This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 87

Misunderstanding

"Even if you say that, you still chose to be the second family, didn’t you? If you were truly sincere, why didn’t you let the Cherine family choose first!?" Despite lacking a reasonable argument, a member of the Fernal family refused to back down.

"Why should the Setter family defer to the Cherine family? In fact, it wouldn’t have been strange if we had chosen first. But since it was an emergency and we saw that the Fernal family was desperate to choose first, we just went along with it," Aman retorted directly, his gaze full of contempt for the Fernal family’s audacity.

The onlookers silently agreed with the demon Aman, even though his words were harsh. Nonetheless, they were entirely true.

"Aman, don’t be rude," Steven pretended to scold his son, though he had let him finish speaking. It was tacit approval. The great man looked at the Fernal family and reasoned with them again.

"It might seem unfair that the Setter family chose second, but the Hart family, which had no choice at all, also encountered only one demonic beast. Can you still claim it’s unfair?" Steven pointed out the reality, which the Cherine family couldn’t deny. They knew their misfortune was their own.

"Are you saying the Fernal family was just unlucky to face 3 demonic beasts? Who would believe that!"

"Even if you spoke to a fool, they wouldn’t believe such a thing. Your actions are utterly shameless, unworthy of being the kingdom’s number one noble family as everyone believes. I trust everyone here to witness. No matter how much you try to justify yourselves, the fact remains that you chose an easier path, leaving the Fernal and Cherine families to face tougher battles. This injustice, I ask everyone to be a witness to it!"

Seeing that they couldn’t win with logic, the Fernal family appealed to everyone for support. In their eyes, those who were severely injured deserved sympathy. With all three families injured, only the Setter family emerged unscathed. Wasn’t that obvious enough?

However, after the Fernal representative finished speaking and looked around, he was met with contemptuous looks from everyone.

The speaker was surprised by this reaction and exchanged glances with his family, who were equally baffled by the crowd’s demeanor. Even some of the priests were shaking their heads, indicating they had missed something crucial.

"Young Lord, we understand that the Fernal family faced a tough battle, and everyone is grateful that you all came forward to help. Wouldn’t it be better to continue cooperating? We don’t know what dangers lie ahead," a neutral apothecary suggested, hoping to stop the Fernal family from making more baseless accusations.

Unfortunately, his attempt was not well received by the Fernal family! The young man leading the charge raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Cooperate? How can we continue to cooperate? Haven’t the Fernal family suffered enough? If we keep cooperating, who knows what more we’ll lose!"

"Young Lord, everyone has been working hard. I think that..."

"Hard? Haven’t you looked at the Setter family! Do they look like they’ve been working hard!? See how safely they’ve returned! It’s only us who have been working hard!" The burly young man interrupted, not letting the other party to finish the sentence, shutting down the well-meaning apothecary.

"............." The apothecaries exchanged glances, feeling that they had done their best. If the Fernal family wanted to continue displaying their foolishness, so be it.

On the Fernal family side, seeing the apothecary unable to respond, the young lord continued, still fuming.

"Why do you all seem so clueless!? Don’t you understand how the Fernal family feels about this? Don’t you feel any sense of injustice!? We helped you to the best of our abilities, while some people seemed to be having fun...Aren’t you concerned for those who helped you?"

Hearing this, many who had intended to stay silent were stirred. One soldier couldn’t bear to listen any longer. Just as the Fernal family had said, those who helped them to their fullest and didn’t mind what they had gone through were being unfairly criticized. How could they stand by and do nothing?

"Stop blaming the Setter family. You have no idea what they actually went through!" a soldier spoke up, drawing the attention of all 3 major families.

Only the Setter family appeared indifferent to the words of someone who was about to defend them, as if unafraid of being falsely accused over such nonsense.

Their dignified demeanor earned true respect from everyone!

"Hah! How dare you say that!" The young lord of the Fernal family stepped forward, intending to slap some sense into the soldier. However, a commanding voice intervened.

"Young lord of the Fernal family, I think it’s best if you stop right there," said a high-ranking priest, who could no longer endure the foolishness. His words halted everyone.

Although the Fernal family did not truly respect the priests, they had to show some deference. The priests held a status akin to gods worshiped by the common people. If their family had issues with the priests, they would surely face widespread opposition.

"Reverend, this matter..."

"There’s no need to say anything more. Everyone here cares about helping the people. Earlier, the soldiers returned with the corpse of 1 demonic beast. They suffered losses as well. Encountering 4 demonic beasts doesn’t make you more sacrificial. You may not realize it, but in terms of luck, the Setter family has been far more unfortunate than you."

"Whether you encountered 1 demonic beast or 4, it wouldn’t make a difference if a single person were left to slay the demonic beasts. The demonic beast’s toxin would claim just 1 life. However, if you had faced 10 level 2 beasts, you might have needed to sacrifice 10 or even 20 people."

"As you chose one path and didn’t encounter all 10 level 2 beasts, consider yourselves lucky. The Setter family, who returned earlier, nearly faced significant losses as well. But due to their strength, it’s not surprising they suffered fewer losses than you."

"The path you chose wasn’t a trap; it was actually a stroke of luck... From my perspective, if anyone should demand justice, it should be the Setter family!"

When the priest spoke, no one dared interrupt. His words conveyed the truth, making the Fernal family feel as if they had been slapped hard in the face!

The priest’s words echoed the thoughts of everyone present. Losing 1 person to a level 1 demonic beast was understandable, but the other families’ internal conflicts and inability to find a sacrificial volunteer resulted in their current state.

Meanwhile, the Setter family faced dangers they might not have been able to handle and returned after sacrificing 1 person to slay a demonic beast. Who were the true sacrifices here?

"We of the Setter family were merely fulfilling our duties as good citizens. Helping those weaker than us is the duty of the strong. Therefore, Reverend, there’s no need to emphasize it so much," Steven struck while the iron was hot, using perfect words to further embarrass the Fernal family and the other 2 families, making them wish they could bite their tongues off.

These disgraceful moments would undoubtedly never be hidden!

With so many soldiers, apothecaries, and priests present, did the Fernal family think the Setter family would let this chance to tarnish their reputation slip away? No way!

Just as the Fernal family tried to blame the Setter family for the injuries to their members, the Setter family, as a big tiger as well, knew exactly how to respond. If the situation were reversed and the Fernal family were shown mercy, they would also join in and spread rumors about what happened in the cities!

They had been outmaneuvered by the Setter family! Who would have thought that those people would be 1 step ahead... Initially, they believed that choosing positions was purely a matter of luck. However, after suffering significant losses while the Setter family remained unscathed, they decided to seize this opportunity for themselves, unaware that they had dug a hole too deep to climb out of.

Seeing how the Setter family handled the situation, the members of the major families now believed that the selection of positions had indeed been orchestrated by the Setter family. But at this point, no one would believe them if they said so!

"Ah...it seems we were the ones who misunderstood. Thank you, Reverend, for revealing the courage of the Setter family to all of us. From now on, everyone will honor the prowess and sacrifice of the Setter family without any doubts," the elder of the Fernal family, more experienced than the younger members, took this opportunity to praise the Setter family. He acted as if they no longer harbored any grievances, portraying the earlier misunderstanding as a stroke of bad luck.

Although this didn’t improve the Fernal family’s image in the eyes of others, it was better than having to apologize to the Setter family now, which would be too humiliating.

Steven maintained his dignified demeanor, but Ellie noticed that he signaled for the little demon of the family to step forward...indicating that the Setter family head still wanted to have some fun with them.

"We, the Setter family, also thank the Reverend for speaking on our behalf. However, the Reverend needn’t have explained. I don’t think our Setter family needs to justify ourselves to those who cannot even handle a level 1 demonic beast. I understand that blaming others might make one feel better,"

Aman said with a cruel smile. His words made the Fernal family’s mouths twitch. Unfortunately, their actions truly seemed like they were shifting the blame, even though the cause was actually from their own weakness. Therefore, they were all speechless.

"Alright, alright, let’s consider this my request to you all. The recent battle has been tough on everyone. I want everyone to disperse and rest. We have no idea what else we might face."

The priest waved his hand. He knew the matter wasn’t truly settled, but it was better than letting everyone gather around like this.

"Students Ellie and Wint, come see me," called out Professor Regan, who had been listening from the beginning but hadn’t intervened, as it was not appropriate for a professor from the institution to take sides.

His students included those from the Setter, Cherine, and Fernal families, so he should not get involved in the disputes among these major families.

"Yes, Professor."

"Yes, sir."

Ellie and Wint followed Professor Regan. He had been worried about their movements all along. The institute team, tasked with checking a particular location, fortunately didn’t encounter any demonic beasts, resulting in minimal losses. They only faced level 1 beasts. Knowing that the Setter family had faced level 2 beasts and returned with severe injuries, Regan had been concerned about these two students.

Fortunately, both of them returned unscathed. Otherwise, Regan might have regretted it for the rest of his life...

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