Chapter 361: Chapter 359: Ordinary Yet Extraordinary Past
"So you’re here to investigate the families of the heretics, to see if the heretics might rise again, huh? Not a bad move, but..."
After hearing their mission from the captain, Hilia understood, but when she looked over at the still-seated sheriff and the two elderly grandparents, her brows furrowed.
"Why did these two friends say their son was arrested and they had to pay a fine and bail?"
The captain was stunned. "That happened?"
He looked at the two sheriffs.
"You took their money?"
The one who was standing lowered his head. "We took 12 Silver Coins."
The captain looked at Hilia and ordered, "You want these two old folks to starve? Give it back to them now."
"Yes, sir."
Unwillingly, the sheriff took out the Silver Coins and returned them to the two elders.
The two elders bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
The old man looked at Hilia and the captain, hesitated, but couldn’t help asking, "Sirs, my boy... is he in prison, or is he dead?"
The captain saw that Hilia seemed curious as well, so he asked the sheriff responsible, "Which heretic were these two under your watch?"
"A man named Deer, involved in the Frozen Arena incident, was..." He glanced at Hilia, hesitated a moment, then said, "He was one of the thirty-six heretics executed on the spot."
Hilia paused, "So it’s..."
She looked at the two old folks.
So, this was the father and mother of one of the thirty-six heretics whose brains were blown out by Lord Rose?
The captain keenly sensed Hilia’s look was a little odd, remembering she was, in some sense, the "enemy who killed their son" to these elderly folks. So then...
What would the kind Miss Hilia do?
He wanted to know, but wisely ordered, "Let’s go. Miss Hilia can handle things here. We’ll check elsewhere."
"Yes, sir!"
After the sheriffs left, Hilia looked at the two old folks; they were looking back at her, gratitude in their eyes.
She felt somewhat awkward, a bit uneasy.
But the moment she remembered the deceased was a heretic, that awkward gratitude slowly faded away.
At that moment, after hearing it confirmed, it was as if the two elders had aged decades in an instant—they slumped from being somewhat sturdy to on the verge of collapse.
Their bodies were shaking, leaning on each other to keep from toppling over.
Hilia hesitated, then asked, "Grandpa, Grandma, hello. I’d like to hear your child’s story. If it’s okay, could you tell me a bit about him?"
The old grandma wiped her tears, tottered back into the little shack, and fetched a battered stool from inside.
Their little hut was crude, just a few planks and scraps of tin, loosely assembled, built against the outside of a courtyard wall. Perhaps the courtyard’s owner was kind-hearted and let them build their shack up against the wall.
"Miss... Please, have a seat."
Hilia shook her head, "You two can sit, I’ll stand."
"You sit, old man. Your health isn’t good, can’t stand too long."
"If our benefactor won’t sit, neither will I." The old grandpa rubbed his eyes as he said this.
An awkward look flashed across Hilia’s face; she should have been their enemy, yet was being called their benefactor.
"Grandpa, please sit. Don’t hurt your legs by standing too long."
At the urging of Hilia and the old woman, the old man sighed and sat down.
He caught his breath and said, "Little Deer was never a bad kid, really. But... you can’t survive here by being kind."
"He went to work, always got bullied, wages docked by the foreman. Of 10 Silver Coins, he’d only come home with 5 at most, and he’d still bring 4 of them for us to keep, keeping just 1 Silver Coin to scrimp on food for a whole month..."
How could anyone possibly eat for a whole month on 1 Silver Coin?
From the old man’s telling, Hilia slowly learned the story of that heretic, Deer, casually killed—a story she’d never known.
Insecure, kind-hearted, and hard-working, but none of this brought him kindness. Only endless malice.
His insecurity made others reject him, his kindness meant he always spent more than he needed, and his hard work was met with wage theft.
The old man said that every time Deer came home, he would repeat—
"Father, I don’t want to be kind. I want to be bad."
But he still clung to kindness, never fell into the Abyss.
Until...
He met a perfectly ordinary girl. They met, grew close, he saved up money and bought a pretty ring, planning to propose. But when he went to give it to her, he found two thugs in her house, violating her.
The girl saw him, tears and blood on her face, and in despair, stabbed her own heart with scissors.
Insecurity and years of being bullied made Deer too cowardly to rush to her rescue. He ran, fled home, and cried all night.
After that, Deer stopped talking, left early, came home late.
He no longer seemed cheerful—turned gloomy instead.
He seemed to grow stronger, but also... unsettling.
Within a month, those two thugs were found dead in the street, horribly mutilated, not an inch of flesh intact, their genitals cut to ribbons and chewed on by stray dogs.
He started coming home only every two days, then only every three...
After a while, a week would pass before he returned at all.
People said he must’ve joined a Sect, become a heretic. His father, Old Deer, refused to believe it.
Old Deer grilled him, but all Deer did was shake his head. He left a lot of money for his parents, and then left.
After that, there was no further word—until, last month, the dreadful news arrived, saying he’d died in the crowd at the arena.
The two old folks didn’t believe it, wanted to get the truth—but all they heard were rumors, and anyone who really knew wouldn’t talk to them.
As for the bodies of the heretics, they were never returned. Long ago, disposed of.
It wasn’t until just now that they finally got confirmation of their son’s death.
When Old Deer finished telling the story, he gasped for air, his eyes nothing but lifeless.
"Sigh, maybe our family was abandoned by God long ago. Only then could we end up like this. Oh God..."
Murmuring, Old Deer’s head drooped, eyes slowly closing.
Hilia checked, relieved to find he’d fallen asleep, not died.
The girl’s expression was complicated; she was silent for a long time. Then she took out 10 Gold Coins from her pocket, thought for a moment, and pulled out an emblem too, handing them to the grandma.
"Grandma, please, take these. With this badge, you can go straight to the Mercenary Guild or Mage Guild to exchange the Gold Coins for Silver Coins."
The badge was a transaction token issued by the Mercenary Guild. With it, you could trade and exchange gold and silver coins at the Guild; lose it, and you could easily get another. It wasn’t anything so valuable.
The grandma shook her head, "Thank you, child. You’ve shown me there’s still hope in this world. But we can’t accept a Gold Coin. We haven’t got much time left; 12 Silver Coins is enough."
"Take it."
Hilia didn’t take no for an answer, pushed the coins and symbol into her hands, and turned to leave.
The grandma watched Hilia walk away, and at last could only sigh.
Just as she tucked the Gold Coins into her pouch, a few ruffians swaggered out from around the corner.
"Hey, old hag, hand over the Gold Coins, or we’ll kill you all."
The grandma clutched her pouch, trembling, pointed a finger at them, "You..."
She had just started to speak when several Ice Spikes flashed, whistling through the air—and pierced the men’s foreheads in an instant.
As their bodies fell, invisible ropes dragged them away, disappearing around the street corner.
The grandma stared blankly at the scene, frozen for a long while.
From across the street, Hilia flicked her hand, sighed softly, and walked toward the city center.
"Lord Rose..."
"There is no right or wrong in this world, never has been. Don’t blame yourself over it. If you want to change things, become powerful yourself—only the strong have the right to guide the world."
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