The need for revenge and justice could turn a crowd of simple, kind people into an unstoppable mob with a single desire: to punish the criminal. By defending the culprit of this celebration, I put myself at risk, my immediate reputation, which could have been ruined by a couple of bad rumours, and I could have lost my status as a popular figure who protects the people of Earth from the tyranny of the fiery nation in the blink of an eye. To prevent all this from happening, I agreed to participate in a meeting of Shen Guan's most influential figures. Right inside the castle, in front of the well-appointed throne room, where military maps and tables were set up, I stood with Captain Baoqing and Li Yu. It was hard to imagine that this was the entire command of a fortress, one commander and a girl about my age, but if I had said that out loud, it would only have upset them even more. Liya had already told me that she had been made Chief Architect not because of the favourable situation on the battlefield: death and cowardice were supposed to weed out the contenders for command.
"So, I hear you want to protect this defeated mage too," I said, pressing my tired eyes, and the girl exhaled in confusion, "What are you thinking? Right now, our people are angrier at him than at the Fire Lord, because this freak is just a mercenary and, therefore, has no connection to the army.
"Execute him," Baoqin repeated his mantra.
Now I saw the same situation that had occurred on the ship, a situation that should have prompted the question: how did the Avatar manage to soften the reaction of ordinary people to a century of war? The soldiers would return to the plundered territories, but not to destroy again, but to live normally. How would they be received? There would be a couple of territories where there would be no problems, but in most cases, the people would literally hunt them down. And how would ordinary citizens, who had grown up in completely different conditions, received an education in schools, and found themselves among the least educated nations, be perceived? I worked through all this in my head, looking at the tense faces of the people standing in front of me, and I realised that not everything in the canon was so clear-cut, and that the period from "divided nations" to "a common world for all" must have been steeped in blood, hatred and betrayal at every turn. To prevent this from happening, it was necessary to change the worldview of all people, which took more than one generation, or, as was done even in my world, it was necessary to find a person who would take full responsibility. But what about the ordinary executors? Well, even in this world, it was possible to get imprisoned. I could recall more than one example of how, instead of being executed, terrible criminals were simply put away. Why? Either they were useful, or they betrayed someone higher up, or perhaps there were many other reasons. The fact is that in the canon, even Oza was saved in this way, meaning that even the devil himself could be saved.
"Wait, Leah," we stood up along the table, the tension was so cheerful — yes, I felt more amusement than difficulty — that no one was going to sit down on the chairs next to us. The fact that he is a mercenary only means that there must be someone who hired him. Think about it, personally, I would rather take revenge on the person who really deserves it, rather than a mere executor who will be severely punished anyway and from whom a lot of useful information can still be extracted.
At that moment, the angry Baoqin, unable to see beyond his own nose, froze. Liya listened to my words in a similar manner, and finally everyone bowed their heads as soon as I placed the crumpled piece of paper on the table. I provided only one letter in which Commander Zhao hired the explosive beast; I decided not to disclose anything else concerning the bidding for his life. It could have become a serious problem in the negotiations, so I destroyed those letters. After reading Zhao's order, the captain's eyes filled with blood.
"Behind every decision made by the mercenary was a puppet master. I have already fought him; this man is very cunning and willing to make any sacrifice for his own advancement. It would be most beneficial for him to destroy you; he would gain enormous respect if the fortress fell, and the explosion mage is just a pawn in his game. And he is unlikely to stop at just one attempt to crush you.
My dear companions were not weak, and, completely forgetting their thirst for revenge, they listened intently to my words.
"I can help your fortress withstand this man's onslaught, but for that I ask only one thing... convince the soldiers and the rest of your citizens to let the mercenary go with me. I don't want our relationship to become strained, and I don't want the victims to hate me for not letting them take revenge.
"That would not be easy, though it is possible, but..." began Baoqin, his tone cooling, returning his respectful gaze and even a hint of recognition.
"How do you intend to help our fortress further? You're not going to hang around here forever, are you? " continued Liya for him. Well, the plan was both simple and ingenious. Of course, I wanted to use the magic of coolness, and not in a figurative sense. Now, society believed that metal was a structure that only fire mages could control, that they built ships and reinforced the most important structures! I remember how soldiers reinforced an entire camp, making the buildings and towers impervious to catapults, ballistas, and even explosions! I could provide the same level of protection on my own.
I took several soldiers of the fire people with me and brought a ship that had been left in the nearest bay. It fit perfectly in the harbour, but you should have seen the faces of those people when I stepped off the iron schooner and announced that soon all of this would become a defence for the walls. This is where the mechanics and other hard workers who knew their way around ships came in handy, because dismantling a ship is a laborious and risky process during which anything could explode! Nevertheless, I grabbed the ship's rail without much trouble and tore out a thick sheet of the hull with my bare hands. The faces of EVERYONE stretched out considerably as they saw the five-metre sheets simply float and lie smoothly on the walls, after which they were tightly screwed in with large bolts. I was creating the desired effect of a badass. It didn't take long for the ship to lose most of its metal, and the fortress gained a new level of reinforcement. If there had been a couple more frigates, we could have even armoured the inside, but the large amount of metal was unnecessary.
Unfortunately, such armour is disposable; architects cannot restore steel plates as they can with solid stone. But it will do for now, it will be able to delay Zhao.
"Well, that's about it," I said, standing bare-chested on the pier and putting the last piece of the ship in place, of which not even the engine remained. I looked at Lia, who was blinking rapidly, and Baoqin, who was rubbing his eyes.
"Tell me this is an illusion and I just died in the explosion," the girl said incredulously.
"I'm sorry, miss, but... it seems I died with you.
"No one died," I said in a lazy voice, stretching my arms to feel the rush of strength. The reaction to the metal magic was appropriate; at first, no one could even believe it. Maintaining my current brutality, I began to inspire awe in people without doing anything in particular. Rumours about me were spreading within the fortress itself. I hadn't even left yet, and I was already hearing that I could lift steel ships and sink a fleet with a single wave of my hand! Captain Baoqin, in turn, not only did he not show off in front of me, he didn't even dare to talk about his level of magic. If sand somehow aroused contempt in him, then iron shut him up for a long time.
Revenge was quickly forgotten, and every soldier was meticulously explained who was to blame. Well, the idiots finished the job and turned me into a saviour, thus completely neutralising the negative effect. Even Kioshi's warriors were happy to see how things turned out, and they were no longer so angry that the execution did not take place.
"Yes, now I understand why you want to hide and not stand out anymore," but soon we had to leave the fortress. It was certainly nice to help in such a situation, but Leia decided that she couldn't just let me go this time. "You've done too much for us, so let me... help you hide from the people of fire."
She sat me down on a chair in her office and made me take off all my outer clothing. At that moment, Lia's hands rested on my muscular shoulders, and her fingers gently traced the scars. Taking a pair of scissors, she began to silently trim my hair and then create a new look for me.
"Lean forward slightly," she said, blushing and taking a tape measure in her hands, measuring the circumference of all parts of my body. Whatever the atmosphere was like, the level of intimacy grew with every second, but nothing definitive happened. "My parents taught me to sew from childhood, believe me, the new suit will be as loose as possible and won't restrict someone as agile as you. The style will be neutral, no one will suspect you of being a sand mage. True, the scars will still give you away...
"Yes, they attract too much attention. I'll try to hide them somehow.
"No, I didn't mean that they're ugly and need to be hidden! It's just... people in the know will quickly figure out who you are from such distinctive features," Lya gave me a wary look when she saw my cheerful grin. Realising that I was just joking, she jabbed me sharply between the ribs with her finger.
Stepping away for a moment, she cut out some new clothes from pieces of different fabrics. Outwardly, they resembled a loose monk's robe, with a fabric belt and sleeves so wide that several of my limbs could fit inside them. Putting them on, I felt as free and unrestrained as possible.
"You can hide any metal objects in these clothes... I'm really amazed that you can control them, but I guess you're exactly the kind of person who could do that. Metal is an architect's dream come true. I hope you'll be able to realise it to the fullest. And this is... just a gift from me," she said, taking a string of beads from her belt, moving closer to me and standing on tiptoe to put a kind of Buddhist rosary around my neck. It quickly became clear that they were all made of metal, as was the string itself. Heavy, but capable of becoming dangerous weapons at any moment.
"Hmm, how difficult to control, what is this? - I couldn't help but feel that the purity of the metal was higher than anything produced by the people of the land.
"Silver. Don't ask me where I got them, just wear them with pleasure," the girl literally beamed as soon as she saw me in my new guise. "I thought you looked like a monk when I saw you meditating on that wall. That image really suits you, because you are a sand nomad, a wise ruler of the land.
"Well, you already know what I like... Thank you.
Hugging the crookedly smiling Leah, I soon headed for the exit. As much as I wanted her to stay, I needed to explore this world further. I couldn't have a relationship with her or Suyuki for a whole bunch of reasons, starting with our fundamentally different worldviews, which would inevitably lead to conflict, and ending with certain practical considerations. This thing... or rather, this whole body of knowledge that cannot be obtained here, and which cannot even be found in a library. Something very important that everyone who had opened their fourth chakra should definitely know.
"There are still plenty of fish in the sea," snorted Afka, comfortably settled on my neck.
"What are you talking about?
"We need to catch some fish and make an ointment from the fat to hide your scars.
"Oh, yes, you're right, as always.
***
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