But I'm Just a Cleaner

Du Chen’s eyes were slightly closed, his fingertip tracing gentle circles on the rim of a wine glass. Old Warma’s message was crystal clear: he wanted Du Chen to withdraw his troops and spare Thornwood Valley! At the same time, he had delivered a crucial piece of information to Du Chen—of Thornwood Valley’s two hundred thousand commoners, at least half were not deserving of death; some were entirely innocent!

So, how was this battle to proceed? Slaughter Thornwood Valley entirely? Du Chen couldn't bring himself to kill a hundred thousand innocents! But if he spared it, what was the point of the Pontiff sending Bairu as supervisor? Would the Pontiff let Du Chen off the hook!? That man, the future Divine Emperor, commanded three Thunder Cannons and an army of ten million – a power Du Chen, as he currently was, dared not openly challenge!

So, what if he separated the people of Thornwood Valley, killed the wicked, and secretly saved the good, all while keeping it from His Holiness the Pontiff!?

Du Chen slowly spoke, “Old one, I too have three questions. First, your words today might move me, but do you truly believe they can move His Holiness the Pontiff?”

Old Warma shook his head, “The Pontiff’s eyes have been blinded by ambition; he will not heed these words!”

“Then even if I am swayed by your words today and withdraw my troops, tomorrow, the Pontiff will dispatch even larger armies to annihilate Thornwood Valley! Since Thornwood Valley is destined for destruction, why should it not be by my own hand? At the very least, I will not, like Bairu and his ilk, slaughter captives, massacre commoners, or spare even the elderly and children!”

Old Warma fell silent. Du Chen continued, “Secondly, as you mentioned, there are a hundred thousand wicked and a hundred thousand innocent souls within Thornwood Valley. Can you, old one, differentiate between the wicked and the innocent?” This was the crux of the problem!

Old Warma smiled bitterly, “Even if Prince were resurrected, I fear he would be unable to thoroughly distinguish good from evil among two hundred thousand Thornwood Valley residents who have lived intermingled for a thousand years! A millennium has passed in Thornwood Valley; good people and bad, they are all one family now…”

“Precisely!” Du Chen stood up. “I will not spare the wicked, nor do I wish to indiscriminately kill the righteous. Therefore, the best outcome between Thornwood Valley and myself is this: the wicked within Thornwood Valley perish along with Thornwood City, while I, defying the Pontiff’s pressure, protect the good people! But since the people of Thornwood Valley, having intermingled for a millennium, cannot be thoroughly separated into good and bad, my third question is – do you, old one, have any method to teach me how to discern the good and evil among them, and thus save the innocent!?”

Du Chen spread his hands, “From ancient times, good and evil have resided within the human heart. Individuals like General Rondo are, after all, rare. Most in Thornwood Valley are likely difficult to distinguish between good and bad! If you, old one, possess a method to distinguish them, I will heed your counsel, kill the wicked, and brave the Pontiff’s wrath to save the righteous! But do you have such a method?”

Old Warma was speechless!

…

After a long silence, Warma chuckled bitterly, “A fine saying indeed: ‘From ancient times, good and evil have resided within the human heart.’ I never imagined that your understanding of the Clandestine Circles of good and evil surpasses even mine. This old man was shortsighted. Are the innocent within Thornwood Valley truly without hope?”

Du Chen raised his cup and shook his head, “At least neither you nor I can conceive of a way, can we? Very well, later I will have someone secretly escort you out of Thornwood Valley. Please, go wherever you wish!”

“You’re letting me go?” Old Warma asked in surprise, “Sir, will you not regret it? I am but the gate cleaner of Thornwood Valley!”

Du Chen burst into laughter, “Indeed, you are a cleaner! When two nations clash, why would I trouble a mere cleaner like you?”

Old Warma smacked his lips, finding his own words rather amusing, and bowed deeply. “Then this old man bids farewell. Regardless of what the future holds, for a man to consider the innocent even under the Pontiff’s pressure – this benevolent heart, this old man will forever hold in his deepest gratitude!”

Du Chen waved his hand, watching Old Warma leave the tent, but his thoughts were: ‘Benevolent heart, my ass! I just want to maximize the Acts of Benevolence! But damn it, the Pontiff is watching me. If I don’t destroy Thornwood Valley, he will surely have punitive measures in store for me! Yet, if I do destroy Thornwood Valley, setting aside how I might secretly protect the innocents under the Pontiff’s gaze, simply differentiating between the two hundred thousand people of Thornwood – who is good and who is evil – is an insoluble problem. How can I possibly maximize Acts of Benevolence then… This is not going to be easy!’

‘However, if I succeed in this, it would be the Great Benevolence of exterminating a hundred thousand wicked and saving a hundred thousand innocents. The Fifth Trigram will definitely fully activate!’

Rubbing his nose in contemplation, Du Chen suddenly let out a strange chuckle. He picked up a brush and penned a letter: “Your esteemed Majesty, Queen Liana, this Duke finds himself in a predicament conquering Thornwood Valley. Might you find the time to *roll* over and lend a small hand? This meager offering is hardly a token of respect, merely a humble expression of my gratitude!”

Finished writing, Du Chen called out, “Harry, take two bags of the sourest sour plums, get into my Wyvern Carriage, and go to Miki Duchy. Bring our Grand Steward back to me! Damn it all, even if Prince were resurrected, he wouldn’t have a solution? But I still have Liana! Hmm? Just now… Old Warma, that Tomb Guardian who devoutly believes in the gods… he dared to call the Divine Emperor by name!?”

Du Chen was suddenly startled, realizing with a jolt that Old Warma’s tone earlier had been off. What did he mean, “your understanding of the Clandestine Circles of good and evil surpasses ‘mine’”? Who did a mere cleaner think he was!?

Du Chen then fully grasped the situation. Why was he discussing such matters with Old Warma in the first place!? In his previous life, would a governor and military commander-in-chief discuss matters of state with an old night watchman? The same logic applied now: did the illustrious General Du, Duke of [Implied: Du Chen's title], truly need to debate the fate of Thornwood Valley with a cleaner?

It seemed there was something about this old man that, unconsciously, made it impossible to treat him as a mere decrepit elder…

“Someone, call Old Warma back!”

Damn it, how could he have been so slow to realize something was amiss!?

But the guard outside replied, “Sir, that old man vanished the moment he stepped out of the gate!”

…

Just as Du Chen was writing his letter, deep within a secret chamber beneath Thornwood City's ancient tower!

Zigurd, Avril, and Thomas stood by the sickbed. Thomas paced angrily, “Zigurd, this is your fine student! He annihilated thirty thousand of Thornwood Valley’s army in one battle, and now he’s at our gates, ready to slaughter us all!”

Sena, on the sickbed, was unexpectedly young, with long green hair and still radiating charm, looking only in her forties. Yet, her face was bloodless, and her breath was faint. Considering the correlation between Battle God strength and age, Titled Battle Gods typically lived around three hundred years. However, much like how commoners spoke of “Life is but a Hundred Years” yet few actually reached that age, the average lifespan of a Titled Battle God was closer to two hundred twenty to two hundred thirty years.

For Sena, barely a hundred years old, this could be considered a premature demise…

Sena slowly opened her eyes, her voice weak, “Third Head, don’t, don’t get angry… Tell your Second Sister, can Thornwood Valley still, still hold on?”

Thomas hastily said, “Francis didn't bring many troops, only thirty thousand! But that God-General Dud is truly an insurmountable foe…”

Cough, cough!

Sena coughed violently in distress. Avril quickly caressed her back, tears streaming down her face, to help her breathe. “What about Ted? Ted is a Fiendkind Grand Marshal, his military leadership is unparalleled in Thornwood Valley. Can’t even he hold them?”

Thomas’s expression changed; he didn't reply.

Avril consoled her, “Master, don’t worry, it was Ted who used the Empty Fort Stratagem to repel the enemy yesterday…”

After Avril explained yesterday’s battle in detail, Sena, drawing strength from somewhere, nodded and said, “Good, I wasn’t mistaken; Ted is worthy of the Third Head position! Third Head, issue my Valley Master’s command: from today, ten thousand Thornwood Imperial Guards are to be placed under Ted’s command, and forever serve as personal retainers to his Brockman family. I, Sena, swear a blood oath with him in my final moments: as long as Ted does not betray Thornwood Valley, Thornwood Valley will never betray Ted!”

Thomas anxiously asked, “Second Sister, you’re just giving the Imperial Guards to a newcomer like that!? Does that mean my future position as Valley Master should also go to him!?”

Sena was instantly so angered she couldn’t catch her breath. Zigurd fumed, “Third Head, I know Ted better than you! He has no intention of vying for the Valley Master position! Sena, are you not even listening to Sena’s dying wish!?”

Avril also cried, “Third Uncle, to counter Dud’s Primal Slaughter Array, only Ted’s Seven-Star Divine Radiance can succeed! Master is assigning the Imperial Guards to Ted’s family army so that… so that Ted will keep the Seven-Star Divine Radiance Array here in Thornwood Valley!”

Thomas gritted his teeth, “Fine, I’ll bloody well go issue the command!”

Once Thomas slammed the door and left, Sena looked at Zigurd, “Eldest Brother, your Second Sister asks one thing of you before she dies…”

Zigurd closed his eyes; he knew what Sena was going to say.

“Eldest Brother is now revered as the Father of All Battle Gods. Your Second Sister should not burden you by associating you with a dirty place like Thornwood Valley, but… but Thornwood Valley was my foster mother’s life’s work; it cannot be destroyed in our hands!” Saying this, Sena turned over and bowed down. “Eldest Brother, for the sake of our deceased foster mother, please, please find a way to save Thornwood Valley!”

Zigurd gave a bitter smile, ‘Why would I not want to save Thornwood Valley? But how can I save it!? If I don't reveal my identity, can I, alone, stand against Francis’s tens of thousands of troops? If I reveal my identity… this time, it’s the Pontiff who wants to destroy Thornwood Valley. Although Sama IX considers me a brother, when true interests are at stake, should my identity be revealed, he would immediately cast me into eternal perdition and subsequently annex Battle God Isle. Where would I get an opportunity to rescue Thornwood Valley!?’

Seeing Zigurd’s helpless expression, Sena smiled bitterly, “I’ve troubled Eldest Brother… Never mind. Eldest Brother, while a few secret passages remain intact, please take Avril out of Thornwood Valley for me, for me. The world knows only Sha, not Avril; she should continue to be the daughter of the Prime Minister’s household…”

“No, Avril won’t leave! Master, Thornwood Valley is my home!”

Master and her two daughters parted in what felt like a life-and-death farewell, crying in each other’s arms!

“Alas!”

Zigurd sighed to the heavens! “So be it, I, Zigurd, will stake everything!”