Chapter 8 Conclusion?

[Ding!]

[Notice! You have found out that the one behind the incident was indeed the Village Chief's son. Force him to admit to his crimes.]

[Life Quest has been updated.]

The group of four made their way to the Village Chief's house. He was the only one in the village that was not a farmer. This was because he could collect taxes from the other residents in the village. Of course, the four people now standing in front of the Village Chief's house caused the other villagers to be very curious as to what was going on, so a crowd quickly formed.

Vance led the way as he walked right into the yard and knocked on the door. "Who's knocking so early in the morning!" An angered voice roared from the other side of the door. The door swung open to reveal a young man with bed hair and only a pair of pants on. When he opened the door and saw the people standing there looking at him, his first instinct was to close the door, but before he could, Vance grabbed it and then his arm and yanked him outside. "Good day David!"

"You!" David yanked his arm away from Vance and was about to go back inside when the Everling brothers both grabbed him and forced him to his knees. "What is this!? You know I am the Village Chief's son, so why are you acting out of line!"

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"Why? Because you have done something wrong, and we came to ask you about it." Vance held up the green token in his hand. When David saw it, his eyes went wide for a second before saying: "That's not mine!"

"I never said it was, but you are quick to refuse. But sadly, many have witnessed this same token on your body many times. So you can't say that it is not yours. Do you want to know where I found it?" Vance asked as he flipped the wooden token in his hand and caught it before continuing. "On a mountain cliffside, the precise one that I feel down."

"What is going on!?" A scholarly middle-aged man came running out of the house. He looked at Vance, the Everling brothers, and the two respective fathers in confusion. His eyes then landed on his son, who was being held to the ground to kneel. "What is the meaning of this!? You can be kicked from the village for doing something like this!"

"What is going on? Attempted murder. Your son had hired someone to beat me up and throw me off the cliff. And he stood there and watched the entire thing as it happened." Vance answered loud and clear so that even the onlookers could hear.

"Vance is right. Chris, your son, David, is the reason why my son fell off the cliff, was unconscious for a few days, and lost his memories. I think if anyone deserves an explanation, it would be my family. And do not say your son is innocent. We already have a confession from accomplices!" Ricky stepped in. He knew Chris, the Village Chief, as a hard-headed man who thought highly of himself and disregarded everyone else below him as nothing more than a means to earn money.

"Ricky, you are saying my son is the cause of your son's incident? How can that be when he was here this entire time?" Chris sneered. Even if his son was there, he would never admit to it. It would make the villagers look at him differently.

"I see…." Vance sighed as he continued: "So you both want to deny it to the end?" Vance flipped his hand, creating a fireball like he did at the Everlings home. "I guess I should accidentally set your house on fire and say I was never here. I mean, who would say I was?"

Chris's face sank when he saw the fireball in Vance's hand. If Vance was a swordsman, then fine things could easily be dealt with, but a mage was different, especially a mage who had already cast their spell and only needed to toss it at someone. He and the other villagers were not like the knights and adventures that roamed the lands seeking danger or protecting the kingdom's borders. They did not have any kind of magic resistance. They were only villagers and nothing more. It was exceedingly rare for a mage to appear in any village. And if one did, they would normally be sent to the capital for training as the kingdom would want them.

David, who was still being held down, stared at the flame in Vance's hand with jealousy in his eyes. He had always been jealous of Vance. Even the girl he had liked since he was young, Stacy, would not look his way until just recently. But that was only because he was the Village Chief's son. If he was not the village chief's son, she would not even look at him. Even now, she did not wish to meet with him and was only willing to break it off with Vance and get engaged with him, was due to his status in the village!

Jealousy was the reason why he wanted to get rid of Vance, but the bastard's life was tougher than a rock's! He lived even after falling from so high up. Gritting his teeth, he still did not dare admit that he tried to get rid of Vance! "So what if you are a mage? You still can not make false claims!"

"False claims? I think we all know what happened that day. You were jealous of Stacy, still liking me and still not wanting to do anything with you. You were jealous and wanted to get rid of me since I was an obstacle in your path. As someone who is the Village Chief's son and someone who was going to get engaged to the girl who broke off her engagement with me, you still did not think it was enough. You wanted to make sure she would not remember me or have second thoughts. Did I miss anything?" Vance asked as he moved the fireball close to David's face.

David could feel the heat on his face and began to panic as it got closer and closer. But even though he was panicking, his pride still would not allow him to seem weak. "So what!?" He finally screamed out. These two words said it all. But he still continued: "I am the Village Chief's son. So what if I steal your woman? So what if I try to kill you!? You should have just died! Why did you have to come back!?" David's lips curled up into a smile as he looked up at the Everling Brothers. "But I am not the only one at fault! Those two sold you out for a few silver! Your two long-time friends both turned their backs on you, just like how your fiancee dropped you in favor of someone with power!"

"What is going on?" A sweet voice called from behind them. Vance turned to see a young girl around sixteen walking over. Her light brown hair and freckled face made her seem delicate. She was like a lone flower in a grassy field. Her youthful beauty could not be hidden. Her eyes darted between everyone there and widened when she saw Vance holding a fireball. She then looked at David, who was being held to the ground, and frowned. This girl was none other than Stacy. "Is what you said true? You tried to kill Vance?"

"So what!? Why do you care? You broke off your engagement with him for me. All because you wanted an easier life!" David sneered. Since the truth was out, he no longer cared about keeping up pretenses.

"Even so, that does not mean you have the right to try to kill him!" Stacy yelled out. "I thought you were a better man than this! I admit yes I did wish for an easier life, but any girl in the village would want the same thing. I may not be the best of people, but I at least own up to my choices in life but you! You, out of jealousy, would do such a thing!? I am sorry. No matter how easy my life would be, I could never marry such a person."

Stacy looked at Vance with a bit of regret filling her heart. Vance was a mage! If she had married him as planned, she could have gone to the capital! But she was not so self-important to think that Vance would take her back after she broke up with him. She could only swallow her own guilt as she lowered her head and said: "Vance, I am sorry…."

Vance waved his hand. He did not care about some unimportant girl. He took the token in his hand and flipped it towards the Village Chief. "Since the truth is out, Village Chief, I must ask you, how are you going to settle this?"

"This…." Chris was at a loss. He never expected that one day he would have to judge his own son! It was not like he could cover it up with so many eyes watching. He took a deep breath as he said: "For attempted murder, he will either need to be tried at the nearest town or be enslaved for ten years. I will let you choose."

"I don't want him. Send him to town to be tried. That's okay, right, Vance?" Ricky did not care one bit if Chris did send David to the guards in the nearest town. He was just glad everything was finally handled. His son was safe and also a mage. He had a bright future ahead of him.

"We will just do as my father says." Vance extinguished the fireball in his hand and looked at David. "You should have just ignored me. What was the point of being jealous of a person who did not care about some canceled engagement? Now you have ruined your entire life."

"Then I will take him up there personally and return with a notarized statement from the guards." Whether Chris wanted to or not, he had to do things like this. He did not wish for the villagers to lose their trust in him.

Later that afternoon, Chris took David out of the town by wagon. David had his hands and feet tied, so he could not really do much of anything. Only after they left the village did Chris remove David's binds. "Father, are you really turning me in?"

"Of course not! We just need to set you up someplace for the time being and pretend suffered for a few years. Then you can come back. I will find someone to take your place." Chris replied. He only said everything in front of the villagers for show!

David sighed in relief. At least he would not be forced into hard labor. As he was thinking about how he would live the next few years, the wagon came to a halt. "Father!?"

"To think I would hear something so good while I was taking a stroll along the road to the next town."