Chapter 32: Letters I

"The weather is awful today"

President Mox commented as such while looking through the window in his office. It was in fact pouring outside and the rain seemed to have no end in sight, occasional thunder could be heard as well.

"Sigh… what a headache"

He rubbed his temples but that hardly alleviated his stress. The situation was in fact a bit… heated. Yesterday's raid of the Ourobouros hideout caused a lot of unrest in the Coln district.

There is a limit to what people can tolerate and a complete disregard of their dignity and lives for yet another time definitely crossed it. The entire district is now like a gunpowder barrel that is more than ready to be ignited.

"That stupid mage! He couldn't just raid the hideout but the entire street as well! ThEre wAs a PoTeNtiaL oF a TrAp. It'S BetTEr SaFe THaN soRRy. My a*s!"

The president was clearly in a bad mood because of this. In anger he sat at his desk and decided to write another letter requesting a dismissal of Victor.

"...clearly not qualified as a protector mage. Perfect"

He looked with pride at the letter he wrote.

His skill at writing this type of letters definitely improved since over the past month he wrote maybe around four such letters per week, all regarding Victor of course. Sadly his screams and tears only fell deaf on the ears of the people in the capitol. This time though he was sure they would be unable to ignore him any longer.

*Knock* *Knock*

The sound of knocking put his fantasies aside however.

"Come in!"

"Sir, there is a letter. A police officer delivered it and said it was urgent"

It was his butler who knocked. He appeared slightly flustered when placing the letter on his employer's desk.

"You may leave…"

The butler bowed slightly with his hand on his chest and then left in a hurry. He was no fool and knew well to not be in sight of his employer when he was angry. Who knows he might take out his frustration on him and then fire him? Better safe than sorry. It's a good saying.

"I will be damned..."

The president touched the letter and two runes suddenly appeared on it. One symbolised 'confinement' and the other 'protector'. The first rune served the purpose of a seal whereas the second a simple identification of a sender and it obviously pointed to Victor.

Usually there are supposed to be three runes in total on such a letter and this missed one symbolising the addressee but since it was delivered directly it is understandable why it was omitted. Of course the address was written normally since you can't use a rune that could be compared to a simple symbol to possibly describe some sort of street or location.

That would be silly.

Addition of runes to letters was a form of official culture and everyone from the 'top class' or anyone who wanted to appear educated used them. To not do so could be even considered insulting to some.

Anyway, the president tracked with his thumb a simple rune symbolising 'opening' and the letter unsurprisingly opened. He now could start reading it.

"...I can only imagine that you are dissatisfied with my actions and that you may be angry…"

*Bang*

The letter was accurate since the president was utterly livid, so much so that he banged the desk with his fist while reading that.

"Sigh…"

He took a deep breath in order to calm himself and decided to continue.

"...but my insistence proved to be correct as notes confirming the development of a magical array were discovered and my theory about a failed experiment turned out to be correct. The man we captured yesterday confirmed this as well during interrogation. They were working on an offensive type of array, it remains unknown how an accident occurred besides a speculation of a human error but that puts an end to my investigation and the blockade of the city shall be lifted…"

The president moved his lips weirdly and even smacked them a couple of times. He felt really bitter on the tongue for some reason. He technically got what he wanted. The blockade will finally be lifted but to hear he was right… It made him frustrated, nevertheless he continued to read.

"...I also understand that my aggressive methods, although effective, caused some unwanted unrest in the Coln district. That's why I propose a public execution of the two prisoners we captured. This to some extent should quell the anger of the people or at least change its target to Ouroboros. I believe this decision falls under your jurisdiction…"

This caused the president to fall deep into thought and the more time passed the more viable this solution sounded to him. Just saying 'Hey look! It's because of them that you suffered' should work wonders. He was a politician and was well versed in the strategy of shifting blame.

Of course it was them that created a blockade of the city and it was them who invited the infamous Church of Purity to the city knowing quite well how they operate. It was also them who caused most of the suffering during the past month but… BUT it was because of Ouroboros that we did what we did! It's genius!

Thank the Goddess that people are stupid!

The president now felt so elated that he grabbed the letter he wrote earlier, crunched it and threw it to the paper bin next to his desk. How could he want to get rid of such a capable and thoughtful person from his city? What was he? Stupid?