Day 309 - (A Paladin is a Leader)

Day 309 - (A Paladin is a Leader)

It was the morning train that first brought me to Min, wasn't it?

Idle thoughts filter through my mind, similar to nostalgia but not quite.  No, I was disturbed by the thought of coming here back then.  I don't recognize any former comfort from the act – this feeling is of the present only.

I wonder when it was that Megalos became the strange place I traveled to, and Min became home.

It would never have happened without that elven girl and her little coffee shop outside of town.  I wonder what my life would have been like if I had not spotted it during my rounds that one day.

I'm a bitter man by nature.  If something defies me, I want to hurt it, to break it.  I ruminate over slights, over and over again until the hatred has burrowed deep.

I wonder why I'm thinking about that right now.

It'll be good to be back home.

---

I step out onto the street, take a deep breath of the salty air, and ask “Where did everyone go” to the empty air.

No answer is forthcoming, so I head out in search of one.  The streets aren't usually packed in the morning, but they're seldom ever vacant, either.  Rather, aside from full moons I've never seen any of the major streets completely empty.

With nothing else to do, I head inland.

It's at the end of the street that I found where everyone has gone.  A massive crowd seems to've formed around one of the more open spaces, with human and monster alike.  I turn and walk, curious as to what could have caused this.

It does not take me long to figure it out.  A raised stage comes into view as I approach, and autocrat Erlinson stands atop it, speaking loudly enough to be heard over what may well be half the population of the city.

“Who among you, even non-human, would speak out for one of your kind who tried to kill a human being?”  After a moment's silence, “I thought so.  See for yourselves, the face of a man-slaying monster, as we paladins have protected the people from for millennia!”
I begin moving forward into the crowd.  It isn't difficult, as most of them move as quickly away from me as possible, and the other simply step aside.  He continues “It took a great deal of time for our artificers to manufacture a suitable blade for today.  Curse your own resilience, if you'd like.”

And then I'm in front of the crowd, staring at the baphomet on the stage.  A truly unreasonable amount of metal binds her every limb and chains her to the headsman's block.  It takes only a few seconds for her eyes to find mine.

She smiles at me.  It's weak, but it's there.
Is she forgiving me?
Is she amused?

“Well, we've made you wait for long enough, haven't we?”
A lone cheer calls out from the crowd.  Human.  Male.  The monsters around me look wounded.  The other people don't care.
Erlinson steps down from the stage, and a man in plate armor replaces him, wielding an axe that seems to reflect more light than what falls upon it.

“And with this, my work is done,” a woman's voice speaks.  Ilnostreon, James called it.  The voice that spoke to me long ago.  The baphomet glances up sharply.
I look around, scanning the faces of the crowd.  No one here said that.  No one here seems to have heard it.
“Such a credulous little thing you were.  You believed everything I told you – and why not?  Those mean paladins are so terrible; what's a few more atrocities?”  Its voice dips low and menacing, “And that one in particular was so awful to you.  Who wouldn't believe that he had done them all.  Why, the world would be better if he was dead, wouldn't it?”

The man in plate advances on her, but the baphomet doesn't seem to notice.  “You lied to me?”
The crowd glances to one another, confused.
“I told you everything you needed to hear.  For what it's worth, I'm grateful.  There's quite simply not enough death for what we need.”
Its expression shifts, slowly crashing down as dreadful realization comes to it.  Finally, its head droops, and the axe is lifted high.

(ALLEGIANCE)

The crowd falls back, away from me as the handle of the axe flies to my waiting hand.  It's heavier than I thought it would be.
“Victor,” I hear the autocrat call out.  No matter.
“This creature has been manipulated by an unknown aggressor, the same that has dragged us into war.  As such, I challenge this execution.”  I can see Erlinson as he advances toward me.  I wait for him to come close enough to stop before adding “There is precedent.”
His face tells me that he is upset.  “Victor-”
“Do you accept my challenge, sir?”

He breathes deeply, heavily.  I turn away from him, toward the crowd as I rest the axe on my shoulder.  “Does anyone?”
Wide eyes answer me.

I turn back toward him, then to the headsman.  “Release the prisoner.  I will escort it to the gate.”

It takes him a moment before he begins, fumbling with the keys.  It takes longer for Erlinson to quietly state “We aren't done here.”
“Are you assigning someone else to escort it?”
He's one of those men who gets very red in the face when he's upset.  He has a somewhat ruddy complexion at the best of times, though.  “You will come to my office when you are done.”
“Understood.”

I only had three days.  I understand now, why that was.
How had she known?

Finally the last rattle of chains signals that the baphomet is free.  It lifts itself uncertainly to its feet.  Hooves, rather.  Almost the entire rest of its body is covered by oversized robes.
“Well, are you coming?  Or would you like to try fighting me again?”
It locks eyes with me, as though I was a threat.  Or is it confusion?
Who can say.

I walk toward the stage and set the axe onto it, and then I head off toward the northern gate.  The crowd parts for me, and for it clopping away behind me.  There is silence and confusion from some.  From the monsters, however-
No need to dwell on that.

The streets of Min are more pleasant when they're empty.  I don't have the chance to enjoy that, however.  The steady, constant clopping of hooves on cobblestone echoes down the street from behind me, reminding me of the presence of the tiny creature that tried to kill me not a month ago.

That was the only noise she made until we reached the gate.
“I appreciate the silence.”  A nod to the guard is all it takes for the gate to start opening.  After that I look toward the thing.
“What will you do now?”
“Find that thing and its pawn.”
“And after that?”
“Kill them.”

“Can you?”
“What is there to do except try?”  It stares at me for a long time after that.  “Go on.”

It turns and it walks.  “You know,” it begins slowly, “you're actually a lot like an older b-”
“Don't finish that.”

The gate closes, and I head back toward the branch office.

---

“It was the same benefactor – malefactor, rather, that was guiding James.”

He stares at me, hard and cold.  “That's fascinating, Victor, but it doesn't explain why that thing is still alive.”
“It thought it was acting in defense of Megalan citizens.  A legal act.  The criminal is the one responsible for misleading it.”
“I get that, Victor.  I do.”
“Very well then.  Will that be all?”

His face reddens as he lifts himself from his chair.  “Victor, what are we here to do?”
“Fulfill our charter, sir.”
“That's right, Victor.  Innocent humans are being preyed upon, so we have to do what we must to protect them.”
“Sir.”
“And do you see why this incident has delayed that mission?”
I'm reminded of speaking with the police mare.  “No sir.  It wasn't preying on men.”
“We could have been the only ones to ever know that,” he presses.

There's a pause, natural in the discussion, that neither of us tries to diminish.  He takes deep breaths to calm himself, and I simply try to think of how I want to respond.  A partial truth will do, or else simply a different one than the one I'm tempted to speak.
“Secrets out in time, sir.  Whatever we would have gotten from this, either in laws or simply popularity, would have reversed or worse when the people learned of our deception.”

“There was a time when I thought you would have made a good heartbreaker,” is all he says as he sets himself back down.
“I'm proud of my order, sir.”
And with that we're both done with the other.

---

Some days feel longer than others.  That is, until you reach the seashore.

Then, all the days are brief, and their flaws seem lesser.  The setting sun mirrored on small waves seems somehow both vibrant and muted.

When the scenery isn't marred by monsters, you can forget about them.

The last ship to leave doesn't let me forget about them.

Roderick and I stare at each other for as long as the expanding distance between us permits.  I can't tell what his expression is trying to convey – if anything.  At his side a lamia holds tightly onto his arm, watching him, watching me.

The sun has set completely before I'm able to think that maybe I'm happy for him.

Mayhap someday I'll tell him that.