Is it Wrong to Try to Start a Kingdom in a Dungeon

Chapter 10

~X~

~ Hostess of Fertility - A Few Hours Earlier ~

Cloud

Cloud watched as the unknown elf dragged Ithil out of the pub.

"Who was that?" Cloud asked Mia.

"That was Purah. She comes here every once in a while. Usually when that assistant of hers reminds her to eat," Mia chuckled.

"I see."

Cloud felt he had nothing to worry about. Ithil called 'Purah' by name, and, from what he saw, she let herself be pulled along.

"My turn to ask a question. Who was the Dark Elf?" Mia said. "It's rare to see one of them."

Cloud nodded at that. Other than Ithil, he had only seen two Dark Elves.

Hogni Ragnar, a Level 6 executive of the Freya Familia.

And Vena Dis, the Vice-Captain of the Alecto Familia, who was part of Evilus. She was killed during the Great Feud.

Anyway, Cloud went on to answer Mia's question. He talked about Ithil and Westend. Bringing up Westend meant he had to talk about goblin variants and the behemoth.

Mia nodded along and looked surprised about the monsters.

Soon, his food arrived, spaghetti with meatballs, and... chicken noodle soup?

"Oh, right, This is Ithil's," Cloud remembered her order and looked at the door she walked out of earlier. "Ah, well. Can't let it go to waste."

~X~

After finishing both lunches and renting two rooms, Cloud decided to walk around the city. He had no destination in mind, simply wherever his feet carry him.

The first thing he noticed was that the atmosphere wasn't as... heavy as it used to be. The hidden threat of Evilus wasn't on everyone's minds. The streets and buildings were rebuilt. There were no fires or collapsed buildings that had people trapped in the rubble because Evilus set off more explosives.

All that destruction and chaos. All of the deaths... Of adventurers and civilians alike.

Just... Why?

Yeah, he knows...

Evil-us. Real creative.

They were monsters, they knew it, and they reveled in it.

Zald and Alfia on the other hand...

Cloud sighed out loud. Just thinking about the reasons for their actions...

Like...

He gets it. He really does.

He's been at that level.

It's like being at the bottom of an abyss.

Down there, all alone in the dark with no way out.

Forced into a deep despair desperately trying to do something to make things right!

To make everything he went through worth something!

It's why he-!

Cloud immediately stabbed and tore to shreds that line of thought. Every time he goes down that path toward his life before Orario, it leads to a downward spiral of despair.

Regardless of their reasons, there is no justification for what they did. So many innocent people died.

And for what?