Morning soon came, bringing the bright and warm light of the sun to the Sand Sea, and the Blazing Sun City. However, contrary to the warm and bright sun, the atmosphere of the Blazing Sun City was gloomy and dull.
Thousands of people gathered in the city hall that was a part of the palace by extension, awaiting an address. Some thought that they would see the City Lord, but others had already heard the rumors of the assassination.
The last assassin that Gustavo had been forced to leave was captured by the city guards, and was to be executed after the citizens were addressed.
"What's happening? The summons to the city hall was so sudden."
"Don't you know what happened last night? I think this is to address the matter."
"Did you not hear of the assassins?"
The people spoke amongst themselves, creating a constant buzz of voices through the hall.
Thud!
A door to the side of the stage at the front of the city hall slammed open as a procession of city guards marched through. At the head of the procession, Gustavo walked with Eugene. In the middle of the procession, a couple of guards dragged a chained man forward. The sight of the chained man instantly generated an even louder buzz of conversation.
Gustavo walked onto the stage with Eugene standing a step behind him. He gestured for Eugene to step forward and the latter did so, standing shoulder to shoulder with Gustavo.
"Silence!" Gustavo's chest thrummed with power as he projected his voice across the entire hall. At once, the hall fell silent and no one spoke. The man looked around before nodding and starting to speak.
"Last night, the city was thrust into commotion as several assassins snuck in. Unfortunately, they achieved their goal, and out City Lord is now dead!"
"..."
It was as if a bomb had been dropped in the minds of the people, so much so that they were too stunned to even make noise about this revelation.
"The assassins that carried out this act were caught and dealt with the night before. This one," Gustavo gestured to the man in chains, "Was caught in the early hours of the morning. He has been interrogated, and will be made an example out of. He will be executed PUBLICLY!" Gustavo declared.
At this point, some of the people had recovered from the shocking new of the assassination of their city lord. Many pitiful gazes were already trained on Eugene's face, but the young man ignored them and kept a stoic face. Some people cheered over the decision of the execution, hurling curses at the chained assassin, while others just remained silent with a sad expression.
The last group were thinking of the difficulties that would rear their heads in the coming times. The only reason why their Blazing Sun City had prospered up till this point was because of Gabriel Sandwall. The man was a strong and had potential. However, now that he was dead, that sense of security that they held in their hearts was beginning to crumble.
Gustavo knew that this was going to happen, but there was nothing he could do about it right now except to try and guide the city in the right direction. He had not slept a wink through the night as he met with various dignitaries that ensured the day to day running of the city. He met with the Chief Architect, the Chief Doctor, and other essential people.
Together, they had agreed that someone should take the reigns of City Lord in order to see to it that Blazing Sun City did not fall to its knees just because of this hurdle. However, that was where the true problem had risen. Most people wanted the position for themselves. After all, they all had their agendas that they could not carry out when the former city lord was still alive. Now that he was no longer alive, this was their chance!
Fortunately, there were some people who were dead loyal to the previous lord, and had vehemently refused the others, instead opting to put in Gustavo as a temporary City Lord until Eugene was done with his education.
As of now, the final vote had not been arrived at, as Eugene would need to be present to give his thoughts. As the heir to the seat of City lord, he had greater say in the decision of the votes. He could most certainly veto whatever decision was come up with as long as he had the support of the right people.
Clank!
The chained assassin was brought forward and forced to kneel. A bucket was kept in front of him to catch his head.
Gustavo unsheathed his scimitar and raised it up. With a deep breath, he swung downwards.
Swish!
Thunk!
The sound of his sword cutting through flesh was followed by the sound of his head falling into the bucket. Blood spilt around slightly, but most of it was controlled to only pour into the metal bucket. Just like that, the assassin was killed.
Eugene looked down at the headless assassin with an emotionless gaze. He felt no pity and no satisfaction. He would never be satisfied until he killed the Sand Shamans that had hired this organization. He would love to see them beg for his mercy as he killed them one by one.
But for now, he was not strong enough to achieve that goal. He needed to get stronger. And for that, he needed more support.
Gustavo addressed the people for a while more before telling them that there would be another gathering a few days later to announce the new City Lord. After that, the people began to filter out of the city hall while discussing what had happened. A large number of them were sad and confused, and some were already thinking of leaving before any trouble arrived at the city gates.
While all that was happening, Eugene approached Gustavo. "Gustavo, I have something I need to share with you."