Chapter 294: Announcing the News

Chapter 294

Announcing the News

The relief efforts were completed within a few days later. Restoration of the village and providing career paths for the villagers went smoothly. Consequently, the institute called for all students and professors to return.

Grace, the new student from the Fronda family, helped in the mission to deal with Nara, who had become a demonic toxin user. Because of this, she got the privilege of receiving points equivalent to those of all the other students, bringing her close to passing her second year. However, she still needed to complete a few more missions to ensure her progression, which wasn’t a significant problem.

With Lady Grace joining the second-year students, she naturally drew everyone’s attention. Her use of dimensional power was extraordinary, even though she couldn’t fully utilize it yet. It was highly effective in gathering things. Previously, Ellie had never helped everyone with packing or organizing. Thus, when Lady Grace arrived and used her magic power to assist, the students were delighted and admired her even more.

Ellie didn’t pay much attention to Grace. She spent her time efficiently, absorbing magic power and enhancing her tiny spores. The little Apple was taken away after the ordeal ended. During her free time, Professor Medik intensely taught her how to concoct level 2-star potions. So, the past days had been quite productive.

However, Ellie was still somewhat bothered by Nara’s death. Despite Nara being a nuisance, they had fought each other for quite some time. Ellie felt that keeping Nara alive was easier to manage than having a new character suddenly enter her life.

Ellie was never comfortable with things she couldn’t monitor. Previously, there had only been Eldest Young Lord Owen and the hidden enemies in the shadows, likely of a higher level that Ellie couldn’t contend with. Despite her frequent attempts to send scouts to the Rhea Kingdom, she could only gather information from those around them. They had methods to prevent other beings from infiltrating the rooms of high-ranking individuals.

Like the demonic toxin creators, Ellie could let her spores grow around the distant areas through the demonic beasts from the last encounter. She knew their locations but couldn’t track the people within them. All she could do was observe through each spore, which required increasing concentration until she had to give up eventually.

Just these 2 locations she couldn’t monitor had already caused numerous problems, and now there was another person she couldn’t track. This made Ellie even more uneasy.

Back at the institute...the one most troubled was Professor Lily. Nara’s departure displeased her greatly. She had invested so many resources in helping Nara, only for her to die so suddenly before being of any use. However, the arrival of a new student piqued her interest more.

Even Professor Lily almost forgot about Nara. She approached Student Grace as soon as she returned. This was partly because Grace had been a beast trainer from the Rhea Kingdom. Professor Lily hoped Grace would become a model student for Ares Institute, showcasing the power and strength of the Beast Training Branch to all students and professors. However, she missed out slightly as Student Grace had become a direct disciple of Professor Lucien, a position Nara was supposed to have...

It was a pity for Professor Lily, but she didn’t give up. She often approached Professor Lucien, requesting to teach Grace, citing Ellie’s example of learning from both professors simultaneously. This left Professor Lucien no choice but to agree.

Back in Rhea, Student Grace had been a very strong beast tamer. So, while he still couldn’t figure out how to teach a dimensional magic user, he let Professor Lily give her guidance. Student Grace was thrilled about this arrangement.

On her first day back, Ellie didn’t go to the institute. She requested permission to leave the institute for a week to visit the village. She needed to inform everyone there about recent events, feeling it was her responsibility. Also, the parents deserved to know that their child had passed away, didn’t they?

The Setter family knew about Ellie’s request and offered to take her to the village. Thus, it only took 1 day, using various teleportation devices. Eventually, Ellie arrived at the entrance of the village...

The atmosphere remained as peaceful as ever, the gentle breeze around her adding to the sense of loneliness. She never imagined that the day Nara would depart would come so quickly...

"Is that...Ellie?" A villager asked as he was carrying tubers to dry at his house. He greeted Ellie upon seeing her arrive with more than 10 people from the Setter family, including the new village chief.

"Yes, uncle. Please gather everyone in the village. I have something to announce." Seeing Ellie, the student from the great Ares Institute, with worried expression, the middle-aged man sensed that this was something significant. So, he nodded immediately, leaving the tubers behind and running around the village, to the fields, to gather everyone.

It didn’t take long for the villagers to assemble. They wore tattered, old clothes, showing how difficult life in the village was. The middle-aged woman and the former village chief looked particularly worn out, never having had to work so hard before. But they still held hope that one day, when Nara became a real magic user, they would be restored to their former status.

Sadly, their hopes were about to be shattered...but it wasn’t entirely Nara’s fault. Nara had done it to herself. No! Nara had been shaped perfectly for such an end. Blaming only Nara wouldn’t be fair; her parents also had a role in shaping her into who she was...

“Ellie? Where is our daughter? Nara...didn’t she come back with you? Oh, or is she busy training now? That child said she’d be able to use healing magic soon.”

“Haha, that’s right. And it’s still school time, isn’t it? How could our child come back now? Even though we miss her, we must be patient. Otherwise, she’ll worry for nothing.”

“.............” Ellie sighed at the words of Nara’s parents.

“Did something happen?” Aunt Lana, who had been observing Ellie’s behavior, asked. Though Ellie had always been quiet, today’s silence was filled with confusion. Lana had never seen the girl so lost in thought. Ellie’s eyes had changed long ago; after coming to terms with her parents’ passing, her gaze had always been resolute. There was only one thing she could think of...

“How could something happen? Why do you speak such inauspicious words?” The middle-aged woman paused slightly. If she were still the wife of the village chief, she would have punished anyone who dared speak like that.

However, before Aunt Lana could retort to the middle-aged woman, Ellie spoke up.

“What Aunt Lana said is correct. I’m here to talk about Nara.”

“W-What? What happened?” The middle-aged woman was taken aback, her hands trembling uncontrollably. She felt like whatever she was about to hear would be terrifying.

Ellie looked at the two parents again, and the whole village sensed the crisis as well. Their village’s hopes for change rested on only two children: Ellie, who had become wealthy, and Nara. If the dreams Nara had painted before were to come true, they would all benefit greatly. But now...

"Nara has passed away."

“Ah!! What? No, that can’t be true.” The middle-aged woman nearly fell backward, barely caught by a nearby man. Nara’s father was equally stunned, their hearts sinking as they looked at Ellie in disbelief.

“What happened? How could our daughter...how could she be gone!?”

“That’s right, Ellie. Suddenly saying something like this...is it really true?” Uncle Jay-ar also couldn’t believe it. Even though he didn’t like Nara personally, she was still part of the village. Previously, they had struggled as the kingdom had called most of the village men away. Fortunately, their duties were not to fight at the front lines. Hence, the kingdom didn’t provide much assistance. Despite this...the villagers knew that the slow development would cause problems eventually.

That was the reason why they had hoped the two scholarship students would return with the proper help they needed, but it seemed that wouldn’t be the case now.

“Nara passed away while helping the villagers. She was poisoned by an assailant, and Nara sacrificed her life to save everyone.”

“N-No, no, it can’t be true.”

“Waah, waah. No way!! Why did it have to be our daughter? You’re lying. Ellie, you’ve always been a liar, so, so...” The middle-aged woman refused to believe it. Overcome with grief, she said everything she wanted to, including her thoughts of Ellie being a liar and having stolen from her before.

However, no matter how upset she was, it was unacceptable to insult a “duchess” and the “future lady” of the Setter family. The people who accompanied Ellie were all from the Setter family, including the new village chief. As soon as they heard the disrespectful words from the middle-aged woman, a sword was at her throat!

“Put your sword away. She’s only speaking out of grief.”

“Yes, my lady. However, no one should speak ill of you again. Otherwise, they will be punished appropriately,” the village chief replied swiftly. His obedience to Ellie was evident, and the villagers noticed this unusual situation.

“Your daughter sacrificed her life, so she will be rewarded accordingly. I will give you this money.” Ellie tossed 2 gold coins to them. Certainly, this was quite a significant amount. Despite her grief, the middle-aged woman was still excited to see the money.

Nara’s father wasn’t interested in money. He was simply heartbroken over the death of his daughter, whom he had always been proud of. The contrasting reactions between the two parents caused some villagers to feel a bit weary. Was it possible that Nara’s mother could find happiness in her daughter’s sacrifice for just 2 gold coins?

Ellie looked at the 2 gold coins, which Nara had once desperately wanted, to the extent that she had ransacked Ellie’s room. It was this amount of money that had forever severed their friendship. In truth, there was no support from the institution, no compensation. Just not punishing Nara’s family for raising a selfish daughter was mercy enough.

Typically, those who had demonic toxin in their bodies would sacrifice themselves instead of stubbornly remaining as a ticking time bomb...

“This is the news I needed to share with you all. Also...after the recent war, you must have been affected due to the evacuations, which left you unable to tend to your crops. I can see from the tubers you brought. Therefore, the kingdom is providing you with a miraculous restorative potion for your fields.”

“Each family will receive 1 bottle of this green potion. Mix it with water and use it on your fields. It will restore them to their former state. That’s all I have to say.”

At Ellie’s signal, the people from the Setter family distributed the green potion equally among the families. This was actually fermented water from the Microbial Orb. Although it hadn’t been fermented for long, it was still highly beneficial for the villagers’ crops.

They unknowingly held a precious gift in their hands. Having finished her announcement, Ellie excused herself. Despite Aunt Lana wanting her to stay for a while, Ellie declined. She needed to return to the Setter family in Set City. The issue of the new student, Grace, was still on her mind, and the only person she trusted to help her keep an eye on things was the eldest young lord of the Setter family.

After Ellie left, the villagers, still in shock over the news of losing one of their hopes, gathered to discuss. They speculated about Nara’s death in various ways and genuinely mourned the loss of the young woman, despite her often troublesome behavior...

"Alright everyone, as Ellie mentioned, Nara sacrificed herself to protect others. She fulfilled her duty well. We shouldn’t dwell in sadness. Our lives aren’t easy, and we shouldn’t have placed all our hopes on children in the first place. Didn’t you notice that Ellie wasn’t cheerful when she returned? I believe the kids are under too much pressure from us."

"We should take better care of ourselves and become a village that welcomes all children back safely. We can’t just wait for help. In the future, we might have more children attending the institute. If that happens, do we want to set an example of weakness for them?"

"Come on, let’s develop our village and make ourselves strong. If our strength can inspire the next generation to awaken their powers, wouldn’t that be wonderful?"

"And the potion that Ellie brought us should be used right away. If it really helps restore our fields, we might survive this winter."A young man spoke earnestly, and his words were met with positive responses. Despite their sadness over losing a village child, in the end, the deceased had gone but life must go on. Dwelling in sorrow would only lead to more losses...