A divine light landed in the middle of the safe zone once again, as Cozy let all of her friends return down to the ground. Toys in hand, they needed a way to properly distribute these.

  “Are we just going to hand them out?” Ed asked.

  “No, we need to do outreach. Wish we had something substantial to go along with it though, like food,” Cozy thought aloud.

  “We have to do the best we can,” Adelyn responded. “Making food isn’t easy, but just toys can seem a little bit insensitive coming from the… governor?”

  “I would like toys, but I suppose you’re right,” Teddie said. “Umm, maybe our food supplier can come from… somewhere in the city…”

  “Hm.”

  Phiona seemed to be in a mode of deep thought. She was truly considering what would be the best option right now. “I think… I think we can make this work. We just need to partner… partner with someone and…”

  “Make everyone comfortable! Who’s the most reputable food provider in this city?” Cozy said.

  “Ah… um…” Phiona tried to think for a moment. “I think… I think I’ve heard of… of one when thinking about city relations… wait but the bandits… it's probably outside the safezone… ummmm…”

  “We’ll just ask around, then!” Adelyn said. “I’m sure people would be willing to help us. Especially when the times are so dire.”

  Asking for help was a lot easier than they had expected. Even if the opinion of the government was at an all-time low, companies got swayed by both promises of reconciliation and admittedly limited resources.

  Regardless, it was good for business. Cozy had managed to convince a local bakery of that, and Phiona’s earnest demeanor also earned them some points. If she wasn’t going to be locked up in that tower anymore, they could try and help.

  The only thing left was to advertise their assistance, which was done simply. The idea that the government was doing something managed to convince some people. A few people, but not all too many people. Regardless, that was all they needed.

  Three of them, minus Ed, had been around town, a little bit odd for children to be advertising these services. But they had become pretty well-known in the city, especially as something similar to government officials.

  Then, they regrouped at the bakery. A quaint little place, but now with a few extra customers. Some of them were buying bread, and taking the toys along with them as a bonus. However, it seemed like their advertisements weren’t all peachy.

  “Governor? When can we move out of the safezone? I’m running out of supply and I need the food to keep the business stable.”

  “Yeah! Is it true that you aren’t even the governor yet? How are we supposed to rely on you to protect us if the bandits attack?”

  “My children have been lacking in education for almost a year now. How do you feel about letting this terrible system continue?”

  “Well… one… one uhm… one question at a time, please…”

  Phiona seemed to be having a bit of trouble handling this. Ed was busy holding off the people that were there the best he could. A fairly large wall was placed between the crowd and Phiona, just so the poor governor could have some space.

  “Adelyn, Teddie, can you two help Ed out?” Cozy said. The both of them nodded and went to assist. Meanwhile, Cozy walked on over to the bakery owner, who was calmly selling his own bread while Phiona was getting hounded.

  “How long has that been happening?” Cozy asked the burly shopkeeper. A pretty large man in an apron, running the counter.

  “Basically ever since you left. When you guys started putting a face to the governor, some people got questions. Lots of ‘em,” the man responded. “Luckily, I think I’m gonna convert a good chunk of ‘em into customers, so it’s a win-win for me regardless.”

  “Good man,” Cozy winked. “But I unfortunately have a promise to uphold. Which includes getting that girl into shape. So, I’d like it if you could ease the workload for me just a bit.”

  “What do you need?”

  “I know this is just a bakery, not a full-on restaurant. But you could quell the anger for me with a few deals. I promise we’ll pay you extra for this, but if you claim to make the best bread in the city, then why not convince people to buy more of it?”

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  The man sighed. “Well. If it’s for the governor, perhaps.”

  “Thank you very much, good sir!” Cozy said. With that, she turned towards the crowd around Phiona and the rest of her friends. The poor girl seemed to have a lot of nervousness trying to answer so many at once. Cozy summoned her wings and glided over the crowd, before landing next to Phiona.

  “Has she managed to get a word out?” Cozy asked.

  “No, not anything yet. This is the first time she’s experiencing this kind of pressure,” Ed said. “Like, different from academic pressure.”

  “Breathe. Words… remember… remember… like a book…” Phiona seemed to be hyperventilating. This was a bad situation for her. If she was being bombarded, then there was no way her mind could overcome this. She could see the shopkeeper trying to pull some of the people away, but Phiona’s own mental block was a hurdle.

  Cozy took a deep breath. She didn’t want to do this, mostly because she was worried it would mess everything up. But, if Phiona was going to talk to people, she was going to need one thing.

  “Phiona.”

  Cozy reached out her hand, and touched the governor-candidate’s forehead. A pink glow appeared on her palm, as it resonated into Phiona. Love Magic. The one magic that she took from this city a year and a half ago.

  She normally used this magic to take love from enemies, which pacified their emotions and made them drop to the ground. It was quite useful in a fight, though sometimes difficult to use in other ways. But, she figured that if she could take love away, then she could also give it.

  Not too much, and hopefully nothing that would affect her mind on such a significant level. What Cozy wanted Phiona to feel was that she was loved. Loved by someone, and not burdened by the pressure of just answering these questions. Because no matter what, the warm feeling that extended to her heart would still be with her.

  Phiona’s heavy breathing slowed down. She looked at the crowd, which had thankfully been partially dispersed. Over the crowd, she projected her voice and spoke.

  “I understand you have questions, but I will answer them one at a time! Please let me speak, and I will hope to satisfy you with my answers!”

  With a clap of her hands, and without a single stutter in her words. She spoke, loudly and clearly for everyone in the shop to hear. Cozy smiled, it seemed like her little trick worked, thankfully enough.

  “You all are asking very valid questions. When are we going to be able to return to normal? It’s been a long time, and things are hard on all of you.”

  Phiona raised her hands with utmost seriousness. “And I do not wish to provide you with no information, so I’m here to make one definitive statement once and for all.”

  That got the crowd’s interest. Cozy wondered what Phiona was about to say, if she thought she could assuage all of them with a single announcement.

  “I will be becoming your new Governor of Love tomorrow. As I believe the Lovebird will be willing to grant me that power at that time!”

  “WHAT?!”

  The entire crowd, including the group, shouted in shock.

  The five of them returned to the balcony, having escaped the many questions that Phiona’s sudden declaration called to it. They stood outside of the penthouse, though definitely not without mixed feelings.

  “Tomorrow?!” Ed complained. “What do you mean, tomorrow? You just barely got over your stutter!”

  “Well… uh, um… it’s… it is because the… the bandits were attacking tomorrow. So, I wanted to get some, erm, assurance, right?” Phiona nervously said.

  “The bandits?” Teddie asked. “I suppose that’s correct… but is announcing it like that really… the best idea. I mean, we thought we were making progress… but it was steady…”

  “I can see her point,” Adelyn stepped up to defend her decision. “When Ed and I fought those guys, they seemed to be planning something nasty. I don’t know if we can hold out for much longer, so having a clear deadline in mind might incentivize us to work faster.”

  “That’s awfully optimistic Adelyn,” Ed shot back. “How are we supposed to get the opinion of that bird to change in a day?”

  “He seems open…” Teddie muttered. “It’s just… yeah… he’s fickle. It might mean we’ll have to work way harder.”

  “Then we will! Don’t you remember what’s at stake? Not only is this city at stake, but we all want to get into the capital as fast as we can. It’s just, with so many deadlines, I think it’s reasonable to say that we can’t turn away from this date anymore.”

  “I’m just… I don’t know how practical it is,” Ed shook his head. “Plus, if nothing happens tomorrow then the people will get mad even if we don’t get overrun by bandits.”

  Cozy stepped in between all of them. “I don’t think it’s worth wasting time on whether or not it was a good idea or not. What’s done is done, and a promise has been made.” She looked at Ed and Teddie, then at Adelyn and Phiona. “And we don’t want to break that promise. So we’re going to do the best we can to fulfill it.”

  Everyone seemed to agree with that, at least. Cozy smiled. “But we’re all going to accept that we’re not gonna get any sleep tonight.”

  “You’re right,” Ed said. “If this is the way we’re going to go, then we’re going to need as much time as we possibly can get.”

  “I was planning on doing that anyway,” Adelyn said. “We already knew about the bandit attacks, but I think we work better under pressure.”

  “I’m going… to… I don’t know if I can do any more convincing with the Lovebird. So I think I’m going to try and talk to people,” Teddie said.

  “Adelyn. You and I are going to be back to helping out the wall defenses. If this is happening tomorrow then we’re going to need as much of tomorrow as possible,” Ed said.

  “I agree. Cozy?” Adelyn looked towards Cozy.

  “Phiona, we’re going to have to stay up all night. The previous Governor always kept her promises, so we’re going to need to as well,” Cozy turned to Phiona.

  “Mhm,” Phiona nodded. “I… I will.”

  “Good. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Cozy said. “Let’s hope everything will work out.”