Chapter 39
Hanging Square
The precise location of Law Enforcement Plaza was at the southeastern corner of White Queen District, where it intersected with Lloyd District. It was connected to these two areas by Prince Lloyd Avenue. This was the site of the Avalon Kingdom’s Law Enforcement Hall a very, very long time ago. Even after the Law Enforcement Hall was abolished and its functions were merged into the Court of Justice, and the Minister of Law Enforcement became the administrator of the Court of Justice, residents still called this place Law Enforcement Plaza.
Eivass did not walk to Law Enforcement Plaza. Instead, he took a carriage with Annie Alexander and his own son.
“Let me test you, Annie,” Eivass said, sitting in the carriage, his fingers interlaced, holding Lulu’s hand. To keep her from being bored and to relieve her stress, Eivass casually asked, “Do you know which district Law Enforcement Plaza belongs to?”
“…Lloyd District, I suppose,” Lulu hesitated for a moment before realizing that “Annie” was calling her name. Without hesitation, she replied, “After all, it’s on the east side of Prince Lloyd Avenue.”
“But in the eyes of the residents of Lloyd District, Law Enforcement Plaza has never belonged to Lloyd District.”
“…Eh?” Lulu was taken aback. “Why?”
“Because it’s paved entirely with marble, with wide, flat ground and many pure white buildings as official symbols. It doesn’t fit the ‘port area’ style of Lloyd District, but rather resembles the street and building styles of White Queen District.” The biggest difference between the White and Red Queen Districts was the color of the roads and buildings. Most buildings in White Queen District were based on white, and the roads were also white or grayish-white; Red Queen District tended more towards brown, dark brown, and reddish-brown.
“Now that you mention it, it does make some sense,” Lulu nodded thoughtfully.
“However, from another perspective, the residents of White Queen District also do not consider Law Enforcement Plaza to be part of White Queen District.” Eivass’s lips curved slightly into a slightly wicked smile. “Because it’s too dirty—the environment is dirty and smelly, and the public order is chaotic. Starting with the previous King Tudor III, people preferred to call it Hanging Square—”
…Why?
The doubt just arose in Lulu’s mind. But in the next moment, her pupils began to tremble violently! Not long after Mr. Fox finished speaking, she saw two full rows of gallows on the marble plaza. Two rows of corpses hung quietly above. Exactly forty of them. About six or seven of them showed obvious signs of decay, with flies buzzing around the bodies. The remaining executed bodies were relatively fresh, at most two days old. More than half of the clothes on the corpses were tattered, and many had obvious bloodstains and mutilations on their faces and bodies. Some had their abdomen hollowed out, and some were missing limbs. It was unclear whether these were inflicted before or after death.
Although hanging was more civilized than beheading, there was a faint, lingering smell of blood from the plaza, seeping through the carriage. Lulu subconsciously tried to break free from Eivass’s grasp, covering her mouth. She was afraid she would vomit involuntarily and appear impolite. However, Eivass held on tightly, and she couldn’t break free. Instead, he tightened his grip on Lulu’s hand, squeezing until she felt a slight pain. But because of this, Lulu was distracted and managed to slightly dispel the strong sense of discomfort in her heart.
“Are you alright, Annie?” Eivass asked with feigned concern, “Haven’t you been to Law Enforcement Plaza before?”
“…This is the first time I’ve seen so many corpses,” she murmured in a low voice. “I’ve seen quite a few dead people. I’m used to coming into contact with death…” However, this was the first time she had seen such a “cruel death.” She thought she would vomit, but in the end, she didn’t. Lulu now only felt a silent visual shock.
“Sunday is execution day. We missed the execution day… On Sundays, many people who have free time come to watch executions. That’s also when pickpockets are most active.” As Eivass spoke, the carriage passed a corpse hanging high up. Lulu’s astonished and somewhat fearful gaze fell on its hideous face, which was missing an eyeball and half covered in blood. Whispering in her ear, Eivass wickedly pointed at the corpse and murmured, “Look, this body is still fresh, only died two days ago. Otherwise, there would be maggots in his eye sockets… His eyeballs were probably stolen and sold on the black market. Some rituals of Demon Scholars require a man’s left eye—look at the tear in his crotch, whatever was in there was probably stolen too.”
“It seems that thirty-three people were executed this week. Because there are still seven corpses from last week.”
“…Is that a lot or a little?”
“In this era, it’s quite normal,” Eivass only answered halfway. Fourteen years later, the execution rate on Glass Island had decreased significantly. But that wasn’t because public order had improved… it was because of the mining area collapse incident seven or eight years later, which required more laborers.
“Fifty years ago… oh, more than thirty years ago, that was the peak period for executions. Even very minor crimes like theft were punishable by death, and death was not the end, nor was it the harshest punishment—there was a lot of cruel torture before death, and some after death…” Queen Sophia abolished thirteen cruel executions, including beheading, and only retained hanging. She also significantly reduced the penalties for other crimes… Many crimes that were previously punishable by death are now only punished by exile, imprisonment, or labor. During wartime, there was even a chance to atone for one’s crimes by meritorious service…
As Eivass spoke, the carriage suddenly stopped.
“Sir,” the gruff carriage driver said, “How do I get to the bar you mentioned?”
“Oh, we’re almost there,” Eivass replied gently and kindly. “You can just drop us off here.”
“Then you better be careful of the Strangler Gang,” the driver kindly warned. “Also, it’s five copper coins just to this point—I’ll give you half a copper coin discount.” Avalon’s copper sand dollars didn’t have a minimum denomination of “1.” Below that were half-copper coins and quarter-copper coins, with sizes roughly two-thirds and half that of a one-copper coin, respectively. These were less commonly used subsidiary coins. The quarter-copper coins had been discontinued twenty years ago. The half-copper coins had also been discontinued five years ago, with only existing stock circulating in the market. But now, fourteen years ago, half-copper coins were still a relatively common unit.
Hearing this, Eivass looked at Lulu. Lulu stared for a moment before realizing the money might be in her hand. She fumbled for a bit, then took out a red coin and walked forward, politely handing it to the driver with both hands. This red coin was equivalent to ten copper coins, twice the price.
“No need for change, sir,” she said earnestly. “You’ve worked hard.”
“You truly are beautiful and generous, madam,” the carriage driver praised, then happily took the money and left. After he left, Eivass walked over with a smile.
“You should remember that everything here is fake, right?” he said softly.
“I remember,” Lulu nodded, her expression somewhat complicated. “I just feel… even if they are fake, my feelings at this moment are real. I don’t know what I can do… so I can only give him some money.”
“That’s leaning a bit towards the Path of Devotion, my dear Annie?” Eivass said indifferently.
“I don’t care,” she said without hesitation. “Like other children born on Glass Island, I was educated in the Path of Authority from a young age, but I still chose the Path of Beauty. Because I just want to do what I want to do… what I think I should do. I just like the rules of this path and its Mystical Arts. Not for the Extraordinary Abilities it brings me, nor do I intend to bind my own personality and life to it.” Lulu, who always appeared indecisive and lacking confidence, spoke a great deal of things Eivass hadn’t mentioned when discussing this topic, as if touching on a sensitive spot.
“…That won’t be easy,” just then, a cold and young voice, deliberately lowered, suddenly sounded from behind them. A young newsboy, who had been staring at them motionlessly since they got off the carriage, suddenly walked over and softly said sarcastically, “You are walking on a path that is naive and extremely dangerous. The path of the extraordinary is destined to abandon humanity… Mrs. Lulu.”
