The Musketeer Legion rushed through Portals across the region and helped the local City Guards arrest the troublemakers, but protesters kept popping up like rats.
Interrogations revealed that only a few were from the Rikaner Kingdom or had been paid to cause trouble. Most genuinely believed Annan was a villain. Even as they were arrested, they shouted, "Down with Free City's tyranny!"
Annan looked baffled when he heard about it.
"You don't understand?"
"I don't."
"We can't expect everyone to know who you are. Some people don't get much news, some reject whatever they're told, and some simply don't care about the outside world," Olmedo said. "Tell a story at the top of your lungs in a tavern, and plenty of customers still won't hear it."
"That's not the part I don't understand. I don't understand this..."
Annan pointed to a report about protesters who had been beaten bloody but kept shouting.
It made them look like the good guys.
"That's normal too. Blood and sweat are marks of glory, and showing your resilience against a powerful enemy is a shortcut to earning it."
"Uh... I just meant that if the Rikaner Kingdom had people like this back then, the Ratfolk could never have pushed it around so badly."
Something seemed off about Olmedo today. She looked eager to be his teacher, which made Annan uneasy. He edged toward the door while humoring her. "What are you going to do with these people?"
"That depends on the local authorities, but even the lightest sentence should be a few months in the Dungeon."
"Now I feel better... I just remembered I have something to do. I'll get to it!" Annan, already at the door, walked out as naturally as he could.
Annan had escaped Olmedo's lecture, but he couldn't escape what