บท 6: Faith and Doubt
"I insist you; there shall be no further negotiations regarding the terms nor the cancellation of the contract! Be wise in your decision, Governor. There has to be a lot to lose should we ever anger the whole barbarians across the seas in one way or another..."
These were the words of Father Esteban, one of the prestigious and yet pious cardinals serving the Empire. Governor Rothgarr seemed to be, at least, listening to the clergyman whom even the Governor himself couldn't ignore lightly.
"Then you think about the gold we're paying them, for 3-Divines' sake! One third of my entire fortune was asked only for that leader, Prince Aelthred, out of the whole bunch, and who knows what else of mine the other barbarians would pluck out of me?" Rothgarr said, as if the whole ongoing conversation had been like a total damnation to him so far.
"Yet, my lord, you have all forgotten to mention the share that is due to his lieutenant, a tech-maiden named Gael. She asked us another one third out of your remaining gold and luxuries right after the payment to her superior, remember?"
After saying such, Farth, a jester of Governor Rothgarr and his family, laughed out a great deal.
"Shut your yapping, thou jester of no worth in thy life!" Rothgarr smacked him with his iron scepter. Alas, our poor Farth, the fool, was the only one in the Governor's office that Rothgarr could treat without any respect. Wiping blood off his face, Farth, with sullen heart, retreated back to the corner of the room. After the punishment of his servant, Rothgarr turned again to the cardinal.
"Now you realize that there is literally more than one third of my possession at stake, correct? I ask you to think about this; what if they turn out to be rebellious sons of the wasteland and put their tech-swords right at our necks? Aye, regardless of whether they will do their ends of the contract, these barbarians shall eventually go after my land, my other luxuries, my scepter, and everything else I have here!"
Esteban could not risk losing his only chance to avenge his loving mistress and their son. He was definitely certain that Prince Aelthred and his barbarians would serve him as the very tools of revenge. He had to persuade the Governor anyhow, one way or another, or he would never be able to enforce the blood price on his arch-enemy.
"Suppose that we sent these tech-warriors and tech-maidens back to their realm emptyhanded, do we truly have troops at our disposal capable of striking down the beast? Even if we do have able men and women under our command, can we ever imagine just how much blood shall be required only to kill it? We surely have no other options but to utilize those mercenaries of prowess, should we ever aim to eliminate our terrible foe." He talked with all the reason he could muster.
"Thus, Governor, pray you calm yourself down. You are just being ridiculous and irrational out of your fears for them. Pray also you think about it; with only dozens of them armed with techs, how could they possibly dare usurp your throne that of governors, ordained in person by the hands of His Majesty? If we ever make the Prince upset due to our own paranoia, this shall mean a bloody war with more of them! Be reasonable, I dare beseech you..."
Upon hearing such words from the Cardinal, Rothgarr's eyes went ice-cold without sentiments, and he looked directly into those of the clergyman standing in front of him.
"Esteban, I see you are deeply concerned on having a full-scale war against them, thus you keep going on insisting we let the savages in my palace freely."
"Then let me ask you this, for the last time; in your entire life have you ever had a chance to see them on the battlefield? Aye, I have, for sure. I fought myself in my youth many battles with those bloodthirsty savages, and why, even some men under my command at that time were once among them. I know them and their nature so well alike; They seek only to fulfill their earthly wants under the mask named 'honor'. I saw nothing but treachery and slaughter left behind in the wake of every carnage they had made... Did I make myself clear to you, Cardinal?"
Esteban implored no further, for he now sensed a soul of strong resistance in the Governor.
"... I shouldn't have made that deal with them in the first place. I was truly a fool to rely on others, especially the mindless tech-savages, to solve our own problems with that accursed Glen-gohr! Now, both my gold and my scepter are in danger because of follies of mine." Rothgarr continued, with his efforts to settle his nerves down.
After uttering those words full of regrets, Governor Rothgarr dismissed the Cardinal and the fool from his presence. For many hours till the midnight, he kept reflecting on his past memories, especially the ones regarding the barbarians with whom he used to fight side to side. He once had with him some tech-warrior named Wuntwail; he was indeed a valorous fighter, a trust-worthy lieutenant, and mostly, a good friend of a tech-knight now holding the Governor's scepter. How dauntless they were whenever they covered each of their backs with battalions of the foes surrounding them! How fierce they were in countless battles of the past where their companion's honor was at stake! Just think about how many foes these two friends, being together, had defeated with their tech-swords! Despite all the glorious pasts they had shared together, alas, his friend, the fearsome tech-warrior, was now long gone.
Rothgarr poured his drink in a jeweled goblet remembering his old friend. There was no need for him to indulge further in his sense of loss, but he couldn't help it. Rothgarr then raised up the goblet in memories of his former brother-in-arms.
"A toast to my dear friend who now resides in the glorious realm of fallen warriors! We once sworn to defend each other's honor no matter the time and the land we were in; Yet, such is now futile, for you have now long gone back to your ancestors, with this old knight left behind on this earth. Glory to those who faced their destiny without fear, and sorrow to those who have failed to do so." He drank the wine.
By the sudden, right after Rothgarr had finished his mournings, all the holograms and the lightings in his room went off. Then, he started to hear some voices. They were utterings of the deceased, and yet wailings of those who left behind. They could even be devilish giggling of children should one listen to those carefully. Then, he heard some of his servants screaming, so far as what he perceived was true. Out of the fear for his imminent doom, he called upon the guards nearby through the comm-link on his desk, but none answered. He searched for his plasma-bolt somewhere in his vicinity, but it was not there. After a few moments, he found himself lying on the floor, though without any signs of assault on his body. Still, he did not have a single clue of his attacker's identity. Then, the shadow loomed out of the darkness.
"I am Glen-gohr, a roamer of the barren lands, a living terror to all those who breath in the air, an apex-predator that is above any other predators of the planet, and a fallen champion with glories of the past stripped away from him." The shadow, now slightly visible to the eyes of Rothgarr, said to his victim.
"I relish the very flesh of my preys more than any other else in the world; however, the unbreakable oath I made so many years ago prevents me from doing so at this moment. Rest assured that you shall be saved. Yet, bear the very sight of your people's doom approaching, for I am the harbinger of terror to every beings on the land."
As soon as the shadow named Glen-gohr left its prey unscratched, Rothgarr sighed. He was saved not by his war-gears nor his prowess, but for the merciful pact his attacker had made ages ago. His sigh was not that of relief but regret for his past. He cried, and then wailed like a frail child; he was no longer one among the governors of the Empire, at this very moment. He wept not because of his terror towards the shadow, but due to his cowardice he showed in the past. He kept crying on the ground until the sun of Gaia-Seven rose anew.
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