Damned Healer-Chapter 438: Take Responsibility

The Merchant Guild was mostly run by humanoids from the planet Runedell, along with the Wube family. Still, it remained under the control of Vadise’s royal family.

Because of that, the leader of the whole place was chosen by the Matriarch, keeping the foreigners under watch. Obviously, that wasn’t working — those humanoids did whatever they wanted behind the scenes.

It wasn’t exactly the leader’s fault, though. Those parasites used their influence to connect with beast families and pull shady stuff in secret. Even though the leader had his suspicions, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

That day, Darian calmly arrived at the gates of the Merchant Guild.

The moment he walked in, countless eyes turned to him. There were all kinds of humanoids inside.

Suddenly, a voice echoed from the back: "Darian! How dare you come in here?!"

In a flash, Darian appeared in front of the man like a ghost and punched him straight in the face.

*BANG!*

Everyone in the hall froze in shock as one of the most important figures in the place flew out the window, spitting blood. It was the same man from the Wube family who had received Darian in the capital before.

Right after that, a thin, white-haired old man appeared from the back. He was half-human, half-beast, giving off a calm and serious aura.

Darian’s eyes locked on him, and his curse activated. It was black, but normal — he definitely wasn’t betraying the planet.

"You’re the one in charge here on behalf of the royal family?" Darian asked flatly, showing his status plaque.

The man nodded seriously and gestured for him to follow to the central chamber at the back.

When they arrived, the old man bowed respectfully and began:

"I can’t deny my responsibility for the corruption spreading through the Merchant Guild. However, the royal family has always known about it and still kept the Guild running. I feel like your intentions are a bit too extreme right now..."

He looked at Darian, whose expression showed no emotion at all, as if he truly intended to wipe everything out. The old man quickly continued:

"Besides ensuring trade with the outside world, the Guild is the link connecting Vadise to all other humanoid planets. This place is the pillar that supports the beasts’ reproduction. Every generation, hybrids breed with others from the planet and lose fertility; that’s why new humanoids always have to arrive on Vadise. You need to keep that in mind. If you destroy the Guild recklessly, in one or two generations, Vadise will collapse."

He spoke quickly, then looked Darian in the eyes and sighed. "This place is like the pillar holding up the planet... but it’s rotting inside. So many worms have nested and eaten away at the wood that it can barely hold its own weight anymore."

Darian understood right away. It seemed the old man was aware of everything, though he probably didn’t grasp how deep the corruption really went.

"If the pillar’s infested, you’ve gotta treat it, right?" Darian asked with a cold smile.

"Of course. But when you say ’treat,’ how far do you plan to go?" the old man replied.

"Until there’s not a single larva left and the structure’s completely sound," Darian said firmly.

"But then what? The wood’s still wood. As long as it’s exposed, new worms will come," the old man pointed out.

Darian stared at him. "Only after tearing down the old one do you realize the foundation needs to be stronger. Vadise needs a pillar that reflects integrity and mutual balance. If the problem’s only on the surface, we can fix and reinforce it easily. But if the pillar’s core is hollow and eaten through by corruption, no treatment will save it. In that case, I’d say Vadise should rip out the rotten pillar and replace it with solid stone. What do you think, senior?"

The old man grew serious. "Can’t we give them another chance? Humanoids and beasts aren’t perfect. Everyone makes mistakes."

"Sorry, but chances aren’t given. They’re earned. Everything the Merchant Guild’s been doing these past years is fully known to the Matriarch. I trust you’ve had some suspicions yourself, even if you’ve hesitated to believe them. This time, they’ll have to pay for their own mistakes. However, if the pillar’s still sturdy, I’ll let you use some strong pesticide before we take the axe to it. That’s the best deal I can offer," Darian said coldly.

Over time, the royal family’s tolerance — motivated by the need for new humanoids to arrive — had been mistaken for weakness, encouraging the Wube family and their allies to act like parasites.

They thought themselves above the beasts, controlled the economy, and worse, became agents of outside factions, spreading discord and threatening Vadise’s stability. The Matriarch, however, had only been waiting for the right moment to cut out the cancer — and the first step was to tear out the rot from the roots.

Darian had come fully ready to destroy everything, but when he sensed the old man’s aura, he realized the elder was perceptive. Solving the problem was simple — he just needed to capture the Wube family’s leaders and extract every detail about their network. Then he could wipe out each traitor one by one.

Doing that, though, would completely sever ties between the Wube family and the planet Runedell. Without their support, the weaker humanoid planets would pull away. And as for the stronger ones, like Aethel, they had nothing to gain — only to lose — if they let their people abandon their homes to live on another planet. That was why neither the elder nor the Matriarch had ever acted directly.

But Darian’s arrival changed everything. The Matriarch felt he could break the deadlock — after all, Darian came from Earth, a rare, enviable planet full of nature.

Most planets in the universe have only a tiny fraction of habitable land, while on Earth, almost every continent is livable. If Earth were well cared for, humans could multiply terrifyingly — long ago they reached twelve billion people on a single planet.

Nowadays, with conflicts, divisions, and problems, that’s all fallen apart. But if Darian could really get things in order at home, Vadise would become his main ally and could rebalance itself just with humans from there.

"I’ll entrust you with that chance. Don’t worry about the distant future while the present is a mess. The point is to live and make things better here and now," Darian said seriously.

The elder was silent for a long time, and Darian didn’t add anything — he just stood there expressionless, waiting for an answer. Finally, the elder sighed, powerless.

"Please tell the Matriarch I will personally handle the rot in the Merchant Guild. I’ll root out every traitor completely. I won’t let a single one escape."

Darian nodded. Saying nothing more, he turned and left.

From that day, planet Runedell and the Wube family would begin to be pushed out of Vadise and become declared enemies. Still, the process wouldn’t be quick — they’d try everything to cause as much damage as possible. No doubt Darian would be painted as a villain on that planet and beyond.

The Matriarch was smart to have Darian do it with his own hands. If he wanted to marry the princess, he had to take on massive responsibility for the planet and prove he was a real ally.

Darian didn’t mind — it was fair for the Matriarch to want him to prove his loyalty. He didn’t see any problem building a lasting alliance between them and Earth.

The only problem... was that he had to put his own house in order first. But the time was coming.

After settling everything, Darian returned to the princess’s mansion. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

***

Three days later, Darian was in his room at the mansion. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, startled.

An explosive fluctuation reverberated across the planet, then...

*BOOM!*

"DARIAN!"

The mansion wall blew apart, ripping a huge hole in his room. There... he saw a Dragoness with a twisted, terrified expression.

"Niara is dying! Quick! You have to try to save her!" Painita roared, utterly desperate.