It was only a small group that followed Wolfe and the others out. One Elder with her assistants. But it seed to be enough for the townsfolk, as they imdiately silenced, waiting for her to speak.
The problem was that she looked a little lost for words, and she wasn't quite certain how to explain to these people that they had been deed to owe a life debt to a Magi. So, she turned to Ella for answers. She was the most powerful witch here, the people would listen to her.
Ella cleared her throat and stepped forward to address the townsfolk.
"Greetings everyone. I am Ella Noxus, forrly Ella Mariel of Morgana Coven Fortress City, and I have co here today to speak with your leadership about turning over all potential Magi to my people in Forest Grove, a newly ford town in the western region of the Frozen Wastes.
It appears that so of you did not notice that the Great War is long since over, and we were attacked on sight, which has led to the situation that you are all in now."
She paused to let her words sink in, and for the locals to begin to panic about what might happen to them when their leadership attacked soone as powerful as her.
"Patriarch Wolfe Noxus, also known as Saint Noxus, now that he has reached the Seventh Rank, cast a Mana Purification spell on the village to block the curse cast by your leadership, and in doing so, he has purged the Bloodline Curse left on the witches here, passed down in atonent for the sins of their ancestors.
But, as the Bloodline Curse was lifted without repentance, a new debt is owed. That is the Servant Bond that you all now carry. Soon, your teenage witches will begin to awaken, as they would have before the war, and the youngest of your children's potential will advance in an unrestrained state.
The pain that most of you experienced was the damage from a lifeti of casting curses being forcibly expelled from your bodies. Those who were the most egregious offenders may not have survived the process, and for that, you have my sympathy.
But from now on, no curses will be able to be activated inside the town limits. The spell will block them, and purge the curses from any witch who enters these hallowed grounds.
What we require of you, is that you turn over the ones who have shown potential as a Magi, and that you cease the practice of keeping slaves. It is forbidden by our laws, which you are now subject to as punishnt for your attack."
The crowd took a while to digest all that she had said. It was just one thing after another, like a cluster bomb of social reconstruction orders dropped on the crowd without warning.
"So, you want us to give up our servants, turn over the dangerous ones among the Magi, for you to do what? Train to beco a threat again? And in exchange for what? To return what the Magi took from us?" One of the Elders in the crowd shouted.
"The Bloodline Curse is Witch magic. The spell was cast by a Saint whose family was murdered for being Magi blooded. Yes, you will turn over the Magi, the war is long since over, and slavery has been abolished. Your servants can remain, as long as they are free, paid staff." Ella replied, trying to be patient.
"And what if we say no?" The woman demanded, glaring at Wolfe.
"You don't need to make seem like a bad person, I'll freely admit that I will gladly kill you all for keeping slaves, no matter who they are. The practice is barbaric, and I have even freed witches from the Prisoner Chains in the past, as I disagree with the punishnt.
But, you are redeemable, you just need to advance into this century and get with the program. Free your slaves, pay your debts, and the legacy of the Great War ends with your generation, your children will no longer suffer for the sins of their ancestors."
The Seraphim nodded in agreent. This Magi Patriarch was surprisingly sensible, compared to his people in the past. They always got upset when the Seraphim wanted to smite evildoers. Even now, he was giving them a second chance, when the Seraphim would have just cleansed the area, but it was more than he had been expecting from a Magi Patriarch.
The townsfolk were muttering now, about how tyrannical the Magi were, even after nearly being eliminated, and Wolfe put a hand on Ella's shoulder to stop her from reprimanding them. They would either co around or they wouldn't, it wasn't his problem.
Ella raised her voice to address the crowd. "Now, we have purged all the curse damage from your bodies, the mutations will not return, and the lingering side effects of all those curses are completely gone. What I would like to know, is why this village, which doesn't interact with outsiders much, had a need to use spells that were designated as the last resort in tis of war. There hasn't been a war for generations, there is no reason that everyone here should have shown so many signs of casting curses."
All the villagers looked at the Elder standing beside Ella, who was shifting uncomfortably.
"The leadership uses curses to keep the criminal elent in the village under control. If it weren't for the curses, who knows when they might rampage and return to their people's attempt to destroy the world?" The Elder replied.
The Seraphim burst into laughter, golden tears glowing at the corners of his eyes, before he wiped them away and restrained himself.
"Wait, you actually believe that? You know that we can see what happens here from the Upper Planes, do you not? We watched the entire war, the decade where the Magi refused to fight back as the witches and their human allies committed atrocity after atrocity in the attempt to force them to use their magic to enhance the power of the ruling class.
Then, you began to wipe out an entire species, who didn't want anything to do with you, and now you pretend that they are the threat? It was against my advice that the witches and humans were even allowed to continue to exist, I advocated that both species be eliminated as a threat to the peace over twenty thousand years ago."
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