Chapter 124: Adopt
"Did you just say ’sell the babies to the witches’?" The man inquired, now wavering in his resolve. The disappearance of the pregnant women was one matter, but the handling of the babies, where they were taken, and how they were cared for sounded altogether too suspicious.
"They are lying! Pay no heed to their falsehoods! I sent them to an orphanage, just as we all agreed upon!" The man cried, crawling toward him in a desperate bid to convince him otherwise.
"Agreed upon? It was your suggestion alone, and we merely went along with it," the man said, now piecing things together. It had always seemed suspicious how he was the one who first spoke of the orphanage, the one who arranged everything, and the one who insisted they never speak of the village’s affairs to outsiders.
"Yes, but you selfish lot agreed to it! Why act now as though the blame rests solely upon me?!" The man bellowed, rousing the villagers’ ire.
"At last, you show your true nature! I always suspected you were up to something. And why should we heed your words when all you do is burden us with endless dues? You restrict us from speaking with our neighbors, claiming it is for our safety, yet what decisions have we ever truly made for ourselves?!" The young lady from earlier stepped forward, her fists clenched as she spoke with rising fervor.
"Yes!" The villagers cried out, their voices ringing in agreement with hers.
"I gave you homes when you had nowhere else to go! Yet you ungrateful wretches refuse to acknowledge how I bettered your wretched lives!" The man retorted, rising to his feet.
"No! You granted us shelter only to serve your own gain, just as those before you did! You selfish, wicked, loathsome creature!" The young lady spat, drawing forth another round of cheers from the villagers.
"Enough! This is no time for quarrels! We must uncover the truth before we descend into further discord," the man declared, and at his words, the crowd fell silent.