Chapter 77: Message

"Everything is set. Start whenever you feel like it."

Sitting on a comfortable chair in a specially prepared room of my church, I could only stare blankly at the rows of the cameras monitoring every tiniest detail of my movements. Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I looked a the notes that I prepared with the help of Baskar family.

Or rather, with the help of the new acolytes of my cult, who instantly received Boruta's grace, advancing to the level of priests and clerics. Given how they were my fervent supporters ever since a while ago, not to speak about how I resurrected the heir of the entire family, Baskar family ceased to exist as a separate force. Right now, they were fully committed to the cause from within the ranks of my cult.

"Okay, let's get this over with."

Grasping all the papers from the desk, I stacked them properly in my hands before moving my eyes towards the cameras.

"Welcome everyone. I'm the regional head of the Boruta's cult. From now on, for all those who saw me during the civil uprising against the previous, rotten governor, let me explain one, simple thing."

Taking a completely serious and focused look on my face, I stared down at the lenses of a random camera. 

"From now on, I would like to be addressed as Bishop. Just like that. And now, to the ongoing matters…"

Hitting the wood of my desk with the stack of papers in my hands, I relaxed my expression and smiled towards the cameras.

"Starting with the power consensus, it was decided that the city will be divided into separate wards, each administered by the people, families or organisations who already held the power in their respective areas. All those who were decided to represent your will, will take a seat in the council that will decide the matters of the city as a whole from now on. And no, I won't be a part of this council."

Rather than trying to use some underhanded means to take over the seat of power, we ultimately decided to be quite frank about it. Back in the times before the apocalypse, the population would surely rise up against this kind of favouritism reaching the threshold of oligarchy. Sanctions from the neighbouring countries would follow while the central government would be sure to jump on the opportunity to carve out some more power for itself.

But right now, people knew better. There was no way for some official who never worked a single day in his life to know the problems of the simple people. Only someone who operated in any given area could understand what problems plagued its inhabitants. And as bad as it would make some people feel, this was ultimately the most efficient form of self-governance that we could establish on the spot and in the current situation.

"But fear not, I'm not going to let you be victims of those already powerful. Just like in ancient Rome a position of tribune of people existed, I will take that role as the titular and honorary major of the entire city. While I won't have a single vote in the council, as long as I deem any newly passed law to be against you, against the citizens, I will have the right to veto it. If that were to happen, it will be all of you, the citizens of our city, that will decide the fate of the new law."

Lowering my eyes on the table, I pretended to mix something around with the papers. Short breaks in this kind of speech were necessary to keep the audience engaged. If I were to just enjoy how does my voice sound, I would only needlessly bore the people down.

"Next, the information for all the believers and those interested in joining. The Boruta's cult will open…"

This time, I didn't even bother to think about what I was saying. Reading the stuff from a special monitor hidden beneath the camera's field of view, I had no other choice but to stick through the entire, lengthy recording session.

"Okay, that will be all for today. Great work, your excellency."

Waltzing into the room as soon as I said literally the last word of my prolonged speech, Pavlo smiled wildly while using the new form of referring to me. Standing up from the chair, I only graced him with a short glance from underneath my head, before raising the stack of papers from the table and slamming it against his chest. 

"You better have some good news for me. How is work going?"

One of the major advantages of pulling out of the politics laid in the fact that I could now focus on what I wanted rather than on what was absolutely necessary. With every single member of the new council contributing respectable sums for the rebuilding of the areas destroyed during the fighting, the entire wealth of Baskar family could be moved to my own projects.

But just like everything in this world, this wealth was limited. Even if there was no reason to worry about money for now, especially with how literally the entire city owed me quite a lot, setting a new source of income was of absolute priority. And with how introducing more tech from the apocalypse to earth could quickly turn the balance of the world on its head, I had no other choice but to look towards Ayda's world with hope. 

"We used the destruction of the front gate to incorporate the rest of the wasteland into the church autonomous zone. We already have some projects for a souvenir shop and some service buildings. Although minimal, they should quickly start generating some…"

Before Pavlo could end his sentence, I raised my head to stop him. Quickly recalling the memories of how the area he mentioned looked like when I passed through it, I shook my head in denial.

"No, turn it into a plaza for now. The market needs to be placed deeper, as it will be way bigger than just a few shops. For now, just focus on cleaning the area. As for my order…?"

Putting the papers back on the table as I moved towards the door, I finally managed to escape from that confined room. As important as spreading the message we just recorded to the world was, it couldn't be classified as one of the pleasant experiences I went through. 

"Everything is already prepared, delivered right to the doors of the dome. On that note, why do you need so many weapons within the crypt? I didn't want to ask you before, but people are starting to wonder."

From the way in which Pavlo told this, I could tell that it wasn't his personal curiosity that was the main point of his words. This young man was simply trying to warn me about the fact that people finally started paying attention to what I was doing, even if it didn't involve them at all!

"Thanks for the info. Hopefully, I will be able to finish the crypt with this batch. That will be all for now. I need to catch up with my work there."

Patting the shoulder of the new priest of my cult, I bid him my farewells before diving deep into the mansion. Even though it was still under construction, with the newfound manpower and funding, the progress was astonishing. It seemed as if the workers that were hired for this task found pride in building a church for the cult that saved their city from tyranny!

Yet, instead of enjoying myself to this thought, I quickly reached the sacred area, enclosed to anyone but me. Just like Pavlo informed, a set of three huge crates and two bags was left right by the doorstep, saving me the trouble of carrying it here from the postal point.

"Eh… I hope the situation is calm on the other side…"

Moving the stuff between the safe area outside of the dome to the very core of my basement, I couldn't help but start wishfully whispering to myself. Now that the emotions of the uprising and the frantic hours right after it calmed down, I couldn't help but notice how weak my body was. While still stronger than average, I had only so much fuel left in me to fight. 

Some might think it would be stupid for me to return to Ayda's world in my current state given how it could be quite dangerous out there. But I didn't have much choice either. If my guess for what was the reason for my strange dodge when I collapsed was right, Ayda would be panicking while waiting for me. Her words that she would kill me if I ever allowed myself to let those dark emotions take the better of me was yet another element of what was making me tense all over.

But if I wanted for my church to prosper, if I wanted to finally be completely safe, securing Ayda's location was of the utmost importance. And that's what all those guns and ammunition that I orderer was for. 

Experiencing the onslaught of rapid-fire myself, I could tell that no wizard of Ayda's world could ever stand a chance against it. And that meant I could finally start moving my plans for her world forward!