Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth woke up to a maelstrom of golden locks covering his eyes. Trying to move the hair, he found both his arms occupied with other duties. Blowing the hair away from his face, he found a fair beauty in each of his hands.

One was Mina and the other was the origin of the golden locks. Looking at her peaceful sleeping face, Seth remembered finally what happened at the party yesterday.

...

The party had already been going for some time and the banquet hall was steeped in chaotic fun as everyone was already drunk.

"Wait here a moment, I want to introduce you to someone," Mina suddenly said and separated from him to run off somewhere.

Seth had not waited for long before Mina returned. Following her was a drop-dead gorgeous lady with bright golden locks down to the hips and skin like honey. She wore a tight black evening dress that emphasized her petite, yet toned body.

Standing before him was Fin and not Fin. The small fairy brute had turned into a human woman, but on her face had the same mischievous smile he knew from the small troublemaker. His heart throbbed. There was no way he couldn't recognize her.

"How do I look?" she asked with a confident smile, puffing up her modest chest.

The blacksmith just stood there, with his mouth open.

"Speechless, hehe. I have been working hard to be able to turn into a human, so I can tell you something I have been meaning to tell you for a long time." She paused and nervously looked back at Mina standing behind her with a bright smile, giving her a thumbs up. What were these two planning? Seth could only swallow his saliva in anticipation.

"Seth, I love you," she said seriously, having dropped her cutesy way of speaking.

Suddenly his heart palpitated. He liked Fin too, a lot. But he liked Mina even more, enough to call it love. For a moment he thought of making a joke like "Sorry, Fin. i like Emilia.", but this wasn't the time. He wanted to face her seriously.

"Fin..." he caressed her cheek. It was smooth and soft.

Although he was bad at social stuff, he was glad not to be a dense protagonist, who didn't notice her feelings before. Otherwise, this might have been troubling, but Seth already had his answer.

"You know I'm not good with this kind of serious emotional stuff. It's exactly why I love Mina, for making it easy and uncomplicated. I don't know if I can love you the same way I love Mina. It might be unfair to you, to say yes now and hog your for myself, when there might be someone out there that can make you happier and love you better than I can..." he paused.

Suddenly, Fin charged forward and hugged him tightly.

"Idiot, I know that. Still, I want to try. Human lives are so short. You barely live a century, maybe a few decades more maybe some less if you are unlucky. I want to use the time I have with you, as much as possible. Even if you won't be the true love of my life, I don't even know if there is something like that. I want to make more memories with you, stronger memories, deeper ones.

You are the first one in over two hundred years I want to try with.

Don't belittle me, if this doesn't work out I won't cling to it like some needy bitch. If you suck as a boyfriend, I will leave you!" she finished jokingly but Seth could hear her voice waver a little and he embraced her tightly.

He couldn't suppress a laugh of relief as he continued.

"You should let a man finish his answer," he whispered in her ear.

"What I was going to say is: That guy can go take a hike. I'm not going to push you away, especially when Mina is more likely to scold than praise me. But there is one thing you should know," he added with a grin. She looked up at him in surprise, their noses almost touched.

"I am a man that wants to be conquered. If you want my love, you have to win me over. But don't think I will let you run off once you have it. What is this about leaving me if I suck? Even if I suck, I demand commitment," he said half serious and half joking.

This was his answer. Fin's eyes jumped open wide when he gave him a passionate kiss.

…

Everything past that was a whirl of passion and fun, which brought him to the present. A warm bed, and two beautiful women at his side. He couldn't help but laugh. Who would have expected that he would ever experience being such a lucky bastard?

...

After the announcement and celebration, Minas Mar experienced a long and peaceful morning. Delta on the other hand was in an uproar with the publication of the things discussed during the press conference.

Many different voices became loud, both positive and negative. Many people doubted the legitimacy, or even the possibility of someone simply founding their own nation or district out of the blue.

A lot of people discussed the laws and legislation pertaining to this. There had been no countries with the foundation of the districts and the newest district was still Delta with several decades of age. However, there had never been any laws against people leaving the district and living in the no man's land.

The biggest question was whether this even mattered in the current situation. If it did, wouldn't there be more and more people simply leaving and trying to create their own nation? Many also demanded for new laws to be made about the treatment of the no man's land.

With people once again settling there, this needed to be regulated. Yet, who was going to regulate it? The district barely had enough power to protect itself.

Apart from these more political discussions, there were three camps in general. The first were those who had bought into the Anti-Minas-Mar propaganda. They heavily criticized Minas Mar's independence for several reasons. From supposed worry about their treatment of people once they didn't have to "answer to the jurisdiction of Delta", to outright stating outlandish claims like Minas Mar owing Delta something.

The second was clear supporters of Minas Mar, that had faced the negative consequence of Longbottom rise to power. Drafts, martial law, and curfews went against a civilized society in their opinion. Especially the way they were enforced was barbaric.

In ordinary times, it was an easy option to simply leave by train and move to a different district. But now only two were left. Although Delta was changing, it was far from being as bad as what people heard about Ypsilon, where the leadership rained with an iron grip lately.

With Minas Mar declaring their independence as a district, meant that they would be able to migrate to the Tree Route, which was arguably safer and freer than the current Delta. Before Minas Mar was a business, so only selected people could actually join and move to permanently live at the Tree Stations.

If these places were given the right to govern themselves, it also meant that citizens from other districts would be able to simply move there. This was the opinion of many that were tempted by a new way of life and the tales of the cities grown from trees.

The only hurdle was the journey. Yet, few people doubted their ability to reach the tree stations. , The Tree Route counted as the safest place outside the districts. Even those without combat power, could simply hire adventurers or join merchantries to travel along the former trade route.

Minas Mar even offered a monthly escort for selected personnel. People could either apply for a free place based on a resume of their skills and level or buy a relatively expensive ticket for a seat with Minas Mar's official escort.

The third camp was the fence-sitters. It was uncertain how Delta would react to this news, especially after the provocation by taking hostages, transmuting Ben Harker, and forcefully taking back what was theirs.

Not just theirs, many eyes were laying on Delta's leadership, to see how they would react.

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