NOVPUB30: Chapter 27 Butterfly Effect_1
30 -27 Butterfly Effect_1
“Chase them!
Chase them all!
I’ll flay that little bastard alive,” the sleazy man shrieked as he rolled around, feeling a liquid flowing below; his eggs were definitely broken.
Even if he could heal with Divine Arts, he reckoned there would still be psychological scars.
“Boss, we can’t catch up; we didn’t bring our horses,” one of his subordinates explained, sticking to the facts.
Wasn’t it asking the impossible for two legs to chase four?
“Even if you can’t catch up, chase!
Otherwise, what do I feed you for?” the sleazy man snapped, beyond reason at this point.
Reluctantly, the men put on a show of chasing for a hundred meters or so before sadly hanging their heads and returning; as for Gaven and his group, they were long gone without a trace.
By then, the sleazy man had somewhat regained his composure and spat venomously, “Daring to act wild on our turf, that kid’s asking for it.
Spread the word to all our brothers, keep an eye on all the city gates.
If that kid dares to show his face, I want him captured.
I’m offering ten bounties personally.”
“Alright.” The men, who had been listless, suddenly perked up at the mention of a bounty.
The moment he kicked out, Gaven knew that entering Darama was no longer an option for him, nor did he plan to try.
Darama was too chaotic now, filled with all sorts of monsters and demons.
Even if a caravan invited him, he wouldn’t dare join; who knew if it was a legitimate trade caravan or slave traders like the sleazy man he had just encountered.
Gaven might not be certain about other things, but when it came to slave traders, he never needed a second look.
What the other party called merchant ships might exist, but the goods they trafficked were not what people normally thought; they were people like him who had been tricked into it.
Gaven decided to take the merchant road from Darama to Thacel Fort ahead of time to see if he could run into a suitable caravan.
Even if he couldn’t join, it would still be a good strategy to follow at a safe distance.
Gaven went from the south gate all the way to the north gate.
The sights he witnessed along the way convinced him that Darama was a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.
Men like the sleazy one were not a rarity but could be found everywhere, oppressing those who were alone and vulnerable, with the powers that be in Darama turning a blind eye.
All the refugees were seething with anger, daring only to feel it but not express it.
Yet, once someone courageous enough to speak and act on their behalf emerged, their bottled-up fury would ignite into a rampant blaze, erupting with force.
And Gaven knew that such a woman was about to arrive.
He really wanted to see what it would look like when the flames roared to life, Gaven thought with some regret.
Unfortunately, his time was indeed pressing and he could not predict when the fire would ignite, leaving him to only imagine it in his mind.
What Gaven didn’t know was that the letter he left for that woman had also ignited a fire in her heart.
When two fires collide, they create earth-shattering flames, and very quickly at that.
He had just reached Thacel Fort when news came that Darama City had a change in leadership; the new acting City Lord was called Zalanda Stardine.
Hearing this news, Gaven could hardly believe his ears.
Gaven was not clear on when exactly Zalanda became the City Lord of Darama in his past life as he was still struggling to survive back then, but one thing was sure – it definitely wasn’t now, and certainly not this year.
There were at least three versions of the story on how Zalanda seized Darama that Gaven heard that morning, each more fantastical than the last.
The first version claimed that Zalanda led an army of over ten thousand directly to the gates of Darama City.
The City Lord of Darama was so scared that he opened the gates and surrendered on the spot.
Gaven, who knew the situation like the back of his hand, didn’t even bother listening to the whole story.
He could name every soldier and officer in Zalanda’s command; even counting all the refugees gathered along the way, they wouldn’t add up to ten thousand.
The second version is that Zalanda was a born king, radiating a dazzling aura.
Wherever she went, everyone automatically surrendered, including the citizens of Darama City.
Gaven felt more and more that the protagonist in this version wasn’t the Zalanda he knew but seemed more like God Jesus, endowed with an aura that subdued enemies.
The last version, and the one Gaven believed to be most credible, was that Zalanda gave an inspiring speech outside Darama City, won over everyone present, and amid the cheers of countless people, Zalanda was welcomed into Darama.
No matter how these versions changed, one thing was certain: Zalanda had captured Darama without shedding a drop of blood, but in less than half a day after entering the city, the blood flowed like a river, and severed heads rolled.
It is said that the heads she personally decapitated filled two large horse carts.
This bloody method did not reduce her popularity in Darama in the slightest; on the contrary, it won her even higher acclaim, with many people venerating her as Justice Zalanda.
On her first day as the acting City Lord, she issued a series of inspiring decrees one after another.
She would provide shelter for all who came to Darama.
She would organize the army to intercept and eradicate the monster hordes from the Marching Mountains, securing the safety of the territories around Darama.
She invited everyone with a sense of responsibility and justice to join this sacred war of defense.
She assured that after victory, everyone would receive the rewards they deserved, regardless of their race, background, or past.
The first two decrees, in Gaven’s eyes, were standard fare, the bare responsibility of a City Lord.
But the last decree was something quite extraordinary; it was essentially a call to arms, breaking from the traditional conventions of Thacel.
Thacel was a country that placed immense importance on lineage.
No matter how great your military achievements, if you lacked noble blood, there were certain honors you would never obtain, with land being the most significant.
Another issue arose: without land, one could at most become a Knight, but not a noble.
The only way to become a noble was to marry into an existing noble family.
This essentially cut off all avenues for advancement, firmly held in the grasp of the old nobility.
Zalanda didn’t state it explicitly in her decrees, but she had given enough hints to attract countless aspirants.
Even over two hundred kilometers away at Thacel Fort, numerous young people were eager to band together and head for Darama to make a mark.
If not to acquire land, then at least to secure a hefty bounty.
This decree indicated that either a political veteran was guiding Zalanda from behind, or Zalanda had grown up, both able to attract people effectively and not immediately alienating those old noble families of Thacel, leaving a substantial margin for conciliatory maneuvers.
The old noble families, to prevent Zalanda from setting such a precedent, might even make overtures to curry favor with her.
Regardless, Zalanda now had a good start.
Next, she would sweep through the entire eastern region of Thacel like a tornado, bringing transformative changes.
At this time, Gaven had already found a suitable caravan at Thacel Fort and started his journey to the Northern Lands.
The reason for this smooth venture, as it turned out, was still thanks to Zalanda’s influence.
