Are You Willing?

After the crowd below had stopped talking, Claire cleared her throat.

"Many of you may not know why I gathered you here, but you certainly recognize this man in chains. He was the only doctor in Nafu City. No, he could not even be called a doctor."

"I came from the royal capital, so I have seen many doctors. Though they did not possess the Church's holy light healing magic, their medical methods could still help people rid themselves of illness, cure their diseases, and restore their health."

Claire pointed at Moses's head. "And him? He did not know medicine at all! Yet someone who knew nothing of medicine became the only doctor in Nafu City! Do you know what his treatment methods were? Bloodletting. While it had some scientific basis, he believed every illness could be cured by bloodletting. Every patient who went to his clinic was charged six Silver Coins first, and then had their blood drained..."

At this, the people below began discussing it again.

"That's true. When my mother went there before, they drained her blood too."

"That's right. My younger brother had a lot of blood drained when he went there too. He stayed weak after coming home, and in the end, he wasn't cured..."

Claire continued, "Bloodletting was only the basic treatment. If you still had money, he would keep deceiving you into undergoing further treatment: fecal enemas, burning your scalp with a branding iron, inducing vomiting, amputation, and more. He would even smear feces on your wounds. You should know that this would cause bacterial infection in the wounds and worsen the injury. Of course, he knew that too. But if the injury did not worsen, how could he continue with the next stage of treatment and collect more money? The result of this was often the patient's death."

Claire's tone suddenly became impassioned. "There was only one doctor in all of Nafu City, and his treatments only worsened his patients' injuries. Perhaps some young people with strong constitutions managed to endure it, but after all these years, how many lives have died at his hands?"

Claire was not putting on an act. She was furious from the bottom of her heart. If he had truly been a doctor, profiting at high prices would have been one thing. But he knew nothing about medicine and even worsened his patients' injuries until they lost their lives. For someone who fed on human suffering like this, being shot twice would not have been excessive.

"Is that true?" A young man suddenly fell to his knees, disbelief written across his face as he covered his face and began to sob.

"I finally scraped together enough money to send my mother to a doctor, but I never thought I would be the one to personally push her into hell!"

"Me too. My younger brother was only a little dizzy at first, but after returning from the clinic, his wound worsened and began to fester. He died just like that. I thought he was simply unlucky, but it turned out to be this..." Another person clutched his head in despair.

After Claire exposed the truth, more and more people realized that after their relatives went to the clinic and came back, they had all died not long afterward... Before, they had thought it was bad luck, that they had contracted some incurable terminal illness. But now it seemed that it was all this quack's fault!!!

Those who had survived after going to the clinic felt incredibly fortunate at that moment. Luckily, they had been lucky enough not to be killed by that quack.

The people who had lost loved ones had bloodshot eyes as they glared at Moses, kneeling on the platform. Their eyes were filled with killing intent!

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

"Kill him! You murderous quack!" A boy cried until his whole body went limp. He could not even stand up, and could only pound the ground with all his strength and howl at the top of his lungs, "Give me back my mother! You murderer!"

"I'm going to kill him!"

"That damned bastard!"

People kept trying to push forward, attempting to kill Moses, who was trembling on the wooden platform—the man who had murdered their loved ones.

After committing evil for so many years, Moses had always occupied a lofty position. When had he ever seen such a scene? The people who usually had to beg him for treatment now looked as though they wanted to tear him apart alive. Just hearing their voices made Moses tremble uncontrollably.

Bang! A thunderous blast erupted!

The crowd below stopped pushing forward and stared blankly ahead. By then, a huge hole had been blasted through Moses's chest. He fell straight forward. Even before death, his eyes remained filled with terror and regret. Yet that regret was not because he believed he had done anything wrong, but because of the fear and remorse brought on by facing death.

Claire swept her gaze over the crowd and said softly, "Don't worry, everyone. I brought him here so that he could face judgment..."

"Thank you, Lady Viscount!" A woman sobbed as she dropped to her knees on the spot. Her husband had also died at Moses's hands.

"Thank you, Lady Viscount, for avenging us!" The people below knelt one after another. Most of them choked back sobs, unable to speak through their tears.

It was no wonder. They had thought their loved ones had died naturally, only to discover now that they had been murdered. Such emotional turmoil was not something ordinary people could endure.

Seeing the people below drop to their knees, Claire pressed her lips together. The responsibility on her shoulders grew heavier, but it was a burden she was willing to bear.

She took a few steps forward to the edge of the wooden platform. Claire was now only a few steps away from the people below, but that small distance gave them a different feeling. Their lady viscount was close to them.

At the edge of the platform, Claire sat down directly, as though she were chatting with ordinary neighbors.

"You all know that I only recently returned to the barony from the royal capital. Many of you do not know me. Or perhaps we were gone for too long, and you forgot that you even had a lord. But now, I'm back!"

"However, when I returned, I found this place completely different from what I remembered. You were not living peacefully and prosperously in the territory I had imagined. Instead, excessive taxes had left you unable to afford food, and some had even starved to death. When I saw that, my heart ached. My people should not live like this. They should live freely and prosperously. That is why I abolished those burdensome taxes..."

Upon hearing this, the crowd below became so quiet that only breathing could be heard. Yet their hearts surged violently, as though endless hot blood filled their bodies. They could feel that the words their lady viscount spoke today would affect their future, perhaps even change their fate.

Claire's voice was not loud, yet it was extraordinarily inspiring. "Yes, but that is still not enough. I do not merely want you to have enough to eat and be able to afford new clothes. I want you to become wealthy. I want your children to be able to read and receive a complete education. I want you to no longer worry about tomorrow's food. I want you to no longer be treated like servants by others!"

"I want you to live happier and prouder lives than the people of other territories! When someone asks where you are from, you can proudly tell them: I am a citizen of Griffin Barony! Our barony is the happiest place in the entire nation, in the entire world! The people who live in Griffin Barony are the happiest people in the world!"

"But that would not be realistic if I tried to do it alone..." Claire spread her arms toward the crowd. "I hope you will build this home of ours together with me. Are you willing?"

As soon as she said this, silence fell over the crowd below. The only sound was the pounding of their hearts!

Then came deafening cries that pierced the heavens.

"We are willing!!!!!"

"We are willing to die for Lady Viscount!!!"

"We are willing to build our home together with Lady Viscount!!!"

The people below had flushed faces as they waved their arms and roared with all their strength. Their voices echoed throughout Nafu City. This was the most exhilarating day of their lives.

Claire looked at the people below and smiled, smiling with genuine happiness.

These were not empty pleasantries. They were words straight from her heart. Perhaps when she had first arrived in this world, she had not possessed any clear goal. But from this day onward, she did. She would build up the barony and give the people who believed in her a good life.

I wrote another chapter like this, and I don't know how well it turned out or whether you will enjoy reading it, but I ended up writing it without realizing it. Normally, this chapter should have focused on the thrill of killing Moses, but it just did not feel satisfying enough, so this chapter came about. Still, don't worry—there will be fewer chapters like this later on.