“Here. Meat sticks, two. Thanks for coming.”

A Human-like man with dark hair handed two meat skewers over to a Goblin. He let out a small sigh and went back to cooking the next batch. Suddenly, a strong arm caught his neck from behind.

“You’ve got that last phrase down, at least, Axel,” a woman’s voice teased cheerfully.

“Too rough, Kogiri,” he coughed. The High Orc released him and took a look into their profits box.

“Hmm, no worse than usual. At least you aren’t scaring anybody off.”

Axel shook his head and flipped a skewer on the hot, metal cooking slab. “Is there actually anybody who would be scared off by a Soulless like me?”

“Well, if you went around with a bad expression, people would probably lose their appetites and eat somewhere else.” Kogiri put her arm around Axel’s shoulders. He blushed involuntarily since her breasts were pressed against his arm. “You’re pretty well adjusted to this place by now, yeah?”

“I consider myself a realist,” he muttered, flipping another skewer. “I can at least accept the reality that’s in front of me.” Axel gave the clingy woman a sideways glance, “How’s the milk stand doing?”

“It’s been cloudy, so not a lot of people are buying. I put Itchthe in charge of it for now.”

Axel looked up at the gray sky and noted the slight breeze. “It will probably rain again, but I think we have some time left.”

“More rain huh?”

“Yes.” The Living Dead looked at his employer, “Get off already. This is sexual harassment.”

“What? I cling to Itchthe too, so it has nothing to do with your gender.”

“A woman can sexually harass another woman. More importantly, get off.”

Kogiri finally pulled her arm back and gave the man some space. She put her hands behind her head and leaned against a wooden post. “You should be more honest. I know how grateful you are to me for giving you a job. After all, you have no production skills and can’t fight.”

Axel lowered his chin, staring at the roasting meat. “I am grateful. Being able to work a simple job like this is an opportunity I never thought I’d get. I can’t thank you enough.” Kogiri grinned and opened her mouth, but Axel continued in a harsher voice, “But that has nothing to do with letting you cling to me, so quit it.”

A roll of thunder tumbled by, and people started to scramble for cover. Kogiri folded her arms and sighed.

“Well nobody’s going to buy milk in this weather. I’ll call Itchthe over and we’ll all work at this stall together.”

His boss ran off, and Axel continued to sell hot food to people chilled by the rain. Soon, Kogiri returned, a bit wetter, with a High Goblin girl. Axel saw them shivering and took some finished skewers off the hot plate.

“Here. Eat and warm up.”

“Thank you very much,” Kogiri swiped the food away, muttering flippantly.

Itchthe nodded. “Thanking for the food.”

“Can you two really understand each other with that broken New Orcish?” The High Orc wondered, her teeth tearing into the meat.

Axel shrugged, “Well, somewhat.”

“Enough for the most important,” Itchthe followed.

“Well, whatever.”

Kogiri paused with her skewer hanging out of her mouth. A group of people were running down the street, ignoring the rain. Axel looked down a different path and saw a separate group doing the same thing.

“Hey, pig heads,” Kogiri stopped a few Orcs that we’re passing by their stall. “What’s going on?”

Three of the Monsters hung back, staring at the hot skewers. Kogiri gently pushed Axel aside and handed out some free food.

“Well?”

One of the Orcs scarfed down his meal and put on a dark expression. “Someone broke the law.”

“Which law?”

Another Orc answered, “They held an unofficial death battle!”

“If you don’t go now, you’ll miss the punishment,” the last Orc shouted as they all ran off.

Axel watched their backs recede and looked at his boss. “Do you want to see?”

“Feh.” Kogiri leaned against a post. “I don’t need to see something like that.”

Axel stared deep into her yellow pupils and gave a slow nod. “Yeah.” The sizzling of fat on the hot pan mingled with the pattering of the rain. “Can I?”

“You’re still playing spy?” Kogiri smirked. “Fine. Come back as soon as it’s over.”

Axel relinquished the cooking station and trotted off through the rain. His body felt so slow and heavy without his movement skills. Thankfully he didn’t have to go very far.

Even in this rain, a crowd had gathered around the Colosseum. Monsters large and small jostled bodies and bumped shoulders. Axel made use of his relatively smaller size to sneak through to the front. Facing off in the center, he saw a War Orc and Orc Lord Vyra. A bloodied Fomor body was lying on the ground not too far away.

“Is that your excuse?” The Queen Orc asked in a dangerous alto.

“It was worth it,” the woman responded. “So? What’s my punishment? Do I have to give my life in atonement?”

Lord Vyra had created a clay tablet and was jotting down some notes in it. “Yes, but I’ll bring you back as a slave right after, so rest assured.”

“I guess I’ll be escaping, in that case.” The War Orc grinned tensely and hoisted her axe. Vyra rolled her eyes. She stood still and watched as the War Orc tried to force her way through the crowd.

Axel furrowed his brow. The criminal was gaining distance; what was the city Lord still waiting for? He looked at Vyra’s face and saw her eyes. He was so startled that he stepped back into the person behind him. Her yellow eyes were so vivid and sharp it felt like he’d gotten cut just looking at them.

You’ve got to be kidding me?!

Even more dumbfounding, he looked up and saw that the criminal had turned around. She was now slowly pushing her way back into the encirclement.

“As long as you’re an Orc, you have no choice,” the queen growled.

She lifted her hand and made a “come here” gesture. The War Orc gritted her teeth. Her limbs shook, but she obeyed. “You committed the crimes of murder and of disregarding another citizen’s freedom. Therefore, your punishment will be the same.”

The War Orc finally stopped directly in front of the Orc Lord. She hung her head and held her axe at her side, arms trembling. Seeing a War Orc look so small and weak was jarring, but most people looked that way compared to the city Lord.

The giantess raised her dominant hand and set it on the criminal’s head. “I wish you had come to me before doing something so thoughtless. I’ll at least make it quick.”

Her fist snapped shut, spewing chunks of skull and brain matter. Blood spurted up from the severed neck, and the body fell like a rag doll, axe clanging on the packed earth.

“Everybody,” the Orc Lord closed her eyes and stood in silence, then faced the crowd, “Please come to me for help before turning to crime. I will not allow this city’s foundation to crumble as I’m building it.”

The crowd was eerily quiet until she had picked up the two bodies and walked off, dragging the Fomor body by its horns. Axel tugged his soaked silfela shirt tighter over his body and stared at the pool of gore quickly mixing into the rain. His thoughts drifted back to his own death. He was drenched with water, but he could still feel the flames eating away at his body.

***

“I’d like you to hear my opinion on something.”

Vyra looked up from her work, locking eyes with her tutor. He was keeping a safe distance as usual, hiding his expression behind his fan, but his dark eyes were steady and calm.

“Naturally. What kind of student would ignore her teacher?”

“I heard about what happened at the Colosseum today. You should be more lenient with future punishments.”

The scholar thought he saw a flash of white as the Queen Orc grimaced, but it was gone the next instant. She laced her fingers and put her chin on her fists. “I’d like to hear your reasoning. Were the punishments lighter in Beast Person territory?”

Surumi shook his head. “Not particularly, though we didn’t have the ability to revive and brainwash people. All the nations are more or less like that: bad deeds are punished, and all too often, good deeds are overlooked.” His eyes fluttered closed.

“No matter how harsh the penalties are, new criminals just rise up to replace the old ones.” He opened his eyes, steeled with confidence. “It is my belief that crime rates will decrease if criminals are instead shown affection and trust.”

Vyra’s face was unreadable. “You’re speaking from a historical precedence?”

He lowered his head. “There was a young orphan thief whom I took in. I educated him thoroughly, and he willingly gave up crime to become a scholar himself. Criminals are merely people who feel like they’ve run out of options. If they are offered a way out, they will claw for it.”

The Orc Lord unlaced her fingers and sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Surumi, you’re half right and half wrong.” The Beastman made an uncharacteristically irritated face, but he was ignored. “There are people who don’t respond to kindness and good intentions. Sociopaths, psychopaths, the clinically insane,” she shook her head, “The best way to get them to behave is to have laws in place with harsh punishments. I have to establish that those punishments aren’t a joke.”

Surumi closed his fan, revealing a stony face. “Well, you are dealing with Monsters, I suppose. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

He turned to leave, but Vyra’s voice stopped him. “You won’t hear about the half you got right?” The Beastman stopped and looked over his shoulder. “You seem to have strong emotional ties to this issue.”

“Forgive my impatience,” he opened his fan, “please continue.”

“Reform is indeed much more effective on the majority of people. Harsh punishments work best as a preventative measure. Frankly, they don’t exist to actually be used. But right now is a tumultuous time. Once the mass immigration has ended, we will shift our efforts from punishing criminals to rehabilitating them.”

Surumi lowered his eyes and bowed his head. “That is pleasing to hear. Please forgive my criticisms.”

He left the office for real then. Instead of going back to her work, Vyra laced her fingers and used them to prop up her forehead. “Some tea please, Nerun.”

The High Orc nodded and left the room.

.

The city Lord took a few minutes of personal time to let out her emotions, and then she enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea.