Disc 2: Land of Castles and the Lion. Ch. 3: No Man's Dawn

The following days, Common Day took the opportunity to learn more about Stone’s Water underground way of life. The sun wasn’t setting outside, so he didn’t have much else to do.

The first thing he learned was that the Arianism Order had assumed responsibility for security in the underground, so they sealed every exit. The second thing he learned was that they weren’t on good terms with the mafia.

Floating Man—the first member of the Order he encountered before—was, in fact, a pleasant person when he wasn’t preaching about religion.

“Don’t be fooled by the people living in hedonism. No human can kill God. Even the mere idea is a sacrilege. No, we don’t support those conspiracy theories either. Think of it this way…” he resumed his usual theological musings. Western Land Slave lay down to sleep near them.

“I won’t deny that those scientists achieved ‘something’. But it was entirely different. Originally, people thought there was only One God, but they didn’t understand that He existed in three consubstantial Gods. Yes, I know it can be confusing. What’s important to understand is that they were wrong in one regard: those ‘aspects’ aren’t equal. They killed only one of the three.”

Here comes the hard part again.

“They proved the world is going to end, right? But why didn’t it end after the so-called ‘god’s death’? Why do we have these extra months? The answer is simple: the main cause of God is still here, thinking this universe, therefore we are here. The universe is not condemned but unbalanced. We need to pray to recover the Third God-Substance once again!” He always got excited talking about this.

In fact, Common Day kind of liked Floating Man. He was intense with his preaching, yes, but the Arianists weren’t that fanatic. The Order spent their time underground helping people in need, like drug addicts. They never imposed their teachings, since their focus was on people naturally abandoning the hedonistic customs from outside.

Western Land Slave liked them more than the Counter-Crusade. According to her, the Albigensians were radicals who believed that what was killed wasn’t a god, but an aberration that condemned all souls to a physical form. Now that such a monster was dead, people must await the end of days in asceticism. They will be free from corporeal prisons. For some reason, the leader of Strength protected them and their religion.

“Golden Shogun, self-proclaimed ‘the Lion’. He rules over Strength, the biggest community inside the Land of Castles. Supposedly, he covered his entire skin in gold to be invincible. I would fight him, yes, if he weren’t pathetic enough to rely on those silly soldiers.”

Common Day was surprised that the tiny girl could retain that much information.

Nobody down there knew when the exits would be opened again. But the population was divided into three types: followers of the Arianism belief, conspiracy theorists who thought this was a government plan to control everyone, and faith bros, only focused on attracting more investors. Which means, only him was interested in going back up before the end of the year.

One day, Western Land Slave arrived with good news for him: she had located Satis.

“Your pink-haired companion? Yeah, she is safe. And hard to miss with those black horns. The only thing is… she will attend the next Sober Gathering.”

Floating Man and Western Land Slave explained what was happening. In Stone’s Water, it was customary to celebrate a gathering where no vices or excesses were allowed. Because perversion was the daily bread, the different factions and neighbors agreed to measure themselves once a month. Mostly an elite social gathering, given that, for the most part, they despised one another.

“How are we supposed to get along with a mafia that brings nothing but suffering to the poorest among us?” Floating Man hadn't gotten over his initial distrust of the Harvesters.

At any rate, what was important was that only certain sectors of Stone’s Water were invaded either by Strenght’s golden soldiers or by the Rose Crusade. The rest of the neighbors decided it was important to keep up appearances in times like this, so they would celebrate the Sober Gathering.

They also found out that more men from Strength were securing a permanent military base. Apparently, there was a big shot from the Golden Shogun army already here. Since most people only focused on their own pleasure or were part of rival factions, it was impossible to form a united front. The Sober Gathering would be a waste of time.

Satis was kept by the Harvesters boss as entertainment, along with others deemed ‘amusing’. In moments of chaos, it was easy, even for a weakened organization like the Harvesters, to do as they pleased.

Of course she was captured. I’m not really surprised.

In the following days, Common Day gathered more intel and came up with a plan. Floating Man was reluctant to, but in the end, after wasting time explaining Common Day some theory to no doubt on your own existence, he agreed to be part of his plan. Western Land Slave was now focused on fighting Valley Work, which worked in Common Day’s favor.

“But don’t expect so much from me. I’m not the most respected member of the Harvesters, ha ha ha!”

Unwashed Meat waited for them near one of the vertical ladders underground. He was “convinced” to help by the brown-haired girl. As usual, no elevator was available. The mafia controlled some of the entrances, and Western Land Slave was good at pressuring her comrades.

Accompanied by the theologian and the two mafia members, Common Day reached the surface once more.

His eyes beheld the sunset.

Oh boy, you are so screwed.

My luck is changing again. And I will not miss this chance.

They arrived at the building next to the upcoming Sober Gathering. Unwashed Meat had to leave them since he had to find a way to make an entrance. Right now, the Rose Horde was between Stone’s Water and the mafia tanks. Not even Western’s fists were enough to convince him to stay.

So Common Day climbed onto Western’s back, and with a powerful leap, the brown-haired woman hurled herself toward the Sober Gatehring’s building, shattering the window and landing right on the table where the most important leaders of Stone’s Water were having dinner.

“Notable figures of Stone’s Water! My name is Common Day, and tonight I have come humbly to offer you my services. Today is the day we rise from the slumber brought upon us by the death of god. Oh, I ask for your respectful attention! For what I bring is an offer that's hard to refuse.”

He smiled while bowing.

Satis, Pretty Anarchy Emerald and Black Tongue were the ones most taken aback in the room.