"There is no reason to waste our time with those procedures. Wake up everybody and meet me in the central plaza near the tree with large ropes. You two help me carry these men."
The soldiers accompanying Lieutenant Mitchel were surprised by Vlad’s words, as this was the first time the young man had dictated orders to them. The duo was smart enough to understand what type of people these men were, and there was disgust in their eyes. Still, they couldn’t help but glance at the lieutenant, wondering what their next step would be.
Lieutenant Mitchel clenched his teeth as his military training told him one thing, and his instincts told him another. The decision tore him apart until he glanced at the terrified faces of the children and imagined what would have happened if Vlad and Jormungandr had not been present.
As soon as the two soldiers heard that, they nodded, and each grabbed two of the men while Vlad took three.
"Make sure everybody is present, even the children."
Lieutenant Mitchel was surprised by those words. He knew what Vlad would do, and he came to accept it, but exposing the children to it was going too far.
"The world is too cruel; unfortunately, there is no time for innocence. These children must see what will happen and harden their hearts to survive in this new world."
Vlad saw the hesitation in Lieutenant Mitchel’s face and spoke with a somber voice. He did not want to do it and initially planned to keep the children away from the darkness, but this experience showed him that there were monsters in human flesh, and he would not always be present to protect them, so they needed to grow up and do it fast.
Lieutenant Mitchel opened his mouth, but no words came out, so he nodded. As he moved, he called for more soldiers.
The survivors of Good Side Town had been sleeping peacefully for the first time since the start of the apocalypse but were woken up in the middle of the night and brought to the central plaza by the soldiers. They were all confused about what was happening when they saw the young man with black eyes who had killed the massive Monster in front of a large tree, and with him were seven young men tied up and with blood leaking from their mouths.
Maron and his group had regained their consciousness, but they were so severely wounded that they could not move, and their eyes were full of fear and dread as they felt Vlad’s cold gaze on them.
Vlad glanced around the group and nodded as he saw Lieutenant Mitchel had brought all the survivors from Good Side Town. He could see the confusion and fear in the people’s faces and took a deep breath as he remembered his time as a soldier in his First Past Life.
"People of Good Side Town, I have arrested this group in the dinner hall where all the orphans were sleeping. Their goal was simple: take a little girl and do what they call ’children’s game.’ I will not sully myself by describing what they were going to do, but all of you should understand what their goal was."
Realization appeared in the eyes of the people of Good Side Town, and immediately, all the fathers and mothers pushed their children behind them, shielding them from the group. Even if Maron and the others were tied up, it was an instinctive response to protect them.
The people and soldiers gazed at Maron and his friends with nothing short of disgust as they began to speak among each other. Being at the receiving end of such gazes made almost all the group tremble in fear.
"Where is... the proof?"
Maron managed to shout those words, his eyes full of poisonous hatred as he turned toward Vlad. He did not stop as he turned to the rest of the people around him.
"I am a member of the Constantine Country. I demand a fair trial. If you do anything, you are an accessory to murder!"
Vlad’s eyes sharpened as he heard those words, and it seemed that Maron could react when it came to the breaking point.
When they heard those words, the rest of the young men smiled and shouted as well.
"You are committing a crime!"
Maron began to smile as he heard those words and saw how the people began to look at each other, and slowly, doubt and hesitation appeared on their faces. This was not the first time he had gotten into trouble due to his perversions, but he had always survived thanks to his father’s connections and had learned a few tricks along the way.
"They are right. The penal code of Constantine Country and its constitution demand they have a proper trial."