It had only been two days since Nafız and her friends arrived in the region led by Master Leonardo, yet the trio was changing the place they would live for the second time.
They were at the head of the table set in exactly the same hall they first stopped by when they entered the city, only this time there were ten extra druids with them.
"My friends, please do not hesitate; help yourselves!"
When the messy-haired master turned to his guests, who were hesitant to eat the food before them, his voice was trembling; why this fear, although he always behaved kindly toward them?
"If you find a beating, run; if you find food, eat!"
"This is my principle, friend; how can someone who sees this table restrain themselves?"
Unlike the ten druids, the grey-haired orc warrior wasn't emptying his mouth for a moment; he instantly replaced the morsels he scattered while talking with new ones.
"Excuse us, Master; these are all because he didn't receive family upbringing when he was little!"
Nafız had made a joke of it, but the short man she spoke to wasn't aware of this.
"There is no need to be so tense; we are among ourselves here, please!"
When Leonardo insisted a second time, the atmosphere would soften a bit; the spoons of the druids, tasting the vegetable dishes made for them, were rapidly rising and falling to the plates.
"Nafız, I know you are trying to capture the entire region; is there no chance for you to leave us to our own devices?"
The Master, waiting for everyone to stave off their hunger, couldn't endure any longer and entered the conversation; how could Leonardo not know that even a fool would guess orcs wouldn't lean toward compromise?
"Absolutely not!"
The female orc cut it off like a knife; her words were like an avalanche of refusal, completely closing the ways of negotiation.
"Okay, we might have some shortcomings and mistakes, but don't you appreciate what we've done at all?"
The saddened messy-haired man was speaking in a low pitch; seeing him like this, Nafız thought he deserved an explanation, albeit a little.
"The opportunities you provide to druids, who are exposed to torture, insult, and persecution across the entire continent, are of course admirable. It is marvelous that you deal only with beneficial works like science and art, far from aggressive attitudes; however, you also possess a minus that will wipe out all these pluses in a single stroke!"
Seeing the female orc speak so much for the first time, the Master would ask before he could shake off his astonishment.
"What could be such a big minus?"
"You!"
Leonardo would be dumbfounded; the spoon in his hand had fallen into the plate, splashing food on him, but he wasn't hung up on any of these, looking only at Nafız's face with an expression of deadly surprise.
"Why are you so surprised; can't you ascribe this situation to yourself because you are the core of the order? Think of it this way: if the Empire of Machines hadn't sent you into exile and you came here by fleeing, could you have established this city in the same way?"
"If you think you earned the authority you hold by the right of your own wrist, I will take back my word, but you know very well that this cannot be true!"
Of course, Leonardo knew that he came upon an established order and made some adjustments according to himself; what he didn't want to accept was that he himself was sabotaging his own system.
"Could you speak a bit more specifically?"
"By all means!"
"You think problems will solve themselves as we become civilized by being kneaded with science and art, but I, Nafız, know like my name that this will never be real!"
"I want to tell you about what happened in a completely different time, in a different world very, very far from here. There, the things you call mechanical tools are quite ordinary; in fact, any person who wishes can buy a mechanical tool for transportation purposes!"
Alyon, who initially found the duo's conversation boring, had now pricked up his ears to what was happening at the other end of the table; as for the other druids led by Ainle, they were listening to the subject with can ears, even if they didn't show it.
"The people in that world can only see these things you use to illuminate this place in museums; they can make huge cities brighter than daytime just by pressing a button. Although art is leagues above the level of this world right now, do you know that war never ends?"
"In all of human history, which means thousands of years, the number of years passed without war is fifty; you didn't hear wrong, only fifty."
"While such an example stands before me, the result you aim for is nothing but a big joke to me. At least unless you are powerful enough that no one can mess with you, it is not possible to realize your aims."
"Exactly for this reason, the biggest enemy of the order is you and your soft, compromising attitudes. Don't misunderstand, I definitely don't blame you; there is nothing shameful about acting like someone you are, and I would bet my life on the holiness of your desires!"
After the old man turned his messy hair into a bird's nest by messing it up, he couldn't prevent two drops of tears trickling from his eyes. Although his greatest skill was designing weapons that enabled living beings to kill each other, essentially, he had a heart more naive than even the druids, who were the epitome of purity.
"I understand you very well, Leonardo; you need to act like someone you are not for the good of others, but while doing this, you sink further by contradicting yourself. You cannot get out of the circle you are trapped in alone, but don't worry, everything will end very soon!"
When the female orc completed her words, everyone around the table was looking at her as if enchanted; this would continue until the sound made by the large door bursting open a few breaths later.
Within ten seconds, thirty people would appear inside the large hall where food was being eaten; it was evident from every aspect that these people, armed from head to toe, had not come for good.
"Also, Leonardo, there is a saying in the world I mentioned: 'Speak of the devil and prepare the stick!'" "What are you waiting for! Capture Leonardo, kill the rest!"
Hearing the sentence formed by an excited voice coming from behind the demolished door, the soldiers would head rapidly toward the target specified in the order, while a part of them aimed their weapons at those written on the death list.
"Blood Dome!"
First, the running soldiers hit the blood-red barrier; following them, various weapons and explosives would be tested on the thing that suddenly appeared.
"What is going on here, Mark; how dare you raid my house?"
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"The genius child who comes once in a century, Leonardo; that's how they addressed you while still at school, right? Back then, I always thought you would be a perfect engineer and lead our generation; how naive I was!"
Seeing his identity revealed, the person speaking from behind the door would take his place behind the soldiers who besieged the Blood Dome with slow steps.
"Let's not call it a rebellion; what's happening is just a temporary situation that will last until the Empire appoints Heinrich as the leader of the region in your place!"
Mark was grinning brazenly; for the first time, his self-confidence had peaked against the person he had to accept was always above him for as long as he knew himself.
"Fools, do you think the Supreme Rector would grant you such a privilege?"
Unlike Leonardo, who was getting angrier by the minute, Mark was laughing with such pleasure that his yellow curly hair was bouncing on his head like small springs.
"That part was a bit complicated, but thanks to a very beloved friend of ours, we hope he will help us. Please don't look at me with your eyes widening like that, Leonardo; could the person I mention be anyone other than you?"
The man, first shown as the arch-enemy of the order, would go completely berserk upon hearing that he himself would provide the greatest help to destroy it.
"Traitorous dogs! I would die before helping characterless creatures like you!"
"Come on dear, it turns out the supreme engineer, the man of art Leonardo, can also get angry. However, you are too late for this; we know you wouldn't help us even if you knew you would die, but what if the subject isn't you but your beloved druids?"