As the freshly severed head flew through the air, the intense pressure which had been pressing down on the 9 remaining soldiers from the Herald City Garrison finally ebbed, allowing them to breath again.
Despite being relieved of this pressure, however, none of them dared to lift their heads, much less get back to their feet.
They might have been able to act arrogant and unruly in front of the countryside hicks from Redwood Town, but in front of the Matriarch of the Balfour Marquess Family, one of the 10 Generals of the Rockwell Kingdom, none of them dared to display the slightest disrespect.
After all, their Squad leader, a nephew of the current Patriarch of the Baker Count Family, had just been executed without so much as a moment's hesitation by this woman.
If even he could be killed without a second thought, what were they supposed to count for?
Ordinarily, it was impossible to just sentence a noble to death, regardless of how low their status was or what their alleged crimes were. All judgements were supposed to go through the Ministry of Justice before any kind of punishment was meted out.
If the matter was between a commoner and a noble, the noble or their family could usually exert pressure on the ministry, making it difficult, if not impossible, to really hold them accountable.
This wasn't supposed to happen, but everyone with any sense knew that it did.
As a result, the number of complaints filed against nobles by commoners were quite low to begin with, and the number of filed cases won by commoners was even lower.
When it was a noble versus another noble, the complicated relationships forged through centuries of alliances, marriages, and intertwined interests were normally enough to find alternative methods of settling disputes, such as light punishments for the involved parties or financial compensation.
However, there were always exceptions to the norm.
Military Law was far stricter than the Kingdom Law, especially when the kingdom was at war, allowing high ranking officers to deliver harsh punishments with almost no restrictions or consequences if it meant maintaining discipline or morale on the battlefield.
What happened just now, with General Celestina Balfour executing Captain Riley Baker, was a perfect example of this.
Of course, even if that weren't the case, no one here would have dared to object even if Marquess Balfour decided to simply kill Riley out of spite; after all, he had insulted her to her face.
In the end, strength is what ultimately decided justice, and in a contest between Celestina and Riley, or the Balfours and the Bakers, there was simply no way for the latter to win.
As for whether there would be repercussions from this act, the soldiers from Herald City highly doubted it.
Even if Riley's mother, a cousin of the current Count Baker, went to Richard and demanded justice for her son, once Celestina Balfour testified that Riley had called her a 'bitch' in front of over 100 witnesses, the cowardly Count would likely drop to his knees then and there and beg for mercy while doing everything in his power to distance himself from his deceased nephew.
"Get up," a stern voice cut through the chilling silence.
Not daring to delay, the 9 remaining Harold City garrison soldiers hurriedly got to their feet and stood at attention, desperately trying to not make direct eye contact with the General.
Sweeping her gaze over these sorry excuses for soldiers, Celestina felt her anger rising again.
She had a whole mountain of things she wanted to dress them down for, but now wasn't the time to be cleaning house, so she simply ordered, "I am temporarily transferring you to my command. Report to the barricades in the west of town and join the defence line. If I hear a single complaint about your performance in the coming days…"
Though she left the rest unsaid, with a headless corpse lying right in front of them, the soldiers got the message and hastily saluted, swearing to do their utmost to live up the General's expectations, before dashing off, not even asking for directions to the barricades.
Flicking the blood off her spear, Celestina returned it to her back before turning to the crowd, "I apologize for the misconduct of the kingdom's soldiers. I will ensure that this does not happen again."
Finished with what she had to do, the General returned to the manor to attend to other matters.
It was only after Celestina had left that the ordinary townsfolk and villagers came back to their senses and lowered their heads in silent thanks. A noble standing up for the common people wasn't unheard of in the Rockwell Kingdom, but it was rare enough that when it happened, showing gratitude was only natural.
Lucas and Drake both walked out from the crowd a moment later, heading over to Farah who they both thanked again.
"There's no need for thanks," the middle-aged butcher grunted, "Even if I hadn't acted, Teacher would never have allowed things to escalate any further."
Raising his brow, Lucas realized with those words that although he hadn't noticed it, his Master must have been monitoring the situation all along with her Soul Sense. The reason she hadn't intervened sooner was likely so she could cleanly settle things in one go.
If Celestina had come out before the attack happened, while it might have been possible to calm the rowdy soldiers and even force them to remain quiet, the level of deterrence such 'soft' measures would have provided were incomparable to the swift execution of a ringleader.
It was a brutal kind of calculation that Lucas couldn't quite agree with given the peaceful life he was used to living, but remembering just how rampant Riley Baker had been, he also couldn't argue with the results.
"In any case, I'm here for a different reason," Farah continued, "I heard that you're looking for all the best blacksmiths and leather workers. I might not be a professional tanner, but I've had a fair amount of experience handling leather, so I should be of some help."
"Oh, that would be great," Lucas commented, "Aunt Farah's experience in the army will also surely come in handy."
"En, we'll have to depend on Senior Farah's knowledge regarding the Tartans themselves," Drake concurred, "But first we need to get the forge up and running."
Now in agreement, the trio, along with a few other volunteers they recruited, quickly got to work.
The first step was as Drake mentioned, driving the wagon out to his house and then unloading the new furnace.
There were several pieces to this Tier 3 forge, so it took the rest of the daylight hours for it to be assembled into the pre-existing structure, but as soon as they were done and Drake performed a quick safety check, he began stoking it with charcoal, planning to work through the night.
Next, Lucas and Farah took a horse out to the eastern edge of town where the Sunchaser and a few Tartans were currently resting.
Upon arrival, the pair were greeted by a sight that resembled a small military camp, with several of the nearby houses having been requisitioned to serve as temporary barracks and armories, while a few volunteer defenders were patrolling the perimeter.
Hubert Levins, one of the Spirit Initiates who had arrived with Celestina, had sensed Farah's approach and came out to greet her and Lucas as well as ask them why they were here.
Farah was still recovering from serious injuries and was in no condition to fight, while Lucas was barely more than a child and simply couldn't fight, so their presence in the camp must be for something other than combat.
Upon being asked this question, Farah was initially confused, but quickly recalling that Allina Crest had left yesterday in order to organize a large group of reinforcements from Misty City, she understood.
Celestina Balfour was an outstanding general, warrior, teacher, and leader, but if she had one flaw, it was that she hated filling out paperwork and following proper procedures, to the point where she often dumped all such things onto her aides.
As a General and a Marquess, Celestina was naturally capable of handling administrative tasks, but it was well known among her subordinates that if she could avoid them, she would.
Remembering certain instances from the past where this aversion to filing forms had gotten her old teacher into trouble brought a slight grin to Farah's face before she quickly explained, "We're here on orders from the General. We need to remove one of the anchors from the Sunchaser, ropes, attachments, and all, and one of the harnesses from the Tartans."
Commander Levins, one of the oldest veterans of the Raging River Legion, immediately understood what was going on. He had been serving in the army since Celestina assumed her role as General some 200 years ago, so he was well aware of how lax his commanding officer could get with communication and paperwork when her adjutants weren't around.
Chuckling slightly, the old man was slightly curious about why the General suddenly wanted a Skyship anchor, but with literal centuries of training under his belt, he knew better than to ask unnecessary questions and simply nodded, "Understood. The resting Tartans are already unharnessed, so getting a harness won't take long, but it'll take at least half-an-hour for us to fully remove one of the Sunchaser's anchors."
It was a reasonable timeline, so Farah simply nodded, "Alright. Just work as fast as you can."
Nodding, old man Levins was about to turn back when Farah suddenly called out, "Also, stop sending out patrols and hunting parties. The General wants to concentrate all our current strength in one place for now."