A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

"Truly... preposterous."

Ravenna stood at the end of the tunnel, her expression dark and her violet eyes glittering with cold fury.

She was now at the terminus of the Lower District's drainage system, where countless putrid corpses lay, barely restraining her seething anger.

Even Ravenna, who could become so engrossed that she once weighed human lives on a scale, would hesitate to sacrifice others and could not remain indifferent to the scene before her.

To someone who valued worth as highly as she did, such blatant disregard for life was intolerable.

"He's not here either. It seems his son has been sold off," she murmured after a few minutes, her residual anger fading.

"I can't tell if this is a minor blessing or the beginning of a tragedy."

Yesterday, Ansel had returned to the Speckled Snake's former territory and quickly discovered several other dens where slaves were trained. Many of those inside were already on the brink of death, having been abducted by various means.

After rescuing these unfortunate souls, Ansel and Ravenna still found no clues about their target, learning only from the survivors about the Speckled Snake's disposal sites for "unfit" slaves. Thus, today they had come here.

With a snap of his fingers, Ansel incinerated the bones with a blazing fireball. Unlike Ravenna, he appeared calm, so composed that he seemed unshaken.

"Unfortunately, the Speckled Snake is already dead," Ansel shook his head. "This leaves us with fewer direct leads... Venna, you should be able to track people through items associated with our target."

Ravenna had undoubtedly invested considerable effort in this area while investigating the truth behind Elieen's death.

Yet, the woman shook her head. "That kind of tracking relies on tracing ether... it doesn't work on ordinary people. If we had a piece of his flesh or blood, we could try, but simple objects lack sufficient connection."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ansel showed no signs of concern, remaining remarkably composed. "Then we'll start by investigating everyone involved in the Speckled Serpent's trafficking process. Seraphina will likely eliminate the main culprits, but she probably won't have the resources to hunt down every participant."

Their measured footsteps echoed through the foul-smelling sewers as three strikingly beautiful individuals, who seemed out of place here, made their way against the flow of the sewage, preparing to leave the labyrinthine drainage system.

Ansel turned his head to gaze at the underground waterway and suddenly spoke: "Margarete, tell me, why was this sewer system built in Dispute Fortress?"

Not long ago, they had been discussing the commission, so Ansel's sudden question caught Marlina off guard. It took her several seconds of stunned silence before she scrambled to think.

The layout of the Lower District funneled all the wastewater to the bottom of this "mine." Not just wastewater—given this disposal method, a significant amount of daily garbage was likely dumped directly beneath the Lower District without any form of isolation.

This meant… the entire Lower District was built atop a massive garbage heap!

This bizarre living environment made Marlina, who thought she had seen it all, feel a chill run down her spine. Even in the Red Frost Territory, the slums' conditions were not as... absurd.

Absurd...

As Marlina pondered this, a question that had surfaced countless times in her mind reappeared.

Why did so many ordinary people still willingly accept the rule of extraordinary beings?

Was it because they couldn't afford the cost of moving? Or... was their actual living situation perhaps not as dire as she had assumed?

If that were the case, then the fundamental reason their lives weren't so terrible was—

In that instant, Marlina's mind was struck by clarity. The recent events, especially the impact of the Milo affair and the "answer" Ansel had alluded to, suddenly made many things clear to her.

"The Empress satisfies her lust for power by ruling the empire," Marlina murmured, her voice somewhat dazed.

"Extraordinary beings... are the same."

However, the empress's vast dominion offered countless opportunities to do as she pleased and be satisfied. But extraordinary beings who controlled merely a city couldn't be so easily content.

By bestowing charity, they earned gratitude from the suffering mortals, temporarily filling their empty, monotonous selves. And if the suffering wasn't sufficient...

They would create suffering.

A sardonic smile tugged at the girl's pale lips.

"Thinking about it, that Mr. Milo must have 'purified' the Lower District countless times."

The foul, putrid air didn't affect the extraordinary beings at all, but how could ordinary people endure it? Moreover, living atop stagnant waters brimming with sewage and garbage, this wasn't merely an issue of stench—it was a breeding ground for disease.

Yet, the Lower District didn't reek of decay, indicating that… the "Lord adventurers" above had likely bestowed many blessings, purifying the environment — How many similar acts had they performed? Your next read is at empire

Marlina could envision the residents of the Lower District, raising their arms in frenzied cheers whenever these adventurers carried out what were trivial tasks to them. But while they celebrated the adventurers' greatness and kindness, did they ever ponder that… if these adventurers truly cared, they wouldn't have cast them into this sunless pit like livestock in the first place?

Did they ever consider that the entire Lower District wasn't meant for habitation but was merely a… a toy to satisfy their twisted desires?

Or did they believe that… the extraordinary beings tossing them scraps like stray dogs… was an act of immense benevolence?

A profound sorrow and melancholy clouded Marlina's face, an ordinary girl's face, one that she couldn't hide.

Why was it like this? In Mr. Ansel's Hydral domain, such scenes never occurred. The commoners lived well and—

Marlina's thoughts abruptly halted.

A terrifying thought, one she couldn't suppress or erase, surfaced in her mind.

How many of the extraordinary beings in Hydral actually cared about the commoners, and how many were… simply following Mr. Ansel's orders?

And while maintaining this façade of prosperity, what were they secretly doing?

In a daze, Marlina followed Ansel out of the sewer, but even when she looked up, there was no sunlight to be seen.

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