In just a few hours after Amanda's arrival, the Virna Bandit and South Maim Gang were destroyed. It shook the entire city as the three organizations that rule the underground of Ekatoe City were thoroughly destroyed.
It was a force that could sweep out the entire city. They didn't imagine that the new city lord would have this power. Everyone could only shut their mouth in front of overwhelming power.
Inside the city hall...
Amanda was sitting in front of a table while drinking tea. She placed down the cup in her hands and looked at Torkez, who was sitting in front of her.
"I'm thinking of sending some of our people to the nearby cities to know the situation of this area." She said.
"Okay, send the agents of Noxious. Franklin trained them as assassins so they will do better. Just tell them that don't create any trouble or attention." Torkez replied to her.
"Yep, that's better. We don't even know if our leader would care about conquering the nearby cities." Amanda shrugged her shoulders before she crossed her legs.
"So... Who's going here next?" Torkez asked her.
"I don't know. Souta asked me to go to the Champion's Den before but he changed his mind. So I went back and picked up some people before I headed here in Ekatoe City." Amanda opened her arms helplessly. She actually wanted to visit the famous Champion's Den once.
"Hahaha... You don't have to think badly of it. I think Souta will ask us to register in Athen's Legion sooner or later. When that happens, you can volunteer yourself." Torkez laughed lightly.
Amanda smiled as she closed her eyes. "I wonder what are they doing right now."
"Yep, I bet that old man Franklin is causing trouble once again." Torkez laughed.
Torkez and Amanda were talking casually. None of them even mentioned the three rulers of the underground in Ekatoe City. Those organizations didn't even enter their eyes. It wasn't worth their time if they were going to think about them. So they just wanted to talk casually since they had time.
They knew that once Souta arrived here, they would probably get busy.
The inner district was demolished. All the people that were living there had moved out. They didn't have a choice at all. The people from city hall forced them and some people got injured in this process.
After clearing the entire district, the engineers and earth mage started to build a wall around it. The walls had a height of forty meters and a thickness of two meters. It was made with high-class metals so it wouldn't break easily.
The civilians could only watch this hopelessly. They didn't even have an idea what's the plan of the city hall by building a huge wall inside the city.
On the next day, more people arrived. The leading people were Elder Guan of the Witch Corps and Gragas, the Chief of the Military Arms Department.
Their arrival extinguished any sort of resistance from any organization inside Ekatoe City. Learning that there was a Shackled Realm expert in this group of people stupefied them to the point that they couldn't believe it.
Even the Shimpan Family, the strongest family in the whole city, silently drew their investigation as they were afraid of going against this power. Right now, they didn't even think about controlling the city anymore.
A Shackled Realm expert was enough to sweep through this place.
"Just where did they come from?" Edward, the family head of the Shimpan Family, said in frustration. He could only let out a long sigh and accept that this city wasn't for them.
"Father..." Alan, the second son, looked at his father's depressed look. "I think that these people aren't under Governor. In fact, they are far stronger than the Governor."
He tightly clenched both of his fists and slowly said, "Maybe, they are from a larger territory... But why would those people be interested in our small city? I don't get it."
He was talking about those famous countries or cities that housed several dozens of Shackled Realm experts. The small Ekatoe City couldn't even be compared to those places. The difference was huge as they could see it in the goods sold in this city. There were no high grade weapons, potions, or any rare materials that could attract those experts.
"I don't know..." Edward sighed heavily as he glanced at the ceiling. In front of those people, he could only shut his mouth.
"We can only look at this positively. Maybe, our city will experience a huge change and maybe attract various resources." Alan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. There's no need to look at this situation negatively. "We can only help them in maintaining Ekatoe City if we didn't want to lose our status."
"You're right..." Edward nodded.
"I wonder what will be the Governor's reaction," Alan said with a hint of worry in his tone.
Three days later, Souta's group finally arrived at Ekatoe City.
"It's a big city," Isabella muttered as she looked left and right. She rarely got out of the base so she was curious about this new base of Astros.
"Oho, this is our land," Eztein exclaimed while looking around.
Souta smiled and said, "I'm only the city lord of this place. Nothing much."
"It's the same as those nobles. This is your land from now on and you're the one who's going to decide the rules of this land. You can even stay here for as long as you like." Eilish replied to his words.
"I think it's better in Champion's Den. Most of the people there are stronger than me but this small city... I don't think that there's anyone who could fight me." Franklin said with a plain look.
"There is nothing you can find there. I asked Torkez to clean the place before I arrive." Souta said with a smile while looking at the two children walking in front of him with Alice.
The two children were Airi's siblings. The girl was named Aina while the boy was named Anzu.
They were walking several meters ahead of him and they were equipped with purple-grade equipment.
It was some sort of training for him as well. Souta was trying his best not to leak any of the best feram in his body. If he loses focus, then it would affect the two children. Best feram was harder to control than the mana and one of the reasons was its violent characteristic.
'In this place, they would be able to live a better life. I could let them learn several combat arts or spells. It depends on their style. That way, they could protect themselves in the future if I'm gone.' Souta said inwardly while looking at Aina and Anzu.
This was his way of repaying Airi for what she did to him. Even though he never asked her to risk her life, he still owed her and that's his moral. Even if she stepped up because of her feeling, Souta still had to take responsibility.
He wouldn't blame her if she didn't come forward at that time as that's what he would do if he met someone far far stronger than him.
It's her decision to step up and it's his decision to take care of her siblings.
The group entered the city. They didn't attract any attention as a number of people were entering and leaving the city every hour. Plus, they looked pretty much ordinary with the two children. They quickly headed straight to the city hall where everyone was waiting for them.
Inside the office of the city lord...
Souta was sitting in his seat while listening to Torkez and Amanda's report. Listening to them, made him think that he didn't have to give them an order.
He looked at the two of them before he turned to everyone in the group.
"Just focus on building this city and don't forget to train yourself. One month from now, some warriors will come here and bring us our monthly resources. They will also arrange a mission board in our base."
He slowly explained to them so that everyone could understand. He also didn't forget to tell them that if they wanted, they could join the Athen's Champion.
The walls would be completed in the next few days and they would begin to build several structures. The wall was a boundary for Astros and Ekatoe City. Only members of Astros could enter the former inner district of this place.
As for the members of the Astros, they were going to maintain the stability of the land. The taxes were the same and the rules slightly changed but they were all familiar with it.
It's just that Souta, demolished the structures of nobles. In his city, no one could own a land. It was all the property of the city hall and their taxes were for their protection. Some of the taxes would go to the new building project around the Pople district. Pople district was the given name of the land outside of the Astros.
In short, Ekatoe City was divided into two areas; the Astros and the Pople.
