After finishing our patrol, we had lunch and then came to the East Plaza of the Imperial Capital. The plazas of the capital serve for markets and entertainments, but executions are also carried out there.

“Second Company people really have it tough, don’t they, doing this kind of work every day?”

That was Lieutenant Crimine, who had just joined us after completing patrol in the western district. I answered lightly.

“They’ve got it easy. All they do is tie the condemned to a post and shoot.”

“That’s true.”

The execution orders given to Third Company are all special cases—complicated, troublesome ones.

There’s a stone wall in the plaza for firing squads. It’s there to stop stray bullets, and plaster is spread over it to weaken the surface so ricochets don’t hit anyone.