The tent's exit leads Mercy back into the normal world of light. The smell, noises, and vision of the world around him were restored. The commanding officer was standing in his red leather armor. "You are free to go. The exit is straight from the street, where you were stopped. Your horse is already near the gate."
Saying these words, the officer walked away. "They really trust her. She seems to have built a good reputation." Mercy looked back at the tent's entrance, from where the shadows began there was no light, pure darkness.
"I thought realms were supposed to take us to different physical worlds, but it seems hers expands in this world." The realms were locked to an area, and one was free to enter and exit, besides the ominous feeling of being alone, it didn't offer much else.
"There is a lot of sense here." Mercy had just received the information and orders that would really shake things, he was appointed as a worker for the Mantha house and knew that his actions wouldn't be watched by anyone.
"She wants to use me for something..." For what purpose there were a lot of things to consider, but Mercy felt like he needed a break before getting anything done, because Rush was waiting for him.
Mercy walked back the narrow path once again, seeing all the soldiers carrying heavy weapons and armour on their bodies, in some world, Reva's weapons would have been used by then, not if the people had burned their knowledge-filled libraries 2 times in the past 7 centuries.
He moved forward, not getting them too much attention, and taking his path from the narrow alleyway to the wooden barrier. Rush was standing there without the cart on his back, with a door right ahead of him, and there were no torches to see.
"Punish the fools! Punish the fools!" The voices of an angry swarm were coming from the other side.
"Hello there, Rush. I told you, it wouldn't take too long." Mercy patted the horse a few times, and searched the nearby area for any onlookers, but the night was dark and there was no one nearby. "I think you can vanish." and he did.
Mercy filled a bit of his hair, wishing there was some mirror to take a look at his hair and face. "I ought to look good today." He checked his brown leather jacket and fastened trousers, no way looking royal but that wasn't important for now.
"Punish the fools!" The voices became louder.
When Mercy opened the door to reach the other sides of the wooden barrier, the sight of what he was seeing sent a wave of anger through his body, along with the bright light of burning corpses in his eyes.
"It never changes. Neither history changes nor do the people who don't learn from it." The corpses of dwarfs were hanging from pikes in the middle of a roundabout not far away.
Dwarves were hanged with their limbs cut and sliced off and with bodies burning in the fires below them. That was not all; multiple others were tied to chairs in chains watching their own people burn in the fire. Heads on pikes was the oldest thing Mercy could clearly remember.
"Punish the fools!" Were the voices of people who screamed their anger at the dead dwarfs screaming them in anger and acted like they had won a war. Some held their pickaxes, shovels and even swords probably made of steel.
"Hey, you. Come here." A voice called out to Mercy on the other side, and other soldiers were calling him. He was standing in a small cabin of his own other soldiers at his side.
Without taking a moment to argue, Mercy just stood at his feet and looked at the burning bodies and the wild, angry mob dancing and screaming all around them.
"Your city pass, Sir." The soldiers came walking towards Mercy bringing him a paper with the red seal of House Mathers itself, a bird taking a flight.
"What purpose does it serve?"
"This is an open invitation to any house of the 10 council warlords you want to visit, at least the ones that have one. You can also alternatively exchange it for a stay at any tavern, bar and resting house, or as an entrance token for a day in the library."
"hmm... It seems quite useful and in fact perfect for my work. Is there anything else I should get from you? Also, I think I would need multiple of these."
"We only have one gate, Sir. For any higher family such as the Emeralds, Rolds arrive all of sudden to the feast uninvited. And, there is also a letter of permission carried by any entering citizen, should I bring it to you?
"No, Just tell me about this lockdown. Is this open crucifixion happening all over the city?"
"This lockdown began after multiple people began coughing blood out of nowhere after having their wine and food. Since Madam Dia was busy due to some unknown reason the thing slipped her eyes. Soon, an investigation was held and it was revealed that the dwarfs who were given the role of distributing wine were doing all of this."
"Why give dwarfs the liberty to take hold over your wine, I believe distrust must grow on all these sections from the past while."
"Sir, the thousands of dwarfs were sent into combat to the north when the seal collapsed a week ago, all parts of the nation. The dwarf families were promised more freedom and liberty after this. So, there was a growth in trust."
"Dwarfs at the northern front? Interesting. What is going on with the city now, how many of these lockdowns are there, and which section of the city is it?"
"Sir, there should be 7 in total near all gate fronts where dwarfs were ordered to stay and distribute wine to the people, and that is the smithing section of the city."
"No doubt where they got their blades, pickaxes, pitchforks and all that. Shouldn't you soldiers be working to solve this?"
"We are not trained to deal with the mob, Sir. We have prevented any kids from being executed in this area at least, from what we think. I cannot say for the rest of the area, also there is a lack of veteran soldiers in the city."
"Where did they go?" The scene in the city was chaotic on all fronts, the death of Alone Riza might be a big contributor to this chaos, but there was much more to say. There was so much going on behind the eyes of the people.
"The senior soldiers are all to the western front, every major barracks and soldier training veteran is sent to the north. The beasts are scoring from all sides, and multiple warlords are set north for their support. Lord Alone has been looking over the city with Madam Dia, but rumours are spreading since he hasn't conducted any mass prayers in 2 days."
"I see... I think you should go. I will keep some mystery for myself. I want to see the city for myself, where is the Riza family's house? I think I would like to visit them."
"The Riza family's house sits in the church district. You will find it right beside the Cathedral of the Roses." The soldiers answered the question and walked away.
"Poor things can't when bearing the effect of illusion magic, they become literal puppets." Mercy packed his letter into his pockets and kind of made sense what Dia wanted him to do.
"Much violence for today. Maybe you should all go back to your miserable lives right now."
He closed his eyes and moved his hand near his heart, "Reality is lies, illusion is true. Truth is escape and lies are reality. Bring your hearts and bend to my rules."
「Spell: Reality Separation」
The incantations and symbols of the spells ended with a huge burst of aura from Mercy, perfectly controlled and refined to the level. The magic infested in the minds of all the humans and they froze in their place, and all light in the near world was extinguished.
The dwarf women and men still hanging in chains tied to chairs watching their own burn in there looked at all sides unable to understand what happened.
The people began to walk back to their places, luckily people were smart enough to leave their kids home to not see this, he expected worse. The dwarfs looked as if their punishers all walked away like nothing had happened.
"I will need more explanation of what exactly is going on, but that's for later. I am all out of aura for now. But at least I have 5 out of the 7 districts quieted out."
He began walking towards the dwarfs that remained on the chairs, bringing his sword into his hand. He swiped his sword into the air, cutting the chains with the little shockwave.
"What?! How are you?" The dwarfs, who were still fainting from the scene they just witnessed, asked.
"The Liberator."
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