Chapter 234 - 185: Aftermath (Part 2)

Fang Zhen quickly grabbed Jilenna.

"They’re just common folk trying to get by," Fang Zhen said. "The main villain has been slain, so there’s no need to give these people a hard time."

Jilenna shook her head slightly and lowered her sword.

"These people are so strange. I saw them playing dead when we came in and just assumed they were poisoned, so I ignored them. But now it looks like they were just faking it. Is everyone around here this cunning?" Jilenna asked.

"Yeah, and some are even more cunning, like a certain someone who scammed me out of a bottle of Alchemy Healing Potion," Karen muttered from behind them.

"They were hit with Sorrowful Butter Clear Wind!" Pat shouted, earning a major eye-roll from Karen.

Fang Zhen turned to look at Gwendolyn, who was walking out after them.

Gwendolyn laid down Tos’s body.

"No matter what he did, he ultimately served the Whig Society. For the sake of our acquaintance, I can’t just leave him to be entombed in the Ancient Castle, unable to rest in one piece," Gwendolyn sighed softly. "I’ll take him back and bury him in the cemetery in Ellick Town."

Fang Zhen nodded slightly.

’A master is a master for a reason. She has her principles. You could even say she’s loyal and honorable.’

"Let’s rescue the ’offerings’ from Ellick Town, return to town, and then discuss our next steps," Gwendolyn said.

...

In the area around the Ancient Castle, Fang Zhen and the others found the "offerings": the women and children of Ellick Town.

Ellick hadn’t treated these people as humans. Instead, he saw them as experimental materials, no different from his aberrant test subjects. The women and children were confined to a "farm" on another side of the Ancient Castle. There, they were forced to take emetics and laxatives to purge their bodies of all waste.

If Fang Zhen’s group had been two days later, these people would have all been taken into the Ancient Castle as sacrifices. They would have either been eaten by Ellick or fed to the aberrant organic mass inside the castle as raw material.

After learning that Ellick had been defeated and killed, the sacrifices wept with joy.

Among them was Emily, the sister from the pair of twins Fang Zhen had met before.

Being able to save so many people, including an acquaintance, helped to dispel some of the gloom cast by Tos’s death and the Eternal Night Council’s purge. The atmosphere became noticeably more positive.

Fang Zhen also felt he had done a good deed, and his mood lightened.

When the soldiers at the castle learned of Ellick’s death, they were in disbelief at first. But upon seeing the collapsed Ancient Castle, they had no choice but to accept the truth.

This news was a mixed blessing for the soldiers.

The good part was that they were finally free from Ellick’s reign of terror. In truth, the soldiers’ lives had been hard; their pay was barely enough to survive. They felt no loyalty toward Ellick but didn’t dare betray him. Their fear was so great that they had previously besieged Fang Zhen’s group, even at the risk of their own lives.

This was because their families—their wives and children—lived in Ellick Town. If any of them had dared to betray him, Ellick would have undoubtedly killed their entire families.

Now that the Vampire Count was dead, the soldiers felt a great sense of relief.

But with the Count dead, their future livelihood became a new problem.

As soldiers, they had received rations and a salary. Returning to the town, they had no idea what they would do for a living.

A few quick-witted veteran soldiers quietly slipped away toward the collapsed Ancient Castle.

The collapsed Ancient Castle was still dangerous, but these soldiers took the risk. They were likely hoping to find some valuables in the ruins. Just one or two items could secure their livelihood for the next few months, or even years.

Fang Zhen saw it all but didn’t stop them.

He had more important things to do.

「Three hours later.」

Inside Gwendolyn’s small courtyard in Ellick Town.

Fang Zhen and the others had returned, bringing with them the "offerings" and the news that the Vampire Count was dead.

The residents of Ellick Town reacted in various ways: some wept with joy, some were ecstatic, while others were heartbroken or even resentful.

The former reactions were easy to understand, but the latter were more complex. Many of these people were town residents who had previously "sacrificed" their own relatives and children. If everyone had to make a sacrifice, it might have been mentally bearable. But this time, the captives had been rescued, and no one else would be taken away. Since the dead could not be brought back, it was inevitable that some felt a deep sense of injustice.

It was a glimpse into the subtle complexities of human nature.

Setting aside the simple and complex emotions swirling among the residents of Ellick Town, Fang Zhen’s group took a short rest before gathering once more in the courtyard to discuss their next move.

Gwendolyn looked at everyone and said, "In this campaign against Ellick, we all know that Fang Zhen deserves the most credit."

"Without him, we all would have died in the Ancient Castle today."

"Fang Zhen isn’t a member of the Whig Society, so we can’t follow our internal procedures for rewards. However, I will speak directly to our President. I’ll ask that he regard Fang Zhen as the Whig Society’s closest friend, comrade-in-arms, and ally."

"I will recommend to the President that we open all of the Whig Society’s resources to Fang Zhen, for trade or exchange."

Fang Zhen nodded.

’He’d been wanting to trade with the Whig Society anyway.’

’After going through so many instances, he’d discovered the secret: trading between different worlds was the fastest way to gather resources.’

’However, that required a powerful and reliable trading partner.’

’He had found Dalia in the Nameless World. Here, in the Curse Seal World, the Whig Society seemed like a good counterpart.’

"I don’t object, and I acknowledge Fang Zhen’s crucial contribution to this operation," Karen said. "But the more pressing issue right now is that Tos betrayed the Whig Society. The leadership needs to be informed as soon as possible."