Ultimate Check-in System-Chapter 50: A Coward and A Leader

Midnight;

Looking at the large crowd in front of him, Tyler stood on a podium. Next to him was Khalim, with his head covered in a black mask.

Every part of his body was covered in dark clothes. He was on his knees, not even letting out a scream.

The crowd was silent. They didn’t know this person, but they knew the crime he had committed.

Looking at the crowd, Tyler spoke.

"When I decided I would be the City Lord, my decision wasn’t exactly planned or even something I wanted to stick with."

"That decision was more of a personal reason. That night, I lost my family. But I wasn’t the only one."

"The pain I felt, you felt the same. I lost my family, so did you. It was a hard time for us, but we persevered."

"But this incident made me realize something. People are different."

"Some are weak, some are strong, some are cowards, some are courageous, some are loyal, and some are frauds."

"I can’t change people’s nature. But I want them to know something. If you live in my city, you follow my rules."

"You got a problem with that? You can leave. I will not stop anyone from leaving. But I will not tolerate betrayal."

Saying so, he pointed at the man’s head.

"This man betrayed me, betrayed your city and its people. He didn’t need to do that. He had no reason to do that."

"But he did so out of his cowardliness and greed. This city accepts all kinds of people, but it can’t accept those who betray their own for greed."

He looked at the crowd and continued.

"We are a small city. I hope I will not have to take action against my own."

"Rose, do it!"

Rose came forward with a calm and cold expression. Her face looked quite deadly in the eyes of the crowd.

She swung her sword and cleaved the man’s head with a single strike. Even though blood fell around, nobody flinched.

They had seen more horrible things.

But his words did strike a chord with them. They never thought their own people would betray them.

It wasn’t just about rules. Those women were sold into slavery for one man’s greed.

And that man was the same one who went through Outbreak.

Looking at the sadness and disbelief of the crowd, Tyler felt a pang of sadness.

He couldn’t imagine how they would’ve reacted if they knew this man was Khalim.

Several houses away, Mira was watching this from her window. Her face was covered in tears, but not a sound didn’t came out of her throat.

Even though Tyler killed her husband, she couldn’t hate him. She even felt like respecting him.

After all, he didn’t announce his name. Although it wasn’t a secret that could be kept for long.

Just thinking about it, she felt drowned.

Her daughter lived a normal life. If she ever learned about what her father did, she couldn’t think about how her daughter would feel.

What about her mother-in-law?

That poor woman had so much confidence and pride in her son’s achievement. She couldn’t understand why Khalim changed.

What made him so greedy?

Then, she remembered that night, and her expression turned gloomy.

At that moment, he hugged his daughter and her, running away from the spirit, without even looking back.

Even though his parents were struggling to run.

She forgot about that moment because she thought it was just a rush caused by the Outbreak.

Just like how a mother wouldn’t sacrifice his child, a child would always stand for their mother.

That night, her husband gave up on his parents without a second thought. Maybe she didn’t realize it, maybe she did, but hid it deep in her heart.

Her husband was always a coward.

Even when he joined the police, it was due to his mother’s constant encouragement.

If she didn’t know her mother-in-law was encouraging him, she thought he was being forced to join the police.

When dots were connected, tears couldn’t stop.

She fell on her knees and kept sobbing.

On the other side of the house, there was another person crying in front of a photo.

This person was none other than Mira’s mother-in-law.

She was looking at the photo of her husband, who looked so similar to her son except for his gray hair.

"Sorry, Talim, I should’ve told Mira. I should’ve."

Sob! Sob! Sob!

The big tears fell on the photo as she kept crying.

One lie, not even a lie, but hiding the truth, cost the life of her child.

"You changed me, Talim. I couldn’t change my son. It was too late."

She placed her face on his photo and cried.

She didn’t hear the full story until she heard Tyler’s announcement.

When she connected the dots and found her daughter-in-law in tears, she realized the situation.

She was too late.

Her son was a coward just like her. When he left them behind that night, she was saved by a neighbor’s son.

But she never told anyone about this. In her mind, she was just as cowardly as her son, maybe more so.

Before meeting her husband and even after meeting her husband, she had given in to many nobles.

She never resisted any kind of her. Her cowardly nature slowly changed after she met her husband.

She came out of the darkness and saw the light.

It was blinding, but she loved it very much.

When her husband died, she didn’t blame her son but rather blamed herself. She was only in her late forties. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

But she had aged so much in just one year that she looked like she was in her sixties.

She became depressed. If only she weren’t so cowardly, her son wouldn’t have been born as cowardly as her.

But she never told Mira about this.

She was worried that if Mira found out about this, she would take advantage of her son’s weakness.

She knew just how depraved she had become under those nobles. Her body was played by a thousand men.

During that time, she had seen many kinds of women.

And, among them, some women enjoyed seeing their loved ones getting hurt.

These sadistic women would enjoy the despair in the faces of their husbands and children after seeing their wife/mother being used by those nobles.

She knew herself that she was almost there. Her husband managed to change her nature despite everything she did behind her back.

Because of her experience, she wanted nothing more than to hide her son’s attitude.

Even from his childhood, she kept telling him to hide his nature, come out strong, and never fear anyone.

She thought she was succeeding until last year. Even so, she didn’t give up.

She didn’t want his wife to take advantage of his cowardly nature. At this moment, she understood something.

She never changed.

She just suppressed it. Her husband bore everything but never stopped supporting her.

But instead of trusting her daughter-in-law, she kept hiding the truth. She was afraid, even after all of this, that nature never changed.

Now, she could only cry.

She couldn’t do anything to change this. Her son was dead.

She didn’t raise a question to Tyler. Despite everything, she did hate Tyler for killing her son.

Unlike Mira, she couldn’t see someone who killed her son as a Lord anymore.

But she didn’t think of revenge. She never thought of revenge.

She was just a coward after all.

...............

Tyler was completely unaware of Khalim’s mother’s thoughts. He just watched the reaction of his people and said.

"Rules are made by strong. Sometimes it can be deadly, sometimes it can be a weapon, sometimes it can help weak people."

"I hate slavery. I hate people who take out their anger on the weak. I hate those who break the rules."

"But sometimes I am afraid I will become the person whom I hate. Here, I am punishing a person for breaking my rules."

"Next time, I can turn into a person breaking the rules. I am afraid of that. So from today, I will establish a council."

His words created discussions among the citizens. They didn’t mind if their lord changed slightly.

Compared to those nobles, they would rather be suppressed by him.

But this was exactly what he wanted to change. He wanted them to become more humane.

"Council will have twelve people. Each person will have a voting right. This council isn’t just for me and this city."

"It will become the council for several cities. It will become an authority that will guide us and keep us in check."

"They will have the power to veto my decision. But they need to be together in this."

When he said that, Rose immediately interrupted.

"Sir, this mustn’t happen. What if those people try to veto your every decision? What if they go against you?"

Hearing that, Tyler smiled and said.

"Then, I don’t deserve to be your Lord. Remember what I said, those twelve are chosen by you, every single one of you will vote for those people."

"They can have their own ambition and goals, but they can only be chosen by you."

"If the people you chose go against me, it only means one thing. I have become what I hate."