Death, Devotion, Dissonance

'But I don't even want to enter that live-combat class…' Evin wanted to say, but something told him he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"Alright," Evin murmured and went back to his seat.

A few moments later, Alvert dismissed the class after reminding everyone to gather back here in two months' time. Then, the teacher promptly gathered his belongings and left the classroom with the same hurried steps he entered it.

As Evin was about to do the same, he heard Arza raising his tone of voice a little.

"I'm telling you I do things the way I want to, not because someone else wants me to."

"I just don't understand why you would want to hang out with that freak over us?" Kolin was saying, "Do you know what he's called? The One Boy Freak Show!"

Evin found himself frowning involuntarily, remembering the incident that ostracized him from the rest of the kids permanently. Seeing Arza and Kolin argue about the matter in front of him, it made him feel even more sickened.

"Kolin, do you think I'll believe someone if they told me you dabbed your hands in the occasional thievery?" Arza asked back.

Kolin looked genuinely offended for a few seconds, before vehemently denying the claims.

"No, of course you shouldn't! What would make you even think that's true anyway?"

"Well, then tell me why I should trust your words about Evin?"

"Because everyone in this town knows about the One Boy Freak Show! Some parents even tell scary stories to their children about the One Boy Freak Show!"

<Ooh, you're more popular than I expected…>

Evin was slowly starting to remember why he hated the voice in the first place. Because of it, he was ostracized by other children and adults, and because of it, his father was convinced he was raising a lunatic.

"Kolin, you said you wanted to become like the late king, right? To be like King Roland, a great person who allowed all of us this chance and luxury of becoming mages," Arza asked.

"I did," Kolin replied, albeit a tad quietly than before.

"So? Tell me, what did he do when all the nobles around him were telling him that commoners weren't worth the title of a mage? Did he say "You're right. Since every noble thinks so, it must be right," or did he question their claims and walk his own path?"

Then, Arza swiftly dealt Kolin a slap on the cheek. It wasn't anything deadly, just a swift wake up slap to instill in the boy the message. And it seemed to have done the trick, as the latter just stood there silently, grasping his cheek with one arm, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Don't idolize someone just because everyone else is doing it. Think about the reasons, or ideas that make King Roland such a remarkable person and idolize those instead," Arza said sternly, "And besides, a king does not need your love and respect. Much less a dead one. He'd be much happier in the afterlife, knowing that his people supported his ideals, without just blindly idolizing him."

Evin listened to the boy's speech and couldn't help but feel warm inside. No one's ever bothered to defend him, so when someone actually did it, even someone unnecessarily violent like Arza did… it just made him feel really nice.

And although Evin found it rude of Arza to refer someone of such high stature with such discourteous adjectives like 'dead', he 100% agreed with the boy's words.

"Well, I got a bit carried away there. Sorry for slapping you, man," Arza smiled, patted Kolin on the shoulders and walked up to Evin, "Come on. Let's go get some meat."

Evin was pulled off without his input, only managing to utter out a weak refusal.

"But we just had lunch two hours ago?"

"You call that lunch? The damn kittens in my house eat more than that!" Arza tsked. "No wonder you're so tiny and scrawny. Tsk. And you're all so confused to see me so much taller than you all."

"But I'm full already."

"Listen, since you're gonna be an Enchanter, you're gonna be eating a lot whether you like it or not. Better get used to it early," Arza said and leaned in closer to Evin to whisper something, "And besides, aren't you going on a trial that'll decide your life and death tomorrow? Treat yourself a little today, alright?"

"That won't… go bad tomorrow, and how do you even know that?" Evin murmured.

"Dad told me," Arza smiled.

<By the Empress's grace, is this love? I know you picked the Enchanter's class because Leanne's going to be teaching it, but something tells me you'll end up with Arza instead,> the voice snickered from inside Evin's head.

…

Very quickly, the next morning came and although Evin really wished to sleep the day off, he was woken up by the voice's naggings.

<Clean yourself and wear your uniform,> it started ordering Evin around as soon as he got up. <You don't know how important these things are to the eyes of pretentious old people.>

Sighing, Evin cleaned himself again, even though he'd already taken a bath the previous day, and carefully put his clothes on.

"I think you'll miss Imperial during your trial… but like yesterday, I'll do my best to teach it to you, alright?" Arza said, as he got himself ready.

The boy took his time to teach Evin what he missed on Arithmetic the previous night and Evin could only be grateful he managed to skip the class as he was unconscious.

"Alright, thanks." Evin replied with a sigh.

"No problem. Well, hope I see you in time for lunch," Arza said and walked away.

He was thankful to Arza for getting him up to date, but some part of him also wished for Arza to just, not bother helping him. But it wasn't time to worry about these small things, as literally, his life was about to be put on the line. Evin really didn't understand how he was so calm the previous day.

Now, some part of him even wanted to ditch everything and run, but obviously, he understood that that would make killing him that much easier.

But fortunately, or unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to brood over the matter further, as Leanne came in the room, and the two went towards where the trial was supposed to take place.

"Are you nervous?" the woman asked as they walked through the corridors.

"A bit."

"Well, you know what's going on in the background and I trust you'll do what's best for yourself."

'What do you mean with those words? I don't even know what's best for myself, so how am I supposed to do it?' Evin complained in his head.

"Remember that you're not alone in this, alright?" Leanne sighed as she stopped before a door that said Chairman's room next to it.

She opened it silently and gestured Evin inside. Suppressing his urge to run away, Evin entered inside and looked around. He saw two wide couches placed face to face in front of an almost empty desk, with two people sitting on each side. The Chairman and the Vice-Chair on one side and was facing the door and Decatur and another woman on the other side facing away from the door.

Evin heard the door close behind him and understood that Leanne wasn't going to be helping him through this process.

'Then why did she say that I'm not alone in this?' Evin thought.

Decatur turned around to glare at Evin in a hateful manner, but the woman didn't even bother to spare a glance towards his way. In fact, her head tilted towards her son briefly and Evin could see Decatur facing forward again, after making a moping expression. He seemed to get another glare from his mother for that as well.

"Oh, Evin. Come over and sit," the Chairman said as he gestured towards an armchair that was located to the side of the two coaches, offering a clear view of all the parties.

<Before you sit, make sure to introduce yourself. Emphasize that you're a mage as well.> the voice ordered.

Evin walked towards the armchair, and right before he sat down, he briefly introduced himself. It didn't get much reaction, so he promptly sat down.

He then took a glance at the Countess and found a tall, slim woman with a rather pale complexion on her skin. As far as Evin knew, she was wearing what nobles normally wore, but he could also notice that she was much more modest compared to what he imagined noble women to wear, especially the richer ones.

Aside from the thing silver necklace she was wearing on her neck, there really wasn't anything else to write home about. She had her hair done in a not so elaborate braided ponytail, and her uniformly black dress definitely pushed her modest appearance further.

While he was doing this, chairman Kent cleared his throat and gave Evin a brief explanation of things.

"Well, as you may already know, the Countess of Greater Ankelite, madam Alix din Carew thinks you tried to assassinate her child, Decatur Carew, and wants to put you in the dungeons for it."

"In a prison," the Countess said briskly, "We don't have dungeons in this County."

"Of course. She wants to put you in prison, and us two are here to clear up the misunderstanding."