The Greatest Sinner

Evan and Zak were drinking great ale and talking about the upcoming tournament, and also about the Whitehead Family.

Even if the Whitehead Family were to do something at the tournament, Evan would be protected by the strongest men in all of Mossy Vulture. Evan was a little relieved to hear that. He was confident in himself and his strength, but he was well aware of one thing - if a man comparable in strength to Zak or Koen wanted to kill him, there would be no way he could survive.

"Commander, do you know how strong is the young talent from the Whitehead Family? I'd like to see a decent level."

Evan would be interested in fighting the offspring of the Whitehead Family. Abigail was arrogant, but rather stupid and weak. Evan had been able to kill her, despite his horrible physical and emotional condition.

Of course, he`d used the power of the 72nd demon, Count Andromalius, to defeat her, otherwise he would have died in that prison. But, for that kind of power, he`d expended a lot of life energy.

Evan considered Abigail as a weak magician, but given her age, that wasn't surprising. Especially, since there was no way she could have expected Evan to be capable of harnessing the power of demons. He caught her off guard and was able to attack just in time.

Zak took a sip and calmly said: "I think the offspring of the Whitehead Family will be a problematic, but not a strong opponent. According to Marcel, they have talented young men, but they are far from geniuses. Nevertheless, I think their young man will be able to get a decent place."

"Why? Won't only the most talented and strongest young people participate in the tournament?" Evan didn't understand how a weak participant could get very far in the tournament.

Zak quickly replied, "They aren't capable of making it to the quarterfinals or semifinals by themselves, but the Whitehead Family is known for its untold riches. I'm sure they'll dress their contestant in high-end artifacts and provide a quality "Catalyst". It's not against the rules, so there's nothing we can do about it."

Evan wanted to ask something, but Zak beat him to it, "Besides their riches, the Whitehead Family is also known for their terrible reputation. They are not liked by commoners, nobles, or magicians. The only ones who deal with them are scum and greedy bastards like them."

Roughly said Zak draining his glass and immediately ordering another.

"Commander Zak, is it okay to allow a fight with a lot of artifacts against someone who doesn't have any?"

Evan didn't understand why it was so.

He was sure that Koen and Fane knew very well that there were people who would succeed not thanks for their own power, but external one.

Nevertheless, there was logic in the actions of the two heads of the big Families.

"On the one hand, you're right, but it doesn't really matter whether it's external power or your own. If you meet on the battlefield, you won`t tell the other man to fight fair, are you? This is the same logic Koen and Fane used when they wrote the rules. They want the tournament fights to be as close to the real one as possible, that's why it's allowed."

Zak explained everything in detail.

Evan nodded, and thought to himself, <Hmmm... there's some truth to that, but a tournament isn't a battlefield anyway. There's an audience, an arena, rules, and a reward.>

Evan didn't think it was the right thing to do anyway, but after a moment, there was a wide smile on his face.

<But on the other hand... How nice it will be to defeat these pompous turkeys boasting about their wealth, and how wonderful it will be to smash their artifacts to pieces! I`m just itching to...">.

Evan didn't like the rules, but since he couldn't change anything, he would just have to crush every opponent with his power.

Zak said nothing and just drank his ale.

Evan asked the question that interested him, "Commander, is the Whitehead Family really that awful?"

From Marcel and from Zak, Evan had heard only bad things about this Family. It was strange to him how the Family that everyone hated still existed.

In his past life, the dark and light magicians stuck together so that they could fight against each other. If someone came along who could disrupt one side's cohesion, they were quickly destroyed.

Evan understood that it was a different world, but if the Whitehead Family was hated by many, then why not get rid of it? Evan's thinking was logical, but he just knew too little about this Family.

Zak nodded confidently: "Yes, I and many others, consider them one of the worst. Where do you think they got all their wealth?" Zak asked such a simple question.

Evan calmly replied, "From trade and controlled territories, but I take it that's far from all of it."

"Yes, you're right, the Whitehead Family does have it all, but it's only a small part of what they do. First of all the territories the Whitehead Family owns. Their main center is Snowflower City, where they have their base, resources, wealth, and so on. This is a small town where all members of the Whitehead Family and their allies live and where all their powers are concentrated."

Zak took a sip and continued: "If someone visits Snowflower City, they will think it is a real paradise on earth, but in fact it is a paradise built on bones and suffering. Besides Snowflower City, the Whitehead Family owns a dozen different villages, each as large as the town itself."

<Hmm...looks like Trevor was born in one of those villages. I even wondered how that bitch had found herself in a poor village>. Evan thought to himself.

From the memories of the previous owner of the body, Trevor, Evan knew almost everything that happened before he came into this world. Aside from the prison, he still distinctly remembered the dilapidated houses, the very skinny people, and the endless hunger and cold.

While Evan pondered, Zak continued: "The villages are big, but their residents are miserable, the Whitehead Family doesn't even consider them people. They make them work and give almost all their resources to Snowflower City. Every year, a lot of people die of starvation or disease in these villages."

"Work? That sounds more like slavery to me." Evan said seriously.

Zak nodded: "Yes, you're absolutely right. They send people to the mines, prisons like it happened with you, make them work in the fields and haul loads. All these people end up dying in poverty. Unfortunately, that's not all."

Zak was silent, but then said quietly: "The Whitehead family is not only cruel and inhumane to the people living in their territory, they are also involved in the slave trade. They sell their people as slaves, and it doesn't matter if it's a man, woman or even a child. I think you know that the Whitehead family also sells sex slaves."