“And now a stage all the way at the end.”
“Are you planning to make some sort of speech?”
“Think of this place as a multi-purpose forum. Come now, there’s no time to waste.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t let the residents watch us make it?” asked Saybil.
“We will show them a much grander act of creation once they are assembled here,” Los replied nonchalantly. “At present the population of this free district is around three thousand, but by Har’s reckoning, the total number of Nurabehn in the New World is more like forty million.”
“Huh? You mean she counted?”
“Nay, there exists in this New World no mechanism to account for the place and number of Nurabehn births, so ’tis naught but a rough estimate. About three hundred thousand reside in and around Kuravanuluox, apparently. And she puts the total number of Exinov and Ignas at just over three thousand.”
“It’s like a different order of magnitude from the Forbidden Land, huh…”
Los nodded. “I do not expect we need actually prepare to house three hundred thousand… We have been estimating perhaps ten thousand, with three thousand already here. But if people continue to arrive from the nearby free districts, we will easily surpass that number. If we make preparations to accommodate at least fifty thousand, we will not have to scramble down the line.”
“I am not sure we can guarantee provisions to feed so many,” said Zero.
“Once the food supply has stabilized, the population will increase naturally. After the war, this free district will surely become a holy place for the Nurabehn, and a commercial hub for the Forbidden Land. There is no harm in making preparations for an increased population now.”
+++
At Loux Krystas’s suggestion, all the residents of the free district hastily crowded into the newly-created area. Los had estimated the population at three thousand, but there were clearly over five thousand people crammed onto the peninsula. Those who were already accustomed to life in the city of ice were bewildered at the still-cold land beneath their feet; most had only ever known the city in its completed form.
Zero stood atop the stage, glancing out over the assembled crowd. The witch was so beautiful that just being in her presence made it feel like time had stopped. Many who had never seen her before let out long sighs and found themselves muttering under their breath that she was even more lovely than Danna Ryl.
A tentacle from the Staff of Ludens extended to Zero’s right hand, and another to Saybil’s left, connecting them. Loux Krystas had argued that, rather than crowding the stage with several figures, the whole spectacle would appear more impressive if Zero stood alone. The Mud-Black Witch said nothing, but all the while she was concentrating mana beneath her feet.
A sudden chill raced down through the stage, licking at the sea ice on its way to the still ocean below. Accompanied by a deafening crackle, the surface of the ocean began to freeze with terrifying speed. The crowd pressed against the fence, exclaiming in wonder as the ice spread out from the six-sided land mass, creating six new branching districts before their very eyes, until a snowflake of land had formed upon the surface of the ocean.
Finally, Zero produced an ice sculpture modeled on the snowflake, and pointed to one of the branches radiating from its central hexagon. “This is where we are at present. Let us call it Stage Square, after the stage on which I stand. Each point contains a similar area, and I have connected them to one another via piers of ice. The process of assigning dwellings is somewhat backed up, so please wait here for the time being. This free district of ours will accept you. We will not pursue any who choose to leave, but I vow not to let the black dragon harm you while you are here.”
Cheers went up from the crowd. Their faces were filled with relief and pride, as if all the terror of the black dragon’s attack had been nothing but a bad dream.
Zero descended from the stage, and sank to the ground with a heavy sigh. “Th-That left even me tired…! Such exertions you ask of me. You work your witches too hard…!”
“Marvelously done, Mud-Black! Verily thou art a peerless genius! I have prepared a show of appreciation suitable to thy labors!”
“A show of appreciation?”
“A table laid with all thy favorite foodstuffs! Ordinarily we must keep one eye on our pantries and cannot brook such extravagance, but today of all days we will make an exception.”
By the time Los was finished speaking, Zero had disappeared. The Dawn Witch looked over at Saybil in confusion.
“She raced off without a word as soon as you said, ‘foodstuffs.’”
Word of the city’s expansion spread at the same speed as rumor of the black dragon. People agonized over whether to remain in the free district or return to Kuravanuluox, and many prepared to act on their decisions─but in the end those decisions would prove meaningless. The black dragon had given them three days to decide, which was tantamount to a proclamation that in three days’ time, all who did not submit would be slaughtered. In which case, the war had to be brought to a conclusion before that time was out.
“We don’t know where the black dragon is currently hiding,” said Ghoda, quietly breaking the silence of the meeting room as he spread a map out on the table. “But if we attack Kuravanuluox, the gatekeeper is sure to show itself. We’re going to have to prepare for an aerial battle─”
“I will do it.”
Ghoda looked at Los. “Were you listening? I said an aerial battle.”
“Precisely why the task should fall to me. Look.” Los held out the Staff of Ludens, and liquid oozed from the jet-black orb then plopped to the ground, forming itself into a little dragon that flapped up to the ceiling and began to circle the room.
“A bird was, until recently, about the most impressive thing we could create, but now little Ludens and I have seen dragons up close time and time again. Ridden them, even. Thanks to which, my little Ludens can now transform into one. Kuravanuluox must needs feel a genuine sense that it is under attack, must it not? Instead of circling the city on Heath’s back, surely this─” From the Staff of Ludens’s dragon fell a hail of Remnants of Disaster, the same ones that had attacked the Witch’s Village some years earlier. “─would constitute a greater crisis?”
“Sure, but ain’t that a little too evil…?” Mercenary frowned, poking at the ersatz Remnants of Disaster, which consisted of spindly arms and legs growing from monstrous mouths. “They’ll really feel like they’re gettin’ attacked by a witch…”
“Then how about this?” With a casual wave of her staff, Los transformed the swarming Remnants of Disaster into jet-black dolls.
Mercenary stroked his chin approvingly. “Like an army of shadow warriors, eh? Better than a horde of mouth monsters, I s’pose. Whadda you think, Dragon Conqueror King?”
“Sure… And to be honest, I’m a little worried Heath won’t be able to keep his cool facing down that black dragon. Leaving it to Loux Krystas might be our best option.”
“Now that you come to it, Heath did throw off your attempts to rein him in, didn’t he.” Zero shot Ghoda a strange look.
The knight massaged his brow. “I asked Lily to interpret for me after the battle, wanted to ask what it was got Heath so angry. Seems his pride was badly hurt.”
“His pride?”
The others looked at Ghoda doubtfully.
“Couldn’t bear to see an inferior creature masquerading as a dragon.”
“An inferior creature…?”
Everyone glanced at each other, but Zero was the one who blurted out, “I see, of course. From the perspective of a dragon, Exinov, Ignas, and Nurabehn all fall under the lesser umbrella of humankind.”
“Try to imagine what it was like for him, being downed by a measly person in the form of a dragon.”
“It must be hard to have such a noble creature as thy steed.”
Ghoda put a hand to his forehead. “It’s not like I ride Heath because I want to… I still don’t really know what he thinks of me.”
“I do.” Zero smiled. “You are yourself an inferior being, and yet you slew a dragon that had lived for a thousand years. And because that dragon died, another was born in its place. To Heath you are an enemy, a parent, and the sole member of an inferior species whom he deems slightly less inferior.”
“I suppose that’s an honor, then,” Ghoda said before turning back to the matter at hand with a sigh. “Now let’s work out what our strategy will be once the dragon appears.”