Chapter 19: Subtle Change

"Odd..." he stepped outside of the building and he could see that many bodies were being hauled away by everyone in Essen-Seo'O. Not just the plague children alone.

"What are they doing here...?" The various amounts of people timidly working to grab the bodies and remove them from the streets were tantamount to his rage meter.

"Relax, Ora." Rel said.

"They've recently been helping us remove the bodies. After all, if they were not removed, it would spell trouble for everyone. The villagers even dug several graves outside of Essen-Sei'O for the bodies to be put in."

He seemed quite happy about that fact. "You see...it seems due to your frightening display of power, the common citizen has become afraid of us entirely."

"To the point that they wouldn't dare do anything to you."

Ora was perplexed by the change in events. He wasn't particularly happy that he had to work alongside the common skin, but at the same time, he was impressed that such a change could happen.

"ora! ora! look~~" Sela ran around like an airplane and spun around. Her hair flared around in the same fashion as her new dress. "Doesn't it look great?"

"Eh? S-Sela?!"

She giggled. "Do you like it?"

"Where did you get all that?"

Rel Grinned.

"I bought it from the tailor in the west district." Sela said still spinning around.

Ora had to put a hand on her head to stop her from getting too dizzy and falling over.

"Thankyou, Ora!" she grinned earnestly.

"I got the money from the bodies. So far in our collected treasury, we have 1,260 gold."

"Eh? Seriously?!" That was the highest amount of money he had seen yet.

Rel nodded. "And due to your actions, the citizens refuse to anger us...this was the result of your leadership."

Ora held back the urge to grin from ear to ear. If Lynx was alive now, he would surely be laughing in happiness. This was after-all the dream that he had for so long. Wait....the dream. Ora had lost sight of it for a while and wanted to destroy all his enemies. He had entirely forgotten that dream that Lynx and he had spoken about for so long.

His version of the sanctuary, however, was with all his friends there. Lady Amai, Lynx, Aries, and the other eleven that died. Remembering this, a sour taste melted in with his happiness. This place was far from sanctuary yet. But its been decided. He won't leave the country to seek a sanctuary. It would happen. It would happen here.

It was very much possible to create it here. So from here on, he would protect everyone he loved. They will all see that dream come to fruition.

"kukukuku...and just what do you plan to do after that?"

"W-... Alucarde? Aren't you supposed to be asleep in the day time?"

"Where in the world did you get that notion? I've merely been silent and observing."

"Your thoughts just now were particularly interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you were full of a new resolve just now."

"Before, you had seemed content in just destroying your enemies."

Ora nodded visibly. "No...it was just that I showed them that things could not be the same as they were before. They can harm no more of my comrades inconsequentially."

"Eh? Were you saying something just now, Ora?" Rel asked.

Tch. He had accidentally been thinking out loud. "Never mind it.

"Mmk."

Rel picked up Sela, throwing her high into the air and catching her on his shoulders. "Well, where should we go Sela."

Sela who was frightened from suddenly being launched, angrily pounded on Rel's head. "What gives, Rellll!! I ALMOST DIED!!" It was nowhere near the height required to hurt her.

Rel only laughed heartily and ran forward at great speeds. "C'mon! Sela start telling me where to go! If you don't I'm going to crash into walls and people."

Sela squinted hard grabbing onto Rel's head and they both ran off laughing.

"Jeez...I don't think I've ever seen this place this lively..."

"Leader-sama!"

Ora turned around to look at the voice who called out to him.

"Reiol..."

Reiol was a member of his squad. He was like a gifted and hard worker.

Reiol stopped right before him and knelt beside him. "I'm honored to have worked in your squad. Everyone here...they're all talking about you. You've changed so much for us in such little time."

"uh- uh..." Ora didn't do well in praise. He had no idea what to say in response.

"T-thankyou. I'll work hard from now on to make sure I do not fail you again."

"Eh? did you hear what I just said? Everyone is praising your success!"

"I know I'm too weak...but please... If there is anything I can do, let me know. I want to fight too!"

Ora nodded and waved shyly. Completely different from the image he lets out in the battlefield. The fierceness that strikes at the hearts of his opponents were nowhere to be seen.

"Oi! Oraa! HEY!" A punch came straight for him, but he moved out of the way without even realizing it.

"Huh?" It was a member of Rel's unit... Irez was his name... Or something like that.

"Wow! as expected. You're strong!"

"What's the big idea, coming in with a punch?"

"Eh?... Rel told us that's how you like to be greeted." A sweat drop appeared on the back of his head.e

"Rel...huh." Ora's teeth started grinding a bit. Come to think of it, that's how he got him out of his room in the tower. He never knew Rel was quite good with his words or his tactics. Perhaps there's a hidden depth of intelligence in him after all.

"I just wanted to tell you. You saved me and my sister earlier. So you have my greatest thanks."

"mh...it was nothing. Really."

Irez nodded and ran off back to work. The rest of the day, as Ora paraded the streets, the rest of the plague children immediately greeted him and came to talk to him with cheery faces. The citizens timidly said hello, or avoided glancing at him out of fear. He was not too thrilled about any interaction with them.

As sunset hit, Rel came back and beckoned Ora over. They traveled for a good half an hour at Rel's boosted speed pace, not stopping even for a second to rest. Ora was becoming entirely fatigued and had a hard time keeping up until Rel picked him up luggage style (Payback for what was done earlier.)

They reached the Northern part of the city. This place had the largest guards barrack known. "There's quite a lot of money here. Noone has dared enter the barracks yet."

He opened the door to the barracks and stepped inside.

The city of Essen-Seio had exactly three barracks. These barracks were built into the wall and carried an intricate living system within the wall itself. This included rooms, weapon storages, food storages, imports, clothing, books, and various other off-duty activities one might engage in.

"I've taken the liberty of moving all the relics from the previous days into these barracks."

"So you mean..."

Rel nodded. "It's not every day that guards get to wield relics, but-" He did a dramatic pose

"There were about 216 relics collected!" He was grinning ear to ear as if he had just revealed something big.

If they were to compare this number to the number of relics Sei'O initially had, it would be less than 2% of the relics total. It was a sad paltry.

However, he could not dismiss the fact that this definitely increases their power potential. "Have the citizens tried to come in yet?"

"Some of the more authoritative figures did try and come to collect belongings. Buuuut, I warned them that you'd kill them if they tried."

Ora scratched his head. "I see...so it's like that."

"Hey, Ora...I think everyone should move into these barracks. It will be 100% easier to protect everyone. And we'd have access to any part of the city through a quick walk within the walls."

"Hmm...I'll think about it." Ora nodded.

The rest of the day, they spent walking through these walls and observing every nook and cranny. They discovered many secret hidden rooms, as well as 2nd and 3rd-floor locations.

The walls that surrounded Essen-Sei'O were about 10 meters thick. Due to that, there was not only multiple rooms, but training barracks, lavatories, and even places where one could practice magic.

By the end of it all, Ora was convinced this was where they should move into.

The next couple of days would be adjusted to making all of their lives better.