Before Baron Hopman left, he witnessed the execution of Mage Slynn.

—This was part of the deal. Baron Hopman personally confirmed Slynn’s execution, then Johnny Colin prepared the poison, allowing Baron Hopman to personally serve it, watching as the baroness drank it. In this way, both parties could confirm the death of the other’s personnel, leaving no room for trickery.

The execution took place in a large courtyard. Mage Slynn, wearing anti-magic handcuffs, was escorted to the center of the courtyard and led up to the gallows. The area was densely packed with black-robed mages, with Grom, the mage from Black Crow Swamp and the on-duty committee member, flying mid-air, overseeing the necromancers below:

“Slynn Nain, a level six mage, affiliated with Black Crow Swamp. For personal reasons, she deliberately released a plague curse on animals near the city’s water source, contaminating the water and causing an epidemic. To date, it has resulted in 1,352 people falling ill, 85 deaths, and direct economic losses of over ten thousand gold coins.

According to the kingdom’s laws and the council’s regulations for managing mages, Mage Slynn is sentenced to death, to be executed today. All personal assets and the mage tower are to be confiscated and handed over to the council as compensation for those affected by the plague.

—Mage Slynn, do you have any last words, or any final wishes?”

Slynn slowly raised her head. Days in prison had not worsened her complexion: her face could not get any paler. She looked around at the necromancers standing in the courtyard:

Among them were her mentor, her former classmates, elders she admired but never had the chance to learn from, peers she was not very familiar with but had met, and her apprentices from the mage tower, huddled in a corner, their futures disrupted and faces blank...

Mage Slynn turned to look at her sister’s cell and lowered her gaze. As she turned, she suddenly saw Mage Edgar standing quietly below the platform, which startled her, and she took a step forward:

“Your Excellency Mage Edgar, is Mage Lynn here?”

“What?”

Mage Edgar looked up.

Lynn was not called to the execution today. First, the epidemic hospital had just been busy, and Lynn, following Garrett, was nearly worn out. Moreover, Mage Edgar felt that his disciple, being around Garrett, would likely be influenced for the better, making him more trustworthy.

So, Lynn took the day off to meet a friend who had come from afar, and Mage Edgar turned a blind eye, letting him go.

Now, it seemed it was good that he hadn’t come—God knows what this woman, who poisoned a city, wanted with Lynn?

His aversion was visible. Slynn smiled bitterly:

“Rest assured, I didn’t mean him any harm. I just wanted to ask—if I could touch his cat-shaped magical beast?”

“For what?”

“I just wanted to touch it...” the female mage looked wistful:

“That cat was originally intended for me by the mentor... If I had received it then, I wouldn’t have harbored hatred, and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have done what I did... I’m about to die, I just wanted to touch it once...”

“What’s going on?” Grom, the committee member, descended and asked with a frown: “You’re taking his belongings?”

His rank and authority were higher than Edgar’s, prompting Mage Edgar to try to recall the event. However, the matter of a magical beast from years ago was blurry in his memory, only a vague impression remained:

“At that time, Lynn was about to travel, and I asked a friend to find a magical beast for his protection, many years ago... I don’t recall him mentioning anyone else wanting it?”

“Your Excellency Mage Edgar.” Slynn’s mentor made his way through the crowd. In just five or six days, his hair had turned significantly white. The old mage bowed deeply before Edgar, pleading:

“I failed that adventure, almost didn’t make it back, and I wasn’t entitled to that magical beast. But this child has been fixated on it, and now that she’s about to die, this final wish of hers, please—”

“What about her final wish?” Mage Edgar suddenly darkened his expression:

“Just a few days ago, I was helping at the epidemic hospital, treating dozens of patients. I remember a little girl, clutching her stomach in pain, passing away before she could be treated. I was nearby when she said with her dying breath, ’Mom, when I get better, can you take me to the beach to collect shells—’”

“Isn’t her wish a wish? Isn’t her life a life? What about the 85 deceased, aren’t their lives lives? Why should their final wishes go un

fulfilled, yet we should try to fulfill Slynn’s wish?

Is it because she poisoned, cursed, and killed innocent civilians, it’s others’ fault, or because someone didn’t give her a magical beast?!”

“...Well said.” Committee member Grom nodded slowly. He turned to the necromancers below, raising his voice:

“My fellow practitioners, as spellcasters, we wield great power, but this power is not a license for us to harm others at will. Especially us necromancers, known for our eerie and terrifying abilities, often feared and loathed by others.

Therefore, to ensure smoother interactions with outsiders when we venture out, we must exhibit greater self-discipline than other spellcasters. Today’s execution of Mage Slynn is to let everyone witness her fate, as a warning!

—Proceed with the execution!”

At the command, a black hood was placed over the female mage’s head, a noose was fitted around her neck, and she was hoisted up. The trapdoor beneath her feet suddenly opened, and after a series of struggles from intense to faint, the female mage hung silently on the gallows, truly becoming a corpse.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes... until her life essence was confirmed to have dissipated completely, Grom raised his palm, from which a pale flame burst forth. In the flames, the body quickly turned to ashes, a breeze from afar swept them away, dispersing into the sea waves.

The bodies, flesh, and souls of necromancers cannot be made into undead beings or used by others again. This is Black Crow Swamp’s final, remaining kindness to a fellow practitioner who has erred.

The poisoning case thus came to an end. Baron Hopman preserved his family’s reputation, the council acquired a knight’s fief with one hand, and compensated Viscount Calrend for his losses with the other—including the complete demolition of twelve buildings, the water supply company’s license revoked and business ceased, and payments to the temple for epidemic treatment costs, as well as care for displaced victims’ families...

Breaking even, neither a loss nor a gain.

As for the cost of demolition, they courteously requested the Lord of Thunder for a fierce firestorm, since Garrett was also from their kinetic energy faction.

The only trouble was the unnecessary increase in cash pressure, causing the council’s accountants to lose a few hundred more strands of hair.

And Garrett’s public health system, water supply network, and epidemic hospital once again solidified their presence.

However, as the saying goes, "A tree that stands out in the forest is often the first to be cut down." With the epidemic hospital’s patients just cleared, there were already people in the city hall, the review committee, and among various authorities, stirring up trouble:

"How can a third-level mage preside over such important matters?"

"Arresting people all over the streets, causing panic throughout the city, too domineering!"

"So many patients died, clearly showing the young mage’s lack of ability!"

"When the incident occurred, the entire hospital was in chaos, relying on the emergency management department and city hall to send help! Obviously, if the person in charge had sufficient ability, how could it have become like this?"

"Not choosing someone else to manage the hospital, do we wait for the next incident to let a third-level mage negotiate on equal terms with the high archbishop of the God of War temple and the high priest of the Spring Goddess temple?"

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay