Shisha Sosei Chapter 1: Execution Order

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“I offer my sincerest condolences to you, Mr. Licht.”

“… Excuse me?”

To say the visit was unexpected would be an understatement.

Licht, who had worked as part of an S-rank party of adventurers, stood face to face with an old man whose face he felt he had seen somewhere before.

He was handed an ornate document, and suddenly found himself surrounded by over a dozen soldiers.

“What do you mean?”

Licht desperately sorted through his mind but he could not find an explanation for the scene before him.

Although he could not figure out the cause of it, Licht realized that he had no way of escaping from his current situation.

Nor were there any people nearby to whom he could cry for help.

He could only wait for the elder’s response.

“As you can see from the document, the kingdom has ordered for your execution. We hope that there are no harsh feelings on your end.”

“I’m going to be executed!? What did I ever do? I pay my taxes properly, I work as an adventurer—”

“—Your skill is a problem.”

Licht could not hide the look of surprise on his face from hearing the old man’s words.

Only the most serious of crimes would be punished with execution in this country.

Confusion quickly turned to anger. He was being punished for a crime which he had no recollection of ever committing.

“My skill… «Resurrection»? What’s wrong with it!?”

“Your skill is too dangerous. While there are people who have been aided by your skill, with the power to even resurrect monsters, it would be a big problem if it were abused. And rumor has it, it will even create something like zombies in the case of failure?”

“That’s completely absurd! How could I possibly abuse it anyway! And the thing about zombies is a total lie!”

The old man’s explanation only added to Licht’s frustration.

It was true that even monsters could be revived.

«Resurrection» did not only apply to dead humans.

But the idea of “abusing” it was a foreign concept to Licht’s mind.

As for creating zombies when the skill fails, Licht could not see that as anything other than a bald-faced fabrication.

In the first place, «Resurrection» never fails.

“Wait, that’s it! You can verify with everyone in my party!”

“In that case, may I ask for your input?”

“Eh?”

Responding to Licht, the old man shifted one step to the right.

There stood Allen, an S-rank adventurer and member of the same party as Licht.

Why are you here—Before Licht could finish his train of thought, Allen spoke in a sorrowful tone.

“Sorry Licht, but think about our position here. It’s not as if we can go against the king’s orders, right? If it helps, I believe I am speaking for all of us when I say that we will be forever grateful for your sacrifice”

“What are you talking about…? Without me the party will—”

“Sure, you helped us out a lot at the beginning. But at this point we’re never going to die simply from doing quests. In other words, your skill has lost all its value to us.”

Cold and disdainful words.

The words which outlined in absolute clarity Licht’s position and value in the party left him unable to respond.

As he was thinking of what words to follow with, Licht was effortlessly seized by a soldier.

“And that’s how it is. Please accept your punishment with grace. We thank you for the contributions you have made to king and country up until now.”

They did not wait for Licht to respond.

Pacified by blindfold and handcuffs, Licht was dragged away to meet his fate.

The last thing he saw was the figure of Allen being handed a large sum of money by the old man.

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