Back in Port-Williams, you and your ghoul-companion are faced with some new circumstances.

When you both returned to Port-Williams, an idea came to you, which was the fruit of your reflections on the events that had taken place.

You decided to search the residence of the perished Richard Marley.

The residence of the traitor, who was the butler of the Williams family…

A couple of soldiers took you and your companion to the room of Richard, which was located on the first floor of the Gothic mansion-residence of the Williams family.

A modest small room.

There is little furniture here.

A table, two chairs.

A bookcase with books.

An old wooden creaky bed.

No luxury (this is in stark contrast to the other rooms of this mansion).

On the windowsill is a small stack of notebooks.

On the pages are clumsy letters of a child's handwriting: "I love you, daddy! You are the best!"

These words are awkwardly signed with the name "Thomas".

You realize that these notebooks are a memory of the tragically deceased son of Richard Marley.

Probably, Richard carefully kept these old sheets of paper on which his son first learned to write...

Meanwhile, you and Elijah continue the search...

Half an hour later, you find an unstable wooden board under the bed, which can be moved with some effort.

It's a hiding place!

You take out thin scrolls of gray paper from the hiding place. There are not many scrolls - only three.

And on this paper there are only rows of numbers.

You compare the information...

And you understand that this method of encryption is quite primitive.

"So... Probably, it should be done this way... Each letter of the alphabet corresponds to the opposite numerical value... That is, the letter "A" will be designated in the text not as "1", but as "26"... Now, it seems, the text can be deciphered!" - you begin to read these secret messages of the traitor.

Having read all the texts of the secret messages, you realize with alarm that these are not only texts composed by Richard Marley himself. The texts on the two scrolls are messages from someone who helped and inspired Richard Marley!

At the same time, of course, there are no signatures in the texts...

That is why you cannot understand who this mysterious manipulator is...

The information in the texts is brief, fragmentary and contains only the most important information.

However, this information is quite enough for you to realize that neither Richard Marley nor the local gangs of raiders are an independent and autonomous threat.

Someone hiding in the darkness and manipulating other personalities provoked this bloody massacre.

"Your message about Princess Sapphire not wanting to consummate marriage with Francis Williams was very timely. You should use..." - this phrase in the encrypted text lets you realize that someone hostile and dangerous has already received information about the "extravagant" behavior of the princess and, probably, about the fact that she preferred to have sex with you and get pregnant by you.

"Found something interesting in this shitty scribble of a traitor?" - asks the ghoul.

You nodded, barely suppressing the desire to curse.

Then you and Elijah wanted to go to Edward Williams III to report the result of your diplomatic mission.

However, the noise of the crowd is heard from the street...

You go outside in surprise.

You see that among the crowd there are people who were wounded in that bloody battle.

Of course, some things have been restored in the past months.

But many of the consequences of the bloody massacre and mass destruction still remain.

Port-Williams will need a long period of recovery…

You listen to the hubbub of the crowd and look into the faces of the people.

Many have frozen expressions of grief on their faces…

The recent past has left too many cruel scars on their souls and bodies…

Too many died on the day of the battle…

Many lost relatives…

Many were wounded…

Edward Williams III goes out onto the balcony of the mansion and says with displeasure: “What’s all the noise? What do you want?”

“How about going down and talking to the people? Or do you consider yourself noble? Do you think that you are better than us and that you can do anything?” - someone’s irritated voice sounds from the crowd.

“I’ll call the soldiers of the Security Corps now!” - Edward Williams III shouts indignantly.

Suddenly, a group of Security Corps soldiers emerges from the crowd. From their ranks, Pablo Vargas steps forward.

Chief of the Security Corps.

A stern, black-haired man of thin build, with scars visible on his face and hands.

He coughs dryly and says in a calm, but strangely insistent voice: "Venerable Edward Williams III, the people of Port-Williams have an important message for you..."

Edward Williams III is simply dumbfounded by the surprise of these words: "Vargas, what nonsense are you talking?! I am the ruler of this town and you must follow my orders! This crowd of idlers must simply be dispersed, right now!"

Pablo Vargas ignores the indignation and continues to speak: "The recent tragic events, the siege and the night battle... All this greatly affected the minds of the inhabitants of our town... We lost many people... Almost a hundred people died - both soldiers and civilians of town... Now in Port-Williams there are less than three hundred people left. The victory in the battle was achieved by chance. Everyone saw the giant mutant turtle attack our enemies. Victory is not the merit of the ruler. Victory is not the result of good planning. Victory was just an accident. But how did our town end up in such a sad situation? "

Edward Williams III shouts in anger: "Stop your stupid chatter, Vargas! Now! I order you!"

However, soldiers stand around the Chief of the Security Corps. They have guns in their hands. And the soldiers' faces are full of determination. It seems they want Pablo Vargas to continue talking...

"So... Why did Port-Williams end up in a situation where tragedy was inevitable? I am sad to admit, but I know the answer to this question. And the answer will not be pleasant. I have served the Williams family all my life. A member of this family founded this town nearly a hundred years ago... And I, like many others, served his grandson, the ruler... I was **** to follow orders and watch the sad consequences. I saw resources being wasted on useless luxuries. I saw that the security of Port-Williams was based on dubious relations with gangs of raiders... You all remember that Edward Williams III cooperated with the Hellhounds for many years and bribed them. The ruler paid, among other things, with the blood of our soldiers... Then the sole ruler entered into a bloody conflict with the Hellhounds... For many years, instead of investing resources in creating his own strong armed units and instead of searching for effective weapons in the ruins of ancient bunkers, Edward Williams III preferred to spend money on providing a luxurious life for his own family. And at the same time, ordinary fishermen and workers of our town were **** to make do with meager food and live in a dangerous environment..."

"You are as much a traitor as the vile Richard Marley!" - Edward Williams III's face turned purple with anger, he almost pulled out a pistol from the holster on his belt...

However, the soldiers of the Security Corps standing next to Pablo Vargas threateningly point the barrels of their guns...

Such a gesture quickly makes Edward moderate his angry ardor...

Speech of Vargas: "I want to offer my deepest apologies to all the inhabitants of our town... I should have understood the truth much earlier... For too long we have all been **** to tolerate the dominance of the will of one person-ruler... From our own tragic experience, we have all become convinced that the sole rule of a representative of one family is a path to disaster. Today, our town has stayed on the brink of falling into the abyss only thanks to chance. But it is our duty to our children to prevent such a thing in the future. Next time there may not be a happy accident… So I listened to my soldiers, and I also listened to the commanders of the units who defended each of the three quarters in the night battle… I talked to the families of the dead and wounded… So I now speak on behalf of all the inhabitants of Port-Williams. Port-Williams is not the will of a tyrannical ruler. Port-Williams is all the people who live here. From now on, our town will be ruled by the Commission of the Worthy. One representative will be elected from each of the three quarters of the city. These representatives will elect the Chief of Defense every year…"

Cry of the crowd…

Soldiers shout "Hurray!"

Crowd of people chant: "Viva! Freedom!"

The speech continues: "On behalf of the people of Port-Williams, I declare that all previously mentioned points of the treaty with the Orange Kingdom are recognized by us. Only one clarification is important: our alliance with the Orange Kingdom will not be of a dynastic nature. We will not be puppets of the Orange Kingdom. If they try to maliciously use us, we will break the alliance. We are for equal allied relations. We do not want to depend on the tyranny of the monarchical family. The people of Port-Williams are not the property of any monarch. The Williams family is now an ordinary family without absurd privileges. The mansion, weapons, ammunition and luxury goods - all this is confiscated in the interests of restoring the town and in the interests of providing food for all inhabitants of the town. However, we have no hatred ... Any member of the Williams family can freely live in our town as an ordinary citizen... "

Edward Williams III simply "chokes" with anger: "You ... You ... How dare you?!" He then runs off the balcony into the interior of the gothic mansion.

You and the ghoul look out over the crowd, who are chanting, "Freedom!"

The soldiers standing next to Pablo Vargas cheer and chant, "Long live the Free Community of Port-Williams!"

It looks like this is now the official name for this "state"...

You and Elijah quickly enter the mansion.

There are no guards anywhere!

It looks like most of the Security Corps soldiers are not at all enthusiastic about the prospect of protecting the power of the sole ruler of the town.

You both walk through the corridors...

Descent down several staircases...

In the underground room, you find representatives of the Williams family...

Edward Williams III curses and threatens to punish all the rebels.

Brittany rushes to you and hugs you, her body shaking with fear.

Her two brothers look dismayed.

"Father, unfortunately, Pablo is right... The time of sole rule of this town is over... Too many tragedies have happened... I would like to stay in Port-Williams... Life without privileges is quite possible..." - says Francis Williams.

"I'm leaving here! I'm going to Axeman-City! This... This is simply horrific ingratitude! My grandfather founded this town! How dare they take away my power and property?! And you, Francis?! How dare you say such things?!" - Edward is clearly in a situation of "collapse of the familiar world" right now.

"So... Now is not the best time to talk about my diplomatic "achievements"... All these changes... How will the monarchical power of the Orange Kingdom react to this? I'm getting a little scared..." - you think, looking at Edward.

It seems that most of the Williams family will soon be **** to board a ship and go to Axeman-City.

You and your companion Elijah also intend to visit this city.

It's about mid-afternoon...

What do you want to do?

Should you talk to someone from the Williams family, or would you like to talk to Pablo Vargas?

Or do you have other ideas?