The Violet Oldlands and Free City off the West Coast still floated quietly where they were.
Now and then, dark specks came and went through the sky harbor like worker bees.
Annan had set a personal record by staying in the city for three straight weeks.
It wasn't that he hadn't thought about going out, but both deputy city lords opposed it. They figured that if Annan already wanted to risk going undercover, sooner or later he'd take a Magic Musket to the front lines—
Annan was forced to remain in the city and keep an eye on the situation in the North.
The Red Witch was stirring up trouble along the West Coast with three ships, leaving the Kingdom scrambling. She had also sent back several hundred civilians.
Francois had established himself in Starer City and recruited several thousand members in the Outer City. His success gave the City Lord's Mansion hope, and it sent a hundred undercover agents to spread out across the Kingdom.
Elder was still missing. An undercover agent had already gone to Ize Bay to investigate.
Meanwhile, news emerged that the Rikaner Kingdom had made a Magic Film to rival 300 Warriors of Free City, and that relatives of the Forgotten Ones had been brutally suppressed after taking to the streets in protest.
Annan didn't know whether any of their families were among the protesters, but this was clearly unacceptable!
"We need to put pressure on the Rikaner Kingdom," Annan told Olmedo.
"We've been doing that all along."
"Not enough."
Reporting the incident would certainly outrage many people, but plenty of nobles would also dismiss the protesters as "civilians who didn't know when to quit."
Annan entrusted the matter to Evelyn. She lived up to his expectations and wrote an article titled "Families of the