After my morning training, I go eat breakfast along with everyone. Sophia starts to talk with me as we are eating.
“We have a lot to do today.” She says to me in a slightly annoyed tone.
“What?”
“I need help doing the last check on the people that want to move to the areas around the wall.”
“Ok…”
We finish our food and everyone goes their own way. I and Sophia walk towards the west of the city passing through the center of it. It never fails to amaze me how alive this city is now. Shops that would usually not be able to profit in other places thrive here and even though neither the city or them are making tons of money, it is good money. It also helps that Degrada is our neighbor and lots of people have to pass through us to have access to a better road since their north road is non-existent and the west road is somewhat dangerous due to the possibility of monsters appearing. I believe that some sort of giant rodent lives in the woods near the middle part of the road.
After a 30 minute walk we reach the west gate where I see a good number of people, at least 100. There is probably more, I don’t think everyone that is coming here would be a hair away from blocking the gate if they are trying to actually be part of the city.
They all greet me and Sophia with warm and worried smiles. Some of them appear to not be that well, others appear hungry, at least the few kids I saw are ok and most of the adults seem to be healthy.
I follow Sophia to a small camp that was probably made yesterday or one day before that as I didn’t see anything outside the city before that. I know that most of these people were staying in the city anywhere they could, some people in the few inns we have, other people were paying to use the homes of the residents during the night and I guess a few people probably just camped in the streets. Now that I think about it, Sophia brought a few magic toilets and tubs. I guess there is a public bath and toilet near here. We still have some empty houses.
The people begin to gather near the tents and Sophia begins to speak very loudly so everyone can hear.
“Listen up! As all of you should know by now I am Sophia, the governor of this city. Your leader came here with the proposition of expanding the city beyond its walls so all of you could still live here. Under normal circumstances, people coming here to live in the city would not require this but there is too many of you coming at once so a final investigation will be done by me and my assistant to see if all of you who are here are indeed the people you say you are and not people trying to extract from this city.” She says while pointing at me.
The people there agree in silence and since it looks like everyone is here I get a feeling of how many people are here. A quick count gives me a little more than 400 people.
“That is a lot of people.” I whisper to Sophia after she finishes her speech.
“That’s not even half of them. If they manage to finish constructing their houses, around 1000 people will come here.”
“Then I can see why you didn’t tell me much about all of this. So, what exactly do I have to do?”
“Go around, talk with people, see if anyone tries to steal something or if they weren’t here in the first place. I told them to gather everyone who was in the city here before. Anyone not here will be dealt with individually and not as part of this group.”
“What is the reason for all of this anyway? You said you were trying to accommodate some of the new people, I was thinking about 10, in the worst case 50, not this.”
“Do you know that a volcano suddenly appeared all the way to the east?”
“No, I didn’t hear a word about it.”
“Well, they are the survivors of that and before you ask anything else. There is a reason why the news is not spreading. True Dragons appeared soon after and the king didn't want people to start a fight with them before he made clear that the kingdom would have nothing to do with anyone going after them.”
“That’s something.” I can’t really say anything else about their situation. If a volcano suddenly appeared around here I don’t know what I would do, much less if dragons came with it. As far as I know, True Dragons are at the top of the food chain in this world as they are intelligent like any other person, if not more, as they live very long lives. Can be colossal in size and can command other lesser dragons if they are powerful enough.
“Time to work.” She says as she pushes me away and goes in the other direction.
The people disperse a little but they are visibly tense, like in a job interview, it’s just that this time they need to pass no matter what. The fact that they came here from all the way to the east tells me that we are the only place that they have a chance to stay together as a community, and they seem to actually want it.
I wait a few more minutes so everyone can disperse a little and begin to look for the people that don’t look that well. After a few minutes I find some people that are suffering from malnutrition resting in an area with some tents.
“Hello, may I talk with you a little?” I say as I approach them. The older ones stand up and bow to me while the kids and the younger adults acknowledge my presence but don’t try to stand up.
“What would you like to talk with us about? As you can see we are not in the best condition to be useful.” One of the older men says to me, he is probably in his late fifties.
“That’s exactly the reason. First I want to know why all of you look like this and after that I want to know if living here is worth what you are all going through.” Never in both of my lives I experienced true hunger like these people seem to be experiencing.
“We can’t expect everyone to take care of everyone when they almost can’t sustain themselves. We receive enough food to survive and we hope that in the future we can earn more by working. And as for your question if this is all worth it. We don’t really have a choice anymore, everyone here used to be helped by other people to survive, be it the kids, the adults or us the elders. We don’t have the energy or the means to even go somewhere alone anymore.” The same man says to me with a mixture of anger and sadness.
“Ok… I think I heard enough. Thank You for your time.” I say as I leave their area and begin to look for the next group.
Only a minute or two later I find what I am looking for, the strong and healthy. These people are probably the ones that will work in construction and maybe hunting if they have the balls. A group of around 50 people, with 3 or 4 women in the mix. I can’t really see everyone.
“Excuse me, do you mind if we talk a little?” I say as I approach them. They soon stop talking between themselves and turn to me.
“Of course, we always have time for a beautiful woman.” One of the younger men says some meters away from me, behind a wall of people. Most of the people there seem to agree with his statement. I accept the compliment showing with a smile. Not that this is natural in any way, but I have to give them something, don’t I?
“Thank you. I would like to know what your group does? You are all very fit and look strong to just be normal people.” They have muscles, the type you only get when you really use your body, not the type you get by training.
“We do what is needed. Be it fighting, farming, gathering or building. Everyone has something they are better at but we make sure to protect the people.” One of the men there says to me. He doesn’t look like the leader or anything and everyone there agrees with him.
“Were you guards, adventurers or something similar?”
“Yes, at some point. Most of us retired and started to live in our old city before everything happened. Our skills may not be at their peak but our bodies can handle what the common folk can’t.” Another man says to me.
“Ok, one last question. Those people over there, how do you deal with them?” I say pointing to the group I talked to before.
“We try to give them part of our food as much as we can but you have to understand that we don’t have enough for everyone.” One of the women there says.
“I understand. Thank you for your time.” I say as I go away. I can hear a little about them checking me out before I move to the last group I want to talk to.
“Ladies and gentleman, may I have a few minutes of your day?” I say as I approach the leaders of these people. They are at a small table looking over documents and what I think are blueprints for the building they are going to make.
“Sure.” One of the men there says to me.
“I understand that coming here was not the first choice of these people and also the fact that you must have some sort of sense of community for this amount of people to come here together expecting even more to come later. What is the plan to sustain all of these people?”
“As we explained to your Boss, we have enough funds and goods to survive until we can be self-sufficient.” The man who is clearly the leader here says to me. He is using clean clothing unlike the rest of the people here who have at least some dirt on it.
“So you have enough funds and food to guarantee that everyone here has a healthy life while they work and that includes the people coming later, right?”
“Yes.”
“Ok, one last question. What is the plan once everything is finished?”
“What do you mean?”
“You understand that once this is finished, this place will be part of the city, right?”
“Yes.”
“That means that any bond as a community you all have will have to understand that all of you aren’t in your old city anymore.”
“I still don’t see your point.”
“You will not be the governor, mayor or whatever you are. You will only be another person in this city.”
“...Yes.”
“And everyone is ok with it, right?”
“Probably.”
“Ok. I think that this is everything. Have a nice day.” I say as I walk away from them.
I take a few more minutes to walk around and see the rest of the people. Luckily for them, no one tries to infiltrate the area, at least not anyone I could detect.
The normal folk just want to go back to normal. Own a house, farm, hunt, trade, etc… The kids want to play or try to be adults and help with something.
I also try to find the goods they say they have but I only see a few dozen crates and barrels around the place and only a few of them look like the type you use to store food.
About an hour later me and Sophia go back to the mansion to have a small discussion about all of this.
“So, what do you think?” She asks me.
“I probably should start to pay more attention to what you do.”
“What do you mean?”
“This can go bad really fast.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can see the economic reason for them to choose our city as we don’t expect tributes but not everyone there is on the same page.”
“Isn’t that normal?”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“They say they have enough food for everyone but there are people who are living on food given to them.”
“Doesn’t that apply to everyone?”
“Their leader said things in a way that implies that everyone is getting enough but that is far from the truth.”
“What else do you have to say?”
“We need a display of kindness and power.”
“Explain.”
“Just because they will start to live here, doesn’t mean they will be part of the city. We need to make them understand that you are the leader here and you have the final say in anything, but also the fact that we are not monsters.”
“How do you propose we do that?”
“First we give them some food and then we have a mock battle where everyone can see just how powerful we are.”
“Finally think you can defeat me?” She says in a slightly taunting tone.
“Not without going down myself. But that’s not the point.”
“Ok, are we doing it now?”
“Not yet, we have more to discuss.”
“What?”
“What will they do after everything is finished? More than a thousand people with no economic power will come here. Can the city even handle it?”
“They will find work after they finish, don’t they?”
“Sophia, That’s not how this works. You are the governor, you should know about supply and demand.”
“I know about that.”
“Do we have a demand for people right now?”
“...No.” She stops and thinks about it for a few seconds before it dawns on her. Soon after she answered me in a not-so-sure voice.
“Our city is slowly growing. We don’t have any type of industry, we don’t need farmland as the Degrada is just a few hours away and the trade in our city is compact. We don’t have big shops and they all can compete and thrive even with the small number of people here along with the people that come here to trade. If we don’t find something for these people to do, crime will go up and in the worst case we might have a rebellion over food since I don’t believe they can actually survive as they are now.”
“I should probably make you the governor.” She says, half-joking.
“No! I already have too much on me right now.” I shout back.
“Ok, no need to shout. Then what do we do? Tell them they need to leave?”
“You know Sophia. If I didn’t like you I would just leave right now.”
“Why?” She asks flustered.
“There is also the fact I need to train the girls.”
“You still didn’t answer my question.”
“You are the governor. I know you are not as naive as you seem but you need to stop thinking like a warrior and more like a leader.”
“But I help my people.”
“You need to make them able to help themselves.”
“I… Never thought about things this way.”
“Anyway. How long will it take for them to finish everything?”
“Six to eight months.”
“Alright, we can find something for them to do at that time.”
“Do you have something in mind?”
“I have lots of things in my mind right now.” I say, a little annoyed. I am not happy about this but it’s Sophia, as much as I don’t like incompetent leaders, she is at least intelligent enough to listen. Also, the fact that she is genuinely good.
“Ok, we need to give them their answer.” Sophia says as she stands up from her desk.
“Just one thing. I want to be able to do one thing with those people and that is not open to discussion”
“What?”
“You will see.”
As we are leaving the room I see Monica.
“Monica, I need your help with something.” I say.
“In what way may I be useful?”
“Find the girls and Mess and tell them to not use any mana today. Also, tell them to be at the mansion for lunch no matter what.”
“As you wish.”
“What are you planning?” Sophia asks me.
“A surprise.”
I take some money and we leave the mansion and go back to their camp. They all gather again so Sophia can speak.
“After some discussion, we decided that you can stay and rebuild here.” Soon after everyone begins to cheer. Sophia takes a few steps back and I take the front.
“Listen up! Today you are forbidden from doing any kind of work. You can walk around the city but I suggest you all stay here until noon. As a gift for our future residents we will prepare some food and show you something nice after that.”
Everyone cheered even more and I could see a little panic in the faces of the leaders.
“I will be going. Make sure that there are tables and I will need some paper so if you could prepare that.” I say to Sophia. I then start to the surprise of everyone and begin to go to Degrada.
I could buy some food in Sagrada but I need carts of food right now and I know that most of the food in stock in the city is for consumption.
As I arrive in Degrada I decide to pay Jack and Jackelinne a visit. It is still morning so they must be working. There is also the fact that they could point me somewhere where I can get everything I need at a better price.
“Good morning. Is Jackelinne here?” I say to the maid that opens the door for me in the governor’s place.
“The miss left with Mister Jack not too long ago.”
“Ok thanks. Sorry to disturb you.” I guess neither of them are working so I guess I will have to walk around as I have no idea where any of them are.
I walk around the city looking at the shops and comparing prices. I want a little of everything that is edible from the get go as well as some meat. After buying a few crates of vegetables and fruits I find myself in a part of the city with not that many people as there are mostly empty storage areas around here. As I try to find my way out of here without flying I begin to hear two people talk.
“Stop it. What if someone sees us?” A female voice says.
“No one comes here at this hour, don’t worry.” A male voice says.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” I then hear the sounds of people kissing and quite the intense ones.
Curiosity gets the better of me and my stealth skills begin to surface.I follow the sound and reach a bench between two warehouses that you can’t see from the streets.
“This is all yours.” The female says while mounting the sitting male. They are so in their own world that even when one of them is looking straight at me, she can’t see me.
“I quite like it.” He says as he begins to touch pretty much everything.
Little by little they begin to try and undress each other. That’s when I made my presence known by tilting my head to their side so they can’t ignore me.
After seeing my face they stop.
“No, by all means continue. If you are at the point of wanting to do things in public I think an audience will help, don't you think? I like to watch just as I like to do it.”
“...Hello Lucia, what brings you here?” Jackelinne says to me with a red face.
“... Hello.” Jack says, trying to not look me at the eye. They both begin to put on the few pieces of clothing they removed.
“No, I insist. Please continue, I would like to see.” I say with a devilish smile.
“Please, stop!” Jackelinne says, really embarrassed. Jack froze and is looking at me with blank eyes.
“Anyway, I was going to ask if you two knew somewhere where I could buy food for a lot of people and have it delivered to Sagrada right now but I see that you have other things to do.” I say while pointing at Jack's erection. He is quick to cover it up.
“Hmmm, it’s ok… Don’t worry about it…” he says, nervous.
“Come on Jackelinne, you can help him with your mouth, can’t you? I can cover for you two if you want.”
“Lucia, please.” She says to me even more flustered. Jack actually considered the idea for a second. I can’t hold back anymore and begin to laugh a little.
“Ok, ok, I will stop.” I say a few seconds later after I finish. I couldn’t help but have some fun at their expense.
“Why do you want food?” Jack asks me.
“Lots of people are moving to Sagrada. Need it to help maintain order.”
“What do you need?”
“More fruits and some meat. I only found people selling vegetables for the most part.”
“Ok, I can show you some places.”
“Alright, show me the way.”
Jack holds his breath for around a minute and then stands up. Jackelinne grabs his arm and I begin to follow them.
Jack guides me to houses where he gives some good word about me and the people there sell me fruits and meat in their stocks. Jackelinne finds some people to pick up and transport the cargo. Until now, the people I bought from also are the ones delivering.
After checking and paying for everything I begin to get ready to leave.
“Please don’t tell anyone about what you saw.” Jackelinne says to me.
“Why would I?
“...Ok.”
“There is one last thing.”
“What?”
“Remember to look him in the eyes and use your tongue.” I say to her while I make a blowjob motion with my hands.
She turns red and gives me a small slap in the arm. I hug both of them and begin to fly back, checking the wagons.
As I arrived in Sagrada, I saw that some tables were set. Everyone sees me arriving and comes to greet me. One of the crates I bought is already here and the delivery man is waiting on what to do as I never gave the order to let these people just take the food.
I take the food out of his hands and he soon goes back to Degrada. I ask the people to prepare an area so I can barbecue the meat.
I also ask Sophia to get barrels of water here. It’s not that hard and the people here can get the water from our fountain.
Things begin to fall into place as all the wagons arrive and I get everyone in the mansion.
They don’t really do anything, I just grabbed them so they can eat with us.
Everyone there helps setting the food up and preparing the meat. I make sure to tell everyone to not eat until I say they can.
Every order I or Sophia give to the people there makes their leader frown a little. I guess they don’t like losing power. Worse is that we are helping them and they are probably thinking bad stuff. I just hope they are thinking that we are looking at them from above, thinking we are superior and not that we are helping their people instead of them.
After we set everything up, everyone is really eager to get the food but I make sure that everyone has their attention on me. Sophia is taken by surprise too.
“Listen up everyone. You see all that food we have prepared. It’s yours but only on one condition. Your children have to study under me starting tomorrow and they are not allowed to help with the building of your new homes unless I permit to do so. Sophia already approved it so if you want to eat you just need to come here and write a letter saying that you are ok with this and sign it. For the kids without a parent or adult, you choose.”
Everyone looks at me in shock but soon enough a few people come running and grab the papers from the pile I asked Sophia. It doesn't take even 10 minutes before everyone signs it, well, almost everyone. Their leader doesn't sign it and I don’t believe he doesn't have children. He is not that old. He also moves away from the festivities as I keep an eye on him and his group.
Everyone eats and drinks as much as they can. The people who were famished a while ago seem to have recovered their color a little and seem happier.
A few minutes after the food is gone, me and Sophia grab everyone's attention again.
“If you can, please follow us.” Sophia says. I signal for Mess and the girls to come with us.
We moved away from their camp, more to the south of the city, to a place with less trees around. Not that there are many around the city anyway, we just wanted an even more empty space.
“I ask all of you to stay here.” I say as we reach a good place.
Me, Sophia, Mess, Alfina, Ice Cream, Maxia and Zelfina walk some distance away from them.
“What are we doing?” Mess asks me.
“Yes, what are we doing?” Sophia asks me.
“We are going to put on a show, somewhat. Alfina, I am going to create some hoops made out of fire. Make Ice Cream follow the fire animal I will create and do the same thing if possible.”
“...ok.”
I make sure everyone is around the center of the area we are using and create around 20 hoops of fire around us making it kinda like a racecourse. I then create a wolf out of fire, just a little bigger than Ice Cream, near us and begin to make it run and jump the hoops while making some simple motions. Ice Cream manages to follow it. I could try to make this a race but I don’t think Ice Cream can turn that well.
Everyone is impressed with what they saw and even with some distance we can hear them applauding and cheering.
“Now that everyone has their attention on us, the main event can start. Alfina, Ice Cream, thank you for your help but you two should move away. Also, Maxia and Zelfina, make sure to help the people over there. I think they will need some healing after that and Zelfina can probably hold them back if they try anything funny.
All of them nod and go to their position. I brought them here in the case that the little show I made wasn’t enough, but now that it is, we can start.
“Sophia, Mess. I want you two to hit me as hard as you can with a spell.”
“Isn’t this dangerous?” Mess asks.
“Only if I try to also attack you two. If I focus everything on defense I can tank quite a lot.”
“... I will trust you on this.”
“Just don’t use anything that explodes. Try something that will pierce me or knock me away. It doesn’t matter as long as it doesn't create a super explosion.”
“All right.” Mess says to me.
Mess and Sophia walk around 100 meters away from me. Everyone in the crowd is in total silence. They begin to form a rune each on their hands and I focus all my mana on putting a heat barrier around me that will block anything they throw at me.
They soon finish and two giant javelins, one made out of light and the other out of water, come flying towards me.
I release all the mana I can, making my usually invisible barrier visible to anyone. It looks like a wall of flames around me.
For what feels like an hour I hold the barrier in place and fortify it. Soon enough the spells can maintain themselves and only my fire stays. As soon as I feel that their spells dissipated I create a giant western dragon that comes out of my barrier, make it fly to the sky and explode like fireworks. All of this took a lot of mana, around 70% of it, they didn’t hold back.
As I stop my spells I can see that a few people are on the ground while others are being held up by others.
Me, Sophia and Mess arrive near the group where Maxia is healing the people who fainted.
“As you can see, we have the power and the will to help all of you so make sure to live properly.” I say.
“We will protect all of you as much as we can but only you can rebuild what you lost.” Sophia says.
I can see their leaders accept defeat. They had some sort of plan, I can now confirm. The fact that we made this display of power must have shown that it is a losing battle.
I leave everyone else to do what they want and go back to the mansion where I need to prepare for the influx of children I will have tomorrow under my care.