Everyone felt it at once — the frantic rhythm of their own breathing seized and stopped, as some nameless, crushing weight descended over everything around them.
Those who had nearly clambered up onto the platform in their fury found themselves pinned in place, cold sweat beading on their skin, gooseflesh rising beneath their clothes.
Throats worked uselessly — and yet, for reasons no one could explain, no sound would come.
An invisible tempest of mana swept through every person present, and carried away every last shred of noise.
"That is enough."
Nanoda's voice reached every ear in the plaza — and with it, the crushing pressure dissolved.
One by one, expressions went slack. Some stumbled; others simply folded where they stood and sank to the ground. The sharp, cutting edge left every gaze, and all eyes drifted away from Macht — to the figure moving forward behind him: a presence robed in black, stepping into view.
The hood fell away, revealing the broken stubs of severed horns and a sweep of long, pale hair. Her expression was composed, unreadable — the grey eyes visible above the cloak betraying nothing.
As Nanoda stepped forward, Macht yielded without resistance, drawing back behind her. He glanced sidelong at Glück — and noticed a single bead of sweat tracing its way down the man's brow.
At this sudden apparition — a member of the Demon Race — the entire crowd was left momentarily at a loss. Even those who had been the most vocal in condemning Macht fell quiet for the moment, if only because their bodies still remembered the sensation of having been on the verge of being crushed from the inside out.
"Macht's actions were carried out on my orders. Bound by the hierarchy of the Demon Race, he had no power to refuse. What is more, this was a step toward the Demon Race's attempt to understand Humans — to grasp the nature of emotion. All responsibility lies with me."
Nanoda's words plunged everyone below the platform into silence once more — and then, once again, into thought.
After a brief, suspended quiet, a trembling voice rose.
"Then… does that mean Lord Macht didn't deliberately gild Weise — that it wasn't truly his choice?"
It was the woman who had first spoken up in Macht's defence. She had gathered her courage and given voice to what she was thinking.
There had been no shortage of people defending Macht from the start — but those swept up in the tide of anger and condemnation had been greater in number, and those defenders had been helpless in the face of it.
"You may understand it that way." Nanoda gave a small nod.
In truth, from the very outset of the public reckoning, a contingency had already been prepared. If Macht could not be forgiven, Glück — as lord — would step forward and shoulder all the blame himself. It had something of the spirit of a man smashing a cracked pot rather than mending it, but it was the only way left to protect Macht.
That outcome would have cost Glück everything: his lordship, the people's trust, his claim on Macht's future — and quite possibly an imperial warrant for his execution.
But that was all predicated on Nanoda not being present.
Nanoda held her silence, and the assembled residents below grew bolder, beginning to murmur among themselves.
"Is it true? All of this was the broken-horned demon's orders and design?"
"Lord Macht had no say in the matter?"
"Now that I think about it — no one was actually killed or hurt. Could it be that Lord Macht held back for our sake?"
"Yes — now that you mention it, Lord Macht has never once harmed any of us since he came to Weise."
A narrative woven from truth and fabrication began to take shape in people's minds, fed by their own imaginings, and the plaza grew loud again.
Listening to the murmur moving through the crowd, Nanoda allowed the faintest curve to touch the corner of her mouth — so slight it was almost imperceptible.
Things were moving in the direction she had set out to guide them.
Since the rift between Weise's residents and Macht and Glück had grown too wide to bridge — she would simply step forward herself and draw that rift onto her own shoulders.
It was a thankless task, and one she had never wanted. But it had to be done.
After all — she was of the Demon Race now, standing on the Demon Race's side. Standing, too, on Gaderia's side.
Nanoda did not want Gaderia to lose Glück — to lose Weise as an ally. Nor did she want Macht — the living symbol of peaceful coexistence between the Demon Race and Humans — to once again become the enemy of all Humans, dragging the Demon Race's name further through the mud.
And the scene before her called to mind a familiar face from another time.
Events, she had long since found, often share a common shape. She already knew how to navigate what came next.
And it was precisely then that a different kind of voice began to rise from the crowd below.
"So… could it be that Lord Macht is actually innocent?"
Curiously enough — as it so often is with Humans — old instincts began to reassert themselves. The same instigators who had led the charge against Macht surfaced again, already working to steer the crowd's emotions in a new direction.
"Broken-horned demon! Because of you — our lives were suspended for ten years! What are you going to do to make that right?!"
This time, their fury trained itself on Nanoda.
Calls for punishment, for expulsion, even for death — they rose again, just as before. And this time, even those who had spoken up for Macht joined in.
A few tried to stay neutral, quietly edging toward the fringes of the crowd to slip away.
Nanoda had become the shared enemy of everyone present.
"Hey—…"
It was sudden — and yet, in another sense, entirely predictable. Behind her, Glück moved as if to say something; but this time it was Macht, stepping back into place, who stopped him.
"Trust her."
Glück could see that the sleeve of Macht's coat was smeared with bits of eggshell and slick with yolk — and that Macht did not seem to notice, or care.
At the same time, Glück exhaled a quiet sigh. He hadn't expected Nanoda to go this far for the sake of an old alliance.
In his eyes, everything had already fallen to its worst possible state — and he was powerless to change it.
[Even Macht was driven to this point. If Nanoda is truly provoked… would she simply wipe Weise from the map?]
The thought crossed Glück's mind in an instant.
But for Nanoda herself, the answer was something else entirely.
At the very moment the crowd's rage was about to crest again, Nanoda — who had remained still and silent, reading the current of public feeling — let her mana surge, and pressed everything down.
A perfectly calibrated suppression cast a shadow over the heart of every soul in the plaza.
"I said — that is enough. It would do you all well to know when to stop." Her voice hung in the air, reaching every ear.
"If I wished to seize Weise — to kill every Human here, or to bend you all to my will — that would be the simplest thing in the world.
"But I know this: hatred begets killing, and killing begets only more hatred, without end.
"I wish only to stand for the Demon Race — to lead them toward a life of peace alongside Humans. I will prove that our apology is not a hollow lie. This is my sincerity."
The words settled. The crushing weight that had blanketed Weise dissolved like morning mist.
By degrees, the fury drained from the crowd. People grew still.
Many found themselves suddenly struck by the same thought: the way this broken-horned demon communicated seemed genuinely different from anything they had come to expect of the Demon Race.
Words like these could not have come from a Demon Race whose emotional world was shallow and whose speech was flat. She spoke like a leader — like a… person.
In any place and any age, strength commands the right to be heard.
Many in the crowd fell into hesitation, into bewilderment. Some clung stubbornly to their opposition, teeth set. Others slipped quietly away. Some were afraid. Others had gone thoughtful and still.
Humans were complicated creatures — Nanoda had never believed all of them could come to accept the Demon Race. But at the very least, she herself was sincere in her longing for a peaceful life.
"I hate war. To that end — unless my life is threatened — I will not harm any Human. You may call me a hypocrite if you like. But I believe that, setting aside the cruelties of the world as it is, every being in existence has an equal right to live."
The impassioned words brought the entire crowd to a momentary standstill.
Nanoda felt the weariness in her bones — and allowed herself, at last, a quiet breath of relief.
The jeering had fallen silent.
____
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