Astoria hadn’t expected Aeliana to be so decisive and ruthless in her kill. It also became transparent to her that Aeliana was not in a normal state of mind.
The malevolence and killing intent she displayed was out of control—or so she thought. But after the True Witch was killed, Aeliana’s malevolence and killing intent vanished, replaced with concern.
“Are you hurt, Lord Vahn?” Aeliana inquired.
“I’m fine,” Vaan calmly replied before adding, “That level of attack was far from enough to harm me. After all, I didn’t even budge.”
Shortly after it was mentioned, Aeliana and Astoria confirmed the truth with their own eyes. Vaan’s shoulder, though slightly wet, wasn’t damaged in any shape or form. His outfit was in perfect condition.
The True Witch’s water attack spell was meant to push rather than penetrate.
Although Aeliana’s reaction was within his expectation, it also came with a surprise.
Ding!
<You have been issued an Elimination-type Witch Hunt>
<You have completed an Elimination-type Witch Hunt>
It was only his second Elimination-type Witch Hunt, but it was also likely to be the fastest Elimination-type Witch Hunt completion he would ever achieve.
After all, even if he received another Elimination-type Witch Hunt due to another sudden attack, he would first consider the consequence and doability of the witch hunt before committing to it.
On the other hand, such considerations wouldn’t cross Aeliana’s mind. Her natural instinct was to kill first and worry later.
Unfortunately, it didn’t look like he could collect his prize with so many witnesses around. He would have to abandon the mana inside the dead witch’s body.
Moving on, Vaan anticipated that Astoria would criticize Aeliana for killing the True Witch. And as it turned out, he was right on the mark.
“Lord Aeliana, how could you just kill her like that? She may have been wrong, but she doesn’t deserve death,” Astoria stated.
“You’re wrong, Headmaster Astoria. Anyone who raises a hand against Lord Vahn deserves death,” Aeliana coolly refuted before feigning ignorance, “And did you mean how I could kill her like that? I didn’t kill anyone. She was killed by a Fog Beast.”
“…” Astoria was struck speechless by Aeliana’s shamelessness.
Not only did she kill a witch without batting an eye, but she also lied with a straight face. She was certainly not the same Lord Aeliana from three years ago.
That, Astoria was sure.
“D-did you really just kill a True Witch over a lowly man? W-What do you all want from us?” one of the True Witches nervously asked after she witnessed her friend killed in cold blood.
But before the True Witch could breathe another breath, Aeliana shot out another wooden spike and killed her on the spot.
“Lord Aeliana!” Astoria thundered.
“Oops, my hand slipped,” Aeliana foolishly poked her tongue out before she punished her hand with a soft slap on the back of her hand. “What a naughty hand.”
“That True Witch didn’t raise a hand against Teacher Raphna!” Astoria said with the corner of her lips twitching.
“I forgot to mention that anyone who disrespects Lord Vahn also deserves death,” Aeliana nonchalantly said before she glanced at the remaining survivors in the basement. “You all better choose your words wisely.”
The remaining witches couldn’t help but shiver in terror under Aeliana’s warning gaze, which was no different from a bloodthirsty demon.
No, her gaze was even more terrifying than a bloodthirsty demon!
Nevertheless, Astoria softly sighed with mixed feelings. Although she disagreed with Aeliana’s killing, she didn’t really feel bad for the True Witches’ deaths.
“Listen carefully. We are here to rescue all of you, so obediently follow us. We will escort you out of town,” Aeliana informed the survivors in a non-negotiable tone.
However, the survivors were hesitant to follow her.
Her words weren’t very convincing when she killed two of their friends. They weren’t sure whether she had come to save them or to kill them.
“I am Astoria Braveheart. I can assure you that we are here to save all of you and escort you out of town. As long as you don’t say or do anything to antagonize Lord Aeliana, no one else will have to die by her hands,” Astoria said with a sigh.
“Astoria… Braveheart? The Battle Maiden?” the witches uttered with surprise before expressing their doubts.
Astoria did not match her famed appearance of wearing silver armor.
That said, they didn’t have much choice. They were afraid that they would be killed if they didn’t comply.
As such, they simply accepted who she claimed to be.
“Then, we’ll be in your care, Headmaster Astoria,” the witches surrendered their lives to fate and whatever it had in store for them.
After the group left the inn’s basement, they made their way back to the town’s center to round up the survivors.
When the witches realized they were heading to the feeding ground, they truly believed they were walking towards their deaths.
However, they quickly rejoiced when they found the corpses of the Illusory Liondrakes.
“There’s no need to worry about the Fog Beasts. We have all eliminated all the Illusory Liondrakes in this area,” Astoria assured them.
Shortly after leaving the witches with Bernadette and the other survivors, Vaan’s group searched for other survivors in the northern half of town.
Along the way, they found more straggling Illusory Liondrakes roaming the area. Of course, not a single Fog Beast was spared during their encounter.
Vaan’s group rounded up the survivor groups hiding in buildings one by one and gathered them in the town’s center.
Surprisingly, the number of survivors quickly reached the hundreds.
Afterward, they searched the southern half of town, which they had previously passed. The number of survivors they found was, more or less, the same as the northern half of town.
However, none of the survivors were found near the main road, which the group had previously taken.
It was also why they didn’t encounter any survivors on their way to the town’s center when they had just arrived.
After spending a couple of hours rescuing the survivors, Vaan’s group led over seven hundred survivors out of the southern gate, away from the fog-filled town.
There, they set up a temporary survivor camp on the grassy field south of Misty Leaf Town with all the necessities brought with them.
Astoria observed the survivors being self-reliant in the camp before she softly said with a sigh of relief, “Our work is, more or less, done here.”
“Then, let’s collect some supplies and be on our way,” Vaan decided.