Unsealing the Past (2/2)
"Tell me," General Haalfrin says to the 3 humans, "What's your affiliation? What of Brancotte? Does it exist?"
Lyr shakes his head. "Brancotte fell nearly 150 thousand years ago. Also, the country we're from is called 'Lareen'."
The old general sighs, "Well, I suppose I should introduce myself as well. I'm General Haalfrin."
When Lyr translates for the two Lareen soldiers beside him, Captain Lena says,
Lyr asks Haalfrin, and the old general answers, "I'm the only human in this world." He gestures to the two pointy-eared people. "I suppose you could call them humans too, though they barely qualify anymore."
As if sensing what the humans want to ask, Haalfrin suddenly adds, "And NO, there is no sure way to become an Arkin… or a 'High Human', depending on which phrase you like to use."
When Lyr translates this, Captain Lena looks down thoughtfully. Suddenly, something clicks in her head.
Wouldn't that make these soldiers practically immortal?
'If High Humans are immortal, and if anyone can become one, then wouldn't that incentivize the people from my world to torture the secrets out of him?' Lena thinks – puzzled. 'Why would he just give away that kind of knowledge?'
Maybe this man's powerful Spirit lets him know what people want to ask. Without even needing a translator, Haalfrin says sternly while looking Lena in the eyes, "Don't even think about it! Becoming an Arkin is only possible for the Dead. All of my Arkin soldiers are souls that I personally invited from the Death Realm."
Lyr hears this, and his eyes go wide in shock. 'Is this man a necromancer?' he thinks in a panic. 'Necromancy has always been a banned magic. Even our god-king has always preached to us of the evils of necromancy!'
Dark rituals… Mass sacrifices… Twisting spirits into grotesque shadows of their former selves… Denying the Death Reapers of their harvest… Everything about necromancy just screams "EVIL!"
'Plus, didn't they say that necromancers bring back ghastly-looking corpses or twisted, resentful ghosts? These pointy-eared people seem very alive... Does necromancy like this exist?' Lyr wonders.
For some reason, this man is reluctant to tell the Lareen soldiers that these pointy-eared people are actually dead souls recalled from the grave. That would just complicate things… and Lyr has the feeling that something bad would happen if Lena and Yesee knew the truth.
Seeing Lyr's silence, Lena gets a bad feeling. Still, she can't exactly interrogate this man (for now), so she turns back to the outdated general and says,
Haalfrin sighs, then gives his answer…
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"I'm in charge of defending the World Gate," General Haalfrin says. "After the Gate was sealed off, I wasn't quite sure when it would open again, and I wasn't sure if I was going to live long enough to see it happen."
He looks around at his ruined dining hall. "I was anxious about leaving my post undefended."
Hearing the man's reply, Lena would be lying if she said that some part of her heart was completely unmoved.
In her mind flashes memories of her youth….
…
… As a spirited young girl, she'd often over-romanticize EVERYTHING. To her, boys were all hunky & handsome gentlemen, business owners were all hard-working & sincere people who were smart enough to get ahead in life, and politicians were tragic heroes who sought to better the lives of their people.
She grew up watching shows and reading novels that just fed into her romanticized, unrealistic view of the world.
She studied hard in arcane university and, despite failing to awaken as a mage, she still pushed forward and made something of herself.
Wanting to dedicate her life to something worthwhile, the young Lena joined the Lareen military. She wanted to be a "hero on the front lines", so she pushed and shoved her way into the field division (a rather small department).
Young Lena honestly thought that her career would consist of working together with a team to take out crime bosses and put down evil dictators elsewhere in the world.
Alas… she never got much of a chance to do… well.. much of ANYTHING, really.
Golems are better at fighting than her, better at scouting than her, and better at building things than her.
There's so little room for soldiers on the field nowadays that, frankly, being a "soldier" in Lareen is more of an office job than anything else. Thus, she'd spend most of her days grinding away at an office with dead, droopy eyes.
Even more, the only military personnel Lena has ever known were fat, out-of-shape career men. The heads of the military are all basically merchants – not generals.
…
With these memories briefly passing through Captain Lena's mind, her heart softens a little when Haalfrin said, "I was anxious about leaving my post undefended."
General Haalfrin stays still and stares silently at Lena. Captain Lena doesn't need to be a Spirit Mage to know that he is still vigilant towards them.
Lena reaches out her hand and says,
Yesee nearly chokes on her spit when she hears her captain speak in such a polite – almost tender voice. 'Isn't that the same woman who yells at us and docks our pay for the silliest reasons? Does she even know how to talk nicely to anyone?'
Hearing the woman's words translated, Haalfrin shakes his head and says, "No. My job is to defend the Gate. Frankly, I've never cared much for the emperor and politics. Brancotte being an extinct country has nothing to do with me."
Haalfrin can tell that his answer just made his 3 guests more confused… but he's starting to lose patience with them.
He's tired, hungry, AND has a headache. He's feeling so cranky right now that he just wants to throw everyone out and find a nice, comfortable bed to rest his creaky bones on.
'Let's just give them a message to tell their king, then kick them out,' Haalfrin scowls.
"Anyway, go tell your king that this castle and the 10 miles around it all belong to me. My ownership of this land has been recognized by the local goddess of this world and her husband, Lord Dakka."
Sensing what she wanted to say again, Haalfrin adds, "Also tell your king that he's free to bring people through my lands, so long as you make arrangements with the local Clans here first."
The Aura around the general suddenly gets sharper, and the 3 humans experience illusions of themselves bleeding to death. Haalfrin's next wards are dripping with a venomous threat.
"However, if your king dares bring an invading army here, then I'll kill you and anyone who comes. No negotiation on that."
Suddenly the menacing Aura lets up, and he looks like an amiable old man again. "Anyway. Goodbye."
Realizing that they've been dismissed, the two Arkin soldiers step up and offer to escort them out of the palace.