Chapter 75: Judgment After the Battle

"Demacia!"

When Garen saw the regret flicker in Akin's eyes in his final moments, he mercifully granted him a glorious death.

In Garen's eyes, Akin's evil had reached the full measure of 100%—at least according to his own uncompromising sense of justice. To him, Akin was no loyal and honorable samurai, but the second-in-command of a notorious terrorist syndicate.

And just as Garen anticipated, Akin's death inspired no pity or sorrow from anyone. As the sword of justice descended upon Akin's head, Garen saw only the joy and satisfaction on the faces of countless laborers, heard only the thunderous cheers that shook the heavens and earth.

“Garen! Garen!”

The laborers began to chant his name—a name that had been but a stranger to them. The voices swelled, rising in wave after wave, until they merged into an overwhelming force.

Empowered by this force, the laborers found courage, the pirates felt terror, and even bystanders like Vivi were swept up in the surge of emotion.

Garen, the knight of justice, was transformed from merely a name into an ideal, a hope, a symbol.

Basking in the glory of the crowd's adoration, Garen turned his blade toward the remaining pirates.

Though called the “remnants,” the pirates still numbered in the thousands.

Since Garen set foot on the island, the pirates had suffered five or six hundred casualties. Of these, Garen himself had slain just over a hundred; many more had died in the chaos—either suppressed during riots by Krieg or as victims of the poison gas. But the largest number had perished in the stampedes that broke out in their panic to flee.

As he chased after them, Garen felt a twinge of regret at the sight of the bodies strewn about—these pirates had died from fear of him, yet the system refused to credit those kills to his name.

And even after slaying Akin, Garen still lacked the experience points needed to reach level seven.

So, without hesitation, he turned and charged at the vast ranks of pirate foot soldiers.

But before he could even take two steps, the pirates in his line of sight all dropped to their knees at once.

At first, only those in the front row facing Garen knelt and begged for mercy, but soon, like a wave sweeping through their ranks, they all followed suit, and the entire formation sank to the ground in one collective motion.

The sound of knees thudding onto the earth rang out in unison, creating an extraordinary display of submission.

And this grand gesture of surrender had its intended effect: Garen halted his advance.

He held no fondness for these pirates—every member of the Krieg Pirate Crew had joined willingly, fully aware of Krieg's wickedness, choosing to serve evil for personal gain.

But the pirate crew was five thousand strong: among them were warehouse keepers, gate guards, patrolmen, and sentries—many had likely never even seen bloodshed.

They were guilty, but not all deserved death.

In the heat of battle, confronting them as enemies, Garen could strike down these pirates who fought for Krieg out of greed without hesitation.

But once they had laid down their arms and surrendered, Garen could not bring himself to kill prisoners indiscriminately just to level up.

This was a critical boundary:
It might not be perfectly accurate, but it was necessary.
Without such restraint, one could become a monster, wielding power without conscience.

Having suddenly gained great strength and risen above others, Garen constantly reminded himself not to lose his way, not to see human lives as mere experience points to be harvested.

He had no desire to earn himself dreadful titles such as “Red Dog the Second,” “Death Knight,” or “The Thousand-Slayer.”

Gazing at the pirates groveling en masse, Garen sighed softly and planted his greatsword firmly into the ground.

He swept his gaze over the throng and called out in a loud, clear voice:

“Put your weapons on the ground in a pile, then squat down with your hands behind your heads!”

The pirates let out a collective sigh of relief, their numbers so great that even the faintest exhalations merged into a roar.

Garen's effortless defeat of Krieg and Akin, the awe-inspiring effects of his radiant sword, and his renown as the “Knight of Justice” in the newspapers made his commands irresistibly compelling to the pirates.

Obediently, they rose, discarded their weapons, returned to their places, and adopted the most non-threatening posture as instructed.

Garen then turned to the laborers who had followed him and ordered,

“Send people to collect the weapons and guard the prisoners!”

Though this laborer force had formed spontaneously during the uprising, it had naturally developed a simple command structure:

Garen, the hero, was recognized as the leader; Nami, Wallace, and Dux, who had landed with him, were tacitly accepted as the officers of the rebel band.

A few laborers who had earned respect and trust among their peers also emerged as junior leaders with some authority.

Upon hearing Garen’s command, old Dux—the former mayor—reacted immediately, gathering the laborers behind him to begin collecting the pirates’ weapons as instructed.

Nami quickly adapted to her new role as a provisional officer, volunteering to serve as the search leader and organizing a team to comb the island for loot left behind by the Krieg pirates.

Thanks to Garen’s strength and absolute authority, this ad hoc leadership achieved remarkable efficiency: collecting weapons, guarding prisoners, searching for valuables, hunting down stragglers—these tedious tasks were all carried out in an orderly fashion by the newly formed laborer force.

Thus, Garen, as the leader, found himself with little to do, wandering idly about the square, overseeing the masses of captives amid the crowd of laborers.

“Just a little more experience and I’ll be level seven…”

“Why couldn’t you all have surrendered a little later?”

Garen muttered to himself as he gazed at the crowds of pirates who had surrendered en masse.

Because he refused to kill those whose crimes did not warrant death, Garen had never slain surrendered pirate foot soldiers. And so, he now found himself in the awkward position of lacking enough experience points.

“Wait…”

After a moment’s thought, an idea struck Garen.

He stood before the pirates and, in a voice that rang out to every corner, announced:

“All those who served as officers in the Krieg Pirate Crew, step forward voluntarily!”

For the sake of effective command, the Krieg Pirate Crew had established many squad leader roles below the two chief combat captains.

But at Garen's words, the pirates fell utterly silent.

Not a single one moved.

Garen frowned and spoke more sternly:

“I’ll give you three minutes!”

“If you won’t step forward yourselves, then those beside you will point you out!”

“Otherwise…”

He left the threat hanging, the unspoken consequence sending a chill through the crowd.

After a brief commotion, the pirates needed only a minute to produce dozens of unlucky souls, their faces ashen with dread.

As soon as they stepped forward, they fell to their knees, stammering out pleas for mercy.

“Don’t panic…”

Garen quietly hefted his greatsword, his expression calm.

“I am not a man who kills without reason.”

“Calling you officers forward is to ensure your crimes receive a fair trial.”

At the word “trial,” the pirate officers exchanged uneasy glances, uncertain what fate awaited them or how justice would be served.

Garen, meanwhile, seized one at random and instructed,

“Stand straight!”

“Yes, sir!” the pirate replied, snapping to attention, trembling as he awaited his judgment.

After a few tense seconds, the pirate cried out in terror,

“Sir Knight! You said you’d judge me—why are you drawing your sword?”

Garen swung his door-wide blade.

“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.”

“Demacia!”