"The king and his family-- or should I say, his treasures-- were hidden in the back of a truck that was headed outside the country. He was found rather quickly. Ha ha ha, well of course. Anyone would be suspicious if they saw a person buried in a pile of jewels and vegetables. And so the revolution succeeded with very few sacrifices."

"Now that's amazing. What's next? What happened after that?"

Hermes asked, as if urging the speaker on.

"After that, we started our new way of life, and our new way to manage our country, by creating a completely new government system. One with policies not dictated by a specific person, but agreed upon and enforced by all. 'Never again shall a single person rule the nation. The nation belongs to all.' If someone were to have an idea, it would be made known to everyone, then there would be an investigation to measure how many approve of it. If it was approved by the majority, then the method would be put into use. The first thing we decided on was what we would do with the king whom we've captured."

"What was the verdict?"

Kino asked. The man narrowed his eyes,

"Results of the vote were ninety-eight percent in favor of execution. The king, his followers, and their families."

"As I thought."

Hermes mumbled.

"The royal family were hanged up and dropped. We thought that the age of fear and despair was over at last... After that, it was busy work. Everyone agreed upon numerous things. First up was the constitution. The initial clause stated that the nation belonged to everyone, and all administration would take place by majority rule. Then, the tax system. Police. National defense. Judgement by law. It was so much fun when we were deciding on the educational system. Deciding on which kind of training we should give to the children, who carry the nation's future on their shoulders... Ahh, it was so much fun..."

The man then closed his eyes. He nodded to himself several times, then opened his eyes again and looked at Kino.

Kino leaned slightly forward.

"What happened after that?"

The man opened his canteen and took several drinks. He then let out a single, long breath.

"Everything went well for a while... Then one day, suddenly came those people who said the most ridiculous thing. Their proposal went like this: 'It takes too much time to get a direct vote from everyone. How about we vote to select someone as a leader, then entrust him or her with management of the country for a number of years?'"

"That proposal... did it go through?"

"As if! That'd be plain madness, nothing else to say about it. If we went with it, then what if the chosen leader turned out to be a madman? If we give all the power to one person, who'd be the one to stop him when he runs wild? Those who proposed it were probably meaning to bring back the absolute presence of a 'king' to the country, so that they could have special privileges in life under the king's patronage. A despicable thought. Naturally, it didn't go through, opposed by the majority."

"So that's it..."

"But we also came to the decision that the possession of such treacherous thoughts was in itself a danger to the country's future. All of them were charged with treason against the nation."

Kino glanced at Hermes, then asked the man,

"Where did that end up?"

"The majority deemed them guilty."

"And?"

Hermes asked.

"The death penalty. Death penalty for all of them."

"...The traditional way, tied and dropped, family included...?"

As the answer Kino's question,

"Oh, yes. A fitting end for those who go against the nation."

The man spat those words out....