Although a majority of the Kingdom of Black Rose's population and military power was concentrated in Blackthorn City in the far north to guard against the invasion of Gehenna, the kingdom wouldn't leave its other borders completely unprotected.

Queen Henrietta would have set up at least two methods to grasp the situation of her entire kingdom.

"Does Queen Henrietta not know what's happening here, Astoria?" Vaan wondered.

"That shouldn't be possible." Astoria shook her head, trying hard not to smile after hearing her name so she could answer Vaan's question seriously. "Her Majesty's palace is the tallest magic tower in the kingdom."

"Even if it takes two weeks of traveling by foot, it can still be seen from Redpine City. Although the Red Goblin Mountain completely blocked Sunpeak Town from view, Her Majesty is a fire specialist."

"Considering the power of the blue flames, there's no way she hasn't felt it. So unless something big is happening on her end, Her Majesty would be coming in person to investigate," Astoria stated.

"Since you said that, then that is likely the case. Perhaps, Queen Henrietta is not in Blackthorn City. Or something is obstructing her from sensing abnormalities outside of the capital city," Vaan guessed before saying, "In any case, we have other things to deal with now."

Vaan peered outside the lord's estate before Astoria followed her gaze and saw the crowd of merchants gathering outside.

Just as Vaan suspected, the merchants took the initiative to turn themselves in to plead for forgiveness.

The powerful wall of blue flames cutting off their paths of retreat had weighed down on their minds throughout the night.

Nevertheless, the crowd of merchants was hesitant to approach the lord's estate after seeing the state of High Witch Beth and Lord Annette of Wolfwater City.

Considering the two High Witches were reduced to such states even though they had just arrived the other day and took no major part in Sunpeak Town's matters, the merchants could only imagine things would be much worse for them.

Some of them started to wonder if it was better to have hidden in Sunpeak Town and waited for the other merchants to take all the blame.

However, everyone was already familiar with each other's faces. If they were ratted out, perhaps an even worse fate awaited them.

As such, after they hesitated for a bit, they came forward and prostrated on the ground.

They didn't know if groveling in front of the lord's estate would appease the other party's anger. Still, they couldn't think of a better idea.

In front of the blue flames, they were all just insignificant ants.

The sounds of footsteps were soon heard inside the lord's estate as Solana and Aeliana made their way down the stairs and met up with Vaan and Astoria.

When Aeliana saw Astoria locking her arms around one of Vaan's arms, she immediately waltzed over with a glum look and hugged Vaan's other arm.

On the other hand, Solana simply gave Vaan a wink before focusing on the crowd outside the estate.

"Well, isn't this quite the sight to see?" Solana uttered with a pleasant smile when she saw the crowd prostrating on the ground in fear. They had given her quite a headache.

Nevertheless, she couldn't help but frown when she saw Beth and Annette in their humiliating and defeated states.

"Please release those two, Aeli."

"Yes, mother."

Shortly after Solana made the request, Aeliana obliged, removing the tendrils and vines from Beth and Annette. Still, Aeliana wasn't too happy with her mother's decision.

"You two got off easy. You should thank my mother for that," Aeliana quietly spat.

Beth and Annette could only reply with forced smiles. They were mentally worn out from being in a state of tension throughout the night, not knowing whether they would be spared or not.

"Thank you for having mercy, Lady Solana," Beth and Annette said tiredly.

They exchanged a few words before putting the matters behind them. At that point, Beth and Annette did not care about revenge, nor did they have the strength to carry it out. Instead, they just wanted to go home and sleep it off as if it was a bad dream.

Nevertheless, after Beth and Annette's matters were set aside, Solana focused on the merchants. Vaan and the others also came out and joined her as they stared at the groveling merchants.

When the merchants sensed their gazes, their bodies shivered in fear and felt like huge weights had been placed on their backs. They didn't even dare to lift their heads for a look.

"How should we deal with them?" Solana asked the others, seeking their suggestions. She thought of multiple choices but couldn't decide which would be the best course of action to take.

"We should kill them all," Aeliana immediately stated. But then, she soon added, "..Or not. They're not very useful if they're all dead."

The merchant felt great relief after hearing the second part. They almost had heart attacks during the first.

"We should interrogate them first. Then, decide after," Vaan suggested.historical

"That makes sense," Solana agreed with a calm nod before she glared at the merchants with a fierce gaze. "Tell me, who gave you all such audacities to act lawlessly in my town? You couldn't have been that stupid without people backing you."

"Tell me who they are!" Solana strongly demanded.

However, the merchants did not answer. They only shivered fearfully in silence. Despite coming forward to be punished, they didn't sell out the people backing them.

Evidently, they feared their backers more than they feared Solana.

"After what they put you through, you're still being too soft on them, Lady Solana. This is not how you should interrogate them. Also, you are asking the wrong questions."

Vaan shook his head as he stepped forward to take charge of the matter, grabbing a female merchant at the Peak-stage Senior Witch rank by the throat as he picked her up and raised her body in the air.

"Who was involved in Dahlia's ambush?"

"L-Lady Solana is one thing.. But, you? How dare a man treat me like—"

Ka-cha!

Vaan tightened his grip and broke the female merchant's neck, cutting off her lifeline and killing her almost instantly, before tossing her lifeless body aside.

"Wrong answer," Vaan uttered indifferently.

Shortly after, he proceeded to pick up another female merchant by the neck and asked the same question.

"Who was involved in Dahlia's ambush?"