After I returned to the mountain, sared from head to toe in soone else's blood, Zorgh imdiately convened the council.
How did our councils usually go before this? Purely for laughs, I suggested: let's roll dice with numbers or spin a lottery drum to choose completely random residents to decide on every issue.
But that idea failed miserably. After the very first such random gathering, Zorgh rejected my system. He asked bluntly: "How can an ordinary, uneducated farr understand laws and realize what true justice is?" It's the sa with other professions—trusting them with the governance of the state blindly is too risky. Well, in principle, the old man is right. As long as our residents are illiterate, we can't play this kind of roulette.
So for now, the council consists of the most respected elders from every nation. In total, there are about fifteen to twenty people sitting there right now. I can't even count them properly—faces and numbers blur together, for so reason it's very hard for
to focus on it right now. The beastly nature is taking its toll.
But I caught the gist. The first and main question on their agenda was the creation of our own army.
The conversation began. The first issue was that there are still too few of us to create a defense, but we have to start sowhere. There are almost no proper warriors among the residents. One of the elders reasonably noted that most people ca to Mount Slick for peace and quiet. In exchange, they discarded their past, and so far this pact has worked perfectly.
The argunt dragged on. Soone suggested hiring rcenaries, soone demanded assembling a standing army, soone advocated for a temporary militia.
"You want to send our children into a bloodbath?!" one yelled.
"And you want to sit here and tremble like a coward?!" another yelled back.
Zorgh forcefully slamd his palm on the table, calling for silence, and turned to . And at this ti, I was just half-lying, sprawled in my chair.
"My lord... Perhaps you have a solution?"
At these words, all the other elders sighed synchronously and heavily. I didn't exactly enjoy special respect in this council: my head is a generator of brilliant ideas, but for so reason, the elders never like them.
I sat up straight. My legs nervously tapped the floor, and my scarlet eyes darted quickly, peering into their faces.
"We-e-ell... You know, how much ti do you need to assemble your standing army? O-o-oh, I know! Let's build another wall at the outer ring of the mountain and bristle it with every possible weapon! Besides, we have an excellent commodity—gold. We've got gold out the ass in this mountain! Excuse my language. We'll simply buy up all the engineers and designers from all over the continent, offer them the best conditions for their research. Oh, we also need to make a huge weapons manufacturing center! You have the money. And the ti... I'll get you the ti."
I twirled my finger at my temple and smiled crookedly: "The main thing is that I don't forget about it."
The elders exchanged uncertain glances, but still thanked
in unison.
I peeked into the research room and imdiately bumped into that sa old man. He was practically glowing with happiness.
"I did it, my lord! I did it!" he began to babble as soon as he saw .
He showed
the first working steam engine. It was brilliant. Honestly, I would have given him the "Inventor of the Year" dal if we even had such an award.
"And where are we going to use this?" I asked, examining the whistling behemoth.
The old man began to enthusiastically describe the prospects of automating everything in the world, but I rely waved my hand: "Go ahead, do what you want. You have my permission."
I went out to the outer ring of the mountain. The wind burned my face, and thoughts about defense spun in my head. How to build the wall properly? Make one continuous one along the entire mountain, or several C-shaped fortifications? The latter have tactical advantages, considering the shape of the arc, but then the residents will be divided... although the paths inside the mountain could connect them. I touched the ground with my palm. The stone responded with a tremor, and massive pillars began to slowly grow out of it.
"Bu-u-ut..." I hesitated, looking at the five-ter barrier. "Alright, that'll do."
After that, I got incredibly lazy. Five ters is there—that's enough, they can finish building the rest themselves later if they want ten-ter ones. I felt a wild exhaustion and simply collapsed to sleep right there, at the foot of my unfinished work.
In the morning, so resident woke
up. I assured him that I was fine, sat on a rock, and began looking at the horizon. Winter nights will co soon, the sun won't be visible at all. And then sothing clicked in my head. We need strong creatures for protection. Who of the greats is still alive?
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"Oh, right!" I exclaid. "We need the Demons of Fear. I think my word still ans sothing to them. I definitely know one of them... Aurora."
And then I broke out in a cold sweat.
"DAMN IT! How could I forget?! I was supposed to find a haven for the mages! Holy crap. Idiot, idiot, idiot..."
Snap!
I teleported right to the borders of the Sultanate. Knocked on the magical do, and Trioro opened it for . He stared at
with suspicion.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Who am I? Zenhald! Don't you rember?"
Trioro squinted, examining my red hair and scarlet eyes. "You look like him... Did you dye your hair? And put in contacts?"
"Anyway, I found a place for you guys," I interrupted him. "Where is Alastia?"
"She's in the courtyard right now," he answered, still not taking his eyes off .
Pop!
I appeared in the courtyard. Alastia was just fighting or training so girl. As soon as I appeared, she instantly spun around and slapped
with a massive water "punch" with full force. Boom! As a result, I stood in the middle of the yard, soaking wet from head to toe.
Alastia began to approach
maliciously. Her face was burning with anger.
"TWO MONTHS!" she shouted. "Two months have passed, and not a single note, not a single ssage! You could have at least scribbled 'Hey, I'm fine'!"
She stepped in close, pulled off her glove with a sharp movent, grabbed
by the neck, and forcefully slamd
into the stone wall, continuing to press down.
"Two months!" she repeated once more, but her voice trembled.
And then I saw a tear glisten in her eyes. The anger instantly evaporated, and she simply hugged
tightly.
"I thought... I thought you ran away and would never co back," she whispered into my shoulder.
Uh, what?! I totally didn't expect such a reaction. Then she pulled back and continued in an ominous whisper:
"Mira was absolutely livid because of you. Your sister, when she found out that I sent you alone, unsupervised, was in such a fury that I thought she would tear the Sultanate apart."
Alastia suddenly pulled
by the ear like a naughty child.
"Ow, ow, ow!" I yelled.
She finally let go.
"Alright, enough already! I get it! I just... forgot."
"FORGOT?!" her eyes widened again.
"Well, yeah. I actually ca to tell you that I found the place."
"Well, alright," Alastia softened a bit. "Let's go, show ."
I grabbed her hand. Pop! Teleport—and we are standing at the very foot of Mount Slick. Alastia began looking around in bewildernt.
"Where... where are we right now? Aren't we supposed to be in the absolute north?"
She rose into the air, flew to the very peak of the mountain, and surveyed the horizon. Coming down, she looked at
with suspicion:
"If we are by the shore of the Northern Ocean, then... there shouldn't be any mountains here at all! This place isn't on any map!"
"Well, guess what, there is!" I smiled widely. "Looks like nobody just noticed it before."
"Your ears are red, Zenhald. That ans you're lying," she squinted.
"That's because you just pulled on them!" I protested.
Alastia sighed and simply placed her hand on my head. And in that very second, I felt a strange warmth. My red strand right under her fingers began to turn white. O-o-o-oh... It's been so long since anyone did that. I felt such wild lightness that I almost collapsed on the spot from the surging relief, but Alastia managed to catch .
I lay there, and Alastia continued to softly stroke my hair. Residents kept looking back at us, whispering, until a breathless Zorgh ran out of the crowd.
"Excuse , excuse !" he babbled, bowing. "I am Zorgh, the temporary ruler of these lands. If only I had known that the Supre Archmage would honor us with a visit, I would have prepared a proper welco! My lord, you could have at least warned..."
"Are you that popular?" I asked sleepily, looking at Alastia.
She didn't answer, just leaned slightly toward my ear. Her breath washed my skin with heat as she whispered: "Sleep, Zen."
I felt my consciousness instantly fall into a deep, peaceful darkness. I think I fell asleep in that very second.
POV: What happens while Zenhald sleeps
Alastia smiled warmly and gently ran her palm over the sleeping boy's cheek.
"He's still the sa," she said quietly to herself, after which she got to her feet. "Hello. Pleased to et you," she said, now officially, putting on her gloves.
Zorgh hesitated, not knowing how to start the conversation. "Could you tell us... why you ca to our lands? Do not consider it rude, Lady Archmage."
"I am thinking of opening a school for mages here and moving them all here," Alastia answered calmly. "The place seems suitable."
Zorgh almost choked on the surging delight. "Oh, yes! Of course! Please, allow us to show you everything!"
They moved deeper into the settlent. Zorgh enthusiastically talked about the setup of their new ho: "Mount Slick divides the world into two sides. The outer ring is a true paradise thanks to the temperature of the mountain itself. All the icy north wind hits the inner side of the rocks, which is why it's always so nice here. But the inner courtyard..." he shivered. "It's simply terrible there. Eternal freezing rain, fog, and horrific cold."
They went inside the mountain. Zorgh showed the spacious halls: "Here we have the forges, and here—many empty rooms. There is access to clean fresh water everywhere."
At the end of the tour, Zorgh bowed deeply: "We would be happy if the Supre Archmage opened a school of magic right here."
Alastia thoughtfully looked around the vaults of the cave. "Zorgh... and how long has this mountain been standing here?"
"I hardly believe it myself, my lady, but with every day there is more and more evidence," the old man lowered his voice. "They say that our Lord erected this mountain from nothing himself."
Zorgh perked up, rembering sothing important: "Oh yes, almost forgot. The main condition for living on Mount Slick: to step into the future, one must completely discard the past."
"Discard the past?" Alastia raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Exactly. Everything. History, culture, traditions, language. Old grudges, enemies, and even friends. To start with a clean slate."
Alastia slowly paced the hall, pondering what she heard. "Is that what Zenhald said?"
"So his na is Zenhald?" Zorgh was surprised. "Did you... not know?"
"No. The Lord never gave his na. And when I asked, he said it was a secret."
Zorgh paused, and then mustered the courage for the question that had been tornting him all this ti: "Lady Alastia... and Lord Zenhald... is he a human? Or a god descended from the heavens?"
Alastia smiled sadly. "I know for a fact that he was once human. But now... now it is hard to call him that. Although he really doesn't like being reminded of it. You are wildly lucky, Zorgh. Zenhald is the strongest mage in history. There is most likely no one stronger than him in this world."
Zorgh swallowed hard. Alastia put her index finger to her lips: "Just shhh... It's a secret. Understood?"
The old man rely nodded obediently
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