Episode 68. The Black Zone of the White City (1)
“The food is here.”
The old restaurant owner brought out the food. He had a kind face with a kind smile. His hair was white, a color that signified his status as a citizen of Phillymond.
‘I see you are new to Philimond.’
A boy who looked to be about twelve or fourteen years old, a man, and a white cat.
The local restaurant owner was quick to guess who was a first-time visitor to the city.
The boy’s hair was black. Most travelers, on their second visit to the city, would wear a white hat or simply dye their hair white, because otherwise it would be too conspicuous here.
With a kind smile on his face, the restaurant owner looked at the place where these visitors’ eyes often turned.
At the end of the street, across from the restaurant.
‘It would be amazing, it would be amazing.’
Philimond is a famous commercial city of the empire and also serves as the administrative capital. It is a large city where all kinds of administrative agencies are gathered. However, ironically, the main attraction here is neither the market nor the court.
Right here. It was a square with a clear view of the entrance to the black zone.
“Customer, is this your first time visiting the Black Zone?”
The restaurant owner asked casually. Then the man who had been eating the meat dish with a serious expression turned his head.
“Oh, yes. This is my first time not only in the Black Zone but also in this city.”
“I see. I guessed so since you don’t dye your hair.”
“They say the only things that aren’t white in this city are people’s eyes and the food on their plates, and I guess that’s true.”
“There is a joke about that. White is like the symbol of this city. A pure white heart. Because it means a heart that is the furthest from sin.”
Then the restaurant owner glanced at the boy sitting across from the man.
A boy with black hair who doesn’t speak much. Looking closely, the boy exudes an air of nobility. The restaurant owner, who had thought that the relationship between the two was that of a father and son, was shocked.
“Oh, dear. I guess I made a mistake. I thought you were father and son, but I guess not.”
“it’s okay.”
The boy answered with a smile.
“Our family is generous to servants. It is not uncommon for us to eat across from our servants at the table.”
“Your Majesty, you are very generous.”
Then, a man who turned out to be a servant answered the question. He wanted to add words of admiration for the master.
“Even now, we are observing the entrance to the black zone as the Lord of the House ordered His Majesty and me to do.”
The restaurant owner nodded.
In fact, this was not uncommon. It was an indirect way for noble families to enlighten their children. One of the methods widely known among noble families was to show them the entrance to the black zone.
“That’s nothing to brag about, Kuze. It’s everyday life here.”
“Is that so? I thought you were the only one with such wisdom.”
“Look around. Do you see any other restaurant terraces?”
A servant looking around the other side as Confucius said. Just as he said, the terraces of other restaurants were also occupied by children of noble families who looked elegant and wealthy.
The servant nodded.
“Well, there is no place that adheres to the law as thoroughly as here.”
The restaurant owner, who had been away for a moment, returned and refilled the glasses of Confucius and his servant.
“Actually, there is a better place to realize the fear of the law. Just one place.”
“Oh, where is that?”
The servant looked at the restaurant owner with a face that seemed genuinely curious. Then his lips formed a mischievous smile.
“It’s inside the black zone.”
The servant blinked, wondering what he meant, and then realized it was a joke and chuckled. It was a joke that everyone could laugh at because they all knew what it meant to enter the black zone.
“I’m sorry. I think that was a terrible joke.”
It wasn’t the quality of the joke that was terrible, but the content of the joke that was terrible. It was a joke that I said myself, but it’s like I’m in the black zone! Doesn’t the mere thought send a chill down your spine?
The restaurant owner shuddered and quickly shook off the horrible images that had come to his mind.
* * *
-What a talkative owner.
-The food doesn’t taste good either. Compared to Lady Celesne’s cooking, it’s inedible.
After the restaurant owner stepped aside to attend to another customer, Rubin and Kuze exchanged a drink in their glasses, their eyes fixed on the dark area visible below the terrace.
At the end of the street, a huge wall was erected. The color of the wall was white, of course, but beyond it, it was different.
What lies beyond the barrier is black.
All the buildings were black, and the streets were muddy and sloppy, as if graphite had been spilled. The people were not just shabby, they were worn-out, wearing clothes made from rags.
Those who walk around listlessly, looking longingly beyond the border between black and white. Their expressions seem to say, ‘I want to go out! Let me out!’
Rubin knew that they were the weakest class within the Black Zone, the weakest individuals who had been driven out of their ecosystem, like rats or cockroaches on the street.
‘The same goes for the authors.’
The real strongmen who drove them out will be hiding deep in the black zone, despising the weak and waiting for new prey to come in.
As far as Rubin knew, that was the case.
‘The Empire’s only legitimate criminal zone.’
This was the term for the black zone, which was only 1 percent of the area of the white city. There were many others. A small hole in the white city. A death zone. Extraterritoriality. A shithole… … .
In any case, the unchanging fact is that all the lawless and unruly scum within the Lilic Empire will be confined to this small area.
-Rubin, you know what I’ve been wondering for a long time?
It was Tina who sent the message to Rubin. She had turned into a white cat, curled up under the table. She looked uncomfortable.
-Why did the previous emperor create such an area?
-… … .
-It’s strange. Those criminals can just be punished, so why do they create such a dirty place and force them into it?
The only thing known to the world was that it was ‘according to the previous emperor’s edict’, but the truth that Rubin knew was different. The Black Zone was a plan that had been in progress before Telmah ascended to the throne.
-It’s a sweetness created by the empire.
-mellowness?
-Because once you get there, you won’t be wanted anymore, and you won’t have to run away. And you can commit any crime you want inside. It must feel like freedom is beckoning to criminals.
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But this sweetness is not only for criminals. It is not only criminals and murderers who are satisfied with the existence of lawless zones, but also good imperial citizens. Surprisingly, they also support the existence of the black zones.
‘It’s like admiring a tiger that’s been locked up inside a cage.’
When we think of a tiger roaming around, we feel fear, but when we see a tiger in a cage, unable to move, we feel much more secure. It would be more effective to lock up a tiger for everyone to see than to kill it quietly.
‘So it’s sweetness for everyone.’
It’s an inconvenient truth. There’s no need to tell Tina this.
Rubin looked at the black zone in silence. There were knights in white armor, white-robed wizards, and even a giant golem painted entirely in white all over the huge wall. They were all troops dispatched by the imperial family.
What they were looking at with their icy eyes was the inside of the black zone. It was an overwhelming force that even if all the criminals in the zone combined their power, they would not be able to escape.
‘A land where you can escape the judgment of the law, but you cannot return.’
Dozens of murders, robberies, and other violent crimes occur every day within the black zone. But this side does nothing to intervene. They simply prohibit people from going outside.
-They just need to create a society where they can live peacefully and safely among themselves.
Rubin chuckled at Tina’s tone. It was a thought befitting of a pacifist, phantom-like being.
Perhaps that would be possible, but that would be a statement made without knowing Telmah. Telmah is a cold-blooded ruler who leaves no room for even the slightest possibility.
And there’s always a plausible plan behind everything he does. The black zone is no exception.
– In the black zone, a lottery is held once a week.
-drawing?
– A lottery to select one of the living criminals who is not dead yet.
-Why are you picking them? Are you picking a class president or something?
-Sacrificial offering. It’s a sacrifice to the White City that gave freedom to criminals.
Although it was expressed as a sacrifice, it was officially called a ‘criminal extradition contract’. And this was the institution that the citizens of Phillimon most cheered as a victory of the law.
Criminals are given freedom, but that freedom is not complete. Every week, one person is chosen at random and brought to trial, and he is executed in front of the citizens.
‘A one in a thousand chance of misfortune. The rest of the chance is your chance of surviving.’
Most of the criminals who desperately ran towards the black zone had the illusion that they would not be selected in the lottery.
This was the system that Telmach had devised, a sweet treat for both citizens and criminals, and which he believed would purify the world.
“Your Majesty, look over there.”
That was when.
Kuze pointed to the crowd on the street. Rubin’s eyes, watching them, became sharp.
I knew right away what he was telling me to look at.
A man in the crowd. There was a man wearing a baggy white coat. In his left hand, hidden under the coat, he held a sword, and there was a trace of blood on the sword that had not been there long.
‘I limp with my left foot every time I walk, but my shoes show signs of wear, which means the wound on my leg is recent.’
Without the help of any intelligence, simple observation alone would have revealed that he had committed a crime a few hours earlier.
In fact, he kept glancing at the black zone. He was looking for a chance to escape to the lawless area. The man looked around and slowly advanced toward the black zone.
‘You are afraid of the judgment of the law.’
Those heading to the Black Zone have only one fear: there is no exit, and the entrance is wide open with no one guarding it.
Soon the man began to pick up his pace. When he had about 40 meters left, he began to run with all his might, moving his limping legs.
however.
“uh?”
“Meow!”
Tina, who had been lying down, stood up and approached the terrace railing.
As the fugitive man ran, a few of Philimond’s children happened to be playing in front of him. The children did not notice the man rushing towards them.
“Get out of the way, you guys!”
The man shouted at the children blocking his path, but it was too late.
“Ah, ah, no!”
The mothers who were watching from the side of the group of children also shouted. But by then, one of the children had already been pushed by the man and rolled towards the boundary line.
“What the heck, this kid!”
