The Architect's successor

Savine walked out with Dred following close behind. They got out of the temple and Savine headed to a small, deserted alleyway with a broken fountain.

<…ing giant, and he's with that creepy girl, too!>

<Since he's dressed as a servant, but he has shield and an axe? So maybe… it's her new bodyguard?>

<That's bad…>

<Look at his hand! There's lightnings on it! Da has one and he told me only soldiers who were part of an army's vanguard can receive those tattoos!>

<So she's got a bodyguard… that's been to what? Four wars?>

<It's not like he was put on the vanguards at first. There must've been a couple test runs before.>

<A couple dozen, maybe.>

<Fuck. >

<Fuck. >

<Maybe we should watch our mouth.>

<What do you mean? How would they even hear us. We got the windows closed.>

<But still, we're both standing here staring at them, right?>

Feeling playful, Savine turned to the window with two teens bickering inside. She found their eyes and the two ducked below the window.

<Oh… shit!>

<Did you see that?>

<Yeah, she looked straight at us! Does know?>

<We must've been mistaken right?>

<Yeah, yeah. It must've been a coincidence… but… feels like she saw right into my eyes.>

<Oh, fuck, oh fuck! Is she gonna kill us? That giant can snap us in half!>

<Nononono. That can't be! Look again. Are they coming to us?>

<Fuck you, why don't you look yourself?!>

<Mommy! >

Cutting out the conversations that played inside her head, Savine spoke to Dred.

"I've never thought the Architect to be such a fierce fighter. Though, I suppose that makes a lot more sense."

Dred's steps paused, being called the Architect so suddenly, but he didn't deny it and continued walking soon after.

"Yeah… I get that a lot."

"Mm."

"And you're one creepy kid."

"I get that a lot, too," Savine chuckled. "Those tattoos. Where did you get them from?"

Dred glanced at the back of hand for a few seconds before speaking. "The North, mostly. The last one's of em's from the civil war. Funny story, but I was on the side of the winners' side then. God knows how I ended up at Fest, sided with the commoners, and started fighting against the nobles."

Savine nodded, understanding.

"Something real eye-opening must've happened there for you to run all the way down here."

Dred paused. Quickly, he scoffed and scratched his head.

"Hah. Eye-opening… Guess that's one way to put it."

The two reached the broken fountain. Savine sat on a nearby bench, while Dred simply plopped onto the ground. With that, their eye levels were pretty much equal.

"I appreciate you helping the slums," Dred said. "With your butler running there every other day with a bag of coins."

"Don't mention it."

"But can I ask you why?"

"I'm the type of person who roots for the losing side."

"Huh. Is that all?"

"I was also wondering if I could help you more, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that I'll do more harm than good."

Dred made a dry chuckle. It almost sounded like a cough. "Well, I'm thankful for you thinking through things. Yes, if you started helping us out suddenly, I feel we wouldn't be able to stay alive for so long. Even the coins you send us occasionally feel too much to bear sometimes."

"Tragic."

"Indeed."

The slums were in a precarious situation. If nothing happened, they would die slowly, but if they became more influential, there was the real risk of the duke deciding to wipe them off the face of the world.

Maybe they could achieve something if they mounted a surprise assault, but even if they won against Duke Fest, there was still the rest of the Sovereignty to worry about.

And moreover, it felt like both sides were unwilling to drop all pretenses and slaughter each other. What Savine couldn't understand was why were these two sides haven't yet reconciliated?

"What demands are you two pitting against each other, anyway?" Savine asked.

"The slums want the commoners to have more autonomy. They just want to rule over themselves without the nobles putting their nose in everything. They're fine with paying taxes, but since they're going to be basically ruling over themselves, building and maintaining everything with their own hands, they want it to be less. 40%."

"So the slums basically want to legitimize the current situation."

"Suppose so," Dred nodded.

"What does the duke demand?"

"The tax rate needs to be 50% and they will still rule over us."

Savine now understood the situation more properly. The demands the slums were making were basically one thing. The duchy's acceptance. They wanted nothing more. They had already implemented their demands: they were ruling over themselves and they were paying the 40% tax already. The only problem left was that their actions were technically illegal.

With such a demand, Savine could see why the slums weren't willing to concede, no matter what. After all, in their heads, they had already won. By conceding now, they would be losing for no reason.

As for the duke's side, they were still enticed by the slums, playing them taxes. If they dropped all pretenses and made unreasonable demands, then the slums would stop even giving them taxes and the situation would become unsalvageable.

But they couldn't give them the autonomy they wanted because the duchy knew that eventually, the slums would have to bend.

There was another thing that caught Savine's attention.

"You call the slums 'They'? Not 'we'?" she cocked her head.

"Yes. Though I am currently leading them myself, I dare not say I'm part of them."

"But you call yourself the Architect?"

"Ah, that. It's a name I borrowed from someone greater than me, but I'm not, in fact, the Architect."

"And where is this Architect right now?"

"I don't know. I've only seen him when he hired me a three years ago and when the rebellion started, but after that, he was never seen again. We've searched everywhere, but there was no trace of him to be found. We fear he died somewhere in the chaos. Regardless, the slums needed a leader. I'm not sure how, but the person elected was me. Thankfully, there are many talents and geniuses helping me. And everyone."

'Another mystery…' Savine thought.

Dred snorted wryly and continued. "It's a funny thing, I'm not even from here. I just happened to be passing through here and I was randomly hired to take part in a rebellion, but now look where I am."

Savine couldn't help but feel surprised. "But you've done this for three years."

She, too, was also realizing this just now. The civil war ended three years ago. And during all that time, the slums managed to stay afloat and even develop. All that under a leader that was a total stranger? A leader that looked troubled by the fact that he was in this situation in the first place.

'Who does that?'

Savine was genuinely impressed by Dred. She patted him on the side of his legs because he was so tall and sighed loudly. "You're a good man."

Dred glanced at Savine, looking weirded out by how he was being consoled by a kid, before making another dry chuckle.

Savine thought about the slums' situation. It truly felt like a special kind of miracle. Just like Savine, they utilized the Fest Duchy's weakness to grab their own fate for once.

Of course, someone who tasted freedom once would never be willing to go back to how things were.