Baron of Borin (1/2)

After coming inside, Haalfrin figures the baron must be eager to meet with him, seeing as how he's hardly given time to wash up before he's whisked away to the dining room, where a lavish hot meal is already prepared for him.

Sitting across an obnoxiously long table sits the baron, blissfully eating a plate full of pancakes.

Given the wealth in this mansion and his sour first impression of the man, Haalfrin had expected the baron to be grotesquely overweight… However, the man himself appears to be a 1st gate mage, so he's at least relatively in shape.

You see, using physical-based magic burns calories… hence, it's nearly impossible for a mage to be fat. In fact, their biggest problem is usually not being able to eat enough!

(… This just goes to show what kind of life Prince Tallus was living; despite being a 1st gate mage, he's getting pretty fat.)

Feeling stiff and awkward, Haalfrin sits down clear on the other end of the table, and he's given his full meal course… though he just pokes the food with his fork and tries his best to ignore the baron.

Seeing that Haalfrin isn't eating, the baron smiles awkwardly and opens his mouth, "I see that the food doesn't suit your taste. I'll have the servants send for another plate of something else…"

Haalfrin sets down his eating knife with a clang and rests his cheek on his chin. "Baron Borin… I'm afraid I ate on the way up, and I'm not hungry… You seemed anxious to talk to me immediately, so tell me your business."

'Seriously,' Haalfrin grumbles in his heart, 'if the baron wanted to talk to me, why would he sit me so far away? What's the point of the table being so large when the baron has no family or noble visitors?'

Even according to upper-class etiquette, the man of the house is supposed to sit on one end of the long table, and the mistress of the house is supposed to sit on the other end. Any guests belong somewhere in the middle

'Sitting me on the other end…' Haalfrin shivers a little. 'I'll just chalk it up to him making a mistake. Umm… I'm not into that sort of thing.'

Baron Borin coughs and sets his eating utensils down. "I see," the baron says. "Well, I received a letter of introduction from the royal palace the other day, and they said they'd be posting a 2nd gate mage here to help protect the territory…"

Borin uncomfortably wipes his face with his napkin, and he watches Haalfrin's expression carefully.

Truth be told, the baron wasn't told very much about who his guest would be or why he was sent there.

Since the baron donates a portion of his wealth to support Prince Kanus in exchange for political protection, having a 2nd gate mage suddenly sent over is making him very nervous.

Did Kanus send this strange mage in front of him because something terrible is about to happen in his territory? Is he in danger right now?

And so, the baron heaves a sigh of relief once Haalfrin gives his reply.

"I'm a war veteran," Haalfrin replies, "and I've been sent out here by the king because my teacher requested I have time away from the war to study my magic in peace. I was told to protect the borders in the meantime and not cause trouble with the locals."

For the first time, Baron Borin smiles sincerely. 'Ah,' the baron thinks, 'so nothing terrible is about to happen in my territory. Whatever reason this man has for being here… it has nothing to do with me.' His smile grows deeper. 'And, I have a powerful 2nd gate mage at my beck and call now!'

Borin's mood soars even higher as he thinks about all the new plans he could carry out with a 2nd gate mage at his side.

Seeing the baron's giddy expression, Haalfrin smiles (but not smiles)… and he chooses to keep his mouth shut. It's best to see what the baron plans for him.

After Haalfrin takes a few polite bites, he dismisses himself from the dining room, and he's shown to where his room is at.

It's around the late afternoon by now, so Haalfrin has a few hours before he goes to sleep. He spends that time reading some research materials Master Kalastros made him bring along in the meantime.

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Come morning time, Haalfrin wakes up and stretches on his bed. He then looks up at the ceiling, lying motionless on his back, feeling thoroughly unenthused for the day.

After he finally gets up, he steps outside his room and hears a loud clamor. Out of curiosity, Haalfrin looks out the window and sees a few dozen men holding bags and leaving with sour looks on their faces.

Looking closer, Haalfrin recognizes that some of the men are the guards he previously saw watching the front gate. 'Did they just… get dismissed?'

Feeling that something's wrong, Haalfrin walks up to the nearest maid – a young teenage girl – and he asks her about the leaving guards.

The young girl huffs angrily at this question and replies in a gossipy tone, "Seriously, right? I mean, like, just because our lord found a mage to protect him, he chose to, like, totally fire them. Like, why would he do that? I heard the baron wanted to spare some expenses… at least, like, that's what my boyfriend said before he was, like, sent away…"

'Ugh... What's with this girl saying 'like' all the time? Is that how youngsters talk nowadays?' Haalfrin thinks. 'How redundant.'

Haalfrin rubs his temples for a second, then clarifies for her, "So the baron felt that some of the guards were redundant because he got a mage who can do their jobs better than they can for free. Redundant expenses obviously would be cut, I suppose…"

Just looking at Baron Borin, Haalfrin can't help but draw parallels to the last baron he was a guard to – a similarly thoughtless and selfish man.

Back Haalfrin was a teenager - long before he even joined the Kareen, he was subject to a stupid, ostentatious, and unsympathetic baron. He put up with the man because it was his job, and he had signed up for it…

… Though when push comes to shove, Haalfrin still chose to run off with the very Kareen Clan who robbed his boss, after his boss pushed his men too far.

Indeed, Haalfrin is normally a dutiful man, but even he has his limits...

'Now?' Haalfrin thinks, 'What's the point in putting up with this crap? Didn't Master always teach me that if you're mindlessly obeying orders all the time, you'll have no respect from your bosses, and they'll exploit you?'

Just thinking about it, Haalfrin rolls his eyes and thinks, 'Oh goodness. I'm not going to put up with this fop. Though… I already decided I'd stick around for a bit longer to see if there's anything that's actually planned for me out here. If there's not, I don't mind living outside the baron's estate and pretending he doesn't exist.'

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Later that afternoon, Haalfrin receives his first orders. On the note placed on his bed, he reads, "There are several families in Goodland down the east road that refuse to pay their taxes. Go down and teach them a lesson as you see fit."

Next to the note on his bed is a uniform with the baron's logo. "Yeah," Haalfrin mutters, "I'm not wearing that."

The next moment, Haalfrin has packed up his things and is on his way down to Goodland. He then follows his directions to the houses designated in his mission.

Haalfrin walks up to the first doorway, and without hesitation, he knocks on the door.

He hears some scuffling and hushed muttering from the family inside. Hesitantly, the father of the household opens up with a broom in his hand, "What do you want!?"

Haalfrin opens his mouth and asks, "Have you or any of your neighbors paid taxes recently?"

The skinny man laughs sarcastically. "Paid taxes? Is there anyone in this bloody territory that's paid taxes in the last few decades?"

The man gestures to the houses lining the streets, "We've been poor in the land of Borin since my grandfather's time. You think the baron has anything of value to take from us?"

Haalfrin frowns at this, then asks, "Has the baron sent any tax collectors after any of the citizens at all?"

The poor man scratches his ear and says, "No… Not that I remember, anyway. I mean, the baron doesn't get his money from taxes; he owns all the farms, and all the farmhands are hired. He owns everything out here that can make a profit. Most of us just work for him."

Haalfrin's frown grows deeper. "So," the mage says calmly as he pulls out the crumpled uniform in his bag, "I'm a mage who came to these parts and was told to work for the baron. For some reason, he told me to come here and collect taxes."

Of course, the father of this household is smart enough to understand that Haalfrin wouldn't have approached him this way if he actually planned on following through. "Ha!" the man barks out, "That's stupid. Why would he do that?"

"Yeah…," Haalfrin mutters darkly, "Why would he?"

"Well," Haalfrin puts on a business smile, "It was good talking to you. Have a good day." They bid a cordial farewell, and Haalfrin is on his way.

The mage only spends a bit more time knocking on other doors and having similar conversations with identical conclusions with the other residents.

Feeling perturbed, Haalfrin rides back to the baron's estate, and he makes sure to travel a little slower to give himself time to think properly about the implications of his assignment.