<h4>Chapter 63: Evil thoughts</h4>
Master Natan inherited territory from his father.
Although they were noble by birth, Natan felt like he was one of the workers for the Blue Rose Kingdom and that he was worse than a miner.
He wasn''t just working arduously, but he also faced many mental hardships.
His family fought more than anyone else due to their province being one of the borders. Theirnd often split, and Natan''s family also was forced to invade others to keep their heads high.
It was war after war, and the borders had changed numerous times.
Had it been not a fantasy world, cartographers would have significantly been bothered by that particr border.
And many others...
However, in Natan''s case, he just thought about himself and how unfair his life waspared to other noble families.
After the dark times had been announced, Natan thought that things would change and everyone would face the same fate.
s, his province turned out to be one of the worst again!
It was worse than constant wars since the residents were drawn into the noble''s plight.
The coldness scratched their bodies, the hunger gnawed from within, and the sun ran away... That was so bad that Natan couldn''t bear to see his people.
He tried to take things into his matters, to no avail.
Specters were in abundant numbers, and their bodies proved to be a challenge. It was not an easy feat to cut through their ghost-like forms, and the environment was already too polluted by them.
The Blue Rose Kingdom also couldn''t send their people here.
People couldn''t level up, and the kingdom carefully ordered those who could level up just like yers.
They hadn''t sent anyone here, and their resources were also destroyed by the specters.
Thus, Natan decided...
"We will live in abundance until the whole province falls to the specters."
It wasn''t particrly a hard choice.
For all those years, his family had been fighting with the Brightdoom Kingdom''s noble household. In the plight that touched the whole province, the Blue Rose Kingdom decided to just leave them alone!
Natan''s knights were of the same mind.
Their families settled in Natan''s household.
Using the only retrieved resource from the Blue Rose Kingdom, Natan warmed up the wholend and spent his days healthy.
At the same time, the rest of the city endured the disaster...
Therefore, the knights followed him and his decision.
His decision to repel the hero!
"A group of yers with levels worse than ours. They will be able to deal with our situation as they keep growing in strength, but how many sacrifices will it take? How many days until they get strong enough to expel the ghastly mana?" Natan said to the knights around him and their families.
He brought wine to his lips, "They also came straight for the ownership to me, meaning that their goal is to share our only treasure!"
The treasure warmed theirnd and allowed them to keep thend arable.
The n was to withstand the plight and wait for yers with much higher levels. Those yers would be able to quickly deal with the difficulty, and everyday life would return...
But the hero and her party would only make things more dangerous, and her presence was a bother to Natan''s eyes!
-
Reylin brought his mes onto the street and just hurt the knights.
He controlled his fire well, and no resident was hurt through it... His party was also doing great, and they were winning despite the level gap...
If they killed those knights, a lot of EXP would have filled their bars.
However, the city would soon belong to the hero. Maya didn''t want residents to look at the grotesque scene while they endured such a disaster.
The knights dropped onto the ground, and it was time to reveal the truth!
Reylin stared at the hero, but he felt someone nudging his leg before Maya took off the red helmet.
It was a woman around Lioness'' age.
She hugged Reylin''s leg tightly, and his clothes warmed her more than anything before. Her trembling significantly decreased, and her quivering lips tried to say something. On her face, relief rippled, and she eased up.
Reylin nced at her, then shifted his eyes to Lioness, "Do you think we would be able to cooperate? Your bonfire has useful passive skills for thisnd, and I think I can make my mes burn for longer than a normal one."
Aria replied, "I don''t know whether we would be able tobine our skills. Am I a person that wouldn''t like to try it, though? We should log a few trees first."
"Sure."
The hero got a message from the duo, then Reylin and Aria left the city to prepare a bonfire for the whole town.
Any normal fire wouldn''t work in this province, but who was Reylin?
Ferocious Bear and Steel Melody nced behind at their disappearing backs, then retracted their eyes to look at the soldier who looked better than the residents.
Of course, these two girls thought about his health condition.
His skin was healthy, and he didn''t have any ck circles below his eyes. That man wasn''t skinny either, and he just moved well.
No one would be able to exert that much strength should they be as sick as the residents.
"Why... Why am I meeting so many bad peopletely?" Maya trembled while looking at the knight''s face.
Her heart beat faster, and evil thoughts manifested within.
She wanted to drop her sword and smash her fists on his face. It wouldn''t be just one punch, but many so that even the knight''s mother wouldn''t be able to recognize him. The more she stared at him, the darker her heart became.
Atst, Maya dropped her sword and kicked the knight''s face.
Steel Melody''s eyes widened, and she stopped questioning the knight.
She then saw Ferocious Bear bing just like her nickname stated, and the girl saddled the man with her fists raining down his face!
"Aaah! Ahhhh!" The Red Knight cried as the hero''s strength was her second-highest stat!
He tried to cover his face, but the hero''s fists broke his forearm''s bones, and he could no longer move them!
Once his face became free, the hero continued to pummel his face.
Other knights flinched and took a few steps back, but Steel Melody pinned them down with her eyes and taunt.
Maya also noticed their reaction, "Whose idea was it?"
"Master Natan..."