Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 345 Sheepdog

The next day.

Inside the castle, as always, Ethan had become the backbone of the "Red Eyes." Apart from Little Bellamore, all of Morgana's other children surrounded Ethan early in the morning, eager to know more about the Gourmet Club.

The city of Darkheart appeared peaceful. After the unpleasant parting last night, "Hunger" did not take any further action. The lives of the "Red Eyes" were always leisurely. Here, they did not need to go out to earn money, nor did they have any pressure to survive. What they did every day was to wander around Darkheart. With the introduction of Morgana's offspring, Ethan was able to observe the interior of the city more clearly.

The building is fully equipped with all the necessary facilities; except for the lack of human habitation, it is almost a complete replica of the entire Dark Furnace City.

This provided the ghouls with many forms of entertainment, with the library being their most frequented place.

"It's a pity there's no opera company in the opera house."

Peter remarked as he showed Ethan the lavish interior of the opera house.

Grand Duke Bellamor was an opera enthusiast. He would often spend a lot of money to invite the troupe from the Kingdom of Galog to tour the city's opera house. He renovated the troupe three times, striving to provide the best environment for all performers and opera enthusiasts.

“I wanted to have the people from the ranch come here to perform, but my mother didn’t want us to get too close to them.”

Peter shrugged. "Humans are all treacherous and cunning; only family can be trusted."

This mirror city is their home, and Morgana does not want any humans to enter it, with Valerie being the only exception.

Ethan felt that everything he discovered in the mirror city directly or indirectly confirmed Ivy's conjecture.

Hunger not only transformed Morgana, but it also provided her family with a better living environment. She became the master of the city and no longer had to live a life of dependence.

The day passed quickly. They had only strolled around the huge city for a short while before it was afternoon. Ethan also discovered many amazing things about the city—the goods in the grocery store would be automatically replenished ten minutes after being taken away, and although there were no waiters in the restaurant, it could still provide normal ordering service. There was a menu on each table, and after ordering, steaming hot food would appear on the table out of thin air.

But ghouls don't like human cooked food; they think it tastes no different from tree bark, which is determined by their ghoul nature.

Ethan tried to find some clues in the city, but failed.

His memories of Shadow Bolt had completely vanished. He could only deduce from the timeline that they must have met when he last entered this world. At that time, his goal was clear: he needed to implant an idea into Winter's mind, and he successfully accomplished that goal.

After that, as the project leader, he naturally retired after achieving his goal. However, in the eyes of Shadow Arrow, who did not understand the cause and effect, it could indeed be considered an act of abandonment.

This made it difficult for Ethan to blend into the ghouls' joyful atmosphere. They seemed to have endless energy, running around the city. What he was seeing now was the daily lifestyle of the "red-eyed" ghouls.

Ethan strolled through the streets filled with ghouls. He had grown completely accustomed to the presence of these dark creatures; here, they were no different from the passersby on the streets of Darkhearth. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bells ringing from the castle. Morgana's children stopped playing and their expressions turned serious.

Something happened.

Their mother was calling them; the tolling of the bells was a urging for them to return to the castle immediately, while also warning them of the approaching danger.

Danger?

Does it refer to the witchers who live in the villages?
This puzzled them. The sheep in the sheepfold couldn't even break through the city's outer defenses like low-level ghouls, and time had long since worn down their will. They explored the outer perimeter less and less, until they stopped looking for a way out altogether.

Van Fleet managed the sheepfold very well. Under his management, the humans living there became docile sheep, and they found it hard to imagine that a flock of sheep would suddenly gather together and bite people.

The moment Ethan entered the castle, he saw Lady Morgana standing in the most prominent position, scrutinizing them with a stern gaze, while an unexpected uninvited guest stood beside her.

Van Fleet arrived at the castle, his gaze darting away, avoiding Ethan's eyes.

"This is Mr. Van Fleet, he has something to say here."

Mrs. Morgana declared sternly, gesturing with her eyes for her children to be quiet, to stay away from Ethan, and to return to her side.

She stepped forward, shielding all the children behind her.

They are a family, the Blacklev family with noble blood. The ghouls say that for any important matter, they will use a collective vote by family members.

“You may begin, Mr. Van Fleet.”

Van Fleet hesitated, but under Morgana's stern scrutiny, he finally spoke, "He is a human. I don't know his purpose in infiltrating the castle, but I must warn you."

In an instant, Morgana's children fell silent, staring at Ethan with incredulous eyes.

"Impossible! This human is talking nonsense. Mr. Ethan is a gourmet. He has eaten more humans than all of us combined. He even owns a gourmet club in the capital!"

Peter countered.

“Mr. Ethan and Miss Ivy are distinguished guests of the Blacklift family. We will not believe your one-sided story. You should have a way to prove your conclusion, right?”

"Yes, I can vouch for that, as long as Mr. Ethan is willing to cooperate."

Van Fleet stepped forward with his head down. "I need to take some of his blood as a sample."

Hearing this, Morgana nodded in satisfaction. "I believe Mr. Ethan won't mind. Of course, if we find out that you framed him, we will execute you in the most cruel way... You shouldn't have any objections, right?"

"of course."

Ethan nodded.

Van Fleet's arrival was unexpected, but upon reflection, he felt relieved.

His management of the village was based on the false hope he created for the villagers. Although many villagers had long given up looking for a way out, they still harbored deep-seated fantasy that Van Fleet would one day lead everyone away from here. It was a vague and unrealistic fantasy, but it was enough to keep them alive and allow them to face this messed-up world every day when they woke up.

However, the truth is that Van Fleet reached an agreement with the city's "red-eyed" gang.

He never intended to find a way out, and he was the first to give up.

By providing sacrifices to the "red-eyed" people periodically, others can live safely in exchange.

He was also able to expand the village's size, and the number of residents in the village has increased significantly since it was first established.

"Don't blame me, I had to do it."

Van Fleet approached and whispered.

This is more like him convincing himself, finding a plausible excuse for using his knowledge as a witcher to help ghouls identify humans.

His deal with the ghoul must never be known to anyone else in the village.

This self-comforting whisper spurred Van Fleet to take a step forward. "You're planning to rescue them, aren't you? I can tell from your eyes. I can't let you do this; you'll ruin everything!"

Van Fleet knew very well that regardless of whether Ethan succeeded or not, he would not have any good outcome.

Because Ethan learned of his pact with the ghouls. Even if they managed to escape, the reckoning would surely fall upon him.

Because humans are ignorant, they can never see the whole picture. They only think that he sacrificed those residents who were offered up to the "red-eyed" people in order to survive, but in reality, it was a necessary sacrifice.

Human development and reproduction are built upon the sacrifices of generation after generation.

With each step Van Fleet took forward, he became increasingly neurotic, muttering to himself incessantly.

“I know you’re the kind of person who would encourage everyone to die together with ‘Red Eyes’ in the name of freedom. You’re just like that follower of the God of Truth before.”

He found the most suitable reason for his argument: "And I, I am the one who wants them to live!"

Now, all he needs to do is expose Ethan to Morgana, nipping his plans in the bud, and he can get everything back on track.

He could even use this as leverage to negotiate with the "red-eyed" gang and persuade them to take fewer people with them.

Yes, he is on the side of justice.

Van Fleet raised his head and met Ethan's gaze with his cloudy eyes.

However, Ethan simply raised his right hand calmly.

He had expected a heated argument, with Ethan likely to hurl insults at him, calling him a coward and a despicable traitor who had betrayed the village. He had prepared his retorts on the way here.

He would say that Ethan doesn't understand the place at all, and that the villagers don't need unrealistic fantasies.

Van Fleet gripped the blade of his dagger and slashed Ethan's palm, collecting the blood in a goblet. He was filled with trepidation, for Ethan's reaction was far too calm, showing no sign of the impending doom that comes with the thought of his lie being exposed.

But the appearance of the blood already says it all.

Ghoul blood is usually dark red and much thicker than human blood. In fact, many ghouls that have mutated for a long time do not bleed when they are injured.

But he still needs to conduct further tests to ensure that his conclusions are absolutely correct.

Van Fleet suddenly realized something and said, "Miss Ivy is a genuine ghoul, and I think she must have been deceived by Ethan as well."

He believed he had done a good deed, at least sparing the blonde girl from Morgana's punishment.

Van Fleet took a bound magic bag from the pocket of his cloak and showed everyone the crimson blood in the goblet. "If he is a ghoul or some other dark creature, this bag will ignite upon contact with the blood, burning with green flames."

All eyes were drawn to the wine glass in Van Fleet's hand, a simple action that sent a chill down his spine.

His blurry silhouette was reflected in the blood in the glass.

He simply did what he had to do.

With that thought in mind, he steeled himself and soaked the magic bag in blood.

Time ticked by, and the magic bag floated gently on the blood in the cup without any change—for witchers, this was an absolutely accurate method of detection, a guide left by the great Cynthia to help them distinguish between friends and enemies.

The test results showed that Ethan, like him, was a pure human being.

Van Fleet closed his eyes, let out a long sigh of relief, and relaxed completely.

"It turns out he's a real human being, and you've all been fooled by him!"

"Mr. Ethan, do you have anything else to explain?"

Morgana didn't immediately retaliate; she waited for Ethan's response. Of course, no matter how Ethan tried to argue, it wouldn't change her mind. "I dealt with witchers in my younger days and have heard of this method... The test results are absolutely accurate."

This seemed to trigger some unpleasant memories for her, and her tone became somewhat unnatural.

"They also conducted the same tests on you, and the results proved that you are just like them, a pure human being."

This was an undeniable result bestowed upon them by the goddess of the hunt, Cynthia.

Ethan seemed to see right through her, “But that still didn’t change their minds. They still believed you would bring destruction to the Bellamor family, and the Duke of Bellamor eventually believed them.”

Morgana's expression changed drastically; her nails became as sharp as blades, and the characteristics of a ghoul became increasingly apparent on her body.

Her children had different expressions; some were ready for battle, while others hesitated.

“Mother, even if Mr. Ethan has lied to us, we can still turn him into one of us.”

Peter pleaded for Ethan, "Just let him survive the infection!"

"Deception and betrayal are not allowed among family members... The whole thing about the food club was made up by me."

Ethan stated frankly, "The purpose is to sow discord between you and your mother, to make you want to go out into the world. If anyone knows how to leave this hellhole, it's Mrs. Morgan. In fact, we came here for Valerie from the beginning. I don't care at all what you'll encounter after you leave. There are witchers and the regular army of the Imperial Knights everywhere outside."

This time, even Peter looked at him with hostility, and he angrily opened his mouth, revealing a mouthful of fangs.

"But now, I've changed my mind."

Ethan opened his arms and stared at the nearly frantic Morgana. He knew the real reason for her anger had nothing to do with deception, but rather that she had mentioned Grand Duke Bellamore.

"Mrs. Morgana, I have something to know."

He asked, "How do you view the Duke of Belamore now?"

Morgana had no intention of answering his question. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of him, her razor-sharp claws reaching for his neck, seemingly trying to rip his head off.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Ethan was less than half a meter away from Morgana, and he could clearly see Morgana's claws, and...

The shadow wrapped around Morgana's arm firmly restrained her movements, preventing her from moving forward even an inch.

Morgana's eyes were full of doubt and confusion.

She couldn't understand why the being hidden deep within the mist, who provided them with strength and refuge, was now stopping her.

She also heard Ethan's cryptic whispers.

"I think I have the answer."

(End of this chapter)