As the dust settled, I stood alone across from a group of concerned-looking townspeople. They all wore thin, tattered robes held together by simple sashes around their waists. With each passing moment, more townspeople revealed themselves from the alleyways, buildings, and rooftops. Even in the upper floors of some of the residential buildings nearby, people all stared out at… me. Claude and the others told me that I was the leader of the Leung Clan and head of Azure Tide, but right here, in this very moment, was when that truth finally settled in.
"Say something."
"Holy shit!" I whispered, unable to hide my shock as Azurine spoke from my side.
She linked arms with me. "I'm not letting you get out of this. Say something to them, Fang Leung."
"What am I supposed to say?"
"Are you serious?"
"I'm not good with public speaking!"
"What happened to you being some gangster? Was that a lie?"
"No! It just…" I looked away. "It's not like we gave PowerPoint presentations before a fucking mission."
"What even—... forget it." Azurine scoffed, rolling her eyes as she unhooked her arm from mine. She stepped towards the crowd and spoke with a practiced ease.
"Tonight, we were unfortunately attacked by our neighbors, the Yanlin Clan. As you all can see, they've destroyed the Northern Gate. It pains me to have to tell you that they've also destroyed parts of the Southern Gate."
Grumbling from the crowd. If the look they gave Azurine was disappointed, the look they gave me was vitriolic! Strangely, though, whenever I'd look them in the eye, they'd bow and smile as though they weren't looking at me like they were murdering me in their minds.
"Thankfully, the damage to both Gates isn't so extensive that they'll be destroyed for longer than a few days. As we speak, Dai Yuhan is repairing the Southern Gate and will be doing so throughout the night. As for the Northern Gate," She paused. "I ask that you please wait until tomorrow for us to begin repairs to it. Finally, anyone affected by the fires and building destruction, please visit Clan Elder Lynn at the Southern Gate. She will relocate you to one of the newer buildings there." With that, Azurine bowed to the crowd. No one clapped, no one commented. No one said anything. They just watched, disappointment, anger, and resignation all clear on these people's faces. "Now, my dear husband has some words for you all." She turned to me, smiled, and hooked her arm back in mine.
"U-uh," I started. "Hello, people."
Azurine ducked her head behind my back and whispered. "Just go off of what I said!"
"Y-yeah, okay. We… uh… we sure got rid of the Yanlin, didn't we…?"
Azurine sighed. I chose to ignore it.
"That was bad, but they're gone now. If they come back, I'll kick their a–... butts… Yeah. Anyway, at least we're all safe, right?"
While none of the people said anything, a few glances in the crowd turned toward the rubble of the Northern Gate. I followed their gazes, then turned back to them.
"Oh, yeah. Right. We need to take care of that, don't we? I'll get on that tomorrow. Anyway, uh… yeah. Sorry you guys had to deal with all that. It was probably scary. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
Nothing. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but the vitriolic stares all bled into the defeated and annoyed ones–and all of them turned to those robotic smiles each time I'd look at them directly. Still, I didn't want to end this day without giving these people some kind of confidence boost. That's what Clan Heads did, right?
"This whole Yanlin thing sucks, but we're going to get through it together as a community. I'll make sure of–"
"You know why we came to Azure Tide?" A husky voice called from the crowd. The man spoke in a thick English accent and tattered brown robes that stopped above his knee, exposing scarred, hairy legs. As the balding man scratched his gut, he glared at me with that vitriolic stare that everyone else in the crowd hid. "We came here because shit's a bloody mess out there. Igrin, bandits, Ferals. You name it, the Nameless Frontier's got it. But you get used to it after a lifetime or two. Natural selection an' all 'at. The Nameless Frontier's a mean bitch, though. Think you know her n' she throws somethin' new atcha! Get used to the Igrin n' bandits n' Ferals n' shit and she starts throwin' Demons atcha! Ha! Can ya believe it! Bloody Demons! First, they mow through some Ruvians, then they wipe out a goddamn Major Clan! Fuckin' 'ell, mate! Pretty sure that's when most of us ran to this place." He laughed softly, scratching his massive belly. "Azure Tide. Real pretty girl back in the day. Ran by a lovely couple. All we had to do was hunt food and' help 'em build the place. It was the life." The man let out a loud, spiteful laugh. "Then you came along! Saw a group a' miserable blokes survivin' and decided to make it your home, didn't cha? Knew the old lady was grievin' so you swindled her out of her home n' tried to make us your new entourage because your old one flaked on you, right?"
"No!" I answered. I had no clue what the hell the man was even talking about, but because I'd been brought here via "Forbidden Magic", it was impossible for me to say anything in defense of the actions of another man. Around him, more of the townspeople who'd previously hidden their distaste started to wear it plainly. Whatever this was, it'd likely been brewing from the moment Fang Leung took control of Azure Tide–and I'd been handed the live grenade the second I took control of his body. Great.
"Bullshit! You wanted her palace and her land to sate your ego!"
"No, I didn't! I'm not that kind of person! I–"
"We're broke! We're hungry! We're bloody exposed! Tell me why we're even here if all you're going to do is put us in danger!"
The townspeople finally stopped hiding their anger. Their vitriolic stares bore into me, paired with the occasional "yeah's" and "he's right's" from the crowd after the man said something. The cries started small, but after long, they were loud. Ear-splittingly loud. The man they were angry with didn't exist anymore, and they spoke so loudly and so quickly that I could hardly form my words to defend myself. I knew it was wrong, but I felt myself getting angry. I'd died, woken up in an unfamiliar world, killed some ugly ass otherworldly monsters, and lost sleep defending these people, just to be thanked like this? I heard Officer North telling me to relax and not let my temper dig me into a hole. I tried so very hard to do that.
"I'm trying to tell you, I'm sorry for how things played out, but I'm not going to do anything like that ever–"
"You still haven't answered my bloody question! Why are we here when all you're good for is putting us in danger?! Why shouldn't we just go back to the Nameless Frontier? At least out there we know we're gonna get killed in our sleep!"
"Because out there you have no one to watch your ba–"
"Watch your back?! Ha! Bullshit! You telling me you're gonna watch ol' Harold's back, huh? Shit job you're doing, mate. My bloody home got destroyed by–"
"Can you shut the fuck up?!" I yelled. I'd done my best to fight it off, but my impatience won. "Holy fucking shit! Do you want me to answer any of your questions, or do you just wanna hear the sound of your own fucking voice?"
The crowd's roars quieted following my voice. Azurine squeezed my arm, looking up at me with a look of panic in her eyes, but I couldn't find myself able to care about any of it. I unhooked my arm from hers and stepped closer to the bald, pudgy man.
"Listen to me when I tell you this: I am not going to put you in danger! I'm your leader. My job is to take care of you. I'm sorry for what I put you through in the past, but I'm not that man anymore!"
The man looked me up and down and scoffed. "That what you tell your wife at night?"
I took a deep breath…
…then reached for the man's throat.
Claude held me back, grabbing the back of my robe and pulling me away from the now shouting crowd.
"Look at 'im! All that bullshit about changin'! Only thing he changed was his was bloody knickers. Heh, probably."
"You know what?! Fuck you! Fuck all of you! I busted my ass for you assholes, and all you can do is bitch and moan! You know what I did when someone broke into my house earlier? I kicked his fucking ass! You assholes watch a group of Yanlin break in and hide in alleyways like a bunch of bitches!"
That… wasn't the right response. I knew it. Considering how hard Claude squeezed me over his shoulder, he knew it, too. But it felt good. All of the confusion, anger, and annoyance I'd felt probably since this morning on Earth found its way out of my mouth, and I imagine a similar thing was happening with the townspeople if their shouts and swears were anything to go by.
By the time we returned to the palace, the yelling had ceased. They were out there in the street, but far enough that I'd have to strain to hear them. Azurine was silent, giving Claude a look before heading to bed. Dai Yuhan, the main one I recognized, was carrying a wheelbarrow full of bricks, presumably for the Southern Gate rebuild. After a while, it was just Claude and I standing by the palace door. I tried to discern the look he gave me, but it wasn't as easy to read as those of the townspeople. If I had to give it a word, I'd say "disappointed".
"If you're gonna say something, just say it."
"Walk with me."
"Where?"
"Outer courtyard. We need to talk."