Chapter 844 (1/2)

Chapter 844: Vol V Chapter 204

Black smoke rose from the ruins of the houses. The light rain not long ago did not completely put out the flames that engulfed the town. Instead, it reinforced the smoke.

Looking from afar, the entire town was shrouded in an eerie, black fog. The sight would make one shudder all over.

It was evening time at the moment. Usually, this was the time for people to end their day’s work and prepare for dinner. But there was not a single resident walking on the streets that should be bustling with activities. Those people who were supposed to be heading home after work were now lying all over the ground, and beneath their bodies, there were pools of blood that were slowly drying up. In their houses, loved ones, regardless of man or woman, old and young, who had been awaiting their return home, had also died by sharp blades of swords. There were even many whose bodies were specially stabbed once or twice more to ensure that they were dead.

Within the entire town, the lord’s mansion was the only place that still had people left alive. Of course, there would be aristocrats in the land of the merchants, and vice versa, there would be merchants in the land of the aristocrats. The local lord was a baron who had great passion in doing business. Every night, he would light his lamp to check and sort out the day’s accounts. This was his favorite form of entertainment.

But he could no longer indulge in such form of entertainment, for he and all the original members of his mansion had become headless corpses that were piled outside the mansion’s doors.

Now, it was only a group of cold and weary executioners who brought life to this mansion.

The soldiers had gone off and found places to sleep. Snores could be heard from time to time. Some of the soldiers in charge of patrolling the place held cold and sharp weapons in their hands as they circled the mansion in silence. And from the watchtower at the top of the mansion, Earl Hauss, who should be equally weary, had wrapped himself in a thick blanket as he looked into the distance.

He seemed to be acting the role of a sentry, but the maidservant seated across him knew. Actually, he was not looking at anything.

“Things seemed to have been blown out of proportion,” she said. “The news that came from above said that more than one deity has begun investigating.”

“Let them investigate all they want,” the earl said with great indifference. “They won’t be able to find any news of value.”

Indeed, even the spells to recall time would not work against them. Even if there were powerful gods heading to the scenes of the few massacres to investigate, they would not be able to see the looks of the perpetrators. They would only know their identities.

“So long as they put their hearts into the investigations, there will be no secrets in this world that cannot be discovered.”

“Maybe. But for us, it is enough so long as we can keep this secret for some time,” Earl Hauss replied. He was not the least bothered as he said, “So long as we can bring our plan to completion, by that time, even if their investigations lead them to the truth, what more can they do?”

He sneered with indifference and said, “The trend of popular sentiment is not merely decided by the ‘truth.'”

His maidservant sighed and said nothing more.

After a moment, she stood up and looked around at the town beneath them. It was reduced to nothing more than a dead city.

“This is already the fifth town. Exactly how many more massacres do you intend to carry out?” she asked.

“Not sure. Depends on the effect,” the earl said. “Probably… another two or three more. That’s about it.”

He paused for a moment, then said, “I’ll still need you to handle the finishing touches.”

“I really don’t like this job.”

“Me neither, but there must be someone for every job,” said the earl as he smiled. “Between us, it’s a little hypocritical to talk about these things. You and I have no lack of experience doing such things in our lifetime.”

With a bitter smile, the maidservant sighed again. Then she said, “Speaking of which, you may not believe it, but in my whole life, I have never left behind such a massacre, not even once. I have never asked my soldiers to point their weapons at civilians or meaninglessly slaughter people on the battlefield. This can be considered as one of the things that I take the most pride in throughout my entire lifetime.”

“This is why you only managed to create a kingdom and not an empire. If you had been vicious and cruel enough, who knows, you could have defeated the Orc Empire and created an empire of your own.”