Considering the strangeness of Sunpeak Town’s situation and the people’s behavior, Arabelle and her people couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. As such, they were extra careful not to cause trouble.
At the same time, they ensured their big group didn’t affect the businesses in town.
“Hey, you there. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?” Arabelle picked out an Early-stage Senior Witch who appeared to be a local.
“Sure,” the Early-stage Senior Witch inspected Arabelle’s group warily before she eventually agreed, “What do you want to ask?”
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“Heh, troublemakers?” the Early-stage Senior Witch snickered with a smug look and said, “We used to get them every day, too many, in fact. But after Lord Aeliana put them in their place, no one dares to act up anymore.”
“If you head toward the town’s square, you’ll see a large stone stele engraved with many names. Those names belong to every troublemaker who committed crimes in this town and got executed for it,” the Early-stage Senior Witch directed them.
Arabelle and her people were shocked at once.
To bring order to the town, the local lord would have to execute a considerable amount of troublemakers before the rest started behaving. But in order to do that, the local lord would also need to have both power and boldness.
When did Lord Aeliana possess such audacity to execute people as she pleased?
“Lord Aeliana… Wasn’t she the lord that turned into an abomination? When did she come back—or rather, how did she even recover?” a Peak-stage Senior Witch behind Arabelle muttered with great astonishment.
“You don’t know? That’s old news now,” the local witch grinned and said with glowing reverence in her eyes, “That’s all thanks to Lord Vaan. As long as we have Lord Vaan around, the abomination status is no longer an incurable problem.”
“Lord Vaan? When did the kingdom have such an impressive witch?” Arabelle muttered before she frowned. “Why does this name sound so familiar?”
“That’s because Lord Vaan is the only man ever to receive the title Venerable Sage in the Kingdom of Black Rose,” the local witch replied before adding, “So, no, Lord Vaan is not a witch.”
“Oh…” Arabelle uttered.
For some reason, she felt both disappointed and relieved at the same time. For a moment, she thought Lord Vaan was the same person her granddaughter had been harping about.
Fortunately, that did not seem to be the case.
However, Linetta couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear. She had her doubts, but it was too coincidental that Vaan Raphna, who came from Blackmoon City, would also be staying in Sunpeak Town.
How could two men with similar-sounding names and impressive talents first appear in the same city and also stay in the same area?
Linetta had already confirmed with Lord Helia that Vahn Cadieux was currently residing in Sunpeak Town.
As such, the two had to be the same person.
Nevertheless, Linetta also couldn’t help worrying about her relationship with Vahn, considering he no longer needed to rely on her powerful background to get by.
She wasn’t sure if he would still recognize their relationship.
At the same time, she was also worried if Lord Aeliana’s mad execution spree would implicate him. After all, they would have offended many forces.
Even Queen Henrietta might consider punishing them for executing her subjects without going through official trials—just to appease the offended parties.
She could only hope the special wartime situation would pardon their actions.
“Thank you for your help. You were very informative,” Arabelle gifted the local witch a small pouch of mana stones to show her appreciation before saying, “We will go and see the stone stele.”
When the local witch saw the generous amount of mana stones inside the small pouch, she couldn’t help but reveal her surprise.
She didn’t expect answering some simple questions with obvious answers would net her such handsome rewards.
How lucky!
…
Nevertheless, Arabelle’s group eventually departed from the outer town area and made their way to the town square.
On the way, they were stopped by the town’s guards, which didn’t come as a surprise. No lord would just let a significant foreign force waltz up to their front doors.
That said, Arabelle, Linette, and a few personal guards were granted passage to the central town area after they revealed their identities and intentions to meet the local lord.
The remaining Vossen Household troops were forced to return and look after their magic airships outside the town.
Before long, Arabelle and Linetta appeared by the big stone stele in the town square.
“T-This… I was expecting to be shocked, but this still exceeds my expectations!” Arabelle exclaimed as she fixed her wide eyes on the stone stele with disbelief.
She was so shaken by the names on the stone stele that she appeared a little disheveled.
“Some of these people were part of big factions in the capital! Oh, my god! Even High Witches have been executed. Lord Aeliana has offended so many big factions. Doesn’t she fear heaven’s wrath?!”
“If… If these big factions came in full force, Sunpeak Town would be reduced to ruins!” one of Arabelle’s personal guards gulped nervously.
A local aura user overheard Arabelle’s personal guard’s comment before immediately expressing his disagreement.
“You’re wrong. Even if they come in full force, they won’t be able to do anything.”
“You’re just a Mid-level Aura Master.” The personal guard glanced at the local aura user condescendingly and retorted, “What the hell do you know?”
“You’re right. I don’t know much,” the local aura user admitted before saying, “However, I have seen a lot within this past month. So I can confidently say even if Queen Henrietta herself wanted to raze Sunpeak Town to the ground, she won’t be able to do it—not with that person around.”
“Those are some bold words there, Aura Master. Do you believe me if I say I can cut you down right where you stand for disrespecting Her Majesty?” the personal guard replied with a dangerous look.
However, the local aura user stood his ground fearlessly.