Chapter 126: A Glimmer of Hope in the Shadow of Doubt

Now, with Imeline bringing these hidden evils to light, Lucia was forced to confront a myriad of unsettling questions.

She could, perhaps, accept Lovelenica using her for the sake of family power struggles or political machinations. After all, Lovelenica had saved her life, teaching her how to survive, how to fight, and even the skills to hunt Fantasy Creatures.

However, if Lovelenica’s motives jeopardized the lives of innocent people, Lucia could never accept it.

Having been an orphan herself, losing her parents at a young age, Lucia empathized deeply with the children. If their lives were to end in such ignorance, merely as consumables, their fate would be truly tragic.

After a long silence, Lucia finally spoke.

“…Imeline, the information you’ve gathered isn’t enough to explain everything. It only suggests the Crimson Family *might* be exploiting or harming these children. Do you have a theory? And how does this connect to your suspicion that the black-clad figures who attacked us were sent by the Crimson Family?”

Seeing the growing seriousness in Lucia’s expression, Imeline understood. Lucia had truly listened to her words. Her current questions were not a refutation, but a rational consideration of the possibilities behind the orphanage.

There were many possibilities. If the children were truly adopted by nobles or wealthy merchants, that would be ideal. Yet, this seemed unlikely; it couldn’t explain the frequent blood draws.

“You know the Crimson Family also owns hospitals, don’t you?”

“I do… Are you suggesting?”

Upon hearing of the Crimson Family’s hospitals, Lucia immediately grasped Imeline’s meaning. While the Church’s Healing Nuns could treat many illnesses and injuries, their numbers were far too few compared to the general populace. It was impossible for nuns to treat everyone endlessly.

Moreover, some nuns, particularly those from noble families like Julie, looked down upon commoners and were unwilling to treat them.

Their primary mission was to hunt Fantasy Creatures, dedicating their strength to combating them. Consequently, few would treat ordinary citizens. Even minor nobles and wealthy merchants sometimes struggled to receive treatment from the nuns.

Hospitals, therefore, became vital treatment centers for non-professionals. The Crimson Family’s investment in hospitals even saved the Church resources, allowing them to focus more on fighting Fantasy Creatures.

Lucia had a general understanding of these medical procedures. Some involved herbal remedies, while others utilized Arcane Technology, similar to what was found in the Hillebach Duchy.

These methods employed special medical devices that required only a small amount of magic to perform complex examinations and surgeries. The operators themselves didn’t even need magic, only regular replenishment of their mana.

Thus, hospitals had developed rapidly over the past few decades, with even the royal government willing to allocate funds to support them. This was also a major reason for the Crimson Family’s swift rise.

Lucia knew that certain severe injuries might require blood transfusions or organ replacements. This level of treatment was difficult even for a seventh-tier Healing Nun, but hospitals could manage it, provided they had matching blood types and organs.

Initially, the public was apprehensive, but under the Kingdom’s extensive propaganda, people slowly began to accept it. Now, it had become common practice. The Crimson Family would recruit volunteers from all over, offering generous compensation to them and their families.

They also sought volunteers willing to donate organs after death, offering substantial rewards. Considering Imeline’s intelligence, the source of the blood and organs now seemed self-evident.

“Precisely… I initially suspected that their frequent blood draws were meant to replenish the hospital’s blood bank. Those missing children weren’t necessarily adopted; they might have become organs for nobles and wealthy merchants…”

Lucia pressed her lips together. Though the possibility had already crossed her mind, hearing Imeline state it explicitly still made it difficult for her to control her expression.

Lucia clenched her small fists, but soon, they fell limply to her sides. If such a thing were true, the Crimson Family would be profoundly sinful.

“If this is truly the case… what can we even do? In truth… perhaps those nobles and wealthy merchants would accept such actions? After all, they are the beneficiaries. Even if we exposed these facts, they would quickly be suppressed. Commoners have no means of spreading information; even if we exposed it to them, it would quickly be silenced.

“And… if we truly expose this, can we really remain unharmed?”

It was entirely possible that even the three major organizations of the Kingdom secretly supported the Crimson Family’s hospitals, especially since hospital treatment sometimes surpassed that of Healing Nuns.

If a high-ranking knight suffered severe injuries, with their intestines pierced through, barely clinging to life, and even a Healing Nun was powerless, would it be worth sacrificing a commoner’s life for that knight’s?

For the Knight Order, it would undoubtedly be worth it. Even for the Arcadia Kingdom, it would be even more so. How many Fantasy Creatures could a high-ranking knight eliminate? How many humans could they protect? For the human race, it would certainly be worth it.

But… what about the commoner whose organs were transplanted to the high-ranking knight? Was their life not a life?

“I know…”

Born into the royal family, Imeline understood the hidden darkness within the nobility far more clearly than Lucia. She knew that at this level, the Crimson Family would only be labeled as ‘inhumane.’ They could even brand themselves as protectors of humanity, striving to better safeguard the populace. Naturally, they would remain unshaken.

“Our identities probably wouldn’t make much difference in a situation like this, would they? If I were to insist on this matter, I might be confined by my family. They might even abolish my magic and casually marry me off to some noble for an alliance…”

“No… I need to ask my teacher first! She might not know about these things! She’s only a collateral branch of the family; she might not be complicit! And… it’s not certain that the Crimson Family has done such things. We’ve been considering the worst-case scenario. I must ask her clearly!”

The suppressed emotions surged back at that moment. Lucia still clung to a glimmer of hope, believing that the darkness behind the Crimson Family had nothing to do with Lovelenica. Perhaps this darkness didn’t even exist. The blood draws might indeed replenish the blood bank, but they might not necessarily remove the children’s organs. What if they only drew blood at the orphanage, and then the children were given away normally when someone came to adopt them? What if? Surely, that possibility existed too…

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