To keep my mind away from the horror of just having killed a guy, I distracted my mind with philosophy.

I heard the story once in a motivational speech. A sculptor was asked to make something representing opportunity. He then presented, after a long time of contemplation and work, his masterpiece. It was a dynamic statue of a woman, running, with a very distinctive hairstyle. The back of her head was bald and the front had a toupée large enough to shame the 45th POTUS. When asked for an explanation, he said that Opportunity is something everyone covets and runs past you at once. You got only one chance at grabbing it by the hair and that is right as it passes by you. Once it went away, you can't do anything to it.

Caveman's allegories aside, that is a pretty good image of what was happening in Es-Kina lately. In the turmoil of the succession, the outbound refugee crisis, the starving army looming in the southwest, the desperate bid for a sliver of godhood to save the king's life, the fires that claimed almost a third of the city, in the middle of this shitstorm, everyone is trying to grab what they can. At everyone else's expense.

Such was the motivation to the raid on Abil-Kisu's warehouses, the bribing of the scribes, arson at the courthouse, the fight with the councilman, and a ton of things I only caught rumors of or had no idea. The city was imploding with their esteemed elite's own greed and none was the wiser.

Meanwhile, stupid me was trying to salvage it. For free. Oh, you could say I obtained the gold used to bribe the scribes, the council votes of late Merem-Selit, and my own private army of followers. To an outsider, it might look like I was one of those voraciously tearing the city apart to fill my own pockets. I didn't seek any of these situations, however. It was just me picking the aftermath of some crap that was thrown my way. If I were actively trying to seize power...

I had no idea what would happen. In fact, I could barely recognize myself in the mirror. The bookish college girl that loved camping and singing birds became someone that murdered for breakfast. Even the bird by my side was now murderous and tone-deaf. But one thing I was certain from the earlier encounter. A woman gathering power in this city was a threat. They would keep attempting to control me. I had half the mind of getting out of it and just walking away, but the rest of the world was the same. Moving elsewhere would mean restarting the process all over again.

I had to keep moving forward or lose all I achieved so far. Surely I could defeat almost anyone in one-on-one combat just because I was pretty much tireless and unkillable, or at least able to sustain grievous maiming injury just to get one win. But if everyone ganged up on me, there was only so much one person could do. Since I couldn't learn magic and toss fireballs everywhere, I mean.

Philosophical conjectures apart, the first thing I did when I entered my estate was to take a bath and clean Dime. I didn't wash the sky-lord but I used my power to remove all the extraneous grime from his body and feathers. It removed some of the oily coat of his feathers but he promptly perched on the windowsill to preen and groom himself, getting more oils from the glands at the base of his tail to coat his feathers.

I paused to think about him. He stopped giving me offerings of his prey and I guess he no longer fears me. I had no way of reading his thoughts so I can't guess but I think our relationship has improved. He felt my attention, took his beak from underneath his wing and chirped. His combination of brown, white and emerald feathers felt odd to my earthen senses. I waved and he went back to grooming. I washed the blood off of my armor and clothes, sighing at the scratches on the blue galvanized coating. I could coat it again, repair this damage. Maybe I would do that, I had to visit Samus to get my weapon anyway.

Freshened up, I went downstairs and gathered my teams to assign the work for the day. Utuaa and Zar-Kiira approached me, the two of them became the leaders of the workers by gender. I would allow them to keep the positions if there were no problems.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Milady minister," Zar-Kiira bowed and delivered her line with sugary words. "There were some women that wanted to join our workforce. I brought them here but if you think it is too much..."

"Me too," Utuaa added. "Several men want to help you. They are strong."

The mason hadn't the same social grace as Zar-Kiira but I felt the sincerity in his words. The people of the city were desperate. They were the ones that failed to flee when news of Marduk's army arrived or ones that returned after the roads proved too much of an ordeal. Without guidance and stability, the city was on the verge of a rebellion. Theft was rampant and they were looking at rats as a protein source. As Belle put, 'meat is meat' - and meat was a luxury.

"I will trust both of you to get everyone a job. We are going to do the same as yesterday, without the part where I bury myself in debris," I drew a chuckle from Utuaa. "But I won't be as generous with the rat meat as yesterday. If people want meat, it will be part of their pay. Anyone that disagrees can go find work elsewhere."

"No, no!" Zar-Kiira hurriedly denied. "We all understand that the lady was extremely generous yesterday. And yes, we would all take some meat home as part of our payment. I only hope the lady doesn't overprice it."

She let escape some of her worries. No doubt the prices of food were jacked up to extremes by the greedy merchants.

"No, I am not trying to make a profit. We will discuss this later. If things go well, I might even get something nice for everyone to feast on later. Now, let me talk to everyone."

"As you wish, milady," They bowed slightly and returned to their groups.

I climbed on a wagon so everyone could see me.

"We are going to clear up more of the city today," I addressed the almost hundred people in the backyard. "The scribes will work on making copies of the deeds for the courthouse, without the changes made by the corrupt scribes. I want a guard detachment to stay inside watching the scribes work, another at the gates to help unload the carts. Nobody will either enter or leave this estate while I am out. I'm leaving Bloodstone the sky-lord here to keep watch, with orders to peck out the eyes of anyone trying to get in or out.

"Cart drivers, you are to unload the crates outside, next to the wall. Do not block the road. We are only working half-period today but you will be paid for a full day. I want one fast runner to stand by Abil-Kisu's gates and come to warn me when the two ladies I am expecting to arrive today get there. Meanwhile, we are going to work on repairing our city."

They shouted in agreement when I paused but then I thought of something and raised a hand to silence them.

"What happened earlier today was a sad happening. I had no intention of killing that man but I also could not back down. I am not trying to increase my properties by bribing scribes to doctor documents and stealing from my neighbors. I am not even getting any wages from this job. I am not doing this for the Enshi. This city became my home now that I can't go back to my birthplace. I have no doubt that what happened earlier today will happen again. People will come trying to take advantage of us. Trying to bully us and steal from us. I ask you to not let them and also to not fight them. I will fight if needed. I only ask that you stay with me."

I don't know if they understood the depth of what I said but they cheered loudly. The cart drivers and the guards moved to exit the gate and the workers filed up behind the last cart. I mounted Penny and rode along. Little I knew that my speech would become a prophecy.

With more hands and more experience, we cleared a block in less than half the time of the previous one. Without accidents as I knew now to collapse structures before getting nearby to Decompose them. We got two very strong men some mauls I crafted and they put themselves to demolish the condemned buildings. It couldn't fall on me if it was already on the ground.

Regarding the rats, I figured out my "animal friendship" was more like "animal domination" than anything. That explained why I bonded with Dime even though he feared me because of my invulnerable eyes. I'm glad he got over it and acts friendly, but I might never know if he had Stockholm Syndrome or not, like Ash's Pikachu. But back to the rats, I could dominate the rodents and make them do my bidding. Even if my bidding was to stand still while they were killed by the women to become meat and pelts. I could even drag rats from nearby blocks, and the female crew was elbow deep in rat butchering. Quite literally.

We were halfway through the second block when the mood shifted. I felt a chill down my spine when I turned around and saw one very young and well-dressed lady approach, the workers parting in fear of staining her fancy dress, the noise of the women chatting and butchering the rats dying, even the men loading the carts with materials stopped. I dropped what I was doing and approached. She was making a beeline toward me anyway. Her dress looked like one of Cloe's models. In fact, it looked very much like one of the ones from the fashion game app. It was no coincidence.

Here comes a new challenger, I heard inside my head.

"Sandra Rinaldi!" She shouted from a few meters away. Quite rude because we had already made brief eye contact.

"Yes, may I help the lady?" I asked her.

Nevermind being polite by Earth standards, people in this world just didn't introduce themselves. Did they just assume everyone should know who they were? I was dumb for not asking Abil-Kisu or Nanna about it.

"Ha! You are the scourge of this city. Give up on him, you seductress! And go away before you bring us all ruin!"

What was she talking about? Some weird prophecy? Who should I give up on? "I'm afraid you misspoke. What do you want exactly?"

She huffed

"It is all your fault! Ever since you came to this city, everyone is dying left and right! And you seduced my man! I tell you, go away while you can or you'll suffer!"

I studied her and she seemed very familiar. After a while, I remembered. She was the same social butterfly that was annoying me in Abil-Kisu's baby shower. And if I remembered well, she had a thing for... Brandon.

"Are you talking about Brandon?"

She scowled. "Yes. Captain Al-Amir is my fiancée! Give up on him, stop trying to steal my man. You should never have crawled out of that abyss!"

I looked behind her. Eight very well-armed guards were lined up behind her. This pampered princess was looking for blood. I moved to the side and found the one with the fancier armor.

"Are you in charge of protecting the princess here?" I asked the guard.

He pretended he didn't hear me. Princess tantrum didn't like that I stopped paying attention to her. She tried to grab my arm but withdrew her hand as she felt the mail underneath.

"You... you are wearing armor? You are a woman! Oh, that's hilarious. You are really a barbarian, aren't you?" She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.

Well, forgive me for my unladylike attire, your Highness. But to call a cosmopolitan XXI century woman a barbarian was a bit too much. See, I told you this day was hell. I really didn't want to drag myself down into an insult contest with this dimwit. But maybe she could be useful for one thing. I was worrying where he was. Maybe her information network was better than my non-existent one.

Yes, I should but suddenly, I don't want to lose to this entitled brat. It was something that welled up from somewhere and now I felt like a lioness defending my pride-lands. Step in the circle of life if you dare, girl. I never had to fight for a man. I never had a man worth fighting for, and maybe it is preposterous to consider Brandon mine, but I don't want him to be hers. She's not worthy and I am a jealous bitch.

But that would not be my venue of attack. I had something better. I leaned to the side and met the guard's eyes.

"Hey, guard guy, if you are here to protect this lady, you better take her back home. She is obstructing the work of government officials. I'll have to punish her if she doesn't leave."

The guard shook his head. "Milady minister, we are aware of that, however the young lady--"

The spoiled princess cut the guard's words, "My father is the general! Not even the Enshi dares go against him! If you dare touch me, my father will run his sword through your bowels!"

That made sense. Why this girl was so infatuated with Brandon, why she thought she owned him, why she thinks she can trample over everyone. I also knew the general and he was too pragmatic. I bet he spoiled the princess rotten, but I doubted he would act unless I truly harmed her, like scarring her face or maiming her.

"I'll sentence you to a day of forced labor if you don't leave. I'll have you spend the whole day tomorrow butchering rats. I bet your father will approve, as the meat shipment tomorrow is destined to the army's provisions. I bet the army needs lots of meat and the general would be elated to know his daughter is putting in the effort to help and learn useful skills for when she becomes a wife."

The women nearby nodded in approval. One of them even held one of the aluminum knives with the cable facing the girl. The disgust in the princess' face was priceless.

"Me?" She almost retched. "Butchering rodents for a whole day? Are you insane? I am the most valuable woman in this whole city! The general's daughter! I would never soil my hands with this... filth." She finished with the most disgusted face I'd ever seen.

"My, my," I used my cue to press on the attack. "Aren't you a special snowflake? Such a spoiled..."

And I trailed off because it was like I had name-dropped a bomb. Some women were chatting, some were working on the rats. But as I delivered that line, everyone froze. The princess looked like she had witnessed me murder her whole line of ancestors right in front of her. Silence reigned in the demolished and half-reclaimed city block.

I kept my mouth shut and looked around. Everywhere I could see fear and eyes staring at me and the princess. I had no idea what happened but it was bad. Then the girl's eyes teared up and she sobbed.

"What did you call me?" She asked with a soft, fearful voice. Her chest was rising without rhythm and she was quivering.

"A special snowflake?" I repeated.

She broke down, crying. Her face went from disgust to fear to rage and back to disgust. Her tanned skin flushed red, her fists were clenched and she ground her teeth.

And then I remembered. Snow in this part of the world is synonymous with death. The flakes of possible radioactive fallout that pushed waves upon waves of refugees as it turned wherever it fell uninhabitable. Even Brandon is one such refugee.

On a scale from one to bitch, I'd just hit "yeast-ridden frigid cow-whore" levels. No, I'm not good with insults but I managed to insult her like nobody else in this world could. It was like calling Emma Watson Voldemort's slut.

Her shoulders slumped down and her arms sagged by her sides, in synch with her sobs. Then she turned around and ran away into the middle of her guards that formed a protective shell around her and retreated.

I'd won and felt like I lost at the same time. This victory felt even more hollow than killing the councilman. Worse yet, I'd probably incurred the wrath of the general. I think it wouldn't be worse if I had the girl flogged.

Terrible day. I almost wished someone charmed me into jumping back into the pit.

It was far from over.