abcnovels
Chapter 491: Kindness
Chapter 491: Kindness
Chapter 491: Kindness
?
Children laughed and played in the snow-covered cobblestone streets. Men and women chatted animatedly, their faces lit with genuine smiles as they shared news and gossip.
On the surface, it was a scene of perfect harmony and bliss.
From within his room, Adam watched everything unfold. His eyes were sharp and flashing with a mix of emotions as he watched the town's residents go about their day.
After comparing the blood samples and analyzing them, he was able to see beyond the townfolks' cheerful facade; beyond their laughter and their smiles.
A dark aura, subtle and insidious, clung to them like an unseen shadow.
These people were blissfully unaware, living their lives under the weight of a curse they didn't know existed.
Adam's heart ached for them.
"Damn it!" He cursed aloud and turned away from the window.
He paced back and forth in his room, his expression dark. The newfound knowledge weighed heavily on his shoulders.
Clenching his fists tightly, he kept mumbling to himself, "What do I do? What do I do?..."
He took a seat, unfastened the gourd hanging from his waist, and took one mouthful after another. He finished the wine in the gourd and dropped it to the floor with a helpless look on his face.
Slowly, he was able to look past the veil and begin to uncover the truth.
Everyone in this town is a descendant of Magus Stratford, he thought.
He then glanced at the blood vials lying on the table beside him, his eyes narrowing. Every time he tried to get closer to the truth, he felt as if he was getting further and further away. "This doesn't make any sense!"
He got up from his chair and started pacing around the room once again. His fists clenched and unclenched several times as he struggled to come to a decision.
Wait... So, Magus Stratford fought Morven and sealed him in the depths of the Weeping Woods. The townsfolk continued to strengthen the seal every generation since then.
The last one to do so was the patriarch of the Howlett Family, but he got corrupted by a secret inheritance left behind by Morven...
Adam thought to himself, struggling to connect the dots.
The patriarch experimented on his family members, planning to finish what Morven started all those centuries ago... But what was this experiment? What was he trying to do?
Whatever it was, he wasn't able to finish it as he was killed by the mayor and the council members.
He continued to piece together all the clues that he had gotten, slowly trying his best to uncover the truth.
But before the patriarch died, he summoned those werewolves from within the seal that is restraining the weakened Morven...
Those werewolves are guarding the entrance to the seal and only attack the town every night of the full moons.
What is the significance of the full moons? Why don't they attack any other day?
Adam walked toward the window and gazed at the residents with a complicated expression. Every full moon night, the blood of the residents that are killed is absorbed into the ground.
He then turned his head and glanced at the blood vials on the table. Even after thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure it out.
In the end, he couldn't help but heave a dejected sigh, "This entire thing reeks of danger."
A cold light flashed through his eyes as he thought to himself, Should I just abandon this mission and leave this place? It's not my problem if everyone in this town dies.
Yeah... I don't see how that's my problem. I'll tell Elrick to give me another mission so that I can get my hands on rune magic. Yes... this is definitely the right thing to do...
Right at that moment, his attention was drawn toward the sound of laughter coming from outside.
He saw a group of children playing near the fountain. They splashed water at each other, their giggles echoing like the sweetest of melodies.
The children's laughter continued to ring inside Adam's mind, his heart aching with each passing second.
He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. He thought to himself in distress, Damn it! If I leave... then what of the kids?
The youth's gaze shifted from the children and onto the blood vials on the table.
Gradually, a resolve formed within him.
I can't abandon them...
He heaved a deep sigh as he slowly straightened his shoulders. He recalled something Berger had told him a long time ago, back when he was still a student at Clover Academy.
"Man is born for deeds of kindness," he repeated the words that the old gnome and once said to him.
His lips curled up into a faint smile. "Kindness... is it?"
A trace of hope flickered in his jet-black eyes. "Haa, forget it. If I abandoned them now, I'd never be able to live with myself. That's not a life worth living anyway.
"I can win a fight against monsters and men, but not against guilt."
He walked toward the table and grabbed all the vials containing the townfolks' blood. Then, he carefully packed them inside a single bag.
After that, he started writing a letter to Elrick. He planned to send these blood samples and have them analyzed by a Grade 3 Herbalist from the Brotherhood.
He wanted to confirm his speculations.
Although he knew that the results of his own experiments were not false, he still wanted to do this for his peace of mind.
At the same time, he also mentioned in the letter that he wanted books and knowledge pertaining to werewolves, their relation to the moon, and lunar magic.
He made sure to highlight the urgency of the situation he was in so that Elrick knew just what was at stake. Adam hoped that this would urge the carefree man to work quicker.
After he had finished preparing everything, he summoned the Brotherhood's owl messenger and sent the letter and blood samples through the Spirit World.
"Now that this is done..." He looked at the portal slowly mend itself before casting his gaze on the two crystal vials containing the venom from the werewolves.
"I can begin working on this."