Even though he had the matter with Laeticaea in mind at all time, Ignis was professional enough not to forget his priority, and as soon as they arrived in Oto, he went straight the cathedral to report.

Azrael on the other hand, had no such duty and Thracian could not care less about the interest of others, so they went straight to the dormitory. Since he’d have no opportunity to devour other spirits for a while, the ancient king decided to preserve his energy by dissolving his semi-material appearance and going to sleep inside his – for a lack of a better word – master.

Vanati was out that day, which was to be expected as the church –the high clergy in particular – were considered well versed in all sorts of magics, ancient or current.

That didn’t mean that without a supervisor around, the necromancer was free to go; he had travelled a long road and was coming back from Hades, probably the area that had suffered the most from the incident.

As soon as he set foot in the building, a cleric rushed to him and brought him to a more secretive area. “Sir, I know you’ve only come back but could you please write a report on what you’ve seen and how the population is affected in the area you’ve travelled?”

Well, he had expected as much and written his thought and observation on the way here. It wasn’t a complete report, but it still contained a lot of pertinent information. “Here you go. If you have specific question, I’ll be glad to answer them.”

“As expected from a number,” Commented the cleric. “always well prepared.” He read a bit through the papers before asking with downright horror. “We expected some damage, but to think Thanatopia is in ruin… What of the population?”

“There was a strong divide between the north and south before, and the event did nothing to bridge it. The northerner survivors have had a long tradition of blaming the southerner for all their problems. As is stands the north lost most of its leader and population. I doubt the south will start a war in retaliation for what’s been done to them over the centuries, but they sure as well won’t do anything to help... there is just too much baggage between the two.”

“And what about Thracia, did you see any that would lead you to believe they’re making preparation for war?”

“Not that I have seen but… Do you have any reason to believe they do?”

“I wish it were this clear cut. We have reason to believe some nobles wishes to annex northern Hades under the pretense of helping but we don’t have as much information as we’d like, Your report makes it clear that Hades stopped working as a country though, and considering the state of the capital and its surrounding, there’d be no one to stop them. In fact, it might even be considered a good thing by the citizen.”

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Ignis wasn’t versed enough in politic to judge, but if people had to choose between food and shelter or self-governance, most would choose the former.”

The cleric continued reading through the report, his face becoming a shade of gray as he read the part about Phillopolis. “We’ve seen case of unrest and citizen throwing accusations around, but nothing to that extent. You wrote you believe it’s the result of a losing their leadership combined with a total distrust for the administration, but…”

Ignis thought about it for a while before offering Thracian insight on the situation. “Someone I know suggested it was caused by a select few wanting to profit from the situation. Something about mob being unable to persist without a guiding hand.”

“I see. Do you know if that friend of yours was hinting at criminal elements, or something else?”

“We’re no friend, but I’ll ask if you want.” Remembering the large pleasure district and the hand the local lord had in its growth, he added. “I think there was a strong criminal element in this city, I remember hearing the deceased lord forced many to work in the red light district against their will… although I know nothing of the methods or the validity of the claim; this is something I heard in the next city down the road.”

The cleric wrote down these last bits of information before going through the rest of the paper. “You’ll be glad to know that while it does exist, the fear of one’s neighbor isn’t as strong in Oto. There were obviously case of people being killed or hurt by the incident, but not as much as in other regions.”

“Do you have any idea of what caused the incident?”

“None whatsoever. It’s been hinted that the null element could have something to do with it but…” The comment was a much to show he knew about as it was to ask Ignis for confirmation.

“This is also my guess. The lack of elemental energy is unmistakable. I cannot say if it was human or divine intervention, but the low ratio of damage makes me think it was somehow guided: the null element is unpredictable at best. However, I can tell from experience that its usage is destructive more often than not. I’d say it’s on a three out of five ratio.”

“The other numbers in the know told us the same thing: the damage is unnaturally low.”

“Still too high in my opinion.” Spit Ignis wryly. Yet, even though he said that, the situation in Hades and in other part of the world might have been terrible enough to warrant it. At the very least, Azrael and his former companion seemed to be of that opinion… Even Thracian was of that belief, despite the fact the vent had deprived it of its preys.

“Let me warn you, the opinion is very divided in the church, there’s been a lot of fight amongst those who consider it, a necessary divine intervention and others.”

“Which are you?”

“I won’t say, and you too should keep your opinion your own.”

Ignis grimaced. “Is it really that bad?”

The cleric nodded gravely. “Remember, there are some who lost friends or family to the incident, whether it was necessary or not, you cannot expect them to approve. There are even some who have left us to look into who was responsible and bring them to justice.”

It immediately made the necromancer think of Azrael and Thracian, the former was pretty discreet and thoughtful – most of the time – however the later had no concept of delicacy. ‘Let us hope they’ve kept their mouth shut.’ Although, when it came to the ancient king, it was probably too much to ask.