Chapter 632: Surrender

Despite its short history, the city of Randa, built after the Great Catastrophe, has acquired many nicknames.

It may seem strange at first glance, but it was actually quite natural.

Though its history is brief, through freedom and innovation, Randa has reached a status that could be considered the economic capital of not just the Kingdom but the world.

The nickname that best represents Randa is ‘The Free City.’

Randa, the Free City.

It may be a simple name, but it perfectly reflects Randa’s characteristics.

This city, built with risk, was free from any interference, be it from the Royal Family or the Central Council.

That’s why ‘The Free City,’ a simple name, has become its second name, known and understood intuitively by everyone.

However, not everyone goes with popular opinion. Some referred to Randa by other names.

Names that aligned more with its true nature. For example, ‘The City of Wealth and Violence.’

Randa was wealthy enough to attract all the world’s riches, but simultaneously, violence ran rampant, both overtly and covertly… No, saying ‘simultaneously’ might be incorrect.

It might be more accurate to say that violence proliferated because the wealth accumulated there.

Nevertheless, Randa had many other names too.

The Gigantic City, The City of Opportunity and Crisis, The City that Devours Other Cities, The Corrupt but Competent City, and more.

Everyone who lived in Randa experienced at least one of these nicknames, and that remained true even after the Pied Piper swept through the city.

The Corrupt but Competent City, indeed.

“Ha… Has this city ever cared about folks like us who are dirt poor?”

One of Randa’s impoverished residents said this as they watched the public officials dealing with the aftermath.

The Randa City Councilors responded rapidly to the disaster, regardless of whether it affected the upper, middle, or lower-class neighborhoods.

The usual political struggles vanished, and all efforts were focused on preventing the spread of damage and restoring the city, without any regard for district boundaries.

They even drew on some of the slush funds they’d been hiding away.

Well, the city had to be in good shape for them to stay in power, after all.

Regardless of the reasons, as a result, the looting and violence that had started mainly in the slums gradually subsided, and just as the rat swarms had appeared as if in a dream, the city’s chaos also began to calm.

During this process, the police, soldiers, and even sanitation workers—all public servants in Randa—began working indefinite overtime, but no one complained.

After all, when even the City Councilors and Ministers were working overtime, a mere public servant couldn’t grumble.

In this way, Randa’s official rulers proved why they were indeed the city’s masters.

Even the press outside of Randa was impressed.

But the truly remarkable thing about the Randa City was its ability to utilize the crisis, not just manage it.

“We want to deal with the large gangs and warlords in the small towns surrounding Randa.”

The City Councilors made this request to the prince’s entourage, who had stayed in the city.

It was an action clearly in violation of the city agreement. Of course, it wasn’t something that could be pushed through that easily.

At least not under normal circumstances.

“I have no authority.”

“I understand. But aren’t these special circumstances? Frankly, the gangs could take advantage of this chaos to attack Randa! They certainly will! They attacked our trucks even when Randa was stable, now imagine how much worse it could be.”

“I told you, I have no authority!”

“So what, if some lunatics try to harm the prince, you’d just say you have no authority?”

“Are you threatening me?!”

“Who’s threatening?! If anyone hears this, they’ll think we’re holding the prince hostage. But isn’t the prince here because he chose to be, sir?”

“Ugh…”

“All we’re asking is that you turn a blind eye so we can better protect the prince. We’re not seeking your permission. We just want the Security Bureau to be allowed to take a walk, that’s all. What if the prince leaves Randa and those lunatics try something out there?”

The City Councilors approached each member of the prince’s entourage with such arguments and eventually, some of them, not wanting to take further risks, reported back to the capital, and received a message allowing them to turn a blind eye.

It wasn’t really permission, but it was good enough for Randa.

With that, the City Council secretly dispatched supers from the Security Bureau and The New Gentleman to deal with the gangs and warlord forces of the surrounding small towns, crippling them with massive losses.

Naturally, the City requested the newspapers to announce this outcome emphatically.

Leaving out, of course, the fact that the City had been involved, but publicizing the severe losses suffered by the militant groups in the small towns.

This bit of good news helped to divert attention from the ongoing disaster.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

“In that case, let’s go ahead and push through that long-stalled project too, while we’re at it.”

In the emergency response headquarters established to deal with Randa’s damage, Paul Carver, the Minister of Internal Affairs, made a bold proposal to the City Councilors.

“What are you talking about, Minister?”

“Please open your reports to page seven. What do you think?”

“It’s terrifying.”

“Yes, it’s terrifying. The damage, regardless of status, to both people and property… But thanks to this, some of those who were blocking the project also suffered significant losses.”

“The project to incorporate all city administration into the World Tree, that one?”

“Correct. The project to transform Randa into a united machine by incorporating its administration, finance, trade, and all city activities into the World Tree in cooperation with the Tower of Magic, which controls Eve. I trust everyone here remembers.”

“Of course we do. We even ran on that agenda to boost our support.”

“But when we started, it wasn’t as easy as expected. Surprisingly, the heads of the respective fields didn’t want to go that far.”

“They want to utilize the World Tree, but they don’t want to be bound by it. Besides, they already hold top positions even without the World Tree.”

“Exactly. As a result, the project has been delayed, contrary to what was announced by Randa. But now we have an excuse. Records from banks and trade transactions have been lost due to the rat and zombie swarms.”

“So, we’ll mandate the recording of everything in the World Tree for safety reasons?”

“The timing is perfect. The city is in chaos, and opposition groups have been weakened. We should push it through, even forcefully if necessary.”

While people were busy recovering from the flood and salvaging what they could, Minister Carver of Randa’s Ministry of Internal Affairs was crafting plans to rob empty houses.

In a place like Randa, filled with all sorts of crazy people, that wasn’t out of the ordinary, but coming from the Minister, it held a different meaning.

What was crazy was that the City Councilors, who appointed that madman, agreed without a second thought.

“Not bad, actually.”

“Indeed, this is the best time. As the saying goes, it’s best to steal when the house is on fire.”

“To get re-elected in the next term, we need to show some results.”

“If things go wrong, we just need to cut off the head of the Emergency Response Headquarters.”

Although that last comment was bothersome, what was clear was that the City Councilors were willing to take the risk and agreed to the plan.

As soon as they got approval, Carver pushed forward with the plan while the chaos had still not died down.

Even if it required a little abuse of power and violence. After all, if the results were good, the risk would be worth it.

“So that’s why the city is so chaotic?”

At a meeting for establishing the Bright School of Dark Magic, Forest asked.

At the table with Forest were Kevin, representing the Tower of Magic, Minister Carver, and Oliver, who was both crucial to the meeting and yet not deeply involved.

These four… or rather three, excluding Oliver, worked out the structure, system, and benefits for the official establishment of the Bright School of Dark Magic.

The reason Oliver was excluded was that the other three were handling it so well that they left it to them.

Carver responded to Forest’s question.

“Yes, it seems that I’ve become too detached since moving up to a higher position. I thought if I applied some force, they’d eventually give in, but they still resist, both overtly and covertly.”

Carver explained how the other factions in the city, opposed to the City’s World Tree project, had united, using both violence and lobbying in secret, and the press in public, to oppose the World Tree administrative system.

“They say the City is colluding with the wizards to take away their freedom.”

“But by freedom, they mean tax evasion, falsifying performance records, and embezzling subsidies by exploiting administrative loopholes.”

“Minister.”

Though also a professor, Kevin, who was assisting with the establishment of the Bright School on behalf of the Tower of Magic, suddenly addressed Carver. He looked exhausted.

“Yes, professor?”

“You’ve given enough background, so what is the main point?”

Kevin’s sharp question didn’t bother Carver. He couldn’t care less about skin color if it benefited the city, and with so many meetings, he knew Kevin wasn’t being malicious.

On the contrary, Carver calmly got to the point.

“To counter the opposition, we need a distraction in the media. Can we use what we’re working on now?”

Carver pointed at the piles of papers on the table.

His plan was to heavily promote the establishment of the Bright School of Dark Magic in the media, so as to push back against those opposing the World Tree administrative system.

It didn’t sound too bad at first, but Kevin and Forest shook their heads in unison like they had agreed beforehand.

“It’s problematic.”

“It’s not possible.”

Kevin was blunt, and Forest smiled, but their resolve was the same, leaving no room for argument.

Even the minister had to step back.

“While the creation of a school for Dark Magic is newsworthy, it is also concerning. The discussions with the Pater Church haven’t even concluded. If we announce it now, we’ll attract more than just interest.”

“I agree. Besides, Dave doesn’t want any unnecessary attention.”

“He’s already been hailed as a hero of the city. What’s the harm in adding a little more? Moreover, it’s contradictory to establish a school for Dark Magic and claim not to want attention.”

“He’s the guy who handed over that 3 trillion without pilfering a cent, even after working as a fixer in the underworld. You can’t approach him with logic.”

When Forest brought up the ABC incident, Carver fell silent.

Though it had been a long time, the ABC incident was still fresh in everyone’s mind.

It was the case where 3 trillion almost vanished. Naturally, the fact that Oliver, the one who found the money, didn’t keep it was something everyone remembered.

He could have just taken the money and run. That would have been more logical.

Ah, even though not all fixers work just for the money, most of the time, that’s what it was for.

Oliver, who didn’t care much about money, wasn’t aware of this, but those who worked in these circles found it a crazy thing to talk about, over and over.

Enough to make an ordinary public servant rise to the rank of minister. There’s no point in explaining further; it’s just exhausting.

So, the one who benefited the most from this, Carver, stepped back without resistance.

“I see it was a bit too much. I’ll have to find a different story for the article.”

“Does it really not matter what it is?”

Oliver, who had been silently scribbling something on the table, suddenly asked.

“Well, it can’t just be ‘anything,’ since we need to attract people’s attention, but yes, the content doesn’t matter as long as it serves the purpose. A positive story would be best, though.”

“I see.”

“Is this related to what you’ve been writing earlier?”

Carver, who had caught a glimpse of what Oliver was writing earlier, asked.

The paper was filled with technical terms, diagrams, and even mechanical schematics.

“No, it’s not related. These are just gifts.”

“Gifts?”

“Yes, there’s even one for you, Mr. Carver.”

Though confused, Carver was about to ask what Oliver meant when Oliver suddenly gathered his papers and stood up.

“Excuse me, but may I leave now?”

Oliver’s movements were still a bit awkward, perhaps due to lingering injuries.

Seeing this, Forest, Kevin, and Carver let him go without asking the reason. After all, Oliver hadn’t been doing much in the meeting anyway.

Once granted permission, Oliver expressed his gratitude and left the meeting room, heading out to the Forest Restaurant.

Perhaps because it was lunch hour, the restaurant was packed, with the staff bustling around busily.

Oliver scanned the scene briefly, greeted Al, the restaurant manager, and then stepped outside, starting to walk along the sidewalk in T-District.

Along a different path than usual.

Step. Step. Step.

As Oliver walked down this unfamiliar road, he gradually ended up in a more deserted area. He then stopped and spoke into the air.

“Would you please come out now?”

There was no response for a few seconds, but as Oliver continued to wait, someone finally emerged from the shadows.

It appeared to be a Dark Magic user specialized in shadow manipulation, a branch of Dark Magic within the manipulation category. Their skills seemed quite decent.

Clad in a large hood that obscured their face, they spoke.

A foreigner’s distinct, slightly awkward tone was evident in the voice.

“When did you notice?”

“From when you came to the restaurant. You tried to peer inside using the shadows, correct?”

“So, it was you who interfered.”

“I’m quite shy, you see.”

Oliver responded politely, one by one. Though it seemed there wasn’t any malicious intent, there was still something suspicious about them, so Oliver couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m sorry, but who are you, sir?”

“Before I answer, may I ask you one more question?”

Their attitude was extremely polite. Oliver nodded.

“Are you Dave? The Fixer from T-District, No. 30 of Randa. Lumberjack Dave.”

Though it wasn’t a nickname he particularly liked, Oliver answered with a simple yes.

Upon hearing this, the Dark Magic user seemed to resolve something within himself and walked over, dropping to his knees before Oliver.

“Please, save us.”