Promotion

Allan worriedly looked at a young girl, she didn't seem to be older than sixteen years old, and her dress was completely dirty and even ripped in some parts. " Alicia?" His voice almost failed as he called her.

-" Uh?!" The girl's eyes were dazed, it had been quite some time since she ate or seen the sun. " Who are you? Did Father send you?" Alicia couldn't help but grow hopeful that this nightmare would end.

-" Yes..." Allan sighed in relief, he didn't know what to do if the girl had already been sold. " Let me take you out of here." Allan barely paid attention to the others captives, all he could think was to get the girl out of there.

-" Hey! Help me take everyone out." Curtis frowned as he saw the group of people chained in the cave. " Good Lord! How did they kidnap so many people." Curtis quickly began to free everyone that was inside the cave.

-" Thank you! Thank you!" One of the men that were chained to the wall began to cry as he hugged Curtis's knee.

-" I thought no one would ever come!" An old lady that didn't even have the strength to get up.

It didn't take too long for Curtis and Mathew to free everyone in the cave, and they were all led to the village plaza, however, Mathew was soon left alone with the group as Allan had asked for Curtis to go gather the rest of the prefecture workers.

Mathew wasn't sure what to do with the group, most of them were citizens of faraway lands that had been brought here. -" What i should do now..." He looked at the group in pity and sighed.

-" What more can we do?" Simon was surprised to learn that Nicolaus and Clifton were even selling slaves.

-" Just setting them free is leaving a bad taste in my mouth." Mathew looked around the plaza and finally decided what to do. "Let's make them some food first." Clifton was already arrested and his villa was filled with ingredients.

Mathew arrived in Clifton's kitchen and began to look around for ingredients. " What can I cook?" He was never talented in making food, and could only do simple plates. " Vegetables, Meat, Eggs..." Mathew was disappointed by the food variety, especially by the lack of spices. " The only thing I can do is stew.." He quickly threw a few pieces of wood on the stove and tried to light them.

-" Should I ask for help?" Mathew tried and tried but the pieces of wood never seemed to catch on fire, and he was too embarrassed to ask for help for such a simple thing.

-" The wood needs to be dried first.." Simon entered the kitchen and quickly took a few pieces of wood from another pile. " Those should work."

Mathew sighed in relief as someone who finally knew what he was doing appeared, however, before he could ask for Simon's help, another group of village entered the kitchen and began to take a few items.

-" Are they...?" Mathew looked at the villages and thought that they were looting the place.

-" They came to help." Simon smiled as he patted Mathew's shoulders. " They all know how hopeless that group must feel, and want to help." Simon grabbed a big metal pot and turned around. " Come, it's better to cock in the plaza."

Mathew grabbed a few more ingredients and followed Simon and the villages out of the Clifton villa, only to discover that the plaza was now bustling with even more people.

Some of the villagers were distributing water and clothes, while others were setting up a big fireplace in the middle of the plaza.

-" Doesn't this kind of look like a festival?" Mathew blurted out without thinking and quickly regret saying those words as he felt that it was somewhat offensive to the people that went through so much.

-" A festival?" Simon dropped the metal pot near the fireplace and looked around. " That right! We should host a festival!" He gave Mathew a thumbs up and shouted. " Everyone gather up! We should celebrate this day!"

Many of the villagers came as Simon called, they all saw him as the hero of the village and had great respect for him.

-" Today we will feast!" Simon had a big smile as he shouted. " We are finally free from Nicolaus!" Simon lifted Mathew and shouted once again. " From now on, today shall be known as the Freedom Festival!"

The villagers all shouted in unison as Simon finished speaking, they all thought that the name Freedom festival was fitting, as they all had waited anxiously for the day that Nicolaus would be caught.

It didn't take long for the plaza to get into the festive mood, some of the village ladies were preparing the dishes, while the man had done into Clifton's villa and brought a few barrels of wine and beer.

Even the people that were enslaved were taking part in the festival, they were all hungry and weak, but, they never felt happier as their nightmare finally ended.

Mathew watched the bustling plaza with emotion in his eyes, he was still in disbelief at everything that had happened to him. To dying and coming to this world, to all the things that happened to him while trying to fulfill Sigebert's last wishes.

-" I wonder if how he would react knowing that his efforts weren't in vain." Mathew sighed and looked up, he wasn't sure what happened to Sigebert's soul, and even began to wonder if he had taken over his body.

-" What is happening?" Curtis came back and was surprised to see the party in the village plaza.

-" Oh?" Mathew turned around and saw all the staff of the prefecture, they all had saddened faces and were tied up. " The villages wanted to party, this quite the big day for them."

Curtis looked at the happy villagers and smiled. -" Why aren't you partying with them?"

-" Just collecting my thought first." Mathew wanted to take part in the festival too, but, he had too much on his mind to party. " What is going to happen with them?" Mathew looked at the prefecture staffers, Sigebert was never too close with any of them, but, he still nonetheless felt pity for them,

-" I can't say for now." Curtis had a pensive look as he faced the group. " They will be on observation until the investigation is over, I guess." Curtis was sure that most of them had taken part in Ruffus's scheme.

-" Sigh... we can't spare them if they took part in the scheme." Mathew didn't feel much compassion for them, especially since he had proof of them taking bribes from Nicolaus. " Especially the jail warden!" Mathew remembered his short stay in jail and grew enraged, this was the first time that he had been in jail, and even if it was just a few minutes he still hated it.

-" Oh? Did he do something to you?" Curtis had a disappointed face as he gazed at the prefecture staff, many of them weren't true bureaucrats as they didn't pass the Imperial Exam, and were only employed by the prefecture directly. " For so many people to watch as Nicolaus stole away all the money of this village."

After talking for a bit more, Mathew helped Curtis to take all the people involved to the local jail, including Ruffus and Nicolaus, and only then joined the villagers in the festival.

Simon had told everyone the complete story, so all the villagers treated Mathew like a hero, and their treatment of Curtis wasn't so different either as he too had taken part in the Nicolaus arrest.

Curtis and Mathew were partying when they noticed Allan and the noble girl looking at them from far away. -" Shit! Allan came back!" Curtis quickly stopped dancing and put his cup down and went straight to Allan.

Mathew began to sweat as he saw the governor looking at them, he didn't know if they were allowed to get the things from Clifton's villa or join the party, so he followed Curtis with a worried face.

-" Quite the party isn't it?" Allan was serious as he looked at the villagers dancing away.

-" I should have asked you if they were allowed to use the plaza." Matthew was so nervous that he almost stuttered. " They did also get a few things from Clifton's villa."

-" Hmmm..." Allan looked at the noble girl, who looked interested in the villager's festival. " I forgot to ask your name, young man."

Mathew froze, he never thought about this, he was in Sigebert's body, so changing names would be awkward, but, he wasn't sure if he could ever get used to being called Sigebert. -" My name is Sigebert, but, you can call me Mathew."

-" Mathew? Quite the exotic name." Allan adjusted his robes and looked seriously at Mathew. " Please get this girl a plate of food... and bring me a cup of wine." Allan patted the young girl's head and smiled at her, he wasn't sure if the food here would fit her taste, but, he couldn't let her go back to her family hungry.

Mathew quickly took the young noble lady and made a big plate of stew for her. She wasn't too keen on the food at first, but, she began to wolf down the stew after staring at it for a few seconds.

Mathew smiled as he saw the girl devour the whole plate in a few seconds and quickly refiled it, he thought that she would be way more annoying and pampered, but, the girl was well-mannered, and even treated the rest of the villagers with respect, so he had taken quite the liking to her.

He refiled her plate one more time and turned around to join the party once again only to be surprised to find that Allan had joined the festival and began to drink with the villagers.

-" Hey! Mathew come here." Allan called him as he saw that he had already fed the girl. " I want to announce something!"

-" Announce something?" Mathew was anxious, he wasn't sure what the man had in mind.

-" Everyone! Listen to me!" Allan shouted as he lifted his cup. " I first would like to apologize to everyone one of you, it was due to my failure as a governor that you all suffered." He bowed to the villagers and the people who were enslaved. " I will try my best to compensate for what every one of you went through." Allan's face was resolute as he apologized, and all the people in the plaza could see his sincerity. " And the second thing that I would like to announce is that I will place Mathew as the provisional Magistrate of this prefecture!"

All the villagers erupted in cheers as the man announce Nicolaus' replacement, they all had already thought of Mathew as the next magistrate.

-" Me? A magistrate?" Mathew was in shock, he never expected to get a promotion so soon after coming into this world.

-" Of course!" Simon hugged Mathew and threw him up. " Who else would it be?"

The festival only grew more lively after Allan's announcement, and with expectation of Allan and the noble girl who returned to the capital city after some time, everyone else continued to party all night.