In the room, Todd recounted everything that had happened after he set out with the knight brigade.
Upon hearing that the knights had hunted a large number of magical beasts along the way, the expressions on everyone's faces didn't lighten—instead, they grew even more serious. There were simply too many magical beasts invading the territory of Aspiration City this time.
"After hunting all the way, we arrived at Fruitvale Village..." Todd paused here, as if carefully choosing his words.
At the same time, everyone in the room perked up at the mention of Fruitvale Village. With a little thought, they remembered—that was the village where the apothecary Aven lived.
This batch of healing potions had been procured under Johnson's oversight, and both the lady and the chief knight were well acquainted with Aven. Half of all the potions they received had been made by him, which had already drawn the attention of the nobles.
"Then we arrived at Fruitvale Village..." Todd repeated the sentence, causing the people in the room to sense that something was wrong.
Had something happened to Apothecary Aven...? Mira sighed internally. She had thought that, with the profits from selling potions, Aven would have easily been able to move his family to Aspiration City.
Only after the winter beast tide began did she learn that Aven had stayed in Fruitvale Village, refusing to abandon the villagers. She sighed again, though this time with a kind of understanding—this was simply who Aven was, just like when he had once helped fruit farmers in other villages.
"Then we arrived at Fruitvale Village..." For the third time, Todd repeated himself, before continuing, "And outside Fruitvale Village, we encountered the pack of Mightyena the lady mentioned."
Hearing this, Mira's heart grew heavier. The scene she had feared the most had still occurred.
These Mightyenas had an incredibly keen sense of smell. Even if the villagers hid in their cellars, it would be extremely difficult to avoid being found.
"You fought them?" Kevin sensed the situation was more complicated. If it had only been a pack of Mightyenas, the knights should have been able to handle it fairly easily.
"Yes, we fought."
"But... these Mightyenas weren't wild magical beasts. They were tamed by Fruitvale Village."
Everyone's eyes immediately sharpened.
"We chased the Mightyenas all the way to Fruitvale Village. Besides the Mightyenas, the village also had a large number of Gloom and Tangela."
At this point, Todd's expression darkened slightly. He took a deep breath and described the entire battle in detail—from the moment they discovered the Mightyenas and the Gloom, he left nothing out.
When he spoke of Sutter and Fessen coming to negotiate, he hesitated briefly before sharing the conversation between them and the nobles. All of this could be corroborated by the other knights.
Finally, when he revealed that the knight regiment had been defeated, everyone's expressions changed dramatically. After hearing the full account of the defeat, they began to doubt their ears—had they heard correctly?
"A group of Gloom capable of using Sleep Powder..." Johnson, who had once served as the tax official, muttered to himself.
Suddenly, he remembered the group of Oddish he had seen at the farm. Could those Gloom all have evolved from those Oddish?
If that were the case, and two hundred Oddish had evolved into Gloom simultaneously, then Apothecary Aven must possess a method to reliably evolve Oddish into Gloom.
A well-trained group of Gloom capable of using Sleep Powder... everyone in the room realized this was no coincidence. Someone had deliberately nurtured these Gloom, giving them impressive combat ability.
The method for quickly evolving Oddish into Gloom, plus the training methods for Sleep Powder—everyone exchanged glances. They all understood what this meant.
Oddish were extremely common in the Black Forest. This meant that, with enough time, it would be entirely possible to cultivate a large number of Gloom capable of using Sleep Powder.
"These Gloom were definitely raised by Aven."
"He's an apothecary. He has the resources to raise magical beasts."
Richard nodded slightly. As the sheriff, he had a general understanding of what it took to raise magical beasts.
Feeding that many Gloom might not be difficult. But raising them well—and giving them real combat power—would require tremendous resources.
In fact, the knight order of Aspiration City faced the same problem. Their development was never limited by the number of beasts, but rather by the resources and methods required to raise them properly.
"No matter what, Fruitvale Village is now a force we can't afford to overlook." Kevin turned to Todd and asked, "Tell us, what were Aven's conditions?"
"I doubt he let you all go so easily after being attacked by the knight brigade. After all, he dared to stand up to the Aspiration City knights."
Todd nodded silently, replaying his conversation with Aven in his mind. Then, he shared everything, including the issue of the Abyssal Beast Tide.
"Aven released all the knights but detained the nobles."
After explaining everything, Todd finally breathed a sigh of relief. What came next was no longer his responsibility.
He released the knights but held the noble's hostage—was this to prevent Aspiration City from attacking Fruitvale Village before dealing with the Abyssal Beast Tide? Mira had remained silent throughout Todd's explanation, but now she had a general understanding of the situation.
Now that they had the means to mass-produce Gloom, the only thing Fruitvale Village truly lacked was time. Holding the nobles' heir's hostage gave them leverage over Aspiration City.
"Foolish nobles," Richard muttered under his breath, then added, "Aven's decision to release all the knights shows he doesn't bear hostility toward Aspiration City. That's a good sign."
The chief knight nodded. From the beginning, Aven had placed all the blame on the nobles' heirs.
They had attacked Fruitvale Village in an attempt to capture the Mightyenas, and the village had only acted in self-defense. In this, Aven had been extremely clever—he redirected the conflict between the village and Aspiration City onto the nobles themselves.
"Your Highness, what should we do now?"
"Should we inform the nobles?"
"And what should our stance be toward Fruitvale Village?"
Johnson thought for a moment before looking up at Mira, who sat behind the desk. Her decision would determine the course of action.
"This can't be kept secret."
"In fact, by the time Todd returned, those nobles had probably already heard the news."
"As for Fruitvale Village—our top priority is still the Abyssal Beast Tide. And since they're holding the noble's hostage, we can't afford to launch an attack on the village right now."
"More importantly, I'm concerned about how Aven will respond to the Abyssal Beast Tide. Under the influence of the gray mist, even those Mightyenas and Gloom may lose their sanity and become mindless monsters!"
Mira looked around the room and said quietly, "So... I think we must have a proper talk with Apothecary Aven. About the nobles, about the beast tide—and of course, about potions and magical beasts as well."
(End of Chapter)