"Is this how you scout?" Loyalty asked after they left the textile shops with new shirts and pants, blending in with the rest of the crowd. "I would say we are wasting our ti."
"The Path told to save this place, but I have no idea what to do," Arthur said as he straightened his clothes. "And it doesn't hurt to support the local economy."
"We are using my money, rember?" Loyalty said with a chuckle. Arthur smiled. "Forget it. My lord would hang if he knew that I cheaped out while helping you."
"Solomon is a generous man," Arthur said as he looked around. "Let's find out what the taxes are used for," he added. "It should let us understand what this realm is suffering from."
"How about we go and ask its ruler?"
"And you expect an honest answer, if they were the ones at fault?" Arthur said.
"I certainly wouldn't expect an answer from people we et on the street," Loyalty said. "We won't know the real issues here if we keep interviewing the wealthy. We have to take a look at the dark side of this realm."
Arthur watched as Loyalty began leading the way to the other side of the city. On the north side was the palace, and they were currently on the south side. Loyalty was taking them west.
The two of them traveled for a while until the shops beca scarcer, and the people's attire beca more ragged. Arthur could see many people sleeping on the streets, their bodies thin and fragile.
"It looks like they haven't eaten for days," Arthur said. "I guess this is indeed the dark side of this realm."
"We are not there yet," Loyalty said. "There is more ahead."
Arthur followed after the knight until the two of them reached a water channel, but there was no water inside. Instead, there were hordes of people and tents.
Babies no older than one cried as their mothers tried to calm them down. Fathers stared with empty eyes at the ground, most of them missing a limb or two. Children walked from one tent to the other, begging for food.
"This is the reality of this realm," Loyalty said. "No matter how safe it can be, no one is safe from famine and poverty."
"I don't understand. If the sovereign is taxing everyone, what are they doing with the money?" Arthur asked with a frown.
"I have no idea, but this realm reminds of our own," Loyalty said. "Many people are starving for the lack of resources. Unlike real worlds that are filled with calamities and monsters, these realms can be safe but their resources are scarce."
"I can feel their life force flickering," Arthur said. "Each person here is on the verge of death, like a candle facing a storm. All it would take is a single gust to extinguish them."
"That would be the sa for many realms that aren't complete worlds," Loyalty said with a sigh. "Many people escape to these realms because of what the Naless is doing to their worlds, but from then, it's a slow death from either starvation or a quick one from astral monsters."
"I understand now," Arthur said. "The Path brought here to see this. I have to bear witness to the real issues that these realms are suffering from, to keep from being blind while looking at the big picture."
"I don't understand," the knight said.
"Do you know my real na?" Arthur asked.
"I only know titles."
"My na is Arthur Netherborne," he said. "If you know the na Netherborne, then you should understand what it signifies."
"He who rises from the lower realms," the knight said.
"That's a good interpretation of the na," Arthur said while looking at the hordes of people. "The word 'rise' is the keyword here."
"But how would you be blind?"
"I thought that the undead monsters were the issues, but that's wrong. Then, I thought it would be an unjust ruler like it always is, but I was wrong again. My last assumption was that the issue was the lack of resources."
"I believe that as well," Loyalty said.
"But that's wrong too," Arthur added.
"If not that, then what?" the knight asked.
"It's the absence of hope," Arthur said. "I can feel it, howling into my very bones — these people have given up on life. They are simply awaiting their deaths. Hell, so of them even desire it."
"You cannot bla them."
"It still makes enraged," Arthur said while gritting his teeth. "I see my own helplessness in them. I have once surrendered myself to the tragedies of life, but ever since I accepted being a Netherborne, I swore to never accept anything else life throws at ."
"It's not their fault," the knight repeated. "Most of them cannot even stand, let alone fight against whatever brought them to this situation. I have seen warriors lose their ability to fight and beco beggars on the streets."
Arthur gnashed his teeth as black lightning crackled around him. Loyalty sensed the shift and turned toward him with confusion. His entire body seed to be crackling with lightning, but then it subsided.
"I trained with Ragnar for a thousand years to control this wrath, but this… the ultimate humiliation and loss of dignity for the weak… still has a hold on ," Arthur said with a weak voice. "I hate it."
"What kind of sovereign does that make you?"
"I could not care less about that," Arthur said. "I know what I need to do now. Let's go and et the sovereign of this realm."
Arthur turned and began walking back toward the Death Palace. The knight chased after him, barely catching up.
"Are we going to fight the undead army?" Loyalty asked.
"It depends on their response," Arthur said. "But I need to hear it straight from her lips, and then I'll know what I ca here to achieve."
The knight asked no further, as he knew that Arthur was sowhat affected by the scene of starvation. It didn't scare him to see the man's wrath, but rather reassured him that this was the sa man that his lord had told him about — a man with beliefs that would challenge the heavens.
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