[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

Vertin x Schneider: My dearest stranger

"Miss Executioner! The time has come!"

A loud man's voice and the sound of the door being violently opened woke Vertin up from her nap after a long night of preparation.

'Preparation for what?' She vaguely asked herself.

Her head was still a little dizzy due to the lack of sleep, so the way the knight called her seemed so strange to her as well.

"The witch has been brought to the execution ground. People are waiting for your arrival!"

Although that extremely loud voice made her ears hurt a lot, it immediately reminded Vertin of her most important mission today - to execute a witch publicly. It was also one of the reasons why she had to stay up all night to prepare.

The other reasons were because–

"Don't think of sparing her by pretending that you are tired." The knight looked down on her and said in an obviously contemptuous tone, "Despite the fact that you and her are women, it's lucky of you to be the successor of the former executioner."

"Or else, your place was definitely in the kitchen, not in this house of your own."

–she was a woman and this execution was also her first one after her mentor was brutally assassinated by the rebel group.

The people above were scared of the loss of their force and at the same time, they wanted to show their authority, so they quickly decided to choose Vertin, the adopted child of the former executioner and a woman, to inherit the execution job.

To them, if a useless woman like her died, there would be no loss at all.

"I'm ready."

Vertin stood up from her seat and brought a big suitcase with diamond pattern along.

"Please lead the way."

She nodded and spoke to the knight wearing silver armor.

Seeing her calm manner, the man snorted but he didn't say anything more and began escorting her to the execution ground. As a clever knight, he knew that the woman before him played an important role in spreading his lord's name and authority to the people in their new territory.

That was why he needed to endure her arrogance for the large picture of their territory's brilliant future under his lord's regime!

As they were on their way, Vertin once again reviewed the circumstances and allegations as well as the background of the criminal who would be executed at 4 p.m.

It wasn't actually a part of her duty to do these things because the final verdict had been passed down by the court, nothing could be changed at this time.

However, there was a terribly strong urge inside her body telling her that something wasn't right!

'But the witch's execution happened many times when my teacher was still alive.'

'Even that person was actually guilty or not, if she was a woman and did things that a woman shouldn't do, she would eventually be brought to death by the hatred crowds and the liar nobles.'

'Just like the knight's previous words, I'm nothing but a bit more lucky woman than others. I can't do anything for that pitiful girl, except giving her a less painful death.'

Thoughts about the common sense of this era tried to overwhelm the doubts that were rising in Vertin's mind like mushrooms grew after rain. Still, they didn't have a chance to affect anything in that stubborn head.

She was an executioner, who was about to set her first step on the journey of reaping the lives of countless people, regardless of their crimes. Therefore, she must be more steadfast and cold-blooded than anyone on her own stage - the execution ground.