"So let me summarise. As soon as Gabriel, a man who not only came through the cleanings of this place, where not only most of his impurities was cleaned up, but he was also constantly nourished by this place everpresent energy, died on a heart attack, the civil war started in this place? Mind telling me then, how did it even start?"Just this summary was most likely enough to put the minds of the people around me on the right track, rather than leading the situation to me receiving the answer for my question, as I already more or less knew how did it happen. While the details and exact order in which specific events transpired was something that I couldn"t guess as there was simply too many possible choices, the general idea was as clear as the sky after the storm.
"Well, as soon as the news was made public, Princess marched in on the hero"s city and claimed… oh."
While still answering my question out of the pure momentum, by the time she was about to end her part, Helia finally caught up on what I meant with my question.
After all, if Gabriel"s death was random, how could the princess muster her forces so quickly, surprising everyone, still focused on griefing the departure of a great man, rather than thinking about the future of his position!
At this point, I didn"t need to hear anything else about the situation. While there was no concrete proof of the princess guilt of stirring up the civil war in my world for the sake of obtaining her desired power, I wasn"t in a position that would require one in the first place!
"Bring me outside, I want to see how did this place changed ever since I left."
Pulling out the group of guards, priests and the princess herself through the air as I followed Helia"s group to the outside, I allowed myself to revel in the sound of their desperate attempts to take a full breath while making sure they could only breathe enough to survive this first part of the ordeal that would serve as their punishment.
Contrary to my expectations, after leaving the sanctuary, I didn"t get to see the entire place fully developed to the level that would warrant the construction of such a grand structure, but instead, outside of the houses I created myself with the materials from my factory and the system help in turning them into buildings, the rest of this place looked just as desolate as the so-called city that used to be the dominion of the deceased overlord of the folk that dared to bully them!
At this point, I couldn"t help but feel puzzled. How the heck did princess manage to keep everyone from revolting when instead of doing her best to make sure all their needs would be met, she poured all the manpower and resources into building this useless sanctuary!
"Where are the homes? Streets? Shops? If you guys had the time to build that worthless building, how come you didn"t manage to do literally anything that I showed you it was right to do?"
While I knew I couldn"t blame her or the people that followed her, I still posed this question to Helia. Rather than blaming her, I was simply preparing the entire group for the most obvious order that I would soon give.
"Well… Ever since that b.i.t.c.h a.s.sumed power… we were forced into underground, so we weren"t really capable of deciding how should this place develop or anything… From what I heard, a huge group of people dissatisfied with her rule left for the western plains and never returned. If my guess is right, they set their own city somewhere there!"
It was the first good information I received during this messy day. At least there was hope that some people managed to lift themselves from poverty just with the strength of their own hands, but at the same time, splitting a unified tribe so early would quickly lead to the creation of various warring faction, all striving for the dominance over the others!
"Don"t worry, we will visit them soon."
As we walked towards the huge area filled with simple tents, my nostrils instantly received a huge hit from the insane smell coming off this place, as if all the s.h.i.+t that those people were producing were ama.s.sed in just a single place, aimed to stun me with the sensory overload.
But looking at the expressions of rest people from the group following me, they were quite used to both this smell and sight, not showing the slightest reaction to it, while on the other hand, princess and her retainers had now even harder time trying to breathe!
"Tell me then, I recall there being about three thousand people in total. Even if that internal strife didn"t really put a dent on this number, with my advice to keep at least five people in each of the houses I made, there should be enough place for at least two thousand people. considering how a sizeable group left this place altogether, not to speak about those who sided with you in the strife… How come there is anyone living in such a poor state?"
No matter how I looked at it, the math simply didn"t add up here! Did the time dilution change so much that entire generation managed to do a round circle, producing a lot of offspring and crowding this place out? But that couldn"t be true either, considering how I didn"t see any real difference in Helia"s nor princess looks!
"Well… That was yet another of the Princess policies but implemented at the time when no one else had really any strength to stop her from going completely mad. She decided that those houses were a gift from you and only those… worthy would be allowed to live in them. To this day, only fifteen of them is inhabited, leaving the rest completely empty and desolate."
That was all I had to hear. Suddenly stopping at the small street between the tents, I surrounded the entire group around me with a weak s.h.i.+eld, before blasting myself to the air and using my flight spell to stay afloat.
"EVERYONE!"
Shouting from the bottom of my lungs I waited for a few moments, hoping that this would be enough to get the people"s attention.
"I don"t care what this joke of a priestess was feeding you during all the time I was away, but now, those times are over!"
To make sure people would understand the meaning behind my words, I made the entire group of the prisoners of mine float below me, showing their grey faces for everyone to enjoy.
"I can"t stand what had happened here, nor I will allow this situation to continue, so here is what I want you all to do!"
Purposefully slowing down my speech to the point where even those who ignored it at first, would turn their attention for the grand moment of my very first order directed to the entire population of my own dimension.
"I want you all to tear this so-called sanctuary down! Use the materials obtained from it to build your own houses, improve your farms, and do whatever else can come to your mind with it!"