Chapter 61: Ch 61: Welcome to a Brand New World

The plaza was still wet after the rain caused by the River family head, and the wet ground smeared the clothes of the former masters being forced to kneel down.

Anger and humiliation colored their eyes, and they instantly refused to bow, much less listen to what Aiden was offering them.

"Hey, do you think we are kids you can intimidate? We are from a proud line of nobles! You should be ashamed to even lay your hands on us! It is not too late! If you confess your sins, then we can—"

Sigh

Aiden could only sigh as he heard those nonsensical words being uttered by the former masters.

It seemed like they still had not grasped their reality.

"Let’s do it this way. Those of you who want to join Goddess Apophis, step toward me, and those who do not want to, do not move. This will be the last choice I will give you."

Aiden made it as easy as he could, but the people from the four families still looked confused and shocked. Were they truly that slow? Or was this a result of some weird in-breeding?

Whatever it was made them stupid because not a single person chose to follow Goddess Apophis.

Instead, the lady of the Kensen family chose to address Ethan River once more.

"Ethan River, do something! Or, have you become a slave as well? Look how the mighty have fallen—"

"You are just jealous because I have seen the light and chosen to serve the Goddess. I don’t need you to tell me whether I made the right decision or not."

"You—"

This was enough. Aiden had heard enough nonsense at this point.

"I have reached my final verdict. Since none of you chose to embrace my goddess’s grace, there is no point in keeping you around anymore either. You can throw them out now. Make sure they carry nothing but the clothes on their backs."

Noah instructed, and the ex-slaves looked too eager to take their revenge against the families that had tormented them until now.

"Hey, you cannot do this to us—"

Unfortunately, the former slaves could do what they wanted. Their former masters had no power over them anymore.

And with this, the issue of this village had been resolved, and a crisis had been averted from coming to their village.

...

Once the matters were taken care of, it was finally time to head back to their settlement. Aiden had already been away for a few days, so he wanted to hurry back and check on the progress.

He left an elder ex-slave in charge of the place and also provided the village with some emergency funds.

[A new area has been added to Goddess Apophis’s territory. A protective shield will be deployed around the area now.]

The system confirmed that this village now belonged to him, and after making plans to send some dwarfs and fairies to make the situation better, Aiden returned back to their main village.

But this time, he had Caelion as well as Ethan River and Honey with him.

The latter two were brought because it would have been hard for them to survive otherwise. As for Caelion...

’I don’t like the way he looks at you. He is far too devoted to you, and it is pissing me off. But I guess I can look the other way until it becomes a problem.’

His goddess seemed to not like Caelion that much. Or rather, it was better to say that she was jealous of Caelion because he got to show his devotion to Aiden so openly.

But she was tolerating him because even she knew that loyal help was hard to get.

Soon, they reached the barrier of their village, and the scene transformed immediately from an unpaved road to a paved one that was well-maintained.

Gasp

"Just what is this place? Are we even in the same world anymore?"

Ethan River asked while looking around with wide eyes. The closer they got to the village, the better this place looked. It was also late enough that the lights had been turned on.

Caelion, who was driving the carriage, decided to speak up as well.

"I was just as in awe when I first came here. But the main temple is even better compared to this place. Make sure to visit it when you get some time."

Ethan River and Honey were so overwhelmed that they did not even frown when Caelion spoke to them. And that was a huge deal.

For now, Aiden needed to figure out where he could keep the pair.

He was planning to station Caelion with Lumi in the village’s temple, but the other pair also needed some easy work to do.

"Ethan River, how much knowledge do you have?"

Aiden asked, and the young lord looked taken aback before he replied.

"I know how to read and write, and I can do simple math. I taught Honey a little as well. But why?"

"It’s because you both will need to earn your keep. You might have lived doing whatever you wanted to until now, but it is time for you to enter civilized society. And that means working."

The pair looked pale at the mention of working. However, they had come a long way in the past few days because they did not complain and just nodded to show that they understood.

Perhaps, seeing such a beautiful place was changing their perspective of how they were supposed to function.

"You can start working for the temple as memo-keepers at first. You will be in charge of keeping track of the inventory, but don’t try and cheat while doing so, alright? We will know if you do."

Aiden promised with a dangerous smile on his face. It served to make the pair shiver in shock, and they nodded, not doubting a word he had told them, which was nice.

Finally...they were back home, and Aiden could relax in his own bed. And after that, he will think about the development of his territory a little more.