Chapter 677 'Ask The Heavens, And They Shall Answer!'
Tamra was lost.
When the Chief of her village had announced that he would be leaving to both the gatherings in order to find out which option was the best for their small settlement that was so out of the way that it had not been contacted by either of the two forces that were actively recruiting settlements, Tamra had sprung away from her mother's hands and shouted that she wanted to go along.
She had been born and brought up in this small place which was in the middle of nowhere, and the only exposure she had about the world was through the battered Network Trinket that had been bought by the Chief at a very discounted price as it had been thrown away by some merchant.
She listened to it day and night even though it wheezed and made odd sounds at times, whenever she didn't have any chores to do in her house. And even when she did have chores, she had a habit of being able to convince others to do them for her. Her puppy eyes were known throughout the village to have the power to melt anyone's heart, and when she asked, all the villagers would always find it hard to say no.
That was partly the reason why she had been the one to listen to the news about the gatherings first, and notify the chief about them.
For a long time, the chief had talked about going into some Kingdom of the other as all bandit groups that just so happened to come in their direction would always leave them with no money at all. They had barely 200 villagers, and it didn't make sense for them to expend a lot of resources to build walls that would be easily demolished by any mid-sized bandit group anyway. Hence, they always chose a non-violent method, which was to raise their hands and welcome in any group and be as gracious as possible so that there would at least be a chance of them appealing to the positive side in people's hearts and maybe make them decide that they could leave behind a little bit for the villagers to survive.
Of course, they had a secret weapon that had allowed them to survive for so long - a small vein of gold had been found right below the chief's house, and they had secretly mined it for quite a long time, which had allowed them to take it out and buy supplies when it was absolutely necessary.
The problem was… that that vein would soon run out, and after that, a single bandit raid would be enough for them to starve.
This was the main reason why the chief had jumped at the opportunity to enter a force and also gain some perks along with it.
Until now, the way it had been was that any small settlement that wanted to enter a kingdom had to actually pay extra tax, or agree to other constrictions such as that they would allow themselves to be employed wherever the kingdom directed them, as, after all, they would be availing the security that would come with being inside a proper force.
Yet, now, for some reason, all of a sudden, everyone wanted to take in as many people as possible while also giving them additional things that had a lot of value.
Counting their lucky stars, the chief had exclaimed that this was the best time, and he even agreed for Tamra to tag along as her wish to go out and explore the world was something that was known to the entire village, mainly because of a song that she sung day and night that often kept up many who were insomniac.
They first walked a lot of distance before hitching a ride with a merchant who had luckily been traveling along the route that they needed to take. After that, they had reached a teleportation formation that had allowed them to directly teleport to the gathering of the Kingdom of Arafell.
Tamra had squealed with delight as she experienced the feeling that came from closing her eyes and then opening them to find herself in a completely different place, and she had actually just stood there with her jaw hanging as she gazed at all the things arranged for them in the gathering.
Thankfully, they had set out early so that there would be no mishaps, so they had had time to completely enjoy each and every delicacy, and also all of the comforts that had been laid out for them.
The chief smiled happily as he saw her enjoy herself, and after that, he had listened with full attention to the Queen when she spoke about everything that they would be receiving if they entered Arafell.
His eyes had shone with delight when the part about the tax benefits had been mentioned, as, after all, paying tax would be a major change for them who had never had to answer to anyone else but themselves until now. However, the rest regarding how Giants would be their family and how they would be able to talk to the Queen on multiple occasions hadn't moved him at all. Tamra had been watching everything, as she had a zeal to learn, and she had noticed these things and felt proud that it was true that at just 12 years old, she was smarter than all the other kids in her village.
Of course, though, during the hug, he had closed her eyes, and when that weird loud sound had appeared, he had instantly panicked and hid nearby in a couch.
Tamra had also gotten scared, but thankfully, nothing bad happened, and although many strange things that she didn't understand occurred after that, the chief had given her one of the ice lollies that were going around and she had happily sat down and relished it while waiting for the event to finish.
After it was done, they had slept the night there and then arrived here - at the gathering ground for the event that would be held by the Alliance.
The Alliance.
She had always felt that this word sounded so good, and as she gazed up slack-jawed to see the beast-like 'city', as they were calling it, in the sky, she had felt so happy that she had decided to come out on this excursion along with the Chief.
Her eyes had just not been able to leave it, and the words etched below it that were visible due to light that was shining out of nowhere onto the bottom of the city allowed her to read the words "Heavenly City of the Alliance" and feel that the word 'heavenly' was definitely perfect for it.
This gathering hadn't been as grand as the one before, but Tamra didn't mind at all, partly because she was too busy staring at the sky.
Even after the novelty of this wore off, she noticed that even though this gathering didn't have all those extravagant things such as beautiful pools of water and lush cushions to sit on, the amenities were quite good, as there was seating for all and also refreshments that were constantly passed around that were in abundance. Whoever arranged this had also been very tactful, as they had accounted for the heat that was present during the day despite the shade that was cast on to them due to the city, and had arranged for things such as ice water and a sweet snack made from the bark of a certain tree that helped in bringing one's body temperature down and allowing them to be comfortable.
And, of course, the entire thing had kicked off with such a huge bang with those two announcements that had made both of their eyes go wide.
Tamra had been most excited about the school, which seemed like a magical place that she really wished to go to. As for the other, although she didn't understand, the excitement that was displayed by the chief was enough to let her know that it was pretty awesome.
The chief had a habit of talking to himself, so she had heard him saying that along with this, the other schemes that had been announced where they would all get monetary jobs, the uniform currency and also just the ability to avail facilities such as the bank were truly game-changing facets of the alliance that anyone would be foolish not to recognize.
Yet, he had also gone on to say that the advantage of Arafell was that it was the only kingdom that had stood stably for a long, long time. Where other kingdoms would go to war, Arafell would always stick to itself, and this offered it a measure of stability and safety that really appealed to him.
At this point, she had asked what his decision was, but he had said that they should wait for the gathering to end, because if there was even one more thing that could push him towards the Alliance, then he might just pick it as there were just too many good points to ignore.
That was when Tamra had seen someone distributing ice lollies just like those given out during Arafell's gathering, and without thinking, she had run forward while smacking her lips as they had been very tasty when she had had them before.
Tens of thousands of people had gathered, so it was quite crowded, and by the time Tamra realized that what she had done was a blunder, the chief was already nowhere to be seen.
There was also a low buzz of conversation, so her using her little voice to scream was also not very helpful.
Panic slowly started to set in, and tears even appeared in her eyes. Zoning out everything else including the voice of the king which was still droning on, she tried to struggle between the legs of all those present in an effort to find the chief. Alas, it looked like she was only getting even more lost, which made her sit down where she was and start crying.
However, at the same moment, something… Incredible happened.
She hadn't been paying attention to what the king had been saying, but he had spoken something in a loud voice that seemed to reverberate even after it was uttered, and it made everyone stop what they were doing and instantly look up.
Even Tamra looked up, but that was because this was the golden opportunity that she needed.
Quickly, she scrambled through all the people who were still, and as even a silence had fallen over the place, she managed to hear the chief's calls for her that allowed her to head in that direction and finally find him again.
As soon as she reached him, he swept her up into his arms and said that he had been worried, and told her not to go like that again.
Tamra was puzzled as she was expecting to be reprimanded more, but she understood why when she saw the chief also look up just like the others.
Curious, she finally did so too, which was when she understood what had captivated everyone so much.
Above them was the bare underbelly of the Heavenly City, which had been blank until now except for the etching of its name in a circular manner all around the area near its edges.
Yet, right now, it was as if a giant was writing letters in the middle area that had been empty until now.
"Ask the heavens, and they shall…"
These were the words already written in a flowing script, and as the last word also became etched into place, the entire crowd read it together, in a single breath.
The king joined in with them.
"Ask the heavens, and they shall answer! This… Is not just any simple Heavenly City! No, it is the very symbol of the Alliance, and the Alliance stands for the people that trusted that it would take care of them! Hence, any Alliance Citizen who walks under the shade of the Heavenly City can speak out any need that they have, whether it be a question regarding some aspect of governance, or something pressing that needs to be brought to the attention of the Alliance. Instantly, the citizen will get an answer, or will succeed in doing what he set out to do. The whole goal of this is to show that in the Alliance, the people come first, and I am prepared to do everything in my power to give everyone the best life possible. No matter what suggestions you have, they will also be seriously taken into consideration, so you know that the only thing you have to do is-"
This time, the crowd repeated the words, but with much louder voices which made a roaring sound assault Tamra's ears.
Yet, she was lending her voice to it, too.
"ASK THE HEAVENS, AND THEY SHALL ANSWER!"
From the eyes of the chief, Tamra could tell that he had made his decision, although she didn't understand the importance of this yet.
They were going to join the Alliance!
At the same time as the little girl began to celebrate, Daneel was smiling broadly as he had unveiled his idea that had led to the establishment of this city.
He was basically implementing something that had only been theory-crafted on Earth, and was supposed to allow any country to become the best version of itself: transparent governance.
It simply wasn't possible on Earth because of corruption that was present almost everywhere, but here, Daneel had hope.
Well, with time, it would show its promise.
With this main announcement done, Daneel prepared to close off the gathering.
Yet, suddenly, he could only stand on the podium that had been erected for him and stare into the air blankly, as the system had spoken in his mind with a message that was so unexpected that he had to ask it to repeat 3 times before understanding that it was real.
[Hero-level restriction has been placed in target Percy's mind which can be remotely triggered to cause death.
Target 'Percy' has sustained critical damage to his eyes.
Input received indicates that the injury was self-inflicted.
Target 'Percy' has been placed in a suspension state that allows a skilled healer to recover the eyes.]