by John Nest
From above, he spotted Laernea, Gandiva and Guro sitting behind a desk, getting information from residents who were looking for their family.
He never expected to see such a civilized scene from the three Lioumereans. All of them were always on the go and had trouble staying in one place for too long.
Smoke landed softly next to their table. "What are you three up to?" he asked and startled Laernea.
"Isn't it obvious?" stated Guro flatly. "We are connecting lost family members. If you want to help, feel free to pull up a chair."
"Yeah, there are four more centers similar to this one all over the city," explained Gandiva briskly. "What we need to do afterwards is collate the data and hopefully we'll all find the missing people."
"What made you volunteer for this?" asked Smoke curiously.
"Did you forget? The two of us were orphans. We wouldn't want such a misfortune happen to another child," said a hurt Laernea.
"I simply don't want people to feel lost," added Guro.
Smoke remembered how Guro was imprisoned inside the labyrinth for years. He realized that these three Lioumereans naturally suppress their mischievous and fierce personalities whenever the need to help others arose.
"Well, let me get a copy of your gathered information, and I'll deliver them to the other centers," said Smoke proudly.
Laernea handed him a stack of paper, and he placed them neatly inside his backpack. He then flew off to the other centers.
While delivering the papers, he spotted Adelige, Rasant, Stark and Weise. All four Maneators stayed away from the Centzo residents.
He heard from Weise about how other people outside Verbrannt react when they see their faces. It appears that they still cringe in fear whenever they see Maneators.
Smoke surmised that this was Weise's attempt to stay away from Centzo's residents. He then also noticed that the Maneators had the Tikbalangs join them.
After he delivered the Lioumereans' gathered information on the lost residents, Smoke returned to help Ledur in fixing the wall. A few minutes into his work, he spotted Incitant walking over towards him.
"Smoke, just the DarkElf I wanted to see," said Incitant cordially.
"What can I do for you?" answered Smoke with an unwelcoming tone.
"I just wanted to make sure that you've got no problem with the villages that we're going to get in the awarding ceremonies," explained the Archbishop.
"I know that you've done more than we did in this battle, but please don't try to steal the reward that was already agreed upon," pleaded Incitant calmly.
"Of course, you don't have to worry about anything like that," replied Smoke.
"Thank you, Smoke, you really are an honorable person," said Incitant and offered his hand to Smoke.
Smoke shook it to be civilized. He just wanted Incitant to walk away so he could resume his work on the wall, and forget about losing Jeter and the other Zectians fallen in battle.
Six more hours passed and they had finished most of the essential repairs on the city. There were still several buildings that needed to be torn down as they were already unsafe to be fixed. However, there was no longer a single crack in the capital's wall. Not only that, they also had round-the-clock watchers posted on all sides of the wall.
Since the awarding ceremony wasn't until tomorrow, Smoke decided that he was going to log out for a while. He walked over to where Sierra was. She was still busy cooking food for the thousands of Centzo citizens.
"I think I'm gonna get some shut eye," Smoke said to Sierra. "Can you take a break from feeding them for a while?"
"Of course," replied Sierra and asked Phen and Rear, who were in their human form, serve the starving citizens.
"You're not planning on running away somewhere now, are you?" asked Sierra worriedly.
"No, nothing like that. I really just want to get some sleep," said Smoke defensively.
Sierra smiled at him and pulled him in for a tight hug. He hugged her back and easily wrapped his arms around her. A feat he was never able to do when Sierra was in her cursed Werebear form.
"We'll get stronger," he whispered in her ear. "Strong enough to make this pain go away."
"I know," replied Sierra wholeheartedly.
Smoke released Sierra's hug and logged out of Zectas.
* * * * * *
The next day, the entire city was out celebrating. All the residents were in the streets singing songs of their victory over the Brandals.
Although there was little food involved, the merriment still continued on. It was as if a long ban of sorrow had been lifted from the city. Centzo was on its way back to its salubrious state.
Yet, another more intimate celebration was being held in the royal throne room of the capital. There, Smoke and Incitant, along with their personally selected members were all dressed in their fanciest attire.
"I see you're still going for the warmonger look," Incitant said to Smoke as he pointed to the DarkElf's battle-worn clothes.
"I haven't bought anything fancy," Smoke tried to explain his appearance as he didn't want Incitant to know of his hidden Job.
"You should at least have it repaired," exclaimed Incitant. "I know the best artisan here. I'll—" the Archbishop was cut short as they heard the loud tapping of the royal staff.
TAP TAP TAP
Prosjak holding a thick staff tapped the floor. "Everyone, please welcome, Duke Jeune of Centzo."
The ten-year-old ruler appeared in front of the crowd in his own modest robes. He had called Smoke and Incitant here for their awarding ceremony.
"In the presence of everyone here, I would like to commend these two individuals for their efforts in freeing Centzo," said Jeune.
"Incitant, please step forward," said the Duke.
"For your alliance's services to Centzo I award you and your group the villages of Arm, Elend, Gering, Mager, Mau, Minder, Labil, Hin, Trostlos and Braucht Hilfe," proclaimed Duke Jeune. "Of course, the last one may still have some of the invading forces. So, I need you to take care of that yourself."
"Also, I award Incitant the title of Centzo's Lord Defender," added Jeune.
Incitant remained speechless and simply bowed down at the Duke. The Archbishop stepped aside as Prosjak signaled for him to do so.
"Smoke, please step forward," ordered Jeune.
"Your guild and your leadership with the Avendre Mercenaries have been a crucial factor in our victory over the Brandals and Duke Burmistrz," began Jeune. "As agreed upon, any business transactions that you or any of your representatives would have in Centzo will be exempted from taxes."
Smoke was taken by surprise, the original agreement was only to be discounted with 75%. Yet, now they were now tax free instead.
'I'm sure our Merchants from Verbrannt will make a killing from all the earnings that they'll have from this,' thought Smoke happily.
Duke Jeune resumed speaking and brought back Smoke's focus.
"Also, it is officially declared that the free state of Verbrannt and the city of Centzo are now and forever will be, allies!" added the Duke.
Smoke looked at Sierra and saw her smiling face. He knew that the economist in her was already scheming up ways to exploit this tax exemption.
Prosjak then ushered him out of the way and the Duke addressed the entire room.
"Citizens of Centzo. We are now free, but this freedom was won with blood. Let us all learn from this experience. From this day forward, I shall implement an obligatory military draft on all citizens, aged sixteen and above. No one is exempted from this rule," the Duke spoke with strong conviction. "Let it be known throughout Wysteria that Centzo is a city that will not fall, and it will never fall as long as we stand together!"
The crowd applauded the young ruler. Despite his youth, he showed talents of great wisdom, understanding and compassion.
Prosjak then dismissed the gathered crowd and led Duke Jeune away from the royal throne room.
Smoke went over to Sierra as she was the only othe
r Vigilantez there with him. Everyone else of his core members were already out enjoying their free time in the city's celebrations.
"I can't believe we're free of taxes," said Sierra as he got closer to him. "You're not bummed that you didn't get a title, though are you?"
"No, I don't need a title. I'm just sad that not all of our members got any form of reward from all of this," said Smoke as he thought about his men.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure that their allowances will increase, and they'll have better equipments. In fact, all of us should have better equipments after we rake in the money," said Sierra excitedly.
He clearly saw Sierra's eyes dazzle. He couldn't begin to imagine what she already had planned in that short amount of time.
"Anyway, let's head over to them," said Smoke to Sierra, and led her to where the Vigilantez were gathered.
* * * * * *
The Vigilantez had made themselves comfortable in the cleared up city block. None of the fallen buildings were restored. Instead, there were several benches placed in a large circle, and fully grown trees were transplanted in the area.
Many of Centzo's children were seen inside the spacious city block as they were drawn in by Laernea and Gandiva's playful nature. Apparently, their work in finding the lost family members worked out perfectly. They all found the missing family members reported.
The Maneators and Tikbalangs were alarmed to see the children at first, but none of the children were scared at the sight of them. In fact, they even played with them.
Smoke smiled as he watched them having fun. 'What a spacious place. I think the residents could easily have picnics here if the Duke won't build anything here,' thought Smoke to himself.
His curiosity got the better of him and asked Espion. "Do you have any idea what's going to be put up here?"
"From what Prosjak told me, the Duke plans to build a park here in place of the tall buildings from before," explained Espion.
Smoke looked around and was impressed by the work of Centzo's Gardeners. The park had quickly taken shape. Flowering bushes were planted around to give the park a fence-like facade. The trees were trimmed to give them a much cleaner look.
Despite the city's celebrations, most of the Vigilantez stayed in the newly created park. They enjoyed watching the work of Centzo's Gardeners.
Then, a new group of people arrived, they were Centzo's finest artisans. They brought large objects, over five-meters tall. They were all covered in white sheets.
The artisans placed the mysterious objects right at the center of the park. There, the hidden items were lined up right next to each other.
Smoke, Sierra and the rest of his core members got closer to see what was going on. Slowly more of the Vigilantez members and the Avendre Mercenaries joined in to observe the artisans.
Suddenly, a group of golden armored Knights arrived. It was Duke Jeune, the young ruler of Centzo. The group stopped in front of the covered object. He was also accompanied by Prosjak, who was carrying the same thick staff in the royal throne room.
The golden armored Knights all moved to the side and gave the Vigilantez a clearer view of the Duke. Prosjak stepped forward and tapped on the ground.
TAP TAP TAP
"Members of the Vigilantez, Duke Jeune wishes to speak with all of you."
Prosjak stepped aside for Jeune.
"I can honestly say that without your bravery, this city would have fallen. Without your consideration, this city would have starved. Without your friendship, this city would have been lost," said Jeune gratefully.
Jeune then pointed to the covered object behind him. "Allow me to present to you, this monument of your bravery."
A statue of Smoke, Sierra and the rest of the Vigilantez was revealed before them. There were Elemental Knights, Maneators, Tikbalangs, Werewolves, Werebears, Centaurs, Ranseurs, Arcus and even the Avendre Mercenaries.
All of the Vigilantez applauded and cheered. Some of the were able to hold back the tears, while others cried out. They remembered the comrades they lost, but were also happy that the Brandals were no more.
"Come, examine it for yourselves," said Jeune and gave way for the Vigilantez to take a closer look.
Many wanted to shake the hands of the young Duke, and he gladly accommodated them.
Prosjak, who stood beside the Duke the whole time, was slowly guiding him to where Smoke was.
Away from the rest of the Vigilantez, Duke Jeune called Smoke to him.
"We still have unfinished business, you and I," said the Duke calmly.
"Huh? What do you mean? You already awarded me in the throne room," replied Smoke.
"There was one other reason we were successful in freeing Centzo, and that was because you slayed Horrabelle and disabled her Therianthrope army from joining the Brandals," stated Jeune.
Then, a notification window popped up.
+ Completed Quest: Cut the Head of the Snake
You have killed Horrabelle and prevented her and her Therianthrope forces from attacking Centzo.
Rewards:
* Intimacy with Duke Juene has increased to 90
* 1,000,000 experience
* Title: Centzo's Assassin
Smoke was pleased to see that he had increased his Intimacy with the Duke to such a high level, but he was intrigued to see the new title he acquired.
He wanted to inspect the title, but Jeune was not done talking. "With your recent accomplishments I would like you to go on another assignment for me."
"If it's anything within my power, then I'm yours to command," replied Smoke as he got into the role of Centzo's Assassin.
"I imagine that Burmistrz won't be happy with his utter defeat here. From what Prosjak told me, I think we wiped out almost all of the Brandals in the last battle," began Jeune. He spoke with such consideration for the future that Smoke wondered why they made this Zectian into a young boy instead of an old wise Duke.
"However, I am sure that Burmistrz won't stop. I know that he will assemble more people under his banner and try again," added Jeune.
Smoke nodded as he completely agreed with the young boy.
"Therefore, I wish for you to save us from such a foul event. I want you to kill Burmistrz," said Jeune without blinking.
A notification window popped up instantly.
+ Quest: Cut the Head of the Snake II
Assassination Quest
Level: A+
Due to your previous success, Duke Jeune requested that you assassinate Duke Burmistrz and wipe out the Brandal's head.
Accept the Quest? [YES/NO]
"I gladly accept," replied Smoke solemnly.
"Very good. Well, let me meet some more of your people. I wish to know more of the Vigilantez and hear stories from them," said Jeune and walked away.
Prosjak remained behind and spoke with Smoke privately.
"I'd like to personally thank you. I'm afraid I don't have any rewards to give you, but I would have liked to give you a recommendation," said Prosjak mysteriously. "But you aren't at the stage to accept it yet. Maybe, next time. When you've reached the right level."
"Huh? What do you mean? What right level? Is my level still too low? Is that it?" Smoke pestered Prosjak about the requirements for getting his potential reward from him, but the middle-aged adviser never spoke another word about it again.
Chapter Nine:
The Vigilantez's Nascent Dominance
Swiveling his computer chair back and forth, Nash sat on the edge of his seat as he double checked his latest video about to be uploaded. He compiled the recordings from his battle for Centzo's freedom and showcased Incitant and the Sonstwelter Alliance who defended the city.
After Tristan lost Tonaci City, he stopped posting videos and kept a low profile. Nash decided to follow his lead, in the sense that he stayed out of the limelight. He extended this to Prosjak and the rest of Centzo's residents as well. He kept their real abilities hidden from his video, most especially their iron-curtain defense.
/> Centzo's Blacksmiths, Tailors, and Seamstress were currently working double time in order to complete an iron-curtain that covered the entire capital.
Due to his high Intimacy with Duke Jeune, they were also tasked to make a large portion to give to Nash as a sample, and included the instruction manual on how to create one. Given these items, he was sure Verbrannt's own Blacksmiths, Tailors and Seamstress could reproduce the iron-curtain.