District 42-Chapter 264: Birth of the Frelsi part 1
From time to time, the Ridires would make something that they called "The crusade". It was a measure that the Council of Jarls made to force the citizens that lived out of the Castle to feel safer when seeing the most well-trained organization of warriors of the district present in their lives.
It was also a way to make the Ridires relax for a bit and see the outside world for a while. After all, just a little amount of Ridires would get out of the Castle to patrol outside in the different regions of the district. The major part of the security of District 42 was made by the city guards. Just in specific cases that those elite warriors would get out of their comfort zone to do something useful out there.
One example was the occurrence in the South region. That issue they had a couple of months ago on that part of the district was still being subject of gossip between the citizens and the Ridires themselves. They would always appoint how terrifying it was and how troublesome that trio of criminals was for both Ridires and guards.
Javir, the Shadow of the South; Inna, the Southern Witch; and, finally, Drott, the Fake Forger. That was the trio that became legends of the South region. Everyone talked about them. Even the most powerful drug dealers of that part of the district needed to lower their heads and pay respect for those guys, who had the guts to do what no other citizen could.
Everyone still remembered clearly about that rainy day when the three youths were escaping from the Ridires across the slugs. The sound of their steps could be heard in the distance, their shouts as well. Shots echoed in the air and became more frequent throughout the time.
That day, no citizen dared to get out of their houses. They knew that a small group of youths was causing trouble for the Ridires, but they didn’t expect that the slugs would turn into a war zone. They couldn’t even believe that only three people were capable to cause so much trouble to an entire troop of elite warriors, well equipped, and better trained.
Everyone needed to witness that scene with their own eyes. They felt like seeing it, not just out of curiosity, but also to believe what was happening. For citizens in the slugs, it was difficult to credit that another person could stand against the military authorities since that action was the same as going against the Jarls and the Castle.
Maybe those people had the necessity on their hearts to see something like that to know that they had the power to fight, to defend themselves, and to struggle every day to make a better society for them.
Like this, while Javir, Inna, and Drott ran through the slugs, the citizens opened slightly their windows, doors, or climbed up in the roof of their poor houses to see what was happening.
The versions of that story always changed over time. The citizens had a heroic version of the act, some even exaggerated adding things that never happened. The Ridires always talked like they were just a bunch of rowdies trying to make noise and irritate them. It was still unclear how many Ridires were trying to pursue them, even; although the most accepted version was that the troop was constituted by the average number of a Ridire hunting troop of thirteen people.
Anyhow, the only thing that never changed in that story, even when coming from the mouth of a Ridire, was the scene of the main square.
On that slug, the main square was just a place where people would raise some stalls and sell food, others would sell drugs on the side. It had a water fountain in the middle of it, but it no longer worked. The only use it had was for the kids to climb up that place to play for a while.
As the trio got there, the first thing they did was to climb up in the fountain. The citizens who couldn’t follow them from inside their houses anymore started to go out and walk carefully towards the main square to see what was happening.
The Ridires had the order to shot, but as the people living in the slugs began to appear, they were unsure if they could do it. Commoner or not, they wouldn’t take lives randomly since they were still a resource of money for the Jarls. The commoners paid taxes and most of them worked to make that poor region have some money injected into its economy.
Also, the citizens would surely revolt at some point if they kept taking lives like that. Because of it, the Jarls always let it clear when saying for them not to kill them without the need.
Nevertheless, three dangerous criminals were in front of them. If they didn’t do anything, they would fail in their mission.
The situation became more complicated once those people started to reunite around the fountain, blocking the Ridires’ passage. Unfortunately, it was late; Javir, Inna, and Drott were already the heroes of that miserable folk. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
"Look, I am not too good at speeching..."Javir began to say. "However, I still wanted to say something to you all, because I was born here, and I know what you guys need to go through every single day!
"We are forced to live like miserable insects. While all the fortune goes to the Castle and the Jarls we need to struggle to buy a single bread for our lunch. The security, education, economy, everything is broken because we need to be the source of nourishment for all those leeches of the government! That’s not right! That’s not human! We also got hungry, we also need money, and our kids need to learn, just like them, so why are we treated as worms!?"
Once he said it, the crowd started to shout in agreement. Some of them picked up rocks from the ground and threatened to shot them in the direction of the Ridires, but the warriors simply ignored it or defended themselves. They barely focused on the citizens since the masks wouldn’t allow the commoners to do any harm against them.
"I am not a worm! And you all aren’t as well! And, you know what? I am tired of hiding myself in these slugs and just wait for the time to come when I will die of hunger, when a drug dealer will kill me, or when I will finally succumb to the drugs!
"That’s why we are doing this. That’s why we are looking in the eyes of these people from the government..." Javir stared at the person who seemed to be the captain of that troop. "And saying to them to go to hell!"
The man gave a step forward while holding tightly his gun but got stopped by the crowd of people who were pushing them.
"We are tired of hiding and survive. We want to live. We want to take off these handcuffs of our faces and regain our freedom! That’s our right, we are born with it but they steal from us! Since the start, you all are being controlled for these things you are wearing without even notice! But we noticed. We know the truth. And we will fight till the end to get what they took from us!" He raised his hand into a fist.
The crowd went mad, getting over-excited. All those years of hatred and sadness were being discharged on that day. Those feelings befell on the Ridires who were trying to get past them, overwhelming their strength by numbers.
"We have been working for a long time on our project and I promise to you all that the time is coming when you will see the sunlight with other eyes: the eyes of someone free to go anywhere, to do anything, and to live the way you deserve!" Javir gave a step in front, going to the edge of the fountain and pointing to the imponent Castle that could be seen in the distance. The flag with the symbol of the Jarls was on top of it.
"Dark times are to come now. Light may not be seen anymore. However, it will not be the end, but our restart. In the darkness, the district’s flag will burn, lighting up for us the road for our freedom!" His shout seemed so loud that it could be heard in the entire South region. The rain became even heavier than before.
The Ridires had resolute eyes, forcing their passage through the furious citizens. What that guy just said wasn’t a joke, he was basically declaring war against the Royal Family.
"Javir! A war cannot be seen so lightly like this! You will regret to have said this quote soon or later, Shadow of the South!" The captain shouted.
The young robber denied with his head, looking with joyful eyes to the man.
"No. YOU will regret it, Ridire. You will regret for the rest of your life not being able to kill me here and now. You will surely remember this!"
