Deal with Das

After Haalfrin had taken down the crime syndicate, he half expected some trouble to come – perhaps some angry nobles or some outer branches of the Syndicate seeking to take power in the vacuum.

Even more concerning is the question. "Are people going to question me about the baron's death?"

Haalfrin waits and waits, yet nobody bothers him about it, and other than a new baron being appointed to Borin, nothing remarkable happens, and things continue peacefully in the barony…

... Strange...

'Well,' Haalfrin figures before choosing to forget about it, 'Master probably made sure that Kanus didn't make any trouble over this issue.'

And with that, Haalfrin goes back to his daily activities again – this time no longer interrupted by pesky criminals, as any reasonable syndicate has long chosen to NOT move here – the place where the archmage's apprentice lives.

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About a month after Borin's death, Kanus is sitting in his desk again listening to some medallions enchanted with voice recording magic. On each of these medallions are verbal reports given one after another from various contacts and spies throughout the nation.

Frankly, Kanus feels like nodding to sleep as he's listening to this, but he's the only person supposed to know about these spies, so it's not like he can just hand these recordings off to others and have them take notes for him.

And thus, Kanus puts up with the discomfort, and he plows through his job.

As Kanus has one hand holding his head and the other hand furiously scribbling down notes with a pen, he suddenly feels uncontrollably dizzy – the same feeling of dizziness you get when you haven't drunk enough water, and you stand up.

The next moment, Kanus's head plops onto the desk, and he falls unconscious…

Just as suddenly as Kanus fell asleep, his head snaps up startled, and he gasps in shock at the ominous feeling he has in his room.

The sky outside has turned an ashen grey with a faint greenish, corpselike glow. The air in his office has been enveloped by some invisible pressure. The ambient sounds of the birds chirping and the wind howling have been replaced with a silence so complete that Kanus can hear his ears ringing.

The prince gulps nervously, cold sweat trickles down his neck, and all his muscles are rigid and stiff. He's like a buck who hears the grass rustle; he's holding still, yet ready to bolt the moment something dangerous shows up.

All around him, the prince hears echoing footsteps, as if crisp boots are walking down a glass hallway. The sound seems to be coming from everywhere at once, so Kanus has no idea where to look for this mysterious intruder.

"Why're you so nervous?" comes an old man's voice from right in front of him.

"BLEH!" Kanus panics and pushes away from his desk. He just barely notices a sharply dressed old man standing in front of his desk with his hands clasped behind his back.

It's as if Kanus was unable to see the man until the man chose to address him.

Of course, the thing about death gods, like Das, is that when you're young and your own mortality is the furthest thing from your mind, you can't actually see them - even in the visions they send you… That is, you can't see them until they specifically address you.

Literally, these young people can't perceive death until it personally chooses to show its face to them – just like how a lot of young people can't understand their own finite existence, but only jolt awake when having a near-fatal experience, or when a person close to them dies.

Only then do they remember that things can end one day. Only then do they "see" death.

Seeing that the young mortal is too afraid to talk, Das steps back and smiles kindly, "I'm the uninvited guest here, so I'll introduce myself first. My Name is Das. Your people might call me the god of Longevity… and while that title sounds quite lovely, you can just refer to me as the god of Decay."

(By the way, Freyya's official title is the goddess of Defeat. Everyone just calls her the Crow goddess, though.)

Kanus feels his limbs trembling, and he grips his pen really hard. "What can I do for you?" Kanus asks as he tries his best to keep calm.

"Hmm…," Das mutters as he places a finger on his chin, "I can feel you're a very ambitious man, so I can tell you the exact date of your father's death in exchange for a favor."

The ancient god places one hand on Kanus's desk and says, "I'm afraid there's a mortal I'm interested in in your kingdom."

"H-haalfrin, correct?" Oh, Kanus curses himself for sounding nervous there.

"Correct," Das affirms, "and I know you've had issues with him in the past. Now, I have evidence in my hands that can get the boy imprisoned for life. I need you to use it to make sure he never escapes."

Kanus furrows his eyebrows and wants to ask, 'But didn't you favor the man? Why suddenly punish him?' However, he clamps his mouth shut and doesn't dare ask.

Instead of protesting or asking questions, Kanus nods slowly and says, "I'll do as you say."

Das smiles. "Good. Here you go," he says while he places a blue recording crystal onto Kanus's desk. "Well, I'll take my leave then."

The god of decay gives a half bow before decomposing into a thick black mist that sends Kanus into a fit of terror so strong that he completely freezes – unable to even scream.

Right after Das is gone, Kanus throws his pen across the room and curses in his heart, ' "Benevolent god" my *ss! That man felt like a demon!'

Indeed, Alasta and Brancotte call Das the god of Longevity because he's the god who advocates for a peaceful life that ends in bliss. Sometimes, he's also called the god of Serenity as well, though this is more of a poetic expression the priests use sometimes.

This, however, appears to only be some beautiful prose. In reality, Das's name is something much more sinister. 'The god of decay…?' Kanus mutters. 'The inevitable, invisible erosion by time, huh? I suppose there's nothing more insidious and sinister than that.'

Despite already deciding that the 'god of longevity' is no longer his favorite god, Kanus still decides to go along with Das's offer to imprison Haalfrin, though it pains him to do so.

Frankly speaking, Kanus had been thinking nowadays that it's best to just leave Haalfrin alone from now on. His sources in the Borin Barony have already told him that the boy is near to becoming a 3rd gate mage. (Kalastros managed to keep Haalfrin's advancement a secret, so nobody but the new baron, a few villagers, and Haalfrin himself know.)

At this rate, if Haalfrin gets any more powerful, he'll be forced to live in Brancotte as per their treaty, and he'll serve in the Threshold as a soldier.

So… what's the point in making more struggles when the man is about to get out of his hair anyway?

However, a god personally came down and gave Kanus a mission. Strictly speaking, it's never a good idea to directly disobey a god.

… And it doesn't hurt that the god will give him some valuable information in return. 'If I know exactly when my father will pass away, that'll make planning for the future far easier. My transition to the throne will be complete far easier then!'

And so, having made up his mind, Kanus taps into the recording crystal Das gave him, and a series of memories surge into his mind.

In the vision, Kanus clearly sees Haalfrin… and some woman he doesn't know walking up to a mansion… and it's a mansion Kanus recognizes; there was an incident there about a month ago… and since it involved Haalfrin, the crown prince naturally investigated it thoroughly...

According to all the reports and information he could find, some baron called Borin decided to come clean about his connections to foreign smugglers and slave traders. According to the news, the guilty baron was then tortured and murdered in retaliation by those same criminals.

Haalfrin killed two of the leaders, and apprehended a third… Kanus's own men helped to capture the other 2 and punish their families, as they were both Alastan nobles, and thus, needed to be dealt with by the royal family.

Since the crime lord Kirst was taken by the archmage's people, Kanus was never able to get any information on that man's side of the story; however, the other 2 crime lords confirmed that they received an admission letter from Borin and that they send a force to the baron's house to teach him a lesson.

All evidence pointed toward Borin being tortured and killed by the Algori Syndicate…

… This is why Kanus is so surprised as he sees Haalfrin personally slaughter his way through the baron's house, then torture the baron and murder him in cold blood.

At the end of the vision, Kanus receives a final blip of information – news of the Archmage's death in 20 years, and the king's death in 15.

After this, the vision ends, and Kanus sits back in his chair - looking out the sunny window.

'Ugh…,' he sighs in frustration,'"I can't use this right now. It's certainly a serious crime to kill any noble without having royal permission first. However… It's not so easy to touch Haalfrin right now.'

He looks up again and thinks, 'Well, I at least know when the archmage and the king are going to die. Within 20 years, the court will directly be in my hands, and I'll be able to use this crystal the way Das wants me to.'

'Still,' Kanus thinks tiredly, 'It doesn't feel good to have to work more than you need to. It really would've been easier to just let Haalfrin get his 3rd Name, then disappear off to Brancotte.'