Chapter 125 --125
She looked at Duke Romian. "Are you willing to accept that obligation?"
He hesitated. Then nodded. "Yes. If you die, I’ll honor your commitment. Though I’d prefer you survive and do it yourself."
"Agreed." Elara turned back to the delegation. "Those are my terms. I commit to your freedom, but we execute strategically. Build strength first, announce when we’re ready, fight the civil war from position of maximum advantage. Does that work?"
The wolf knight read through what she’d written. His hands shook slightly.
"You’re really promising this. Legally binding commitment."
"Yes."
"Why? You don’t even feel emotions. You said so at the Medical Council evaluation. So why risk civil war for people you don’t emotionally care about?"
Elara considered how to explain.
"Because the current system is inefficient," she said finally. "Slavery produces worse outcomes than free labor. Enslaved beast knights work at minimum capability because they have no incentive to excel. Free beast knights with fair compensation work harder, innovate more, create better results. It’s basic economics."
"So you’re doing this for efficiency? Not justice?"
"I’m doing this because efficient systems and just systems align in this case. The morally correct outcome is also the practically superior outcome. That makes the decision straightforward, even without emotional investment in justice as a concept."
The wolf knight laughed—surprised, almost disbelieving. "You’re going to start a civil war for efficiency reasons."