Born From A Divine Gamble

"Only clothes and books left. Where do we go?"

"I think most n.o.bles wear things made in a shop on this street, it should be nearby."

"They all buy at the same store?"

"There aren"t that many n.o.bles and they all want the same. It seems that this place is the only one that can satisfy them in Red-water."

"Let us go there then."

If they all did the same, it must have been quite an impressive place.

They barely had the time to walk five steps before a bunch of guards split the crowded street to get to them. There was no doubt they were the target since they had fixed their gaze on him and were pointing his way. The people in the surroundings easily made way for them, unwilling to be dragged in their business by mistake.

Emp wondered two things. First, what did they want with Galana and him? Second, was it the same group of guards as the one watching the gate yesterday or did every group of guards had a man with a drooping mustache?

As they got closer, Emp got the answer to both of his questions. They were indeed the same guards as the previous day. Emp thought it was funny how, as they got closer, they recognized him as well and their angry expressions turned into confusion.

Because they did, at first, have an angry look to them. Emp could understand why they were angry since they were walking with the three remaining bearded men. After all, how could anyone have a good time walking with guys who attacked other people for no reason at all, more so with how smug they looked right now. They had the faces of someone who just found treasures. Emp felt this shouldn"t be the emotion they should express just after the death of two of their friends.

The guards, on the other hand, started shooting nervous glances at each other while they were moving through the last bits of the crowd.

Emp could easily guess that they were all here to talk about what had happened in the alley. Good thing Galana was here to translate, he would have had a hard time explaining this on his own.

The surrounding crowd formed a circle around them to watch what was happening, curious. Emp did not really mind because he felt the same way as them.

The guard with a mustache approached first and talked to Emp. He did not seem hostile and Galana translated for him.

"He wishes to see your hunting card."

Emp thought it was unnecessary since he already had but showed it to him once again anyway. Of course, since he already knew what was on it, he wasn"t surprised at all and just noted the new kills. The bearded men seemed to believe they had just won and spoke excitedly. Emp didn"t understand why they felt this way but he didn"t care much either. Instead, he turned towards Galana.

"Ask him what we should have done with the corpses."

This was what bothered him the most after all.

"What? Now? Could you not let them do their jobs first."

"They already did though, they caught the guys."

What else was there to do?

"Idiot! They didn"t catch the guys, they themselves went to the guards to accuse you of attacking them in reverse."

Emp saw the mustache of the guard twitch but didn"t mind it. Could people really do that? Maybe anyone could make his mustache twitch like that with a little practice. (1) Emp did not have one to try though and decided to focus on what was important instead. Could people really reverse the truth to their benefit?

Emp wondered if he would have to spin the truth into lies at some point as well. He didn"t want to do that kind of thing. He liked the truth better, it was easier to understand things when everyone told the truth.

Then, he remembered about his own name. He was lying too was he not? Not only that but in the end, he never told anyone he wasn"t really the son of Chinui, he had completely forgotten to. His friend would be so mad when he came back. He should probably clear up all those misunderstandings before he left the city.

Anyway, such a lie could not last, lies where easy to tell, Chinui always said so.

"That is not true though, they were the ones to start it all, is that not obvious?" He said to Galana.

"How would it even be obvious?"

He himself wasn"t able to tell lies just looking at someone but that was only because he didn"t know a lot of people yet. Surely, Galana was able to do it like Chinui. She only needed to look at their faces and she would know straight away.

"Well, look at them."

"You do realise that you look as terrible as them right now right?"

That wasn"t what he meant but it was still true. He really needed new clothes. There was still a huge difference between him and them.

"I do not have a beard though."

"What does that even have to do with anything? Beards can be alright too if they are well groomed."

Emp agreed, he had seen it before on the few persons he knew. Strength"s beard, for example, matched so well with him that Emp could not picture him without it. Maybe he should get himself one too then? What kind of beard? A long and thin thing like Sage? Maybe Galana would have a good idea since she liked beards.

"Should I grow a beard too then?"

"No, it doesn"t suit you."

Emp felt somewhat relieved, not because he disliked beards but more because he had no idea how to grow one. It was much easier to not do it than to do it. It was always good to have one less objective on the list of things he had to do.

"Anyway" Followed Galana to bring back the conversation to what it was supposed to be about. "They still need to ask about a bunch of things like who started it, why were you fighting and if there were witnesses or other people involved."

"But they just ran at me with their knives out in an alley, why so many complicated questions?"

"How much of an idiot can you be!"

He was probably tired of being ignored because the whole face of the guard cramped but Emp still didn"t mind, he was busy trying to understand what Galana was saying. There were also the bearded men making noises but they were only a minor annoyance so Emp didn"t glance at them.

"Before they arrest someone, they need to know who was in the wrong and who is the bad guy. Since there were no other witnesses than us, It will be your words against theirs. The more question they ask, the easier it becomes to figure out who is lying and who is saying the truth."

Like Chinui then, he asked questions upon questions, always looking at his face, searching for a lie. The guards wanted to do the same to see who was right and who was wrong for themselves.

"I see, then we just have to say the truth?"

"In our case, the fact that you are the son of the great general is a big help. No one in their right mind would go against the words of someone who is almost as highly ranked as an imperial prince."

"But that has nothing to do with the truth."

Not only it had nothing to do with what had happened but even worse, this was just a complete lie! What if they saw it on his face?

"I know it has nothing to do with the truth but that is how it works anyway. Then, we can ask for the mage we just saw to testify that you were injured by them, setting in stone the fact that they indeed raised their weapons against a high n.o.ble. The fact they wanted your money and your magic bag or the fact they provoked you with their blades first doesn"t matter in the story."

"But it is the most important part! I had no reason to kill them if they just went away instead."

"Maybe it"s important for you but the guards can"t possibly check if those are true or not unless they ask the help of a scrying mage."

Was this true? Why would they need a mage to see if someone lied or not?

"The only things they can be sure of is that a high n.o.ble was involved in a fight with a bunch of b.u.ms in an alleyway. With your name, they can also guess that if you really wanted them all to die, you could have made it so easily."

But he wasn"t a high n.o.ble! And his name was Emperor not Warrior. This whole thing was getting worse and worse, from where did all those misunderstanding come from?

"Plus, you had no reason to attack them. Trust me I will talk to them and we will be done quick, anyway you can"t speak the common tongue."

Emp felt terrible, this would never work. Galana turned towards the guard to tell him but instead, he raised a hand in front of her and spoke first.

"No need to repeat all that, That"s an unusual way to get answers but I think I understand pretty well what happened back there now."

Emp was a little scared of what he understood but he seemed friendly so it probably wasn"t a bad thing. At least he hoped. The other thing was that he had found another person who spoke the same language! This was great!

"That is great! Now we do not have to go through all that again."

At least, since he had heard everything, he would know that Emp was against lying.

"How come you speak the n.o.ble tongue?" Asked Galana.

"My mother was a dye trader on the main central road, she taught me how to speak it when I was small."

"I see."

That was interesting to know but Emp was more curious about what was happening right now. Who was going to be arrested?

"What do we do now?"

"You can just go back to your business sir, I have all I need."

The guard turned on himself and made a sharp hand gesture to go along with what he said to them. A look of horror appeared on the bearded men faces and one of them tried to dash away only to be caught by the arm instantly. The guards may have seemed slack at the gate but here, their movements were swift and precise. In no time at all, all three of the bearded men were under their control.

They pleaded and protested but Emp could not understand what they were saying. By curiosity, he asked Galana for a translation.

"They said that if they had known you were a Muracier, they wouldn"t have attacked you."

Emp frowned, he may not have been the brightest but this, he felt, was much worse.

"Is that not dumb?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in that one sentence, not only are they admitting they did attack me but also that if I had been anybody else, they still would have done it. That is much worse, they could have killed anyone if I had not been there."

The guard with a mustache laughed at his comment and answered with his own comment before he led the rest away.

"Well, criminals aren"t usually the brightest people around."

Emp though that what he said made sense. With all the creatures outside the walls, only people with nothing in their heads would attack other human beings. If you were confident enough to kill someone to steal his money, was it not better to kill a random monster instead and bring back money that way?

He was so lost in those thoughts that it was only when the guards had disappeared with the kicking and screaming criminals that he realised they were gone and that he had forgotten the most important part.

"We forgot to ask about the corpses in the end." He said in disappointment.

"What is it with you and the corpses?" Asked Galana with a frown.

"I just do not like to waste things and I feel like they were."

"You feel like the corpses were wasted?"

"No, the guys. I still do not understand them, if they just wanted money, they could have asked some and I would have given it to them, there was no need to attack us."

He had so much of it anyway, it didn"t matter to him at all.

"No one ever does that, no one just gives out money like that without anything in return."

"Why not?"

"Because not everyone kills a woodland horror like you and end up walking around with infinite money! They work hard for it and they need it as well."

Emp started pondering about this and the circle of onlookers dispersed itself quickly. Why was no one willing to give money and why some were willing to kill for it. Was it because there was not enough of it? But he had seen a lot of things that were highly valued today. With the money he had paid for the magic alone, he could have eaten his big breakfast more than ten thousand times.

Why did they have so little money? Maybe they wanted something that was worth way more than a meal but then, why was it so expensive? Only a couple of copper coins for a meal but forty gold to fix a leg and gold again to buy armor and weapons. What explained the price and where did the money go afterward? How come he had made himself such a large fortune to sell a fertilizer if the end result would be sold in copper coins? Were they not losing money if they did that? However much he thought about it, he could not find the answer.

(1) I"m sorry, it was way too tempting to not do it.