I Own A Brothel In Another World (Ch. 1-196)

Chapter 39 - Public Execution

After arriving a bit closer, a small stage with four stocks which are often used to restrain criminals enters our sight. There's a person in each of them. Or specifically, a demi-human. A small crowd has gathered around the makeshift stage and is curiously observing the spectacle unfolding in front of their eyes.

We push through some people to get a bit better view. I notice a man dressed in quite a noble-looking clothes walking around the elevated area. Besides him, there's one more person, holding a long and heavy axe. Their clothes are much less aristocratic, they just wear a leather vest and pants.

I focus on the stocks. The demi-humans being held in them are of some kind of a lizard-like race. There are three women and one man and they are all completely naked, having their heads and wrists locked in the wooden structures.

Their skin looks pretty much like your usual Human. The features that make them stand out are, first of all, the scales around their bodies. Trying my best to catch as many details as I can, I discern that those are similar to a dragon's scales.

They cover the outer areas of their limbs to some extent, like starting on top of the foot, going up along the front of their legs, stopping and joining just above their nether regions, then branching to the sides and moving to their backs, leaving their bellies and chests exposed while the area around the back is covered in those scales, also leaving a little window along the spine, then joining again around the shoulders and the collarbone, going up the sides and back of the neck and ending around their cheeks. The scales also travel over the top of their arms, finishing on the backs of their hands.

Another very distinct feature is their lizard-like tail. It's not very wide and thick, more like long and agile. From the looks, it seems like they can control it very well and I can imagine this race being able to grab things or fight with their tails easily. And the last parts to mention are their horns. They all have them sprouting out from above or behind their ears in the form of a sharp spike or two, matching the colour of their scales.

From all those details and the fact that most of their appearance is similar to that of a Human, including their faces and hair, I have an idea on what they are. If I'm not mistaken, the four people locked in the stocks are members of the Dragonewt race. All Lizardfolk have their whole bodies covered in scales and their tails are much tougher looking, so I don't think they are some rare variant, not with those horns.

I catch a glimpse of Elea's expression turning a bit sour as she watches the man circling the prisoners. Being too focused on trying to figure out who the people on the stage are, I stopped paying attention to the words of the crowd and the noble. Fixing that mistake, I move my gaze to him and listen closely.

"—ore, we need more people! This has to serve as an example! All those dirty scoundrels living in our city need to hear of this! They need to know what happens when they dare to raise a hand against our people! Against nobles! Against me!" the man screams to the crowd which is cheering after every other sentence.

「Example? Example of what? The hell are they doing in the middle of the square—」

While I'm pondering over this whole ordeal, my eyes move from the demi-humans onto the man holding the axe, who is just now beginning to walk closer to the convicts. Suddenly, the word example connects with the weapon, or rather a tool, in this case, in my head, and the intentions of that noble clear up to me immediately. My eyes go wide.

「Surely, they aren't going to hold a public—」

Unfortunately, they are going to prove me wrong even before I finish my thought as the muscular man with the blade finishes walking to the first locked person and nonchalantly drops the axe onto their neck from above, beheading the poor girl with yellow scales. Her head lands in some container, which we can't see from our position, with a soft thump.