Those Who Break the Law Must Be Punished
If you broke the law, you had to face the punishment, right?
I had ordered a complete crackdown across the entire South on anyone who engaged in discrimination, hate speech, or violence against other races. In no time at all, countless people were dragged in from every corner of the South.
The overwhelming majority were ordinary citizens, but knights turned up among them as well from time to time. They still refused to accept that the South had fallen into Western hands, and some of them threw tantrums, resisting arrest outright.
"He's drawing out his aura. What do we do? If we use the minigun he'll just die, but the Great Chieftain only told us to capture them without killing anyone."
The orc newly assigned to southern public order frowned at the knight who was about to rampage with his aura drawn.
Killing him would have been the easiest thing in the world, but the minigun's firepower was so overwhelming that it was impossible to subdue someone without killing them.
"Ah, come to think of it, Isaac gave each regional security unit a different weapon! Didn't you bring yours?"
"Oh, that thing. Honestly, next to the minigun it's tiny. Smaller than our palms—hard to even grip."
"Then leave it to me!"
The Birdfolk who had been patrolling with him as a team pulled another weapon from his belt.
Compared to the minigun the orc was carrying, it looked almost ridiculously small. The knight, who had never personally experienced the power of a gun, snorted at the sight.
"You barbarians playing at being human are threatening me with toys now? There's not a single place for your kind in the South! If you don't want to be beaten to a pulp, get those disgusting faces out of my sight this instant—"
"I was going to let you off if you apologized, but you still haven't come to your senses? You're going to have to see Isaac. With this… uh… what was this thing called again?"
"He called it a Glock. Memorize it already."
"Sorry, Birdfolk don't have the best memory."
The Birdfolk answered with pure innocence, aimed the Glock at the knight's calf, and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Ghk… Aaaaaaagh!!!"
In the blink of an eye the knight took pistol rounds through both legs and a forearm; he screamed and crumpled forward.
"Kyaaaa! Wh-what was that sound?!"
"That Birdfolk did something! Everybody hide!"
Civilians who were hearing gunfire for the first time recoiled at the tremendous noise. More than anything, they were stunned that a knight radiating aura had been unable to do a thing before collapsing on the spot, pouring blood.
"Ooooh! This is pretty good! Light, doesn't take much strength either!"
"You handle that tiny thing pretty well. I can't even get my finger on the trigger, so the work's all yours."
"What?!"
The Glock pistols that had been issued first to the security personnel spat fire across the South against knights and mages who committed discriminatory acts and then rioted without a shred of remorse. Fear of guns began to spread through the South.
Ordinary people were subdued by orcs with almost no effort. The knights and mages who resisted were shot, dragged in, and I checked the numbers myself.
"What a spectacle. A real spectacle. Not even half a day and we've already topped a hundred and fifty. If this is just the ones who got caught in the crackdown, I can already picture the garbage they're still pulling in the places we haven't hit yet."
Thanks to their aura or protective magic, the knights and mages weren't critically wounded, but they were hurt badly enough that they couldn't put up a fight. They glared at me and started ranting the moment they saw me.
"Kh…! Lord Isaac, what is the meaning of this?! You clearly said you would not rule the South through violence!"
"I did say that, and that principle still holds. The only condition is that you lot treat our Western citizens as people deserving of the same respect. When you read the official notice I sent, did you only look at the part about the tax cut and skip the Demi-Human Protection Act I announced first because it was more important?"
I turned my gaze to Lumina.
"Lumina, it seems discrimination against demi-humans is so deeply ingrained in the South that they don't even realize what they're doing."
"Imperial people are all like that."
"I'm going to give you a few instructions. From this moment on, make sure this proclamation is posted on every notice board across the South."
That afternoon, a proclamation bearing Isaac's name went up on notice boards throughout the South.
— In the cities of Lizbel, Libera, Azran, and others, clear and concrete threats, discrimination, and hate crimes have been committed against Western demi-humans. Therefore I, Isaac, Chief Overseer of Western Demi-Humans and Temporary Southern Overseer, have determined that demi-humans cannot live in these cities without facing threat. All demi-human activity in the aforementioned cities is hereby suspended and they are to be recalled.
— Until the perpetrators of discrimination and hate crimes are fully apprehended, no further support provided through demi-humans will be extended to these cities. The abolition of the temporary tax is suspended until the perpetrators are arrested and measures to prevent recurrence are completed. The initial suspension period is set at one month; should the matter be resolved earlier, the temporary tax will be abolished immediately.
— The reason the temporary tax that was to be abolished is being reinstated is as follows. The temporary tax on luxury goods could be abolished only because of the enormous revenue generated by selling the vast resources produced in the West, which covered the South's temporary tax. Through these acts of discrimination and hate crime, however, the demi-humans who must handle Western resource production have suffered severe physical and mental harm and are unable to return to the production sites.
— Should any further discrimination, hate speech, or crime be discovered in the future, the responsible parties will be subject to heavy fines. Anyone who discovers and reports such acts will receive a bounty. Regions in which no discrimination or hate crime occurs whatsoever will be designated Demi-Human Coexistence Excellence Zones and will receive top priority for various benefits, including additional tax reductions.
— Citizens of the South have already received the benefits of reduced tax rates and the abolition of the temporary tax. I make no distinction between humans and demi-humans. Those who obey the law are protected regardless of race; those who break the law are punished regardless of race. Thus declares Isaac, Chief Overseer of Western Demi-Humans and Temporary Southern Overseer.
The moment the proclamation went up, public sentiment in the areas whose temporary-tax abolition had been suspended flared like wildfire—but the flames turned inward rather than toward Isaac, who had declared the tax abolished in the first place.
"These dog-fucking…! Who the hell threw rocks at the Leopardfolk on 2nd Street?! We finally didn't have to pay that damned temporary tax and now thanks to you bastards we have to pay it again!"
"I saw them! It was Peter, Jonathan, and Michael! Those sons of bitches are trying to wreck our livelihoods…!"
"These assholes have nothing better to do so they go around throwing rocks! Report them right now and hand them over! We are not paying that temporary tax again!"
"Find the bastard who spat on the orcs and threw eggs at them in Square Plaza! Do you know how much money goes out as temporary tax and you want us to pay it again?! Over my dead body!"
"I heard that if we get selected as a Coexistence Excellence Zone the taxes drop even more and they hand out all kinds of benefits. Shouldn't we form a neighborhood watch ourselves so these lunatics can't pull any more pointless crap?"
"Just try pulling some stupid shit that makes us pay the temporary tax again! I'll snap every last one of your wrists!"
Citizens who found themselves staring down the hammer of a revived temporary tax went into a frenzy and began taking the lead in hunting down anyone who had uttered discriminatory remarks, mockery, or committed crimes.
The number of people the crackdown units had brought in directly was a little over a hundred and fifty. Once the citizens started reporting one another, the number of people reported exceeded eight hundred in a single day.
Aside from the Birdfolk, most demi-humans possessed excellent memories, so they could tell at a glance whether someone had truly done those things to them. There was not a single false report among them.
"It's only been two days and nearly a thousand have been dragged in. What a complete mess."
"What shall we do with them, Isaac? There is nowhere here that can hold that many people."
At Lumina's words I tilted my head.
"Hold them? Why would we hold them here? There's a perfect place for them."
"Where is that?"
Instead of answering Lumina I called for Rondar, the Dwarf Chief Artisan.
"Rondar, I received a report not long ago that an enormous mine was discovered in the West."
"Ah, you mean the Aoz Mine? Adamantium, orichalcum, mithril—they're piled up like mountains. Bigger than any mine ever found in the West."
I grinned and issued orders to both Lumina and Rondar.
"Clamp special manacles that suppress mana on every mage and knight among the prisoners. Ordinary cuffs will do for the rest. Load the whole lot onto the trains and send them to the Aoz Mine for hard labor. Three months for anyone who made discriminatory or mocking remarks, six months for anyone who threw rocks or eggs, one year for anyone who threatened with weapons or magic. Rondar, I want you to head back to the West with them and resume development on the weapons that still aren't finished."
"Heh heh heh, just leave it to me, Overseer. With this many extra hands the work's going to be a real pleasure!"
Those who had committed crimes against demi-humans were clapped in irons together and shipped off to the Aoz Mine.
Particularly burly dwarves were waiting there; the moment they saw the newcomers arrive at the mine they bellowed.
"So these are the pathetic bastards who got to enjoy the temporary-tax exemption thanks to Western labor and production, yet still couldn't get their heads on straight and ended up dragged here? What did the Overseer call these types again…"
Another dwarf beside him whispered something in his ear, and the most vicious-looking dwarf picked up again.
"Right—you worthless maggots! You had the gall to trample the Overseer's mercy underfoot and pull real shit against Westerners! This body is going to beat that cheap southern trash out of your skulls and replace it with proper Western fighting spirit! The moment you lay eyes on this Aoz Mine, abandon all hope! As of today you maggots are no longer southerners—you will be reborn as Westerners overflowing with fighting spirit! All hands, grab your pickaxes—move!"
From that day onward, the wails of the southerners who had been dragged in never ceased at the Aoz Mine.