False Testimony (2/2)

The judge then turns to the prince and says, "This is a little different than your testimony, young man. Haalfrin says that you wanted to get up the ridge, but that you fell injured by an enemy attack… which is why you couldn't make it up the cliff."

The prince goes red in the face, then stutters out, "I thought… that this brave warrior would… definitely get in trouble for hitting a royal. He saved the battle, and he was trying to protect my safety when he did that… I couldn't bear to get him in trouble."

Hearing this, the judge lets out a frustrated sigh, and his perfect posture breaks for the first time. Of course, the judge knows the two of them are lying… but is there actually enough evidence?

'I'd like to just convict them both,' the judge thinks, 'but I can't just convict a royal without complete evidence…' He looks over to the king sitting on the outermost rung of the chairs. The king, being a 2nd gate mage, actually looks a few years younger than his sons, yet he still has a regal bearing and an air of maturity greater than them.

The king sees the judge's imploring stare, and he shakes his head slowly. The judge sighs at this, marks with a pen on his ledger, then slams the book shut. "Are there any other witnesses before the court is closed?"

He is met with silence.

The judge stands up with a tired look and announces, "The court is dismissed." He turns to walk out. As per proper etiquette, everyone is to remain where they are until the judge leaves. Once the judge leaves, everyone waits for the king to stand and exit. Only then can everybody leave the courtroom.

This custom is to show that here, in the court, we put the law first, the king second, and everything else third.

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Once Haalfrin turns to leave, he takes one last look at Prince Tallus. The boy has a bright look on his face, and he smiles at Haalfrin like a fool. Haalfrin turns away with a disgusted feeling in his gut.

'That man,' Haalfrin thinks, 'is without a backbone and incompetent. Siding with such a man makes me want to vomit. Well, I've made my choice; I have to put up with it.'

He rolls his eyes. 'I'm not going to be in this world for very long anyway, so putting up with this prick is tolerable.'

Still, even though this is the logical move for Haalfrin, considering his goals, that doesn't mean he has to like it.

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It doesn't take long for Haalfrin's journey back to the doctor's tent to be intercepted by Prince Kanus. To his credit, the prince isn't wearing his fury directly on his face, though Haalfrin can sense it in his brisk pace, abrupt movements, stiff expression, and deep breaths.

Kanus steps in Haalfrin's way, put his hands on his hips, and asks, "What kind of leverage does that small man have over you? Why would you lie for him?"

Seeing that they're alone, Haalfrin feels there's no reason to lie again. "Remember," Haalfrin reminds the prince, "when I said that Das is trying to get my soul? There's another death god who wants my soul too. She sent me this."

Haalfrin reaches into his pocket and tosses the prince that very same recording stone Hurgen gave him. "Everything you need to know is in there."

Stepping back, Haalfrin gives the prince a moment to examine the recording. After a minute, Kanus goes red and puts the blue stone in his pocket with trembling hands.

Haalfrin turns to depart, and he leaves the prince with one last remark, "Even though I know you weren't being honest, I'll still remember that you gave me my limbs back. Although I'll probably have to serve under Prince Tallus, for now, I'll repay my debt in my own way. Honestly, my siding with the other prince won't change anything for you. Tallus is too weak to become king, with or without me."

With that, Haalfrin leaves the prince by himself to stew in his frustration.

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After Haalfrin leaves completely and the prince gets back to his room, Kanus motions for one of his nearby guards to come closer. "Tell my doctors that Haalfrin is no longer welcome in my clinics."

The guard bows and says with an apologetic face, "That won't be necessary, sir. Some of Duke Byron's men came and picked him up."

Kanus curls back his hair with his fingers out of agitation. "Well, that's not a surprise to anyone. Byron's always supported that buffoon rather openly.

Kanus taps his fingers on the wall and thinks anxiously, 'I already notified the archmage about Haalfrin's identity and location… What if the archmage really takes Haalfrin as an apprentice? I can't afford to let my brother have a free connection with such a powerful man…'

'Plus,' Kanus thinks, 'Haalfrin's already proven that his strange motivations make him a powerful and unpredictable person. It's better to just get rid of him now, while he's still young and sick…'

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Later that day, Tallus himself comes by to visit Haalfrin as he's stretching his limbs and running under the supervision of his new physician.

Tallus waves at everyone to leave, and they all glance at him with stiff faces, a little peeved at being dismissed while they were in the middle of something. Haalfrin shows no reaction on his face as Tallus stands in front of him awkwardly, while he's was still jogging in place.

"Why'd you do it?" Tallus asks.

Haalfrin stops his jogging and stares up at Tallus. "Because I'm more likely to fight people if I appear on the side of a loser. That's what I thought at the time, anyway."

Tallus' eye twitches at being called a loser, but in light of just being saved from getting incriminated with a war crime, he holds back his anger.

Well, regardless, he'd never have dared speak up to Haalfrin anyway.

If Tallus had gotten one thing right, he had correctly guessed a while ago that his elder brother was placing a lot of importance on Haalfrin. 'If Haalfrin is important for some reason,' Tallus thinks, 'then I should probably make sure Haalfrin is dedicated to my side!'

After all, Tallus has realized by now that his brother won't let him live anyway, so his best shot at survival is to gain power and influence for himself.

So, Tallus opens his mouth and tries telling Haalfrin all about the politics behind his precarious position.

Besides the fact that Haalfrin already knows about Tallus' situation, he waves the man off and says, "I don't care about all that. Just think of me as a very sharp sword. Point me to who you want to fight, and I'll go kill them. That's the extent of our relationship. Stop trying to be friends with me."

Tallus goes silent, smiles awkwardly, then turns to leave.

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Several more weeks go by, and Haalfrin has already recovered completely. Honestly, he expected assassins to barge into his room or something late on some random night… but nothing ever happened.

'Did Kanus actually give up on me?' Haalfrin wonders. 'That feels… very disappointing.'

What Haalfrin doesn't know is that the archmage already found where Haalfrin was being kept.

In light of Haalfrin's rather controversial testimony, the archmage had figured somebody was going to try killing the boy. So, he had kept some of his people around Lord Byron's estate to keep a close watch on the boy (secretly, of course.)

To signal his completed healing, Duke Byron's physicians take off the mana sealing cuffs on his wrists, as they're no longer required to keep the mana from moving around his body and expelling all the expensive medicine.

Once Haalfrin can finally feel his magic again, he thinks about the 2nd Name he just got.

'Hmm…,' Haalfrin thinks, 'My first Name talked about Destiny, and it let me absorb death energy, bind it to my soul, then release it as some sort of aura. What's my 2nd Name supposed to do?'

He looks down pensively. 'Hm… My first name was about destiny and making the people around me directly confront that fate. My second Name was about my… heart? Connections? I'm not sure about that one. It basically connects me to others like me and… lets me do what?'

From his ample experience using his Aura Name, it isn't too hard to summon out his "Will" Name.

So, Haalfrin sits down cross-legged in his soul realm and invokes his second Rune… and he immediately notices small silver threads extending out from the direct center of his chest. The silver threads weave together in strange patterns, and whisps of light shimmered off of them as if forming letters in some alien language.

The threads then snake out towards Kaalhyme's spear, which is still where he left it – standing in the ashen earth point first. The moment Haalfrin's threads touch the spear, the spear shivers, then shakes as it rises from the ground.

More than that… Haalfrin feels foreign sensations enter his heart. Deep worry, a dull pain, and a love for a people he doesn't remember well up in Haalfrin's heart.

As he's being hit with the spear's lingering emotions, Haalfrin bows his head in sadness and apologizes, "I'm sorry I took all this away from you, Kaalhyme. Your people deserved better."

Indeed, his name had mentioned that he'd never be left alone…

Haalfrin reaches out his hand and, well, Wills Kaalhyme's spear to come to him. The spiritual thread connecting them pulses, and the spear, as if sensing what Haalfrin intends, shoots up and flies into his hand while twisting itself vertically at the last moment so it would land just right in his hand.

Feeling like a child again who just got a present, Haalfrin leaves his soul realm with a gleeful face, fully expecting to see that Kaalhyme's spear would be in his hands when he wakes up in his body again.

Instead… Haalfrin looks down in disappointment at his empty hands. In frustration, he throws up his hands and says aloud, "What's the point in that?"

However… his attention is caught by something moving in his peripheral vision. He looks to his left and sees a stick floating in the air. There are no silver threads visible this time, but Haalfrin instinctually knows they are there.

Reaching out his hand, Haalfrin Wills for the stick to move, and it flies through the air, landing perfectly in his palm, just as the spear did.

Looking down at the possessed stick, Haalfrin mutters, "Well, I guess Kaalhyme's spear was just a projection in my soul; the real spear is no doubt on its way back to his clan as a keepsake or something.