Drunken Stupor (2/2)

Later that day, those same muggers who took his money finds him again. They'd gotten a small fortune from him last time they robbed him, so when they heard that he'd been in the market selling off all his things, they figured that he has another hefty sum on him that's up for the taking.

"That's him over there!" one of the boys shouts to his comrades. There, they see the drunkard sitting against a wall and bowing his head – seemingly in contemplation.

The boy waits a few moments for his comrades to run down the street and join him. Then, they all step forward confidently and surround the man.

"You know the deal. Give us your money, and we'll be nice to you this time."

Without even looking up. Haalfrin mutters in a low voice. "You're wasting your time. I don't have any money with me."

'He doesn't sound drunk,' the youngest boy thinks. Several alarm bells start ringing in his head, and memories of that irrational feeling of fear he felt last time he met this drunkard flit through his mind.

'No. That was just my imagination. I can't be scared of this trash. That's right. I'm not scared! I'm the stronger one here!' The more he thinks about it, the more irrationally furious he gets.

"I SAID WHERE'S THE MONEY!?" the young mugger screams as he swings his leg in for a kick.

…And that's the last thing he remembers.

From his friends' points of view, they see their youngest member suddenly crumple to the ground like he was a puppet whose strings were just cut.

"What's wrong with Han!?" the eldest yells.

Before any of them can step aside and check on their friend, the drunkard stands up and says. "Well, I was being nice last time, but it's clear that if I don't kill you all, then you'll keep repeating this stupid act of robbing and splurging your money on stupid things. You'll get yourselves killed eventually when you pick the wrong target, so I'd mind as well get it over with for you."

The next second, the "drunkard" moves so fast that the rest of the muggers can't even keep up with it. It's like he just… disappeared!

Before any of them can react, the eldest brother's head explodes, and Haalfrin's leg is lodged firmly in the stone wall, just past where the boy's head was a second ago.

What happens next is quick and simple. Both of the remaining young men try running away. The first has his spine broken from the back, and he falls dead. The second realizes that he can't run away fast enough, so he pivots on his heel and tries swinging his knife at Haalfrin, only for his heart to be pierced by Haalfrin's fist.

With all four muggers dead at Haalfrin's feet, Dakka says, "…Aren't you going to run away now? Freyya's coming."

"Who cares? I feel like sitting down." At this point, it would be pretty childish to keep avoiding Freyya just because she said something he didn't like a couple of years ago.

'Well, she DID prick my sore spot, but it's been over 10 years since then. It's time for me to just forget about it.'

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Freyya and Basti (the reaper of murdered souls) show up. Once the two reapers appear, four sets of spirit threads snake out of the 4 corpses and flow toward them.

"Which ones are yours?" Basti says. "You're better at telling these things apart than me."

"Hmm…," Freyya says. "This one was running away when he died, so it's yours. This one and this one were surprise attacked, but he was in the middle of attacking someone else. That means it could be either of ours. I'll let you have it."

"I don't' want it," Basti says with look of disgust on his face.

"Obviously, the last one to die tried fighting back, so it's yours," Basti says as he hands a silver Spirit Thread over to Freyya.

With Basti having his only allocated soul accounted for, he stuffs it in his lantern and leaves without any delay. It's as if the idea of being on this world for a second longer is annoying to him.

Freyya, on the other hand, doesn't disappear. Instead, she looks over to Haalfrin and walks over to him. She stops in her tracks, kneels down, and looks him in the eyes. "Haalfrin. You look terrible."

"You look… the same," Haalfrin says calmly. What surprsies Freyya is that he doesn't look angry or distant anymore.

Still, even though the man seems to have moved on and forgotten about her blunder, Freyya hasn't. "Listen, Haalfrin, I need to apologize for what I suggested earlier."

"No need to apologize," Haalfrin says. "There's nothing wrong with wanting things from people. I was… well... Saying, 'I was just emotionally disturbed by my grief,' would make it sound like an excuse, but there's no excuse for being rude to people and avoiding them."

Freyya shakes her head. "No, I really need to apologize. I know quite a bit about your past and future, and I knew about you getting married and your wife dying of old age long before you met her. Frankly, I was waiting for you to meet her and for her to die for me to make that proposal. It was all fated, so I knew it was going to happen.

"I'd been waiting a really long time, and I was really looking forward for that little obstacle to be out of the way," she finishes saying.

She bows her head. "It was callous and cruel of me. I'm really sorry."

Freyya knows very well that she's not used to thinking about other people's feelings – even more so after she's spent so long living by herself in the woods of the Death Realm. However, the lack of practice isn't a valid excuse for poor behavior.

Haalfrin hears her words, and he can't help but feel that she's being genuine right now. Even if he suspects with his rational brain that she's being manipulative like Das, his emotional spirit is urging him to believe her.

"So… was your offer about exchanging Reh Names really genuine?" Haalfrin asks. His implied words are, 'You're not trying to tie me down to you by forcibly taking my Heart – my Reh Name?'

Exchanging Reh Names is romantic gesture, so offering this without being sincere is the highest insult to a mage. Offering your Reh Name implies complete devotion.

Freyya understands the subtext of his question, so she nods her head. "Yes. I've felt that way for a long time now."

"Why?"

Freyya pauses. "It's because I know your future and past. After a manner of speaking, I came to like you while you were imprisoned in the Pit. Then, I know I'll come to like you a lot more because of who you grow into in the future."

Haalfrin breathes in deeply and says, "I appreciate the gesture, but it doesn't feel right. I'm going to have to refuse your offer."

Instead of being upset or disappointed, Freyya actually gives a wide, heartfelt smile. "Heh. I'm glad you said that. I'd be upset if you actually fell in love with me right now."

"…What?"

Freyya puts her hand over her lips and starts giggling. "Hee hee. You'll understand in the future."

Freyya walks up and helps Haalfrin to his feet. Once he's up, he pats the dust off his pants and extends his hand for a handshake. "I guess we're friends now?"

"Huh…? Weren't we friends before?" Freyya is surprised. "Oh wait. Yeah. We were acquaintances who were on good terms." She takes his hand and shakes it. "Yeah. We'll be friends."

Haalfrin gives a wry chuckle. "Am I going to be expecting any more sudden proposals?"

"Haalfrin. The future is supposed to be a mystery. I'm not saying anything. I've already given you enough hints."

With that said, she does one last polite bow, and she steps back. With her posture, it looks like she's preparing to leave. However, even with her Death Aura threatening to swallow her up and take her away from here, she stops to say a few more things.

"Haalfrin… You don't mind that I'll continue to conspire to kill you, right? I was holding it off all these years since I wanted to give you some space… But I could tell that this really upset you last time."

Haalfrin looks down and replies slowly, "After being put through hell down there by Das's scheming, I grew very sensitive about being used and confined. That, coupled with you asking for my Heart Name… I guess those two things together were a bit too much?"

Freyya looks down guiltily at this.

Haalfrin continues, "Anyway, that's how I felt then. I've had a few years to really think it over. It was pretty infuriating before - when I realized that I don't really have any control over my own life, and that you gods can do whatever you want with me. However, I've come to accept it."

He looks Freyya deeply in the eyes. "I know I can't really escape the Death Reapers; one of you HAS to take me. I know you'll fight and scheme with each other – even at my expense. However, that's how Death works. That's just how it is."

Death comes uninvited, and it takes without permission. Even Haalfrin can understand that this truth is within all the Death gods.

He takes a deep breath. "I'd rather you be the Reaper who takes me, rather than Das. So… go ahead and scheme to kill me. I don't care. I'll fight to win every battle. If I'm too powerful for the foes you throw at me, then that simply means that you're not supposed to have me. The end."

Freyya gives a warm smile, and she pats him on the shoulder. "Good boy. See you soon."

With that, she lets her Aura finish enveloping her, and she's gone the next moment.