Alea paused for a moment, letting the silence settle in the people's hearts before saying softly.
"Why don't we all form a line just like yesterday?" She clapped her hands once, signaling the two guards.
The guards slowly made their way through the crowd. As they went, they would instruct people who had disputes with each other to stand together, and also select pairs that included at least one elderly or sick person to be moved up the line.
The reason for such priority was straightforward—Simply, Alea didn't enjoy looking at them for too long, wanting to send them away as quickly as possible. But she couldn't really tell people that, so she masked her motivation as kindness.
Since the light was weak this early, it didn't provide the villagers with enough brightness to have an efficient work session. If they were to work during this period, they wouldn't be able to get much done; worse, it would only make them tired sooner, leading to lots of breaks later on and wasting the precious sunlight. So as a result, small, undeveloped villages like Samtael had a tradition where they would spend the first hour of their day discussing with the village chief yesterday's arguments to have them resolved.
Not only would this help sort out any festering conflict, stopping them from becoming larger problems that threaten the unity of the entire community, but it would also create a stronger bond between the members of the village.
After dealing with the chaotic first few days, the guards had become much more experienced with the job, so it didn't take long until a long line appeared before Alea. At the top of the line were two elders, a woman and a man, whose hair was thin, unable to cover up the wrinkle on their forehead, the loose skin hanging down, swaying with their every movement.
Alea browned her browns. "Didn't you come here yesterday? And the day before that? Also, the day before that?"
The old grandma spoke up, cupping her palms together. "Yes, dear. These past couple of days, we old folks have been troubling you much with our problems. My ex-husband found out that I had been sending letters back and forth with an old acquaintance from my hometown, which angered my ex-husband greatly. He threatened me with divorce, thinking that I would give in to his demand, but unlike what he had in mind, I decided to go along with it, and we brought ourselves before you on the first day."
The old grandpa continued after the grandma. "Then we went our merry way. Until that same evening, she came over to my place, begging for me to undo our divorce. I didn't want to. But she won't stop throwing a tantrum and causing a scene. So the day after, I went to you, asking for a restraining order against her."
"While I asked you to undo our marriage, I was served with a restraining order." The old grandma smiling sheepishly.
"Yeah, I've remembered you now." Alea heaped a sign. "Alright, how may I be of service?"
"We would like to have our divorce revoked, dear lord." The grandpa and grandma said in union.
"What caused the change of mind?" Alea asked the grandpa.
"Dear lord, it's because I don't have anyone to cook for me and I'm starving."
"You're serious?" Alea's eyes opened wide, unable to hide her dumbfounded expression. Then, she turned toward the grandma and asked, "You okay with this?"
"Yes, lord."
"You guys are truly a match made in heaven." Alea let a small chuckle. "Very well, the recorder installed inside the chair had our conversation on tape. With me, a representative of House Gennan as witness to this agreement, by the power invested in me, the tape now has legal value."
Alea pressed on a button on the left armrest of her stone seat. Immediately, the sound of wood being chipped away could be heard faintly. Then, it stopped. A panel on the other armrest opened, presenting a small wooden stick engraved with runes to her.
Alea took it out before handing it to the old couple. "If needed, you can engrave a mana stone on the tape and listen to the recording. Make sure you don't lose it. Because this model doesn't support data saving."
"Data saving?" The couple said.
"It's nothing. You don't have to worry about it. Just go home and enjoy your marriage." Alea waved her hand. "Next in line, please."
***
A runic device was installed on top of the city hall, made of three components: a flat metal surface on the roof, a long metal pipe running across the wall of the building, and finally a steam whistle on the ceiling of the lowest floor. A level 2 spell was constantly being activated with fire spirits checking when the metal plate became hot enough from the light.
Once it did, the second function rune of the spell was activated, and fire spirits started to heat the inside of the pipe, creating a hot air current running through it. The current moved toward the steam whistle at the other end of the pipe, making it spill out steam and an ear-piercing sound into the lowest floor.
"Okay, that's it for today." Alea jumped up from her chair in happiness, not listening to another word. A man was making his case, trying to take back the crocodile sheep he lent to his neighbor. Meanwhile, people at the top of the line groaned, knowing that they would have to come back here tomorrow and wait in line again.
She made it halfway up the stairs before turning around, lifting the edge of her sweater, and bowing slightly. "As always. Thank you for your cooperation today, everyone. I wish you all a productive day at work. May the wind blow smoothly upon your leaves."
Her wish was truly sincere. By the end of the day, if everyone had a good day, that means no fires to put out, no work stacking into an avalanche by tomorrow dawn. She bowed her head deeper, not to the leaving crowd but to the Divine Wind Spirit, as if doing so would help her wish come true.
Alea waited for the guards to close the door. But what she heard wasn't the sound of the woods hitting the frame, but instead loud voices, screaming.
"Fire! Fire! There's a fire! "
"Lord! There's a fire!"
A blockade formed at the gates as those who had come out shoving themselves back in against the wave of the exiting people, stopping the latter from getting out. Panic spread as instinct started to kick in among the crowd at the mention of an inferno.
Alea didn't waste a single second, jumping down from where she was standing. Wind twirled around, forming a ring right where she was landing, softening her fall. Her feet weightlessly hit the ground before leaping off the ground again.
Alea continued to glide through the air as she gave powerful kicks in the direction of the door, sending wind blades flying toward the door flame.
*Boom!*
The door frame and part of the wall that was connected didn't put up much of a fight against the wind blades, woods splintered outward, and the entrance widened, giving just enough space for the incoming wave to split at the blockade, allowing them to come inside.
"Move aside!" Alea yelled as she made her way down. A youngster, no older than thirteen, had been caught in the stampede, and her chest moved up and down with great difficulty. She was struggling to get back up on her feet.
"Stay down, kid." Alea knelt beside the girl. She was supposed to check on her condition, but something else caught her gaze.
Alea stopped blinking, staring blankly at the scene outside. Fire was spreading through the entire village, and a beautiful dance of gold and crimson filled her vision. How could something like this go unnoticed? The smell of wood burning, the sound of fire crackling, should have given away the moment the first spark was lighted. It was as if the fire had spawned itself into existence.
Alea's face remained stoic, but there was a storm raging inside of her.
'Shit, shit, shit. What am I supposed to do?'
She didn't know what to do in this situation. Her untrained mind could see the vague goals she must accomplish, but the amount of processing she was doing on the spot led to her thoughts being in a jumble. No matter how much she tried to come up with a solution, she couldn't think of one as it cycled back and forth between assessments. Should she evacuate the people first? Or should she put out the flame? Should she see to the kid's condition and let the flame spread out even further?
Alea was paralyzed by her own thoughts when a voice of reason spoke up inside her head.
'Dear, you must calm down. Panicking won't help.'
'Right, I forgot. Corski, help me. What should I do?'
'I thought you wanted to figure things out by yourself?'
She hated to admit that she was wrong, but the situation was out of her hands. Clenching her teeth, she confessed.
'Yes, I do want to figure things out by myself, but the situation this time doesn't allow me to do so. Please, Oh Great Spirit. The one who was given the name Crown of the Rooted Sky. Help me. I admit my ability is lacking and it's prideful, even stupid, of me to think that I could solve everything all by myself.'
'I'm glad we came to an agreement this time.' Corski said. 'Very well. The first thing that we should do is to put out the fire.'
'How are we going to do that?'
'With my authority, I shall extort the surrounding wind and air spirits, bending them to my will and forcing them to make it rain.'
'Great. Let's do that.'
'However, there's one problem. Once I do, I will run out of mana and go into hibernation. Only after I'm fed a mana stone could I wake up. Until then, do not do anything rash as I won't be able to protect you in that state.'
'I will.' Alea promised. 'I promise.'
The two of them had made up their mind. First, Alea sent one of her guards to go wake up the doctor. A long journey through the entire kingdom was prone to make Alea fall sick, so it was understandable to have a doctor accompanying her. Healing wasn't her expertise, so she decided to give it to a professional.
Then, she turned to the people, commanding them to go get any bit of water inside the building to wet the wooden wall and halt the fire from spreading inside. After that, she turned toward the raging flame, and a wind bubble formed around her head so that she wouldn't suffocate in the smoke. Paying no heed to that one guard's voices of worry, she stepped into the burning grass.