"Your homes were destroyed, and I saved you."
Annan stood before everyone and raised two fingers. "Now you have two choices."
"First, return to your burned village and rebuild your homes. But we'll be leaving soon, and next time, you might not be lucky enough to run into us. Second..."
Annan opened a Portal with practiced ease. A cloud came drifting straight at them.
The distant Bay had become a vast horizon.
Hm? Who made Free City float?
But the distant streets still looked peaceful, so Annan put it out of his mind and turned back to the people, who were stunned by the sight beyond the Teleportation Portal.
"Walk through and become my people."
After a brief pause, the little girl who had said she'd seen a Blue Dragon asked, "If we become your people... will anyone bully us again?"
"No. In my Territory, no one can bully you. You'll have food, a warm place to live, and lots of good friends."
"Then I want to go..."
The little girl, who had lost her family, stumbled toward the Teleportation Portal.
Once the first person went, a second followed, then a third...
Soon, only the two girls from the tent remained in the clearing.
"Have you remembered?" Annan asked them.
"We... don't want to go back. Could you let us through?" Grief, nerves, and hope mingled in the girls' eyes.
Annan did not disappoint them. "Of course. Free City welcomes everyone."
The two girls went through last. Annan closed the Teleportation Portal and looked at his companions. They had been staring at him in silence ever since he opened it.
"What's wrong?"
Did they recognize me?
"Are you... are you a Saint?" Skeeter, the deputy Captain, asked cautiously.
*All right, they hadn't recognized me. They just thought Free City was