Census

The crowd couldn't help but feel a little happy when they heard that the Mayor was going to revert his order and make it so that they didn't have to work on the farm anymore.

"Well… if you're going to change it then… we don't really have any reason to be angry, I suppose," one of the people said.

"Yes," another woman said. "So… can we go back?"

The others looked at him curiously as well.

The mayor shook his head. "I'm sorry, but not yet. While it is true that I will revert your situation, it will take some time for me to do so," the mayor said. "As you might know, we are low on food supply this year. There are rations in the mansion that I can hand out in the worst-case scenario, but we still need people to grow the food for now."

"But—"

"I know, I know," the mayor said. "I will do my best to find ones that actually deserve to be here. Please, just give me 3 more months. I promise you, you will immediately start seeing the changes."

"What do you plan on doing exactly?" one of the people asked.

"Well… I think I should start with a census. It's been years since we have taken one, so I think it's about time to take a census again and hopefully find ones that we can replace you with," the Mayor said. "Of course, I can't guarantee that all of you will be changed since some of you should be Dulls too, and as you know, if there is a place here, Dulls will have to work here."

A few people in the crowd immediately lost their smiles. The rest of them were happy at least, and they quickly agreed to the mayor's words.

"Please, you can return back to your home. The sun should be setting anytime now," the old man said

"Yes, thank you," the crowd said and walked away.

The mayor sighed after everyone walked away and shook his head. The 3 young men behind him tried to figure out what he was thinking, but they couldn't.

"Mayor, are we really doing a census?" one of the young men named Yusa asked.

"We have no choice," the old man said. "We need to find people that we can make work on the farm without the others being in fear of having to do the same. We need to nip this resistance in the bud."

The mayor turned around. "I'll have to think of exactly what to do for now, but we need to use this census as a means to find out just who exactly is trying to destroy the peace of this town," he said. "I'll brief the Defenders tomorrow about everything. It should be the perfect timing to implement what I have been planning on doing for the past 3 months too."

"Mayor… are you finally going to have the training Defenders work as well?" Bradley asked.

"Yes, we have no choice. We need the number," the mayor said. "Anyway, go back and rest. You've been through a lot today."

"Yes, you too, mayor," the three said.

The mayor turned around and had Illan place him on his right shoulder again. "Stay well, and try not to die before I do," the mayor said. "Otherwise, I won't have anyone to make the new mayor."

The three young men took a deep breath. "Yes, mayor. We'll do our best," the three of them said in unison.

The mayor then tapped Illan with his cane, who took him away.

The three stayed there until the mayor had gone far away, and then they returned to the veil to help with the dead and the injured.

* * * * *

Stanley walked down the road and saw Illan walking back up with the Mayor. He moved to the side and bowed toward the Mayor, who didn't even turn to look at him.

'Does he not recognize me?' he thought for a bit. However, remembering that there were hundreds injured when he was healed, it was normal that the old man wouldn't recognize him.

He turned to continue walking and in doing so caught sight of a young man who was walking back up the slopes.

'Isn't that… Gallan?' Stanley thought. The young man had very short cut hair and his colorless clothes didn't stand out much either. However, the young man had been in the Defender's training class for the first year only.

He suddenly left one day and never returned. Stanley hadn't seen him much, so he was quite surprised to see him right now.

The young man noticed Stanley too and paused for a moment. Then a sneer appeared on his face as he scoffed at Stanley and walked past him without saying anything.

Stanley didn't say or do anything. After all, that was the norm for most young men he met that knew he was a Dull. Nobody really respected him, even when his training scores were one of the best in his class.

'I suppose that's not true anymore,' Stanley thought to himself. He looked towards the veil and moved onward while taking his time since the fight seemed to be over.

He arrived by the veil sometime before darkness had fully taken over the land. The white light from the lamps helped him see better and he quickly found Bradley.

Stanley felt a sense of relief when he saw his brother. He didn't seem to be wounded either, so that was good.

"Brother!" he shouted for him and made his way toward him.