The flourishing market opened at the city entrance, welcoming passing merchants and guests.
A blacksmith hammered tools with clanging sounds in his house, a jeweler handled necklaces, and batches of vegetables and fruits were brought over by farm workers to sell.
There were also large piles of timber placed on nearby open ground, used for building new houses and defensive works.
It looked prosperous and safe.
But a town with many inhabitants could never make everyone wealthy and content together. Under the prosperous facade, there would always be oppression and shadows.
Unless that town was Levi's territory.
Obviously, this wasn't.
"Hurry up!"
Armored guards shouted loudly, driving a group of workers to erect wooden stakes or dig deep pits for construction somewhere.
This scene formed a stark contrast with the prosperous scenery not far away.
Operating here would be difficult.
Alatar sat down in a corner by the roadside, looking up at the street scene.
Squads of guards shuttled through the market, making rounds from time to time, and the nearby city walls were also full of alert soldiers.
For such a fully armed town, trying to influence it from the outside would obviously be quite difficult.
"Here they come."
After sitting in the corner for half a day, finally, several people emerged from the garden in the town's center. One wore golden armor and was quite tall, while another wore magnificent clothing.
The two were walking together toward a carriage.
Alatar stood up and walked in the opposite direction, toward a construction site.
"A bunch of lazy bums. No time for you to rest, get back to work!"
A soldier berated a group of workers carrying heavy loads, as if shouting loud enough would make the workers stronger.
"Keep watching them, I'll call someone to take over."
Another soldier told him this and temporarily left.
Now only this one soldier remained at the construction site.
"Hmm? Where did this vagrant come from? Get lost..."
Thud!
An unexpected staff strike came down, and the soldier immediately fainted and fell.
"I really hate being called that."
Alatar used his foot to move the fallen soldier aside and walked toward the group of workers.
He cleared his throat and shouted: "Are you content to be enslaved for life like this?"
"Those nobles and their guards enjoy the lives of upper-class people, while you, living in the same town, are treated like slaves. A few coins buying your time and health."
"Just a few coins they look down upon, such low wages that working a full day might not even buy you one full meal... Do you know how much a piece of black, hard bread costs now?"
The wizard quietly employed his magic power.
Moments later, this area erupted in cheers. The usually docile farmworkers seemed controlled by something, picking up whatever tools they had that could serve as weapons.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
At this time, the guard coming to take over arrived.
"Do you want to resist those nobles?"
Alatar asked him.
"Why would I rebel?"
The soldier seemed somewhat baffled.
"You will want to."
A hand suddenly grabbed the soldier's head. The soldier's whole body stiffened, immediately unable to move, and his breathing became difficult.
Vast shadows enveloped his mind. The glowing eyes of the old man before him gradually became cold, and the color of his robes changed from sea blue to deep blue, growing ever deeper until stained with black.
"Submit to me!"
His consciousness was in chaos.
When the soldier came to his senses, he found himself somehow already armed, beside several equally confused comrades, with those workers behind him.
At this moment they stood in a beautiful garden, with screams and angry shouts around them. A magnificently dressed noble was collapsed on the ground, crawling backward continuously, while beside him was a tall warrior in golden armor, raising his sword to strike at the soldier.
Wait, isn't that our city lord...
"My lord, I..."
Before finishing his words, the soldier fell.
The city was in chaos, with blood flowing from one side into the garden's small pool.
Ancient shoes stepped through the blood flow, leaving marks on it.
But the shoe's owner was oblivious to the surrounding chaos and the people lying on the ground, as if everything had nothing to do with him.
Alatar brazenly climbed onto the luxurious carriage smashed by angry workers, took away the letters on it, then intercepted a noble trying to escape, knocked him unconscious with his staff, and searched through his belongings.
"That's all of it."
Everything that needed to be transmitted was now in his hands. Those workers and soldiers who seemed bewitched and suddenly wanted to rebel were quickly suppressed by the town's armed forces.
There was no longer any reason to stay here.
Alatar suppressed the violence and darkness in his heart and quickly walked toward the city outskirts.
"This was all necessary."
He muttered to himself: "Power... to resist the Great Enemy, I need power..."
"Only by possessing enough power can I make the Great Enemy retreat, or even... make him submit."
[Corruption increased]
This year, Easterling historians recorded: One of the eastern armed towns experienced riots. Those workers, dissatisfied with low wages and slave-like treatment, somehow convinced the soldiers guarding them to assault the central garden. The city lord, who was strolling in the garden with the capital's messenger, immediately reacted and organized forces to suppress this small uprising.
"No one knows what got into those fellows."
The matter was temporarily concluded. When the terrified messenger hastily climbed onto the smashed carriage, he felt only panic. There was nothing left on it.
"What exactly happened?"
The city lord asked anxiously.
"I don't know. Please forgive me. I have no authority to examine the letters. I will return to the capital to confess my guilt..."
Regardless of the process, Alatar had achieved his goal. He successfully delayed the enemy's steps.
Even if the methods were somewhat questionable.
...
On the other side.
The pass city in southern Easterling territory.
In the highest, most conspicuous, and largest hall, someone huddled in an upper room reserved for distinguished guests tremblingly picked up a pen and wrote the first sentence on paper:
"As I write this line, my spirit is on the verge of collapse."
"I'm sick of such days and don't want to continue living like this. Certain thoughts repeatedly linger in my mind, preventing me from sleeping. I can't even taste the sweetness in cakes."
"All this stems from one incident..."
"Several days ago, following the king's command, I delivered a letter to the pass."
"On the road, some audacious person blocked my path, wanting to seize the letter in my hands. I pulled out the letter and taunted him: 'If you want it, you'll have to take it yourself,' then ordered the accompanying imperial guards to capture and interrogate him."
"Something unexpected happened. I clearly underestimated that person's strength. His black armor was impervious to weapons, his weapon breathed fire, and terrible golden light flashed on his body. Before long, all my guards were lying on the ground, roasted into charred corpses by flames from his weapon."
"Those flames... I couldn't tell if they came from his weapon or his mouth. I lean toward the latter. After all, was he really human, or a monster in human skin?"
"No time to investigate further. I was extremely terrified then, couldn't care about anything, immediately jumped from the carriage, cut the restraining rope, and desperately rode away."
"Everything grew more distant, like a nightmare. I don't know how I got back here. I only remember some gate guards helping me down from horseback. They were all frightened by my terrified appearance."
"Though I've distanced myself from that place and excellently completed my mission, everything that happened that day still torments me, making it impossible to forget."
"I once prayed to and questioned the missionary sent by the Great Eye. Though he comforted me, his words were full of mockery. He knew nothing at all."
"He knows nothing, yes, nothing at all, because he has never seen nor heard those sounds from hell."
"That black armor seemed to merge with the night, always appearing in my dreams. He's like a nightmare, an endless nightmare, always following behind me."
"Even now, there seem to be footsteps outside the door, and something appears to be striking the walls, causing cracks to appear."
"When I look over, those striking sounds and wall cracks immediately disappear. I think I've indeed been tormented by hallucinations for too long."
"Whether human or monster, I won't let him find me."
"Great Eye! The window! Someone!"