FATE: Target of Grand Master

After turning the public trial of the four Yaga into a communist propaganda meeting, Xia Yan promptly steered the conversation back to the crimes of the four men who disobeyed the Queen's decree, stole food, and even attempted to kill other Yaga.

Ironically, in the Russian Lostbelt, a place with virtually no laws, as long as one doesn't rebel, even killing someone won't do much harm. After all, it's a world where the strong rule, and killing others only proves the killer's power.

But Xia Yan still decided to change this barbaric and desolate situation.

"Disobeying the Queen's decree is a capital offense, and on top of that, he wanted to kill other Yaga from the same village, making the nature of the crime extremely heinous. Execution alone is not enough; he must be subjected to torture."

Upon hearing Xia Yan's words, the four members of the group, including Scarface Yaga, immediately began frantically kowtowing and begging for forgiveness.

Xia Yan looked down at the four Yaga without saying anything, but just then, Anastasia, who was sitting high up, spoke up.

"Xia Yan, now that we have announced His Majesty the Thunder Emperor's latest decree, we must consider the development of this village. Although these four Yaga have committed crimes, fortunately they have not caused any substantial harm. Why not let them atone for their crimes and contribute to the development of the village?"

"I will obey your command."

Xia Yan bowed slightly to Anastasia, then turned to the four Yaga and said, "You all heard that, didn't you? Her Majesty the Queen is so kind and compassionate that she even forgave you for such a serious crime as disobeying her decree. You should really thank Her Majesty the Queen."

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty. We were just confused for a moment, and we promise that this will never happen again."

Led by Scarface Yaga, the four Yaga kowtowed frantically again, even drawing blood from their foreheads.

"The death penalty may be waived, but punishment is inevitable. Otherwise, the other Yaga will think that the laws of the country and the dignity of the royal family can be easily trampled on."

Xia Yan pronounced the sentence on the four Yaga: "Each of you will receive 30 lashes. After you recover, you must bring back twice the amount of supplies needed by the other Yaga for the village, for a year. If you fail to achieve this within a year, the punishment will continue until you reach the required amount. Furthermore, all your rights except for the necessities for survival will be revoked until the punishment is completed. Meeting adjourned."

The trial proceedings have now concluded successfully.

Morgan immediately used magic to create a batch of autonomous puppets and took four Yaga to the side to whip them.

Xia Yan wrote down the village's future plans in various aspects and handed them over to the village chief Ya Ga's family. He also gave them a familiar, telling them they could contact him anytime if they had any questions.

After all this was done, it was already past midnight. Morgan transformed the courtroom into a luxurious villa that stood out from the surrounding simple houses, and Xia Yan and the others went inside to rest.

Actually, the only one who really needs to sleep here is Xia Yan, the Master. The Servants are perfectly fine as long as they have a supply of magic power. However, in order not to waste the rooms in the villa, each Servant chose a room.

After the villa's corridor had been quiet for a long time, the door of one of the rooms was gently pushed open, and a figure emerged, moving furtively down the corridor before finally stopping outside Xia Yan's door.

Just as she was about to turn the doorknob, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder, startling her. Then, a ball of light appeared in the hallway.

Using the light sphere's illumination, Anastasia could see that it was Musashi who had grabbed her shoulder, along with all of Xia Yan's other Servants.

"I never imagined that even a princess would resort to such tactics as a night raid."

Morgan said with a disdainful look.

Caught red-handed, Anastasia had no rebuttal and could only protest, "Why aren't you all in your own rooms?!"

"Of course, it's to ensure Xia Yan gets enough rest," Nero said.

Musashi added, "Now that you've made a contract with Xia Yan, you should understand that this is, after all, a trial. Excessively draining Xia Yan's energy isn't a good thing for him."

"Furthermore, even if you want to get close to Xia Yan, you should stay a little further back."

Euryale said bluntly.

Seeing that everyone else had spoken, Ai Lei wanted to say something too, but couldn't think of anything to say, so she could only praise, "Everyone is right."

Even though Anastasia's royal bearing prevented her from bowing her head, she had no choice but to obediently return to her room under the full pressure of Xia Yan's harem.

Wei had already covered herself with the blankets, ready to enjoy the 1.8-meter-wide bed, but she didn't expect Anastasia to return so quickly.

"Wei, they've all ganged up on me!"

Anastasia grabbed Vi and said angrily.

Aside from comforting Anastasia not to stoop to the level of those wild girls, there wasn't much else Vi could do. After all, if a real fight broke out, let alone Morgan, even Musashi, Nero, and Ereshkigal wouldn't be guaranteed a win. Moreover, considering Anastasia's situation, she would most likely end up running off with that kid named Xia Yan.

Wei sighed inwardly, wondering what kind of spell Xia Yan had cast on his little princess, making her willing to break the royal family's dignity to get close to him.

And so, under the protection of the other followers, Xia Yan spent a peaceful and tranquil night.

While Xia Yan was fast asleep, a strange scene appeared in the forest not far from the village.

Two rows of footprints suddenly appeared on the snow between two trees at the edge of the forest. Judging from the appearance of the footprints, they should have been left by two Yaga, but their figures could not be seen.

Suddenly, voices came from the open space.

"I say, Pazusi, isn't it too dangerous for us to stay here? The village ahead is a staunch supporter of His Majesty the Thunder Emperor."

The owner of the voice sounded like a Yaga with a relatively weak personality.

"Don't worry, we're still three kilometers away from the village entrance. Even if there's a court magician on the other side, as long as we don't take off this invisibility cloak, we'll be fine."

Wearing an invisibility cloak and night-vision binoculars, Patsi silently observed the village for a long time before finally speaking in a low voice, "Let's go. It seems the court magician and the queen won't be leaving the village tonight. Our reconnaissance mission can be considered complete."

Hearing that Patsi was leaving, Yaga, who was standing to the side, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Since joining the resistance, the two of them have been ostracized at every turn. On the one hand, their village did not support the resistance, and on the other hand, they were quite dissatisfied with the resistance's bullying tactics. This is why a junior officer in the resistance assigned them the dangerous task of investigating the court magician and the queen.

"However, these two invisibility cloaks are really good. Wearing them feels like being under a spell."

Hearing his companion Yaga's praise, Patsi replied, "The product is good, but the person who made it isn't very good."

"What do you mean?"

Yaga, standing to the side, clearly did not understand what Patsi meant.

"If you pass by the magician's quarters of our rebel group, you'll often hear a man inside complaining that this place is awful, with no good wine or women, and he's going to suffocate."

"You mean that man with the buzz cut and a gold tooth? We have young female Yaga in our resistance too, how can you say we don't have women?"

Patsi said quietly, "Dude, is it possible that in the eyes of those old-blooded humans, we Yaga aren't even human?"