Drunken Stupor (1/2)

'I'm tired…'

Haalfrin had been thinking this repeatedly every time he woke up for about 10 years now – at least ever since he started going to that arena.

At first, fighting there was a nice distraction. It also earned him some pocket change too. So, he kept going back.

However, after a while, Haalfrin started to get a little famous. Plus, he's pretty sure that the emperor already knows about him, but has simply chosen not to do anything about him.

Well, he HAS felt people following him for years now, but none of his stalkers ever did anything worth bothering about.

Still, with the combination of being stalked by nobles, being pestered by strangers over petty things like signatures, and attracting the attention of the only kind of women he actively dislikes, he's grown tired of the gladiator life

So, after 9 years, he decided to leave; he only stuck around for the 10th year because he likes nice, even numbers.

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Still, when Haalfrin wakes up the morning after he left the imperial city, he thought he wouldn't feel so tired anymore… but he still has that typical unwillingness to wake up.

The only reason he gets off his cot is because he remembers that he needs to get as far away from the imperial city as possible.

Eventually, Haalfrin makes it to Gorima – one of the two countries that borders Alasta. He's learned the Gorima tongue while he was in prison, so he doesn't have to worry about any language barriers.

So, he has no trouble asking the locals for directions and using his small fortune to buy things.

In the end, Haalfrin isn't really sure what he wants to do, so he stops by a town in a small city near the sea and he rents a small room for himself.

Once he goes into his room, he plops onto his dusty bed and… just lays there. He has nothing to do, nowhere to go, and a dead curiosity. There's nothing to do but lie there and think about nothing in particular.

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Eventually, Haalfrin goes down the stairs and sits at the counter. He still remembers Tanya's warning to stay away from alcohol, so he sits there in silence and watches everyone else drink.

"Sir? You want anything to drink?" The innkeeper notices Haalfrin sitting at his counter, so he goes up and asks him this.

'Of course, I want to drink,' Haalfrin thinks with a scowl. 'I just know that I shouldn't. Wait… what's the point of abstinence? Tanya's not waiting for me in the Death Realm, so what's the point in trying to meet her expectations?'

Briefly, Haalfrin vaguely remembers how he clung to the memory of his Kareen Clan for centuries. His desperate hold on the past pushed him to do a lot of stupid things when he was younger.

'That's right. There's no point in clinging to something in the past. Well, there's nothing special I'm planning for my future, so I guess it doesn't matter what I do anymore.'

"Bring me something; I don't care what. Just make sure there's a lot of it," Haalfrin tells the innkeeper. He drops his purse on the counter. The heavy clanking sound it makes when it hits the counter tells the innkeeper that this customer is willing to pay for whatever he throws at him.

"On it!" the innkeeper cheerfully says as he darts to his cellar. Customers with loose purses are always the best!

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With nothing to do, no one to see, and no motivation to explore his options, Haalfrin languishes in that same tavern for several years. The fortune he'd amassed from winning fights in the arena for 10 years straight is more than enough to sustain him for a long time.

Of course, since most of the people here think he's just a slobbering drunk, people try to steal his money multiple times. Just to be sure, most of them attack him while he's drunk.

Fortunately for Haalfrin, Dakka is always sober, so the ax expertly knocks out anyone who comes too close with malicious intentions. Dakka still remembers that Haalfrin is avoiding Freyya, so he's sure to not kill any of the muggers.

Just like that, Haalfrin becomes known as a mage – a useless mage, but a mage nonetheless. He's marked as too dangerous to rob by the local gangs, and he's mostly left alone after about a year.

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Because of Haalfrin's nondescript existence, almost nobody pays attention to him. The few people who do notice him think he's just a useless drunk. The even fewer who regularly visit this inn notice that Haalfrin's wallet never seems to shrink.

Because of this, these people just assume that Haalfrin is the disgraced son of a wealthy clan, and they forget about him two seconds later.

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One day, one of the new serial muggers seems to have not heard that you're supposed to leave this one particular drunk mage alone, for as soon as the young man strolls into town with his friends, they immediately spot Haalfrin and his free-spending.

Surprising no one, they take him for an easy job, and they pull him into a corner – hopefully to avoid anyone trying to get in their way.

Dakka sees this, yet instead of interfering, the dragon hangs back and thinks, 'Well, I'm tired of protecting this man. If he's too drunk and useless to protect himself, he can just get robbed for all I care.'

'…Besides,' he thinks more subtly, 'it would be a good thing if he lost all his money. It's been a few years now, and he really needs to quit drinking.'

Dakka hadn't said anything before since Haalfrin is finally mourning properly. Fighting in the arena as a gladiator was more of a distraction from his grief. However, in Dakka's mind, it's been long enough, and his Slayer needs to wake up already.

So, when the muggers come to take Haalfrin's money away, Dakka does nothing about it.

When the muggers spew their first, "Give me your money or you bleed!" line, a passerby passes the alley they're in, and he yells out, "Oi! You might not want to mess with that guy if you value your hands! He's a mage!"

Dakka chopped off the hands of the last few people who tried robbing his Slayer. It was a pretty famous incident for the people living on this street.

The muggers look at each other in alarm. "Should we go, Jan?" one of the younger boys asks the eldest among them.

"Nah! He don't look so tough! Look!" He slams his fist into Haalfrin's gut. "He's not even fighting back! There's no way he's a mage!"

Perhaps these boys are insecure about feeling weak, but they all seem violently embarrassed about how this drunkard scared them for a moment.

And so, the muggers get malevolent grins on their faces as they beat the prone Haalfrin mercilessly - even after getting the coin purse off his belt.

Of course, Haalfrin's body heals unnaturally quickly, due to being a mage, so they're not actually doing that much damage. Frankly, Haalfrin is hardly feeling it at all – hence, why he hasn't sobered up yet.

Even still, despite being drunk, Haalfrin can feel the hatred and maliciousness in their spirits, and he subconsciously gets angry.

"AH! Stupid! I'll kill you!" Haalfrin sputters out. He doesn't really mean it, though, since he still subconsciously doesn't want to kill anyone and invite another visit from Freyya.

And so, the most Haalfrin does is release a bit of Aura – scaring the boys off.

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…It's needless to say, but Haalfrin is out of money right now. When Haalfrin stumbles back into the inn, plops down on his chair, and confesses that he can't pay for another drink, the innkeeper is noticeably shocked.

This customer had been here for most of his career now, doing the same thing every day… It's like he was part of the furniture…

Having Haalfrin here actually makes the innkeeper feel a little nostalgic, but the rules are the rules! If you can't pay, you can't stay!

Still, for old-time's sake, the innkeeper tells Haalfrin that he has a week to come up with the money. Otherwise, he'll have to kick him out.

And so, Haalfrin stumbles back out of the inn in a drunken stupor.

'Ugh,' Dakka grumbles internally as he floats behind his Slayer, 'It's the first time he's stepped out of this building of his own volition in years, and he HAS to be too drunk to even notice the beautiful sky?'

Despite Dakka's growing disappointment in his Slayer, he dutifully floats after him.

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After a few minutes, Haalfrin arrives at the market, and he starts selling all of his possessions – his coat, weapons, and even his armor. Haalfrin is so drunk right now that he even slaps Dakka's ax on the vendor's counter and blubbers out, "How much for this one?"

"THAT'S IT!" Dakka fumes. "We're leaving!" The ax angrily tears itself away from the vendor's counter and slaps Haalfrin over the head with the flat side of the blade – knocking the poor sod out.

Then, with his Dravar magic, Dakka drags Haalfrin's sorry body away from the market while ignoring the bystanders' shocked expressions.

… Of course, Dakka is sure to throw away all the money Haalfrin got from selling his things. 'He was just going to waste it all on more drink anyway. Mind as well get rid of it!'

Needless to say, Haalfrin never goes back to the inn.

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With how Haalfrin has been perpetually drunk for years now, he's left to suffer through headaches, vomiting, and other withdrawal symptoms. Haalfrin is so addicted to alcohol at this point that Dakka has to physically stop him from robbing bystanders for pocket change.

Eventually, the hell Haalfrin's body is going through quiets down, and he feels truly sober again.

The first thing he does when he wakes up that morning is look to the side and see Dakka's ax lying limp against a wall.

"Oh, you're awake?" Dakka says.

"After a manner of speaking."

"…" Dakka is silent for a few seconds before he speaks up again. "Are you done acting like a hopeless loser? I saw you even feeding on trash while you were drunk on the streets. Ugh. It's so embarrassing that I was slain by a loser like you."

"Well, I guess I'm a loser, then," Haalfrin shrugs. "You don't have to stick around, do you? Didn't you mention that your grandfather knows how to revive you? Why don't you go back to him?"

"…" Dakka doesn't answer this. Instead, he retorts with his own question. "What about you? Don't you want to do something with your life? Why don't you explore the Otherworld? You were awfully eager to explore the place when you were younger…"

Haalfrin sighs in frustration. "I know you're trying to help me but… Ah… I'll think about it." Haalfrin assumes by now that Dakka doesn't HAVE to stick around with him. If that's the case, then Dakka is making an active choice to sacrifice his time to stick around him.

With that in mind, Haalfrin can't bring himself to be rude to Dakka. He WAS going to say, "Shut up! Go away! I don't want your help!" However, he remains silent and tries to forget the shameful impulse he just had.

Instead, Haalfrin sighs. "You're right. I am being a loser right now."

Dakka perks his ax body up. "Oh? Great! So, what's the plan now?"

"…Nothing, I guess? I don't know." Yet.