Chapter 120 – The Dying City-State
"Oh, it's Lena!" Charlotte finally remembered that she had asked Lena for a tutor from the Candy Faction.
The Candy Faction had a special method of cultivation—eating candy. However, this candy was not ordinary rock sugar or maltose, but a kind of sweet-tasting pill that needed to be configured using a variety of rare medicines and transcendent materials, based on the cultivator's physical condition, growth stage, and living environment.
Since those who cultivated the Candy Faction were generally young ladies or madams from great noble families, you couldn't expect these nobles, who had chosen the Candy Faction out of laziness or for fun, to research and configure those complex pills themselves. Thus, supporting a Candy Faction tutor became a choice for many great noble families. These tutors were generally women from commoner families with good aptitude. They were responsible for guiding the young ladies' and madams' cultivation, as well as configuring the candy pills. Sometimes they were also responsible for taking care of the nobles' daily lives and teaching them noble etiquette, literature, and art. Compared to the high and mighty tutors of other transcendent factions, these women were more like special, personal handmaidens than tutors.
"Lena's gift is for you," Charlotte said with a smile.
"For me?" Cecilia pointed at her own nose in surprise.
"That's right." Charlotte nodded with certainty.
Charlotte had already let Cecilia try the Rite of Awakening for many transcendent factions: the Royal Griffin Knights Faction, the Citizen Soldier Faction, the Canopus Faction, and even the Necromancer Faction... but all of them had failed without exception. So, Charlotte had to turn her attention to the Candy Faction. Although from any perspective, the Candy Faction seemed like a small white flower decorating the steel armor known as the "transcendent system"—pretty but useless, and ridiculously expensive—it still had its advantages. For example, the threshold for cultivation was low, and the method was simple, making it very suitable for someone with poor aptitude like Cecilia.
However, Cecilia's face gradually turned red. "I, I don't want that kind of gift!"
"Eh? Why? I specifically asked Lena for it for you," Charlotte said, tilting her head.
"You actually told the princess it was for me?" Cecilia asked in shock.
"Mm." Charlotte nodded again.
"Why did you say it was for me!"
"Because it was for you."
"You clearly wanted it for yourself!"
"I don't need it, you do."
"Nonsense, I'm not like you!"
"Like me? What am I like?"
Charlotte was completely confused. It wasn't until she saw the gift Lena had sent that she understood why Cecilia had reacted so strongly. Lena had sent not just an ordinary tutor or handmaiden, but a charming and adorable little vixen.
A graceful figure, milk-like skin, sparkling blue-green eyes, coupled with long golden hair, fox-like ears, and a large, fluffy tail. The devastatingly beautiful creature was enough to captivate souls just by sitting there, not to mention she was wearing a thin gauze dress that was almost translucent, looking like a delicious dish that had been carefully cooked, plated, and brought to one's lips.
"Your Excellency the Viscount, this is a letter from the princess for you." The little fox respectfully handed a letter sealed with gold thread-embroidered flowers to Charlotte.
Charlotte opened the envelope and took out the letter handwritten by Lena. In the letter, Lena introduced to Charlotte that the little fox before her was named Coco Stello and had some beastman blood. When Lena was a child, she had found a female slave giving birth in a forest during a spring hunting trip and had picked up the newborn Coco. Since then, Coco had been raised on her estate. Lena assured Charlotte that Coco had never been touched by a male since birth and was originally intended for her own enjoyment. If it weren't for Charlotte, she would never have been willing to give this little fox away.
Charlotte recalled that when she told Lena, "A friend of mine needs a Candy Faction tutor," Lena had an "I understand" expression. Charlotte didn't know what Lena had understood at the time, but now she finally got it.
In the letter, Lena rambled on, sharing with Charlotte various unique ways to play with and the wonderful experiences of being intimate with girls with beastman blood—apparently, Lena had more than one little fox on her estate. But she failed to mention whether this girl named Coco Stello knew anything about the Candy Faction.
"What I need is a Candy Faction tutor, but Lena didn't mention anything about that in her letter," Charlotte said, putting away the letter. "Can you handle the job?"
Coco said nervously, "This... I have never been a tutor, but I am a Three-Winged Warlock of the Candy Faction, and I have seriously studied the configuration methods and applications of most of the pills. Her Highness the Princess said I am already capable of being a tutor."
"That's fine then," Charlotte nodded and said to Cecilia, "This is the tutor I asked Lena for, to guide you in cultivating the Candy Faction."
Cecilia's eyes widened in astonishment. Realizing she had misunderstood Charlotte, she lowered her head in embarrassment, wanting to apologize.
However, at that moment, Coco spoke again, shyly and timidly, "If Your Excellency the Viscount needs... service in bed, I have learned some..."
Charlotte's eyes lit up. "What have you learned?"
Cecilia felt that an apology wasn't really necessary after all.
Sokea Peninsula, Dorukocha City-State.
Balotelli had survived the brutal Battle of Dorukocha. This was mainly because on the night of the second ambush, Balotelli was not staying with the Badan citizen soldiers but was lodging in the home of a Dorukocha citizen. The moment the night raid occurred, he hid in the citizen's cellar and only came out when Charlotte's army withdrew.
After the war ended, Balotelli took stock of the losses and was grieved to discover that of the fourteen elders in the Dorukocha Senate before the war, only three had survived. This was largely "thanks to" the great fire Charlotte had set that nearly melted the outer walls of the Senate. When the war broke out, the elders of Dorukocha had habitually taken their families to hide in the sturdy Senate building, hoping to hold out for reinforcements. In the end, they were all roasted to a crisp by Charlotte's fire.
Besides Balotelli, the other two surviving elders were not in Dorukocha when the war broke out. One elder was leading Dorukocha citizen soldiers on the Aiye Alliance front as a general and was still on his way back with his troops. The other elder had gone to the countryside to collect taxes and only returned after confirming the war was over. Balotelli did not blame the tax-collecting elder for being afraid of death; after all, he only had a few tax collectors with him. Even if he had rushed back immediately, it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the battle.
"Samuel, how are the elder elections going?"
Samuel was the name of the elder who had gone to collect taxes. Early this morning, Balotelli asked as soon as he met him. Although the wounds of the war had not yet healed, life had to go on, and the city-state had to be rebuilt.
Charlotte had left the people of Dorukocha with a mess. The public treasury was looted, several large holes were smashed in the city walls, and countless buildings in the city were burned down or collapsed... Balotelli had no idea where to start the rebuilding. After much thought, he decided to rebuild the Senate first—fill the number of elders, as more people could brainstorm and discuss reconstruction plans. Balotelli was ten years older than Samuel and had faced the invaders from the Lanwan Viscountcy head-on. With him saying this, Samuel naturally had no objections.
However, when they actually started to operate, Balotelli and Samuel discovered that things were not so simple.
"It's still the same, Elder Balotelli. The ballot boxes have hardly received any votes, and no one has volunteered to run." Samuel said with a wry smile.
The citizens of Dorukocha, who used to love voting and participating in politics the most, were not voting! At first, Balotelli had people post notices all over the city, announcing a citizen assembly to elect eleven new elders. Balotelli and Samuel waited in the citizen square in front of the Senate for a whole day, but only a dozen or so citizens showed up.
Balotelli and Samuel were furious. They caught some citizens and questioned them why they didn't attend the citizen assembly, condemning them for not fulfilling their civic duties. However, the citizens' faces were even worse than theirs, and they answered stiffly, "I don't want to go to any citizen square!"
Balotelli and Samuel were completely bewildered. They sent people to investigate in the streets and alleys, and only then did they learn what Charlotte had done in the citizen square. The citizens of Dorukocha had been forced to vote to execute their compatriots, their neighbors, their comrades-in-arms, their friends... That universal vote had only passed a few days ago. Their whipped souls were still bleeding. The citizens of Dorukocha were unwilling to recall that nightmarish memory. Hearing that everyone had to meet again, had to vote again, they instinctively felt resistant.
Balotelli and Samuel didn't know what to say, but no matter what, the elders had to be elected. So they set up some ballot boxes in the citizens' residential areas, hoping that without having to gather publicly, the citizens could vote for their preferred elder candidates. But it was still to no avail. When Samuel went to collect the ballots from the boxes this morning, seventy percent of them were empty, and the remaining thirty percent had only a few ballots.
"Demon, demon, she is a demon!" Balotelli muttered. Samuel naturally knew who Balotelli was talking about, but he didn't know how to comfort him, because the Viscount of Lanwan's methods also sent a bone-chilling cold through him.
Just as the two were looking at each other, a servant hurried in. "Elder Balotelli, Elder Samuel, the envoy of the Viscount of Lanwan has arrived!" the servant said.
"The envoy of the Viscount of Lanwan?" The two men's hearts skipped a beat, as if facing a great enemy.
A moment later, a man with graying hair and beard was brought into the Senate. He bowed to Balotelli and Samuel and said, "Respected elders of Dorukocha, I am the diplomatic envoy of the Viscount of Lanwan, Jonathan Hackman."
"Mr. Hackman, to what do we owe the honor of your visit?" Balotelli asked with a cold face. In reality, under the table, he had already clenched his hands uncontrollably, his palms constantly sweating.
"I have come on the order of my master, the Viscount of Lanwan, to claim compensation from the Dorukocha City-State!" Jonathan Hackman said, getting straight to the point.
"Compensation?" Samuel exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, compensation," Jonathan Hackman nodded and explained, "In the recent war, your city-state caused my master an economic loss of at least one million Fuso, including heavy casualties of dozens of knights, as well as personal mental and physical damage that is difficult to recover from. Her Excellency the Viscount demands that your city-state pay two million Fuso or eight million Dir in compensation within a limited time."
"Two million Fuso!" Balotelli jumped up in shock. "Are you kidding me! Dorukocha's public treasury has already been looted by you. Where are we supposed to find two million Fuso for you! Besides, it was our Dorukocha whose city walls were broken! It was our Dorukocha whose Senate was burned! It was our Dorukocha whose citizens were slaughtered! Why should we be the ones to make compensation?"
"But it was also your Dorukocha that intended to invade my master's territory," Jonathan Hackman said without changing his expression.
"We only intended to start a war..." Balotelli argued.
"Intending to invade is invading!" Jonathan Hackman remembered what Charlotte had told him before he set out, and his tone became even more resolute. "The moment you had the thought of invading the Viscount of Lanwan's territory, you had already committed an unforgivable mistake!"
"The Viscount of Lanwan is being too tyrannical!" Balotelli said. "We can't possibly accept such unreasonable compensation!"
Jonathan Hackman's face darkened. "If your city-state does not compensate, then it may mean... the next war."
Samuel finally couldn't help but slam the table. "War then! Do you really think we people of Dorukocha are afraid of you? It's just a fight to the death. Our Dorukocha citizen soldiers have fought many such battles!"
Jonathan Hackman was beaten out of the Senate with clubs and then driven out of the Dorukocha City-State, attracting a lot of onlookers.
Balotelli and Samuel's faces were grim as they began to discuss how to deal with the Viscount of Lanwan's threat of war. Charlotte's combat power needed to be taken seriously, but the two also felt that the Dorukocha City-State might not be unable to fight a desperate battle with Charlotte. Last time, Charlotte's great victory was largely due to a surprise attack. Now, the mercenaries scattered outside Dorukocha had returned in large numbers, and the expeditionary force on the alliance front had also been recalled. These forces combined were not weak; they still had the strength for a fight.
However, before Balotelli and Samuel could come to a conclusion, a guard anxiously came to report, "Elders, something big has happened outside! You should go and see!"
"What is it?"
"The citizens are running away!"
"What do you mean, the citizens are running away?"
Balotelli and Samuel arrived at the city gate in a daze, only to see a long line of carts and horses, all Dorukocha citizens preparing to leave the city with their families.
Balotelli pulled out a young citizen and questioned him, "Where are you all going?"
"There's going to be another war. Of course, we're fleeing," the young citizen said.
"You are a citizen of the city-state! A war is about to start, and instead of thinking about protecting our city-state, you are thinking of running away!" Balotelli said angrily.
The young citizen gave a sad smile. "Of course, I know I am a citizen. My father was also a citizen. He fought for the city-state his whole life, but he was voted to death by our own city-state's citizens. Who knows if I'll be next!"
As he spoke, the young citizen turned his head and glanced at the people beside him. Several citizens next to him couldn't help but avoid his hateful gaze. However, when his gaze met someone else's, he himself lowered his head in shame.
Balotelli opened his mouth, but the words of persuasion couldn't come out. He suddenly realized that the citizens of Dorukocha were no longer a whole that could trust each other and fight side by side. They had become a mob filled with restlessness, suspicion, and hatred.
"It's over, it's over," Balotelli's face was pale as he watched the crowd fleeing the war pass by him. "Our city-state is finished..."
After being sliced by Charlotte's knife, again and again, upon their very souls, the real Dorukocha had begun to collapse.