Mike and his group returned to the city as quickly as possible; with their speed, it took less than half an hour. The gates were closed, opening occasionally to allow hunters to move in and out. It seemed that nobody knew what had happened at the tower.
The guides quickly displayed their credentials and were allowed in without much hassle. However, Mike and Mage Demon Hand were not allowed to enter directly. Instead, the gatekeeper took the token Demon Hand gave him and went to confirm it with the Human civilization's station.
After half an hour, he returned and let the two in.
The rule regarding verification of identity applies only to those from Human civilization. It is a self-imposed rule to ensure nobody can impersonate them. It doesn't apply to the natives, who have their own procedures for identity verification.
The token verification system that Human civilization uses is the most advanced available. The crystal has many functions; in addition to being matched with the one at the station, it also records everything around it in great detail. With its recording function, if a demon kills the original carrier and brings it here to pass through the gate, the station, upon reviewing the footage the token recorded, would immediately know. This way, they can lead the demon in and ambush it, kill it, or capture it. The token's ability to record is a secret, known only to the leaders of each station.
...
The situation inside the city was getting chaotic; obviously, the news about the tower had leaked.
"Let's hurry!" said Demon Hand to Mike, who was following her. She was strong but not strong enough to defeat many demons. In this situation, the safest place was the station.
"Mage Demon Hand!" Mage Wide Vision saw her as she hurried toward the station and stopped her.
"Mage Wide Vision! There is an issue!" Mage Demon Hand said hurriedly.
"We know! A demonic army composed of over 2,000 demons has appeared not far from here. We kept it a secret to avoid causing panic, but it seems that everyone has found out," he sighed.
Mage Wide Vision and the city leadership knew about the army as soon as it appeared. They had already acted in secret to find the cause but didn't inform ordinary people and low-ranking mages.
"Sorry, it's my fault; I should have known those guides weren't to be trusted," said Mage Demon Hand. Obviously, as soon as the guides returned to the city, they leaked the news all over town with impressive speed. If such a leak had happened in the human civilization's army, the perpetrator would have faced harsh punishment, but those rules don't apply to the guides.
"Don't worry about it. We were already planning to reveal it because it's not something that can be hidden. We have confirmed that the demonic army is not moving away from us. While it's not yet marching toward us either, it's not a good situation," said Mage Wide Vision.
"What is the plan?" she asked.
"I have already announced that Human civilization would take everyone with wide arms. The city leaders didn't reject it outright but said they would consider it. The army of 2,000 demons is far beyond what this city can handle. There are only around 100 mages here, most of whom are low-level. The wall is very weak; they may have been able to withstand 200 demons, but they would get crushed by 2,000," said Mage Wide Eyes.
"How long are we planning to wait?" she asked.
"Our agents from the 13th Army are keeping an eye on the demon army outside. If they move, we will know immediately. The wall and other defenses would probably be able to keep the demons out for one day. In all, we should have at most one week. At the end of the week, the city would be destroyed. Of course, it's also possible that the demon army leaves tomorrow; nobody can guess the mind of a demon," said Mage Wide Vision.
"We should think of our own safety first; we have with us Human civilization's most talented student, after all," she said while pointing at Mike, who was standing there calmly. Mage Demon Hand was not a coward; she would likely have been against running away if she was alone, but she was not; she had to protect Mike.
"Don't worry about Mike; the 13th Army knows of him. They would never let anything happen to him," he said without worry.
"Let's wait and see what happens," said Demon Hand. She had no rank and power here and could only wait.
…
The city leaders discussed the matter for hours, finally rejecting any notion of abandoning their city. They had fought for centuries to keep their land, and not even a demonic army could shake them.
However, unlike many times before, this time, there was division, even among the city's top leadership. Some leaders argued that they should send children and women away to Human civilization, at least temporarily. Some more extreme members argued that everyone should go until the demon army moves away.
In the end, the majority voted down those proposals and passed a resolution prohibiting anyone from running away. All hunters were recalled and given guard duties above the walls. Men older than 19 and younger than 65, as well as childless women older than 25 and younger than 49, were also called up to be given bows and arrows and placed at the top of the walls. Usually, not even a hundred mortals can defeat the most muddle-blooded demon, but in this situation, every little bit counts. Relying on 100 mages would not be enough to dent the enemy; at least taking ordinary people as soldiers would make up the numbers.
In most situations, when it comes to recruiting cannon fodder, those in charge look solely at men for various reasons. It's like this even in modern societies where people consider themselves civilized and where men and women nominally have equal rights. Even in those places, once a war happens, all talk about equality disappears. The Hard Summar city was not an equal city; in this city, women were responsible for raising children, taking care of the house, and farming in fields, while men were responsible for hunting outside the walls, which has a relatively high mortality rate, building houses, blacksmithing, and pretty much everything else. In such a society, it looks very strange that they actually conscripted women. They wouldn't have done it if it wasn't such a necessity; if the walls were breached, everything would be over; even mosquito's meat is still meat.
...
Master Wide Vision shook his head from time to time, cursing the city leadership for their stupidity.
Conscripting a few ordinary people to defend against demons is like building a house from paper and expecting it to withstand a storm. Those people are all going to be massacred. If the demons decide to attack, the entire city, with its deep history and its people, will be destroyed. The addition of a few conscripted soldiers changes nothing.
"Even if you want to die yourself, why are you so insistent on taking everyone down with you?" he sighed. Human civilization is ready to give them all a place so their deaths would be entirely preventable.
"Let's think of a way!" Mage Wide Vision started thinking deeply. As a proud mage of Human civilization, he would never allow so many people to die due to the stupidity of a few boneheaded idiots. He would save anyone who is willing to come, as Mage Shining Light ordered.
…
The command center of Hard Summar City was set in the south of the city. This location was chosen mainly because it was far from the front lines but not too far to hinder the transfer of information.
The city had a unique system of government. It had a mayor, who was directly elected by the votes of all men in the village; women couldn't vote for the mayor at all. There was also a city council, which was also elected by popular vote, though only women were allowed to vote in council elections. In addition to those two, there was also a council of elders, which ordinary people couldn't vote for. Instead, the elders were elected through votes of magicians.
The mayor was the chief executive; he controlled the city's day-to-day operations, set short-term policies, and had the most power as one person.
The city council was responsible for passing laws, setting long-term policy goals, supervising city departments, and responding to the needs of the people on the ground. Council members had a lot of soft power but little real power on their own.
The council of elders had no power to run the city, set policy goals, influence the city budget, or strike down laws. Its lone power was to ensure that those who ran for elections were loyal to the city; that was all it did.
An uninformed person might think that the village's system of governance was generally democratic, although it had flaws. But that is an utterly wrong take; the entire power of the village was in the hands of the council of elders.
When the city was first established, the first mayor was worried about the wisdom of ordinary people. He felt that allowing anyone to run for a position, even those who were unqualified, would doom the city in the long term. Therefore, he set up the council of elders, with its members voted on by the strongest humans, magicians, who the village relied on to survive. Surely, the Council of Elders wouldn't misuse its power and only reject those who are truly unqualified. Unfortunately for the first mayor, that is not how humans work.
For centuries, the Council of Elders only allowed people who were loyal to it to run in the elections. No matter who people voted for, all of them were already confirmed by the Council of Elders. Therefore, despite having only one function, all political power was concentrated in the Council of Elders. Mayors and representatives had to ask for permission if they planned anything substantial.
Despite being de facto overlords, their official job is still only elders, so they were not present in the command center. The mayor and his military leaders and strong mages were the only ones there.
That's why Master Wide Vision didn't actually target the command center; it was very well protected, and the mages there were quite powerful. It would be much easier to attack the Council of Elders's building and 'persuade' those five old men and women to change their minds on conscription.
If the council of Elders changed its mind, the mayor and city council would agree. Mage Wide Vision knew this because he had studied the city's political system since he came here eight months ago.
The council of elders was comprised of five old, not too powerful Mages. The building had only two ordinary city guards, so 'persuading' them should be easy.