Upon hearing my confirmation, Chris didn't hesitate for another second. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a heavy, polished crystal… a communication mana stone… and slammed his palm against it, channeling a quick surge of mana into the core.
"Emergency protocol! Every station, listen up! This is Governor Chris. Lockdown all incoming grain transports at every city gate immediately! Do not allow a single sack of flour or grain into the markets! Issue a red-alert decree to all town criers and newsboys… announce a mandatory inspection on all commercial food supplies. Anyone caught distributing unverified grain will be thrown into the cell block. Move, move, move!" Chris roared into the stone, his raspy voice echoing through the device's internal network.
Hearing the sheer authority and speed in his command, I finally let out a long, quiet sigh of relief. The gears of Lulu City's defense were turning. The morning sun was still rising outside the velvet curtains, shedding warm golden light across the carpet, but inside this room, the city was officially battening down the hatches.
Chris set the stone back down, wiping a thin layer of sweat from his scarred forehead. He looked up at me, a mixture of heavy exhaustion and deep gratitude in his single good eye.
"Damn, Eirene... if you hadn't barged in here when you did, half the city would have been turned into those mindless thralls by lunchtime, I owe you one. The whole city owes you."
"Just doing my job," I replied calmly, resting my left hand on my lap.
Now that the immediate crisis was being handled, the burning question that had been sitting in the back of my mind since I walked into the room finally spilled out. I gave him a slightly tilted, curious look.
"So... hey, Chris, how in the hell did a guy selling high-grade illegal dynamite in a stall end up as the Governor of Lulu City?"
Chris froze for a fraction of a second before throwing his head back and letting out a loud, booming laugh that rattled the papers on his desk.
"Gahahahaha! I was wondering when you were gonna ask that!" Chris grinned, his Glasgow smile widening to a terrifying yet jovial degree as he shook his head.
Chris took a slow sip from a stone mug on his desk, shaking his head with a raspy laugh as the memory played out in his mind.
"Ah, back then, this city was being choked to death by a greedy, corrupt bastard of a ruler, Lulu City sits on a goldmine… seventy percent of the region's marine life, fish, and seafood resources come straight through our docks. But that old governor? He hoarded it all, squeezing the common folk dry and selling the harvest exclusively to wealthy nobles and corrupt merchants." Chris said, his single good eye darkening slightly as he looked back on those years.
He leaned back, resting his broad hands on the polished oak desk.
"And ever since I handed you that blue mana dynamite, I kept waiting for the hammer to fall. I remembered how serious you looked when you took it, hoping to hell you'd keep your word and not drag my name into the dirt. Sure enough, when the news blew up that a inmate had blasted a hole through the Citadel and escaped, I knew right away it was you! I prayed you'd stay hidden and keep your mouth shut..."
Chris snorted, a dry, sarcastic chuckle escaping his throat.
"But luck wasn't on my side for long. A high-level investigation hit the city, and somehow, the trail dragged right back to my stall. I got rounded up, dragged in, and left to rot in a cell all over again, thinking my life was completely over."
He gestured with a broad hand, his scarred face softening into a wry smile.
"Then the real truth hit the streets… that the mysterious inmate was actually a vampiress who raided the fortress for a greater cause, not just some mindless criminal riot. When the regional authorities realized the whole picture, they actually came to my cell and apologized. To make amends for the wrongful arrest and let me leave my dark past behind, they offered me a position in the city's maritime government. I wasn't governor back then, just a high-ranking naval official supervising trade routes."
Chris leaned forward, his scarred Glasgow grin spreading across his face with genuine pride.
"Turns out, my background as an old fisherman came in handy. I knew these waters, the coral reefs, and the sea trade better than any pampered noble ever could. When the people finally had enough of the old governor's corruption and threw him out, they needed someone who actually gave a damn about the working class and knew how to manage our marine resources. They voted me into this chair. So yeah... from a Citadel prisoner to a back-alley bomb seller, and now the Governor of Lulu City. Life's got a twisted sense of humor, doesn't it?"
Yes, that's true. I asked another question.
"Well, how did you end up in the citadel? You're just a kind hearted guy, can you tell me? I'm curious." I said
"Ha, it's a long story kid, back then, I belonged to the bronze coin guild, I knew Edrie Collon too much, ever since I caught stealing, I thrown up."
"You know Edrie Collon."
"Agreed."
Outside the town hall windows, the faint echoing shouts of city heralds and town criers began to bounce off the cobblestone streets below. The emergency lockdown was taking effect… market stalls were being ordered shut, and grain shipments were being quarantined at the gates.
Take that, Edrie, Your little biological masterpiece isn't going to tear this city apart today.
Chris exhaled a long breath, standing up from his heavy desk to offer a respectful hand.
"Well, Eirene... thank you. Seriously. Without you barging in here, this entire city would've been doomed before we even realized what hit us… "
CLACK.
The heavy mahogany doors to the governor's office suddenly swung open without a knock.
Stepping into the room was a striking young girl with long, flowing black hair. She wore a crisp, immaculate navy-blue skirt suit paired with a matching beret… the official uniform of a high-ranking Lulu City administrative officer. Resting neatly in her gloved hands was a silver tray piled high with freshly baked, golden-brown pastries.
Chris's hardened, scarred face instantly softened into the gentle, doting expression of a father.
"Oh! My beautiful daughter! What are you doing here during office hours?"
The mention of his loving family back in his bomb-selling days flashed through my mind. This was his daughter.
"Papa! Look what I picked up on my way to the naval bureau, I bought us some fresh morning pastries from the dockside bakery!" she said with a bright, sweet smile, stepping further into the office.
My heart instantly dropped straight into my stomach.
Pastries. Baked from morning grain.
"NO!"
Before she could take another step, I lunged across the office with burst-speed precision. With my single remaining left hand, I slammed my palm upward against the bottom of the silver tray, sending the fresh pastries flying across the room. They scattered wildly over the dark velvet carpet in a shower of golden crumbs.
"Huh? H-Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Eirene! What the hell is wrong with you?! She was just bringing us breakfast!" Chris roared, his Glasgow smile twisting into a furious scowl as he bolted up from behind his desk to shield his daughter.
"She handled the flour, Chris! Did you eat any of it?! Did you taste one on the way here?! Did you?!"
"I... I just had a small piece of the crust to check if it was hot..." the girl stammered.
Suddenly, her voice cut off into a sickening, choked gasp.
Her breath hitched sharply. The color drained completely from her face as her pupils dilated into tiny, pinprick dots… staring blankly into the empty air as if she'd just locked eyes with a horrific phantom. She clamped both of her hands over her mouth, her body shuddering violently as thick, grayish-white foam began bubbling uncontrollably between her frantic fingers.
Chris stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes bulging in pure, agonizing terror.
"W-What the...? What's happening to her?! What's wrong with my daughter?!"
My left hand gripped the frame of the desk, my expression turning deadpan and deadly serious as I looked at the seizing girl.
"Your daughter is infected, the virus is already taking hold."