Riots.

The human and the beast hesitated for a while, but eventually followed after Randall, for their own reasons.

"Jean… Do you think he's going to kill the Queen?"

"In theory, he should be powerful enough to overwhelm her, but… The Queen, like any Grade 1, outmatches him in a lot of aspects, such as magic ability, battle experience, body control… And well, there's also the fact that she can actually kill people."

Underneath the gray hood, Hiyoshin nodded. "Randall can't?"

"No, he refuses to."

"... Why?"

Jean sighed and looked around, only to not see her close environment mostly free of demons. "Long story short: When we met for the first time, he was a novice adventurer. We had to go to a town on the outskirts of Jobbernowl… Things didn't go as planned, and he almost ended up having a meltdown."

Hiyoshin's eyes widened. "Was it that bad?"

"Yes… The six days of waiting for the golden fruits, all while making sure his mind remained relatively stable were a nightmare, too."

"So, all of this happened when…?"

"Remember when we met? A few days before that."

Hiyoshin nodded, slowly…

They kept talking, while following Randall from relatively far away.

Trash and debris littered the stone roads they walked on, and infrastructural holes decorated the normally flawless houses and shops. Within those places, whose doors had been closed tightly, demons hid from the raging outside crowd. 

Alongside the hiding demons, some elves and dwarves found themselves in the middle of this mess. As for the dragons in demon-like shape, they merely stood still, with multiple magic shapes surrounding them.

Of course, in the more pompous-looking buildings, such dragons were advised to conserve their strength instead.

"Shields… fueled with Mana. I suppose the situation is that bad," commented Jean.

They continued walking behind Randall, who cloaked himself with the deep blue hood from the last trip. And the more distance they covered… The worse things got.

Green-clothed demons of various sizes, either actively attempting to break into a few stores, or ransacking the already breached ones.

Meanwhile, other individuals dressed in white fought off the ones in green, but also many wearing plain, dirty rags. Dark fluids stained some of their pristine uniforms, unfortunately.

Even more demons with white uniforms emerged from the gates of a gigantic, dark building, which closed its doors shortly after.

"The white ones must be the Enforcers…"

"Correct, Hiyo."

The trio finally made it near the mansion. Randall scrutinized it from the safety of an alley. 

Circulated by three layers of dark fences, a gorgeous garden with actual trees rose from the dirt. And even a few flowers mixed in, too.

'Is this really a Demon Queen's castle?...'

… In the middle of said garden, stood a large mansion. Five floors, in total.

In spite of the perfect condition of the mansion, the area as a whole clearly looked like it had seen better days. Especially considering the demonic blood, staining the stone-paved streets.

Along with corpses, both from the revolutionaries and enforcers.

The two women approached him, and one tapped his shoulder blade. "Randall…"

"Ah, you two are here. Please retreat from the area. Go to one of the restaurants or something, and stay there until the storm has passed."

"And you? What will you do?"

"... I'll kill her." He declared, solemnly. "I don't know what will happen, but… If something happens, go back to Fegendale and say that I forced you two to come here. That should be enough reason for Orwell to not punish you two."

He looked around, once again, and sighed.

The waves of destruction still continued in the area, and the noises slowly approached.

"...Throughout my whole life, I have done nothing but stay silent and compliant, as I lost everything… I said I would never go back to that, no matter what the cost would be. I swore to never become like them. Never."

He stopped for a moment, before letting out a rather dry laugh. "Hah, sorry. I know it's not the time for that, but… I guess I really wanted to say it."

The human and the beast still looked at the one they considered to be insane, only to be met with his final words.

"I'll be back soon."

His figure disappeared from the alley, as it blended in with the crowd.

…

Meanwhile, back in Fegendale's Capital.

An old man sitting on a throne called out to his sister.

An equally older woman emerged from the shadows, and casually walked towards the Monarch.

"Hm?"

"Mary, would you mind summoning Randall's team here? I need them to fix something for me."

"Sure, give me five minutes."

"Thank you."

She left the room, walking calmly. And when she returned, she still walked calmly. "Maxie, they're not in their rooms."

"They must be eating, then…"

"Alright."

Mary went to the Dining Hall, in Sector B. Fifteen minutes later, she came back empty handed.

"They were not, in fact, in the Dining Hall."

Orwell cracked a smile, while his hand clenched the wooden throne rather tightly. "What about the Meeting Hall? The Training Grounds? Or even the Library?"

"I'll search those places-"

"Wait."

Her gaze remained on the Monarch, whose eyes had been illuminated. Not by sunlight, or fire.

"Mary... Do you remember that one talk I had with Randall recently? The one about abolishing slavery?"

"Yes. He asked you if you could do something about the beastkin trafficking groups, if I recall correctly."

"Do you remember what I told him?"

"... No. You two ended up having an argument, so I didn't bother to listen."

Orwell sighed, while his palm rested on his head. "You haven't changed a bit…"

"Anyway, the bulk of it doesn't really matter. The key point is in our last exchange."

Mary raised one of her eyebrows. 

"In a burst of anger, I told him that my hands were tied, due to the war… And that if he wanted me to solve that, then he should put an end to the war."

The head maid stared at the man in the throne, unsure of how to react. That is, until she spoke.

"You fucked up."

"I know."