The heads of the three families and their children were present in the meeting hall. Everyone turned towards Nafız sitting at the head of the long table.
"I have made my decision; you will be the first to learn the identity of the new city lord!"
Those in the room were waiting for this moment. Their morale had dropped a bit upon seeing the human warriors coming from Nikonya. The orcs had the power to easily bring one of them to this position.
"As you guessed, it won't be someone from our own army. The City Lord is sitting in this room!"
The enthusiasm of Quintus, whose eyes lit up suddenly, would fade with the same speed. After all the events that occurred, he was the person with the lowest probability. He would be considered lucky if he could keep the Arena in his hands.
"Nafız, please explain; I'm very excited!"
Young Eftelya had joined such a meeting for the first time; the silent tension of the environment was tiring her. After Nafız looked at the girl's condition and gave a small smile, she spoke.
"Okay, little lady, I can't refuse you!"
"The new city lord will be Marcos from the Cervantes family!"
Time practically stopped in the room. While it was thought that Niko would be the City Lord since she had lived with them for a long time, Marcos, the youngest male in the environment, would undertake such an important task.
"Are you surprised, young man? Actually, while Astute was living his last moments, the priority was still with Quintus. With you delivering the final blow, you proved your mettle!"
When her words ended, the fat man looked at Nafız with disbelieving eyes; could he have been the City Lord? When the question 'why' spreading across everyone's face didn't come out of their mouths, the female orc took a deep breath and continued her words.
"I talked a lot today. I won't repeat it once more; listen to me well. When I explained my plan, all three of you accepted it, but when the people in the stands started being slaughtered, you practically froze. Unlike you, Quintus took priority and quickly fulfilled what he needed to do!"
What was said was true! Even though they knew beforehand, the leaders of the Partheni and Cervantes families became unable to know what to do in the face of people's screams. At the same moments, Quintus was able to kill his wife and son, whom he loved more than his life for years, with the fire of revenge.
"Let's come to Marcos. Despite his age, he is very audacious; he knows how to evaluate an opportunity when he finds it. While events were taking place, he was competent enough to fulfill literally whatever task was given to him, and finally, he proved that he could do what needed to be done without getting emotional."
Since the first day at the slave market, Marcos had been winning Nafız's appreciation with every move. He extended a helping hand to Eftelya who was being bullied, clashed with Quintus in the arena, and ensured secrecy and efficiency at the gate under his control during the passage of orc units entering the city. Only one question mark remained in minds. How savage could he get?
When he took the dagger from Nafız's hand and plunged it into Astute's head, he found the answer to this question. The young boy would be the new lord of Parthenia.
"Does anyone want to say any words regarding this decision?"
About a hundred breaths passed, but no one eager to speak appeared yet. Nafız, wandering her gaze over the people around the table, said, "I thought so too!"
"I don't consider much change other than this; my student will explain the details when he arrives here!"
Although not much time had passed since the conquest of Parthenia, the news reached the tribe in the arid region. Nafız had sent the detailed plan of the city, financial tables, and secret information obtained from the Black Harbor Unit to her student.
Receiving the news and documents, Kitapkurdu set off towards Parthenia under Sangre's leadership after a short examination. While examining the documents in his rapidly advancing cabin, he was very excited to see his master again.
The person managing the caravan had also received the news, and a completely different fire was burning inside him. Anger! Sangre had gone mad because he couldn't be in the slaughter that took place, and this mood of his was enough to make the whole caravan uneasy.
The day after the meeting, the people gathered in the city's largest square. While the magnificent stage built was surrounded by bodyguards, the leaders and senior administrators of the three noble families were sitting on it.
The crowd, excited because the new lord would be announced, started shouting unable to control their excitement when they saw Quintus stepping forward after a long wait.
"Silence!"
When his voice dispersed echoing, the short man was practically transforming into a giant in the eyes of the listeners.
"Today, the task of announcing the new city lord was given to me. Unlike the people appointed over us for a century, a child of Parthenia will rule us from now on!"
Before Quintus finished his words, a wave of enthusiasm spread among the people. Everyone was aware that orcs coming from outside the city had a finger in what happened; the fear that the new lord would be one of them was gnawing at their insides.
"Happy days await us where we will walk behind the person who will wipe away the past and carry our city forward to prosperous days. Without further ado, I announce to you our new city lord!"
When the moment came that people in the square could hear each other's heartbeats, Quintus said his final words.
"Lord Marcos from House Cervantes!"
The people, to whose minds Fernandez's name immediately fell when House Cervantes was mentioned, shouted with joy after being surprised at first upon hearing his young son's name.
"Long live Lord Marcos!"
"Long live the new Lord!"
Amidst the cheers of the people, Marcos advanced with firm steps towards the stage left to him. The young man, wandering his gaze over the crazy crowd, began his speech as the voices decreased.
"Valued people of Parthenia! As a person raised in the bosom of the city, it is a great happiness to be deemed worthy of this title!
Parthenia, ruled by foreigners for a century, will be ruled by its own children again. Carrying this pride in our hearts is our greatest right!"
Marcos touched the heartstrings of the crowd. Along with his words, a flood of love was flowing towards him. The new Lord, taking the wind behind him, didn't stop.
"From this moment on, the administration will truly be carried out by the city council. Representatives of the people will also be here now!"
This was the final point; neither the murders experienced nor the death of an arena full of people was important right now. The new Lord had said a representative of the people. For people ruled with an iron fist for years, this was like a rain drop in the desert where they were scorched by thirst.
While Marcos withdrew from the stage finishing his words, the festival began. Thanks to the celebrations held until the next day-cycle, it was officially declared that a new era had opened.
Nafız and Alyon were evaluating what happened, meeting at the gladiator school of the Agustus house following the announcement of the lord.
"Damn you, Ox-head Alyon, good thing we told you not to hit too hard. My insides came out in the arena!"
Nafız, teasing her friend while eating from the food in front of her, assumed a serious expression.
"Come on! You blocked all of them with Abarran's weapons; who are you fooling?"
Actually, it was Alyon whose life was in danger. If the sharp side of the weapon coming out of the wristbands hit his fists, his hands could become unusable.
"There is a woman in front of you! Learn some politeness, bear!"
The hulking orc, not knowing what to say when spoken to about a concept very far from his own culture, shouted as the door knocked.
"Come in!"
It was Morrison. Alyon wanted to introduce the person he would take as an instructor to the orc tribe in this region to Nafız as well.
"If we went and dug a grave in the evening, we would have probably found something more lively instead of this!"
The instructor was stunned by the words of the female orc he saw up close for the first time.
"What are you saying, man; who are you showing off to?"
While Morrison fixed his eyes on her, Nafız was practically challenging him with her gaze. The duo scanned each other like hyenas prepared for war for ten breaths.
"Bang!"
At that moment, a loud sound came from the table where the food was. After hitting her hand violently on the table, Nafız made the room ring with a big laughter. The dazed instructor looked at Alyon and saw that he was smiling too.
"Come sit, my friend. With those looks, you can outdo many young people!"