Chapter 1122: Simmering Shatufan
Shatufan buzzed with nervous energy after Jamshid made his address. He focused on the ‘failures’ of Manuchehr and the need to ‘aid our neighbors to the south in their defense of the Storm Lands’, but if he was expecting celebrations in the streets, he was left sorely disappointed. Instead, most people stayed indoors, only leaving the places they’d taken shelter during Leon’s storm in order to head to more secure locations, but there were a few angry congregations forming within hours that Leon noticed as he monitored the city from the air.
Maintaining order in the city wasn’t his job, however; he left that to Jamshid and the rest of his interim government. Removing some old officials from their posts and installing others, ensuring the loyalty of the unaligned parts of the city guard, and making sure everything continued to run smoothly likewise wasn’t his job.
His job, instead, lay in the Aurichalcum facilities.
He was met by Valeria and Maia as he flew over the enormous foundries. The Auri district was the single largest district in the entire city, comprising nearly a full sixth of the city. The manufacturing facilities were housed in long and narrow buildings built in a grid pattern, while the product itself was stored in similar warehouses where the district met the lakefront. The warehouses opened onto a small, but disused private dockyard—since the main buyer of Aurichalcum was Despot Archelaus, Leon assumed he used arks or Lumenite strands to pick up his purchased material.
“Was it easy?” Leon asked as he and his ladies drifted down toward the warehouses.
“Easy enough,” Valeria stated. “There was some resistance from the workers, but the city guard handled most of it. Alix, Anna, and the Tempest Knights have secured the warehouses while the guard remains in the production centers.”
“And the workers?” Leon asked. “How much blood was spilled?”
“A few injuries from outraged workers who tried to resist,” Valeria admitted.
[They shouldn’t have resisted,] Maia darkly stated. [They should’ve given us what we wanted when we asked for it. What else did they expect to happen?]