CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Daniel had been dragged out of the dining that evening, taken to the back , flogged and then locked up in the solitary guard room for disturbing the peace.

The place Daniel was locked in was cold and dark with no light coming in. But he was not sorry at all , for those who would want to make their way to the top of the food chain there could be no mercy. There is but one rule; hunt or be hunted , eat or be eaten.

Every six or so hours some of the soldiers would come in with their canes and flog him nonstop for about ten minutes before they left. These were soldiers who had just graduated boot camp and were stationed in the school as guards before any kind of deployment. But Daniel took the beating until he could not take it anymore.

On Sunday at about 11 pm Daniel sat at the corner of the cell , he had only been out for 30 minutes that day for sunlight. Suddenly the door was opened and three soldiers walked in. It was dark but Daniel could have sworn that they were grinning. He had no idea why they took pleasure in his discomfort because he was sure that he hadn't offended any of them. It was just the nature of man any where in the universe to be amused with people suffering.

He waited for them to come close enough before he leapt forward and kicked the closest guy in the balls and he dropped to his knees in pain then Daniel used his belt as a makeshift noose and used it to choke the guy backing up into a corner. He then screamed for the others to leave and lock the door which they complied as soon as they saw their comrade slipping into unconsciousness.

"Oh me and you are going to have so much fun" Daniel said, while using the soldier's shoe laces to tie him up and then proceeded to stomp and kick him on the head and stomach till he was satisfied.

The next time that the door was opened was by noon on Monday and it was the XO ( admin officer) , Major Anas that walked into the cell and announced.

"The student will exit the guard room and will have one hour to get to the hostel and come back to present to the disciplinary board"

For the Major to come here by himself, it meant that the matter had escalated maybe by the fact that he had just abducted soldier of the Federal Republic.

An hour later Daniel was in the conference room and he was asked to explain his side of the story which he did in complete detail to the committee of whom the XO and other senior officers and staff were part of.

After giving his testimony he was asked to leave the room for them to delibrate.

Twenty minutes later after a long deliberation Daniel was called in. "After our investigation and statements from witnesses it has been decided that you acted in self defense. Your period in the guard room has already served as enough punishment for your actions " the Major said.

And then he addressed the room " all civilian staff would now exit the room we still have another trial for the young man "

Daniels heart sank , he had actually thought that he got away with assaulting a soldier, a crime punishable by death.

The Major and other officers opened the files sitting in front of them and according to the file Daniel was an orphan with a military parent. He previously had average grades but had quickly risen to be an honor student who had represented the school in several external academic competitions.

The Major after glancing through the files closed it and then said to Daniel " according to your file you seem to be a good hardworking student, even your teachers have no complaints about you and for this reason we have decided to forgive your assault on the soldier after all he was not meant to torture students in the first place . We just have a simple request, tell us about your little group, what was it called again ehm .... The kingslayers ".

Immediately Daniel heard that it seemed like someone force fed him large amounts of unripe lime. He tried as much as possible to control his facial expression. How could he not have seen this coming, the military ran the school after all . But then he remembered the first rule even when caught accept nothing and deny everything.

" I really don't know what you're talking about sir , I'm not a member of any group " Daniel replied, feigning ignorance.

The act prompted the officers sitting down to burst out into laughter. One of the officers said " we already know that you are the leader or are you not 'The Imperator ' ".

Seeing that his cover had been blown Daniel had no choice than to accept that he was a member and then proceeded to tell them everything about the kingslayers focusing more on the good that they had done for each other rather than the underhanded petty crimes that they commit.

He also told them how much the group had helped average students improve their grades and confidence. He also told them of the way he used the group to gather intelligence and information.

The officers were visibly surprised by the information they had just received now , none of them could fathom that it was a fifteen year old boy that came up with such a rigid, centralized group.

The Major then asked "so boy , what would you like to do after school, would you like us to write you a recommendation for the war college , with your intelect I'm sure the guys in army intelligence would love you."

Daniel paused before replying " I'm sorry to disappoint but I will go into business after school and any contact I have with military would be as a contractor ".

"Is that so?" The Major asked visibly displeased. " In that case you would continue to report to my office once a week with actionable intelligence from your little group and you would increase the number of external academic competitions you partake in. This moment you back out of this deal , you will be expelled."

After that Daniel was dismissed to go about his regular activities.

Daniel would then use the opportunity to lay low a little and after the event in the dining no one was willing to step up to him again.