When he stepped through the gate he was greeted by more people, these ones were wearing white robes embroidered with red symbols. They were also smiling but their smiles were even bigger than those of the other people he saw, too big in fact, he could see the corners of their mouths were ripped open and even still bleeding in some cases. He could see almost all of their teeth and their eyes lost all color and had turned into a milky white like they were blind.

  Before Ethan could walk over the courtyard and approach the actual mansion a person opened the heavy wood door, it was clearly a man by the looks of it even with the heavy hood covering his head. Otherwise he wore the same robes but based on his outline he was thin, shorter than Ethan by a good margin too. The man lifted the hood and revealed his completely bald head, the only noteworthy thing in his otherwise unassuming face were the entirely red eyes. The man folded his hands behind his back and smiled, but not in the creepy way everybody else did.

  “Seems like you aren’t that easily controlled, well it doesn’t matter anyway. You shouldn’t have come to this town, traveler. These people are happy just the way they are.” Ethan raised an eyebrow, using Identify on the man who obviously neglected perception because Ethan got both his classes.

  [Human - Level 59 | Voice of the Red Queen | Crimson Puppeteer - Level 40]

  “Voice of the Red Queen? Well that’s a title for a class for sure, laying it on thick with that one.” He smiled when he saw how the man’s eyes grew big but the surprise quickly turned back to confidence moments later. “You should be honored that you withstood my control, not many do and with enough time I will break your spirit too!” He looked into the sky and pointed at Ethan.

  “By my authority as the mayor of this town I will banish this individual and declare him an outcast! He is a danger to this community and shall be removed by force. Either alive…or dead!” Ethan thought the man was joking but to his surprise he actually got a system notification.

  *Update* You got branded as an outcast by the mayor of [unnamed], as an outcast all restrictions and protections are lifted.

  Ethan read the notification while the man cackled like some mad genius that managed to outsmart him, instead a smile appeared on Ethan’s lips as he double checked the message. “All restrictions? Well well.” With a simple gesture one of his soldiers stepped forward and beheaded one of those smiling freaks. Silence reigned suddenly as the man stopped laughing and only the thud of the head landing on the ground could be heard, followed shortly after by the body.

  “This changes everything, no?” Ethan cracked his neck and slammed his staff into the ground. A vortex of ice burst free from his staff, a massive spell circle filled the air as he burned his mana, a feeling of ecstatic rushed through him as he could feel his improved stats working on refilling his mana pool. His soldiers quickly killed the remaining people and grabbed the so-called Voice of the Red Queen. While he did that the sound of horns could be heard all over the city.

  “You fool! Do you think I’m that defenseless? The guards will rip you apart and cover this courtyard with your blood! Just wait and soon divine punishment will come down on you like a hammer hitting the anvil of justice! Nobody opposes the will of the red queen!” Ethan froze his mouth shut, while he made sure to keep the man’s nose free. He still needed that crazy fucker after all.

  His soldiers had already closed the gate and Ethan used his Bulwark to reinforce it even more. One of them was dragging the cult leader behind him towards the wall. Ethan casually constructed stairs with his magic that lead to the top of the gate and saw the guards getting into a defense formation at the foot of the stairs, their shield raised but surprisingly they didn’t unsheathe their weapons. The ice soldier forced the man up the stairs until the guards below could see him.

  The smiling people who so far acted almost human stopped in the middle of what they were doing and like a switch was flicked in their brains the populace turned into wild animals, they lost everything that made them human in mere seconds and rushed towards Ethan, they threw their bodies against the stone formation the mansion was built on without a care for their own wellbeing. Ethan casts another spell, surrounding the entire mansion with steep slippery slopes so they slide down instead of running into a stone wall.

  Before he could think about his next step the guard captain from before stepped forward. “Hey mate, can we talk without you blasting me with that ice of yours?” Ethan smiled in relief, the guards actually seemed normal instead of fanatics ready to die a needless death. “Talking is exactly what I want as long as you don’t try some mind control bullshit, you can bring some of your guards if you feel more comfortable that way.”

  The man, already climbing the stairs, shook his head. “Nah don’t need them I know you won’t kill me as I’m here to help you believe it or not.” Ethan had his soldiers open the gate far enough so the captain could slip through while he descended from the stairs he made from his ice.

  “So you actually managed to catch him, huh?” The captain looked at the bald man who was held by the neck like a wet dog. “I wish I could kick him or at least spit in his face but alas that’s not possible. At least for now but it depends on how our little talk goes.”

  Ethan conjured a seat for himself while he had a soldier grab one from the house for the captain. When they were both sitting comfortably the elf started the conversation. “Well now that you’re here there are answers I’m really interested in, first off why can’t you hurt him?” He looked at the cult leader who seemed to realize that nobody was coming to help him as he was crying like a child, it seems he really counted on the captain’s help.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Well you know the protection the system gives you when you enter the town’s area? The guard you saw stationed outside and along the walls is a part of that system.Let me explain it a bit better, so you see in our tutorial we had to protect a town filled with a lot of people. Keep the roads safe, man the gate, help the people inside the town. Patrols, patrols and more patrols. Well when our tutorial ended we got thrown in with these people and metaphorically chained to the town once they started to build it. We had to do our job, that’s how we earn levels after all. When you’re part of the guard you’re under heavy restrictions. Even now I feel the pull to protect the so-called mayor.”

  “Okay that answers some of my questions, so when you feel that pull why are not acting on it? It should compel you to attack me and free him right?” Ethan tilted his head, his soldiers were all in position if the man should try something stupid.

  “I feel it alright but it comes down to interpretation, you see in my mind I imagine that talking to you would give me the best chance to save the mayor while attacking wouldn’t, so in the eyes of the system I fulfill my duty in this moment. There are a bunch of loopholes, that’s why corruption is still a thing even during the tutorial we got some of those scenarios. The system has thought about almost everything really.”

  Ethan leaned back and thought about what the man had just said. It sounded like he would have to fight the guard if he wanted to get out of here, not because they wanted to fight but because the system compelled them to stop him. Ethan was looking over the captain with a calculating gaze, he knew that man would put up a fight. His guess was that the guard also got buffs when inside the city but that was pure speculation. He stopped his train of thought to focus back on the conversation. “So what are we doing now? You don’t want to save him if I interpret your behaviour so far.”

  The man smiled, a big grin appeared on his face. “Glad that you asked! Because we have been trying to find a way out since coming here. Working for these mind controlled freaks isn’t really fun you know? So we have a few ways to free ourselves if you’re willing to help. Starting with the worst, get killed. As you can imagine nobody wants that, second the town gets destroyed and without a town there is nothing binding us here. The third option would be if the city was conquered and the new ruler gave us new orders or released us from our duty.”

  Ethan nodded and he had an inkling what the man was actually after, he gestured for him to continue. The man bowed his head and continued. “So what should we do when all our guards are captured, like the only defensive force in the entire city? The town would be lost instantly! Especially with the current leader captured. Oh my I think we would be in heaps of trouble if that happens.” The man’s words dripped with fake concern as he grinned and winked.

  “Well that sounds very terrible indeed, capturing the entire guard sounds like real trouble but oh well if someone managed it I can see that becoming a problem for this very normal town.” Ethan smiled too and both men stood up from their respective seats and shook hands. Together they walked to the gate and looked down at the gathered guardsmen. Ethan tapped his staff on the ground and like an explosion all of them started to slowly freeze from the feet upwards. The same happened to the captain standing next to him. They didn’t panic after seeing Ethan and the captain appearing together, both of them still smiling.

  “I didn’t catch your name so far, I’m Ethan nice to meet you even under these circumstances.” The man laughed and shook his head. “Did we forget that part? I’m Liam. Nice to meet you Ethan.” He looked down at the gathered guard and called out to them, they were frozen in place with only their chest and arms exposed. “Men we surrender! This mighty wizard caught us and now we’re at his mercy!”

  Ethan had to admit he never expected to see grinning guardsmen throwing their weapons to the ground and sharing high fives with each other, he even saw the occasional hug. With all of them captured and weaponless a new notification appeared.

  *Update* Congratulations! You have captured [unnamed] what would you like to do?

  - Annex [unnamed]

  - Destroy [unnamed]

  - Enslave [unnamed]

  First off, he was bothered by the fact that cultist dude never bothered picking a name for the settlement, second he destroyed the city and by the look on Liam’s face the man was finally free to do what he wanted. “Never thought I would capture a city this early on…huh.”

  But before he let them go he tapped his staff on the ground and called out to them. “I have a question to ask all of you, I imagine you all saw the system notification a few days ago. I’m Ethan Delaney and would like to offer you a place at my side. You can refuse but if you accept there is a place for you in the new home I’m building with trusted allies."

  “Ethan…winter elves, yeah that makes sense now.” Liam mumbled while looking at his rescuer. “Hey mate I would talk to them first if you’re fine with that, that's a decision we all have to make together.”

  The elf actually blushed and with a snap broke the ice locking them all in place, he kind of rushed to the offer without thinking it through, he kind of forgot that the easy tutorial days where everything was guided towards a specific goal were over. He nodded to Liam before turning away. “Of course, of course. Go talk to them but whatever you decide we still need to free these people.”

  Liam laughed and patted Ethan on the shoulder. “That was our plan anyway, talk to you soon.” The captain walked towards his men who were gathering around him, all of them talking over each other in excited voices.

  Ethan managed to calm his emotions after taking a few deep breaths. He walked to the captured cultist. “Don’t worry we will have a nice long talk soon.” A smile appeared on his face as he saw the bald man shiver.