It took more time than expected for the Sanctuary Shelter to really have a solid foundation.
Because of how they just accepted almost everyone prior to Caelus' arrival, they had a lot of unknown spies amidst them. And when the information of the spy got out of the shelter, everyone became distrustful.
The once lively place was shrouded in darkness once more.
That's why Caelus decided to stay until everything was in order.
They rooted out all the "spies" that the Savior Gang Cult and Dragon Riders planted inside. With Hikari's mental skill and Caelus' Qi, it became easier to weed the grasses.
They also held public speech to boost the morale of everyone and give out what they plan inside the Sanctuary Shelter.
"Hey, who's that kid?"
"I don't know… why is he taking the stage?"
"At least he's no younger than Akihiko…"
"I heard the owner of the shelter was back. Is he the owner? Is this place run by kids? Are we going to be safe here?"
~Murmur, murmur~
The buzzing sound of the crowd welcomed Caelus as he took the stage.
He had expected this reception the moment he decided to step out. But he thinks this was a necessity he should not avoid. It was understandable how everyone would belittle him for his age as he donned Sho Chad's true appearance.
Even though he gained 11 cm taller, Sho's appearance was still that of a kid wet behind the ears. He still looked eighteen years old. But still, he decided it was best to show the "true" him without the use of Thousand Faces. It was to gain the public's trust.
He decided that it was time for him to step out. He didn't want to deceive people with the fake appearance made by the Thousand Faces not because of nobility. That would be contradictory as he was Caelus and not Sho.
It was just a plain calculation that it was better to show the "real" face of the body instead of using an artifact. Because if someone could see through the appearance despite the artifact, he would be then deemed as a fake person. For his aspiration, he decided it was not ideal to be labeled as such.
He wanted to stand before them as a hero. A hero that people needed right now.
But contrary to his previous path, he wanted to create a path that had many heroes.
He couldn't remember everything about Caelus, but what he could deduce is he died alone fighting alone. It was a lonely path he had chosen.
This time, he wanted to thread a path with countless heroes by his side. He has to be one of those heroes along with his friends. Why couldn't it be possible for a group of heroes to stand tall? Is it a prerequisite to only have one sole hero?
He doesn't know the answer. But he will create his own path from now on.
"Greetings, everyone. I know you are curious as to who I am. But first of all, let's bow down to our fallen parents, siblings, family, friends, loved ones, acquaintances and all of the fallen humans. Let's give them a minute of silence and pray for their soul."
The noisy crowd instantly quieted as they remembered all the people who had died. Everyone had lost someone. No one was an exception at all. It was easy for the whole crowd to fall silent remembering all the people they had lost.
It was within Caelus' expectation. He, too, started to pray for everyone he had lost.
He maintained the silence for five minutes before continuing.
"I don't know who you have lost, or who we might lose from now on, but what I want is for us to stand together to survive. We must not give up to despair! There's still hope for humanity.
"This is why I've opened Sanctuary Shelter to everyone! I know that the world is chaotic right now. Everything is just a mess and there's no law and order. And because of that, we exactly need law and order back!
"I might just look like a naive kid to you, but still, I'm bringing my goal to everyone! I hope that we can stand united to restore the peace we once have!
"Invasion of monsters? Invasion of different races? I know everything is new! But we can still fight back! We are humans, we are born weak! We can trace it back to our ancestors who had nothing but themselves! They didn't give up! Instead, they created something out of nothing.
"We are humans! A tenacious race who doesn't know when to give up!
"Our technology was lost? We can create new ones! We are knowledgeable enough to do so! As long as we breath, then we have hope to stand back on our feet! This is not the end but just the beginning!"
With that, he gave the floor to the others to explain the new things they implemented.
First, everyone should be registered. This is to make sure that everyone would be safe. They didn't publicly announce that they would be monitored by Sanctuary from then on. It was so that another panic wouldn't happen.
Second, Sanctuary would issue everyone their work and department. With this, everyone needs to attend Academy until they master their skill and also work their rent out; either by helping cultivate food, donating more Mana supplies or donating GP.
Third, for anyone who would go out of the Sanctuary Shelter, a strict process would need both for entering and getting back inside. This is to ensure no spy would replace the member. They also established the tollgate in the maingate so that the inspection would not hinder anyone.
Fourth, everyone has access to Sanctuary Library. It was named Library, but it was just Sanctuary mimicking the System and giving information individually. There was restriction to the information and anyone could donate their knowledge that is not repeated in the Library to gain more knowledge. With that being said, they also informed everyone that they could raise their Stats manually by gaining crucial knowledge aside from just practicing Mana and Energy Harvesting.
Fifth, volunteering for research data will be rewarded daily. This was implemented so that anyone who couldn't work would have an option for helping on the research data.
With the establishment of the foundation, everyone was given their own agenda.
Gouki was tasked to attack Safe Zones and Shelter Zones to get into their core and make it so that Sanctuary would establish a link to it. And while at it, when he sees anyone else, point them towards the Sanctuary Shelter.
Asahi would then be tasked to rescue and escort the new people.
While Hikari would be tasked to investigate them before letting them enter, also, she would be tasked to train people for the investigation for the gate.
Akihiko… well, he was the best observer now that Caelus still had to get Miya.
Caelus was free of the immediate responsibility over the shelter. Since he trusted the four, he left everything to them and packed to where Miya was.
It was time to face the truth he was trying to avoid before.
It was time to face the group he had been attached to. It was time to announce Alpha's death to them.
He was the last one who had seen Alpha aside from Hana. He knew that if anyone of their camp was still alive, they would look for him and Alpha.
But he had avoided it because of his complicated emotions.
Now that he had settled everything, including the turmoil inside him. He would not run away from the responsibility that Alpha passed into him. He had to find the remnants of their camp.
He was done running away.
It was now time to take action and protect people who he should protect.