More than two hours have passed since the start of the second stage of the convention, but the heated discussions have not subsided.
During this time, the principles of elections were determined. There were a total of 50 seats on the council plus a Speaker. Elections will be held in every district except Arisland. There are 50 streets in total in three districts, from which candidates will be elected.
The list of candidates is approved by the Baroness and the Abbot from among the honorary citizens of the city. Nevertheless, the elections themselves will not begin soon, but the City Council will begin work urgently tomorrow.
Regarding this point, there are disputes between the supporters of the Baroness and the Abbot: the Baroness's side wants to finish preparations for the elections and start them in 4 months, but the Abbot's side wants to stretch the process for a year.
Also, both sides are arguing about what the city Council will be like at this time. The first faction, the Baroness's side, wants to divide the seats in the proportion of 50% to 50% plus one, that is, 24 to 26 seats, where they will have the majority.
The second faction insists on equal distribution.
It may seem like Abbott's side is in a tough spot, having to defend itself. But if you look at the bigger picture, the opposite is true.
It is the church that provides urban security with the help of police forces and the Defender program, it is the church that has the exclusive right to grant permission to practice magic, and right now the church has every opportunity to consolidate in the local branch of the legislature.
I'm not sure about the courts, but given the control over the tribunals, the church could have taken root here.
To summarize, the church has full control over the executive branch, partial control over the legislative branch, and partial control over the judicial branch. And something tells me that this situation is happening all over the country.
With these thoughts in mind, I decided to go out on the terrace and distract myself from the political controversy by watching the gardens of Lady Tura.
The sun was already at its zenith, but it was cold outside. Winter was approaching, but the gardeners continued to take care of the plants.
"Hello," suddenly the same man from the Order who was wearing a half-broken fool mask came up to me.
"Hello," I replied without much enthusiasm.
"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" he asked, standing next to me on the terrace.
"Perhaps," I nodded, turning my attention back to the garden.
"How old are you?" he inquired.
"18, why this question?"
"Idle interest, hehe," he gave a strange laugh. "What's your name?"
"You're going to ask these questions, even though you didn't even bother to introduce yourself," I said, turning to him. "What do you need?"
"Nothing, nothing, nothing at all," he smiled, turning around and walking back.
I looked at the garden again, but now I was being stared at by 3 gardeners who took care of the plants.
There was no hint of emotion in their eyes, they were like animated dolls – grotesque, lifeless, alarming.
I folded my hands behind my back, while covering one palm with the other, leaving a gap of fingers. An eye appeared there, scanning the area behind me.
The guards at the back all this time also behaved like puppets. I glanced briefly in the direction where my recent interlocutor had gone.
He was standing there at the end of the corridor, staring in my direction.
"Go... after..." one of the gardeners croaked, after which all the puppets returned to their business, becoming alive again.
I continued to remain vigilant, but instead of following the man in the fool mask, I decided to go back to the meeting.
When I reached the right door, I listened. The sound of the conversations faded a little, instead a monotonous droning could be heard on the other side. I listened.
"I love this kind of meat, its texture is so rich," a female voice said softly.
"Yes, I agree, but what about the age category? I really like the meat of young ones, say, 16-20 years old, but many people say that the offsprings are not bad either," a quiet male voice replied.
"Yes, their meat is very tender and soft, but do you know what the taste of which does not change much with age?" another male voice echoed, but a little louder, like a growl.
"What?" the first two voices said in unison.
"Eyes..." the third one replied softly.
After that, all sorts of conversations died down altogether.
It seems that something is happening not to the people around me, but to me. I quickly summoned my soul. It turned a little black, various fragments of the outer shell began to stick to each other, but the place of attachment was a darker color than that of ordinary souls.
If I were at my former level of strength, I would have already razed this place to the ground.
With such thoughts, annoyed, I headed in the direction where I had last seen the fool.
He was still there, at the end of the corridor. When I got closer to him, I stopped.
"What have you done and what do you want?"
"Nothing serious, just a little corruption," the man said. "I just want to help. Follow me."
Despite the fact that we had already talked with him, now his voice sounded like a ringing alarm bell, which made me want to sit on my knees and give up. I held on, trying to influence my feelings with magic.
We were winding through the corridors of the manor, but I couldn't tell if I was in these places or not. I wanted to use magic to kill the jester several times, but each time I was distracted by some intrusive thought that was quickly forgotten when the urge to kill receded.
I didn't even have time to notice how we ended up in a basement with cages for prisoners. We went to the very depths of the corridor, where we were met by an open cell, inside which lay a chained body with severed legs. It was Alec's body that Noctua was in.
"Now we can talk," said the fool. "You can call me Samuel, I am a mage of darkness and have advanced spiritual vision. I was able to see some oddities in you, just like in this boy."
He was talking, gradually moving towards me. I retreated as if intoxicated until I hit a wall.
"I want you both to become part of my collection, but I need obedient dolls," with these words, he abruptly moved towards me, putting his hand on my heart.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp surge of energy, but very quickly everything was replaced by incredible fatigue and emptiness. I fell to my knees.
Saliva was dripping from my mouth and my eyes were wet with blood. My limbs felt like cotton wool, I wanted to switch off.
Suddenly, I heard Noctua's shrill scream from the next cell.
"Damn, I completely forgot about the magcrystals, I'm so silly, hehe," Samuel chuckled.
I felt like I was being consumed by an energy that didn't belong to me at all. I struggled with its influence, and sometimes it seemed that I was winning, but after that I was tired again.
I tried to get up.
"On your knees," came the cold voice of my enemy.
I unconsciously obeyed him, then looked ahead. He had already taken Noctua out of the cage, but she was trying to break free from his grip, quickly turning into an iron bird.
But Sam put his hand on her heart, which caused her voice to instantly fade away, and she herself weakened, resembling a puppet with broken strings.
Very soon, fatigue receded again and I pressed my back against the wall when Noctua suddenly screamed in pain. Sam was distracted by her.
"What's the matter with you? My dolls don't usually behave like that," the opponent mumbled.
My soul, being in a cocoon of flesh, gnawed its way out through my clothes, after which it seeped through gaps in the uneven brickwork of the dungeon, breaking through the passage outside.
The body was given two commands: occupy and enlarge. Therefore, it rose from its knees, fixing its gaze on the fool.
"On your knees," Sam said hoarsely, but my body wouldn't obey.
At some point, it began to change and increase in size, filling the entire space around, losing its human appearance and more resembling a huge tumor or a wall of flesh.
"Interesting," was all Sam said, materializing the blue-black scythe in his hands.
He hit the air, creating a strong wind ripple that headed towards the tumor, cutting it into pieces, but it quickly and chaotically recovered, continuing its expansion, because it consisted of cancer cells.
"Master... Master..." wheezed Noctua lying on the floor.