Chapter 120
Siren gazed down at them for a brief moment before responding with a single, succinct word.
“Thank you.”
Creeeeak.
At last, the gates of the royal castle, hardened by sand, began to open. The procession slowly moved forward.
As they advanced, little by little, the gathered citizens came into view, maintaining their distance.
Silenced under the warriors’ watch, they had kept their mouths shut—until they saw the queen atop the camel.
They could no longer contain themselves.
“Waaaaaaaah!!!”
“The savior! The queen!!!”
“Aquafuran!!!”
“The returned Aquafuran!!!”
It was sheer frenzy.
Upon seeing Siren, people wept, fell to their knees in reverence, and reached out for her—only to be held back.
A person could survive by eating even insects. But without water, they had no choice but to perish.
“Rain!”
“Please bring us rain!!!”
Faced with those sobbing and pleading before her, Siren found herself momentarily unable to utter a single word.
Previously, she had looked down from the towering altar, leaving a certain distance between them. But now, they were right before her eyes.
The missing teeth of the southern people, their wrinkled faces, the rags draped over their bodies…
Without turning away, she stretched out both hands and gathered the Raksha of water.
How much more rain would it take to wash away this guilt?
She didn’t know, but she would do what she could.
Remaining still was not a right granted to her now.
‘If I bear any sin, then the reality of the southern people is my sin.’
In any given region, only one god of water is typically born.
A secret from the mythological age, unknown to humans.
That there are multiple “gods” of nature.
That even those gods, like humans, think and live.
That each region has its own god to preside over it.
By forsaking her divinity, this land had been reduced to ruin.
‘In a distant country, they call us spirits. The one who governs the mountains is a mountain spirit. The one who governs the waters is a water spirit. They understand and acknowledge the existence of many gods.’
Before she knew it, the sun had been obscured, and raindrops began to pour down.
With the sunlight gone and the surroundings darkened, the air had grown even cooler.
No wonder the sun god disliked her.
She was always covering his light.
“Have the people form a single line in front of each wagon. Make sure no one who has already received bread takes more or cuts in line.”
Upon arriving at the designated location, Yasamin issued his command.
The warriors moved in perfect coordination to organize the crowd. But even with such measures in place, they knew that entire families would likely stand in front of different wagons to collect more bread.
Still, she did not want to blame them.
Because once they received this, who knew when they would get another chance?
As long as they were not taking lives to survive… bread was just bread.
“Listen, all of you! In two days, we will distribute food again. Taking too much today will only lead to spoilage. Share with as many as you can. I promise you—we will bring more. This is the word of Aquafuran!”
The leader of the Aquafuran tribe was someone familiar to the people. A figure of former authority.
As his voice rang out, a few people hesitated before stepping out of line.
The rest, however, remained firmly in place.
“Yasamin. Bring those who just left over here. I want to put them to work in the royal castle.”
“Understood.”
She could not blame them for trying to feed themselves.
She understood their deep-seated fears.
She would not rebuke them. But if there were those who still chose to uphold their conscience, even in a situation like this… were they not worth keeping close?
“Thank you.”
“Thank you… Thank you.”
As the soldiers handed out loaves of bread, the people’s eyes widened in astonishment.
As if this was something grand.
Even though it had neither cheese nor honey.
‘My heart aches.’
I’m sorry. Truly, I am.
The rain has stopped now. The bread could not be allowed to get wet or spoil.
As Siren pondered, she realized something through her ‘date’ with Yasamin today.
‘I need to find a suitable location for a lake.’
The Aquafuran tribe would manage it.
So that anyone could come and take water freely.
That would be the first step.
And the responsibility of maintaining the lake’s water quality would be left to Ananta.
“Fortunately, it’s more orderly than we feared, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
As Yasamin approached her, he pointed at his own head and playfully leaned his shoulder against her.
“Then give me a pat, sweetheart.”
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