The Island's Savior

After Zuriel delivered that speech that almost everyone on the island heard, the chaos started to quell. Those who didn't listen to him when he said to stop committing crimes, just disappeared. I wonder how did he do that.

I brought Helena to a bounce house that is abandoned for a moment so we got in there for free. She played fine and let me go. Nisha looked after her while I made my way to the place where Zuriel was rumored to show up and address the people.

I'm here in the place he said he will show up. It's just an ordinary building but with more people than usual. The police are cooperating to control the crowd and provide security. I feel that this whole thing has a chance of going right.

I can't enter the press conference but there are hologram screens that show what is happening there. I'm in the lobby, watching with other people.

He shows up in a tidy suit. His blue hair is slick back, making him look like a young billionaire. It's ironic to see him like this. I know him as a chaotic degenerate. Now, he looks like he could run for president of a planet.

"Greetings, people of the island," he speaks. "My name is Zuriel, better known as the 'Gentleman Thief'—which is something that I don't call myself. I am one of the Rave Queen's husbands." There is a lot of chattering before he continues, "I came here to—"

"Is the Rave Queen behind all of this?" someone interrupts.

"No. I was behind all of this. Me, alone. My Queen doesn't have anything to do with what I did here." He drinks water from a bottle. "I will now start answering your questions."

"What is your true motive?"

"To save the people of this island." I know for a fact that that's not his true motive but I understand he has to lie. "And to take down the All-Seer—who has been capitalizing on all of you to do business with the CTO."

"What evidence can you provide for your claims?"

"There are witnesses when one of the collectors from that organization came here and finished the All-Seer before I could. He was responsible for all that destruction. One existing piece of evidence is that he has the Frame that possesses the Prudentia Library Domain which he could only obtain from the CTO."

A lot of guys want to ask him a question but he picks the only questions he wants to answer.

"You said you'll restore order to the island. How are you going to do that?"

"Reform the entire government structure."

More and more people are worryingly murmuring. I don't know much about politics but that could take a lot of time and effort. How is he gonna do it?

"I will be your new ruler. And under me, you will live like true people instead of machines. The All-Seer wanted all of you from the moment of your inception to be of use to him and his greed. He wanted all of you to become machines that will work tirelessly until you die. Under me, you will rest as much as you work. The Island of Knowledge shall no longer be known as a dystopian realm. Instead, it will become a realm of enlightenment and freedom. I heard the cries of your hearts even if your lips were sealed shut." People are beginning to tear up. What sorcery is he casting? "I flew my way from the Rave Kingdom after hearing your call. So, here I am, offering my service."

He said it with such humility and heart that everyone just stopped questioning him. They think deeply about themselves and about the things he said.

Wait, he must've known what they felt because of his All-Seeing Eyes. That explains it. He just acted everything out.

He's a dangerous guy. . .

Later, I return to the bounce house to pick up Nisha and Helena.

"So," says Nisha as we exit the place. "what happened there?"

"Uh, nothing. Just. . . Zuriel giving a speech. They considered making him the new leader of this island."

"That's cool," she says, not sounding much impressed. "What's our plan now?"

"I don't know. Maybe continue our way to the Ring?"

"If that's what you want, I will follow you."

"Papa," says Helena. "I'm hungry."

I can hear her stomach growling. "Okay, here you—" Oh, shoot. I ran out of food.

"What's the matter?" Nisha asks. "I ran out of food. Do you happen to be storing any?"

She shakes her head before saying, "Most of the food was in your inventory, after all."

"I guess we'll find somewhere to buy and resupply before we continue on our journey."

"That's a good idea."

We walk to the left on the sidewalk. People are looking less depressed lately. More than half of them are not hunching their backs and staring at the ground anymore.

"Yo, my bro!"

*Sigh* Here he is. He's there ahead, waving his hand at us in very casual clothes—a white hoodie and jeans. The people don't even recognize him.

"Who's that?" Nisha asks.

"That's Zuriel," I whisper.

"Really?"

"What a beautiful family, the three of you," he says, smiling with slit eyes.

"Why are you here?" I ask. "I thought you were gonna be busy."

The last time we met, he cried after he knew that Helena is Zaori's daughter.

"I let my other self take care of it. Anyway, may I ask your name, little lady?" He kneels, talking to Helena.

"Helena," she answers shyly.

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl! And you look pretty much like your mother."

"You met my mother?"

"Of course! I'm her husband after all. And so was your fa—"

I shake my head at him. This is too mature for Helena to understand.

"Right. . .," he smiles awkwardly as he stands up. "Anyway, I overheard that you guys are short on food supplies. I would gladly do you a favor since you helped me a great deal."

I was expecting that he'll bring us to a restaurant or something but now we're in the park, sitting on a bench while Helena is playing with the other kids in the playground. I'm sitting in the middle with Nisha on my left. We subtly hold hands.

"Quite a lovely girl," Zuriel remarks, handing me food supplies one by one from his inventory.

"Yeah, she is," I add. "So, why did you come to see me?"

"To thank you, of course. I could not change this city without your help."

"I didn't even do much. We even failed to achieve each of our objectives."

"Nope, you did enough. And yes, technically we failed but there will always be another chance as long as we're alive."

"Nah, I think Helena will find out more about her powers as long as she practices. I don't wanna go through all that trouble for a single book about her powers again."

"You're not a grimoire user like her. You're not gonna draw out her full potential."

"I'm sure I'll find a way somehow."

"No, you can't."

"What's with you? Arguing with everything I say. If you got any problem, say it."

"I got no problem with you," he chuckles. "I'm just worried about how you're raising the princess. She's Queen Zaori's greatest weakness, you know. More than you could understand. And yours too."

"How?"

"Let's just say, there are those with the skill to take someone's offspring as a Frame and kill them wherever they are, whenever they'd like, no matter how strong they are."

"Are you playing tricks on me again?" I ask, doubting.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you tricked me the first time we met. You can't blame me for not being suspicious of everything you say."

"This time, it ain't a trick, bro. You can check the skill tree of a grimoire user and you'll know. Anyway, I just wanna protect my wife's child even though I'm not the father. Because whatever happens to Zaori will jeopardize the purpose I came into this world."

"You want to join her on the Divine Trinity Quest?"

"Of course, who wouldn't?"

I guess normal people like the people in this city. They don't ask for more trouble as their daily lives got their hands full already. They don't wanna risk their lives fighting huge monsters and powerful people and exploring dangerous places like we're doing.

"What is it that you want from this world?" I ask him. Just now, I realized that the question I asked is something deep.

He looks at me with a plain face, probably deciding if I'm a person worth telling to.

—————

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