Mayhem
Chapter 4: The Steampunk King: Fall of the City of Winds
Marcel and I returned to the orphanage. We were both lost and hardly discussed what had happened, and we simply let Ryan go.
—And you're just going to let me go like that? — he asked.
—Yeah, do whatever you want, — I replied.
Apparently, he didn't tell anyone about what happened.
The alarm clock rang again. Another new day began.
Marcel approached me.
—Did you see a dream today? — he asked. —You touched the sphere yesterday.
—Yeah, I did, — I replied.
He said nothing and silently left.
While everyone went to wash up, I hid the sphere in another place, so that Marcel couldn't find it even if he wanted to. To be honest, I myself could barely restrain myself from touching it directly, but I still managed to keep myself under control.
For the first time in several days, Marcel and I showed up at school. For that, the teacher scolded us, and during the conversation, he inadvertently let slip that attendance had dropped sharply over the past week. Marcel and I exchanged glances; it immediately became clear to us that the reason was the same spheres.
(From the narrator's perspective)
Both Leon and Marcel understood what a catastrophe this could turn into, but neither of them dared to speak about it out loud.
Meanwhile, the situation in the City of Winds was getting worse every day. In just one week, the Spheres of Illusions had spread throughout the city. The government was aware of what was happening and began conducting mass searches in the homes of ordinary residents. The purpose of these searches was to detect the Spheres of Illusions and their subsequent destruction.
Despite all the measures taken, there were only more spheres every day, and their source remained unknown.
The Spheres of Illusions became a real catastrophe for the city called the "Workshop of the World." The number of workers at factories decreased by ten percent, which led to a production standstill. Many traders and entrepreneurs did not receive their goods on time and suffered serious losses. The government tried to cover part of the losses, but the expenses turned out to be too great, and a huge hole appeared in the budget.
In an attempt to close it, the authorities raised taxes, which caused sharp discontent among citizens. Large-scale protests began in the city.
The army split: one part of it stood to protect the government that ensured their existence, and the other took the side of peaceful residents. Riots and armed clashes between military forces began in the city.
Meanwhile, the Spheres of Illusions continued to fill the city. Tens of thousands of people stopped going to work, preferring dreams in which they saw the life they had always dreamed of. After a month, these people ran out of money and food supplies. They also joined the riots and began looting stores and markets.
Most of them killed the shop owners who tried to protect their goods without hesitation.
The city's economy collapsed. Thousands of people died of hunger. Tens of thousands were killed during the riots and armed clashes. The city effectively split into four factions, each pursuing its own goals.
The situation was aggravated by the onset of winter. Thousands of people froze to death. There was not enough food. People suffered from cold and exhaustion. Out of desperation, they ate rats, pets, and even other people.
All this happened in less than a year.
By spring, the city was in the deepest decline it had ever known in its history. Although the City of Winds was surrounded by high mountains on three sides, it remained open from the sea side. The coastal territories to the north and south belonged to the so-called "Independent Provinces," which were independent only formally.
In reality, these lands were under the influence of two powerful states, Aerenholm and Valkoria. Formally, they had no common border with the City of Winds, but in fact they controlled the provinces surrounding it.
On March 21, 2951 of the Ancient World era, the combined forces of the states of Aerenholm and Valkoria landed on the coast of the City of Winds under the pretext of helping the government suppress the riots.
To supply their armies, they used the coastal ports of the Independent Provinces. Within a month, all riots were brutally suppressed.
After that, representatives of Aerenholm and Valkoria declared the incompetence and inability of the former government of the City of Winds to control the situation. The government was removed from its duties. Until the end of spring, temporary management of the city passed into the hands of the military.
In two months, they managed to restore more than half of the destroyed buildings. At the beginning of summer 2951 of the Ancient World era, through a nationwide vote, a new government was elected, which in practice fully obeyed orders from Aerenholm.
In exchange for agreeing to transfer control over the City of Winds to Aerenholm, the state of Valkoria received several of its historical provinces that had been part of Aerenholm for several centuries.
In the summer, reconstruction of the remaining destroyed quarters of the city began, and a large-scale operation was launched to search for and destroy the Spheres of Illusions.
By the spring of 2952 of the Ancient World era, almost all Spheres of Illusions were destroyed, and the City of Winds was fully restored.
As a result of these events, about one hundred and fifty thousand people died. This left a deep and indelible scar in the history of the city and in the fates of its residents.
(From Leon's perspective)
I was calmly washing dishes in the kitchen.
Lily — Mr. Charles's daughter — approached me.
—Leoooon, I told you not to wash the dishes, — she said.
Her white hair was wet and resembled soaked cotton.
—Dry your hair first, — I replied. —You just came out of the bath.
—I'll dry it later, — she said. —And you go take a bath yourself.
—Okay, — I replied.
—And, by the way, don't drink the soup left in the pot, — she added. —A bug fell into it.
—If I eat the bug, it'll be the bug's problems, — I replied.
We both laughed a little.
I got into the hot bath.
A hot bath is the simplest and best thing you can do with magic. You fill it with cold water, throw in a magical heating stone, and the water gradually becomes warm.
This time, the water was hotter than usual. Such stones have the maximum temperature they can heat to indicated right on the package. Apparently, Lily took a new, more powerful one this time.
Though, nothing terrible. You just need to wait a couple of weeks. With each use, such stones lose efficiency: their maximum temperature gradually decreases, and over time, the magic disappears entirely, and the stone stops working.
The companies that produce these stones could easily make them eternal. But from a business point of view, it's unprofitable. So they can be understood too.
In any case, a hot bath is the ideal place to calmly reflect on what's happening in life.
Over the past year and a half, my life has changed radically. As has the City of Winds itself.
During the riots, funding for our orphanage stopped, and it was closed. Mr. Charles took me in, and Marcel now lives with a friend of his late father.
The fates of the kids from the orphanage turned out differently. Some found a new family. Some barely managed to survive this nightmare.
And some, unfortunately, are no longer alive.
I got out of the bath and went to my room. It was approaching ten in the evening. I sat at the desk and started doing homework. At the end of May, Marcel, Lily, and I will finish school. After that, freedom and adult life await us.
Lily entered the room.
—Doing homework? — she asked, smiling playfully.
—Yeah. And I advise you to do the same, — I replied. —Or this time on the exams, I'll beat you.
—Ever since you transferred to our school, you've always been second, — she replied and sat on my bed. —I won't lose to you, don't even hope.
—Lately, your interest in studying has decreased, — I noted.
—Well, yes. But there's a reason for that, — she replied.
She stood up, approached me, and, hugging from behind, whispered in my ear:
—Lately, you've been interesting me much more than studying.
I firmly grabbed her hands wrapped around me.
—You know, you can't embarrass me with that, — I replied.
She just smirked.
—Okay, I'll bring my notebooks, and we'll study together, — she said. —And you go bring me a chair from the kitchen.
It's amazing how our relationship has changed over the past year. We met while chasing thieves. That day, she seemed cool and beautiful to me. At first, she treated me indifferently, but after I moved in with Mr. Charles, we gradually grew closer.
I love her. And lately, she no longer hides her feelings either. At school, we've long been considered a couple.
But Marcel and I see each other rarely now. He also transferred to another school. We live in different parts of the city, and neither of us has almost any free time left.