Chapter 57: 60. Authority is Cruel Part 2

Angelidis and Shaula continue walking around the road where the marchers had walked through. They realized how much of a mess has been made. Garbage was strewn everywhere. There were a few people still sticking around including those who came over to see their broken stalls.

Most of the marchers and the counter protesters had moved into Maz square. However, a dozen of them were in the area being watched by a single guard. The guard was watching everyone, but cared mainly about the well being of the marchers. He was however keeping a close eye on Shaula and Angelidis.

Shaula wonders why he’s watching them. Did he realize that Angelidis is a draconid? Did he notice them getting involved with marchers from a distance? Or, was he thinking about the two beautiful women?

Shaula and Angelidis were sitting down on a public bench next to the sidewalk. They were talking while keeping an eye out for any remaining troublemakers.

“Was this what you did at the march last time, Jelli?” Shaula asks. She is impressed that Angelidis is so careful about keeping people safe. She wonders if she did the same at the last march a few weeks ago. How would it have gone without Shaula or Ajax, the two humans, around?

“Honestly, I tried. It didn’t go nearly as nicely as it did today.”

“Were you there alone last time or with Dzan and Sigvor… or Olah, Meixi and Sudirja?”

“Not with Dzan or Sigvor. Dzan hates the marches. He doesn’t want to see the humans strutting around while being protected on all sides. I hate that too, but he’s just really disgusted by the displays, too much to stick around to protest.”

“Why’d you think he stuck around this time?”

“Probably feels different with the festival being interrupted.” Shaula can understand why. Dzan had seemed to really enjoy the festival stalls and exhibitions today, at least during the good part of it before the marchers arrived.

“Sigvor was busy that day, couldn’t make it. Olah was there, but Sudirja doesn’t like going to things like that. Meixi… I think she was working that day. The march was such a clusterfuck. Olah is a lot like you, you know? Caution to the wind, get in, stir shit up, and then leave without elaborating…”

“I’m not like that…”

“Fine, fine, you’re not, and… well, I guess neither is she when things get real. But, those fuckers love provoking angry responses from demihumans. They thrive off of it, you know?” Angelidis frowns.

“They do, don’t they… They love getting you so worked up that you start throwing the first punch. Then they don’t have to make excuses, and the cops will crack your head open without any issue. The cops as well, just empty headed dipshits with weapons and gear. They only care about themselves, their fellow pigfuckers, and…”

Angelidis looks at her with confusion.

“Pigfuckers? What’s a pig?” Angelidis asks.

“A-Ah, it’s just slang for a village pest. I-I mean, that’s… that’s how Ajax and I saw the village guards back home. They didn’t patrol any wilds, they just walked around and bothered people minding their own business. Just the biggest shitheads doing the patrols, investigating crime, sending people to jail… Aggressive scumfucks who wouldn’t survive two weeks in a regular job without getting fired for incompetence.”

Shaula thinks back to how cops behaved in New Amsterdam City. They were often a bigger menace than the criminal element. It took a surprising amount of public scrutiny for them to be fired. It was near impossible to charge them with crimes.

Here on Omicron, the guards were an even bigger menace. From what Angelidis had told her, the guards of Tritol could kill with impunity. Just so long as no one of authority saw them do it, nothing would happen. If you tried to accuse them, you would never be able to make the evidence stick even if it was damning.

The city was always on the side of the cops after all.

Angelidis and Shaula wait a few more minutes as they keep watch over the area. 

“Well, it’s about time that we should head over–”

“Wait, Jelli. Do you see those two over there?”

Shaula turns her eyes towards two humans who are walking towards an old beastkin man with red-orange hair. The two young men stand in front of him and block his path. Shaula listens to what they’re saying.

“Hey… why are you wearing that? Huh?” The tall young man with short black hair asks.

“Wh-What? This?”

“Yeah that, you stupid fuck. You think we wouldn’t notice it?” The shorter man points at it. 

The two young men are pointing at something the man is wearing around his neck. She tries to enhance her vision on what they’re pointing out. She sees something quite small. It’s a necklace with the decoration being a pale white branch with a blue leaf. Shaula assumes that it refers to the blue forest.

“Why the fuck would you be wearing that in public? You do realize that’s a crime, right?” The tall man sneers. Shaula is surprised by this odd statement of his.

“Ugh, what the fuck is wrong with them…” Angelidis groans. She can’t hear what the two men are arguing about. But, shouldn’t they have better sense than to pick on an old man?

“...You stay here, Jelli. Let me see what’s going on. Signal to me if you notice the guard coming over.” 

Before Angelidis can stop her, Shaula walks over the two guys. The tall one is still berating the old man for his necklace. They’re standing on the festival road’s sidewalk, close to an apartment building with wide balconies.

“...Oh? The fuck do you want?” The shorter one notices her. The other human and the old beastkin man turn towards her as well.

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“I heard that someone committed a crime. What’d this guy do?” Shaula asks, trying to affect genuine curiosity. She wants to know what excuse they’re going to use here.

“You see that necklace? Most people might not be aware, but that’s a symbol of the Panaphon church. It’s illegal to be a member of any church but Osva’s, we were just wondering if this old guy knows this.” The tall man explains while staring at her.

“Th-This isn’t a symbol of the church! My son gave it to me for my birthday! That’s all!”

“Blaming your son? Are you trying to pin your crime on him? Don’t you have any shame?” The shorter man laughs derisively.

“Ok, that’s quite a crime.” Shaula says, making the three men look over at her. “What is the punishment for it? Would it be a fine? Imprisonment?”

“If he doesn’t help the guards root out the heretical church, he’ll face imprisonment. If he does rat out his church, it’ll be a fine.” The taller man explains while smiling. Shaula gasps loudly, trying to draw their three gazes to her. She tries to affect shock in her voice.

“That’s quite a tough thing, huh! If these two are correct, then you’ll be headed to jail unless you turn in your sun? That’s quite the thing, isn’t it?”

“...Are you mocking us?” The tall man asks. The two humans look at her with darkening expressions.

“No, no, I'm not! Not at all, not at all! But, there is a problem with your accusation… I don’t see any necklace.” Shaula says her last sentence with a deadpan expression.

“Are you fucking stupid, it’s right… Uh…” The shorter man looks over to the old man’s thin necklace chain. The old man looks down at it as well. The necklace chain remains, but its decoration, the branch with the blue leaf, is no longer there.

The three of them stare at the necklace and check the length of the entire chain. The decoration is completely gone.

Shaula had noticed something about her spatial power that helped things play out like this. Any object she wishes to transport only needs to be in her field of vision. It doesn’t need to be in her hand or touching her skin or anything like that.

So, while making sure the three men were looking at her, she had used her power to “disappear” the necklace. Her “spatial transportation efficiency” (a phrase that Ajax devised) had gotten better as well. There was little dust on the man’s collar, meaning that the majority of the necklace decoration had been transported away.

It was now basically scattered to the wind.

Problem solved!

The two men are speechless. The decoration of the necklace was properly fixed in place, it wasn’t something that could be easily removed. Even the old man was surprised. He looked around him to see where it had gone. He checked his pockets, his shirt collar, anywhere he could think of.

He wouldn’t find anything, the branch-with-blue-leaf powder was already gone.

“If he doesn’t have the necklace, you can leave him alone, right?” Shaula walks towards the man and whispers. “Leave as fast as you can.”

The old man’s face has darkened. He starts walking away, feeling sad about his son’s gift disappearing. He understands how his situation could have turned worse, but why did it have to be like this in the first place? Why did those two human supremacists have to notice something so small…

Shaula does genuinely feel bad about destroying the old man’s necklace. However, it would be better than leaving him to face punishment for religious affiliation. She had heard about this rule in the city. Only Osva can be worshiped.

Thou shalt worship Osva and shall have no other gods before you.

She had briefly heard about Panaphon, a god who existed prior to the birth of the Federation and the Empire. Apparently, she was the mother of the beastkin race. It is surprising that someone still worships her. The Federation’s church has already canonized her death.

What’s the point in worshiping a dead goddess? Or does the Panaphon church believe that she’s still alive or going to come back or something?

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” The shorter man shouted towards the old man. However, Shaula stopped him from moving forward, subtly getting in his way.

“He isn’t wearing this symbol you’re talking about. No need to escalate–”

“And who the fuck are you to tell us what to do? No one asked for your opinion, bitch.” The tall man retorts. There is no anger in his voice. The way he’s looking at her, as if she’s an insect. The vein on Shaula’s forehead becomes larger. At this moment, Shaula realizes that these two remind her of her family.

Back on Earth, Shaula had a foster family. The family consisted of her father, her mother and her two brothers. Her parents were cruel and vindictive people. She’s glad they’re dead. However, her foster brothers still remain alive. 

The way these two are talking to her. The way they act towards those who can do nothing for them, such as that old man. They reminded her of her foster brothers. Her parents loved her brothers, their real children. They had given them all the privileges since they were their parent’s real heirs. She saw none of those benefits.

When they were younger, her brothers hated her. They made that hatred clear to her whenever they interacted with her. Shaula was a few years younger than them too, she never understood why they would target her like that. What did she ever do to them? Did they merely learn the hatred of their parents?

When they grew up, they no longer displayed hatred towards her. They simply looked at her as if she was an insect. Her brothers’ eyes remind her of the eyes of these two humans. It once again reminds her how unbelievable it is that humans exist in this alien world. To be reminded of her foster brothers in this alien world of all places…

Suddenly hit by a wave of complex emotions, Shaula lets her true thoughts slip as her face drops to a cold expression.

“...Don’t you weaklings feel pathetic going after an old man?”

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