Chapter 38: Snap

Chapter 38: Snap

The chubby man smiled a little. "You will be happy to hear that there is nothing to worry about at all," he said. "After the recent actions from the mayor, the resistance and all activities surrounding it have died down as well."

George paused for a bit. "What?"

Stanley was finally understanding what their task here was. They were here to get more information about the resistance that had formed amongst the people after the mayor had forced people to go work on the farm, regardless of whether they were dull or had powers, were rich or poor, or even if they had any experience of working in a farm or not.

From what Bradley had told him, that had caused a bit of a stir amongst the people, especially amongst those in the lower quadrants who were more prone to getting sent to the farm just because the Defenders were biased against them.

'The resistance really is dying down huh?' he thought. That was something the Defenders had talked about around dinner time a few days ago, which Stanley had happened to hear.

'Does he not know because he doesn't interact with people a lot?' Stanley thought while looking at George.

"The resistance is dying?" he asked.

"Yes," the man said enthusiastically. "Everyone who knows they are safe no longer holds any intention of going against the mayor. Only a few Dulls still remain, but they won't be able to do anything, so they'll disband in no time at all."

George nodded to himself as he heard that. "So... I came here for nothing, huh?" he spoke softly, but with clear anger hidden in his voice. "At least tell me who instigated it all. Do you know the main figure behind the resistance?"

The chubby man shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't have such information. We do not know how the idea of resistance spread at all. By the time my men were aware of it, it had already spread through the 3rd and 4th quadrants," he said.

"Dammit!" George kicked the leg of the table, making it slide around the chubby man as the papers on top of it scattered onto the floor. "So you have nothing for me, is that so?"

"Bu-but I told you what I knew, sir George," the man said. "I swear, that is all I have."

George kicked the table even further away and got up to grab the short man by his collar. "And you expect me to help you out with just this bit of information?" he asked, staring directly at him with his angry look. "You will be lucky if I don't tell the mayor to come for you first."

The people standing outside and inside saw the scene and reacted immediately. The men from outside rushed in, while the men inside the room moved to protect their leader.

Freddy moved at once, touching the man next to him. In the next instance, the man was teleported outside the room, on the way of the incoming men.

Stanley moved as well. He put his foot in front of the other man, tripping him. Before the man fell, he grabbed him by the back of his clothes and pulled him back before pushing him onto the wall.

He pulled out his sword and put it between himself and the man, keeping the man at the sword's point. As much as he hated George, he couldn't let these men attack him at all.

"Not bad," George said before letting go of the man he was holding. In the next instant, his hand moved to the side, with his thumb and middle finger pushing each other.

Then, he snapped.

Suddenly, an illusory wall formed right in front of the door, one that seemed completely transparent like glass, and opaque at the same time.

The men tried to push against it, break it, but no matter what they did, they could not even put a crack in the wall that had formed in front of them.

Both Stanley and Freddy looked to the side in surprise.

"A barrier!" Freddy almost exclaimed in shock. Stanley was simply too stupefied to say anything.

He hadn't expected the arrogant man they had been following to have a barrier to his ability. On top of that, his activation ritual was so simple. It was just a snap.

"P-please, don't hurt me," the man started begging the moment he got a hold of himself. He held onto George's leg while begging for his life.

"Let go of me," George said and pushed the man back before walking away from him. "You were useless."

The man watched George turn around and knew that if he didn't do something, it would be bad for not just his business, but also his life.

"Wait!" he shouted. "I have something else."

George paused and turned around. "Something else?" he asked.

The man furiously nodded. "It's something as big as the resistance information too," he said.

"What is it?" George asked curiously.

"Y-you see, while the idea of resistance had died down in the past days, another notion had begun emerging from the people in this region," the man said. "This time, the women are angry that they don't have any rights and that they should be able to do what they want too."

"What?" George gave a confused look.

"Yes, the women want equality, sir George. The idea has been moving around in the lower quadrants, and I believe it won't take long before it reaches the same level as the idea of the resistance," the man said. "Only this time, I don't see how easily the mayor can fix this problem."

"Why the hell would these women be trying to... this makes no sense!" George was getting angrier and angrier by the second. However, if this was true, then it was a huge deal that they would have to solve nonetheless.

George thought for a bit. "How legit is this information?" he asked.

"It's 100% true," the man answered quickly.

"Good," George said. "You've done well with giving me this information. I'll see what can be done with it."