Mythshaper

A silence held the courtroom, only to be punctured by the praetor's mirthful laugh.

"Fair enough." He smiled. "You may return to your seat. Nero Telemans, please present yourself to the stand."

I returned, displaying all the courtesy expected of me. As Nero passed by, he whispered, "Now I am beginning to like you, kid."

I returned to my seat and finally saw the relief on my parents' faces, especially Mum, who also seemed full of approval. I guessed all the etiquette she tried to drill into me had finally found some use. The way I saw it, I was likely to have more exchanges like this in the future as well.

While my questions were merely tricky and filled with small jibes, Nero received utter denunciation. Not from the questioner, but from Remus, as the Legatus took hold of the questioning himself, and he did not rein it in.

To my and everyone else's surprise, Nero merely returned half-hearted answers, scratching his nose or wiggling a finger into his ear.

"Give me a break already," Nero said scornfully. "I became an Arbiter so that I can call my own shots, and ignore the old coots who act like squabbling children when it comes to any decision of importance."

Remus raised his voice. "Your decision put good citizens in harm's way."

"And they were saved before things escalated," Nero returned.

"You brought a child into your perilous schemes."

"Ah, the girl is sharp as a tack. She handled everything well." He paused. "Well, the boy did very well too, although he was never in the game and kind of overturned the board before we got to any big fish."

"Game?" Remus stood up, a heated aura radiating from his form. Although it was all directed at the man in the witness stand, everyone in the chamber felt it prickle at their skin. "Is this all a game to you?"

Nero shrugged. "You gave me the badge, knowing all this."

By now, it seemed the trial had shifted to a more interpersonal level.

"It appears my judgement has been shortsighted." Remus sat down, his aura subsiding. "From today forth, Nero Telemans, you are terminated from the role of an Arbiter. You will return your badge to the department as soon as you can."

"Umm, that might be a problem. I may or may not have lost it during one of my heroic exploits."

Remus fumed. "You are an embarrassment to the post, and to your father."

"Hey, I did clear 23 rifts, saved 13 villages, 2 towns, and half a city, all that single-handedly," Nero counted, patting his biceps. Then his facial muscles twitched into a forlorn expression. "Well, it's a short run, but definitely a rapturous one, filled with dashing heroics and romantic escapades. Isn't that right, folks?"

Under the baffled gazes of the staff, half of the crowd present for the proceedings shouted in cheers. Most of them were young boys and girls, divided into three or four small groups. Filled with youthful exuberance, even the bailiff's resounding hammering barely stopped them until a nauseating aura permeated the room.

The bailiff looked as though he would find some rope and hang himself right there in the court, as perhaps never in his career had he seen the courtroom turn into a circus like this. I feared for the transcriber, who had to furiously note down all this bullcrap.

"I guess everything joyous has come to an end. Good thing I have a new job lined up right there, one where I fear I might have too much fun."

"Old Kai," Remus called, rubbing the black lines on his forehead, "can you shut up this child for good?"

Master Kaius shrugged, having nothing to interject.

"Return to your seat." Remus was in no mood to play his game any longer. He began calling the verdict. "For destruction of public property, Nero Telemans is to pay a fine of two hundred Gold Leafs to the city." He paused, thinking that was not a good enough punishment for humiliating the court. "Additionally, he's assigned the duty of cleaning the latrines of the enforcers' station for the remainder of the month."

"Come on," Nero whined, "that's a blatant misuse of power."

"While his essence abilities are restrained."

Nero's face ashened.

"You're also to reimburse Viola Edgreen for all the mental and mortal harm you have caused her."

The praetor turned to her. "Viola Edgreen, you are forbidden to partake in any missions within the regime of the empire for three imperial months. You may lodge a complaint if the reimbursement you receive is inadequate in your view."

"Now you are just adding more to my misery," Nero sighed.

"Arilyn Arcis O'Ryon."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I sat straight as my name was announced.

"You're released from all charges. The court will overlook your hasty action, which might seem impertuous, but has saved the innocent folks. The city will also reward you with a sum of fifty Gold Leafs, while all the citizens who caused the ruckus in the courthouse will pay a fine of five Gold Leafs each.

"Finally, all the convicts will be moved to Twilight Hall for questioning until the date of their execution. I hereby announce the closure of the trial."

Nero was about to shout an objection, but Master Kaius held him back just for the moment it took the legatus to depart.

"Must you, boy?" he asked Nero, his tone resigned.

"If they want to bring me to heel," the former Arbiter said, "I'll surely not go gently."

"Solas help me! It's useless to reason with you sometimes."

"And from whom did I learn that from?" Nero snorted. "Although I must say, they did not give you many chances today, did they? How many decades did you spend bettering the empire again?"

"It is the nature of things. As usefulness diminishes, people are cast aside like useless chess pieces."

"Hmm, that's sad. Are you doing well, old man? You did not even retort once today."

"It's a courtroom, what else do you expect of me?"

"I don't know, some fireworks, maybe?"

The elder clicked his tongue and turned to me. "You did well, lad. You lost your composure once or twice, but the rest of it is point-perfect."

"Huh, what do I do, Vi?" Nero cried, wiggling his arm over Viola's shoulder, but she moved aside. "Looks like my old mentor is leaving me after finding a new protege."

"Call me by any nickname again, and I'd stomp your feet." Viola glared at him. "And give me your shoes."

"My shoes?"

"My reimbursement."

"But why the shoes?"

"They are levitation boots, are they not?"

"But they won't even fit you."

"I can solve that by hiring an artisan."

"Wouldn't it be better if I hire an artisan to craft you a fresh pair?" Nero argued. "They have been with me for the better part of a decade. I kind of liked these boots, which reminds me…" His eyes darted to Mum. "Magister, can I commission some fine pieces of jewellery and ornament from you? Not something as crude as these boots—I feel that's an affront to your abilities—but something finer. Something dashing, matching my personality."

"What do you think?" Mum snorted.

"How about only a single piece?"

"Contact me in a year," Mum said, rubbing her stomach softly. "Though there's no guarantee that I won't turn you away."

"One year is too far. I guess I'll go bug the old man first. He might be going senile all alone on his island."

With that, the court proceedings came to an end. Ignoring its significance, it was surely an eye-opening experience, especially where Nero was concerned. Anyhow, I was glad to leave it all behind, though I was unsure what to feel about the fifty Gold Leafs reward.

Before the witnesses all departed from the courthouse, Mum brought me to meet them. They all thanked me with big words of praise. A couple of them were even genuinely grateful, reminding me of how I presented my body before them—well, my relic—to protect them. But none of them was too keen on keeping up a conversation with us.

I guessed our family could be intimidating to common folk, even to some Awakened. But the crux of the matter, I felt, was me. They had seen me, a boy a fraction of their age, killing people in cold blood. I could not say it did not affect me, but I did not hold it against them, as even I would think twice before getting close to someone like that.

With this, I could finally leave it all behind and focus on the tournament. We were returning today after a meeting with the guild.

Before we got to that, though, we found Nero surrounded by a group of youths in the open field before the court.

"I said line-up. One by one, I have enough for everyone."

He was distributing riches, but seeing the boys and girls not listening to him at all, he lunged into the air, floated up, and began showering them with gold coins, essence tonics, and potions.

So the cheers were orchestrated after all.

A figure appeared beside us unbidden. Legatus Remus watched the youth, his expression rigid, so that I could not quite grasp what he was feeling inside. But it was not pure anger that he showed in the court.

"He has grown quite a handful, hasn't he?" Mother said, shooting a curious glance his way.

The legatus did not reply.

"And you lot thought you could control him."

"We still can," the legatus sighed, "but I feared the day when nobody can."

Mum studied his expression. "You have grown old."

The Guardian of Elinum barked a laugh.

"Is there something you wanted to ask my son?" Mum asked, challenging the legatus with her eyes.

Remus met her gaze, turned towards me, and shook his head slowly. "It's merely a mild curiosity, and I received an answer through your boy's response already."

Mum narrowed her eyes. As though seeing nothing amiss, she nodded. It was at that time Nero finished delivering his due and joined, his face all grinning.

"Ah, Legatus," he said, unable to keep the mirth from his tone. "I hope to part ways on better terms, but you do love carrying yourself with the high air. Although I do fear that it won't have much effect on me the next occasion we meet."

The Legatus displayed no reaction to his remark. "I hope that you grow to be a man by then."

"A man you say--" Before Nero could even finish, the Epic Class knight had disappeared from the spot.

"You are tempting fate, boy," Mother said, shaking her head.

Nero turned to shoot her a good-natured smile. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"No good father would tolerate hearing anything disgusting about their daughter, especially when it's all untrue. Remus, at least, has a great deal of restraint to save us all from any escalation."

Father threw him a dirty look. "I have known men who'd take a limb for even a lesser insinuation."

Nero arched an eyebrow, his lips curving into a lopsided grin. "Then I guess I have to make sure the old man never finds out the truth."

"You didn't," Mum said, scandalised.

"I sure did," Nero's grin could not be any prouder. "Well, I'm all pure and innocent. It was all the girl's doing. Alesia has the same temper as her old man." Then a look of horror crossed his face as his figure flew off into the air. "I'd better leave before our favourite legatus gets wind of it. Good meeting you, Magister, and your family. Reach out to me at the academy if you need my help, or if I need you—it's the same matter in my book."

Mum smiled. "You getting a teaching job there?"

"Maybe. I hope I don't have to beat up children, though." As soon as he finished, he shot off with great acceleration, his dark figure disappearing like the streak of an arrow.

"He's quite a character," Father said.

I nodded in agreement.

"I guess this is what it takes to become the fastest to reach Fabled Class." Mum shook her head. "He seems better, but still as reckless."

****

As we reached the Monster Hunter Guild, my gaze drifted towards the street, the direction of the alchemy shop. I could not see it from there, though my imagination vividly painted a ruinous structure in my mind.

"Hey, mum," I said, clasping her palm. "I don't want the reward money."

She studied my face and nodded. "That's fine. We can ask the lawman to donate it to some orphanage."