people to fall, and with that, my judgment was over.

“Hic…!”
“Hic, hic…!”
“Kuhk…! Village chief…!”

The residents who had been kneeling cried out.

The only person these people could trust was the village chief.

My judgment is over, but the church’s judgment still remains.

Half will die, and half will be sentenced to labor.

I will drag them along so that they can receive proper punishment. That is the duty of a paladin and the final judgment of Fusion Confucianism.

“Don’t cry.”

I instructed them.

“Don’t cry, and if you don’t want to die, quickly go to the Manticore’s hideout and bring all the items there. And when the sun rises, you will be transferred to a nearby church. I will not forgive those who run away. Running away means you won’t even atone at the very least, so I will personally tear off your limbs and throw them into the forest.”

—Hic, hic…!
—Kuhk…!
—Heueuk…!

The residents, who had struggled to get up, began to walk towards the back of the village, sobbing.