I heard all kinds of murmurs from outside as I dragged the unconscious president by the hair with me.

The people of the town had gathered outside the president's house to witness a public execution, and that was exactly what they were going to do.

My dagger's summoning had been cancelled because in my left hand I held a piece of paper with writing on it and my right hand was dragging the president, so there was nowhere to put the dagger.

As I came closer and closer to the main entrance, the murmurs outside got louder and louder.

When I finally made it to the entrance, I stopped for a while. All kinds of memories flooded my mind as I stood there. It was an inexplicable feeling. I had no idea if what I felt was nostalgia, anger, or even sadness. This setting was all too familiar. It was like a copy of the past.

I breathed out and cleared my head before I finally opened the doors of the front entrance, and the volume of the sounds I had heard earlier was greatly amplified, but only for a second since people saw the main entrance be opened and went completely silent

Not a single word was spoken. Not because they saw me, but because they saw nobody. A wooden speech podium had been set at the top part of the stairs that led down to where the people were, and the platform the speech podium was on prevented people from seeing me yet.

I walked over to the speech podium, and once the people saw my face, they froze. I saw people shuddering and gasping, but no one said a word. Not even one out of the thousands of people gathered in the open area before the president's house dared to voice their thoughts.

I decided to start by making the current situation clear, and I raised the president's unconscious body up into the air by his hair.

What followed was another series of gasps, but this time there were also whispers.

"How did he manage to defeat the agents?"

"Is he a former agent?"

"Is our president dead?"

"Who is he?"

I could hear such whispers loud and clear, even at this distance.

Once everybody understood the situation, I let the president's body go, and there was a loud thump that came from the president's body falling onto the platform, shaking its hastily-crafted structure.

I then put the piece of paper onto the speech podium, and everybody went quiet as soon as my mouth opened, and I started reading the speech the president had been preparing.

"Dear citizens of Cavea, I am glad to say that the criminal responsible for the murder of 14 people has been apprehended, and I dearly apologize for letting such a vile act be enabled to happen in this town that rests closer to my soul than anything else in this world. The criminal who is responsible for these atrocious acts will now be executed with you all as witnesses. The execution will take the form of hanging, and this will once again bring a time of peace to this town, and you will be able to rest assured that you are safe," I read the speech out loud at a volume that I was sure the people could hear, and after a moment of silence after I finished, I brought the palms of my hands together a few times in an act of applauding.

"Well, the platform on which I was supposed to be hanged has yet to be assembled since there were some complications during this night, but I don't think that matters anymore. What does matter, however, is that you are all safe. Isn't that great? Your dear president cares so much about you all that he wants to kill a person in front of you to make you feel good," I said with a lively expression.

The lively expression then turned into a blank one, and I opened my mouth once again.

"At least that is what he says. What I think is that this execution was just supposed to be a way to instill fear and deepen the brainwashing you are all under," I voiced my own opinion on the matter to the people down below, whose eyes were wide with shock and horror.

"You see, your president isn't really that good of a guy. He says he wants you all to feel safe, happy, and all kinds of positive things, but he takes up needlessly much space with his enormous mansion and front yard, all the while you good citizens of Cavea, who he cares about so much, pay all that you have for dirty, small, and all-around uncomfortable apartments. Does that seem right to you? Do you think someone who cared for you would happily watch you struggle in such ways? Of course, they wouldn't. They would help you in any way possible. But does Mr. President do that? No!" I shouted abruptly, leading to many of the people being startled.

"He stays in his mansion, uncaring about your struggles, and forces you to obey every word of his with no understanding of what you go through. Don't you think it would be nice to go outside at night without being treated as a criminal? Going outside at any time of day is a right that everybody should possess, but he has decided that he has the authority to take that away from you. On what basis? On the basis that crime won't be prevalent? What kind of reasoning is that? The criminals already break the law, so what will adding another law do? The only ones to whom this rule applies are the good citizens. The people who would never break the law. So then, what is the explanation for such a rule? What could the president possibly benefit from such a rule? The answer is control. The man at my feet does not care for your safety. The only thing he cares about is controlling you and ensuring his own success. Your people's acceptance of these rules is the reason you live in such poor conditions and misery. Your suffering is your own fault!" I yelled again, but this time nobody shivered.

Everyone was silently looking up at me as I revealed to them the true nature of their society.

My eloquent speech knit together lies and truths and mixed them into a blend so chaotic that you could no longer confirm what was false and what was true, so the options left were to discredit the whole speech or to accept it fully as the truth.

"This peaceful town is just a lie you have all made yourselves believe. The truth is that the peace here is just the result of more rules that restrict your freedom. You may think that fighting is bad and that conflict should be avoided, but in reality, keeping your anger with you everywhere you go is worse than taking it out on each other during conflicts. The agents, with whom the president scares you, do not care about you or your feelings, but just the image they seek to create through tyranny. Peace is nothing but a facade if the ones who create it are just a bunch of angry people who are unable to express their emotions. How do you think anything ever gets resolved, if forceful methods are never used? Sometimes, it is necessary to take part in conflict and sometimes even violence to achieve a good conclusion, but in this place that makes sure nothing like that will happen, how could there be real peace?"

"Don't you think being forced to act like another person slowly destroys the person you are? Do you even know who you are anymore? Do you remember what genuine emotions feel like, or are you equivalent to an unconscious being that has been told how it should act? This society your president loves so much is nothing but a toxic mess that strips you of your identity and emotions, forcing you to either smile or be quiet. Do you feel free? Of course not. Do you know why? Let me tell you. You are not free because everyone can't be in a society like this. You see, freedom is a privilege only granted to the people at the top. The ones on the bottom have no choice but to obey. Well, of course you can riot, but what good will that do, if the powerful can just lock you up or kill you?" I asked and crouched down to grab the president by his hair again.

"As I said, freedom is not achievable for everyone in a society like this, so I think it's time for a change. I will show you a society where everyone is free, and the only way to achieve such a society is for everyone to be at the top and the bottom at the same time, and the way to make that happen is simple," I said and raised the unconscious body of the president once again as the crowd looked on with a mix of fear and excitement on their faces.

"Let me do a favor for you all and level the playing field," I said, and the feelings of suspense and expectation in the crowd grew.

Then my left hand, which held the dagger, moved close to the president's throat, and then, I simply moved the dagger towards me at a moderate speed, slitting the man's throat.

The wound started to bleed profusely shortly after, and I let go of the man's hair, so that he again fell onto the platform, but this time it was different. The man wasn't just unconscious but dying, and soon the man's heart would stop beating completely.

After dropping the body, I looked at the crowd that was, as expected, speechless and unsure of what to do. It was understandable. They had been exposed to all sorts of perspectives that differed from theirs and had trouble deciding what to believe. In a situation like this, it was necessary to give them a little push.

"Well, what are you doing?" I asked and grabbed a hold of the speech podium before shouting with all the energy I had left.

"RIOT!!!"

Suddenly, multiple people, 5 to be exact, sprung into action and started a series of killings in the crowd and then the crowd erupted into chaos, as people screamed and were killed by other people who had now made up their minds, influenced by their pent-up emotions, my speech and peer pressure that had been brought upon them by the 5 people who had sprung into action.

I looked at my creation with an apathetic expression, uncaring about all the people who screamed and died.

There were a series of messages constantly running through my head informing me about new deaths, but I just ignored them.

After observing the mess for some time, I walked off the platform, and found some alcohol and materials I could light on fire. I then came up with a way to light them on fire and threw the materials into multiple wooden houses, and shortly after, the whole town was being engulfed in flames.

I got myself up onto the roof of the president's house and watched as the people who had abandoned their morals and given up to their animalistic instincts killed each other in acts motivated entirely by wrath and desire.

The plan had gone well, and both I and Harold had fulfilled our parts of the deal we had made.

I took a comfortable sitting position, sipped the leftover alcohol, and drowned in my thoughts, my gaze directed at the burning houses that had most likely been built with rigorous work only to help spread the flames that I had lit.