58 Cleaning Up

*Oh boy, that was an ordeal!*

Shooting the Ratmen in one swift movement was harder than I expected, and it took a sizable amount of Rewinds before my poor marksmanship allowed me to pull that stunt off.

But the look of astonishment on the faces of the elf-like creatures that were harassed by the gang members are well worth it, and I like to think that my display will sway them to my side.

It's either that or I just scared them to death.

I holster my gun, the scene from earlier showed that these people were no threat at all, so I lower my guard. It'll make me appear friendlier, and I bet they need someone to act nice to them after what they endured.

This someone happens to have ulterior motives, but nobody's perfect.

"Hello?" I say hesitantly. My brief experience with the natives of a Shard showed that they have their language, so the translator will not be able to do its job until the language analyzer finishes processing their language. But the gang members seem to speak something that the translator knows. So I could be lucky, and they'll share the same language.

One of the creatures blinks out of her daze and eyes me warily while holding a hand to her side. The small puddle of blood beneath her suggests that she's wounded.

A bad time for her, but an excellent opportunity for us.

I turn towards the cultists, who are looking at the two creatures with suspicion. "Can one of you heal her?" I ask while pointing towards the unknown woman.

A cultist nods and raises his hand. A small green magical circle appears in the middle of his raised palm before flying straight into the torso of the wounded woman.

The other one, which has neck-high brown hair and who's in no better shape, shouts when the spell hits her friend and tries to get up, but she doesn't have any strength left.

"And her too." The cultist creates another spell that covers the other woman, who is glaring at me with hatred until a surprised yelp escapes her mouth when the spell heals her wounds.

*I see, she probably thought that I was hurting her friend.*

I can't blame her for being suspicious of me, if someone who claimed to be a god approached me before I entered the Hidden World, then I would have called the police.

The two elf-like creatures glance at each other and smile before hugging tightly, it seems like they completely forgot that we were even there. I don't want to be a buzz kill, but my little light show probably alerted some gang members.

Or not, from what I've seen so far it seems like these people aren't exactly the personification of competence.

I cough, causing them to freeze momentarily. "So... Can you understand me?"

The one who has light gray eyes, and medium-length black hair styled in a bun, steps forward.

"Me...Roshia."Her knees are wobbling, and she seems to struggle with whatever language we're using right now. Her name is Roshia.

*I hope she will not play hardbass out of nowhere.*

She then points towards the other woman, which is slightly taller than Roshia."She's Elora." she says while struggling to speak the rather simple words.

This moment makes me realize how extraordinary the translator is; not having to learn hundreds of alien languages can make communication easier.

"All right, then I suggest we get out of here before any more of these guys show up," I say while waving in the direction of a pile of Ratmen remains.

Unsurprisingly enough, she seems to agree.

However, it looks like Elora is second-guessing her opinion. They argue back and forth for a few seconds, I can see that the cultists are ready to snap at them, but they know their mission.

Scaring the people we want to recruit doesn't sound like a good idea, and I would like to refrain from forcing people into my ranks.

The Order isn't the Enforcers, we may be a cult, but we have standards.

However, their arguing has the side effect of allowing the analyzer to do its job, and it isn't long before I can correctly understand their conversation.

"No, we can't possibly bring him back to the Tunnels! What if he's a spy?" Elora argues.

"Did you forget what just happened?! This Prometheus could kill everyone in the Tunnels with a flick of his wrist if he wanted to, but he hasn't attacked us!" Roshia replies.

Elora groans, "I know, but-"

"Ahem." I cough before activating my robes for a brief moment.

As it turns out, nearly slamming someone into the ground with the power of bullshit works wonder to stop an argument.

"I just learned your language, so I hope you'll understand me now. We need to get out of here because the gangs might be on their way at this moment." I declare in a calm voice. The cultists and I can wipe the floor with the lackeys of these gangs, but these two might have trouble if an army of them were to charge towards them.

The rapid change of emotions in the two women's face is quite amazing. It goes from fear to astonishment and finally shame in a fraction of a second.

"A-All right..." they say in unison.

"Are we really doing this?" Elora whispers to her companion, but I still pick up their conversation. "Bringing those guys to the Tunnels might be a bad idea."

"We already discussed this. It's obvious that they aren't our enemies, at least for now."Roshia replies with a monotonous voice.

Her eyes look empty, and she barely registers us as she guides us into the maze-like alleyways of this Shard. I think I may have overdone my flashy entrance, and I probably broke something in her mind.

Or I might be wrong; her attitude might be the norm around here. After all, there's not a lot to be happy about when you live in a hellhole like this Shard.

The more we weave through the Shard, the more I realize how bad the situation is for the natives. They all either live in rusty shacks made with whatever was lying around or in ancient ruins that threaten to crumble at any moment. The few people we meet are hollow shells; they barely register what happens around them.

I think we'll need more resources than I originally anticipated, and I hope our healing spells will be enough to treat them properly.

My thoughts darken as we progress through the slums, and we stop our journey in a dirty and mundane impasse. Or at least it appears to be since the two women look at each other before one of them produces a small hexagonal device from her pocket.

The rusty device looks very ancient, and it takes several attempts at pressing the unique button of the device before something clicks. I take a step back when a portion of the wall rumbles. It slowly slides away to reveal a rusty metal door that looks like it was ripped out of an old submarine.

Elora grimaces as she turns the valve on the door and the old piece of metal finally turns after a few long seconds. The door groans open and reveals a dark and dusty corridor that seems to go on forever.

"Quick, go in before someone sees us!" Elora says, and we enter the corridor. The door behind us closes, and the two long-eared women let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad that the door worked flawlessly this time around, I doubt I would have the strength to force it to close..." she mutters before leaning against a wall.

Her thoughtless remark confirms what I was thinking. This place is as old as it looks, and these people are hiding in what might as well be a maintenance tunnel that's over a thousand years old.

"What should we do?" Roshia asks her companion. "We opened the door, so the others will know that we arrived. Prometheus and his companions can't hide. So they might attack them on sight..."

Oh boy, that can't be good. I'm not worried about what they would do to us since they can't harm us. But the cultists will purge the inhabitants of this area if they attack me, and stopping them wouldn't be an option since it would undermine my authority.

"Halt!" The sudden shout of my escorts takes me out of my thoughts, and they take their positions in front of me while raising their rifles.

What are they doing? I can't see anything-

Two blips appear on my lifeforce detector, and two thin long-eared men appear in the corridor. Silence falls as they realize that we aren't supposed to be there, and they barely even register Roshia and Elora.

"Intruders!" they shout in unison. They reach for a short javelin strapped to their back, but their movements are too slow, and the Legionaries gun them down before they can throw their weapons.

"Y-You monsters!"Roshia shouts and rushes towards us.

"An act of aggression against Prometheus will not be permitted! Your existence has been forfeited!" they shout as they turn the two women into a paste.

I think this isn't the best way to leave a good first impression.

...Riley's PoV...

A heavy sigh leaves my mouth as I go back to my room; this has been a hard day.

"The Matriarch has requested your presence." A voice echoes in my head, so I change courses and head towards my mother's office. I encounter Steve on my way here.

"How are you doing? It's been a while." he asks, and I answer with a wry smile "I'm good, thank you. From the way you look, things aren't so calm on your side..."

Our mother separated us even further after the Beelzebub Incident, and she has been too busy with partitioning the Scalebound wealth to eve, answer my calls. Her punishment is disproportionate, and her feud with John has reached a new low.

But she isn't the only one to blame, John's gratuitous provocations and disrespect for the Rules are also at fault. I warned him, told him that he should try to make amends... But he made things even worse because of his pride.

The points he mentioned do make sense, and the Families are not without faults. But I believe that violently tearing down the entire system isn't going to work, reforming it seems like the better course of action rather than needlessly sacrificing lives in a bloody war.

In a sense, these two are quite similar since they are unwilling to compromise and are persuaded that their ways of doing things are the best. But the two will get angry with me if they ever hear my thoughts.

On the other hand, Steve agrees entirely with John's cause. He was in an auxiliary unit during the Incident, and they experienced heavy losses. Seeing a large number of his comrades die must have clouded his judgment, and this has worsened his already tense relationship with our mother.

*At least I hope that the rumors aren't real...*

Factionalism is another problem that nobody talks about, but we all know that it's here. Some people believe that the Incident was handled poorly and that the massive losses could have been avoided if not for the incompetence of the leadership, so they need to be more accountable. On the other hand, some believe that the entire system is rotten to the core and needs to be scrapped in its entirety.

However, these opinions couldn't be more opposed to what the high-ranked people think. For them, the current system is perfect and doesn't need to be changed in the slightest.

I'm currently not in any faction, but rumors say that Steve is a figurehead of the Freedom Movement, as they are rumored to call themselves; they are the faction that wants to remove the Enforcer system. The other, more moderate, faction call themselves the Reformists, and the people that are still believing in the current system are labeled as Loyalists by the insurgent groups.

The Incident showcased that the current system had its flaws and that introducing reforms would benefit everyone involved. On that point, I agree with the Reformists.

But their methods are where I disagree. They want to force the change to happen. It has to happen from within the system, the Families have to come together and agree on a new set of Rules, or it will lead to countless wars and rebellions that will benefit no one.

Of course, the last faction, if we can even call it that, is John's foolish rebellion. As far as I know, no one has joined him, and he has done nothing to recruit soldiers. I think he doesn't really plan to start a full-scale rebellion and that he just acted out of spite.

He has to be. No one would be insane enough to openly rebel with no backing or resources to sustain a large scale conflict, right?

"We're here, but I don't know why she bothers us." Steve interrupts my thoughts, and I realize that we arrived in front of our mother's office. The door opens on its own, and it reveals the simple interior. However, the person sitting in the chair doesn't look so familiar.

Our mother burned her lifeforce during the Incident, and it took a drastic toll on her health. She looks tired and weary; her hair is no longer black, it's now almost white.

"So you finally came." She says with a hoarse and croaky voice before glancing at us. "Have a seat."

Steve glares at her before sitting down. I hope this meeting will not devolve into a shouting match again.

"The negotiations should be over soon, so-"

"This isn't the first time that I heard that..." Steve snarls, "So how much did we lose this time?"

Our mother clenches her fists and takes a deep breath, "As I said, the negotiations are reaching their end. If things go as planned, we should keep about twenty-one percents of the Scalebound assets, so-"

"Twenty-one?! Who are we giving this to?! We earned those treasures with our blood and efforts! Where were these people when we needed them?!" Steve stands up and rants.

Flickering lightning appears around Alice, who growls, "Listen, impudent child, calm down or I will-"

"Or you will do what? Unconditionally accept any demands like you've been doing for all those years?" he growls as flames start to cover his body.

*When did he learn to do that?*

"I didn't have a choice! We need to preserve our status!" our mother shouts back.

"What status?! Our reputation has been slammed into the ground. Nobody respects us anymore! Even our allies are betraying us!" Steve says.

It's not a secret that individual members of our faction have used the Incident to grow stronger, and some have already reached a considerable size. So it's only a question of time before some of those Families, encouraged by their recent territorial gains, ask for more than they deserve in the negotiations.

Or they might start their own faction.

Either way, it's a problem for us. We are supposed to be leading the negotiations, but at this rate, we'll be less powerful than other Families participating in the discussions. And if we reach that point, then there's no doubt that they'll do anything they can to force us to give them favorable terms.

And accepting the demands of a Family means refusing another, and this will undoubtedly be a source of conflict in the future. I shake my head, no matter what we do; the Incident will be the origin of numerous disputes in the future.

I focus back on reality when Steve and our mother stop shouting at each other.

"Now, let's get back on topic... You two must wonder why I called you here, right?" we both nod in unison, it's rare for her to call for us these days, and especially both at once.

"I used a lot of lifeforce during the Incident... to be frank, I don't know how much time I have left," she says in a somber tone.

A heavy silence falls onto the room. I knew that she was affected by the loss of lifeforce, but I buried it in the back of my head. But now it's time to face reality.

"I don't know how much time I have left. This situation rarely happens so our doctors can't make a good diagnostic. It could be a month, a year or even a century. Either way, I need to make preparations for my eventual death." Alice says with a tired voice. "I'll be honest, both of you have flaws. But I need to choose a successor, or else the Family will fall into a succession crisis, and this will truly be the end for us. I want both of you to promise me that you will not fight my decision and cause unnecessary unrest in this critical period."

Steve and I exchange a glance. We were aware of the fact that one of us would take the lead at some point, but being in this situation isn't quite like how I imagined it would go.

"I promise." We say in unison.

Alice nods, "Good, then the successor of the Wolfheart Family will be..." she takes a good look at each of us before leaning back in her chair."Riley, you're the one who will guide the Family once I pass away."

Oh.