Miss Witch, please don't leave your fragrance everywhere

Chapter 87 Miss Witch and the Avengers
 

A hundred years ago, Gardelegen was not as prosperous as it is today.
Gardelegen is nominally an earldom, but its operation is different from other traditional earldoms. Instead, the ruler is elected by the citizens. Of course, commoners are not eligible to participate in the election, but they have the right to vote and can cast their precious votes for the family they favor.
To this end, the noble families make some promises after they are elected in every five-year election. Citizens feel that this is an advanced system that allows people to no longer be subject to unilateral rule and have their own say. Having said that, if the ruler cannot be re-elected, the new ruler will sometimes overturn the policies of the predecessor. After all, what does the national policy of the previous election have to do with my current one?

His successor at that time promised to implement benevolent policies before being elected. In that era when the crime of stealing could result in the loss of one's hands, the benevolent policies that almost abolished the death penalty were particularly popular among citizens.
But during that period, a serious case occurred in Galdelegen .
An old woman was killed by three teenagers, who tortured her cruelly before she died. The teenagers had no grudge against the old woman, and they did it just for fun. Before this vicious case, they had extorted children from the same village more than once.

However, the ruler of Galdelegen promised that there would be no death penalty during his term. In this era, most countries only have one chance to judge a case. In other words, there is no second trial. The chance of trial is only once. Generally, conflicts between families will not go to court, but will be handed over to the village governor for judgment.
They generally feel that a single trial can better demonstrate the sanctity of the gavel than a false or wrongful conviction.
Against this background, the three criminal teenagers were only 14 years old at the oldest and 11 years old at the youngest. They were considered to have the possibility of reformation, so they were neither sentenced to death nor imprisoned indefinitely.

The old woman was a kind person. She adopted a homeless child, and that homeless child was Albert.
"…So, you decided to take revenge on them."
"Galdelegen’s law has forgiven them, but I will not forgive them. I must send them to hell with my own hands."

"It's difficult. They are imprisoned in the most secure prison in Galdelegen. You can't break into the prison and kill them alone."
Ironically, what was originally a place to hold criminals has now become a refuge for Albert to protect his enemies.
Albert had been an adventurer in foreign lands for many years and had accumulated some connections, but attacking a prison in an earldom was tantamount to being hostile to the country, which was not something that could be accomplished by simply using connections.

"So you found me, expecting me to help you get revenge?"
In front of Albert's bed, the witch tilted her head. Among Albert's acquaintances, only the witch could break through the prison of Galdelegen alone.
Albert denied it flatly.

"No... This is the only thing I must do myself. But I don't think I will live to see them leave the prison."
Albert was seriously injured more than once during his adventures, and his physical condition was far worse than that of middle-aged people of the same age. Although he could enjoy his old age with the savings from his adventures, the targets of Albert's revenge were too young. They were only in their thirties when they left prison. Albert had a lot of health problems, and he felt that he could not live for twenty years.
"I hope you can let me complete my revenge after death. You are the only one I know who can do it."
"Unfortunately, even though I'm a beautiful and talented magician, I can't resurrect the dead. Unless... you mean to sacrifice your soul."

"That's exactly what I need. Tell me the ritual of selling my soul and becoming a lich. For revenge, I will become an ugly monster no matter how ugly it is."
…
"We never saw each other again after that."

Angelica recalls the last time they met.
"How was it? Was the revenge successful?"
"Of course I couldn't fail. After those bastards were released from prison, I killed them one by one. But after I completed my revenge, I suddenly didn't know what to do."

It was not the endless emptiness after revenge that Albert felt, but the unprecedented joy of killing his enemy with his own hands. However, in order to take revenge, Albert sold his soul and became a lich. He had no interest in studying magic. When Albert completed his revenge, the limitation of the lich's long life that was of no benefit to Albert became apparent.
"I choose to live in seclusion in the mountains, waiting for the day when I go completely crazy, until the church sends a paladin to defeat me."
"So these children you raised...?"

"They are children who were abandoned in the forest."
The lich Albert replied calmly. This was also a surprise for Albert.
"This forest is often infested with wild animals. It is a very dangerous forest, so it has become a place where many families abandon their children."

Abandoning children is actually not an uncommon thing. Families in rural and urban areas generally have several things in common: low fetal survival rate, high risk of death during childbirth, and... no plans for family planning at all.
No matter how poor a family is, they will not consider whether they can afford to raise so many children. Therefore, once the family's ability to raise children is exceeded, they will choose to abandon some children without hesitation, which is one of the reasons why there are so many street children. Some families who can't bear it will try to find a family willing ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) to adopt them, or send the children to the church to ask for help from the priest, but more will choose to send the children to the forest and treat them as if they never had this child.
"Most of them are weak and will have difficulty surviving without help. I have become a lich and have no way to go to the town for help. In the end, I can only try to save them myself."

The lich Albert's gaze fell in a certain direction. Angelica looked over there and found that there was a small cemetery nearby with many graves. The lich Albert could not save everyone, and many people died during the period. Despite this, he still tried his best to save every abandoned life.
"I see... Even though you've become a lich, you're still human at heart."
Angelica understood the lich Albert's thoughts. For the children who were successfully adopted by Albert, the lich Albert was their real relative. Compared to their biological parents who abandoned them without any memory, they were more willing to give the lich who took them in a truly respectful name -

Father.