The Paranoid Elf Queen Turned Me Into Her Sister

Volume 3, Chapter 16~The Truth of the Demon Race

“What's wrong with you?” Walking on the road, seeing Teresa looking back three times for every step she took, and occasionally turning her gaze back to look at the burning city, Yimi pouted. “You already got the cold shoulder, do you still want to go back and look?”

“Besides, those humans, maybe they really aren't worth saving.” After pondering for a moment, Yimi spoke her true thoughts.

“...........”

Teresa stopped her steps, looking into the distance, recalling the look in that Imperial officer's eyes when he looked at her, and when he looked at those citizens. She felt uneasy in her heart.

She suddenly remembered something. This wasn't her original world. This was a magical world similar to the Middle Ages, and compared to the Middle Ages, because of the existence of magic, people without bloodlines who couldn't learn magic were even less treated as human, almost considered the property of the nobles, like livestock.

Would the Imperial Capital truly deploy troops for the sake of a group of low-level livestock?

Thinking of this, Teresa's unease intensified. A scene that seemed familiar flashed through her mind.

Once, she seemed to have caused a tragedy because of a moment of hesitation...

Turning around, she still decided to go back and take a look.

“Idiot.” Seeing Teresa walking back, Yimi muttered expressionlessly and followed her pace.

By the time they returned to Kanz City, it had already returned to a state of desolation, as if nothing had happened.

The bleak wind blew the flying eagle banner on the city wall, raising gusts of sand and mud. The mud buried the dried bloodstains, the damaged city walls, the collapsed beams, the burned ashes, presenting a desolate sight.

Although there wasn't much human presence when they first arrived, now it looked even more like a ghost town with no living inhabitants.

Those who could run had mostly run. Those who couldn't run were forever left in this city fortress.

Teresa took her steps, entering the city fortress. The answer was already fully in her sight.

These corpses on the ground were still fresh, not unfamiliar faces. A few of them had been pointing fingers at her nose just hours ago, arrogantly instructing her to rescue their precarious assets.

Now, they had all become cold corpses.

It was clearly not the work of cultists. The arrows embedded in the bodies explained everything.

These arrows pierced their chests, lower abdomen, and heads. They died tragically. Not only that, but Teresa also found stab wounds from long spears after kneeling down to examine them.

After these people were shot to death by random arrows, to prevent anyone from not being completely dead, they were stabbed with long spears again to ensure they were all dead and there were no survivors before leaving.

It was obvious who did it. They didn't even bother to bury or dispose of the bodies, and just left directly.

In the eyes of the nobles, commoners were not considered people; only nobles were people.

When Teresa first came to this world, she didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, until now.

Piles of corpses filling the city, blood flowing like a river, and most of it was not the work of cultists, but the result of humans killing their own kind.

“A laughable race.” Although she didn't like these humans, seeing lives that were still lively just moments ago perish like this, and at the hands of their own people, Yimi's expression showed a hint of emotion.

This disaster was not a natural one, but a man-made one.

Teresa, who was squatting on the ground, did not stand up for a long time. A hint of strange desolation flickered in her eyes.

Was she a step late?

Again, a step late.

The sound of heavy hooves echoed from the direction of the inner city. Yimi looked up, reached out, and pulled Teresa's hem.

The wind and sand blew, lifting Teresa's satin-like gold hair. She raised her face, devoid of emotional color. Amidst the smoke and dust, the robust figures on horseback were faintly visible.

“There is a road to heaven, but you didn't take it. There is no gate to hell, yet you barged in.” The lingering smoke dispersed, and the tall Imperial officer rode a sturdy warhorse, slowly approaching with his subordinates.

“Wanted to spare you, but you insisted on coming back to die?” The Imperial officer narrowed his eyes, looking down at the two gold-haired girls.

“Why did you do this?”

“Aren't they your own people?” Teresa didn't answer the officer, staring at him and questioning him.

“My own people??” The Imperial officer was stunned for a moment, then said laughingly, “Little gold-haired sister, just because we are all human, I have to give them a pass?”

“Should I say you are foolish, or should I say you are naive? The groups in this world are never distinguished by 'own people'.”

“Saying what is appropriate for your position, don't compare me with these consumables. I come from an Imperial Capital Divine Princess family, and they are just a bunch of lowlifes from a remote place. Without the Empire's protection, they would have long been headless. The reason they have lived until today is by the grace of the Empire, and the Empire can, of course, withdraw this grace at any time.”

“In other words, would you feel sympathy for your domestic livestock?”

“But they are also humans, and most of them have nothing to do with cultists.”

“So what? I only know that the order I received is to eradicate the cultists at all costs. I don't care how many of them are innocent. As long as they pose a threat to the Emperor, to the Senate, to the Empire, I have the duty to eliminate them,” the officer scoffed coldly.

“Not leaving their corpses in the wilderness, letting them die in their hometown, I've been merciful enough. Anyway, they've lost their homes. Even if they survived, they could only become restless drifters. There's no point in keeping them.”

“People who cannot bring productivity to the Empire are not worthy of receiving the Empire's protection.”

“You two little things have only read books for a few years in a gold-edged school. You never knew what politics and governance are,” the Imperial officer said coldly.

“Originally, I wanted to give you a lesson. After all, so many people died and so many went missing on this trip. It wouldn't make a difference with two Coleman students.”

Teresa looked calmly at the officer.

“But forget it... I'm too lazy to cause more trouble. The play is over. You two, go back where you came from.”

“Aren't you afraid that we will expose what you've done?” Yimi suddenly spoke.

“Expose? Hahaha, who would believe it? Who would believe the words of you two outsiders? Even if someone believes, so what? Even the Elf Tribe doesn't have such long arms and cannot manage matters within the Empire,” the Imperial officer scoffed.

“What? Still not leaving? Are you planning for us to line up and send you off?”

With that, the Imperial officer rode his tall horse and left this ruined city surrounded by his subordinates.

“Is this also part of Carreto's Doctrine?” As the Imperial officer passed Teresa, Teresa spoke as if talking to herself.

“Doctrine is used to restrict commoners, not nobles. It's the same nature as the law,” the officer chuckled. “Besides, the final interpretation right of the doctrine belongs to the Emperor.”

“If the God of War Carreto truly knew that you were doing such conscience-less things under his banner, he would probably be furious and bring down punishment upon you.”

“Sir Officer, repeated wrongdoings will eventually lead to self-destruction. You've been clearing out cultists for quite some years now, haven't you?”

“Have you ever thought why, no matter how you suppress or oppress them, the cultists are always like weeds that cannot be burned out, regenerating with the spring wind?”

The Imperial officer stopped and frowned, looking at Teresa.

“Is there a possibility that you yourselves forced these citizens onto the path of cultists?”

“Interesting statement.” The Imperial officer was unimpressed. In his view, the only reason he didn't deal with Teresa and Yimi was that it would be more troublesome if Coleman Academy investigated later, possibly leading to diplomatic changes. The cost and gain were completely unequal, and that was it.

Not long after, the Imperial army, having successfully eliminated the demons, marched out of Kanz City in a grand manner, leaving behind only this desolate ruin.

Teresa somewhat understood. When cultist chaos occurred, the first thing the Imperial rulers thought of was not what would happen to the people below. The single most important thing was whether it would affect the foundation of the Empire's rule. If it would, it must be stifled in the bud, regardless of how many innocent lives were sacrificed or what the cost was.

Seeing the scene before her, Teresa felt very low. Yimi, standing nearby, took a few steps forward, wanting to say something, but realized her identity and ultimately remained silent.

Footsteps grew louder. In this empty city gate tower, Teresa looked back with a sense of foreboding.

At the deserted city gate, a figure of transcendent elegance walked towards her with slow steps.

It was Piece.

Although this inference was unfounded, Teresa just felt that Piece was well aware of this incident.

“Have you found your answer?”

“...........”

Teresa shook her head, then nodded.

She recalled many scenes, but these fragments of scenes were broken, making it difficult for her to remember anything clearly.

However, she was sure that she was close to the answer.

The reason the Empire was frantically persecuting heretics was their fear that cultists would shake the foundation and rule of the Empire.

As for why they would invest heavily in this area, firmly believing that only cultists could shake the Empire's rule, Teresa still didn't know, but she already had a guess in her mind.

“Miss Piece, how much do you know about the Demon Race?” Teresa suddenly asked.

“Demon Race?” Piece thought for a moment. “I think your human textbooks should have it written quite clearly.”

“I don't mean that.” Teresa looked at the dead monsters lying in the ruins. “These monsters, they have never appeared in historical records, it's like...”

“Like creatures that suddenly appeared on this continent.”

Hearing this, Yimi slightly frowned.

Suddenly appeared, this description seemed somewhat familiar.

“Just like the Demon Race back then,” Teresa said word by word, stating her guess.

Combining the fragmented pieces in her memory, she had a bold hypothesis.

“Kaleburn Continent fundamentally does not have a Demon Race. Nor did the Demon Race come from other dimensions, as those scholars speculated.”

“So far, the Demon Race entrenched in Ruglian, their predecessors were humans, demihumans, and even light races like Elves.”

“A certain opportunity led to their irreversible transformation.”

“This opportunity was the appearance of Corpseblossom.”

“Over four hundred years ago, coinciding with the oppression and exploitation like today, Corpseblossom was born in the hearts of the Imperial people who could no longer tolerate it, causing a mutation and giving birth to the first batch of Demon Race.”

“Because this batch of Demon Race was born within the Empire, they quickly destroyed the entire Imperial Capital.”

“This also explains why the once prosperous Empire was suddenly defeated by a force of unknown origin, because the enemy came from within and disintegrated the Empire from the inside,” Teresa looked into the distance with vacant eyes. These words spilled from her mouth unconsciously.

“Not only that, but within each race, the Demon Race was born at the same time. These Demon Race, filled with overwhelming hatred for their racial rulers, grouped together and destroyed their own cities and armies.”

“They overthrew the dynasties that had heavily oppressed them, making them unable to breathe, established the current Ruglian, and drove those oppressing light races to the south of the continent.”

“This is the truth of the 'Demon Race'.”

“However, the Imperial people still did not learn their lesson, subjectively blaming the fault on cultists who believed in evil gods. From then on, they began to constantly persecute heretics, having zero tolerance for them, to strictly prevent cultists from usurping power. From top to bottom, they became extremely sensitive to the word 'cultist'.”

“They believed that with this high-pressure, zero-tolerance policy, they could strictly prevent the breeding of cultists and serve as a warning. However, it was precisely because of the policies they enacted that officials and soldiers could use this as an excuse to oppress the common people without limit. Thus, in less than five hundred years, Corpseblossom grew again.”

“A new Demon Race was born again.”

Listening to this, Yimi's pupils constricted. She opened her mouth, lowered her head, and fell into contemplation, while Piece's expression remained unchanged, calmly listening to Teresa's speculation and conjecture.

“Miss Piece, am I right?” Teresa looked at the transcendent silver-haired girl before her.

As a human who could live for hundreds or even thousands of years, just based on this point, the identity of this girl was extraordinary.

“This is the law of nature.” Piece did not directly answer whether Teresa's guess was right or wrong.

“Humans, arrogant, always thought they could control this world, never thinking that their every action follows the law of nature.”

“When the people are in dire straits and lose their support, new kings will replace old kings, and new regimes will replace corrupt regimes.”

“This will be the case hereafter as well.”

“This is the law of nature, an objective law and a necessity, not dependent on individual will,” Piece's tone was calm, even a little cold.

“Guess how long this country can live?” Piece looked at the damaged city walls.

“I don't know.”

“I don't know either, but I can already smell the aura of its impending doom.” Piece's eyes were filled with calmness, as if they had witnessed the process of countless regimes and families rising to prosperity, reaching their zenith, and then declining from prominence, finally falling into dust.

Cycle after cycle, without exception.

“...........Miss Piece, can you tell me, who exactly are you?” Teresa looked seriously at Piece, and the latter's gaze met hers.