Valerian, The Legendary

222 Winning The Citizens.

Valerian and Fragrantia arrived at the central market after a few hours. On the way, they found a lot of things that could be improved. Ensis and Priscilla followed the two people at a closer distance, they were more alert as the crowd from all over the capital was swarming over and Fragrantia was interacting with people verbally.

On the way, if she found any elder trying to reach her, she would even get off the horse and talk to them with a genial smile on her face. Valerian admired this quality of hers and was smiling the whole time. Fragrantia asked him why he was smiling, and although the boy shook his head, in his heart, he answered, ‘You looked just like Mother Diligentia while talking to the elders.”

This interaction was necessary to excite the crowd and to send out a message that the Empire was stable. While at the same time, Valerian will place a hand on his shoulder and frown. He was very sensitive to the feeling of being stared down and whenever he placed his hand on the shoulder it was when someone was staring at him from the crowd.

When they arrived at the market, Fragrantia got down from the horse and came to stand beside Valerian. She placed her hand around his shoulder gently and asked in a low voice, “Did it work?”

Her expression was filled with concern and her lips did not move much, as for the reply, the silver-haired man nodded with a furrowed brow and then said, “It’s okay.”

Fragrantia nodded and turned to look at the side. Priscilla said, “Your Excellency, this is the city manager.”

In the imperial city, there was a person responsible for the management of the city and he reported directly to the Emperor. The ministers and Generals were to mind the entire nation and since the reports of this person were not going through them, the alteration of facts and the degradation could be kept under wraps with the help of an entire network.

Fragrantia never knew about the existence of a slum and when she heard that such a region existed inside the imperial Capital, she was enraged. She cast an indifferent gaze toward the City Manager and said, “It seems to me that you are overly exhausted by your job, then how about I relieve you of your duties and allow some young blood to take over the matters?”

The city manager was a middle-aged man, and although he looked passably well, he was not well received by the crowd as they all were gazing at him with disgust in their eyes. The man immediately fell on his knees and said, “Please forgive me, Your Excellency, I was blinded by greed. I will fix everything.”

.....

Fragrantia turned her face away and said, “Val.”

Valerian took the queue and stepped forward as he asked, “I hate traitors, more than that I hate people who enjoy their lives while the rest of the people suffer. It is simply an outrage to let scum like you live.”

The next moment, the man moved and Valerian cast a wind blade, the timing was so precise that as the man placed his head on the ground, the blade took off a few strands of his hair. The gust brushed past his scalp and dissolved behind his back.

Valerian said, “Hey, stop moving hold your position. I plan to give you an easy death.”

The people were shocked to see the prince cast a wind blade without chanting and they began to whisper that the prince was now an Archmage.

The man shivered and began wailing as he said, “Please forgive me, your highness, I will correct my ways. Please give me one more chance.”

Valerian sighed and said, “Fine, you are lucky to have avoided my wind blade, now tell me everything. I want to know where is all the embezzled money, and who are your partners.”

The man shivered, shook his head, and said, “Your highness, they will kill me. I have a family.”

Valerian shouted, “You have a family and the others do not? You should have thought of this before you went down the bad track. Just because I am willing to talk does not mean I am stupid. If you did not give me the names, then fine, I will find them and hunt them by myself, and then I will hang their bodies in the city square for everyone to watch. Bastards each one of you. Do not test my patience.”

The people in the market were scared, they did not expect the prince to be so cruel but they did not mind him. After all, the person he was dealing with was a scum. Fragrantia sensed something and placed her hand on Valerian’s shoulder as she said, “Do not scare everyone.”

Valerian woke up from his rage and said, “Yes, Mother.”

He looked at the man on the ground and said, “Fine, Lady Ensis, take him to the containment cell, and Priscilla, investigate this matter. You have till evening.”

Then he looked at the man and said, “If you came clean before the investigation was complete, then you can walk away free from all this and your family’s safety will be guaranteed. However, if you fail, I will put you to rest forever and have your family exiled.”

The man shivered but before he could reply, Ensis dragged him to the side. She was about to tell a guard when Valerian said, “Lady Ensis, you do not have to worry about anything. The people here are all our family, and they will not harm us, if anyone is tired then I will deal with it. You can go back and finish this task.”

Ensis wanted to struggle when Fragrantia said, “Go, he is sufficient.”

Ensis and Priscilla looked at each other and before they could even think of anything, Valerian’s voice sounded, “Come mother, they understand, you do not have to repeat yourself.”

They both shivered as they knew the meaning of this wordplay. Valerian was simply stating that if they made Fragrantia repeat herself they will be in trouble, so the ladies left the place, while Valerian tied the horse to a pole on the side of the street and led Fragrantia inside the market.

The two walked around hand in hand, and Valerian will pick up a few food items from the side stalls for them to eat and even chat with the vendors. Fragrantia would smile at his actions and look for some articles that caught her attention.

The vendors were willing to give up the things for free but Valerian stepped in and said, “If you are doing this to gift the Empress then you are in the wrong. Your honest intentions are what means more to her than the material, you just saw that the city manager was simply a disease, and the medicine to that disease is honesty and unity of you all.”

That said, he paid everything they owed from his pocket. The coins were his pocket money accumulated over time. Fragrantia and Valerian had lunch in a small restaurant without any scruples and the lady even praised the food. She even asked the chef to pass on the recipe if possible as she would like the chef to prepare this at the palace.

Valerian simply ordered a few take-outs and stored them in his magic pouch. It was time for them to return in the late noon. They came to the entrance of the market and found Priscilla standing there with ten or so men kneeling on the ground.

Priscilla said after a bow, “Your Highness, these people deal with everything inside the so-called Slum area. They have many underlings, but the main force is driven by these people. The underlings are all in cells. I brought them here for you to deal with.”

Valerian nodded and asked, “Do they have any family?”

Priscilla nodded, and Valerian sighed, “Where are they? Do they know what sins these guys have committed?”

The Empress was surprised and confused thinking about where was this child going. Priscilla nodded, “They were informed when these men were arrested.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Since you all dared to commit the sin of destroying lives and separating families, how about this? From now on, your families will disown you, you will all be revoked of your last name, and your duties in the city guard will be taken away as well. If your family looks for you or contacts you unless it is an emergency, you will all be exiled together.

Do not worry, the empire will look after the well-being of your families, I am not cruel to punish the innocent. You all dared to trample over and disrupt the harmony of the big family that Lumen is. This is still light, if not for your families, I would have taken you all on a naked walk of shame and then hung you on the city square.”

He was not agitated but his words about death punishment still scared the shit out of people.

A few minutes later, the guilty accepted their fates and Priscilla took them away. Suddenly, a girl said, “All hail Fourth Prince.”

The next moment, the entire street was echoing with cheers for the prince and the empress. The scene was akin to when the warriors returned home after winning a war. It was unknown who had first showered flowers, but soon everyone was showering them with flower petals.

Valerian had a smile on his face but he was thinking in his mind, ‘Let’s see what you will do now, Jamal Centurion.’