[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke novel Chapter 427

Chapter 427: The Justice Served

In the next five days, the porridge distribution points were set up in various places.

The aroma of the food spread throughout the city, and the refugees lined up to get their share. This time, they didn’t dare to push and pull at each other.

From the previous experience, they knew whoever made things difficult would have to stay hungry until the next day.

Ray and Noxian also had arrived a day before. Both were handling the grains and sending them to neighboring counties.

Xion was treating the sick and injured in the healing camp along with Allen.

The healer moved from one makeshift bed to another, his hands steady despite the chill biting at the camp. He cleaned the wounds of a young boy whose leg had been slashed during a bandit raid.

The boy didn’t cry out when Xion cleaned the wound, nor did he scream. The poor kid merely gritted his teeth and endured it all.

"Aren’t you a brave one?" Xion wrapped the wound properly while trying to soothe the child.

"I-I want to be stronger. That way, no one will steal food from my sister."

Despite the things changing for better, the deep-seated fear inside the refugees was still there. They kept hoarding the food, trying to last it for as long as they could.

Just yesterday, he had treated the patient who had eaten the expired bun. The fresh buns were tied to his belt inside a little pouch.

But it wasn’t like Xion could blame them. They weren’t sure how long the food could continue to fall into their bowls.

Just like the boy, there were lines and lines of patients. He was glad they didn’t crowd him. Most would silently wait for their turn as healers tended to them. As for the one causing trouble, they were left for Allen to deal with.

Xion didn’t ask how, but it was a lot calmer since then.

While handling the patients, he had also been jotting all the anomalies he could find. Although most of them came from the word of mouth, he still didn’t let anything go. After patting the boy’s matted head, he went toward his temporary office.

There on the table, many papers were scattered. Looking at all of the inky scribbles again, the theory came back to his mind. Something that was far too absurd and yet seemed most likely.

He decided to talk with Darius about it all. And maybe convince him to take him along as well. But he doubted that stubborn elf would agree.

In a sense, they both were equally stubborn.

Meanwhile, Darius was busy with bigger matters, and one of them included dealing with the powerful families who had been trying to meet him and Xion.

The Archduke had directly refused to meet them and had also sent back the gifts they had sent.

The package included gold, silver, and grains, something Oswin had begged them for.

"Your Grace," Oswin gathered his courage before speaking. "You have brought back plenty with you, but nothing can be said in a disaster-ridden place. Maybe we should keep the grain?"

If he weren’t worried, he wouldn’t have dared to say anything, but it was his land. How could he just sit back and watch it die?

"If we keep it, how are we going to punish them for their sins?"

Oswin could only stand still, his eyes filled with confusion.

If they punished them for not giving them grains, that would warrant the rage of other powerful families as well as other counties.

That would ultimately result in internal strife.

"Don’t you think our border fell under Silas’s hands a bit too easily? Our main wall, which could even withstand the tide of Beasts, broke down in a week. Does that sound natural to you?"

Oswin felt a pit growing in his stomach. His lips parted, and then closed again.

A sudden wave of helplessness washed over him.

"A-all of it was...." Oswin almost fell down.

All that bloodshed, the misery, the shortage of grains because of sudden bandit attacks... all of it was done by their own people.

"After the winter comes the harvesting season. They ruined the whole year’s worth of food in riots. The poor people dare not eat more than a bite, afraid that they won’t have anything for their crying kids, and these people..."

Oswin felt his entire being consumed by hatred. He wanted to kill them all!

"If you take direct action, they will use it to entice other provinces against you, calling you... ruthless and cruel. Please think it through, Your Grace."

Although Oswin was itching to tear those bastards apart, he still had to think of a bigger side. Once the internal riot began, even the Archduke wouldn’t be able to hold back Silas for long.

"Isn’t that good?" Darius smirked. "Being cruel suits me just fine."

Oswin blinked before a slight smile appeared on his haggard face.

After witnessing the generosity of his liege and the boundless gentleness of His Grace, Xion, he nearly forgot the actual reputation of the Archduke.

That had caused Darius to react faster. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Some in the crowd shifted uneasily. Having already seen too many corpses, the people didn’t want to see any innocent dying again.

And the girl’s words were evoking exactly that. She was using her tears to gain more sympathy.

Oswin’s jaw clenched.

Pity would’ve stirred in him at the sight of the women crying as well. But how could he believe the girl’s false kindness while she threw her friends into her brother’s bed?

His heart hardened even more.

"You dare call yourselves protectors of the people?" His voice, filled with anger, rang out. "You starved them for your greed! You fed Silas while your own land bled. You let Suniva burn so your coffers could grow fat."

The patriarch opened his mouth again, but Oswin raised his hand, and the guards gagged him.

"Mercy?" The old governor’s lips curved into a humorless smile. "Did you show mercy when children froze on the streets? Did you beg for their lives when you chained your neighbors in debt? You do not deserve mercy."

One by one, he laid bare the sins of the Gin clan for all to hear.

Finally, he turned to the crowd, his eyes cold. "At His Grace’s command, their crimes are laid before you. Remember their faces well, for they are the reason your children starve."

Without caring about the pleas for help from the members of the Gin family, Oswin turned and walked away.

As his liege had told him, these poor people needed to vent their rage, or it would consume them all. He agreed.

So, the Archduke and he simply gave them the very reason for their misery.

It was silent for a long beat until someone threw the stone at the head of the Gin family.

When the guards didn’t stop them, more stones dropped.

The air rang with the wails of loud cries muffled by the cheers.

Crimson spattered against the snow, blooming red like a bloody rose. Perfect, like the sigil of the Darkhelm household.

Oswin did not look back. Justice, though merciless, had finally arrived in Suniva.

And he had better things to do than to waste precious time on some greedy monsters.