Chapter 207: A Suitable Punishment

"You bastard! Return me my son!" 

The woman sunk her claw like finger nails deep into the meat of the man kneeling down making him yowling out loud, but he can neither roll away nor stand up as he is pinned to the ground with his hands tied up behind his back making him experience probably the worst level of pain that he has ever experienced in entire life. The guards standing by the stage quickly stopped the lady from continuing her attack, and it took three men to pull the lady back from the stage.

Antonius frowned, although he did expect the locals to have a deep, loathing resentment towards these land lords, but he certainly did not expect such behaviors, with this he made a cough and asked the lady to calm down in a stern tone. 

"Dear lady, I understand that you have some unfortunate accidents with this man over here, but please control yourself, try to maintain the correct manner at all times, and please, kindly tell me what has this bastard done to my son." 

That lady finally lost her burst of energy collapsing onto the ground panting, with tears flowing down from the corner of her eyes. She tried her best to stand up and answered Antonius' question pointing at the man biting her teeth. "My lord, this man… this bastard over here, forcefully took my twelve years old son from me saying that he needs a new and unique bowl, and then… and then he dug my pitiful son entirely to the ground, exposing only half of his head over ground surface, suffocating my poor boy to the very end of his life putting a full stop at only eleven years of age… My lord, what sin did my boy make to deserve this?" 

"I see." Antonius looked at the woman with a poker face, despite the fact that he is clenching his fists so hard beneath that his veins are protruding out of his skin. He looked at the kneeling man with his eyes as calm as water. "Do the defendant want to say anything?" 

However, the kneeling land lord seems to be having a little bit of mental trauma inside the head of the kneeling land lord. Instead of answering Antonius' question began shaking violently and after the sailors guarding him checked on his conditions, they bursted into a series of guffaws. 

The man pissed in his pants.

Seeing the once so mighty, prestigious, powerful land lord looking like a Pierrot in front of their own eyes, the crowd at first could not believe what they have just saw comparing this piss pot with that lord who used to crash open their doors coming in to ransack whatever valuables they catch their eyes on in the name of 'collecting taxes'. 

Seeing this the local islanders no longer hesitated. One after another they came forward in a queue lining up to accuse the fat land lord of the past horrendous deeds he has inflicted on the people. 

Antonius, Anjelo and Abdullah on the stage are actually awed hearing one after another deed this man kneeling down have done in the past, with one being more cruel, dreadful and absurd than the other. They had a pretty hard time imagining how these atrocities can possibly be done by only one man, on a small island with only not more than a thousand inhabitants. 

From confiscating the boats, fishing nets, grains for sowing next spring in the name of paying the tax money they owe to the land lord causing an entire death to die of starvation in Autumn season. 

To forcefully taking the daughter of a widower man who went out fishing, threaten her into doing obscene stuff back in the estate. Then later when the old fisherman came back, he found his daughter, covered in violet bruises and scarlet rashes, have hung herself on the ceiling from a stood. He too later followed the path of his daughter as she is his only family member left in this world. 

And when this land lord is fearing that he is slowly becoming bold because of his increasing age, he ordered his rogues to set up check points on the island with sheers forcing every one to stop and get their hair cut, the hair is later brought back to the land lord to be pasted onto his head making him look like he is still young. 

Antonius thinks that he has heard enough. 

But just as he is about to thrust up from his seat ordering the immediate execution of this faggot, Abdullah pulled him back into his seat slightly shaking his head passing Antonius a message through his eyes. 

Antonius resisted, until he trial of the first man lasted until evening as the sun goes down, the star goes up. Antonius had to order his men to lit torches in the premise and cater dinner to let the trial continue. And after hearing the statements of the last man, he stood up from the chair, and threw an arrow on the table hard on the wooden planks announcing the destiny of this man – He shall be executed at once before the eyes of every single person here, including his own family. 

The process is exceptionally quick for him, with the swing and slash of the Varangian axe waved by an experienced Norse neck cutter, the land lord whose sins cannot be described with plain words finally went to the other world with his mind still conscious as if it sent flying seeing his own body and blood gushing out from his neck. 

To be honest, Antonius has the feeling that this kind of punishment is too light for the horrendous crime the man has committed, but he knows that if he starts to punish criminals by methods of torture, it shall become a habit of him in the future, like a bottle of poison with the sumptuous aroma of sweetness luring him to take it.