County Magistrate’s Office
Sheriff Bowen after finishing his al at the McCoy estate, did not rush ho to his own residence to find his solace.
Instead, he made his way to the county magistrate’s office to report on the extraordinary events that had happened today at the banquet.
"My Lord, that man Alex that was rumoured to have extraordinary abilities from Ironhold has declared he will pray for rain at noon the day after tomorrow.
Assessing the opportunity, I promised him that if he can successfully bring rain to our drought-stricken land and demonstrate his extraordinary ans to bring rain it will be a trendous rit in his records and I also promised him that I will personally request that you to appoint him as your official advisor."
In addition to this he also gives him brief overview of the events that had happened at the banquet.
Sheriff Bowen also provided detailed information about the increasing conflict between the Henrik family and Alex, including the heavy bet that had been made in front of nurous witnesses tonight.
Sitting upon an ornate mahogany chair, County Magistrate Sai narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
He was a man in his middle years with a carefully trimd goatee that gave him an air of scholarly wisdom.
After a long mont of consideration listening of the events that had happened he smiled and said, "You are quite right in your judgent to offer him a position such as official County Advisor.
Ironhold has suffered a catastrophic drought for three consecutive years, and tens of thousands of people have perished from starvation and thirst of water.
Whatever have left of our warehouses are dwindling, and it is not going to last long even for the rich nobility, if that happened it will be truly a disaster and the lootings and murder will be a common place in the city once that happened.
If this Alex can pray for rain and bring relief to our suffering city, why should I not appoint him as my advisor? It would be the least I could do to honor such an accomplishnt."
He paused a little after such a long statent stroking his beard thoughtfully before continuing. "If I am not mistaken, Chief Constable Simon’s death should be related to him in so manner, should it not?"
County Magistrate Sai’s eyes seem to sparkle with shrewd intelligence.
Although Chief Constable Simon had been difficult to control and increasingly unruly and even though the magistrate had long been displeased with him and did not mourn his passing overmuch.
The man had been corrupt and brutal he was constantly making enemies throughout the city.
After Simon died under so mysterious circumstances, the county magistrate had naturally conducted an investigation into the cause of death.
The official findings pointed toward a homicide, though the specifics remained frustratingly unclear to even the best Inspectors.
Who had killed Simon in this incident? Magistrate Sai suspected it was quite probable that the mysterious stranger Alex was involved sohow either directly or indirectly.
Too many coincidences.
First the bandits are eliminated, then Simon dies. And now this outsider claims powers that border on the divine rivalling Gods.
If Alex could successfully pray for rain and demonstrate genuine supernatural abilities or exceptional ability to back his claim, the magistrate would not pursue the matter of Simon’s death any further.
One corrupt constable was a small price to pay for ending a three-year drought.
But if Alex could not deliver on his promise and failed sohow, the governnt’s reputation and authority must be restored and reinforced to set an example to scare the masses.
According to the ancient laws of the dynasty, anyone who told such audacious lies and made false claims would have their head guillotined out as punishnt.
In any religion it is a very bad belief to die without a whole corpse, if you do not have a whole corpse you might not have the chance to enter heaven or hell, forever bound to be wander in the world of living without any purpose and peace.
It was a brutal penalty, but necessary to maintain order.
Sheriff Bowen bowed respectfully and said, "I understand completely, my Lord. Then I shall go imdiately and order the city gates to be closed to prevent Alex from escaping before the appointed ti."
"Indeed. See to it at once."
------------------
Soon the order was passed and the City Gates were closed.
"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"
Following four thunderous impacts that echoed across Ironhold, the four main gates of the city were slamd shut by squads of soldiers and barred from the inside.
This dramatic and unprecedented move caused imdiate panic among the common people of Ironhold, and they could not help but gather in small groups to discuss what was happening.
"Why are the city gates being closed in the middle of the day? Is there a powerful enemy army marching toward us? Are we about to be invaded?" one rchant asked frantically with his hands.
"No, no, it is nothing like that," another man who seem to have an inkling of the situation began to explain eagerly, the information which he seem to pick up recently while he was coming from the market square where the news was spreading quickly.
"It is Young Master Alex who is going to pray for rain for us the day after tomorrow. The county sheriff is afraid that he will attempt to flee the city, so he has ordered all the gates closed for the next two days."
"I see! That makes sense. I just wonder whether Young Master Alex can actually pray for rain for us and end this terrible drought?" a woman asked hopefully, clutching her water bucket.
"I do not think it is going to work at all!" a cynical old man declared, shaking his head clearly he is one of those who has lost all faith in those fake witches that claim to able to bring rain to the land.
"The county magistrate invited so many witches and priests before, but none of them could bring rain to Ironhold despite their elaborate ceremonies. How can this young stranger be so much more powerful than all of them combined?"
"That is not necessarily true," countered a younger voice. "I heard that the bandit’s nest in the mountains was discovered by Young Master Alex himself!
If he can accomplish what hundreds of the magistrate’s n could not, perhaps he truly does possess special abilities."
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The news of Alex’s promise to pray for rain for Ironhold spread rapidly from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Within half a day, practically every resident of Ironhold knew about the incredible bet and the impossible challenge.
Many people throughout the city had no hope whatsoever for Alex’s rain prayer succeeding.
They had been disappointed too many tis before.
But there were also those who dared to hope that this mysterious stranger might actually possess the power to save them all.
-----------
Modern World, Lotus Crown Villa
In a flash of white light that would have blinded anyone watching it, Alex materialized in the entrance hall of his residence.
After finishing the celebratory banquet and spending so ti in conversation at Nathan’s modest dwelling, he had not wasted any more of his already limited ti before teleporting back to the present day.
There was much work to be done, and ti was growing short with each passing second.
Ironhold was not a small settlent by any ans. The city covered an area approximately three tis the size of Mumbai, with tens of thousands of residents spread across its districts.
If he wanted to ensure that it would rain throughout the entire region the day after tomorrow, he would need to acquire quite a few more high-altitude rain cannons than he had originally anticipated.
"Generally speaking, rainfall cannons are not sothing that ordinary people can simply purchase from a store," Alex muttered to himself as he paced through his modern living room. "High-altitude rain cannons are specialized equipnt used exclusively for artificial weather modification operations, and they are strictly controlled by governnt agencies. The relevant departnts have extrely strict regulations governing their purchase and authorized use."
"But there are exceptions to every rule if you know the right people to deal with."
One day when Alex was enjoying tea with his wealthy contact Vikram so weeks before, and during their conversation, he had learned that Vikram knew soone who had access to these complex and dangerous devices.
Vikram had even provided him with the phone number of soone who could acquire high-altitude rain cannons through less-than-official channels.
Without much deliberation, Alex pulled out his smartphone and dialed the number.
Within two minutes, the call connected and without any further unnecessary he cut to the chase and directly stated his deal.
Alex spoke clearly and directly. "Hello, my na is Alex. I want to purchase fifty high-altitude rain cannons. In addition, I will also need to acquire one thousand rainfall bombs to go with them."
"What?"
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