After the apocalyptic explosion made by the Princess, the battlefield got even quieter.
The only places that battles were still happening were the constructions taken by civilians.
The Ridire were trying to negotiate with them in a more peaceful way to overcome that situation. Apparently, the Princess communicated with the guards and ordered that no more deaths would be allowed, except for authorized personnel.
Generals of the Ridire finally started to go out of the castle to help in the mission to recover the buildings taken over and free some of the hostages they had made as well.
The negotiations lasted for hours, some of the Ridire got shot in the middle of the operation. However, the civilians were running out of resources, that is, they had no more ammunition to spend attacking.
When the negotiations did not go well, the General was free to decide whether they would invade the building and take it by force, or if they would spend more hours talking to them.
After a lot of negotiations going bad, the Princess communicated the Generals once again, saying that, if the diplomatic measures did not work out after more 2 hours starting now, the Ridire must attack.
She was clear when she said: "Attack, kill, and leave the rest for the administration… Even if it means killing the hostages as well.
Of a total of 165 hostages, 61 got killed in the middle of the operations. All the operations got at least 45% of all hostages killed and just 55% getting out alive.
Of the civilians taking the building… None of them survived.
After several hours like this, all the buildings were recovered, the hostages were sent to the hospital.
A group of civilians of the West region of the District started to make a protest against the executions happening in the city center. They needed to be controlled by the west guards.
The midwest guards were the only group of hostages who got free with 100% of success. On a total of 150 civilians who surrendered the guard buildings, 50 got executed and 100 were in custody.
All the action lasted from 2 am, when the Princess gave the first action, until 10 am. At this point, the more destroyed parts of the region got evacuated, the buildings were finally free and all the conflicts got appeased.
At 11 am the Princess decreed death sentence to all the civilians who were taking the lead on those actions, and something called full-restriction measures to the rest.
Casper wondered to himself what kind of thing these full-restriction measures were, but all the civilians who had to take this as a punishment got transported to a mysterious location.
Just a few people among them got jailed and the sentence was not so long.
Seeing that, Casper could only think that it would be bad for the prison system of the District if so many people got jailed, probably causing overcrowding.
Besides, a lot of civilians that participated in the attack were ordinary workers, and some even bourgeois. The District's poor economy would get even worse if they lose so many people who could be working to pay their taxes.
At 11:30 the execution of 18 civilians who were identified as the heads of that action started.
The already revolted west region got even more agitated, protestants even vandalizing the streets.
As if it were not enough, the east and south got filled with protests in different parts of their regions.
The protests lasted until the last bullet got stuck in the head of the last leader, as if that execution had not just silenced the 18 leaders of that huge attack, but also the entire city, putting an end to that mess.
People started to go back to their houses, the streets got peaceful again.
Casper had tagged along with the Princess during the entire process. He closely followed all the decisions, decrees, and orders.
He could take a good look in all the parts of the midwest region, and be aware of all that situation. Casper did not know why the Princess called him to follow her as well, but at least all that trip served for him to gain some more information about what was happening, and what had happened.
He also noticed that the subjugation that the Princess made before was aimed towards all the points where huge battles were happening, particularly the places where Frelsi were fighting.
Unfortunately, those attacks caused casualties even in her own troops.
Casper heard a General reporting that, of a troop of 200 Ridire sent to contain the rebellion, 90 could survive.
Sionnach was among those numbers.
After walking around almost the entire midwest region, their trip came to an end when the Princess announced to all troops to get together on the Main avenue.
The avenue would serve as a way to transport all the corpses of the fallen Ridire and civilians, and weapons apprehended as well. That avenue was already an important part of transporting city resources, that's why it was always so crowded and busy.
After several minutes, all the Ridire and city guards were gathered on the edge of the Main avenue, in line next to each other.
Automated cargo vehicles were crossing the streets.
Inside them, a bunch of corpses.
Everyone was silent, looking to their comrades that they would never see again, at least not until they reached Valhalla.
No one moved a single finger. Even the slightest movement seemed to be a symbol of dishonor for their deaths.
Casper was between the two warriors who were with the Princess. All the Ridire and the guards seemed to have full respect for them, even fear. Casper first thought that they could be just Generals, but that did not seem the case, since even other Generals gave the same respectful feeling towards them.
"So… What is left over is… Aesir…" Casper felt a bit oppressed being among them. Anyway, he had not the time to think much about that. After all, his condition was similar or even worse than the other warriors.
And it was crueler to think that most of the families of those who died would not have the chance to see their beloved. A lot of deaths were confirmed, but anyone could find the bodies (or, at least, could find just one part of it, or its ashes).
"Is that… Is that the price of victory for them? All these lives… All the destruction, the blood spilled…"
Casper looked around, staring at the eyes of each Ridire that were there. They tried to maintain a cold look, sometimes infuriated, or then just an ordinary look. Probably, since they were in the presence of two Aesirs and the Princess, they wanted to act appropriately for a warrior.
Nonetheless, nobody there could hide from Casper their true feelings. Actually, anyone could see it, not just him. They could try to fake their real emotions, but, for the first time, those masks matched them. They were not just showing an artificial expression anymore.
Everyone could notice it. The Aesirs and the Princess might have as well.
The atmosphere was dark, tense, and filled with sorrows. The people from District 42 seemed to believe in Odin and Valhalla, which means that the warriors who died in battle should be seen as honored, and everyone should be glad for their deaths.
In fact, some looked to things that way. The majority was mourning but conformed with that situation. The sadness was there, but their chests also were full of pride.
However, religious or not, humans were just humans after all. Not a single person would leave that avenue without feeling a bitter taste in their mouths.
"No… That's not it." Casper concluded. "That's not the price of a victory… Nobody won this fight… In fact, all we have here are losses… And all we did was avoid have some more."
It was not even a day since Casper had wake up suddenly in that world and he was already faced with such a situation. He could not say it was easy for him. He thought he would die many times. Even now he had not treated his injuries, since the Princess seemed to not care about it during the trip.
Casper did not sympathize with that world yet. Instead, he thought he would start to hate it the more he stayed there.
After some hours of a bunch of Cargo vehicles passing by at a slow pace, all the Ridire prayed for Odin.
"Where are they being carried?" Casper asked for the Aesir on his right side. The one with the metallic staff.
"For a river near here, for the sacrifice."
"What? Sacrifice?"
"You don't know a thing about the traditions, huh?"
"No…"
"When a warrior dies in battle and we can recover the body, we launch them into the river, inside a boat with all their belongings. Then we set fire on the boats and offer their souls to Odin, to be guided to Valhalla. In short, that's it."
"I see… I think I browsed it once…" The Aesir seemed dumbfounded because of Casper's comment but did not ask anything about that. He seemed very discomforted talking with him and could not bear to look at his face for long periods.
After one hour had passed, the Ridire and guards were dismissed. The Princess declared that the city was in peace again and that all the survivors that fought in that battle would earn a quantity of money.
"Ah, I nearly forgot…" She turned to Casper, after look at all the troops in front of her, never letting go of that cold aura. "That man." She pointed to him. "Arrest him immediately."
"Son of a…" Casper had not the time to finish. When he realized, the two Aesirs, along with the Ridire and guards, were surrounding him.