Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2867: The Freedom Fighter’s Undying Cause

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, Headquarters

”What the hell was that?” Henricks demanded, grabbing Ned and yanking him around just as he was heading toward the Sin Tower—one of the three main towers in the headquarters, alongside the Fine Gold Tower and the TSR Guild Tower. It served as the hub for their lord’s criminal rehabilitation and reintegration program.

”Me trying to become our lord and savior’s confidant,” Ned said with a calculating smile. ”Was I being too obvious?”

”Yes. It was obvious you were sabotaging the Freedom Fighters. Did you not see the glares from Blair, Jax, and the others? If they hadn’t held back out of respect for the assembly, they would’ve called you out—maybe even gotten physical,” Henricks replied, just as furious as his captains.

”What do you all know besides your naïve ideas about righteousness and everything else? What matters is Luna understood. She’ll make good use of the goodwill I just earned,” Ned said, brushing off Henricks’s frustration and anger as he continued toward the Sin Tower.

”Ned, what did I say about playing the villain?” Henricks asked, teleporting in front of him, his voice low and serious.

”Rick, the Freedom Fighters are no longer under your command or a band of revolutionaries. They belong to Wyatt now—they’re a legal organization within the empire he’s building. And your simple-minded methods didn’t work then, and they won’t work now,” Ned said, his emotions slipping through.

A moment later, he caught himself and added, ”Sorry... Didn’t you see what was happening in there? They didn’t just touch on a few of the most controversial issues across the five regions—they reached agreements on all of them, and did it peacefully.”

”Well, that’s mostly because Saintess Catherine swore servitude to him in the presence of the Card World’s will—”

”Only she took the oath—not the rest of the Empire’s members and representatives. And what about their stronger demigods? They must have avoided Sansa’s memory-devouring plague just like we did. Yet none of them stepped forward to tell the truth to their people, to call her out as a fraud. Why do you think that is?” Ned asked, voicing a question Henricks—and even the captains—hadn’t thought to ask.

”That—”

”Let me tell you why. Because they’re all now Wyatt’s strongest supporters—at least the ones still alive are. I don’t know how he pulled it off without the rest of the world catching on, but after watching how the assembly unfolded, that’s the only conclusion I can draw.”

”What about the Border City forces? Are they also...?”

”No. He seems to genuinely respect their duty to the Southern Region and is rewarding them for it, just like he did with us. But his stance toward the Empire confuses me. He’s trying to slowly erase the practice of worshipping demigods there. I don’t understand why he’d do that—or why the Empire’s leaders would allow it, reducing their own influence to just the Eleven Sacred Cities. I thought Wyatt was more open-minded and tolerant than this.”

”Maybe he didn’t want another Emissary of Light situation. I can’t even imagine how much effort it must have taken for him to help Sansa alter the memories of so many across the world. But Ned, why do you think he had us prepare for the battle, only to leave us behind defending the city? Not that I see it as beneath us, but I thought we’d be facing the Three Mischiefs alongside him.”

”Isn’t it obvious? To humiliate us in front of the rest of his forces.”

”Huh? No way. Ned, Wyatt isn’t—”

Shaking his head, Ned cut him off and continued, ”Wyatt wants to see if provoking us will force us to change the path we’ve been drifting along. It’s a primitive approach, but it gets results.

”I’ve noticed that since we moved to Freedom City, we’ve been doing the bare minimum—like civil servants going through the motions. It’s as if we’ve lost our drive. That’s why he had us build a headquarters here, among the rest of his forces. He’s hoping it’ll spark our competitive edge again—bring back the very thing he chose to invest in when he took us in.”

Henricks nodded in understanding, but he still felt the need to defend them. ”After everything we’ve been through, people are just unwinding. Besides, we’re already getting back on track—”

”Unwinding in the middle of an ongoing world domination campaign?” Ned cut in. ”Rick, our enemies haven’t changed. Our duty hasn’t changed. Only our situation has—and that’s thanks to our new master and allies. Do you understand what I’m saying? If this continues, the Freedom Fighters’ role in the campaign will shrink. And you know what that means, right?”

He stepped closer to Henricks and asked with a deeper voice, ”Tell me you understand, Rick.”

Ned was furious with himself for failing to recognize the golden opportunity before them.

”I do, Ned. I understand that our voice in the new world will diminish. Our plan to fulfill our cause through Wyatt will fail.”

”No—it won’t just fail. It might even push Wyatt and his empire toward becoming the very enemy we’ve been fighting all along. To prevent that, we need to stay by his side throughout his campaign, see it through to completion, and remain there even after. Instead of someone who would misguide him.”

Henricks didn’t argue. He knew Ned was right. Their lord might be a stubborn genius with his own vision, but he was also a wise leader—and wise leaders turn to their council for guidance on critical decisions. And there were plenty of ways a council could abuse that trust. That could very well be them, rather than anyone else.

”Alright, we’re here. Hurry back to the assembly. Don’t forget to thank Corey again—that brat has a reserved seat on Wyatt’s council. We’ll need her on our side. Also, after the assembly, invite City Lord Tess and Saintess Catherine to dinner, and let Luna handle the rest.”