Kill The Old Ones!

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Every city is managed by a city lord and his/her team, their own council, if you will.

Since each city had a minimum of hundreds of thousands of people, some even having millions at once, there’s no way a single person could manage a city full of people alone. Especially with martial artists involved.

Every city lord was jointly appointed not only by the royal court—the king’s council—but also by the Grand Martial Union. Anybody who’s running for the office must meet the criteria of both camps to be officialized.

The requirements of the Royal Court and the GMU are different. The former’s standards are flexible; they could change depending on the people currently sitting at the court.

Although ultimately, the final decision was for the king to decide, the king is only a man and could be swayed or convinced through numerous means. Kings can even be pressured by their own court when things go out of their control, so this was to be expected.

Only the GMU’s standards remain relatively the same. It usually doesn’t matter who reveals the requirements to the prospective lords; the order doesn’t come from these people; they’re just messengers.

If the GMU changes their requirements, they go public about it. It’s their duty to their people to do so. And if changes were made, they would be applied not only to the new but also to the old.

GMU hasn’t changed their standard within the past five decades, and from how things are currently, it’s pretty certain that this streak will continue even further.

And because city lords had to cater to the requirements of two different camps, it becomes a bit harder and harsher for them to actually get into position.

However, it’s also because of this difference that City Lords have more room to maneuver once they’re in position.

Once appointed, the king and his court cannot just dismiss a city lord even though city lords were technically their subordinates. If they want to expel or kick a city lord out of their position, they must first inform the GMU about it.

This goes both ways, too. The GMU can’t just fire a city lord. They, too, must send a request to the Royal Court for a review.

Their reasons must be valid and justified. The other camp will need time to deliberate before making a decision.

Only when both camps agree will the City Lord be fired from his/her position.

If there’s a disagreement, though, the situation could become finicky. This is where City Lords must balance themselves. They have to weave and appease both camps enough to keep their position.

City Lords aren’t the only ones to suffer if they were fired. Their team falls with them, also. In the eyes of both camps, the city lord and their council were a single unit. So it’s only natural that if their leader was fired, those who are loyal to them will be fired too.

The troubles that come with the position don’t end here, though.

In fact, dancing between the Royal Court and the GMU was just one of the things a city lord must pay attention to. They also have to deal with other factions like guilds, sects, organizations, etc.

The City Lords themselves must have a relatively clean background. The Royal Court and the GMU won’t let them sit in the position if they came from a large faction. Because in their eyes, those people harbor selfish intentions; they are indoctrinated and will prioritize the well-being of the faction they’re from before the people.

Being from martial arts clans or families was okay. Those are common after all. So long as the City Lord isn’t aligned to any major competitors, they’ll be fine.

But when they finally sit in the position, they are expected to be impartial, even to their own background.

Being city lords means that they’re choosing between the royal court or the GMU. Those are practically the only options they have.

With all this being said, many people wonder why many people still yearn for the position. Living in this condition must not feel very pleasant. Is it even worth the trouble?

The answer to this depends on who was asked. But for those who knew the benefits the city lords receive on a monthly basis? The answer was generally yes.

City Lords earn billions of credits yearly and millions of merit points annually as well. This doesn’t include the gifts coming from those who come with special requests that only they could provide. Such gifts are often where the true treasures were.

Suffice it to say, City Lords rarely lack resources to advance. Of course, this was under the assumption that the city’s performance under their lead doesn’t drop or become disappointing.

If they could bring out better results, their rewards would rise in quantity and quality as well. And they won’t just come from both the Royal Camp and the GMU; some will come directly from the world system itself.

That’s why, as stressful as this position and its responsibilities were, many still yearn to be in this position.

**

The City Lord of Central City was a man named Gabriel Pierce.

Gabriel held this position for more than a decade and is now considered to have one of the longest tenures on the Central City Lord throne.

He’s proud of this achievement since it hadn’t been easy to hold on to this position, especially at the beginning when he was slapped by the harsh truth that he severely underestimated the politics of this world.

The number of times he nearly lost his position was too much, more than he’s comfortable to admit. But through sheer hard work, stubbornness, and grit, he held on.

Central City damn near collapsed under his lead, but he kept it all together with hopes and prayers, and somehow, miraculously, it worked.

He has learned a lot in his tenure, and he is now more than ready to hold this position for another decade or so. After suffering and investing so much for this city, there’s no way he’d easily let go of this position.

Gabriel even made it difficult for both the Royal Court and the GMU to find a legitimate reason to expel him.

While his fellow city lords did their best to court both camps, Gabriel wove an elaborate network to solidify his position.

It took him ten years of blood, sweat, and tears to achieve this; how can he let go now?

”City Lord, your 10am has arrived. We’ve already escorted them to the meeting room; only your presence is missing.”

One of his secretaries brought him back to reality. Gabrial grunted. He stood up from his chair and proceeded to walk out of his office, his cloak billowing with his stride.

His aged face and stony expression and grey hairs made him look intimidating. His presence never needed to scream importance because it preferred to command, instead. And people usually straighten up in his presence.

His ’10 am,’ as his secretary referred to them, were agents from GMU. Their glowing badges were proudly on display; their backs were ramrod straight as they tried to look important in this building and to the passerby who happened to look their way.

But all of their aura vanished the moment Gabriel entered the room. His physique and presence easily crushed them without even trying. Through sheer prestige and experience alone, they were mere toddlers before him.

It took one glance of his, and all of their bravado was gone. They sat there like guilty chicks, bowing and not daring to make too long of an eye contact with him.

”...So? Do you plan on talking soon? Or are you waiting for more people? An interpreter, maybe? Don’t tell me the GMU sent a bunch of mute people for this notice.”

Not a shred of respect was given to them. Not because Gabriel was being rude, but because these people don’t deserve his. They had to learn who the big boss here is; some strangers with delusions of grandeur just don’t walk into his den and start bossing him around.

He didn’t hold on to this position for more than a decade to be disrespected by some brats who are still wet behind the ears.

”Ahem, good morning City Lord—”

”Save the pleasantries for someone who actually cares. Get on with your report and proposal. The sooner you do, the sooner you can leave.” Gabriel sneered and stopped any flattery they plan on spouting before him.

The faces of the representatives turned ugly but didn’t dare to speak up or be angry. They were warned about the man they’re dealing with. They didn’t want to be here, but they drew the short straw, so they have to endure.

”Right. We came here today hoping to collaborate with you and your council to eliminate the traitors of humanity.”

”The Martial Gods warned us that the cult was behaving strangely again. They were wary of another incident. We still suspect that they were the reason behind the recent dungeon overflow and are being restless again.”

Hearing this request, Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.

He certainly didn’t have a good feeling about this.