Are you willing?

After the crowd below stopped their murmuring, Claire cleared her throat.

"Many of you may not know why I've gathered you here, but you certainly recognize this person chained up. He's the only doctor in Nafu City. Or rather, he can't even be called a doctor."

"I'm from the capital, so I've seen many skilled doctors. While they don't have holy light healing magic like the church, their medical practices can help people get rid of illnesses, cure diseases, and restore health."

Claire pointed at Moses's head. "As for him, he knows no medical skills! Yet, someone like him, who knows no medical skills, has become the only doctor in Nafu City! Do you know what his treatment method is? Bloodletting. Although there's some scientific basis for it, he believes all diseases can be cured by bloodletting. Every patient who visits his clinic is first charged six silver coins, and then he proceeds to draw blood..."

At this point, the crowd below began to murmur again.

"That's true. My mother was also bled when she went."

"Right, my brother's blood was drawn quite a bit when he went. He was weak after returning home and couldn't be cured in the end..."

Claire continued, "Bloodletting is just the basic treatment. If you still have money, he'll continue to fool you into the next step of treatment: enemas, branding the scalp with a hot iron, inducing vomiting, amputation, and even smearing feces on your wounds. You know, this can lead to the wound being infected by bacteria, worsening the injury. Of course, he knows this. But if the injury doesn't worsen, how can he proceed to the next treatment and charge more money? The result of this is often the patient's death."

Suddenly, Claire's tone became impassioned. "He's the only doctor in the entire Nafu City, and his treatment methods only worsen the patients' injuries. Perhaps some young people with strong constitutions can endure it, but over the years, how many lives have been lost because of him!"

Claire's anger wasn't feigned; it was genuine. If he were a real doctor, profiting at high prices would be one thing, but he knew nothing of medicine and actually worsened his patients' injuries, leading to their deaths. Such exploitation of human suffering deserved far more than a mere execution.

"Is this true?" a young man suddenly knelt on the ground, disbelief etched on his face as he covered his eyes and wept.

"I scraped together all my money to send my mother to the doctor, only to realize I had personally pushed her into hell!"

"Me too. My brother was just feeling a bit dizzy. After returning from the clinic, his wound festered and he died. I thought it was just bad luck, but it turns out it was like this..." another person despaired, clutching their head.

After Claire revealed the truth, more and more people began to realize that their relatives who had visited the clinic had all died shortly after. They had previously attributed it to bad luck or incurable diseases, but now they saw it was all the fault of this quack!

Those who had visited the clinic and survived felt immense relief, grateful for their good fortune that they hadn't been killed by that incompetent doctor.

The people who had lost their loved ones now glared at Moses, who was kneeling on the platform, their eyes red with fury and filled with murderous intent!

"It's all your fault! If it weren't for you, my brother wouldn't have died! I'm going to kill you!"

"Kill you! You quack who kills people!" a boy, crying uncontrollably, unable to stand, could only pound the ground and wail, "Give me back my mother! You murderer!"

"I'm going to kill him!"

"This damned fellow!"

More and more people tried to push forward, attempting to kill Moses, who was trembling on the wooden platform, the man who had wronged their loved ones.

Having been in a position of power for so many years, Moses had never witnessed such a scene. The very people who used to beg him for treatment now looked as if they wanted to devour him alive. Just hearing their voices made Moses tremble uncontrollably.

"Bang!" A deafening roar erupted!

The crowd below stopped pushing forward and stared blankly. Moses, who was kneeling on the ground, now had a gaping hole in his chest and fell forward. In his final moments, his eyes were still filled with fear and regret, though the regret wasn't for his wrongdoing, but for the fear of facing death.

Claire surveyed the crowd below and said softly, "Everyone, rest assured, I brought him here to face judgment..."

"Thank you, my Lord Viscount!" a woman sobbed, kneeling on the spot. Her husband was also killed by Moses.

"Thank you, my Lord Viscount, for avenging us!" people knelt one after another, most of them choked with emotion and unable to speak through their tears.

This was understandable. The emotional upheaval of discovering that their loved ones, whom they thought had died naturally, had actually been murdered was more than most people could bear.

Seeing the crowd suddenly kneel, Claire pursed her lips. The weight of responsibility on her shoulders increased, but it was a burden she was willing to accept.

She took a few steps forward to the edge of the wooden platform. At this point, Claire was only a few steps away from the crowd below, but this short distance gave the people a different feeling; their Viscount was close to them.

Reaching the edge of the platform, Claire even sat down directly, as if chatting with ordinary neighbors.

"As you all know, I've just returned to the barony from the capital. Many of you don't know me, or perhaps we've been away for too long, and you've forgotten that you have a lord. But now I'm back!"

"However, when I returned, I found this place completely different from my memories. You don't live in a peaceful and prosperous territory as I imagined. Due to excessive taxes, you can't even afford to eat, and some have even starved to death. My heart ached when I saw this. My people shouldn't live like this. They should live freely and prosperously. Therefore, I've abolished those burdensome taxes..."

Hearing this, the crowd below fell silent, only the sound of breathing audible. Internally, however, they were overwhelmed with emotion, as if an endless surge of passion filled their bodies. They could feel that the words spoken by their Viscount today would affect their future, even change their destiny.

Claire's voice was not loud but exceptionally inspiring. "Yes, but that's not enough. I don't just want you to have enough to eat and wear new clothes. I want you to become wealthy, for your children to be literate and receive a complete education. I hope you won't have to worry about tomorrow's food, and I hope you'll no longer be treated like servants!

I hope you can live happier and prouder lives than the people in other territories! When people ask where you're from, you can proudly tell them, 'I am a citizen of the Griffin Barony!' Our barony is the happiest place in the entire country, in the whole world! The people living in the Griffin Barony are the happiest people in the world!"

"But this is unrealistic for me alone..." Claire spread her arms towards the crowd. "I hope you will join me in building this homeland that belongs to us. Are you willing?"

Upon hearing this, there was a moment of silence below, broken only by the sound of pounding hearts!

Then, a deafening roar that shook the heavens and echoed through the clouds erupted.

"Willing!!!!!!"

"We are willing to die for you, my Lord Viscount!!!"

"We are willing to build our homeland together with you, my Lord Viscount!!!"

The people below had flushed faces, waving their hands and shouting with all their might. Their voices echoed throughout Nafu City. This was the most exciting day of their lives.

Claire looked at the crowd below and smiled, a genuinely happy smile.

These were not mere pleasantries; they were heartfelt words. Perhaps when he first arrived in this world, he had no clear goals, but from this day forward, he did: to build up the barony and ensure that these people who believed in him would live good lives.

I've written another chapter like this, and I'm not sure how it turned out or if you'll like it, but I found myself writing it without realizing it. Generally, this chapter should have been about the thrilling moment of killing Moses, but it didn't feel quite right, so this chapter came about. But don't worry, I'll reduce these types of chapters in the future.